Wednesday update on Missy

We had our optometry appointment and all went well.  He said he saw no damage to her eye and has taken her off the eye drops we were giving her to help control the virus and damage.  Praise the Lord as that was a huge relief.

She is still very tired and has a headache a good part of the day.  Our doctor said this was normal unfortunately and she may have to deal with it for awhile.  She is really tired of not feeling well and having to lay around and rest.

Please pray that the pain and tiredness would subside soon.  We have an appointment with the doctor who took care of her while in the hospital on Friday so we should no more of her prognosis.

Thanks for the prayers and emails.  You all are an encouragement.

Home at last!!

Missy finally got checked out today around 1:00.  We are back home with a bunch of medicines to take and an eye doctor appointment tomorrow and another appointment on Friday with her main doctor who did the hospital care.  She has been told to take it easy for awhile and try to resist getting back into her busy normal lifestyle - which at this point she is not up to anyway. 

Continue to pray for restful and quiet days in the village which is not always easy(the quiet part).  Also that the eye doctor tomorrow would find nothing of concern. 

We, the kids and I, are a little worn out as well driving back and forth into town each day.  We got home last night at 6:00 and then went to our church meeting at 7:00 and after some food and fellowship did not get home until 10:00.  Jerod, Alex and I are off to a kid's birthday party right now for more food and fellowship.  We have a lot of people we went to catch up with and things that need to be done but we are going to try to pace ourselves.  It has definately not been the smoothest transition back from stateside but we are blessed that the village and especially our fellow believers have welcomed us back and we sense no uneasiness from anyone. 

PICTURES FROM THE HOSPITAL

In Annie's boredom at the hospital she began to give makeovers and hair stylings to Jerod(below) and Alex.  Notice the pigtails.

Beautiful Missy and Annie lounging in the hospital bed

Greg updating the blog with the latest, hot off the press news.

missy update for Monday

Unfortunately, Missy woke up not feeling as well as yesterday and the doctor decided this morning it would be best to stay another day.  Thus, we are hoping for Tuesday to be the departure day. 

She has gotten better throughout the day as the headache she had earlier has gone away.  Her eye was examined by the opthalmologist today.  A few days ago there were a few areas on her cornea that he wanted to check again but today he said all looked much better.  He wants to schedule another appointment with us once she is discharged to make sure all is well.

The hospital food is interesting here with rice and chicken the main course.  She even got a ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast the other day.  They brought up a typical Mexican breakfast dish of chiliquiles(cut up baked tortillas with salsa, sour cream and cheese on top).  They are very good but did not look good to a sick patient in the morning so she rejected them for a cheese quesadilla.  The hospital has obviously come across a good batch of cantelope so she has requested this for almost every meal.  It comes cut up and ready to eat.

Enough of my digressions, continue to pray for her head pain and that we will get to go home tomorrow.

missy update for Sunday

Missy definately took a turn for the better today.  You could tell in her voice that she had much more energy.  We enjoyed a Pizza Hut pizza while we unfortunatly watched the Mexican soccer team lose to Argentina today in the World Cup. 

We received some encouraging news today as the doctor said she might possibly be able to go home tomorrow.  It is not for sure but there is a decent chance.  We were told initially she would be in the hospital for 5 days or longer so we will definately take 4 days and be happy with it.

She needs to see the eye doctor again tomorrow so continue to pray that he will find nothing that concerns him.  She was finally able to open her eye today about half way without having to force it open so the swelling has gone down considerably. 

Thanks again for your notes and emails and we hope to have Missy back home again soon.  We, the rest of the family, really need her back and would love to get into a boring routine of a lifestyle once again.

Pretty Woman

Doesn't look that bad, but... it is. Please keep praying! I love you all!! Missy

missy update

After asking a lot more questions and doing my own internet research, we have a much better understanding of Missy's condition.  She has the herpes zoster virus commonly known as shingles to us but the doctors here in Mexico never use the word shingles or anything comparable which is why it took me a day to get a more recognizable name for her condition.  This virus sits dormant in all people who have had chicken pox and comes out in around 2-3 people per 1000(medical website statistic) Typically, shingles on the body causes pain and irritation for weeks if not longer and can go away on its own or be treated with some oral or topical medication.  Missy's has broken out on her face and eye area which is more serious and needs to be treated more aggresively as eye damage can occur.

