Witnessing A Miracle

Our friends Mike & Debbie---Picture taken in December 2008

OK...Jesus did not appear in the flesh to us...but the miracle was evident.

As most of you know who read our blog, or got our request for prayers, know that our friend Mike from church, who has cancer, was very near death one week ago today. Anyone who read our blog, knew that he was prayed over for a miracle. http://sweethomerichards.blogspot.com/2009/02/blessings-miracles.html

I called Debbie on Thursday to see what I could take to them for meals, and she told me that Mike was eating again, but only soft foods that were easy to eat & digest. So, I asked his favorite soup. Split Pea....easy to do, and I happened to have the ingredients. Yahoo! I also made a pot of Cream of Potato, as Debbies favorite soup WAS not split pea!!

Yesterday...Bill & I took over two big pots of soup and some fresh rolls. When we arrived the hopsital bed was no longer in the living room, but had been moved to the kitchen. When we walked in, Mike was sitting up!! His color was back, and he greeted us as we walked in. AMAZING! After talking to Debbie & Mike's son (The one who drove from TX with a 3 day old baby), we found that:

His pneumonia is GONE!
His pain is GONE! (No more morphine needed)
He is able to eat--
His body is digesting and eliminating things properly again--
He was using MUCH less oxygen--
His lung capacity has increased--
His color was back to normal--
He is sleeping in his own bed with his wife at night--
He was SPEAKING!!

What can we say, except:

We do not know the state of which his small cell cancer is at, but I think he goes to the DR this week. We do know that the change this week has been incredible, and that we attribute it all to prayer and miracle.

We do know that we are thankful that he has had this week to coherently visit with family and friends, especially his son from out of state and his family, along with their new baby. Regardless of what is ahead, we have witnessed a true miracle, and feel so blessed to have seen God's power.

We continue to pray for the miracle for Mike--as well as financial stability for them in this difficult time. Debbie has been laid off from her job, and I'm sure though they aren't saying, that things are difficult financially. We pray for peace, and for God's will for them. Until that is totally revealed to us...we will continue to:

AMEN!!! Thanks for your prayers....

Declan's Birthday

Declan's 10th birthday was today...and although we had sniffles, Tracey told us to come for his birthday anyway. Robert joined us, as did Dallas, and Amy. Declan's Godparents arrived later for cake. The first gluten free cake I've ever had...home baked by Tracey...and it was great! Chocolate with cream cheese frosting...yum!

We shared a nice evening, and then Tracey, who is also learning guitar from Robert, played us a tune. She's coming along very well!! Robert & Dallas both played as well. We love to hear guitar...especially when Robert decides to sing too.

Happy Birthday Declan!

We Thought it was Spring!

I woke at 5AM, and looked out the window...snow everywhere! It was raining hard when we went to bed. We got over an inch of rain yeseterday, and it turned to snow sometime during the night.

When we got up at 6:30, it had melted off some...but still was on the ground and freezing. I looked out on the porch to check on the dogs (we are watching Jen & Brad's two dogs) and I saw my frog...he looked so cute with the snow all over him and covering most of him except what his umbrella was covering.....

It was a pretty morning, and the dogs had fun playing in it...with the exception of Porter, who said "I've done my stuff..now let me back in the warm house!". We're doing well for having five big dogs in the house. Everyone is well behaved!

As for Bill...he is doing well now that the news is out. He took the lay off from HP very well, and is relying on God to show us the way. In fact, his exact words were "I'm excited to see what God has in store for us." If that's not peace, then I don't know what is. Thankfully, we have the Lord to lean on, and we've been pretty "leaned" this week. Everyone else in the family is doing well too. Ryan has relaxed, and Kristin, as usual, rolls with the punches, and realizes that it's not time to sell everything, and live on the road in the 5th wheel....at least not yet! (She thinks there would be nothing better!) Thanks for all those prayer for peace for us...they are working!

Looking forward to a fun weekend with Jen, Brady, Jason & Brooklyn. Watch for pictures next week!

