Good morning blog fans! I know that you have had to cope with a severe post-famine over the past week or so... our apologies! You will be pleased to know that the reason for the lack of updates has NOT been due to any further Gilchrist tragedy (phew!), instead, to make a welcome change, we have been having just too much FUN to get round to sitting down to blog!
Let me fill you in on what we've been up to...
A week ago last Saturday we drove (with my parents) up to Lake Tahoe. We had booked a cabin which said it had 'lake views' - now, one sad consequence of the past year is that Ed and I have become slightly cautious about expecting things to go well, so, when we read 'Lake views' we envisaged that we might be able to glimpse the lake out of the bathroom window if we stood on the loo and leant out... BUT to our absolute delight and surprise the cabin FAR surpassed our expectations - we were literally separated from the lake only by a meadow - we could enjoy a gorgeous view of the lake and mountains from our sitting room, our bedroom and decking area AND (most importantly) from the HOT tub! To top it all off, there was also a giant moose-head stuck on the wall over the fireplace - BRILLIANT!
It was a magical week - lazy days by the beach, a lunch cruise to Emerald bay, awesome walks in desolation wilderness and by the lake, hot tubs, the US open tennis, bottles of wine on the beach watching the sun set, hap
py cuddles with Daniel, 
golf, fantastic BBQ meals and lots of great convers
ations and happy family times together..
. it really could not have been better! My parents even saw a BEAR one night from their bedroom window! How exciting!
The only slight sadness was that Daniel started teething while we were away, which meant that he was a bit more demanding than usual because he was in pain - but even that was special, because it meant he needed more cuddles - and one thing grand-parents seem MORE than happy to do is CUDDLE their grandson! So it was win-win!
We got home on Saturday evening in time for Daniel's dedication service in Sunday morning. Because of the teething, we were a bit anxious that Daniel might scream the entire way through - but he was as good as gold througho
ut - the only thing that made us giggle was that just before the dedication was about to happen, in the quiet moment as Mark (the lead pastor) was going up to the front there was an almighty audible explosion in Daniel's nether regions! The people in the rows around us ALL heard it and were laughing - there was nothing we could do - Daniel was dedicated with a nappy FULL of poo! What a relief that it stayed IN the nappy and didn't end up all over Mark! Can you imagine?!!!
It was a very special occasion. Mark mentioned a bit about the start that Daniel has had in life and what we've been through and then prayed for us and Daniel. At one point Mark said that Daniel is a 'miracle baby' - and Ed, in a lion-king-esque moment, lifted Daniel up above his head for everyone to see - the entire church cheered - it was very special... we can't quite believe the love and support we have been shown by our brothers and sisters in Christ out here - is really has been overwhelming and a huge example of the miraculous love that God gives His people...
On Sunday afternoon there was the annual 'NICU graduates' party at Stanford hospital - a lovely opportunity to go back and see many of the doctors and nurses who cared for Daniel during his first 3 1/2 months in hospital. Everyone was amazed at how chubby, smiley and healthy Daniel is! One real highlight for Daniel was having a cuddle with Julianna - his primary (and favorite!) nurse from the NICU - we can't be sure that he does remember her, but he certainly seemed happy to see her!
To top off an overwhelmingly happy day, we all went out for a really happy dinner on Sunday evening. As we were getting ready to go out I found myself humming the song 'He's turned my mourning into dancing again, He's lifted my sorrow...' - it really felt as though the week in Tahoe and then the celebrations of Sunday were a 'full-stop' to the suffering we have had to walk through... I may be wrong and I will trust Him if there is more sadness to come, but I pray that we can now have some months tragedy-free to enjoy our wonderful son!
Mum and Dad went home yesterday and the house feels very empty today without them here. They have both been so generous and giving in dropping everything to care for us - it will be good to have time just as the 3 of us again, but we are missing having them here!
The summer break is now over and things are starting up again at church this week. I have agreed to be a women's bible study leader on Wednesday evenings and last night was the first meeting - Wednesday nights will be 'Daddy-date-night' - although, by the slightly frazzled expression on Ed's face when I walked through the door last night, the evening had not quite turned out as he had hoped! We pray that Daniel learns to be more settled in the evenings soon! I am really excited to be having the opportunity to lead a group of women in bible study - it feels 'right' to be serving others after all that I have received in the past months...
Ed and I are also doing a 10 week 'biblical counselling' course on Monday nights - we are bringing Daniel along and the idea is that he will sleep through it - that didn't quite happen last Monday - although he DID stay quiet - we'll have to see whether that is feasible long term or not! If he starts to be disruptive we'll do a re-think!
The only other things we've got on are that Ed is meeting with some other guys every other Thursday evening for bible-study and prayer in a local bar and we're probably going to go to a local church fellowship group that meets once a month on Sunday afternoon... all that might seem a lot, but we're excited about it all and (don't worry!), if it feels too much, I can always strip things back and only do the women's bible study... it just feels great to be actually able to get involved at last!
Phew! I think that's all the updates for now! We hope you're all doing well! We love you all HEAPS!!!
Let me fill you in on what we've been up to...
