We had fun, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun...

AND A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!


...except Daniel who must have slept through it.

Irony

You Know You're in the Ozarks When...

Life is good, may I explain?

Friday: I kiss my Mom and head home again, leaving Lulu at her house with a fridge full of groceries, friends who I know will check on her all the time, and Mom being in relatively good health now. We are over the worst of it for awhile, I am quite confident about that. What can I say? God answers prayers. Thanks to all of you who took it to the Throne with me. It is an awesome feeling to know that there is a huge family out there who rally behind you when you need it. Thanks to everyone who watched my kids, prayed, or simply asked how things were going. It just said to me that you cared.

OK - so I get home and try out that new place... "San Francisco Oven"?? I think that's the name. If you've been there, tell me what you think. So far the reviews are mixed.

Saturday: My Birthday. These aren't as exciting as they used to be, I'll admit. But I have decided that I won't have a problem with turning 40 in A FEW YEARS as long as I am in the best shape of my life and have made those major healthy changes to get that way. So here goes...

In the afternoon we saw "Nacho Libre." Very stupidly funny in a Napoleon Dyn. kind of way. For the record, I did laugh, even hard at one point. It was just the sheer ridiculousness. Spend your money at your own risk on that one.
Later, some friends came over, we ate BBQ and the kids swam, swum, swimmed? I have never figured that out. Also, poor Maura got kicked in the stomach by Charlie. I mean she went flying backwards. That horse is history! (Charlie is NOT the one that knocked me off.) Maura is a tough little girl, though, and she is OK.Thanks for all the fun cards and presents... Now I have to learn to TANGO! Let's just hope Antonio Banderas is my instructor.

Now for today, Sunday, FATHER'S DAY, which isn't even over, yet: We got up and went to church, heard an awesome message to Dads by Pastor Eddie, and came home to a crock pot full of Robert Roast. Greg opened his things from the kids and asked to saddle up the horses. After his quick tour around the 10, I took the girls around. Sophie, the big white mare, never gives us any problem. She is great. Amigo is the one that can get a little fiesty. Well, today he was fine! Not a problem. We just have to keep working with them, and they will get better and better. Although, I don't think I'll ever stop praying before I hop on a horse's back.
Now, on to the Reynold's for a chinese buffet...

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!

Lulu Update

For those of you who are wondering...

Mom is doing pretty well right now, there are good days and not so good days. Good moments and not so good moments. The big operation actually happened last Wednesday morning at 7:45am. It lasted for about 6 HOURS. The other surgeons must have had assembly lines set up, they were knockin' them out like flies. Here comes one doctor to talk to the family, then another, then that first one again.... Some volunteer drill sergeant was in charge of the desk and kept yellin' out the family names, and once he came by with hard little apples of which I am still carrying one around in my purse to use as a weapon if I need it on my long drives to OK. Back to Mom - She came through the surgery with flying colors, and went to her own room a day later. They had her up walking around the floor doing laps, and I still can't seem to get on the treadmill for 30 minutes a day. All was going well, but now we are seeing signs of infection settling in and that isn't good. The symptoms actually could be signs of rejection, which is easier to handle, believe it or not. So, keep praying us through this time. I go down again tomorrow and hopefully she will come home from the hospital very soon.
That's all for now!

Roy Roamings

Hey, like the new title? Don't know how long I can keep up the RR thing, but I am no longer wanting to admit that coming out to the office for hours on end to blog and surf is really a big waste of time. I like having a pictoral journal of our happenings, sure beats scrapbooking.

GIVE ME YOUR INPUT and cure yourself of NCS: answer this question...

Where is the best place to take a cheap, fun, family friendly roadtrip this summer?

(Be advised it cannot include purchasing a set of mouse ears. )

The Horse + the Post = One badly bruised hip bone and a possible cracked rib...

Who wants to come ride a pony???



