A Few Favorite Pics from 2006

Joey & The "Tic"

I called the pediatrician this morning and she said that Joey's excessive blinking IS pretty unusual (based on the fact that he has no other symptoms)... but that she thinks it's *most likely* just a "tic". She told me to keep an eye on him (no pun intended) and try to take notice of any "events" that may coincide with the excessive blinking - ie, does he blink more when he's tired, after he's eaten, when he's watching TV, etc... She said that once we're insured again and Joey goes for his 3 yr check up (in Feb) that they'll want to examine him closer then. If he's still blinking like crazy in 2 months they'll want to send him to a neurologist to see if there's anything else going on. Until then, I should just watch him and take note of his blinking unless any other symptoms occur. Thank you for all the prayers!

Out like a tsunami

The old saying for the month of March is "In like a lion, out like a lamb". But for our family, the year 2006 was more like "In Like a Lion, Out Like a Tsunami!"

I look at what we've "survived" this past year and I can't even begin to describe the feelings I have - amazement, pain, grattitude, humility. In some ways I can't believe we survived so much in one year. In other ways, I know how GIGANTIC and MIGHTY our God is and I'm not surprised at all. With Him ALL things are possible. I guess we just don't expect to go through "ALL things" in one year! :>)

I say that 2006 is "out like a tsunami" because the closer we come to the end of this year, the harder the rain falls, the quicker it rises, and the faster is seems to be spinning us out of control. Right now we are in St Louis. We came up here to spend a week with our families for Christmas. We've been here almost 2 weeks so far with who- knows-how-many more days to come. Rick is now officially off of his "Active Duty" orders. His paperwork is messed up. Nobody knows what to do with him. He still needs knee surgery. And the Army is "shut down" for Christmas Exodus until 3 January. So, there isn't anything that he can do right now but hurry up and wait. At this point, we are out of money, out of time and out of ideas. I'll spare you the details, but there has been alot of confusion dealing with all of this. So many options - and yet, we don't know which ones we CAN take, much less which one God WANTS us to take.

While it feels like our world is crashing down on us, God has been so faithful. He always is. The other night I reached an all time self "low", if you will. I'd had a miserable Christmas and a miserable day following. I didn't want to talk to anybody. I was mad at our situation, mad at my husband, mad at the world. I couldn't even pray. Rick suggested that I call my friend Colleen - he knows she's been a wonderful mentor to me, and I told him that I couldn't call her because I knew she'd pray with me over the phone and I didn't want that! I wanted to pray to God. I wanted to cry out to Him, but I just couldn't. My husband, realizing that this was definitely a HUGE problem wrapped his arm around me and began to pray. I know that most of you don't know Rick all that well, so let me just tell you that I don't remember the last time that I heard him pray without being asked to first. He held me and he prayed to God for help and wisdom and direction. And I heard him say the words that I'd been praying he'd pray for months. He said, "God, I don't know what to do. But if you'll just give me some idea of where you want us to go, I won't hesitate to follow you." (Yes, I'm crying AGAIN as I'm typing this.) Hearing my husband pray those words was worth going through everything that we've gone through this whole year.

Most of you know that I've been very excited and humbled to be a part of bringing Women At Rest Ministries to the state of Missouri. I realize that what God is bringing us through right now will only strengthen my role as a leader in this ministry. God has big plans for Rick and I - individually and as a family. I know that. And I feel that something really HUGE is just around the corner. I'm praying that even tho we are incredibly desperate financially right now that God will make HIS chosen position for Rick quite clear. I don't want Rick to take just any job that will pay the bills. I want him to be right where God wants him to be. I just know that God has something lined up. I'm excited to see what it will be.

Please keep us in your prayers. We've had to ask for help to cover some of our upcoming bills and we are so greatful for the help that we've received. But we don't want to be asking for help. We're ready to step out on faith and go/do whatever it is that God is calling us for. Please pray that He will show us soon what/when/where that is supposed to be.

