Birthday Take 1 and A Bit About Selah

 We had take one of the Julia and Elijah shared birthday yesterday. Since JD was out of town, I met a friend and took the little guys to Sky Zone and Cici's Pizza. The new ninja course was built and the kids had blast; Elijah woke moaning about his shoulder muscles this morning!
 

Bella, Selah, Elijah and buddies since birth - Joshua

Moriah and Chris met us during their lunch break -

 Josh and Elijah sat in their own booth - it was cute when we saw them pray together before eating.

 

Please pray for Selah when you think about us. She has had five "episodes" in the last three weeks of falling asleep/passing out that she doesn't wake up from until ammonia smelling salts are used. There have been two rounds of seizure like tremors and breathing that have not been diagnosed. We have had three 911 calls, two ambulance rides in, and another high speed drive into the ER. At this point, I am working hard to prevent it by monitoring her from becoming over-tired or over-heated. We are scheduled at the pediatric neurologist at VCU in September. It's been a bit stressful!

Selah and Hunter

Hawaii!

Before I show the beautiful glory of Hawaii, let me just say that I recently read someone on Facebook saying that they needed to get off FB because their life is so dull compared to others. That stuck with me in a few ways, but the basic thought I had is that our lives are never dull, but rarely glamorous, because of the number of people we have relationships with even addition to our own children. Temporary dull is a coveted position that I rarely get, but long for, because that means we aren't in a string of frequent trials. While I try to balance my children's privacy, and also not paint a picture that is unrealistic, we have plenty of not-dull on a daily basis. Actually I'm typing this as Moriah is on the way to the ER with symptoms that are rather alarming. If you consider your life dull, get involved with teens, foster kids, homeless, anything that would allow you to throw your life in to something that would make a difference for others - serving people in need is rarely dull, nor is it glamorous.

My life is much like a railroad track with the absolute beauty of Hawaii on one track at the same time as some of the most difficult times on the other track. I have to learn to appreciate the beauty on the one side while not allowing the pain on the other track to engulf both tracks.. To leave, my sister and a friend juggled the kids at home, while two other friends split the time with Julia at their houses. I had a very difficult situation with a child shortly before leaving, and we lost one of our beloved dogs. To add to it all, Selah is going through some serious medical issues that landed me in the ER most of one night and my sister most of the first night I was away. To someone who said to me just today, "how do you go away without kids?"; my answer is, "we just have to!" I'm very lucky that I have a husband that insists I rest away from home when I never would be able to at home. I questioned getting on the plane even at the last minute and he basically demanded it. 

Our lives are as stressful as Hawaii is beautiful. Here's the pretty side of the track - 

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village -

Rainbow Tower from our window

Waikiki Beach

We went snorkeling at the North Shore - turtle cove and shark cove to be exact. I'm sparing you the picture of my knees from crawling across coral to move locations -

We ate at the famous shrimp trucks -

Here are the two pictures I came home with that had me in them - (I am protesting the look-at-me-selfie-crisis of our country). 

Recognize this background?

This is my new phone screen-saver -

Jenny