The last couple of days...

We've had a couple of busy, but good past several days. Here's a quick run-down...

Micah seems to be all over the virus he had. Thursday, he had no fever and was acting more like himself. Yesterday (Friday), he woke-up in the morning with a rash all over his body. The doctor told us when we see a rash, not to be alarmed, but happy, as that meant the sickness was over. So, yippee!

Thursday morning, Micah had his last orthopedic appointment before we leave for R-land. We were a little nervous, as when the doctor walked in the room, he said he wasn't sure if Micah's hips would be good enough for us to leave yet. Yet, as soon as he began doing the ultra sound, he said, "Don't worry. You guys can go. His hips look really good!" After he had the ultra sound pictures, he then measured Micah's hips, and we were incredibly overjoyed to see how much they have healed in the last 6 weeks! The doctor was very pleased, showing us that now, both hips are a #1 on the chart... meaning, they are both normal! What a praise!!!

We will continue having him wear his brace though for several more months, as the bones and cartilage in his hip sockets are all still so soft, as he's still a baby. As he wears his brace, the bones will continue to harden as he grows. (If we took the brace off now, his hips could get bad again.) The doctor also mentioned that, interestingly enough, those babies that wear braces tend to learn to walk faster than those babies who don't... but that's not a good thing! The later Micah learns to walk, the better. Therefore, he encouraged us to keep the brace on, just a little longer, so Micah wouldn't walk early, as it would be harder on his bones. Wow, I can not tell you how thankful and happy we were as we left the doctor's office! We are so thankful that his hips are healing so well. Thank-you for thinking about our little guy! :)

Thursday afternoon, we went to visit some really good friends of ours with whom we worked in U-U. David and Susan, and their two girls, were in the States for the school year, but are now in Germany for several months before returning to U-U. We had such sweet time with them as we shared and fellowshipped together.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed playing with Rebekah and Melanie too.

My friend, Susan and Micah. (Shawna, we thought of you and missed you too!)

Friday was my dear hubby's birthday! I think David had a nice day, despite the stress we had getting all our paperwork in order to apply for our visas for R-land that afternoon. :) In the evening, we went to his parents' house where we grilled some steaks and ate watermellon. Happy Birthday, David! :)

And yes, we did send in all of our paperwork to apply for our visas yesterday afternoon. If all goes well, we should have our visas in hand by the beginning of next week!

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We've been starting the process of sorting/packing/ and cleaning... once again. This time though, I am really asking for his grace, peace, and joy as we do this. I usually end up stressed out during the whole packing/transitioning stage, and I really don't want to be that way! I know that the mom's attitude influences the rest of the family's attitude in a big way. So, it is my desire to be joyful and gracious during this whole process. I would appreciate your thoughts for me/us in that way, too. Thanks!

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Tomorrow afternoon (Sunday), we are planning on returning to the Heim, where we were previously for 2 weeks. Yet this time, we will be going as guests! Our home office here, is having a Refreshing conference for all their workers who are in this country right now. Unfortunately, since it is right before we are planning on leaving, and we have LOTS to do this upcoming week, we will not be able to stay for the whole week. Rather, we are planning on just spending Sunday night and all day Monday there. We are looking forward to it, though!

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Just recently, we had our wedding video transferred to a DVD. (Thanks mom and dad!) That way, we can watch it more often. We were watching it for a little bit this morning. It was so great, seeing our special day again. We kept laughing at our cheesy, lovey-dovey smiles. It was SO funny. The girls watched it along with us. Aria kept asking, "where am I, Nina, and Micah?" She couldn't quite understand that there was a time when they didn't exist. :) Then, when we came to the part at the reception where David and I cut the cake, Aria began whining, saying, "I want to go there too!" David said, "why, Aria? What do you want to do there?" She quickly responded with, "I want to eat cake!"