Blessed weekend and Monday...

What a blessed weekend and start to the week...  About a week and a half ago I got a call from one of my very best friend's (Vanessa) husband asking if there was anyway that he could fly me out to California to surprise my friend for her birthday.  There was obviously a whole lot of uncertainty about Grace at that time because we were waiting to see how Grace was tolerating the high pressure in her mitral valve and if they would have to act quickly to intervene.  Her husband was so sweet that he said "even if you can only come for a couple of hours it will mean a lot to her."  Thanks to all of your prayers and God's favor, Grace seemed to improve and we felt that it was safe for me to go (I really appreciated David's encouragement to go as well!).  I left early Saturday morning and arrived in Orange County at 10:30 am.  My friend, Danie picked me up at the airport, we then picked Tiffany up, and headed to Vanessa's house to surprise her.  When we got there, Danie and Tiff went to the front door, while I went around to the back of the house and her husband let me in the back door where I waited in the kitchen for Vanessa to walk in.  Danie, Tiff, and Vanessa were walking towards the kitchen when I walked out to surprise her...  let's just say it was one of the sweetest moments ever to see the look on her face!  We shared a big hug and lots of tears... then it was on to figuring out what we were going to do with our short time together.

We ended up hanging out at her house for hours telling stories, crying, laughing really hard, and I got to bond with my new best friend "Zo Zo" (Vanessa's 4 month old daughter).

We ate at all my favorite places that we don't have in Texas...  starting with Juice it Up, then...

Then...

Then...

One of the highlights of my trip was getting to attend church with some of my best friends.  I couldn't help but marvel at the fact just 12-15 years ago we spent time together bar hopping, etc, and now the thing that sounds like the most fun is worshiping the Lord together, listening to a sermon together, and then talking about what we learned and how we can apply it to our lives.  We went to Saddleback Church (it is down the street from Vanessa's house) because Greg Laurie was preaching for Pastor Rick Warren (he is taking a sabbatical to focus on the Lord and shepherd his family through the healing process of losing their son to suicide).  Pastor Greg is special to me because it was at his church that David and I truly began to take our walk with Christ seriously (this was when we were "friends" in college :-).  It has been over a decade since I heard him preach and to do so sitting next to the girls that have seen me through SO many ups and downs in life was a gift that can't be put into words.  After a ton of fun, lots of eating, and little to no sleep, I boarded a plane to come home at 8:00 the next morning.  What a blessed 20 hours that trip was and returning home to my little people and Huzby topped off a phenomenal weekend!

Then, I got a phone call today from Grace's Texas cardiologist...  she talked to our Boston cardiologist and he said he would like to just keep an eye on Grace, instead of doing any sort of intervention at this time. She said that "he (Boston cardiologist) was excited to hear that her gradient number had gone down some and that she looked so good in clinic last week.  He was also pleased that the function of the right side of her heart was good, pulmonary band was tight, etc and that she didn't have any other symptoms of the high mitral valve pressure."  This is a huge answer to prayer and we ask that you will join us in PRAISING the Lord!  We are so grateful!  The next step is another echo on May 10th to check the mitral valve pressure again; however, they are going to try and do it without sedation (Lord help us keep our little wiggle worm still long enough for them to get a good look at her heart- way easier said than done :-).  Will you pray that the pressure in Grace's mitral valve will continue to go down, that she will remain symptom free, and that all other parts of her heart are functioning well?

Thank you our sweet village!