Faith

This has been a month of sad and faithful times. The first week of this month was quite rough. First was the news of my Grandma passing on Sunday (8/30). After I got word that she passed, I knew that the week would either turn around at the end or get even sadder. Well, it got sadder. It got sadder because we attempted to get pregnant again by transferring our 2 frozen embryos. We spent the last 2 months getting ready for the transfer without telling anyone. Wednesday, 9/2 I went in for the first blood test. I passed, with an HCG level of 33 (5+ is considered positive). Then the levels need to double 2 times every 48 hours. So, Friday I went in again, and got the call at work about noon that the level was down to 12, which meant a negative result. We have been spending time in prayer and in His Word, to feel hope and encouragement. I have also found it comforting to really listen and read some of the song lyrics that I hear everyday (like the Voice of Truth lyrics I posted earlier). We know that God has a plan for us, we just don’t know what it is right at the moment. Is it to try again with IVF, wait and see, and/or just be a one-child family? We know whatever it is; it is His plan for our family. Please pray for us; that God would show it to us. I’ll keep you blog readers informed of any updates, so you can keep praying. We truly don’t know how we would be handling this if we didn’t have our faith in Jesus! I can’t imagine.

We had Grandma Nairn’s memorial on the 17th. It was an all around a positive time, even though the actual passing of Grandma was sad. There was a reception after the service, just like at Grandpa’s where everyone could mingle. It was nice to see such a great turnout. Grandma was truly loved! The immediate family gathered at my parent’s house after the service to spend some time together. It was neat to see Shaun and Antonio together, the next generation! The girls of the family also got together on Saturday to have some girl time. That was truly fun! The boys (including Shaun) went to see the airplanes at Paine field and then went back to our house to watch that good Husky-USC game.

We decided at kind of the last minute to go to the Casting Crowns concert on the 26th. It was awesome!!!! I had been hearing the advertisements on the radio for quite some time and thought it would be fun to go, but we didn’t end up doing anything about it until 3 days before. We got some pretty good seats in the side front section at Overlake. Casting Crowns has some very good songs with lyrics that I really need right now, like Voice of Truth, Praise You in This Storm, etc. I have put a bunch of their songs on the playlist, so scroll to the bottom to see if you are hearing them right now. Matt Redman opened for Casting Crowns. He was really good too. He has written a BUNCH of worship songs that he and others sing, which I didn’t realize, like Blessed Be Your Name and The Heart of Worship, just to name 2. He also has a good one that he sang called, You Never Let Go (I have also included it on the playlist). He described at the concert writing this song with his wife after their 4th miscarriage in a row. Definitely a song I need right now, even though our problem isn’t with miscarriages. I love the part of concerts where you get to hear the background of a song. It brings a whole new meaning to them.

Matt Redman

Casting Crowns

Before we bought the tickets for the concert, we called my parents and asked if they wanted to take us up on their offer to have Shaun for an over-nighter. They said yes, so we got the tickets and Shaun and his first sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa’s!!! My baby is growing up!!!!!! Yikes. It was weird being home after the concert without Shaun there. They brought him to church with them the next morning, and had a glowing report!! He went right to sleep and slept until 7:45, which is good for his own bed! And they had a lot of fun playing too! They even want to do it again sometime soon!

Shaun is saying new words everyday. He is really starting to communicate with his words. It is so exciting and fun to hear a new word pop out every day! His latest words are apple, bible, uh oh, and pig.

And, today is my birthday!!!! Hurray, even though I’m another year older. And, tomorrow is Bill’s birthday!!!

Oh, and the results of the swine flu vaccine poll was: 60% yes and 40% no, with 5 total votes.

Swine flu shot?

I am taking a poll to see how many parents plan on getting their child a swin flu shot. The poll closes in 2 weeks at 5pm on 9/30. Post a comment if you wish to explain why you chose yes or no. I'll post the results then!

People 6 months to 24 years are strongly encouraged to get one.

There are 5 key things to do to prevent swine flu/regular flu:
1. Get a swine flu shot if in a high risk category and a regular flu shot.
2. Eat yogurt (probiotics)
3. Wash hands a lot and use sanitizers
4. Take your vitamins (including vitamin D)
5. Keep your hands off your face

I am curious to see how many parents plan on getting their kids vaccinated. This would be in addition to the regular flu shot. Tell your friends and have them vote too.

The poll is on the right just below our family picture. Thanks!

The Week's top Christian songs!

I have been having fun playing around with my song list on playlist.com. That is why you are hearing music as you are reading this! Right now I have included the top Christian songs of the week - in order (with the addition of Voice of Truth to go along with my previous blog). You can see the list at the bottom of the blog. Feel free to click on any song to hear it. I was not able to include the entire top 20 because some songs were not included in the playlist database, but I got 12 of the top 20! Enjoy!

If you haven't read/listened to Voice of Truth yet, it is the last song listed on the playlist, so just scroll down and click on it.

