Not my way but God's way

I seriously thought that this post would be an exciting post with wedding pictures of Keith and I. Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary. It was a beautiful brisk fall morning when we married at 10:30 am at Huffman Baptist Church on Saturday, October 29th, 2005.

Instead of posting pictures, my heart is saddened to say that my beautiful Grandma Dison went to Heaven yesterday. She was such a special person and I loved her so dearly! Instead of celebrating our anniversary, we are celebrating the life of my Grandma!

She was rushed to the hospital yesterday morning with a very low blood pressure and being unresponsive. She stabled out and they planned to admit her but we feel the aneurysm got her. Mom said that she was waiting on a cat scan and complained that her stomach was hurting really bad. It wasn't too long after that and she was gone.

We rushed to the hospital to find out that she had already gone. I will never forget walking in the ER and seeing my mom and dad standing in Grandma's room. I looked to catch a glimpse of Grandma and instantly knew that she had gone. I absolutely fell apart!!

God placed some very important people at the hospital yesterday. It was so amazing to see God's good works in such a hard time. To preface my story, Mom and Aunt Irene were the only ones at the hospital with Grandma. Dad had gone back to work and Uncle Rudy had gone to the dentist. We all had the understanding that she was stable - and she was. A very important member of Huffman Baptist was also in the ER. Because of that, Ron, the new pastor of Huffman and Larry Smith, the adult pastor of Huffman and Pat Ray were there. I am very fortunate to say that they were with Mom right after Grandma passed. They knew when I walked into the room with mom, I think because they heard me crying. Ron was the first one that I saw and of course I cried on his shoulder. (Hello, you don't know me well but I'm crying on your shoulder!) Then I cried on Larry's shoulder. It was a comfort to have them with us. Chris Howell also came in the hospital to be with us also. Chris is always been faithful to visit with Grandma and the family each time she has been in the hospital. It was only fitting to have him there with us. He was wonderful to stay until Grandma left.

So, it looks like we will be celebrating my Grandma's life on Sunday - which is Halloween. That was not my plan to do on Halloween but it is not like I have much of a choice. My cousin Amanda pointed out that their must be a heck of a reunion going on in Heaven. My Grandpa Dison died 32 years ago so I know that Grandma was excited to see him and I know that he welcomed her with open arms!!

The picture I posted on my blog is of my Grandma holding Noah when he was about 3 weeks old. This was the first time that she had met him. I am so thankful for this picture. I knew that I would be!

Please keep our family in your prayers, especially over the next few days!! We love all of you!!

~Randi, Keith and Noah and the whole Dison family

Personal Patience

"WHATEVER happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. "

                 ~Philippians 1:27

This verse has hit me hard this week so I knew that I had to share it. It is SO easy for us to get down in whatever is going on in life. Life brings us down. It is easier to get brought down than it is to be lifted up. We're human. That's the way life happens. But this verse very simply reminds me that NO MATTER what happens or what I/we are going through, we should praise God. I know, much easier said than done. But this is my focus and my goal for now.

Life is still so up in the air for us right now. It's so frustrating. It's easy to blame Keith or get mad at Keith (which I don't - only in my head) but by any means, it is not Keith's fault. I know that God has HUGE plans for our life. Not sure what they are, but they are HUGE, and great! I feel it coming!! And I am excited about it. But only in God's time will it happen. It may be 6 months or a year from now, who knows? God knows!

My biggest weakness is patience. God did not give me a lot of patience when it comes to something I want to do or something I want to happen. My Momma would 100% agree with me on that statement. I have lots of patience with people, elderly and sick - which is why everyone says I would make a great nurse, but I do not have personal patience. That's what I am gonna call it - personal patience. I do have a dream to go to nursing school ... maybe that will happen one day.

