Needing Prayer!

Wow, this is not the time of year you want to be visiting someone in the hospital! (Not that you want to any time of the year for that matter!)
We got a call Tue. night from Doug's Aunt Ty (Doug's mom's sister) They were having an ambulance come to take her husband, Steve, to the hospital. He was having a lot of pain in his chest and it felt like an elephant was sitting on him. They were pretty sure he was having a heart attack. They did tests and found he wasn't having a heart attack, but he had several blood clots in his lungs. (They admited him that night.) The next morning they went to turn Steve on his side and he started having a major heart attack. (This was his 4th) They did some more tests and found that the valve on his heart is not working correctly so the other half of his heart is enlarged because it's working over time. His blood pressure and pulse is back to normal so they think they have the clots disolved. The have him sedated enough to have a tub down his throat (Sorry, no technical terms) That way his heart can be resting and not having to work so hard. If he can fight through this they'll perform surgery. The Dr's have said he'll have to fight! So far he is. Right now the family can use all the prayer they/we can get!
God will never give us more then we can handle! It just seems hard sometimes! Thanks in advance for the prayers!

Holiday Season

It's amazing how time flies! I can't believe Thanksgiving has already past and Christmas is only 2 1/2 weeks away! We love being with our families during the holidays. It's kind of a curse and a blessing. The mojority of our family lives around here, so we have to squeeze in all the family gatherings! It's so fun watching all the great-grandkids play. The majority of them, on the West side, were born in a 4 year span. Below is a picture of the 5 that were at Thanksgiving. (One of the better pics.) It's impossible to get 5 kids to sit still and smile at the same time :-)
Zoey, Madilyn, Ainsley, Rhange, and Caden (All West's)

I'm so thankful that I've been able to get all of our Christmas shopping done so quickly this year! I try to start earlier in the year, because of Doug's work, money is usually tight in the winter time. This year was the first year I actually went shopping on Black Friday. My sisters and I found a lot of good deals! I'm not a huge shopper, but I don't mind doing a major trip once a year. Going with my sisters helped and it keeps us entertained! It is definitely a nice relief to know I'm done!

This past weekend we did our Christmas pictures. I made a deal with Doug that we only have to do family pictures for Christmas, one time a year. (He's not a big picture fan.) This year it went really quick and smooth. I know it helps since the kids are getting older! We even had time to get a picture of the 3 cousins on the White side. Now I need to work on Christmas cards... I'm out of excuses :-)

West Family December 2008

Doug & Tiffany

Madilyn & Caden

Our Handsome Cade

Our Beautiful Madi Rai

Ty 16 months, Madilyn 2 1/2 yrs, Caden 4 yrs

It's been awhile...

Where to start... I'm not doing so well on keeping up with things!

The kids enjoyed Halloween this year. They're both at the age where they enjoy dressing up and seeing everyone... the candy is an added bonus! (They don't realize yet that Daddy get's the majority of it.) Cade was a Good Pirate and Madi was a Fairy Princess.

About a month ago (Nov. 9th) we found out that my cousin passed away. It still seems surreal! He was 6 months older then me and had moved up her with my Aunt. They were living with my Grandma for now. From what I gather he was really excited to restart things up in Springfield. I was looking forward to getting to know him better, but God had other plans. It helps knowing I'll see him again someday! My Aunt was still in the hospital, from having back surgery when my Dad and Grandma found him. She was released that day to come home. I know it's been hard on my Aunt and Grandma! God holds us and guides us through!

I use to babysit a little girl , Emilee, that's 10 months younger then Madi. I watched her for 6 months, I then realized I was not one of those moms that could babysit in my home full time. It's not bad every once in awhile, but consistantly.... just not my cup of tea. I've actually started watching her again on occasional Saturdays to help her parents out. I know all three of the kids get a kick out of it! It's someone different to play with. One of the Saturdays I was watching her, my mom, sisters, nephew, my kids, and I went and took pictures at a pumpkin patch/maze place in Marionville. We were able to get a couple good pics of each kid.

Emilee 20 months

Madilyn 2 1/2 years with Earl the dog.

Caden 4 years old.... so grown up!

My nephew Ty, 14 months

Cade & Madi