She is experiencing much less pain today with the medication she is taking but still has swelling around her left eye.  The eye doctor came and examined her today and is going to be keeping watch but did not see anything that worried him much.  He started her on some drops to help with the virus. 

Continue to pray for her rest, quick healing and especially that the virus would not cause problems for her eye.  She will probably to be here through early next week at least as it is kind of a wait and see period right now.  We have had some visits from other M friends who live close by and some of our friends from the village.  We are blessed to have good friends who are like family to us.  

I will update more tomorrow.

PRAYER FOR MISSY NEEDED

Please be in prayer for Missy as she is suffering from the herpes facial virus.  This has caused swelling and pain in her forehead and a swollen shut left eye.  The only tretment for this is an intravenous medicine which may keep her hospitalized for 5 days.  She was checked in today around 1:00pm.  She is really miserable so we are asking for prayer for her pain, the medicine and wisdom for the Mexican doctor who so far has been great to our family.


We also know the Bible is clear that spiritual warfare exists and we have just returned and may be on the receiving end of some of it.  Pray that this will not discourage our family and that God will receive the glory from this difficult episode in our life.


I will keep you up to date over her progress in the next few days.

He is so Good!

So, If you ever wondered if there really is a God, wonder no more. I am here to tell you, if He cares about us and the simple little  pleasures of one tiny little red headed girl like I know He does, He is definitely real! He showed me that on Thursday when we shopped for groceries. The ONE thing Annie was really going to miss was chocolate poptarts. When we lived here before Wal-mart didn't carry any Great Value brands and since we have been gone, they have started! Yay!! So, when I saw these poptarts, I knew, HE cares, even about poptarts!

All over the world, except in the US, the big thing right now is the World Cup. It is BIG stuff! Yesterday Mexico played France and I am pretty sure the entire country shut down to watch this game. We were in the nearest city shopping for furniture and took time out to watch the game on the flat screen tv at McDonalds. We didn't think there would be many people there. HA were we ever wrong. There were at least 60-70 people watching it. It was so funny. Well, Mexico won the game and the entire country went wild with excitement. I mean, WILD! They beeped their horns for at least 2-3 hours after the game was over and they were playing in fountains and driving with flags hanging out of their cars. It was interesting to see! You can see in the photo above.

Well, we had hopes of having our satellite dish hooked up before last night but that didn't happen. We think it will be up and running tomorrow. So although Alex got to see the soccer game but he didn't get to see the Celtics and Lakers play. So, he had to watch a play by play on the computer and listen to the announcers to know what was happening. Not perfect, but he did it! He was sad to see the Lakers win, but handled the loss well! I would say he thinks that watching a game like that really is suffering for Jesus! ;o)

We have now gotten our house in pretty livable conditions. Things are almost back to normal. ALMOST! We went to our church tonight. It was great! Really wonderful to be a part of such a great group of people. They are such precious people and they love us just as much as we love them. They fixed us a wonderful meal. It was our favorite and we sat and listened to the service. They did it all and we just enjoyed it all. They have grown in ways that only He could orchestrate. It is beautiful to see. Greg and I both felt like proud parents watching our kids do something really wonderful. We are so thankful for the way He has guided us and them. It has been perfect. The best part was that throughout the entire 2 hour service all you could hear was Annie laughing in the background. She played with 2 of her old friends. They played and laughed and made a craft and she was sooo happy. I don't know if she was talking, but she was by herself (which means she wasn't connected to my hip) with her friends and she was happy. That is and answer to your prayers. Thank you! Please keep praying. We love you all! Missy

Great day!

Tuckered out

Annie loves home-made tortillas. Absolutely  LOVES them!

Happy to be at the pool!

Alex takes care of his lil sis!

Our newly paved road into our village. This is WAY better than it was! ( it doesn't all have medians)

My friend, Barbara, she is a TRUE friend, one you can count on for anything!

Annie playing by herself. Look at her feet. Those aren't black socks!

Happy to be playing soccer again.

Hi friends,

I wanted you to all see how great our God is! Today started off with our usual 30-40 minute drive to our village. However, while we were in the states they widened the main road to our village and now it is MUCH quicker. We made it there in about 15 minutes. The main reason it took so long before was because we usually got behind a very slow truck or many slow trucks and you couldn't pass on that road because it was too dangerous. So, we were very blessed to find that this blessing has caused our tirp into town to be a lot less timely.