God has been doing some great things in our life recently. One being a car for Keith. This was a HUGE blessing for us. Keith sold his car 2 years ago; one reason was it was about to require some major work done and two, we needed the money to build Noah's bedroom and Maggie a fence. Since the selling of it, he has been driving my GrandDaddy's 1985 Toyota truck. While it was a great truck back in it's day, it is on its last life. GrandDaddy had already driven the wheels off of it when he died. In fact, he was getting ready to buy a new truck when we found out he had cancer. He decided to wait until after his surgery, and well, that didn't go according to our plan. But, anyway. Keith has be gracious enough not to complain and drive the little "putt-putt" truck. Maggie loves the truck and the two of them looked great riding in it. It was a picture from a magazine.  

We have been looking for a car for Keith without looking for a car. I honestly figured that we would get something for Noah and I and Keith would take my car. We found out a couple of weeks ago that a family friend had a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee that they did not drive and had considered selling. We instantly jumped on the opportunity. Keith and GrandDanny went to look at it on a Friday and Saturday night it was ours. Boy, it feels great to pay cash for a car. This Jeep was nothing but a pure God thing!!! Keith is loving driving it -- no, I did not get the Jeep. Keith deserves it! Besides, he seems to be driving Noah more lately than I do! Oh, did I mention that I found a car seat at the Thrift Store for $9.99?? It was is perfect condition and fits Noah perfectly. Just needed a good cleaning!

Keith is still looking for a ministry position without actively looking for a ministry position. I know, that doesn't make sense. He would LOVE to be a full-time recreation minister but knows that he must complete seminary first. He has started the application process for seminary and is following the correct steps to get to that point. We know several people who are full-time ministers who have found positions in other cities and states. It is a scary thought to think God may have a church for us outside of Alabama. If He does, then off we will go. Would that be my first choice, absolutely not!!! I asked Keith if I could preference a few cities that would be my first choice! Ha, I know that is not how it happens though.

So, we are ready to tackle whatever God has in store for us - the good, the bad and the ugly! I am again learning personal patience. Boy, God has such a sense of humor with me and my personal patience!!

~Randi

AFS Fundraiser

Come paint a beautiful "Funky Tree" picture to display in your home for Christmas. The local chapter of AFS (American Field Service) is having a fundraiser to raise money so that we can do some fun things with our exchange students while they are here. It only costs $35 and a good portion of the proceeds comes directly to us! Come help support and have fun while there!!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

2 pm - 4 pm

Japan Internation Karate - Trussville, Alabama

227 Main Street

Trussville, AL 35173

$35 - supplies included

To register for this event, go to www.everydayartist.net and click on UPCOMING EVENTS and click on the link for the AFS Fundraiser.

Call me if you have any questions!! I hope everyone plans to come!! We're gonna have a blast!!!

"Comand them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life"

- 1 Timothy 6:18,19

What an amazing weekend we had with Ellie. She was truly a blessing from above!


I met Ellie Friday afternoon. Her "family" had to leave early for their daughters football game, so I met her about 3:30 and brought her back to Fun Source to work for our last hour. Yes, I introduced her to the world of inflatables. No, she didn't get to jump in one, but I did reassure her to wait until Noah's birthday party! There will definitely be some jumping going on there! HAHA!


We headed home after work to meet Keith, Noah, my mom and of course, Maggie. I for-warned Ellie about Maggie - told her that Maggie would be excited at first but would then settle down. And that is exactly what she did. If you have read Maggie's blog, then you now that Maggie and Ellie shared a blanket. I told Ellie that was a true sign that Maggie has welcomed and accepted her into the family. Noah liked Ellie also. He showed her all of the "hikes" that he has (ie: footballs) and showed her his slide. He even walked her to her bedroom and showed her how he can get on her bed.


