July 12, 2000 #1

Dear Family,

Here is a brief recap of recent events:

Tuesday, July 4th

We wanted to try to make the Fourth a special day for Skylar. Nana made
brunch. Skylar ate a fair amount, which was an encouragement. 

That evening we went out looking for fireworks. We drove to Paso Robles
and the fireworks began as we were driving out of town. I found a place
along the roadside to stop, but wound up driving up over a curb. Skylar
could see the fireworks out the window. We enjoyed "Ooh-ing" and
"Aah-ing" as the colorful displays blossomed in the sky. Even though
the show was so engaging, Skylar is so on-edge from all the sugar in his
diet that he wanted to go home before the show was over. "Wait for the
end, Skylar" said Nana. "The finale is always really special." We did
stay for the end, and it was glorious!

Wednesday, July 5th

Suzanne's parents brought Chris home on Wednesday afternoon. His
cousins Adam and Ashley were with them. Suddenly the apartment was
overflowing with people!

When they arrived, Skylar was in the middle of a painful procedure. His
nasal gastric (NG) tube had been clogged by the residue of a crushed
pill; a nurse had to come and remove the tube. Then the tube was
cleaned out. I wrapped my arms around Skylar and held his hands while
the nurse re-inserted the tube. "Squeeze my hands as hard as you want
to" I said. 

That evening Nana made "super nachos" for dinner for everyone. Skylar
ate a fair amount, but soon had a tummy ache (probably because he kept
asking for more salsa!). After dinner and goodbyes, Skylar's
grandparents and cousins left for Texas. 

Wednesday, July 6th

In the morning as usual Papa and Skylar took a little walk outside to
see the day God made for us. "Skylar, who made that tree?" "God."

That afternoon there was a trip to the park with Uncle and Papa to fly a
kite. Although the wind was sporadic, we did get the kite in the air
briefly two or three times. 

In the evening, Uncle Chris, Brother, Papa and Skylar played a game of
"Pokemon Yahtzee". A good time was had by all. Skylar won!

Thursday, July 7th

After a quiet morning, Nana, Papa, and Uncle left for an afternoon visit
with our son Jeff, Skylar's father. We had a good visit. Please pray
for Jeff; his release date is not until December, and he fears he may
never get to see his son alive again. 

Friday, July 8th

In the morning Skylar, Suzanne, and Papa went to visit Dr. Macias for a
checkup. I took Skylar out of the room for a few minutes while Suzanne
and the doctor discussed Skylar's situation. The good news from the
visit was that Skylar was maintaining his weight. 

The boys (Uncle, Brother, Papa, Skylar) went for a walk in the park that
afternoon. We played hide-and-seek, walked quite a bit, and went for a
ride on the swings (I held Skye in my lap and operated the swing so that
he wouldn't have to touch anything). When I picked him up, he
complained about pain in his left shoulder. 

Uncle, Papa, Brother and Skylar made a trip to Paso Robles to replace
some walkie-talkies that had died mysteriously. Because Skylar is still
in partial isolation, he and I stayed in the car. He was starting to
feel bad; I let him lay in my lap and began tellining him a new Flying
House story about a trip to Saturn. He complained about his shoulder
hurting; he wanted to go home. 

When we had to leave for Escondido that evening, Skylar was laying on
the couch rather listlessly. We all joined hands and prayed for a safe
trip home and for the Lord to watch over one another. As we walked out
the door, Skylar managed to lift one hand slightly in a wave goodbye. 
Our drive home was rather sombre. 

"Why are you sunk down, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed
within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His
presence. Why are you sunk down, O my soul? And why are you disturbed
within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my
countenance, and my God." - Psalm 42 and 43

God bless you,

-Dann