Anna Grace - August 8

Party, party, party....... yep, we went to our first party on Saturday night as a FAMILY! We have some friends who are leaving in just a couple weeks to move to China for several years, so we attend their going away party on Saturday night. In total there were 15 children (Anna Grace included) and 10 adults. It was so nice to see friends again and to get to introduce Anna Grace for the first time to our friends and their children. She stayed on Mom's hip for most of the night, and really did pretty well considering all the excitment that was going on. We didn't get home until 10:00 pm.... which for us is LATE, but it SOOOOO worth it. What sweet memories we are going to treasure from that night! Zachary was just having so much fun playing with all the children... he talked about the party all day Saturday leading up to it and throughly enjoyed himself and played himself EXHAUSTED. It is so nice to be out of quarantine, I almost feel "normal"... almost.

We went to Sam's Club today as a family. I'm not brave enough to put Anna Grace in a shopping cart, but she & Zachary stayed in the sit-n-stand stroller with Dad while I shopped. To most people a trip to Sam's might not even be worth mentioning, but to us every outing is worth mentioning... being out amongst people is a joy.

So... we have a couple of big things coming up this week. Anna Grace sees her cardiologist on Tuesday for an echo, EKG and chest x-ray. Please be praying that she will cooperate for these tests. If she doesn't, then we will have to schedule a sedated echo as an outpatient procedure at the hospital. They have to get a good look at her heart and it can't be put off any longer. Also on Tuesday we make the switch from Portagen to regular baby formula. We are praying that her lymphatic system is healed and that there won't be any problems once we make the switch. Tuesday is a big day. We are trusting the Lord and His will, but we are prayerfully asking for his mercy on Anna Grace.

One more thing I have to mention... the very sweet college student, Miss B, who has been helping us out all summer with Zachary during our hospital stay and many doctor visits is going to be leaving to head off to college. While we are excited for her we are truly, truly going to miss her. She has become such a part of our family and has blessed us beyond measure. We are going to miss you Miss B.

As for our new home..... we are still in the process of updating it. It is slow going as Brian works on it little by little as he can after work. Maybe another 4 weeks???? We'll see.

I will be sure to update the BLOG on Tuesday after Anna Grace's appointment to let you all know how her little heart is doing. Thank you all for continuing to be so faithful to follow our BLOG and pray for Anna Grace.