 We took Ellie out to eat that night - and boy was that an experience. It is always an experience going out to eat with Noah. Ellie had not had the opportunity to experience a true hamburger so we went to Red Robin. I think we overwhelmed her with amount of choices. We enjoyed a great meal and just a time of getting to know each other. After dinner we headed to Target -- I had to get a gift for a baby shower. Ellie had never been to or heard of a baby shower. I explained to her that it was a time of giving gifts for the expectant mother - I had to explain that it was not giving the baby a physical shower. They do not have baby showers or teas in Italy. Instead, they go to the home of the baby following the birth and visit with the family and new baby and take their gift then. It sounds like a "Sip-n-See", which is not very common in the South.


Saturday was a great day - once it got started. Noah woke up early which in turn woke up Ellie. I felt so bad for him waking her up. She said that she slept well (which was a relief because I always worry about that!!) She was excited to sleep in the queen sized bed because she had never slept in a bed that size. I knew she would be comfy because she is so tall!


We headed to the Galleria so that I could participate in a Flash Mob for Breast Cancer Awareness. The link is on youtube so I will find it and post it on here. We enjoyed lunch at the Galleria following the flash mob but that is about as far as Noah would let us go. He had been up so long at this point that he was ill as a hornet! I promised Ellie a better trip to the Galleria, probably Noah-less and we could shop all day long!! We took Noah and Keith home, met Nina and Papaw there, left Papaw and took Nina to the baby shower with us.


Saturday night was filled with Domino's Pizza, Alabama vs Florida football game (which Bama dominated in) and fireworks from the neighbor at halftime. YES - I fed Ellie Domino's Pizza. Dorinda laughed asking if I was seriously feeding an Italian Domino's pizza and yes I did! She liked it though. AND - would you guess that Ellie and I like the exact same pizza?? Ham and pineapple - YUM!!


Sunday was filled with church and lunch with the family. I introduced Ellie to Huffman Baptist and then we went to Irondale Cafe for lunch. Keith's family joined us for lunch which was such a joy for them to spend some time with her. Nina and Papaw joined us as well as a couple of people from Papaw's church. Mrs. Rosemary was dying to meet Ellie since her family was originally from Italy. Her mom and dad were actually born there.


Sunday afternoon as relax day. Saturday was SO crazy that we were exhausted on Sunday. Dorinda, Meghan and Katelynn came over to spend some time with us. Poor Ellie, she tried to study but Meghan and I wanted to show her Rock Band. (She must have been able to study anyway because she made a 100 on her test!!) We had a great time playing Wii!


It was time to take her home Sunday evening. We waited as late as possible to head home but neither of us wanted to go. She enjoyed her stay at our house this weekend and I was so excited to hear that. Said it was the best weekend she has had since coming to America. YAYY for us!! (I was afraid I had worn her out too much!)


We are hoping to plan something for next week, if it is ok with Ellie's new family. She moves to a new home tomorrow so we are praying hard that this is a better fit for her and she will enjoy it. I stressed to her that she is welcome at our home any weekend that she wants!


I posted a few pictures that Ellie took this weekend. I'll go back and post the others -- it is so much fun seeing our world from her perspective! The pictures were taking at the train tracks at Irondale Cafe. That reminds me -- gotta go get "Fried Green Tomatoes" for her to watch! :-)


~Randi

Noah...Noah...Noah...

If it is not one thing then it is the other!! God love him! Our week started out with the car incident on Sunday night. He has been fine and had no issues since - except for a little lack of appetite here and there. He has slept fine and played fine since! I was thankful to GrandDanny for my car smelling sooo good. A fresh clean carseat sitting in the heat all day - oh, it was fresh and clean!!

I dropped him off at school this morning. Fussed a little when Ms. Gwen took him but he was fine and eating a snack by the time I checked him in and dropped off his back-pack. About 40 minutes later, Mrs. Sandy calls me and says that his hands are swollen and he has little blisters on them. I begin to freak out. She tells me that he has no fever and he seems fine. One of the blisters is about dime size on his knuckle - not on his palms. Weird - I think so! His feet are also a little swollen and red. Mrs. Sandy tells me that Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) is going around and she is not sure if that is what it is. Again, no fever. I asked if I needed to come get him and she said to wait it out and check back in a couple of hours to see what it does.

