Update on Ryan's leg

I guess by now you have heard the line, "it's been crazy here", enough so I will spare you this time. :-) Ryan's leg is healing quite nicely. About 1 1/2 wks after the incident, we were getting a bit worried because some of the stitches were beginning to get closed under the healing wound. I talked with mom about it, wondering if we could have them take the stitches out sooner, and she prompted me to take them out myself! WHAT!??! So, being totally intrigued with everything medical and being less dependant on allopathic Drs, I decided to give it a try! I did talk to Steve and Ryan before hand to make sure they were both on board. With all systems go, I gave Ryan sufficient preparation on what to, and what not to do in the event of various degrees of pain. And with his permission I took hold of the stitch and tugged in different angles and degrees of pressure. No pain! Praise God, that is a huge step in the success of our adventure. So, with a careful snip, I released the first stitch and we both breathed a huge sigh of relief. I continued to snip, until all 10 were out and we both let out a triuphant yell and gave a high five! He felt free, like the stitches were holding him captive, not allowing him to partake in his favortie activities. Unbeknownst to him, he was still bound, needing to allow his leg to further heal before he commensed normal activity. One Month later it is almost totally healed with just a scar to remind him the lessons of listening to your father's voice, both heavenly and earthbound. Now, I am posting some pics, but I want to warn you. I love things like this, but understand not all might enjoy looking at gaping wounds. So, for the faint, weary or those who only enjoy looking at flesh in it's intact state, CLOSE YOUR EYES! Those of you looking, the first pic is with the stitches, after we took the first one out. As you can see the 2nd stitch is partly under the skin. The first one was mostly under! The 2nd pic is after successfully taking them all out and the 3rd pic is from today, 4 weeks later.

A trip to the ER

Today we took our 2nd trip ever to the ER with one of our boys. What started out as a fun hike on a Saturday morning ended up with a little bit of blood sweat and tears. There was a vine hanging really low from one of the nearby trees that looked super fun to swing from, so Ryan and Aaron took many turns swinging, trying to make and beat silly records. Usually moms can't watch stuff like this that thier kids get into, for fear of what might happen. But, they are pretty cautious and it didn't seem too bad. I was even taking pictures (to be posted later). After Ryan said "just one more swing", he took ahold of the vine and lept into the air to abruptly meet the concrete streps below when the vine snapped! Usually I am pretty conservative and believe we can handle most things outside of the hospital or Drs. care. But this time I was really sure I was not equipped to handle it! I spelled it out (h-o-s-p-i-t-a-l) to Steve and he must have been in shock, because he thought we were ok. Ryan had a gaping would on his shin, revealing some tissues below that made me totally freak out, and a bit nauseas!! I quickly bandaged the wound before Ryan, who is screaming so loud all of Singapore can take part in his misery, could see the extent of damage done to his leg. It took 45 min to get home through the Sat. morning traffic. We prepared Ryan for the pain while we assessed and cleaned his wound, and I sat there feeling totally helpless as I knew it was beyond my control. What a helpless feeling for a mom! Steve kept looking at me to do something, but I just couldn't. At this point Ryan was screaming even louder and I KNEW I could not do this on my own. So Steve and I prayed for God to guide us, wether or not to take him to the hospital. God gave my husband wisdom and I took him in. We have a hospital within 10 min drive and we only waited about 10 minutes to see the Dr. Ryan was really brave. He shed a bit of tears through the pain, but refrained from screaming, and relyed on The Lord's strength to get through it all. We talked about Jesus' pain on the cross, so He understands the pain Ryan had to endure, and we spoke of things lovely, pure, noble and right in order toget our minds off the things that are causing pain and anxiety. One and 1/2 hours and 10 stiches later we depart and head back home. The biggest blessing from this came when all was done and the nurse was putting the bandage on. He said, "Mom, I think God allowed me to go through this for a reason". Wow! As you can imagine, I was so blessed and proud of my son! We talked a bit about why He allows us to go through difficulties and how He provides all we need to get through it. God is our Provider, Healer, Comforter, Guide and Friend! Praise Him!

