Early Summer Happenings 2017

Sometimes life catches me in its tide, and I just have to go with it.

LE in burgundy is one of the society ladies in "Pollyanna"

 

Joe's first spring recital.  I just love to listen to all of the kids play.

The younger kids finished school at the end of May.  There were music recitals at school and two for Joe's violin group.  There was a play that LE was in.  There was a graduation ceremony that both kids played instruments in (Joe on violin and drums).  The school also had a spring concert in which both kids played solos, and LE sang a solo.

JJ in middle hamming it up as the youth group gets ready to head to Florida

JJ finished 11th grade, went to CamPossible as a volunteer and is just returning from a week in Florida with her youth group today.  In another week she may go to high school camp at Camp MennoHaven.  In August she will be a Leader in Training at Camp Oasis in Wisconsin.  She wants to try public high school for her 12th grade year, which will be a wild transition with all her health issues, especially since she has never experienced normal public high school.

CC came home from Bluffton University and is experiencing her own set of health issues.  I think they are getting in better control, but she has seen three specialists (gyne, cardiology and neurology).  We have ruled out seizures with a 5 day inpatient EEG ($30,000!).  We have found help with her horrible periods with hormone therapy she can tolerate.  We have found a medication that takes care of her chronic daily headaches.  She is still having a lot of anxiety issues and dysautonomia symptoms.She is doing physical therapy, which hopefully will help her back pain.

I'm second from the right with the scissors.

Joe and LE with a friend at Walnut Days showing off their balloon creations.

On June 19, we opened the Perry Memorial Walnut Clinic.  That has been an exciting adventure!  Last weekend, July 1, we had an open house, grand opening and parade complete with ribbon cutting  ceremony that went along with Walnut Days.  The community seems very pleased to have us there.

LE and Joe with DH after fishing contest.
LE won largest fish overall for the girls and largest catfish in her age category

On Monday, July 10, we will close on the house that we are buying.  We've been living in a pretty primitive cabin in some woods.  There is one window air conditioner and wood floors, walls and ceilings.  It is dark (which helps it stay cool, but is hard on the girls with depressive tendencies).  There is a large hole (5 inches across) that leads to the crawl space and if we don't cover it with the litter box, big spiders make their way into our home at night.  Don't get me wrong, however, I am really grateful to have a place to live since we had to leave the camp we've been helping to staff at the beginning of the summer to make room for the new facilities director and his family and other summer staff.  Our new house wasn't available yet and we otherwise would have found ourselves homeless.

This is the agreement DH had to read over and sign for his C-Pap machine!

Speaking of such things, DH is done at camp now.  It was determined this spring that he would never be released from restrictions on his ankle to be able to do his job as facilities director.  He gracefully bowed out.  He went before a legal advocate (acting like a judge) on the worker's comp claim that they were trying to settle out of court.  The advocate didn't feel like the insurance company was giving DH a fair deal, so he refused to sign it.  He encouraged Tim to get a lawyer who can help get at least future medical coverage for when the ankle replacement needs to be redone in 10-15 years.