Blessings & Miracles?

Update on Mike 2-24:
Mike is still hanging on. No changes, and the family is still praying for a miracle. He is in a lot of pain, and while we don't know the reason God is allowing this, he is in control, and knows the big picture for Mike. Our pastors wife was there yesterday, and she said God is big enough to perform this miracle, so we must still believe, continue to pray and know that only God knows what is best.
Update on Mike 2-23:
As of yeseterday afternoon, Mike was still the same, with no major change. His son arrived from TX with his family, including the new baby, and has had a chance to visit with his Dad. That in itself was nice to hear. I will update this as I hear of any changes. Thanks again for your prayers for Mike & Debbie, as well as their family.


Our friend Mike has been battling cancer for awhile now. Recently, things have gone downhill, and he has not responded to Chemotherapy, and was unable to have radiation because of pneumonia. He was sent home last Wednesday with Hospice.

On Saturday (Feb 21), his family decided to have a bbq celebrating his life, and for a chance to say good-bye. On top of it, his daughter was being baptised at 6pm. We arrived around 5pm to find that he was not doing well. He was going a VERY long time between breaths and we were sure the end was very close. Our pastor was there and he prayed with him, as did his wife. Bill & I said our good-byes, and then headed outside. There were many people there, sharing stories, and told us how they had Mike outside earlier in the day, and took some photos with his baseball cap on. It was so sad to see Mike that way, but again, what a blessing to have the time to say good-bye. We went back inside before leaving and Mike was breathing easier, and some of the house had cleared out from the visitors. We said goodbye, gave his wife Debbie a big hug, and prayed for the best.

Fast forward to Sunday morning in church. Pastor's wife Sherry shared this story with us: This is the way I remembered it...so I may not have it word for word...but you'll get the idea.....God is working!

After everyone left on Saturday night, Mike started quoting scripture to one of his family members who is an elder in another church. Mike told this man that since he had been anointed by God, Mike wanted him to anoint him with oil, and pray for a miracle. (Mind you, Mike has not been able to speak much these last few weeks do to cancer..so this in itself is a miracle). SO...last night, they did just that. Anointed Mike with oil, and prayed for a miracle. Amazingly enough, Mike slept ALL night peacefully, something I understand he has not done in awhile. This morning, he awoke, and was again quoting scripture. He refused his morphine (which he could not do without every 15 minutes yesterday) and said he was sure that God was preforming a miracle, and that he did not need it. We would have not been surprised if he came to church today...just because of the way God was moving.

I have not had any news today, so am assuming that no news is good news. I pray that God does work a miracle in him...and that he is restored to health and we can share this story to give God the glory! Keep Mike & Debbie in prayer...only God can perform a miracle!

Ryan's Guitar

Ryan & Robert working on the basics

A few months back, after watching the guys at church play around with the guitars before & after service...Ryan thought it was something he might enjoy doing, so started looking for a guitar. We really didn't have to look to far, as God put one right in our path at the first place we looked. Amazing. Get this..

We were supposed to go to work in Eugene, but I had a sore throat and wasn't feeling too hot, so stayed home. We had made plans to visit the music store in Eugene, so Ryan was REALLY disappointed. He wanted to look at how much he would need to save, what was available for lefties, etc. I told him that I would have to go into Costco in Albany later in the week, and we could stop & look either there or in Corvallis when I was feeling better. SO...Ryan started looking through the yellow pages for music stores. He brought me one and jokingly said "You'll like this one...it has a frog in the ad"....so, we thought "Why not hit Bullfrog Music" in Corvallis. On Thursday, we picked up Bill for lunch, and headed over. The man that met us in the store was a really neat guy, and said that if he were a lefty, he would try to learn right handed...as the options for choosing a guitar were greater, and the price was lower....plus, he happened to have a used guitar on consignment that sounded great, and was in the right price range. There was a sticker mark on the front of the guitar face, but other than that, it seemed like a good deal....BUT, being we aren't guitar people, and our friend Robert had asked us if we would take him along guitar shopping to make sure we got a good one, we decided we weren't buying. We happened to know that Robert was working in Corvallis that day, so Bill called him to see if he could stop on the way home to check it out for us. Robert asked Bill where the guitar was, and once Bill told him, Robert said that Kurt would not steer us wrong....that it must be a good guitar, and the price was right. SO..we bought it. Looking turned to buying, but the circumstance was perfect, and it all feel into place. Ryan as it turned out had EXACTLY the right amount of money!

