Friends & family

Another annual family cookie day has come. Namine had a blast helping to make hundreds of cookies. 🍪

We had a great time celebrating Christmas with both sides of the family.

Namine and her cousin had a great time at the zoo! 

I’d like to ask you all to keep a friend of ours in your prayers.

Losing a loved one is never easy. Namine has endured the loss of pets before, and that’s hard enough. But the death of a grandma is much, much harder.

Thanksgiving Day held a surprise in store, but not for us.

It’s been more than the typical “24 hours to respond” since Jessica and I got our nominations to participate in the ice bucket challenge for ALS awareness, but here we are.

Jessica, Namine, and I went to the hospital yesterday morning because Jessica’s mom Charlene was having heart surgery. We weren’t sure what precisely was being done — from what I understood, it wasn’t even clear yet to Charlene, either — but at the very least, the wiring in her pacemaker/defibrillator was being replaced. I am…

Jessica’s mom Charlene is still in the hospital, with home nowhere in sight. While she was initially admitted for heart failure — and a malfunctioning pacemaker/defibrillator — she has recently suffered stage four kidney failure and is now undergoing dialysis. It’s all we can do now to be there for her as much as possible.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: this is where Namine’s virtual school shows its value. We’re in the hospital again — not for Namine this time, but Jessica’s mom. A day in the hospital doesn’t mean a day away from school, though. As long as we have Namine’s books and laptop, we…