Once we arrived into our village we went straight to work cleaning as fast as we could as a family.  We were pleasingly surprised that there were no mice/rats. Well.... I take that back, there was one that was dead in a trap and had been there for a VERY long time, but other than that, no sign of any rodents! PTL!!! We just knew it wouldn' t be long before the knocks on our door came and our cleaning would be forced to a halt. About 2 hours into our cleaning my good friend Barbara knocked on our door and just like I would, she says, "Oh I have missed you, don't look at me, I've gained weight and oh how I've missed you. Can I help you clean?" So sweet and so funny!

So I declined on her  help and said yes when she offered to fix us lunch. So a few hours later we went over to her home and had the best tacos in the world! I mean Taco Bell ain't got nothin' on her! After we ate she followed us over to our home and started right to work. Boy was I happy to have her. She cleaned my windows better than they have been cleaned in 4 years! She has promised to come back tomorrow. Yippee!

We saw a few other friends briefly but told them we could visit as soon as our house was back in order. Amazingly, they understood. That isn't cultural. Then the boys had friends arrive as soon as school was out and they picked up right where they left off. It was great. I mean really great! I was so happy to see them playing and having fun like they had never left. They didn't want to leave to come back to the hotel. Yay God!

So, the blessing for Annie would be that she was happy to be home. She found toys that she had forgotten all about and she just liked being in a familiar place. However...... she was lonely. She played by herself all day while we worked and cleaned. I am sure that will change as soon as the little girls realize she is there, but for now, it was hard. Especially because she is still very timid about Spanish. I hate that she has forgotten it all. I know she understands it all, she is just unsure about it all and has no confidence. I may end up starting some school with her early. Spanish, anyway.

So, as soon as we got back to the city we dropped Greg off at the phone company to fight out our problems and we went back to the hotel for a swim. That made Annie happy! Then we ate and now they are all snoring. We will be back out at the village tomorrow. We have phones and SHOULD have internet in the village by Thursday.  So if you don't hear from me for a few days, it is only because we are waiting patiently for internet. Thanks for following our journey. Please continue to pray. Especially for the little girl we call Annie. She is holding up well but I am hurting for her! Love you all! Missy

A day in the life...

Hi friends! I wanted to update you all on what we are doing. Today our plan was to have our phones reactivated and then head out to our village and start cleaning our home. Hmmmm..... We sat at the phone company  for 2 and a half hours and still didn't have our problems resolved. We left defeated and by that time we didn't have time to go to the village. We were told to come back in the afternoon and they would hopefully have our phone problems solved. So, Greg returned a few hours later only to find we still have no phones.

We are going to try again tomorrow. However, we are going to go to our village tomorrow and start the cleaning process so that hopefully soon we will be able to stay there.  We really need phones before we are able to stay out there over night, so if you could pray for that, we would appreciate it. The hotel we are staying in is wonderful. However, after being together in a small room for 5 days now, we are getting a little cabin fever and starting to turn on one another. ;o) Not really, but I for one have been very snappy and Annie has been quite the crankster as well. The boys just crave being able to run, jump, wrestle and be loud. Greg, well, he just remains the same, calm, cool, and collected. However, he doesn't like it when we don't jump out of bed, bright and early in the morning like he does! :o) So, please pray we would have patience with each other and we would get settled soon.

We did have a wonderful reunion last night with some old M friends and that was fun. We were able to talk about what He is doing through them and what doors He is opening for them as well. We are happy to have fellow M's in the area (for the time being) to pray with and share our burdens with. Thank you all for lifting us up during this transition time as it can be hard on our family! Love you all! Missy

Difference in Cultures

Okay, since these things are fresh on my mind I had to write them down. There are many things that we find so refreshing about the Mexican culture. These are some of our observations.

1.When Mexicans go out to dinner, they sit and are engaged in active conversation throughout the meal. While we were in the states we noticed that many times when we would be out to dinner that some Americans don't talk at all when they are out to dinner. If Mexicans didn't want to talk, they just wouldn't go out with each other. They don't fake their relationships.

2. When you go to a Mexican restaurant, count on it being VERY loud with lots of music and people chanting or singing or whatever they are moved to do at the time. They are festive and wide open! Very much like myself! :o) This is hard for my dear husband!