I called the pedi, but had to wait on the nurse to call me back. Keith calls Momma Gena - after all, she was a daycare director for up-teen years and is very familiar with HFMD. She said the same thing that Mrs. Sandy said -- never seen swelling with it, always has fever, acts lethargic and blisters are more on the palms of the hands and not on the backs of them. I checked back in with Mrs. Sandy - just praying that maybe this was an allergic reaction to something. She calls me back about 10 minutes later saying that the swelling has gone down and the blisters do not look real bad. Said that it is the weirdest thing she has seen! In fact, she said that Noah made her wait until he finished painting before she could check his feet. How cute is that??

When the nurse called me back she reassured me of something ... if Noah (and me, and Keith and Papaw) had HFMD last year, then it is not likely for him (us) to get it this year. HALLELUJAH!!!! That was great news, especially if HFMD is going around school. We can NOT be sick this weekend -- have too much to do! E is coming to our house so we must be well!! Sounds like it is an allergic reaction to something. Have no idea what it could be though - that is the troubling part about it! But we will be adding a new medication to our medicine cabinet - Benadryl!! This will be fun tonight - he may go to sleep way early because of it!

My poor baby has been through so much in his short 19 months. Fortunately none of them have been life threatening or too difficult to deal with. Our most tragic was our broken arm. Yes, we have already tackled our first broken bone!! Noah was at school on July 14th when Mrs. Tracy called and said that he kept crying and was not acting like his normal self. Keith got to the school before I did and realized that he was not using his right arm. Went to the doctor, held him down (literally) for an x-ray to be told we needed to go to a Pediatric Orthopedist. How scary did that sound!! We left that doctor sporting a nice blue accessory from our fingers to above our elbow! We only had our blue accessory for 4 1/2 weeks, so it was not that bad! It made it difficult for bath time (there was not a bath time) and playing outside. It was very hard to keep him "cool" and not sweat - especially in the heat of the summer in Alabama.

But Noah is such a trooper in all that he does. I am so grateful for having him in my life. He is my absolute pride and joy and could not imagine my life without him. I am SO thankful to God for him being a healthy, happy little boy. I know that so many other families are not so fortunate and my heart hurts for them. I pray every day for God to wrap his loving arms around my baby boy - to protect him in all that he does and to keep him healthy!

~Randi

Fun weekend with CRAZY twists!!!

We had a great weekend that ended with a crazy twist!! K went with us to the ballgame Friday night and he had a GREAT time. It was so much fun taking him with us. He has never been to an American football game so he had lots to see: cheerleaders, music horns and a clown! Oh, and not to mention - the Clay Chalkville Blue Crew - a group of high school guys who wear no shirts and paint their bodies to look like jerseys. It is quite the site to see - especially for someone from Thailand. We stayed at the game until the beginning of 4th quarter. Clay was winning pretty good so it was not much of a game to see. Keith and I decided that we will take him back to a more challenging game. It was incredible to watch his thought process trying to take it all in.

We got home that night to sad news. We had heard rumors of a double murder/suicide in Trussville earlier in the day. We sadly found out that one of the victims was someone that we knew from Huffman. Our hearts were so broken from this news!

Saturday was a cheerful day! All of our family came over to our house for the Alabama game. It was a game on pins and needles but Alabama pulled threw! Mom and I headed off to Gardendale that night for Meghan's final band jamboree. On the way there - we passed several ambulances and later found out that there had been another double murder/suicide in Pinson. What is going on with our world and our city?? These are just too close to home!