Mom update: THANK YOU to all of you who have checked this blog and prayed for my Mom. They have postponed her surgery until June 6 or 7??? This is a transplant surgeon so his schedule has to be flexible. Of course his office could use a little desk help in communicating with the patients and their families, that would be nice. Just so you all know, if you ever want to get anything done and you keep hitting a brick wall, call my husband. He'll take care of it. After a day and a half of me trying to get some info about rescheduling the surgery, Greg got the number and talked to the surgeon himself within 30 minutes. He was even nice, too. It must be a special gift to be able to work with people so well. Almost 16 years ago, he pulled that on me and I married him! Go Greg. You're the hero.

The Waiting Game

8:30am Ready to walk out the door after a sleepless night, Mom has fasted, the bags packed and everything ready.

8:31am The phone rings, it's the hospital. SURGERY POSTPONED.
The surgeon had to perform emergency surgery on someone else and we don't want a tired doctor cutting on my Mom. OK, we'll wait. Just let us know when he's good and ready. Hopefully Tuesday?

8:45am Out the door, we want some breakfast! So we went to Cracker Barrell and came right back home. So now we are sitting by the phone, anxiously waiting the call that will tell Mom when it's time for her big dance. Don't you hate that "Don't call us, we'll call you" scenario?!?!?

For all of you who read this blog and still suffer from NCS (No Comment Syndrome), I am very thankful you are here and now I need to make a request. It is time to take a momentary break from my usual sarcasm and/or fluffy stuff of life type entry, so here goes:

Please pray for my Mom. She goes in for sugery this coming Monday at Noon. I couldn't possibly make an accurate description of what they will do to her, but to make a short summary, I'll do my best... (If you aren't into details you can skip the next paragraph)

She recieved a liver transplant a little over one year ago, and her recovery went better than we could even hope for at first. She did not reject the liver, and adjusted her lifestyle to match the many needs of a transplant recipient. However, since Christmas she has had a difficult time. The liver has not been functioning properly mainly due to the bilary tree not draining well, this is the place where all the ducts come from the liver and move into the small intestine. She also has a very uncomfortable incisional hernia that is causing all kinds of problems, too. After some pretty severe pain, she finally cries out for help and spends a week in the hospital trying to get better. They sent her home for a week to regain some strength and now we are slated for surgery on MONDAY AT NOON. As I understand it, the doctor's will actually remove this "bilary tree" and somehow connect the small intestine to the liver... didn't know you could do that. There is still a lot I don't know, but I will ask many more questions to better grasp what is happening. They are saying, though, that this will be "even more extensive" of a surgery than the transplant was, and to expect her recovery to be the same: approx 3 months?? Well, she was Wonder Woman a year ago, so I am hoping and praying for the best.

If you have EVER even met this precious woman, then you know what a jewel she is. Proverbs 31 in the flesh. I keep trying to put into words how amazing she is... but they don't seem to make it into any one complete sentence. She is calm through all of this, and encourages me through scripture when it should be the other way around.

So, I ask you, my faithful bloggers, family, and friends... if you talk to God, please talk to Him about my Mom. I sure am, our kids are, I hope you'll do the same. I will be in OK for the big event, and will try to post from my Mom's computer so you can all have an update.

AS FOR MEMORIAL DAY: If all goes well, I will try to be back home, but I can make no guarantee and so bummer, we cannot plan a big blowout pool party here at the Roy Ranch. Maybe we can aim for Flag Day or something! We'll keep you posted on that as well!

THANK YOU!!!!

Pony Rides!

This lovely Spring afternoon was the best day I've had in a long time. Great friends, lots of food, fellowship, laughter, all topped off with our Bibles open and even a time of prayer together. Wow, I sure needed a party like that.

By the way, this is Sophie. She's the big, white animal on which the kids are riding. She is a wonderful, gentle, 11 year old mare (that's a female horse that is a mother, for all you DTBer's). She is NOT the one that knocked me into a post last Wednesday, possibly cracking a rib or two and leaving me with a nicely bruised ego and hip bone. Yeah, you'll hear more about that beast later.
This is just more of that dream being fulfilled. But most importantly, the relationships that continue to grow and the memories we make are really what is driving me these days. We just have to make the most of each day, people. They are numbered, you know.