3. One thing we like is they put children first in restaurants. They have play places everywhere. I mean, Chilis, Outback, ( these restaurants are not near us, but they are in Mexico) just about any place that serves food has a play place. Even if it is just a swing set that they have fit inside their restaurant. This morning for breakfast we went to the hotel's breakfast buffet. They had the Disney channel on and they were giving all the children balloons. Most all restaurants serve children their food as soon as it is ready, even if the adult's food isn't ready for 10-15 more minutes. They feel that if the kids are happy everyone will be happy!

4. This is it for now, cuz I gotta  go. But, the service in Mexico is bar none fantastic! They treat everyone like they are royalty! They just do a great job of service when serving your food, cleaning your room, washing your car, whatever it is, they do it with a smile and do it well. They are happy to have a job and they do their jobs well! We could learn something from them! Me included! Have a Happy Sunday! Love, Missy

We're here!

Last night with my parents. We spent it at our favorite place...Chick-fil-a.

My sister, Meredith

My niece, Marissa

Mama Say and Honey

MamaSay and Annie

Alex and Mason (cousins)

The Last Supper. I tried the new Spicey Chicken Sandwich at Chick-fil-a and loved it. HOWEVER...

I ended up eating half of it and ordering a regular one because I wanted that to be my last taste! :o)

Honey and Annie at Chick-fil-a

The "M" House

The living room

The kids room

Adjoining room for me and Greg. Plus the maid. She was embarassed it wasn't cleaned for the photo.

Our family and everything we own, just about.

Annie was happy to see a friendly face, Aunt Sherry.

The road leaving Mexico City, notice the sign for Best Buy? The other one says, "Go Visa"

The toll roads are quite nice as you can see here.

This is the view from the road. Love my camera.

Greg was driving about 70 and I took that through my window!

When we visited Indiana last year, I loved visiting Amish country. Well, I must say,

I really loved seeing these sights today as well. A little different, but neat just the same.

I always thought that Mexico was dry and flat. As you

can see here we are surrounded by mountains and this is a huge lake.

This is how most homes are built in the cities.

In the cities you always see kids and adults doing all kinds

of things to earn money. This kid was dressed like a popular comedian and he was

juggling fire sticks. Anything for a few pesos.

I was trying to show a few things here. One was how everyone rides in the

back of pickups, even tiny babies. The other is that this is

just a two lane road. However this way of driving doesn't worry anyone.

Now those are chips and THAT is salsa! Oh, forget the main course,

I could have just eaten that and been happy! It was all natural!

Alex was happy with his Jamaica, a popular fruit juice made from a flower.

Jerod was happy with his freshly squeezed OJ!

A sign for sore eyes!

That's AMORE!! Pizza Hut here makes pizza better

than any pizza we have ever eaten. It is soooo good. Fresh and the crust

is good and fluffy and we could go on, but well, you have to eat it

to believe it!

These are called Que-papas. They are potatoes filled with cheese and jalepenos. They don't

serve them in the US, or not that we ever found. So, Alex and Jerod were

happy to see them delivered! We are enjoying our first night back. Please pray for a good transition.

We have a lot to do before we are settled back into our home. However, for now we

do have internet, so I will keep you updated as much as possible!

Yay! We made it! Chapter two has begun! I can't tell you how blessed we have been over the past two days! Everything has gone perfectly! I mean from the start of the days to the ending of the nights. God has been soooo good. We have never traveled with such ease as we did on Friday. We were blessed by perfect airport employees, perfect pilots, perfect weather, you name it, it was perfect!

We arrived in Mexico City yesterday and had a great night sleep at our company's house. They have a house set up for teams that come in or for people like us that come in and need a place to stay when they fly in. It is a wonderful resource for us to have. We are blessed! I often talk about this "M house" to people and decided I would include some photos so you could see where we stay when we fly into the country. Then we headed to a city that is near where we live. I have included pictures so you could see what we see when we travel to our home from Mexico City. (which is about 6 hours east of us) Some of you want to know what the roads are like, what the view is like and things of that nature, so I tried to capture that for you.

We stopped at a restaurant we have never eaten at before and were happy to see some familar sites. Ya know when we left the states it was all about food, now that we have arrived here, it is once again, all about food. I am hoping that after my first week back here The Biggest Loser doesn't try to recruit me. The last month has been brutal. But.....I have enjoyed every last brutal morsel! :o) I guess I will start trying to lose again after we re-aquaint ourselves with the familiar tastes! I am missing all of you but happy to be back where I know God has called us! Love you all!! Missy and family