The Going and the Coming

Wow, so much to say and tell about the time that we had as a family. If you read Judy's entry right before this one you'll pick up on much of what life was like with 6 bodies in a small hotellike room. You will also understand the challenges of meeting the needs of children with a 10 year age gap. Impossible! I don't know how other larger families manage to meet their children's needs when there is a large age gap. You really have to be creative in making everything fun and for those who are are bored, oh well, they just have to learn how to make other choices.

It was so great for our family to be here in New York together. We most certainly had an impact on the house. For the three days after everyone left I had kids of all ages asking about where my other kids were. I've had three kids really make a big deal about Keziah not being here. They totally fell in love with her and in five days found a connection to her that is now broken. It was so wonderful to hear them asking where she is and to see their faces when they heard she has gone home.

With the NYC interlopers suffering from the "red eye" reality, Hannah and I had to seriously change our daily living. We didn't have the freedom to do whatever we wanted. Well, we didn't have the freedom to so whatever Hannah wanted. She managed the change well, but as Judy pointed out, there was lots of whining. Our life has not returned to normal since everyone has gone as Judy's sister Kathleen arrived the day after the family left. So we had just enough time to do laundry, vacuum, clean the bathroom and take in an art class before Auntie Kath (AK) arrived. Since AK arrived we have made it out each day for some shopping and long walks. Hannah has struggled being away from the house and complained, at times bitterly, about going places but in the end she has enjoyed the time out.

We have shopped at FAO Schwarz (corrected spelling) for a magnificent Barbie. Hannah designed her and selected her wardrobe with great care and attention. We have snaps to post some time when I can get a strong enough internet connection to upload the 100's of new ones. We also got to the Toy R Us in Time Square today, Friday. Hannah bought some new clothes for her Barbie and we got a few other gifts in anticipation of Christmas. When we left Toys R Us, we walked up to Central Park, stopping for a late lunch at TIF (a chain restaurant). While we walked through the park we found Balto, the dog who saved Nome Alaska in 1926, and played on the rocks, a Hannah favorite. We then ran into some friends, Lou, Lesley, their son Griffin, and Lesley's dad and his wife. Lou and I ended up playing football against Griffin and Hannah and we lost 35 to 0. A terrible defeat for the old men, but a sweet victory for the kids and spectators. AK got some good shots of the game and we expect to see the highlight reel on tonight's TSN sports plays of the week.

We had a sad moment today, Hannah lost some of her new Barbie clothes. While we were walking home from the football game, she dropped her clothes bag from the stroller and no one notice. We back tracked to see if we could find them but to no avail. She was great, no tears, no fuss. She was great. Let's hope she is feeling the same way tomorrow.

Dr Grayson and McCarthy both saw Hannah Friday morning. They looked at the xrays from earlier in the week and decided that there is still more growth needed, so we keep activating the distraction device unit they say enough. The device itself has 10 mm of distance it can travel so the maximum growth we can expect is another 10mm or 1 cm. Given we move the device 1mm per day that means we could be here of up to 10 more days of activation and then two days to create the new splints that will be in her mouth while the bone hardens over the next 6 weeks. Dr McCarthy, didn't seem to have any concern about our planned departure on Oct 25, however, we have not had the same vote of confidence from Dr Grayson, he has not weighed in on the time frame for a week, so when we meet with them on Monday, we will know more. The overall opinion from both doctors as that things are progressing as expected and that the changes are as anticipated.

We look forward to our last weekend in NYC and out last Sunday at Trinity Grace. They have been such a great support for Hannah and I while we have being here. We pray for their mission and their impact on the lives of the people of Manhattan for God's glory.

Today's prayer request is that Hannah will find a new pace of life that includes a willingness to see some of the amazing things that New York has to offer.

TTFN

Hannah and John