Also, please keep Joey in your prayers. He's been blinking an unusual amount since Christmas Eve. I don't know if something is wrong with his eyes. He just constantly blinks all day. We don't have insurance right now so I can't take him in to a doctor. He doesn't seem to be having problems seeing and he's not in any pain. So please pray that this will pass quickly without any problems. Pray that we all stay healthy until Rick gains employment again.

Ho Ho Hooah

Rick's signed in today at his Reserve Unit in St Louis. Poor guy - they just looked at him like "why are you here???" They were shocked and appaulled, really, that he was released from Active Duty while still requiring surgery. The Sgt in Alexandria VA that he has to work with was furious that he was released from his orders and she's told Richard that she's going to get to the bottom of this. Because of the paperwork and computer systems, he is no longer getting paid but they're hoping to rectify that, too. There's alot of paperwork that needs to be done and no one seems to know how to do any of it. Please pray with us that God will orchestrate this as only God can do.

Some Prayer Requests

Rick's last day on Active Duty orders was yesterday. So, essentially... he is now unemployed.He is working part time with our local volunteer fire dept but he'll only get paid once a quarter... so that's not exactly helpful. But I know God has SOMETHING bigger in store and we just need to be patient and wait for it. It's hard to be patient, tho, when you know that in two weeks you're going to have a stack of bills to pay. Please just pray that the right job opportunity will come up for Rick. He deploys in the spring, so he just needs something for the next few months.

ALSO... I had some blood work drawn earlier this week while we still had insurance. I'm always a little concerned at what the results will be. Lupus is always changing and its kinda scarey sometimes... especially when you start noticing new symptoms. But last night I had a dream that my hair was falling out in huge chunks and that when the hair came out, all of a sudden these beautiful butterfly charms appeared in the handful of hair. It's very strange, I know - but it made sense in my dream. The dream left me feeling very uneasy, tho. 'Cause even in the dream I knew that I was waiting for test results. And in the dream I looked at these butterflies and I thought about Rick's grandma who passed away 2 years ago - she adored butterflies. So, yeah... the dream left me feeling very wierd. I don't even want to tell Rick about it. It might freak him out and he has enough stress to deal with right now.So, I said all that to say this - please pray that the blood work results won't be anything huge and scarey. And if they are, pray that God will give me the grace and strength to handle it. My husband and my kids need me right now.

My husband, the FIRE FIGHTER??????

Rick went to the St Robert Fire Dept today to volunteer. He knows a couple guys that drive an ambulance on post and are volunteer fire fighter/ paramedics for St Robert. So he went up there today and talked to them and was basically hired on the spot. He'll get paid (a little) for each call he responds to. And they will put him through all of the training to be a nationally certified firefighter. The whole reason Rick joined the Army was to get his EMT license so he could find a fire dept to hire him on and send him through the Acadamey. The Fire Acadamey is way too expensive for us to even consider paying on our own. His dad is a (retired) fire fighter and that has always been his dream, too. Then the Army Bug bit him and he started going his own route.

So... he's looking at volunteering with St Robert until he leaves for Iraq. And then by the time he gets home from Iraq, they're wanting to be a fully paid fire dept and told him that since he's already a volunteer, he'd be first pick to hire on full time. And he can re-up and continue being an army reservist. I don't know what the long-term big picture looks like for us right now. Fire fighter? Soldier? Both? I don't know and I really don't care. I just want to be together as a family and together, to be in God's will.

I'm not saying that it will DEFINITELY happen this way. But such an amazing peace AND excitement rushed over me. The Army told us that Rick would be here for 3-6 months MAX... and here we are looking at making this long term!

It's an exciting twist and turn in the saga of our lives!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Well... the tree's not up yet, but that didn't stop the kids! The day after Thanksgiving we decorated the house for Christmas. Mira tied the tree skirt around her waist, donned the Santa hat, and danced around the house! Riley, of course, had to get in on some dancing with his sister, too! (Sorry they're so fuzzy.)