The missing songs are:
#5 Born Again by Third Day
#7 Wait & See by Brandon Heath
#8 The Motions by Matthew West
#11 Speaking Louder Than Before by Jeremy Camp
#14 City on Our Knees by Toby Mac
#16 The Words I Would Say by Sidewalk Prophets
#18 He Is by Mark Schultz
#20 Sing, Sing, Sing by Chris Tomlin

Grandma Nairn's obituray is in the Seattle Times & Everett Herald today

Maude Margaret Kelley Nairn
March 9, 1919–Aug. 30, 2009

Maude was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 9, 1919 the daughter of Elizabeth and Arthur Kelley. She grew up in Westfield, New Jersey and went on to attend Duke University where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and graduated with a degree in Spanish. She then moved back to New Jersey and commuted into New York City where she worked for AT&T. When World War II began, she participated in several USO activities, including attending dances. It was at one of these dances that she met and was swept off her feet by a young soldier from Washington. They corresponded while he was in Europe and when he returned they became engaged. Maude moved to the west coast and married Neil on June 27, 1946 in Everett, WA. They were married for 61 years.

When newly married, Maude worked for Pacific Northwest Bell in Seattle, WA. After taking time off to raise her two daughters she went to work for the Seattle Public Schools as a school secretary, primarily at View Ridge Elementary. She retired in 1978 after 18 years of service. Maude and Neil traveled extensively, including trips to Europe, Africa, South America, and Australia, as well as areas of the United States. They spent many wonderful weekends at their beloved cabin on Lake Cavanaugh. She also loved to read, knit and play bridge in addition to participating in various volunteer activities through out her life. She was a long time member of University Presbyterian Church.

Maude was preceded in death by her husband Neil.
She is survived by her brother, Robert Kelley, of Virginia; her daughters, Barbara (Bruce) Kennedy and Elizabeth (Jon) Schneidler; her granddaughters, Jessica Albright Rodriguez, Suzanne Kennedy Hunter, and Renae Kennedy; and her great-grandsons, Shaun Hunter and Antonio Rodriguez. She also leaves numerous nieces and nephews and many friends from the old neighborhood in Lake City and the new neighborhood at Chateau Pacific. She is dearly loved and deeply missed.

A memorial service to celebrate Maude's life will be held at 2:00 p.m., on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at Acacia Funeral Home Chapel, 14951 Bothell Way NE, Seattle. A reception will follow.
A gift in Maude's name may be made to the American Cancer Society, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation or a charity of your choice.

Voice of Truth

I have been listening to and reading these lyrics because we are Facing the Giants....again. You should hear the song playing too as you read it.

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Busy month!

Bill working
Bill did another 4 days of his “2 week” duty at the base in Everett. He continued helping do research and interviews. His trip to Wyoming was cancelled, but he still went to Montana. He got to see some old friends too!

Renae babysitting
Renae continued on to her 2nd week of watching Shaun while Bill worked. Thankfully it was cooler, so they were not roasting alive. The first week was in the 90s and 100s, the second week was mostly in the 70s!! Yay!

8 is Great!
We were able to go out to dinner, just the 2 of us on our 8th wedding anniversary, on August 4th. Renae was with us, and she volunteered to watch Shaun in the evening too so we could go out. What a good sister and Aunt!! Love you Renae!

Shaun is a year and a half, or18 months old!!! He went to the doctor for his well check up a couple weeks before in July. I forgot to post his stats last month, so here they are:
Height: 2' 11", 99 percentile
Weight: 24 pounds 10oz, 36 percentile
Head: 51cm, 99 percentile

First dentist visit
Shaun survived his first dentist visit! He laid on my lap while the dentist looked in his mouth at his teeth and brushed a toothbrush over them and also applied a fluoride gel. He cried a little bit, but before hand the lady said not to worry because a lot of little ones cry a lot. Plus, it made his mouth stay open, so the dentist could look in easily! He said his teeth look great. He has 16 out of 20 of them in various stages of coming in, pretty much right on track. He doesn't have to go back in for another year, and then he starts every 6 months like us. It is a nice children's dentist. A couple of my coworker's kids go there and they say they look forward to it, if you can believe that! :)

Shaun and Daddy started going back to story time at the library. This time it is the toddler story time instead of the baby story time. My boy is growing up! They read stories, sing songs and get a stamp on their hand (toddler’s at least!)

Sad news. My Grandma Nairn passed away on Sunday, August 30, 2009. She was 90 years old. She was diagnosed with cancer in about May or June and then since she got weaker, moved from her retirement home apartment to an adult family home under hospice care. We knew the end of her life on earth was coming sometime soon, but it is still a big shock when it actually happens, especially when it was even quicker than we thought. I’m just grateful, that she led a long and mostly healthy life! We last went to see her 4 days before she passed when Shaun and I gave her the collage. I’m glad she got to enjoy it for her last 4 days.
We also went and visited my Grandma Kennedy. I was going to post some of the good pictures I took of this visit, but something happened when I was downloading them off the camera and “poof” they were gone. I shed some tears over that one too (because you never know if there is going to be another chance), but we are just going to have to get back for another visit really soon to take some more! And, I will be copying pictures off the camera instead of “cutting” them to ensure they don’t get lost from now on!! Lesson learned!

DMV Renewers Beware

Got this message at work today. Washington residents beware if renewing your driver license online...

Overview
Reported suspicious third party DMV websites which may affect individual Washington residents.

What has happened?
The websites in question appear to be functioning as an intermediary for State DMV transactions and are collecting State DMV registration renewal information such as credit card information, first and last names, addresses, and driver license numbers from visitors. The website may prompt the recipient to provide excessive personal information such as social security number, bank account number or driver license number which may not be required for these transactions.

What should I do?
We recommend when doing business with DOL that you use their official site http://www.dol.wa.gov/ and if you have questions with any information they are requesting contact DOL directly http://www.dol.wa.gov/contact.html.