Last evening, Robert came over for supper and a visit. He sat down with Ryan for nearly an hour, going over proper care of a guitar, how to hold it, explained the mechanics to him, and told him what he'd need to purchase for it yet. Ryan seemed to do really well in understanding what Robert was sharing with him. They played around a bit on Ryan's guitar, then Robert went out & got his guitar, and they worked on things together. It was nice to hear Robert play and sing...and good for Ryan to see it was something he could do if he put his mind to it. Robert explaining the guitar to Ryan

Ryan spent about three or four 15 minute sessions today practicing, and each time he improved. I heard him changing chords much quicker tonight, than he had this morning. He was actually making nice sounds instead of idle stumming! Way to go Ryan! We will be looking forward to our first campfire song on our next trip out!

A Farewell Weekend at Washburne

We departed home on Friday AM, around 11, and arrived at Washburne around 1:30. Flo met us as we rounded the loop and gave us a nice greeting! We parked, and headed up to visit with Harry & Flo for awhile. We conned them into taking some pictures in front of their volunteer sign at the park, and then we headed off to Florence for our usual Friday night supper, and visit to Bi-Mart!

We woke on Saturday to some drizzle, but it quickly dried off, and the sun came out. Kristin took off to ride her bike, and I was busy working on a parting gift for Flo & Harry. They have been park hosts in the winter at Carl Washburne since 1997. We officially met them in Jan 2000, when the mud slide in Florence closed the highway, and we frequented the park, because no one else did & we loved having it to ourselves! It was this way for 3 months before they opened the road. In that time, we got to know Harry & Flo, and always tried to spend some time there when they were hosting in the park. Winter is our camping time on the coast anyway, since it is way to busy in the summer. For these last 9 years, they have been adopted grandparents for our kids while we are at camp, and good friends to us as well. We look forward to our visits when we camp.

Kristin over the years has picked up many treasures off the beach at Washburne, and she helped with our project by contributing a small sand dollar, 2 agates, and a pretty shell. We grouped these together in a nice wooden collage, and pasted the treasures around the frame. Together with the photos we took on Friday, along with some nice pictures of Washburne beach, and Heceta Head Light House, it made a great grouping. We took our gift down to them on Saturday after supper, and they were both very pleased. Flo had visited earlier in the day (thankfully, I had already finished & wrapped the gift!), but she saw that I had printed the group picture I had taken the night before, and had it on our fridge. Needless to say, we talked our way out of that, and made sure we gave them the gift that night!

Sunday brought a lazy morning, in which Ryan read us the lesson we were working on at church. He was disappointed because it was the lesson on Sampson....so we read the two chapters, had a good discussion, and will download Sunday's teaching tonight, and listen to it on the way to work tomorrow!

After our quiet morning, we had lunch, a nap, and then we headed to the beach. As we got onto the beach, it was nice & sunny, but a storm quickly blew in, and we spent the evening inside at Harry & Flo's visiting while the wind blew. Thankfully, Washburne is protected by a high bluff behind the camp, and lots of trees. It rained hard all night, and thankfully, come Monday morning, it burned off, and we had another beautiful day...so beautiful, that we decided to stay another day. Bill called work and took a vacation day, and we enjoyed yet another relaxing day in our favorite place.

Today was sad as we pulled out of camp after lunch. We realized it was our last trip there with our smiling hosts there to greet us. We will miss the, and Washburne won't be the same. I guess we'll have to start camping in southern Oregon where Harry & Flo are going to settle. Thankfully, they are keeping their doctors in Corvallis, so will see them for that, and of course we will get together from time to time...so we're not "too sad"!! We wish them well in their new adventure!

