My Own Bed

Home is always best!  I love my own bed. 

Now camping for a week... finally some family time!!!  My favorite people.

Then back for volleyball and then Ashley's Wedding... how exciting.

2188 miles

We are HOME.  Thank you all so much for praying for and supporting us.

Homeward Bound

Half way home.. can't wait to be home tomorrow.  Miss Abby and Craig so much.

Last Test

Monday Morning

We are back at Mayo this morning for some more testing... then more testing tomorrow.

Emma is having a hard time with the fact that she is missing a volleyball camp this week, but we are so very thankful to be here and get some answers.

We are looking forward to heading home tomorrow afternoon.  It will be so good to see Craig and Abby and sleep in our own beds!

Feeling "Welcome"

Today We added 2 states to our list.  We now have a total of 4.  It took us 4 or 5 hours of driving around in Iowa to finally found the Welcome to Iowa sign on our way out!!


We saw the Mississippi river, found a fantastic antique/junk store, then we drove and drove and drove.  We were lost in Iowa for a few hours.  It was our Saturday ADVENTURE!!

Friday

Was a big day.. Abby took 4th place in Jr. Showmanship with Storm.  So proud of her and all of her hard work.

Emma had tests today and Dr visits.  She also had a partial day in a wheelchair.  Things seem to be back and on track tonight.

Ready for a fun weekend

We Don't Have To Move

We thought we were going to need to switch from our hotel to a new one but there was a cancellation and we don't have to go!!!

Emma is having her last test of the day.... then we are off till Monday!

Go Abby and Storm!

Today Abigail road her 2 year old horse storm at the fair in her colt to maturity project.  She was awarded  the grand champion ribbon.
So proud of her and all the hard work she has put in over the last 2 years.  Also a special thanks to all the people who have helped with this project. 

A Day of Rest

We are about done for today.  Just waiting on a subscription.  Once we pick it up we will be able to be done until Friday morning.  We are looking forward to a day with no real plan.  Emma is getting tired.  The doctors and the tests wear her out pretty fast.

It has been so fun to hear about Abby and Craig's adventures at the fair today.  She has gotten one red ribbon and one blue ribbon.  So very proud of her hard work.

Missing the Fair

We are here.... supporting our local 4H.... we love you guys!!!

New Timeline

Our plans have changed a bit.  We have a few added appointments and tests and so we will be here until next week.  We should be heading home Tuesday afternoon.  Everything is going well and moving forward.  We are getting lots of answers and working towards a good recovery plan.

Thank you again to All of our faithfully prayers... you are keeping us afloat!

Counting Blessings

We have found in this journey that one of the frustrating parts has been that there is no hard fast answers.  Now we are here at Mayo and we see the others around us that have found answers.  Many of those answers have very hard and painful realities that follow.

We are still searching for answers and we know there is much work ahead for Emma and our family but we are seeing the many blessings in our situation.  The gift of a supportive family, friends, and community has been amazing.  The people who are supporting us through prayer and the continued blessing of no permanent problems is so overwhelming.

And so today we have been reminded to count our blessing and see how God is so graciously providing for each need as it comes.

G.I.

So... we are now scheduled for a scope and blood work.  Also some stomach biopseys to see what her stomach acid is doing to her lining.
Some of it will happen today... the scope will be Wed or Thursday morning.

Thanks Lola!

Thanks to a very a special physical therapist who did a console with us we feel so much better about the diagnosis of conversion.  Hope and answers can come from the most amazing places.  Thank you Lord for Miss Lola.

First Appointment

Things are going well with the appointments.  They believe what she has is conversion disorder.  We start in 1 hour to see specialists about the best way to deal with this disorder.

Ready or not....

Here we are!

OH...and we found huge corn!!!

We have arrived

 We are here.... so glad to be out of the car.  We are settling in and then we will take some time to go look around town a little.

We had a fun day today and tomorrow the hard work of doctoring will be upon us.

We miss home, but we are very thankful for this opportunity to get to the bottom of Emma's issues.

Mall of America

We spent 5 hours at the Mall of America.  We shopped till we dropped!  Mostly we walked... A LOT!

We walked each of the 4 floors and also sent through the amusement park.  Fun time together.

Sunday

We are up.... like the beautiful sunshine!!!  Emma is refusing me let me borrow her toothbrush and mine is in the van.  I even used the "I gave birth to you" line... she does not care!

We are about 100 miles from Rochester.  This morning we will have breakfast, go to the Mall of America, get tired of being around too many people, and then land in Rochester.

MN is beautiful.  We are so used to a land of evergreen trees and all of these deciduous trees are beautiful.  Emma keeps telling me that we are driving through the enchanted forest!

Just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for praying for us.  We need it more than ever.  We are both excited and nervous to be at Mayo.  We know that all is in God's hands.

forgot 2 important stops

Largest Holstein in the world....




and.....



Largest Sandcrane in the world!!!!

Minneapolis... finally!

We finally made it to Minnesota.

Then we went to dinner and Emma had the worlds tinniest pie....

 

 

I do believe that we have had enough of driving for one day!!!

Took us 4 tries and a LOT of backtracking to get to a hotel.  They had a room even though there is world cup (little girl) soccer in town.


We are now in our room and NOT going to leave!!  Too many people.


We plan to go to bed... get up... have breakfast... hit the Mall of America... then we will head to Rochester.

All in all, it was a good day.  Missing Craig and Abby!!!

512 miles to go

Road trip

Tomorrow

Emma and I are packed and ready.  The oil has been changed.  The fair has been planned for.  Everything seems to be as in place as it can be.

Watch out Mayo... here we come!!

One Week

We have 1 week.  One week to have everyone ready for NEXT week.  We are cleaning, mowing doing laundry, finishing up last minute projects, packing horse projects, finding all medical records, and the list goes on.

Abby has been faithfully riding her horse every day.  He is doing so well and I am so excited for her to ride at the fair.   She has put so much work in with Storm this year.  Colleen Shipp and Audrie McRae have helped her so much this year.  We are so thankful they have been willing to step in and lend us their "horse" sense!  Thank you both.

Emma has had a fairly uneventful last week and a half, which is always nice.  I have all of her medical records together and we are getting ready for the big trip.

Sunday I did bible study with the Jr. High and HS group and it was on Gods faithfulness.  I think God was speaking directly to me.  I have been reminded, even when I don't deserve it, that God is faithful.

We have been so blessed with family, friends, church family, and community that have stepped in to support us and to pray.  If I ever forget to tell you, thank you, and we love you all so much!