Five kids, with all different emotions and reactions. What do we tell them? When do we tell them? We decided we would wait until after the CT Scan so we could let them know WHAT we were looking at. So - went to TRIOS and did the CT Scans. I should tell you about all my children (I used to love that soap opera) before we go any further.
Our oldest is Dylan O'Dell .....he just turned 37 and he is the "romantic" in the family as well as having a big heart and level head. As my firstborn, HE is the favorite of all. Halo Dylan, Halo. He was in the Air Force for 10 years, then went to work in the civil side of the same type of work and ended up living in North Carolina, so he could be near our oldest grandchild, his son Ayden - a 12 year old charmer that is equally athletic and loves science (who lives in South Carolina with his mom, stepdad and little sister). While Dylan was in North Carolina, he met a wonderful girl named Jenn and they were married last year -- Jenn is a character, bright AND beautiful, and doesn't take any guff from Dylan, which is awesome to watch. I absolutely love her. Anyway -- Dylan decided he would go to work for FEMA and since Jenn just finished school as a dental hygienist, that Colorado would be an excellent place to relocate. They found a beautiful home, bought it - but the sale fell thru since there were a few conditions the owners had to fulfill but failed to. So - they moved anyway and would just rent til they found the perfect place again. A few weeks later, ta-da! They bought a house - BUT -- it was in Denton Texas. What?!? You don't have jobs in Texas......it's okay, it'll all work out. (And work out it did -- Did I tell you God is so awesome?) From North Carolina, to Colorado, to Texas....
Our second son is Justin Wayne .... he's 35 and was in the Navy for 2 years, then in law enforcement and is currently working in his dream job for the Veteran's Association in Portland OR. Joe says he is the most intelligent person he knows -- yet I just think of him as my rambunctious little son who made me find him a "furple bike" when he was 3 or had me running all over town to find "Santa Claus' real Christmas paper like in the movie Christmas Story -- green paper with white reindeer folks. Do you know how hard that is to find when you are on a mission? After that year, Santa started bringing presents UNWRAPPED and leaving them under the tree LOL - and that's the truth. His middle name was after my Dad Wayne - so he will always be Justin Wayne and he IS the favorite of all. His wife Brianne, whom I love as my second daughter, is a classic beauty, an excellent tireless mother and has had to learn of our families' sense of humor the hard way -- and made up for it herself a few times! She takes sonograms (I never get her title right) in the pediatric department at a hospital in Vancouver WA, where they live with 3 of our other grandchildren -- Peyton (a 6 year-old long blond-haired precocious beauty), Carson (her handsome 3 year old "professional" soccer player brother) and the ever-smiling/laughing baby Kenzie, who is just almost 7 months old. I won't go on about how OUR grandchildren are the brightest and most athletic and beautiful and caring children around -- it would only make you feel bad -- besides -- I'm just introducing our kids -- FOR NOW.
Our third son is Jonathon Patrick... he will be 30 in just a little over a month and is my "best hugger" and his grin can warm even the coldest of hearts! We came into each others lives on his 3rd birthday. We have had our share of ups and downs -- but what family hasn't? We have weathered the storms and I think we have come out on the other end even closer than we could have imagined. As the son I was able to choose, he is THE favorite of all. He manages a small restaurant in Spokane and will actually end up owning a restaurant or two when he and the current owner are done negotiating -- just not sure if it will be in Spokane, Bend OR or Seattle....only time will tell. He is married to an exotic girl named Annie (I call her exotic because she has raven black hair and lived in the middle east with her parents when she was a young girl) -- who is an engineer. They are both lucky enough to switch their schedules around (and Annie can work from home 3 days a week) so that our fifth grandchild, our granddaughter Mickey who is a happy-go-lucky cherub born on my dad's birthday on March 27th and is 8 months old now, can hang with mom and dad all of the time and not have to go to daycare or a sitter - tho they do have a nanny that comes in to help. One thing I really love about Annie is that she enjoys reading instruction manuals on anything and everything (that is a part of her job, so she likes to compare verbiage and details). This comes in REAL handy when we need help setting up an electric can opener or the stereo in our truck or etc -- just have Annie explain it to us!