Just some funny pictures

Sunday after church, we headed to the O'Hara's for pizza and some much needed catch up time! We had a nice lunch together, a game of cribbage for the adults, and some dress up & play time for the kids. Kim & Kristin are here in their funny get ups!

This other picture is from Monday School--after class, the kids hang out & play while the teachers clean up. Kristin found her way to the dress up box in the preschool room!

School Interruption!

Our kids like any, are always looking for a way out of doing their school. SO, it was with half a heart that I responded to Kristin's excuse of not being able to read her bible devotion this morning!

This is what I found....

Yep--kind of hard to do your school!!After a few minutes of love, Ashley was content to get off of Kristin's school book, and move on to other things! Kristin reluctenlty, went back to her school work!

Today is Bill's appointment with the DR to try yet something else to help with headaches. Please keep us in prayer, and pray for the Dr's wisdom. Thanks!

Full House

Friday the O'Hara kids came to stay for the weekend! Bill stopped on his way home from work and and brought everyone home (except Alyona, who had basketball pictures--Sean & Tracey brought her after supper). We had pizza for supper, and then an evening full of Wii. The kids did really well sharing, and taking turns. Sean & Tracey stayed to visit with us for a few hours, and then they headed out, and we rounded everyone up for bed. We put three in the living room, two in Kristins' room and two in Ryan's room. Ironically, the three in the livingroom were the first asleep! Declan had the giggles, and Kristin & Alexis were just enjoying visiting and having some "girl time". At 12:30 I finally went in & told Declan unless he could shut off the giggle box, he would have to sleep with the girls downstairs. It became silent very quickly!! I am glad that he & Ryan have such a good time when they are together.

The kids got up around 7:30-8:00, and someone quietly shut our door (how sweet). Alyona & Ryan helped the younger ones get their own breakfast, and we enjoyed sleeping in (or laying in bed quietly!) until almost 9. It is so nice to have the older ones to help the younger ones.

We had a great morning and afternoon....some playing house, some playing a Nancy Drew game, some playing Wii, some enjoying music, and overall, everyone got along great trading where they were, and who they were playing with. For having seven kids in the house, it was pretty quiet!! At one point, everyone was either in the basement playing or outside. Bill & I even got a short nap!!

We had supper, and then everyone watched a movie. After the movie, it was shower time...thank heavens for the tankless hot water heater!! We had some girls that were singing, enjoying their shower, so much, I had to peek in on them, and tell them the'd probably been through 800 gallons of water (OK a stretch, and I'm glad they were having fun, and are squeeky clean!).

Alyona came into our bedroom for some help with homework, and she, Bill & I worked on a fun story with her. She did really well...and we helped her work through her "modifications" to her story. The gang all made candy necklaces, and had a blast doing it! Of course, it's always fun to eat what you make!

Everyone headed to bed by 10...and once again, the downstairs was fast asleep. The girls upstairs were next and the boys...were still awake at 11:00. Declan was having some breathing issues, and the antihistime nor the humidifier were doing the trick. We finally called Tracey at 11:15--more because Ryan was so worried, and the fact that we did not have Declan's inhaler. Sean came out & picked him up, and headed back home. All those sleeping in the livingroom slept through it all. It was funny this morning when the girls got up and could not find Declan!!

We headed to church...very good service....Bill home suffering with another migraine, but feeling somewhat better this afternoon. We keep praying for an answer from the doctors that will help him. We go again on Friday...pray for an answer!!

Have a great week...

Washburne Weekend

We headed out Friday AM in route for Corvallis, as Bill had an eye appointment. He's been having a lot of eye pain, and the Dr wanted to rule out eye pressure before attempting any further diagnosis. Thankfully, it all turned out OK there, and the Eye Dr feels that it is a muscular issue, and not ocular migraines as the Dr feels it might be. He has enough migraine issues, and we are praying that this is not yet another form for him to deal with. The Dr called on Friday to discuss some ideas, but we were gone, so will see what she has to say tomorrow. Please keep this in prayer!

