Fall is Upon Us!

We had such a wonderful fall. I can't believe it has come and gone already.  I like to celebrate the entire season long, not just the one day.  This year to celebrate Halloween, we did a day of crafts, ate some yummy Halloween s'mores,  visited a pumpkin patch, and of course went trick or treating!  

Candy Corn crafts

Halloween s'mores using peeps

Visiting our pumpkin patch in their costumes! This year we had two lifeguards and a shark. 

Sweet brothers!

A shark... yikes!

My sweet pumpkins!

Jack and Luke loved this huge jack-o-lantern at our zoo.

We painted tiny pumpkins.

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls

Mummy pizzas

Trick or treating with our friends

For Thanksgiving, Chris went to see our missionary friends in Spain, so I took the boys to Louisiana for the week.  The boys did great! We split the drive into two days and we stayed the night in a hotel with an indoor pool. They loved it!

Thrilled to be out of the car!

Making a fort in the hotel room.

Watching their shows while I get the room packed up.

We had a great time with our family! The boys love getting spoiled at Gram and Granddaddys house and playing with their different toys and they love seeing their cousins. It is such a sweet time.

Swinging with Ella.

Our new tradition... everyone wrote on the pumpkin what they were thankful for. 

Before they busted into the turkey pinata. 

Abram taking a swing. 

Now its Cade's turn...

Candy Time!

Our yummy Thanksgiving meal. 

Such a wonderful fall! We had a fun, yummy and scary Halloween and a sweet, memorable and precious Thanksgiving. We are so very blessed! Now we are looking forward to the Christmas season!

Abram's 8th Birthday and Atlanta trip

This year we celebrated Abram's 8th birthday... I cannot believe it. He is growing up so crazy fast! He is an amazing 8 year old! We started the day as we always do with balloons in his room when he wakes up! This year we did glow in the dark balloons and they were a hit!

So, Abram had his bone graft surgery 6 weeks ago and he has been on a strict liquid only diet. However, on his birthday (the end of the 6 weeks) the doctors said he was able to eat whatever he wanted! Boy, did we celebrate that day... he had sausage and eggs when we got home from the doctor, Chick Fil A for lunch, a yummy cake (made by his papa) for dessert and pizza for dinner. It was such a fun day!

He has also had to be less active for 6 weeks because we wanted his hip to heal and nothing to harm his mouth, so that day we also took him to the trampoline park to celebrate. We had a blast! Look at him climb!

We do birthday parties every other year, so since this was our off year, we took Abram on a birthday trip to Atlanta!

Our first stop was at the dwarf house... where CFA got its start. It was so fun to eat here and look around.

Sitting with a statue of Truett Cathey

The boys loved the tiny door!

The next day we explored downtown Atlanta. Our first stop was at Centennial Park (where the 1996 Olympics were held). I thought the boys would be impressed that I was there during the Olympics, but they really didn't care!

We also took a tour of The World of Coke. Their favorite part was trying all the different sodas from around the world. Some were gross, but some were pretty good! They even had a cinnamon Coke for the holidays. 

On Sunday, Abram and Chris went to the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks game (the true reason for our trip).  They had a blast, mainly because the Seahawks won!

While Abram and Chris were at the game, I took Luke and Jack to the Georgia Aquarium.  This place is famous for whale sharks and they are amazing!! We could have stayed in that tunnel forever.  We also enjoyed the dolphin show, belugas and coral reefs. Of course, Luke's favorite part was the scuba divers!!

We not only had an amazing time in Atlanta, we had a great time celebrating Abram and his birthday! We love you buddy! We are thrilled we get to celebrate you and we can't wait to see what God is going to do in this upcoming year!

Abram's Journey

Right now, Abram is recovering from his sixth surgery (his fourth on his mouth, the other two were his eye surgeries). On Monday he had his first of two bone graft surgeries to repair the holes in his gums.  Cleft palate kids can either be unilateral (one hole) or bilateral (two holes), Abram has a bilateral cleft palate. Overall, Abram will have about 10 surgeries before he graduates high school until his palate, mouth and nose are totally repaired. They don't repair both holes at the same time, so we will be repeating this surgery (but on the other hole) in January.  This time they took bone marrow from his hip and put it in his gum line. The surgery itself is routine (2.5-3 hours) and one night in the hospital, but its the recovery that can be challenging. Abram cannot participate in P.E. or recess for about 4 weeks and he is on a strict liquid diet... no chewing, no sucking, no spoons, no straws for six weeks. We have one week down and five to go and I would say over all his attitude is great! We have been blessed by sweet friends who have been bringing us meals so we don't have to cook or prepare food in front of Abram and that has been simply amazing!

I saw these next two graphics on Facebook and I thought they were super helpful to explain what a cleft palate is and what Abram's mouth looks like. 

Abram has a bilateral cleft lip with full palate. The holes in his mouth run from under his nose, gums and palate. 

We were also blessed by my parents coming to help us out. They arrived Sunday afternoon. Abram was so excited about them coming that he wasn't thinking about his surgery. They helped out with Jack and Luke while were at the hospital on Monday and Tuesday and then they took care of Abram while the twins were at school during the week. It was wonderful!

Abram doesn't really worry about surgeries at all. He asks lots of questions but I think in the end, he just knows its something he has to do. I also praise the Lord for giving Abram peace that passes all understanding. It is so very evident. Not only does he not worry, but he doesn't complain.  His favorite part of every surgery is the hospital pajamas and socks. He loves to collect them!

In his new pajamas!

Feeling cozy under the warm blanket they brought him!

Waiting in his pre-op room...

The surgery lasted about 3 hours, when the surgeon came out he said that was one of the most challenging surgeries he has done in awhile.  He said there wasn't a lot of bone from his hip to work with and Abram's mouth was just difficult to work in. But he did say it went great.

Our sweet boy after they brought him into the room. His lip was huge!

Walking around that evening. He is the bravest boy I know. I love his sweet crooked smile in this picture.

Waiting to be discharged and doing great!

So, we will do all this again in January.  But first we will enjoy his birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas to the fullest and let him eat everything he wants!!

Chris and I (and Abram) can't thank you enough for your prayers, sweet text messages, delicious meals, and gifts for Abram. God has definitely blessed us with sweet friends and family who take care of us!

Abram and his brothers enjoying an ice cream... Uncle Moose and Aunt Barbara sent him a gift card!