Miracles

For those who have prayed countless times for this family; He has heard and answered.

Miracles do happen, here is proof.

Here is the sister that was ejected from the car, left gasping for air while lying on the freeway. She went from suffering internal bleeding, double collapsed lungs, a brain so swollen that part of her skull was temporarily removed, numerous surgeries, broken legs, and on life support for several weeks, to a 5 year old girl who, well, see for yourself...

All of 'em together

minus this little guy.

Welcome back, Faiza. We have missed you!

*for those who noticed the familiar backyard, yes, this is OUR backyard. But that is a whole other upcoming post, as are the California trip pictures.

Are you serious?

Do you remember this post? (If you don't, you can click here to read it.)

Well we were busy helping members of this family with their challenges that our life got a little sidetracked. Everything comes at a cost and getting a college education is no different. Last year I spent some time applying for various scholarships in hopes of getting something to help with the financial costs of attending college. Lucky for me, my work had paid off.

I had set aside the week of the due date to reapply for the scholarships.

Life happened. Between losing a baby and losing a dear friend, dedicating time to writing papers wasn't in the cards for me. Helping others is a blessing that comes during a specific time and place. Although I really wanted to reapply for scholarships, I knew that my being of service to others would have far greater blessings than any scholarship could award me.

The scholarship due date was the same day I was invited to Ahmed's burial. Money could wait, but this moment in time could not be paused, even for one second.

A week after the burial the phone rang.

"Hi, there is Jerry with the [city] Chamber of Commerce. How are you doing?"

I paused, not knowing what to think.

"So I'm calling to inform you that you are the recipient of the 2009-2010 scholarship. Instead of awarding a new recipient, we would rather award it to you instead."

*Stunned, still not knowing what to think.* Then finally, "You do realize I hadn't applied for any of the scholarship, right?"

"Yes, we know that. Usually we do not renew such scholarships, but after reviewing the current applicants, we felt it best to renew your scholarship than award it to someone else. We usually don't do this, but after talking with a few people, we're going to do it this time. We feel you desire it more than the others."

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Dear Husband was excited and said, "Congratulations honey. Why don't I take you out to dinner and, if you're lucky, you'll get some money for school while you're at it."

I also got to bring an additional guest to the event this year. Who better else to bring to such occasion than a person who has unconditionally stood behind me in all my craziness than Mrs. Barbara V?

Hey Barb, you must have been lucky too cause Dear Husband "picked up" your dinner as well! *wink*

Summer 2008

Summer 2009 - Nice to see you again, Rich!

Happy Birthday Son, but....

Happy Birthday Diggs!

Diggs turned 6 towards the end of May. Being the good mother that I am, I have not made time had time to sit down and write about the event. (In all fairness, I did have valid reasons for not posting this sooner: I had finals one week, his birthday party (round one) the following week, end of school stuff for Diggs, my scholarship/awards banquet dinner Wednesday night, and then we drove to California the very next morning. *sigh*)

Anyways, back to Diggs turning 6. As you can see for yourself, he thinks very highly of himself.

["Its my birthday! I am a star!" And a lovely cake with the number six on top because, after all, “6-year-olds are the coolest kids ever.” (I can’t wait to see what we are in for next year.)]

He got to have a “boy” party and invite a few friends to Makutu’s Island. All the boys had fun, but hands down the highlight was getting to see Tate again. (Tate changed schools shortly after the beginning of last year’s school year. I was surprised by how much they could remember about each other (they’re favorite character, favorite color, etc) even though they hadn’t seen each other for 9+ months. Surely I must have already forgotten how 6-year-olds are the coolest kids ever.)

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Diggs had begged us for months for a pet fish.

Let’s just say that I we don’t do animals (perhaps the Pollocks have enough animals for both of our families?), so I would use any excuse to postpone adding an animal to our bunch. “Ooohhh, that sounds like fun. Maybe we should wait until your birthday.”

Quickly the request shifted from wanting a fish to wanting a crab. He ended up hitting the jackpot this year and got both; a crab from us and a fish from a friend.

Meet Nacos (rhymes with tacos) the Crab.

And Batman the Beta (sorry, no pics of Batman - imagine a black beta fish with bulgy eyes).

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Unfortunately, WE (still) aren’t pet people.

Batman survived a little over a week before he went belly up.

Nacos died the following day.

Have I mentioned we are not pet people?

California Trip Part I

We arrived home safely, and I am happy to report that (most of) my hair is still intact.

Here is a sneak peek of what's to come just as soon as I find a few uninterrupted hours to organize, edit, and upload pictures.

Many more pictures (and stories) coming soon!