Our last son (and fourth child) is Abraham Joseph. He is single and just turned 22. When we named him, we had not a clue as to why people would look at us and say -- Oh Abraham -- what a fine strong name -- and what is his middle name? Joseph (after his dad Joe) and people would be even more enthused. Years later, we would learn what a Biblical name we had chosen for him. He has a heart of gold and a truly beautiful singing voice -- be it a country twang song or fly me to the moon crooning....To look at him, you would think he's part lumberjack -- full beard and handsome face, but if someone needs a helping hand -- he is the first in line and ready to go. He is so much like his daddy, but his own person too, and because of this he is the FAVORITE of all. Some day, he will be a great man -- and I pray that he will be serving God in a way that honors his name. He is a tradesman -- working construction, carpentry, and the like. I think he is going to try to join the Pipefitters Union here locally, since there seems to be a desperate need for blue collar workers any more. He makes me proud to be his momma. He was our "miracle baby". I had been "fixed" for about 10 years and Joe and I decided we would like to have a child between the 2 of us - preferably a girl, since we already had 3 boys. I worked at Horizon (Alaska) Airlines at the time and we got a new insurance in the interim of choosing our final insurance company. This particular company actually PAID for us to have my tubes put back together. (Most insurances will only cover PREVENTING more kids). So here we were - in a 3 month window -- insurance will cover it -- lets have a baby! My surgery was on Justin's birthday and even tho the doctors said there was less than a 50% chance this will work, I was pregnant and due on Justin's birthday the next year! Abe chose to come on November 8th -- and was a big strong strapping boy. A miracle indeed....
Lastly. is our "bonus child" -- our eagerly anticipated baby girl, Karina Jolynn (her middle name is Joe's name combined with my name Carolynn)..she also is single and 20 years old. We were living in a 3 bedroom mobile home in West Richland, 3 energetic boys and a new baby son....we figured it wasn't "in the cards" for us to have a girl, so decided to remedy the situation by Joe getting fixed this time. At the doctors office we were asked "Do you really want to do this?" Yes -- we have 4 boys and need to find a bigger place - we ARE sure. We have a huge yard sale this weekend - getting out of the baby business and clearing out other stuff. But wait....even tho I am still nursing Abe, I think while you get snipped, I am going to go take a blood test. Sure enough -- we were pregnant! Out comes all the baby stuff (with a few tears I might add - what if I have 5 boys like Joe's folks do??) from the yard sale. Karina was born on June 6th -- and we honestly did NOT believe the doctor when he told us we had a girl until we could check her out for ourselves. At last -- my baby girl, and for this reason she is the favorite OF ALL. When she was 3 1/2 years old, she came home from daycare and said Momma, I feel Jesus in my heart and He's going beep, beep, beep. We hadn't stepped foot in church, so this was quite a feat we thought. And God has been working through Karina for years, from curing her of McCune's Allbright Syndrome to allowing her to go on fantastic mission trips and currently she is on scholarship at Adelphia Bible School in Ravensdale WA (near Maple Valley and Covington on the coast). By the way, if anyone would like to contribute to her last half of school ($4900) which is due January 3rd, you can call the school at 425-432-4293 and give your TAX-DEDUCTIBLE contribution in her name -- I know she (and us) would be ever so grateful for both monetary contributions and prayers that the Lord will continue to use her in a mighty way. She isn't sure if she will go into leadership as a youth pastor or work behind the scenes as a pastors wife and go on missions with her husband (no one in mind -- yet!) or do worship -- she has a beautiful lilting voice and sings like an angel (no -- I am NOT prejudice!).
I used to sing to Abe all the time. He was such a sweet amazing little blonde haired boy. Sometimes he would stare at me with those eyes, like I was magical. He was my favorite audience for a time in my life. A memory I will have forever.
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