Singapore Best Friends

The Erickson family came to visit singapore over Chinese New Year this Fenruary! We had so much fun seeing them again, just like a big family reunion. The children didn't miss a beat, and they are all pretty much old enough to go off and play so Tracy and I had some great time to talk.

We took them all to Malaysia to ride horses, which they loved, and also went bowling. We also had lots of fun just hangin out at the house.

Super Cute Cate

Gotta love it! Taking pictures of Cate is one of my favorite things to do, and who can blame me when she has such cute expressions and adroable clothes. This outfit reminded me a bit of Punky Brewster. I never understood the saying "I could just eat you up", but, even in my lack of understanding, I find myself wanting to say that to her all the time!

Ooooh, I could just........... :-)

Australia bound

For our Spring Break holiday, when mom and dad Wilson are here, we usually take a pretty big trip. Ofcourse, I wanted to got to Australia, probly the best place on earth! We decided to visit some of our old favorites, being Perth and the Margaret River region. There we visit 2 of our favorites, Sunflowers Animal Farm and Siesta Park. We purposely (or should I say, I purposely) planned this holiday to be very relaxed and not action packed. These are 2 places the children continually ask to visit again, and who would pass up the chance to go to Astralia once more!? So, we went for about 9 days to bask in the beautiful sun, cool temperatures and wide open spaces.

Perth, WA

When we first arrived in Perth, we were so excited to have the cool air hit our faces, and wide open spaces with grass to run on! We immediately went to an old favorite, Victoria Park, where the children freely ran around, climbed trees and wrestled in the grass. Caitlyn was fun to watch as she seemingly discovered trees and grass for the first time.

Abbey Beach Resort

We spent 1 night here to break up the 4 hr drive south. This resort was so beautiful, we tried to extend our stay. No luck there but we did enjoy the beach, and Caitlyn loved the ducks! She would actually throw fits if we tried to leave and she wasn't ready. This was also her first time at the beach with sand. A bit hesitant at first, but it didn't take long to warm up to it. Steve and the boys feel right at home on the beach, they went right into the water and making sandcastles.

Have I mentioned how much I love Australia!? ;-)

Sunflowers Farm is our favorite place to visit in Margaret River, WA. The children are free to roam the farm, pet and feed the animals and play on a playground all day at their liesure. Caitlyn took no time at all to get aquainted with the animals, in fact, she loved them! Most of them were much bigger than her, but she eagerly pet and fed them as well. The pictures are a bit out of order, but, the last one is Aaron scratching the kangaroos back (i guess he thought it had an itch?), and the first one is it's reaction, looks lik her really liked his back scratched! We had a good laugh. The big black cow having a stare down with Cate was our neighbor. Right outside our door was it's pen, shared with 3 other cows, thankfully they were quiet. Caitlyn loved going out each morning to greet them before we fed the rest of the animals.

I am so thankful the children love nature, the outdoors and animals! God has blessed us with such cool experiences!

Siesta park was Ryan's pick, a favorite from last yr. This park was designed by a father of 3 boys, and has lots of outdoor things to do. Between the tarzan rope, the zip-line, crabbing, and playing in the ocean, the boys were always busy in the fresh air. We also had a little mini birthday celebration here, doing some games and a piniata which was great fun!

The Busselton jetty is the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. It was built in 1865 to support the all important timber trade. There were a few extensions, the last being in 1960 bringing it to almost 2km in length! At the end, there is an amazing underwater observatory with great sea life. The fish and coral are all there on their own accord, there is nothing done by man to attract them. The colors were simply amazing!

Special time with Caitlyn

The Easter Egg Hunt

We had 2 Easter egg hunts this year, one for just the Wilson's and one with our friends. Here are some pics of both. Anything for candy! And by the way, who's idea was it to make this an Easter tradition anyway? I never knew rabbits laid eggs, let alone chocolate filled ones.

What a bunch!