VAIL, CO

Moments to remember...

*Mini- Ha Ha

*Club "Med"

*Roses' lovely shorts

*Day 1 = 10 wipeouts

*Day2= only 3 wipe outs

*I need more practice before I can do those bowls with everyone else...

*Luggage that went on to Idaho?

*My own personal thumb injury, which pales in comparison to all the others we heard about: the broken leg on the other side of the curtain, the head that hit the rock, broken back, broken wrist, and of course, the torn ACL...

*If you go skiing on the last weekend of the season, be prepared for the icey slopes and great sales on equipment!

*Ginger iced tea

*4 at 4 - good thing we missed that one.

*Already decorated Christmas trees

*George, the white- haired ski instructor who is a horse trainer from Texas. No wonder she got hurt!

Hiking Fox Acres

It was time once again for our quarterly hike to the big tree where all the snakes and crawling things like to hide. I always prefer doing this in the winter when everything is dead or sleeping, but now it is Spring and I could not justify keeping these kids holed up in the house when green grass, cow patties, and walking sticks were calling out to us. For your Fox family trivia knowledge, this is the lake in which my Dad threw my cousin's dog, Tramp, assuring us that ALL dogs can swim. He was wrong.

Meet "Charlie"

And No, to all my Fox family members, I did NOT name her. She is nothing like anyone in this family, immediate OR extended, living OR those with our Lord.... :-) This little Charlie likes to roll in her own manure, and kick at me if I have no grain in my hand. She is a bit like a spoiled toddler living in a child centered family. She has been by her Momma's side now for almost 1 1/2 years, and it shows. She is slowly learning, though, mainly because I am slowly learning how to teach her. And so far, she is settling in nicely. Her Momma, Sophie (pic will come later), went away for awhile, so I am the one she is learning to trust. She looks a bit like a mule, Greg says. And I agree for now, but just wait. If she is anything like Sophie, she will be beautiful!

National Holiday: "JUNE BUG DAY" April 12th

This morning I saw my first "June Bug" of the year, and here it is, April. Poor thing was doing what all June Bugs do, fighting for it's life on it's back. This sighting brings back to me all the memories of summer. It's my own little reminder that warm weather has arrived again, and with it all of summer's little pleasures like steaks on the grill, itchy mosquito bites, and running barefoot on the hot concrete. Even Nathan noticed the difference in the air this morning, he said it smelled like summer. So, what exactly does the return of this June Bug mean? Is it likened to groundhog day? If the brown little beetle actually flips over to it's feet, does summer come early?

OPENING DAY!

It's that time of year, folks. Dig out that sunscreen and lather it on thick, 'cause we're gettin' in the pool! Better find the nice, big beach towel while you're at it. There has to be some sort of physiological phenomenon in children under the age of 12 where they have a layer under their epidermis called the "wetsuit" layer. They might actually notice the cold water, but do they care? Oh no, not on your life.

After the fun, we opted for some blood warming hot chocolate!

This is "March Madness"

This is how you know you've gone to beach during SPRING BREAK!

"Kid's, let's go warm up in the hot tub! Uh, nevermind..."

Destination: Destin

It was wonderful to go to Florida for Spring Break, especially since we heard it was so cold and windy back home. After hearing about the blistering cold weather in MO, I didn't mind so much the fact that I wore a sweatshirt to the beach. This was a much needed break from all our self inflicted running around that we do. We ate out a lot, saw a movie, shopped way too much for the kids to stand it, put hundreds of miles on the car, and I even read a 500 page book while baking in my sweatshirt on that beach. Now that's a vacation!

So, how can you go on vacation without playing an exciting round of mini-golf? This big guy watched over the place, I guess.