We arrived at Washburne around 4, to find the park had a fair amount of people in it. Word has spread that they park's electrical (which used to be only 20 amp service) is now upgraded to 50! We found a spot on the back loop where we like, and then went to visit Harry & Flo. We were sad to learn that this will be their last year hosting at Washburne, for various reasons, but mainly due to park rule changes, and not being allowed to keep up the park as they were used to doing. After a good visit with them, we headed to Florence to get our usual Friday night Taco Bell fix, and pick up donuts for morning.




Saturday, we woke to beautiful sunshine, and a surprise in the cupboard. The mouse that I caught two days prior to leaving had ventured farther than I suspected--so Bill helped me tear the top cupboards apart and clean them. It was an all morning venture....and between the two of us, we came up with a much better layout when we figured out we didn't need 24 coffee cups!!

Just as we were about ready to put everything back in the cupboard (we had a mess everywhere!), my friend Connie from Ford Credit, along with her husband Jeff showed up. They said they figured anytime they were on the coast, they had a 50/50 chance of catching us at Washburne!! We had a great visit, and had I not had so much to put back together in the trailer, we'd have loved to invite them in for a longer visit. As they left, we looked at each other, and Bill said we could have met them for supper in Florence, and Ryan tried to catch them, but they had already left the park. Bummer...next time!! Hopefully, we will eventually get together to camp and have a good long visit!

Sunday brought another beautiful day. After a faucet leak, and a trip to Florence to see if we could find part or another faucet...we met Harry & Flo for lunch at a great Chinese place in Florence. It was YUMMY!! Needless to say, the portions were huge, and we had enough for supper last night and lunch again today!!

After a good meal...we headed to the beach. Bill and Ryan did some metal detecting, and Flo, Kristin, the dogs & I had a great walk on the beach. The kids ended up at their favorite place, and of course got soaked in China Creek!

We had a nice evening of games and then Bill & I had some quiet time after the kids headed to bed. We woke this morning trying to decide whether to stay another night, head home EARLY and drop Bill off on the way, or head home and get a good nights rest. We had a good walk to the old Washburne homestead, where we played in the field, and Bill did some more metal detecting.




After our walk, we visited with Flo & Harry, said our goodbyes, and headed back to the trailer. After lunch, we had a quick nap, and hooked up to head home around three.

The ride home was nice, and it was beautifully sunny. The temps got much cooler as we got toward home...but still nice. We arrived home to a belated Christmas gift from Tam & Eric....via the O'Hara's. Boy were we surprised, and we can "Feel the Love"!! Still missing you guys.

All pictures updated now!

A Week After Georgia

We've been home 10 days now. The first three were very mopey, as we were missing the Jenkins' family terribly. We were happy to be home, but also missed the warm of Georgia, and of course the family we love so much.

Sunday, Jan 4th--We all were up at 6am....ready for the day....by 8am, were were ready to go back to bed, as the three day drive from GA had finally caught up with us. We napped, unpacked, and Bill set up the Wii for the kids. It was a day of laundry, preparing for the week ahead, and a recuperating day!




Monday, Jan 5th, we returned to work & school. It was an exhausting day for all of us! Tuesday through Thursday we resumed our normal schedules and fell back into our regular groove.

Friday, Jan 9th, Bill has his two lower wisdom teeth extracted. He does very well and we spend the weekend allowing him to rest.

Saturday, Jan 10th--The kids go to the O'Hara's to play, and then they all head here for supper. It was great to be back together again. It was way too long! We had a great visit, and the kids did great sharing the Wii....we will have to have a Wii marathon soon for the kids to get some good time in. Seven kids sharing two controllers was interesting!




Its Tuesday, and we are finally back in the groove of homeschool, home life,and work. Bill is feeling much better, and his first solid meal was two White Castle cheeseburgers (from the freezer--as we don't have them here!),and tonight he wanted nothing more than french fries. God must have known this was on his heart because we received a coupon book from McDonalds in the mail today.

