Carol

There is a new sister in my ward at church, her name is Carol.  She lives in an assisted living center here in Frisco, her husband lives there too.  I have been arranging for 6 months now, rides for Carol so she can come to church.  Carol is blind.  The 1st time I brought her home I was so impressed with how nice the place was!  It was beautiful, and I told her how nice it was and asked her how she liked living there.  And she said if you have to live in a place like this I guess it is okay.  I got from this comment she probably missed living in her home.  It has been awesome getting to know her.  She is amazing.  Last Sunday as Faren and I  had the opportunity to pick her up, I was walking down the hall with her at the assisted living center, one of the guys working there said to her, say a prayer for us!  She said I always do!  I don't know much about Carol, but I do know she is not bitter or angry about her circumstances.  She is very positive and upbeat.  She loves it when she gets to visit with her grandchildren,  and even though it is difficult for her to attend church, she does.  And she can't thank us enough for helping her get there.  It has been a blessing for all of us to get to know her.

Last Saturday!

So what did you do last Saturday? You won't believe what I was doing, I hardly believe it myself. I was at home being filmed for a documentary! Yes there were 7 film crew here in my home at 8am. Camera people, sound people, a director, lighting people, it was different.

I only had about a week or less to prepare, it was overwhelming at times just thinking about it.
They wanted to tell "Staci's Story", thats the working title. I hope they keep it, I like it.

It's all about Staci and her life with Lupus and Celiac Desease. And more importantly, the help she has gotten from Bryan and her being healthy enough to have a baby.

It was emotionally draining as I thought about the past 13 years since her first symptoms, and all the dr visits and pain and suffering she had to endure. But also the anwered prayers and blessings and tender mercies from our Heavenly Father were all coming back to me.
They started out filming Faren and I, we talked about her birth, her childhood, her first symtoms and all the doctors and diagnoses and hospital and surgerys and tests, etc. We did this for hours. I was suppose to look at just the director as I was speaking, but at one moment I saw the camera man wiping away tears. At that moment I thought I must be doing something right, he gets it. They all said we did great, they were very happy with the way it went, all of them said they were all teary eyed and touched.

After lunch Staci and Andrew came over and they filmed Staci, Faren and I. They wanted to know how she felt, what she remembers, what life was like for her growing up with Lupus and then Celiac's.

Then they filmed, Staci and Andrew out on our front porch, (we got some interesting looks from some of the neighbors). It was cute to watch them together. I was very moved by Andrew and his comments about how he felt when he learned the girl he was dating and falling in love with had Lupus. And then the both of them talking about their future and new baby. It was really really good.

Later on they will film Staci and the baby and thats when they will interview Bryan and the important part he has played in all this. Most of you may not know this, but the medications Staci has been on most of her life, are powerful and dangerous. (once diagonsed with Lupus most people dont die from it they die from the complications due to the medications, and the longer you are on them the more chance of things not being good) Those drs and drugs saved her life and for that I am grateful. She would not of been able to carry a baby without them but would not of had a healthy baby with them. She was in a no win situation. Until Bryan started helping her. I know it is no cooincidence that he decided to be a chiropractor and then studied nutrition and supplements. Huge miracle.

So who is going to see this documentary. A short video with be made for Bryans website. And then a 40 minute video will be on the internet. Bryan is hoping a big tv station will see it and want to air it. Our main goal it to reach out to others who may need help. And hopefully give some hope to those who don't know who or where to turn.

It was a long day, alot of emotion, they wanted emotion and they got it. I am glad it is over, but really happy it went well. Thanks to all of you who prayed for me, I felt your prayers and I was relatively calm and able to recall the things I needed to and was as acurate as I could be with the facts. So thanks. I will let you know when and where you can view the final result.