Thanksgiving pictures

Just thought I'd share a few pictures from Thanksgiving Day. Joey REALLY enjoyed helping MaMaw carve the turkey. He loved the electric knife.... a little too much, I think!!

We Gather Together...

Thanksgiving made for a fun and exhausting week at the Arnold House!!

My parents came in on Tuesday. Then my grandparents and my sister's clan came in on Thursday morning. We had 14 people for lunch that day. And throughout the course of the week, we managed to go through 13 lbs of flour, 3 lbs of Crisco, 3 dozen eggs, 5 gallons of milk and bake 34 lbs of turkey! It was a wonderful week!

The kids loved having their grandparents here and I enjoyed the help. Mom and I prepared the entire Thanksgiving meal. I don't think I've ever cooked so much in one week! My favorite new recipe is for Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie! Grandma even asked me for the recipe, so you know it's good!!

I was especially glad to have all of my mom's help because I wasn't feeling well most of the week. A few weeks ago I went to St Louis for blood work and it came back positive that I have the Epstein Barr Virus - the same virus that causes mono. So now on top of lupus flares, I can expect little "mini-mono" attacks as well, accompanied by lots of itching. It's pretty annoying, but it could be worse. I'm just glad that I know what it is.

I don't know if my life is just extra crazy right now or if the lupus is starting to affect my brain, which is usually does at some point, but I'm starting to forget alot of things - I get sidetracked very easily and I go to do something, but end up doing it slighty wrong. For example, I'll reach for something but end up picking up the item next to it on accident. On Wednesday, during all the baking and birthday cake making for Mom's birthday, I went to take a pain pill because I was hurting so much. For some reason, I took two. I know I'm only supposed to take one, but I forgot and took two. I had a hard time functioning the rest of the day after that. Please pray that these are just isolated incidents - too much stress, that kind of thing. I can't imagine how difficult life could get if this became a normal thing.

I'm feeling a little better this week. But it seems I've picked up a cold. It's not bad, but my chest is really hurting. Rick's afraid I may have bronchitis. But I love living with my own personal medic - he takes good care of me and he's watching me closely. We may go to St Louis if I don't get better soon.

Surgery??

Well, Rick did not have surgery the day before Thanksgiving. I kept waiting to find out the details of his surgery before I posted to the blog... and the Army kept dragging their feet... so the blog never got updated. I am so sorry for that! I thank each of you that take the time to read this to keep up with our crazy lives.

Rick is still trying to find out WHEN they can do the surgery. Hopefully that will happen soon. His unit is deploying in May, from what we hear. So, we'd like to have the surgery done ASAP so he has the most time to heal before shipping out. But we trust God has a plan for all this. The longer he's on orders, the better!

Halloween Pictures

I'm so sorry that I am so behind in updating this. Life never seems to slow down! Here are pictures of the kids from Halloween. Mira was a Barbie Doll. Riley was a cowboy. Joey was the cutest little duck in the world! He even quacked!! The kids went to Primrose Nursing Home in the morning to trick or treat there with the MOPS kids. The residents there absolutely loved seeing the kids in their costumes. Then that night they went to the Fall Festival at our church. Over 1,000 people came through our church in 2 hours! The kids came home with bags of candy and had fun playing over 20 games and bouncing in the bounce houses and the blow up obstacle courses. What a fun day!

More goof-ups... THANK YOU, GOD!

Well, the Army goofed again. Richard's "Line of Duty" or LOD paperwork has been a hassle for us for months, now. And once again, they messed it up. This is the paperwork that reports the incident of Rick's initial knee injury from January '05. Almost two years later and they STILL don't have it done right. Fort Leonard Wood finally got a copy of it this week... and it was filled out wrong. So, they sent in back to Walter Reed in Washington DC to be started all over. In light of this "goof-up", the Army has extended Richard's orders for here at Ft Wood through February '07. God is answering our prayers!! The longer we're on orders here, leading up to his deployment, the better. Keep praying! God's listening!!!

