Recovery and refreshment

So, after my last update, we decided to get out of town to get some time of recovery and refreshment. We drove to my sister's house and checked into her "hospital". (At least that's how it felt!) She and her family took such good care of us!

While we were there, I had my birthday, and this sweet guy below made my day extra special:

(Ain't he HANDSOME?!!!)

He took us out to eat for dinner:

Along with my sister and her hubby:

And their three children:

How wonderful it was celebrating my birthday with family!!!!!

Then, off we went to visit with Derek's dad. He was celebrating his 75th birthday! (How awesome!)

"Pappy" with his posse:

Pappy and Nanny:

The family spent time together in a large cabin in the mountains.

It was great reconnecting with everyone!

75 candles!!!!!!!!

What.a.guy!

Then, since we were only a short distance away,

we went to visit Derek's Great-Aunt in assisted living:

Then, shortly thereafter, Daniel got to meet another uncle:

♥

What a refreshing time it was being with family and being rejuvenated!

In addition, when we got home, a precious reader of this blog, Becky W., thought we could use diapers, and she gave us a gift of diapers--just the right size! What.a.blessing!!!!! (Dearest Becky, you were right thinking little guy was flying through his diapers! Thank you for the gift of diapers!!! Thank you so much for thinking of Daniel and our family!!!!!!!)

AND, our neighbor, Cheryle, could tell things were not so well with Daniel, so she babysat the other three for a while until I was able to get Daniel's belly feeling better again! What a gift!

We went away feeling like we needed to check ourselves into a hospital--for someone to take care of us, and it turned out, we received that exact treatment! We were cared for so well!

In response to being well cared for, we were able to give Daniel extra attention, and in turn, he truly blossomed! He is now giving Derek and me kisses continually and wanting snuggles throughout the day! We feel like his bonding time has blown all timelines--because others took care of us, and we in turn were able to focus in him! What a blessing! THANK YOU, everyone!!


As a way of an update: Daniel had his GI appointment, and his specialist is having me collect Daniel's stools. I have about 3 more days to collect before we'll have any answers. The doctor said that the tests will lead us down one of two paths; either to more blood work or to a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy.

For now, we rejoice in all the beautiful ways little guy is blossoming! He is an absolute JOY!!!!

Thank you, everyone, for praying for us and taking such good care of us!!!!!