We fished, we grilled, we gobbled...

The twins have been fascinated by the idea of fishing since they saw it on one of the cartoons they like to watch. But with no fishing paraphernalia, or real fishing experience what's a mother to do?

   The answer: Rainbow Ranch

So Tuesday we packed up the kids, invited the cousins and made a day of it. They supply the bait, tackle and four stocked ponds. It really is a little unfair to the fish.
 

They clean the fish for ten percent of your bill, and since I have no clue what to do with a whole fish, I happily let them do it. Watching the man clean the fish was fascinating, he regaled us with fish stories and other interesting info. We brought home eight beautiful fish. I marinated them and grilled for dinner and they were delicious. I can't wait to go back again!

Herbs: Sage

We grow sage in a couple of pots on our patio. It is very easy to grow and is an annual which means it comes back by itself every year. I use sage quite often in my cooking and buying it at the store has become quite expensive. But I have finally managed to figure out a way to dry and process it that is quick and easy.


I harvest the leaves once a week, always cutting the outer leaves and leaving the smaller inner ones.


                                                               Before trimming

                                                             
                                                               After Trimming

Next I place the leaves in a brown paper lunch sack in the garage(any warm dark place will do) until they are crispy. Finally I use my coffee grinder to chop the leaves and stems in tiny pieces. Ta! da! Rubbed Sage.

Sweet Saturday

A Close Shave...

Speckle has been getting so many sores and hot spots lately, we decided to have her shaved. We dropped her off at Petsmart to have it done. She also had her nails clipped and her stinky ears cleaned. We were going to have her whole body shaved but there were some sores on her ears that we hadn't noticed, so they didn't shave her head. We thought she might look like a rat but she doesn't. This is what she looks like:

                                                  Before

                                              After

She looks more like a puppy now but not a rat. Hopefully her coat will be easier to take care of !

    

Baby Esther is Home!

We Praise God. Just a week ago Sherri suffered a uterine rupture during the delivery of  baby Esther. She lost a lot of blood, went into shock and was given three units of blood.  She survived and is feeling better everyday.We Praise God. Baby Esther went without oxygen for 16 minutes, but was intubated and began to breathe on her own. We Praise God. She was placed on a cooling blanket and her temperature was lowered 6 degrees for 72 hours to help prevent brain damage. She was warmed up on Friday and she showed no physical signs of brain damage. We Praise God. She had an MRI yesterday morning and it was NORMAL. We praise God. She is home with us today. We Praise God!

Thank you so much to all our friends who prayed for us, God answers prayer.

Baby Esther Update

I just wanted to update you on Esther’s progress. She is eating well about 40 cc per feeding and is much more calm and happy with a full tummy. She will be going for her MRI sometime tomorrow, they don’t know when because they fit the babies in through out the day. So we are probably not going to be able to be there. We are of course praying that the MRI will show a healthy brain. We are also praying that she will be calm and will not need to be sedated during the procedure. Bruce and I are planning on going to the hospital tomorrow around 2:00pm. They are allowing us to stay in the family suites tomorrow night. This means we will be caring for her ourselves tomorrow night at the hospital .Then they will release her on Tuesday to come home!

Baby Esther is Born!

 Our baby sister was born on the 5th! ( Our Dad's birthday!)
Unfortunately the birth had to be an emergency c-section. Our mom was induced on the 4th and she was having contractions and then (we think) she had a uterine rupture. She was in a lot of pain and had to be given 3 units of blood after and surgery.

Esther was without oxygen for about 16 minutes after the uterus ruptured and because of that had to be given oxygen and went through cooling treatment for 72 hours.
The cooling treatment helps reduce any brain damage that might of occured, because of the lack of oxygen. Her treatment went well and we are praying that there are no serious problems.
Esther is breathing on her own, she is moving all her limbs, sucking on a pacifier and at this point we can't tell if and how much damage was done. Our Mom was able to try breast feeding today with Esther and within twenty seconds Esther latched on and started sucking! They will be doing a MRI, Monday on her brain. (Later on an ear and eye exam.) It has been a difficult, faith growing, experience and God has given us much hope and comfort. Our mom was in a lot of pain and is slowly recovering from the rupture and surgery.

God has been so good to us and we are so blessed to have our precious baby Esther!
Our friends and family have given us lots of support and prayers, which helps so much.
We keep counting all the beautiful blessings God has showered upon us through this trial.

  Commit everything you do to the Lord.
      Trust him, and he will help you.
                 Psalm 37:5

This bible verse has been a great reminder to our family. This is a true statement of our faith.
With every situation we should commit to Him, trust Him with the results, and He will help us.