PS~ It amazes me when I think back about moving down here one year ago. The Army told us that Rick would be here 3-4 months... 6 at the most. But in all actuality, when we finally DO leave here, we will have been here at least 3 YEARS! Just another reminder that God's ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. I'm SO glad HE is in control!!

Kansas City

This past weekend I went to Kansas City with Tanya. She and I both belong to an online military spouse network. I'm there for the support... she's there to support me! lol We met up in KC with 2 other Army wives from the midwest. We had a great time! Here are some pictures from the trip!

The first picture is from L-R: Linda, Steph (army medics wife), Mo (army officer's wife), me and Tanya

The second picture is at PF Changs for lunch: Steph, me, Tanya and Mo.

We had a GREAT weekend!

More Surgery

Rick went to see the orthopedic surgeon on Post today. She seems to think that the tear in his miniscus is pretty bad. Actually, she said it looks like it's hanging by a thread and that it's getting "caught" in his joint. When he hears it pop, she thinks it's actually that tiny piece going through the joint. Ouch. So, she recommended surgery on 22 November ... which is the day before Thanksgiving (and my mom's birthday). He had knee surgery last year on the day before Thanksgiving. Wow, God has a sense of humor. If the lead Case Manager agrees to let Rick have the surgery, he would most likely have it on 22 November and his orders would be extended 8 weeks, which puts us out at the end of January. That buys us more time and puts us closer to his pre-deployment training (assuming he gets any). The more time on orders we have prior to May, the better for us.

Having surgery would open him up for the possibility of a Med Board again. But we fought the hard one and WON. So, we've just gotta trust God to bring us through another one, if it is in His will. I will post an update here again as soon as I know if his surgery gets approved. If it doesn't get approved, they'll send him back to his unit... which will send him back here for surgery. So, hopefully the Army cuts out a few steps in the line of paperwork and just approves the surgery from here. The surgeon doesn't seem to think Rick can go to Iraq without it.

The Pumpkin Patch

Last week we went to Meyers Farm in Dixon, MO! The kids enjoyed a hayride out to the pumpkin patch where they each got to pick their own pumpkin. Riley really enjoyed the petting zoo and Mira loved jumping in the hay. Joey just thought that it was way too cold to be out on the farm. But we all enjoyed the morning with our MOPS group!

My husband, My hero

Rick's been working in the Emergency Room for about 3 weeks now and I just can't tell you how proud I am of him. When he comes home telling me the things that he saw or did during the day, I sit in amazement. I've always been 1000 miles away from him while he does this kind of thing. Sometimes I look at him and just say, "Really? YOU did that?" It's hard for me to picture my husband starting an IV in the head of an infant. Or removing debris from the charred skin of a burn victim. But he does it everyday... and he's good at it. The hospital seems VERY happy to have him. They've offered him a position doing shift work and he took it. He's been voluntarily working 10 and 11 hour days, 5 days a week. This way he'll work 12 hour shifts, and have days off during the week. It doesn't change anything as far as the Army is concerned. They can still pull him out at the drop of a hat. But at least he's happy where he's at for now. My prayer is that somehow he'd be allowed to go Voluntary Active Duty and hold his position in the ER here - either until he deploys, or just skipping deployment all together. We're just waiting for God to reveal to us what He's going to do. But him holding this position in the ER would definitely be the prayer of my heart. Today was his first 12 hour shift. He'll get home after 7pm tonight. But he's off Fri-Sat-Sun and I can't wait! I haven't seen much of him lately.

I'm hoping this weekend to figure out how to post pictures to this blog and I'll share some pictures that I took of the kids at the Pumpkin Patch last week.

We're all doing ok. Joey's got a runny nose and my lupus is bothering me today - but I think it's just the cold weather. One day it's warm and the next day it's freezing. Orders for Hawaii sound better and better!!

