Even grown ups can play!

Here's a picture Bruce sent us of his new golf partner.

Snow Day!

Today the big girls headed off to school and in two hours were back home. We've had a nice snowfall today and they have all enjoyed playing in it. We even took Ella out for a little while. She actually got mad when we came back in. Caroline got mad at me for taking her picture(she hates having her picture taken) and came after me with a snowball. Fortunately, I got behind the door in time!

AWAKE!

Below is an update on Tricia Lawrenson. If it's the first time you've heard of her scrool down to read more of her story under Prayer Requests;

FINALLY! Tricia is fully awake! She is still weak and very tired/sleepy, but her mind if fully awake! Still having a hard time focusing her eyes, and she can't do much with her hands, but we're having a much easier time reading her lips.I just spent about an hour with her (they're doing her chest PT right now). When I arrived, she told me that she wasn't clear on where she was and why she was there. The last she remembers, she was still down on her usual hall (7800). She even though that she was in a different hospital. I assured her that she was at Duke, and spent about 10 minutes giving her the outline of the past 3 weeks.Then, I showed her The Video of Gwyneth and we both spent some time crying tears of happiness together. We also watched a few minutes of the video of Gwyneth that my parents shot for us last Wednesday. I hadn't seen it yet as I was waiting to watch it with her. I'll be posting that video here soon.I also showed her the map of everyone who has been thinking about and praying for her, and told her that we've had about 200,000 hits and about 4000 comments since she went to sleep 9 days ago...she was as amazed as I have been.The Road Ahead is certainly not easy, but we've got this big hurdle behind us (waking up).Gwyneth Rose is doing well. Her white blood count was up, so they sent a culture to check for an infection, and resumed her antibiotics just to be safe. Otherwise, she was sleeping peacefully when I checked on her a few minutes ago. Her CF screening should return tomorrow, and the scan of her head revealed no bleeding (can't remember if I mentioned that).Thank you so much! I'll be spending more time with Tricia today, and I'll be sure to tell you all about it.NatePS. I just talked with My Dad and Andy and they told me that this blog has been blocked at our OBX hospital because too many people were spending too much time checking for updates... (that makes me smile)

you can check Nate's blog for more frequent updates: http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

Bells and Balls

Ella got a set of Bells from my sister which she just loves. They came with a little song book and we have been enjoying playing the tunes together. She also got a ball pit. Maybe it's the fact that she's been around volleyballs and soccer balls since she came home from the hospital, but this kid LOVES balls!

And Christmas continues...

We continued the Christmas celebration at my parent's house in the afternoon. There we met up with my sister, Tina, her husband, Todd, and their children, Ashley and Alex. It makes for a pretty full house. Ella fell asleep so she missed out on opening presents with everyone, but that just meant that she was center stage when it was her turn!

Christmas Morning

Caroline got a Nintendo DS that she had been asking for for a while.

Ella had a fabulous Christmas morning. She was so excited to see all those presents under the tree! One of her favorite gifts from Santa was a Barney dinosaur doll. She just loves that thing. It's so interesting to see how much she loves the show as well! All of the other girls loved Barney when they were little, too. One day I was flipping through the channels and he was on. Ella was mesmerized. She's been hooked ever since. Having a little one around sure does make Christmas even more special.

Christmas Eve

Ella loved this musical Advent Calendar

David Enjoying his Eric Clapton Autobiography

Gift Certificates are always a good thing for teenagers!

We always celebrate Christmas Eve with David's family. This year we gathered at our house for dinner and exchanging of gifts. The girls always look forward to being able to open gifts and to spend some time with Oma Jean(David's Mom). Jean's friend Bruce was here as well and the girls always get a kick out of him!

Prayer Request

The following are bits a pieces of a couple posts from another blog. Please read and then join us all in prayer for this couple and their baby girl.

Nathan & Tricia Lawrenson are friends of a couple from a church that we have visited. Nathan currently serves as the Worship Pastor for Nags Head Church & Tricia has faithfully served in the children's & youth ministry. They are a precious, amazing couple w/a passion for God, a love for people, & a zeal for life.Tricia was born w/Cystic Fibrosis & has spent her life in & out of hospitals for breathing treatments, physical therapy, etc. She has had increasing complications of late. In the fall, she was placed on the double lung transplant list as her lungs are growing increasingly worse & beginning to fail. However, in September, major complications came into play as they learned Tricia was pregnant. She no longer qualifies for the transplant at this time. Doctors told them the "smartest" choice would be to abort. But they boldly chose life & trusted that God makes no mistakes, He is fully aware of the timing of it all & gave them this baby. Her pregnancy completely removes her candidacy for the much-needed double lung transplant. As her pregnancy progresses, their baby girl presses up more & more on Tricia's lungs, making it even more difficult for her to breathe. Tricia has now developed gestational diabetes as well. She is as high risk as you can get! Tricia is now 24 weeks pregnant & in Duke's ICU. They were hoping to make it to 26 weeks (January 18) before delivering their baby girl as it would double her chance of survival. But as their little one's chances increase, each day takes a greater toll on Tricia's body. So, they have decided to go ahead with the C-section as soon as possible. Tricia has had increasing difficulty over the past few days & is to the point that she can no longer carry their little girl without causing both of their health to fail. She's had many problems with her heart & lungs over the past 48 hours. Since she is 24 weeks along, it is possible for their little girl to survive & continue growing outside of the womb with Neonatal Intensive Care. However, this will not be an easy procedure for Tricia as her body is already incredibly weak.Nathan's blog explains it all. Please visit their blog to read more and stay up-to-date. And join the many people praying for