Sunday ended up being a busy day. We headed off to Huffman for church and then to a nice Chinese lunch with the family. Keith took Noah home for a nap and Aunt Jennifer and I headed shopping. It had been such a long time since we shopped without kids -- oh, it was so nice!!! After Sunday night church services - while heading home, our ride home went south. We were getting ready to turn onto Service Road and Noah throws up everywhere. It was not a little bit either. It was our first projectile experience!! Keith debated to pull over or keep going - since we were so close to Momma Gena's house. We decided to keep going, so he sped up a little. We pulled in and instantly stripped Noah of his clothes in the drive way. Gigi began to clean him up while Keith and I cleaned the car. Unfortunately, this was one of those times where I did not have extra clothes for my little buddy. Let me tell you --- this will be the last time that I go without extra clothes. I am just thankful that we were at/made it to Gigi's house. Poor Noah, all Gigi had was a pair of 24 month sweat pants. They were so large on him that they drooped half way down his diaper and they were so long that he would slide from stepping on the pants. For his shirt, Gigi put on him one of her white shirts and pinned it in the back. GrandDanny said that he looked like he had an angel costume on. He is my little angel!! ;-) And speaking of GrandDanny, he is worth a million bucks!! We took the car seat apart and washed the liner because it was obviously gross!! As Keith was swapping car seats with them for us to borrow, Keith noticed the gross stuff stuck in different places on the car seat. GrandDanny said that he would hose it off today and sterilize it really well. Wow, I sure do love him!!! As for Noah, we have no idea what made him sick. He did not get sick any more and has seemed to be fine. I think it may have been soured apple juice in his cup. He was running and playing at both Gigi's house and at home. We think he had one little burp/spit up incident at home but it was not much. We bathed him really good and Daddy helped him brush his teeth. He went right to bed after a few minutes of watching "Cars" and snuggling on the couch with Mommy.

He seemed just fine this morning, though he did not each much breakfast, and seemed to make it through the day at school. I fully expected a phone call but fortunately did not receive one!

So, that catches you up from our weekend!!! Whew - what a weekend it was! I did find out that E did want to come spend some time with us this weekend but we missed out. Hopefully she and I can get together and plan something for this next weekend! I sure would love to meet her!!! :-)

~Randi

Love at first meeting

Mrs. Kathy came to our house last week to not only meet Keith and I but to introduce us to AFS. We sat and talked about involvement with AFS, what they do, how the process works, etc. I was SO excited to be talking about it. Mrs. Kathy had a special surprise with her when she got to our house. She had K with her who is from Thailand and will be staying with her and her family. K is the original boy that they wanted to live with us.

We talked in depth about E and her country and her situation where she is now. We told Mrs. Kathy that we would like to be E's liaison and have her come stay with us some weekends or any time that she wanted to. We are not ready to commit to having someone with us full time. She asked if we wanted to have E that weekend. Unfortunately we were not ready to have someone -- the house was a wreck and we didn't even have a bed for her to sleep in. Keith laughed and offered the couch, but she is my height and would not be comfortable.


We went ahead and discussed having her with us this weekend, so that would give us a week to get the house in order. We (mainly Keith) have cleaned the carpets, moved the playroom to the music room and turned the playroom back into a bedroom. I found out last night that E will not be with us this weekend. I was sad to hear the news, and not because of all of the work done, but I was truly excited to finally meet her and have her with us. Her family is out of town this weekend and she is staying with the family of a friend from school. We are praying things work out for her to move in with them if things go well this weekend. This would be an answer to prayer! My heart hurts so badly knowing that she is unhappy where she is and knowing that I can't help fix it right now.

But I do have something to look forward to ... K is going to the game with us tonight and I am SO excited! Mrs. Kathy asked if it would be ok for him to go with us and I was so delighted to have her ask. She told me this morning that he is excited as well. I have told her that he is MORE than welcome to come stay with us anytime that he would like. I would love to have him around. I felt such an instant connection the first night that he met.

I am hoping to get some pictures tonight at the game and I will post them to the blog!!

~Randi, Keith, Noah and Maggie