Now what, Lord??

This past Wednesday, Rick had a follow-up appointment with a doctor on post about his knee. The doctor highly reccommends surgery for repairing his miniscus. But, it's Rick's choice. If he doesn't have the surgery, he will continue to have pain and problems in his knee. If he choses to have the surgery, it will open him up wide for another Med Board. It doesn't neccessarily mean that they WOULD try to MEB him out again... it just means that anyone in the orthopedic department that reviews his files COULD decide to begin the MEB process again based on the fact that this is his second surgery on one body part.

Rick says he can live with the pain and he doesn't care- he's not opening himself up for a possible MEB again. I'm hoping that with time, he'll prayerfully consider what this means. I don't like the idea of sending my soldier into Iraq, not only without adequate training, but also with a bum knee. Of course, I also feel that it's in God's will for us to remain in the Army. The mission field here is in need of more workers. I know that this is in God's hands. I just pray that Rick will also seek God's throne before solidifying his decision. Please keep us in your prayers. We need clarity on what to do.

Uncertainty

The only certain aspect of the US Army is the uncertainty.

You would think that right now, given our current circumstances, we would be a mess right now - well, at least that I would be a mess right now. I don't know where my husband will be living next week, let alone next month or next year. But, that's ok. God knows and I have a peace about that. I can see how God is workin' in all of this. I'm constantly wondering WHAT He's doing... but at least I know that it's HIM that's working! Over the weekend Rick and I explored the possibilities of what a torn miniscus could mean for our family and his career. All the "what if's" came to mind. Some of them were actually exciting thoughts. For example, what if he DID need surgery and he stayed here for 6 more months. That would mean a steady paycheck. That would mean time together. He could continue working in the ER... which he LOVES. That would be great. The downside? He can't even stomach the thought of having another surgery here (pun intended! lol).

Please keep us in your prayers as we face the coming days of uncertainty. Pray that we will seek to follow God's will for our family... not just the "what if" possibilities that excite us!

A Matter of Prayer

Right now we are at one of the crossroads where we are unsure how to pray.

Rick had an MRI of his knee done on Thursday. He looked the results up on Friday and read that he has a tear in his miniscus... apparently, he's had it this whole time. His knee has been popping and giving out since his knee surgery a year ago and they just now did another MRI of it. We don't know what this means for him... and won't know until Wednesday when he has a follow-up appointment with his doctor.

Sunday (a week from tomorrow) he is supposed to leave with his unit for pre-deployment training. But right now it doesn't look like he'll be joining them. There is paperwork from his knee injury that was done incorrectly months ago and they have been sent back to be done again properly. He cannot leave his orders here Fort Wood until those papers are back. Also, they have reassigned him to work in the Emergency Room on post (and he's like SUPERMAN down there, by the way!) and next week they will start training him to drive the ambulance. It doesn't look like they're planning on letting him go anytime soon. A million possibilities come to mind... but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Or ahead of God.

All of this SOUNDS like an answer to prayer, but it leaves one big question in my mind: What happens if they go ahead and send Rick to Iraq without the proper training? Once again, though, I know that I have to leave this in God's hands.

Please pray that God will use each of these circumstances to lead Rick down the path that God has chosen for our family.

Also, all 3 of our kiddos have a virus right now and are running a fever. Please keep them in your prayers as they heal (and for me as I try to care for them without getting sick, myself).

Welcome

Welcome to our family's blog! There's so much going on in our little hooah world... we hope this makes it easier for us to share with you and for you to keep up with us! Bookmark this site and check back often. We'll keep this updated with information about where Rick is in his training and all of his deployment information. We'll also post new pictures of the kids and our life here at Fort Leonard Wood.

The way it stands now, Rick will be leaving for Fort Polk, LA on 15 October for pre-deployment training. He should be gone for about a month. This, however, could all change. The kids and I will be staying here at Fort Wood while he is training and deployed. We'll update the blog if anything does change!