Heart surgery scheduled for our littlest grandbaby

Every day we include a special prayer for little Gideon.

He was born with a hole in his heart.  

We were there when, several months before his birth, Owen and Mila received the news that there was a problem with their baby’s heart….and we were there when they received the news that their child would need open heart surgery before he reached his first birthday.  

For the past several months, almost a year now, we have stood by Owen and Mila….been with them, supporting and loving them.  We have been to countless doctor appointments with them, witnessed Gideon’s little body in utero and after his birth, and went through echocardiograms one or more times a month.  

We were with Mila for Gideon’s birth and I cut his umbilical cord!!  We were there when Mila and Owen received the news that little Gideon didn’t have any of the genetic defects that are commonly associated with a hole in an infant’s heart.  And we were there when, after he was born, the doctors told us that our little grandchild should live a normal, healthy life after the hole in his heart has been repaired.

We have seen this little baby almost every day since his birth, and have watched him grow and thrive….we have seen his first smile and saw him start to roll over.  He now talks to us as he gurgles and smiles in response to seeing us come to visit him and his older sister and two brothers.

Gideon is almost six months old.  He tries to sit up and stretch his legs as he dances in our laps. He is now big enough and strong enough to undergo the open heart surgery.  

Gideon’s surgery has been scheduled for October.

We are pleased that he has reached this point where the doctors believe that he is able to (and should) have the surgery that will repair the hole in his heart.  And we are pleased that modern medicine has advanced to a stage where a baby can have open heart surgery to fix a serious heart defect….and that after this surgery a child can live a long and healthy life.

But we are also so very frightened.  He is still just a little tiny baby.  He is Owen and Mila’s little tiny baby.  He is our grandson. 

We love this precious child.

Here are some photos of all of us taking Gideon to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital...2 hours away.  Just a few photos of a part of our lives….a part of our lives since we are parents and grandparents….an important part of our lives because we love all our children and grandchildren so very much.

We thank God for our children and for all fifteen of our precious grandchildren….and we ask that God bless, protect, and guide each and every one of them. 

Every night Gideon’s six-year-old sister Hannah, and brothers, three-year-old Vernon, and two-year-old Robert say a special prayer for God to bless Gideon and keep him safe.  This is our prayer also….to bless Gideon and keep him safe.

Soren is out of the nest….

 ….and off to college.  We’re so proud of him!

Dancing to Marina’s angelic singing….

Marina performed during the summer recital at the Ward Office Kamiyoga Art Hall in Japan, where she is attending a Japanese language University.  She was accompanied by a very talented pianist. 

She sent us a video of her performance, so of course, we danced to the beautiful music that our granddaughter has created!

 

It was heavenly hearing our granddaughter sing as we danced on the deck of our Love Nest.  Thank you, Marina!!!

Our Hike….the Strawberry Mountain Loop

This is OUR HIKE!  Three to four times a week we put our backpacks and boots on and traverse this beautiful loop on Strawberry Mountain.  We have hiked this loop for the past three summers.  And this special hike of ours is just 1/4 mile from the front door of our cabin!

 This loop hike is 1.75 miles with 225 feet of elevation.  So it’s a pretty decent climb which includes some switchbacks, both up and down.  Our average time is around 43 minutes.  Our record to complete this loop was 39 minutes and 30 seconds.  We set this record a month ago—as we are nearing 80 years old.  And we weren’t even trying for a record.  We guess that we are getting better with age…just like wine!

This morning we hiked our loop as the sun was rising over the Mogollon Rim with our little town of Pine in the valley between Strawberry Mountain and the Rim.  We call Pine our Brigadoon….the magical town in the 1954 musical Brigadoon, where every one is kind and gentle and where love flourishes.

Here are a series of photos of the infamous Vicky and Dan Strawberry Mountain Loop….

It is a joy to rise early in the morning and hike together in this little bit of paradise that God has provided for us.

A Birthday Swim Party….for our dear daughter, Mila

Hannah and Vernon both made a surprise birthday present for their Mama. They painted heart-shaped rocks at Grandma and Grandpa’s home.

And then they made white chocolate fudge with walnuts for her birthday cake!

Grandma decorated the top of Mama’s cake with heart cookies covered in chocolate frosting….

Off to the river for Mila’s birthday party….a SWIM PARTY!

Hannah carried two of the children’s chairs in her arms and baby Gideon’s chair on her head all the way down to the river….a very ingenious way to handle her unwieldy load.

Presents for Mama from her precious children….

Have you ever had your family sing Happy Birthday to you and eaten your birthday cake while you were sitting in the middle of a river—surrounded by all four of your children?  Well, Mila has!

What a marvelous birthday swim party!!!!

And waiting for the birthday girl at her home was a gift from her dear husband, Owen.  He would have liked to have been at her side for her birthday….but soon they will be together again.  And then their family will be complete!

Happy Birthday, dear daughter, our precious Mila!!!!

Married 15 years…..and forever!

Fifteen years ago Dad presided at our wedding and Mom sang two beautiful songs…”Love is a Many Splendored Thing” and “Always.”  Very appropriate, since we are together always, and we promised to love each other always.  This is a promise that we have kept.  

And love IS a many splendored thing….look at the glow in our eyes on the day we were married.  That glow still shines brightly!

Our 5th wedding anniversary….a week long cruise to Alaska.

Our 10th wedding anniversary….at an Airbnb in Strawberry.  It was so wonderful that a month later we bought our cabin in Pine, the small town next door to Strawberry.

Our 15th wedding anniversary….at the Love Nest in Pine.

Aaa

Our anniversary gifts….we gave each other a vintage musical dancing couple.  And, amazingly, when Rachelle and Ryan and Mila and Owen celebrated our anniversary last week with their children they gave us cards AND a vintage musical dancing couple.  

A 15th wedding anniversary is symbolized traditionally with crystal….but for us, 15 years is obviously symbolized with a vintage dancing couples.

Aren’t our dancing couples lovely!

We met at a dance, so of course, to celebrate our 15 years of bliss, we now have three musical dancing couples….AND we danced!

One of our songs is “A Daisy a Day.”  In this song a couple is always seen walking together, and every day the man gives his love a daisy.  When they are very old, the woman dies.  The old man still is seen every day walking to the top of the hill, and talking as if his wife is still beside him.  At the top of the hill he brings a daisy a day to his wife.

Every morning when I wake up, I find a daisy that my sweetheart has left for me.  I know that in life and in death that my Danny will always give me a daisy a day….that I will be his love forever, as he will be mine.

So today, on our 15th anniversary, my love played this special song for me….A Daisy a Day.

For our anniversary dinner, I made Danny’s mother’s signature homemade noodles with beef and green beans.  I make this special dinner from his childhood for my dear Danny on his birthday and our anniversary.  It is in remembrance of his parents and a token of my love for them and for my Danny.

He gave his dinner a “thumbs up!!!”

The perfect anniversary dessert….heart shaped cookies smothered in chocolate and homemade ice! 

It feels like we’ve been married to each other all our lives.  Maybe that is because we have such a deep and everlasting love.  Or maybe it is because we have told each other our lives stories so many times that we feel that we were there—together since we were young children….seeing and living the same experiences.  We now share the same memories.

So today we celebrated being married for 15 years…and being married forever.