We will be heading to the coast this weekend to visit friends Harry & Flo at Carl Washburne. We are all off on Monday, and 4 days isn't enough to make it to GA & back again! Stay tuned for more pictures soon!

Home from Georgia

(pictures added this AM--Sunday)

Thursday, Jaunuary 1st, 2009
We woke with heavy hearts, as this is the day that we leave my sister and her family. We packed our things upstairs, and left them so as not to ruin our last morning of coffee together. We visited until about 9, when it was time to get things gathered for the truck. We had packed most everything the day before, so it wasn’t too much. Tam & Eric helped with lunch & drinks, while Bill loaded the truck, and we got the last things rounded up.

It was tearful for Shawnna & Tammy….and I must say that the gas station on hwy 96 at Moody road is a good place to get it all out! Washing windows and having a good cry is always productive. It was tough day as we traveled, as each time I thought about them, I cried. The mood was mopey for all of us the rest of the day. I’m sure the empty house syndrome was worse for the Jenkins’. Ryan cheered us up with this silly pillow(it's an around the neck travel pillow). He has a bit of his father in him!

We traveled about 850 miles on Thursday, a full 14 hours in the carz and covered GA, AL, TN, MS, AR, and mae it halfway through OK, staying in Oklahoma City. We ended up in a somewhat OK room, but the room next door ended up having a party, so needless to say, we did not sleep but a few hours. At 4am, we were debating whether to call the front desk, or just get up & go. Being the nature of the people next door, we decided best to leave.

Friday, January, 2, 2009

Being we had an early start, the kids slept in the car for another few hours, and Bill & I traded off during the day, napping and driving. We wanted to put as many miles on, so that we could make it home on Saturday, and get into either our own bed, or the trailer bed…depending on our arrival time…as we did not want to kick our house sitter out of our bed!

We “found” two more hours of Kristin’s lost hours from heading East…she was hapy that we located them. It was nice to gain two more hours of daylight as we chased the sun through the rest of OK, TX, NM, AZ and finally, we hit the CA border around 7ish. We were blessed with a beautiful sunset, safe travel and good weather…with temps around 65 today. We stopped for supper at the last Cracker Barrel on our journey, as we don’t have them at home, and debated long and hard over the double rocker we found there….deciding we had spent enough!! After supper, we headed through the Mojave Desert, and stopped around 10:30 at a very nice hotel—we had very comfy beds, a quiet hotel, and a very peaceful night. Regardless, we were still on GA time, and were awake at 4:30 (7:30 GA time), and were anxious to get home, so we woke the kids, and headed out.

Saturday, January 03, 2009

We spent most of the day in California….great weather again, and other than the wind (the kind if you take your hand off the wheel, you head in another direction! We fared fine, and crossed the Oregon border around 5. The pass had snow either last night or this morning, so we were feeling grateful that we came through in the daylight, and before the temps dropped below freezing. The rain they were calling for in CA/OR have not occurred, and we are feeing very blessed to have made the trip in 3 days.

We arrived home at 8:30—very glad to get out of the car! We are thankful for safe travel, no car issues, no weather issues, and the kids did awesome, never complaining about the long days.

It was a great trip….one we will treasure forever. It was some great family time for us, as well as the blessing to be with Tam, Eric, Erica & Nick. We haven’t been together in a long time, and not only are we family, but great friends as well. (Some of you remember that Eric & I were friends long before Tam & Bill were in the picture!). The laughter, stories and fun we shared was great. The kids did great being together for 9 full days, and a huge thanks to Nick & Erica for sharing their rooms and all their stuff…and to Tam & Eric for having us, and showing us around GA. If you haven’t read the blog for our time there…do so…we learned tons, had a blast, and can’t wait to do it again!! (Hopefully, not driving 3 days non stop!)

We want to thank all of you for your prayers for us for safe travel….God was so good to us….

Here are the pictures from our drive home. It ws 3078 miles one way!