STOP! Reroute!!

One word, CRAZY. That is the name of our 2010 summer. Still no phone calls telling us it is time to hop on a plane and fly half way around the world, but nonetheless crazy. This summer, lots of new friends, LOTS of movies, a couple trips to visit family, and a whole lot of sickness. It all started a month ago with a very odd virus, first Maddux then Graci, (mind you, Maddux on Graci's actual birthday and Graci AT her birthday party). Maddux's illness passed quickly. Graci's seemed to until it kept coming back every couple days and with a vengeance! After the third week of all of this it was time for a trip to the doc. Several blood tests, and few other very icky tests later (here comes the STOP! Reroute!) we have learned Graci is allergic to wheat, peanuts, and pork. We were told to start a gluten, peanut, and pork (I know pork, weird right?) free diet immediately, We are very happy to finally know the source of the mystery illness. I never would have guessed that changing our diets would bring about such an immense change in our family. We are all adjusting and each day gets easier. I am reading a lot of food blogs and trying to get my feet under me for cooking and shopping before school starts in 2 1/2 weeks. I think we are all looking forward to the more structured life of school days. Here are some pictures of our first week illness free, we took the kids to see our family in Chicago and while we were there we headed into the city to check out Sheds aquarium, aka, Maddux's heaven.

ahhhh summer

Well things have been crazy around here lately. Parties, dinner dates, all good stuff but busy busy busy. Jim is finally back to his normal schedule which has also helped things to slow down a lot. Wednesday we celebrated Maddux's 5th birthday!! I would love to post some pictures but our computer has been down since the storm last weekend. We also have taken full advantage of the beautiful weather this week with a picnic, trip to the park, and a trip to the zoo. On Wednesday while the boys were partying it up my Mom took Graci and I to see Beauty and the Beast at the Muny....so fun! Tonight is movie night complete with a make your own pizza dinner! Tomorrow we are headed to MawMaw and Pawpaw's for a 4th of July/Maddux bday/ Pawpaw bday party! This weeks end will not bring an end to the Younce's fun though, next Wednesday is Graci's 7th birthday! I will post pictures as soon as we have the computer up and running again. Happy Birthday America....hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!!!!!

P.S. Jim is back home safe

 Karly and his family

I just realized with Jim and I both writing on the blog there is no rhyme or reason to the posts. I think you all know Jim is home safe and sound from Haiti. For how long is to be determined. Jim has made some great contacts there. One man in particular stays in touch with Jim through email. He is a christian man with a pretty amazing story, his name is Karly. Jim and I want to continue to help this desperate place and even if it through only one man, so be it.God has done some pretty amazing things with just one man before...... We have found some immediate ways we can help but at some point one if not both of us would like to go back. Our greatest dream would be to fly Karly and his family here to come visit. We will continue to pray for them and the rest of the people of Haiti, will you join us?

Ok, maybe now I will have time.....

It is officially here, SUMMER!! I think that mean more to me now than it did when I was a kid. The school year was lots of work, but it was fun. I ended up loving my job at the school and I will miss the people there so much. Buuuuuuut, I am six days into being a stay at home Mom and I am loving it! For the first time in my seven years of motherhood, I do not feel overwhelmed! Projects are getting done, I am spending time with my kids and husband, meals are planned, there is food in the fridge, and I don't have a laundry list of things looming in the back of my head that need to be done at work. I am finally catching up on some much needed blog time, here at the Younce spot and Sparrow. Jim has been working a lot, paying back all of his trade time from the Haiti trip and overtime. He has continued to work on the house, we are still in the downstairs bathroom. As with all of the projects in this house, we greatly underestimated what needed to be done. The kids are happy to be sleeping in, visiting with friends, and to be getting more Mommy/Daddy time. For those of you who don't know we are next on the list to be called for our adoption. Once we get the call it will be 3-4 months before they come home. We are so excited after all this time to be on the horizon of knowing who they are. God has continued to bless us and teach all of us through this amazing process. Our kids prayers often bring me to tears lately. The things they have learned about through our adoption and Daddy's trip to Haiti have done something to them, it is teaching them to have a heart of compassion for others.
So all in all only six days in, summer has been great.

Coming Home Soon

It's been a tough two weeks, we've seen almost 2500 patients and sweated quite a bit, at least I have.  We have seen a lot of tragedy, heart ache, smiles, hunger, etc., and even delivered a baby.  We've visited orphanages, seen some really sick kids, and seen some places that are doing things right.  There is a concerted effort by a lot of people to try and make a change here, I hope the spirit of the people here rises up and overcomes the fear and abject poverty they are in.  But God is capable and there is hope.  Despite the devastation, Haiti has some absolutely beautiful places and faces.  I can't wait to get home now that our work is done.  I have lots of pictures and stories, you know how I like to talk.  See you soon!

Haiti Update

Jim Here,  day 4 I believe here in Haiti.  Things are going well, we're all still alive and no one sick yet.  Our travels went as well as can be expected on Tuesday, and at dusk Tuesday evening we got out of the airport into Port au Prince to drive off to our compound.  I will never be able to adequately describe the sights and smells of that drive.  The oddest part is seeing the complete devastation with so many people walking around and living in it.  It is by far the worst I have seen yet.  Our compound, however, has been very nice and safe.  Our second day was spent planning and organizing for clinics.  Third and fourth days spent doing clinics, and we've seen almost 900 patients so far.  Of course, the children have a special place for me, and tomorrow we head off to orphanages.  I will try to post more later, but time has been scarce.  Continue to pray, good things are happening and the people are very grateful.

I'm baaaaaaaaaack!

Told you I would be. Heard from Jim again today, things seem to be running smoothly there. The devastation he described was horrible.They now have the clinic all set up and are working to help some of these poor people.We are praying a lot here at home for him, all he sees, and the people there. We all miss Daddy desperately and are thankful for distractions. We are all looking forward to trip this weekend. My hopes are the week goes by quickly and before we know it we are headed home and are only 24 hours away from seeing Jim. We usually hear from him in a short email in the morning. He says a phone call may happen in the near future but I am not holding my breath. It sounds like communication to the rest of the world there is sketchy.Anywho, please keep praying and I will keep everyone posted.

He got there safe!

Jim arrived in the compound around 8:15 this evening just outside of Port de Prince. I have not been able to talk with him directly but did get a very short email that he was safe and that the things he was seeing were indescribable. Graci and Maddux did fairly well until they realized their nightly good night call to Daddy wasn't going to happen. A few prayers and back rubs later everyone calmed down. Jim says he may have some access to a phone so we are hoping for a phone call sometime in the next few days. I will post again soon......

Haiti and California!??

I know, I know the last time we posted was halloween, sad I know. We are back and I promise to be better though. As most of you know Jim is headed to help out in Haiti for a couple weeks bright and early tomorrow morning. There are lots of different feeling floating around the Younce house this evening.We were visited and prayed over by some dear friends this evening, had a family movie night and a lot more prayer on our last night with Daddy. I am so proud of him, and any of you that know Jim well enough knows, God made him for things like this. He is excited, I am a little nervous, Graci is emotional and Maddux is clueless. The fam minus a Daddy will be heading to visit family in California this coming Saturday, the hope is this is a great distraction to all of us from how much we miss Jim. If you are reading this I ask one favor, ok two, please pray, pray for safety, that God would bring him back to us, touched and changed by what he has seen but safe. Two, pray for boldness for Jim, pray God would give him strength and courage to preach the Gospel, not just with his mouth but also by his actions. We will post again soon, maybe even Jim when he returns.