Just About Me

Hey, thought I'd write a little about whats been going on with me lately, well since the reunion anyway. I have been able to go with Faren on a couple of business trips that were alot of fun. We spent a week in Austin Texas, and a week in AZ. I was home about a week and went to Utah with my parents. We drove out there and stayed 2 weeks. It was a great trip. It was fun to spend time with my parents and I love Utah it is so beautiful. I was home one week and to AZ to help April while Drew went on a 3 day hunting trip. That was alot of fun, spending time with the grandkids is a blessing. We went to a pumpkin patch one day, Christy and I went to the scrapbook store, a tradition we started a long time ago when I come to visit. It was fun to see April's belly growing: Christy's not so much yet. I wasn't home long from that trip that Faren had to go to Alaska for 3 1/2 weeks. I miss him terribly. He will be home Nov. 1st. We have been apart alot lately, he will be home 10 days and then have to go back for another 2 weeks. Yikes!! I have been spending alot of time with the grandkids here, always fun!! And my big kids. The grandkids and I have discovered the golf course is pretty much empty at dusk and they have so much fun running around, rolling down the hill, playing tag and anything else they can think of. Rocky, our dog, loves it too, he runs around like a wild animal, its so cute.

Scavenger update!

Ashley and her family came in first. They were super fast at finding, I thought, unusual and interesting items. Congradulations to them!! And congradulations to everyone else, it was fun watching you fly around the campsite and tents with your red and blue buckets, yes since it was the 4th of July I found red and blue buckets for everyone to put their scavenger hunt items in and take home with them. Which later on proved to be valuable in catching squirrels. The kids were so cute as they baited and trapped the little critters. By the way they always let them go!! But the thrill of the hunt was fun! The whole camp would come running to experience the thrill of the capture!! And the excited little critter as he scrambled out of the bucket! Fun times!! As for the scavenger hunt, Tanya, Adam and Abby came in 2nd and Staci and Andrew came in 3rd for the fastest time. But Christy got a prize for being the most spastic as she raced from her tent to her car to the campground, back to the car, camping items flying in her tent as she looked for the items. It was funny! Everyone did a great job and I think had fun. It sure was fun to watch. The whole time we were there was really great!! It was amazing to see how much the kids had all grown and what has been going on with our famiies. Camping was a great idea, KMarie was such a good sport and we had a lot of fun challenging each other on the hikes and whatever we did. It was awesome, I would do it all over again.

Thanks Chris and Tanya, for the memories it was amazing. And Amee I am so glad you were able to join us for as much as you did, even though you had just had surgery, you were a real trooper too!!

Cindy,Faren and Family

Scavenger Hunt

Bring your running shoes and camping items!! At the reunion I am in charge of a scavenger hunt. You don't want to miss this!! It'll be fun for the whole family and great prizes. (Well the best you can get at the dollar store!) Who will be scavenger hunt champion? We will have to wait and see.

Happy Anniversary

Today is my anniversary. Faren and I have been married 35 years. That sounds crazy!! We have had a wonderful life. I have truly been blessed. Faren has been a wonderful husband and father. We have great kids and grandkids. We love each other and have so much fun together.

The Family Reunion vs Survivor

I was thinking last night about the reunion and how some people may not be into camping all that much. So I thought I'd cheer you up!

Most of you have seen the tv series Survivor, I know some of you have Survivor parties. (you know who you are) Anyway, think of the reunion as being a contestant on survivor with a few exceptions:

1) You don't have to walk around half naked. You can bring more than one outfit.
2) You don't have to go to the bathroom in the woods, there are bathrooms.
3) You don't have 1/2 cup of rice and few bugs to eat, Chris has planned 3 gourmet meals a day.
4) You don't have to sleep on the ground, you can bring an air mattress or cot to sleep on.
5) You won't have to worry about earning amunity, noone is going to get kicked out of the camp.
6) You won't have to worry about not winning 1,000,000 dollars.

Okay it's nothing like survivor!! In fact compared to survivor it's like going to the "Four Seasons" a 5 diamond resort.

Don't you feel better. Just so you know Chris had nothing to do with this message I take full responsability.

Love you all, Cindy