The Long Goodbye

The “long goodbye”  that is what some have called what we go through with our loved ones who have Alzheimer’s disease.  The details are better left unsaid, but it would be an understatement to say this time in my life dealing with my mother and her disease is very difficult.  The Lord has a way of comforting like no other and speaks to me so clearly through scripture.  James has been especially meaningful to me of late.

James 1:12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. James 5:11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

Mom and me at recent BBQ at her assisted living.
I cannot minimize the compassion of my husband or my other family members who walk through this trial with me as well.  As it has been said many times before, the Christian walk is not a sprint but an endurance race.

The Swish

We interrupt the usual blog entries for this special request from Ty.  He asked for me to post about his recent basketball shooting at our house and he specifically asked that it be titled “The Swish”.  So here it is!
Here are the two younger Hodge boys:

And here is Ty taking his best shot.  Please notice the shot and then the “swish”. 

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Great job Ty!  Keep up the practice and we will be watching you play for a long time.

Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis

In November 2008, Steve and I along with Austin decided to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in the research pursuits to cure CF by walking in the Great Strides Walk on the Texas A&M campus.

It was a pretty cold day and after a quick burrito breakfast served by “Breathe Hope”, the Texas A&M student group that supports CF, we started walking.  We didn’t make the full 5K because we realized about halfway that Austin wasn’t feeling well.  When we got home he had a 102 degree fever and fighting a lung infection. 
We are walking on May 1 and have formed “Team Austin”, a group of about 10 walkers that are all raising money for a cure for cystic fibrosis.  Our team goal is to raise $3,500!

If you would like to donate please click on the link below and help Austin and others like him in their quest to see a cure very soon.
http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/JanaCrouse

My Girls

We have taken photos of the girls every Easter for their whole lives.  So what if they are all grown and have families of their own!  I still love photos of my girls!

I also got a great photo of Shauna and Mark. 

 

Still hoping to catch Heather and Kevin for a photo together soon.  Maybe in the wildflowers?

Wildflower Photos

The grandkids are getting used to their Nanie taking photos and Easter was no exception for the Alexander kids.  I caught them before 9am for some great shaded photos in our front yard wildflowers.

Kylie and Andrew Easter 2010.

  

I will try to talk Heather into getting up early next weekend and bringing over her boys to indulge my photography hobby.

We are really loving Steve’s front yard wildflowers.

Baby Bump

It had been about a month since we had seen Melissa and David and we were so glad that they were able to come for Easter.  Here is Melissa at about 16 1/2 weeks with her baby bump!

Also a pic of David and Melissa, parents-to-be at Easter 2010.

Easter 2010

Here’s what we did for Easter:

Played games…

Decorated cupcakes…

Had a scavenger hunt….

The clues took them inside, outside, upstairs and downstairs and at the end they found a special gift for all of them.

 

The grandkids loved the scavenger hunt and everyone enjoyed the new basketball hoop.  This suited our family better than baskets of candy.  We read Isaiah 53 after dinner and I think we all were humbled by the description of our Lord’s suffering.  The reading was a great way to bring our focus back to Jesus!

Archery Champion

The highlight of the Outdoor Expo for our family was the archery contest.  From looking at the list there were about 100 people that tried their best to hit the bullseye on each of the animals.

This photo shows most of the animals represented at the archery contest.  There was a target on each of the animals and points were given based on each ring as they get closer to the bullseye and points were given for just hitting the body of the animal.

Taking his best shot!

 

The only bullseye of the day….that arrow is Austin’s!   

 

Counting up the points scored.

 

And…..drum roll please……The overall archery contest winner of 4 delicious Readfield ribeye steaks is……Austin Hodge!  Congratulations. 

Austin was honored with his prize at the dinner following the expo that evening.

Outdoor Expo

Our church recently held an outdoor expo to expose young people and families to outdoor activities.  There was everything outdoor represented from camping, fishing, hunting, golf, gardening…..you name it…there was a booth or activity highlighted.  It was a young boy’s paradise.

Nathan tried his hand (with the help of his mom and dad) at golf and bull riding.  The boys watched the archery competition with great interest and Ty did some bull riding as well.

Austin decided to try the archery competition and I will fill you in on his experience in my next post.

Shamrock Shakes

Scott and Jan hosted us for part of spring break.  In between visiting Mom and packing up her apartment, we spent one evening watching the Aggies lose a basketball game and eating.  Jan fixed us some yummy creamy peppermint shakes.  My niece Katie and her husband Chris joined us for the evening.

Scott and Jan:

Chris and Katie:

And if you didn’t notice already, Katie is expecting a baby boy around July 6th.

Melissa is about 10 weeks behind Katie.  So fun that they will be having babies so close. 

Even though it snowed while we were in Iowa and were reminded that summer is the best time to visit, it was great to spend time with Scott, Jan, Katie and to meet Chris.