A week ago last Saturday we drove (with my parents) up to Lake Tahoe. We had booked a cabin which said it had 'lake views' - now, one sad consequence of the past year is that Ed and I have become slightly cautious about expecting things to go well, so, when we read 'Lake views' we envisaged that we might be able to glimpse the lake out of the bathroom window if we stood on the loo and leant out... BUT to our absolute delight and surprise the cabin FAR surpassed our expectations - we were literally separated from the lake only by a meadow - we could enjoy a gorgeous view of the lake and mountains from our sitting room, our bedroom and decking area AND (most importantly) from the HOT tub! To top it all off, there was also a giant moose-head stuck on the wall over the fireplace - BRILLIANT!
It was a magical week - lazy days by the beach, a lunch cruise to Emerald bay, awesome walks in desolation wilderness and by the lake, hot tubs, the US open tennis, bottles of wine on the beach watching the sun set, hap
py cuddles with Daniel, 
golf, fantastic BBQ meals and lots of great convers
ations and happy family times together..
. it really could not have been better! My parents even saw a BEAR one night from their bedroom window! How exciting!The only slight sadness was that Daniel started teething while we were away, which meant that he was a bit more demanding than usual because he was in pain - but even that was special, because it meant he needed more cuddles - and one thing grand-parents seem MORE than happy to do is CUDDLE their grandson! So it was win-win!
We got home on Saturday evening in time for Daniel's dedication service in Sunday morning. Because of the teething, we were a bit anxious that Daniel might scream the entire way through - but he was as good as gold througho
ut - the only thing that made us giggle was that just before the dedication was about to happen, in the quiet moment as Mark (the lead pastor) was going up to the front there was an almighty audible explosion in Daniel's nether regions! The people in the rows around us ALL heard it and were laughing - there was nothing we could do - Daniel was dedicated with a nappy FULL of poo! What a relief that it stayed IN the nappy and didn't end up all over Mark! Can you imagine?!!!It was a very special occasion. Mark mentioned a bit about the start that Daniel has had in life and what we've been through and then prayed for us and Daniel. At one point Mark said that Daniel is a 'miracle baby' - and Ed, in a lion-king-esque moment, lifted Daniel up above his head for everyone to see - the entire church cheered - it was very special... we can't quite believe the love and support we have been shown by our brothers and sisters in Christ out here - is really has been overwhelming and a huge example of the miraculous love that God gives His people...
On Sunday afternoon there was the annual 'NICU graduates' party at Stanford hospital - a lovely opportunity to go back and see many of the doctors and nurses who cared for Daniel during his first 3 1/2 months in hospital. Everyone was amazed at how chubby, smiley and healthy Daniel is! One real highlight for Daniel was having a cuddle with Julianna - his primary (and favorite!) nurse from the NICU - we can't be sure that he does remember her, but he certainly seemed happy to see her!
To top off an overwhelmingly happy day, we all went out for a really happy dinner on Sunday evening. As we were getting ready to go out I found myself humming the song 'He's turned my mourning into dancing again, He's lifted my sorrow...' - it really felt as though the week in Tahoe and then the celebrations of Sunday were a 'full-stop' to the suffering we have had to walk through... I may be wrong and I will trust Him if there is more sadness to come, but I pray that we can now have some months tragedy-free to enjoy our wonderful son!
Mum and Dad went home yesterday and the house feels very empty today without them here. They have both been so generous and giving in dropping everything to care for us - it will be good to have time just as the 3 of us again, but we are missing having them here!
The summer break is now over and things are starting up again at church this week. I have agreed to be a women's bible study leader on Wednesday evenings and last night was the first meeting - Wednesday nights will be 'Daddy-date-night' - although, by the slightly frazzled expression on Ed's face when I walked through the door last night, the evening had not quite turned out as he had hoped! We pray that Daniel learns to be more settled in the evenings soon! I am really excited to be having the opportunity to lead a group of women in bible study - it feels 'right' to be serving others after all that I have received in the past months...
Ed and I are also doing a 10 week 'biblical counselling' course on Monday nights - we are bringing Daniel along and the idea is that he will sleep through it - that didn't quite happen last Monday - although he DID stay quiet - we'll have to see whether that is feasible long term or not! If he starts to be disruptive we'll do a re-think!
The only other things we've got on are that Ed is meeting with some other guys every other Thursday evening for bible-study and prayer in a local bar and we're probably going to go to a local church fellowship group that meets once a month on Sunday afternoon... all that might seem a lot, but we're excited about it all and (don't worry!), if it feels too much, I can always strip things back and only do the women's bible study... it just feels great to be actually able to get involved at last!
Phew! I think that's all the updates for now! We hope you're all doing well! We love you all HEAPS!!!
7.20am and I am crying tears of joy as I read this wonderful blog. God truly is good. Is 61 seems very appropriate. I am sooooo pleased and happy for you all. A wonderful holiday, family, God's creation, your gorgeous, gorgeous boy and now amazing opportunities to serve our Lord. Thank you for continuing to update your blog and put up super pics. God bless xxx
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