more cider-pressing pics

We had so much fun pressing cider, we had to post a few more pictures.

These are some of our friends from church - they were kind enough to let us use their cider press. First you put apples in the hopper and turn the crank...



Next, you turn a threaded press which squeezes out the final drops of juice.


Then you filter the cider and pour into a jug!

Everyone has fun -- even watching cider-making! (Todd actually did a large share of the work...he did not "watch" the whole time, of course!)

But most of all, we like how cider tastes.

a little photo journaling

Pictures from last weekend's cider pressing...

Elijah wasn't very happy to sit in his chair alone, so we watched the cider pressers together from the sideline and took pictures!

Todd's hands...more cider pictures to come!

This is Elijah's "cousin", who surprised us with a visit last night!

Elijah's little friend was so sweet, talking to him and putting toys all around him. :) She came for a visit with her mom and little bro', just to keep us company here.


I'm playing catch-up with this picture. This is Elijah and his cousin, B., enjoying time a few weeks ago near Seattle. I think the little boys are so cute together, one without a shirt and one without pants. (They just got up.)

This is a very, very sleepy Elijah getting his SPECT scan done three weeks ago.

I wish Elijah looked happier on this picture, but here he is with the bubble he wears during the hyperbaric oxygen therapy (without the air tubes attached). I think he was trying to say that he had had enough bubble-wearing for one day!!

This is a worn-out little guy in front of the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. It's huge!


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"Ahhhhhh..." -- that's how I felt when Todd's Mom arrived a few days ago to help us. Taking care of Elijah alone is not easy, and I can feel the extra lifting and carrying (without Todd to help) in my bones. I am so relieved now that Mom Harkins is here!

Thank you, Lord, for sending help now...

just like You have so many times in the past

when I felt like I couldn't go on.

We finished hyperbaric oxygen treatment #14! Just 26 to go. Whether or not this is a benefit from the hbot, I can't say, but we do have a big praise: Elijah went to sleep for his nap today WITHOUT CRYING! I'm not sure if that has ever happened in his entire life.

It's Friday, and we have decided to stay in our borrowed house for the weekend. Todd is coming in a few hours - yay!! Hmmm, I just realized that we'll have a free babysitter for the next few days and we're close to a "big" city...I think we should take advantage of this!!

a book and fresh apple cider!

I'm having computer/camera problems, so haven't been able to post a picture of Elijah wearing his 'bubble' in the oxygen chamber yet - sorry!

I am once again relishing my weekend 'home' (where is home, anyway?)...and especially my husband!! A few weeks ago we started reading a book to each other in the evenings. We don't have TV, but even without that distraction we found we needed something to draw us close and help us talk. I highly recommend it! Right now we're reading "The Most Important Place on Earth" by Robert Wolgemuth. It describes "what a Christian home looks like and how to build one", and it is chock-full of practical ideas.

I love not only the book but also being snuggled up to my husband on the couch while Elijah is trying to fall asleep (i.e. crying in the next room!). I suppose we are learning about the 'intentionality' that is so needed to stay close in marriage. Without a goal (reading together), it would be easy to fall into the habit of doing our own thing in the evenings.

Todd is in the backyard, loading apples into the pickup truck. A friend of ours from church is going to help us make apple cider tonight...I can't wait for a nice cold glass of fresh-pressed cider!

Elijah has gotten a little cold over the weekend, so please pray that he'll be able to continue on Monday with his therapy if that's what the Lord would have. He has seemed a little happier lately, and we are thankful for that! He is also getting used to being in the oxygen chamber and didn't cry much the last few days. So far we are 9 (treatments) down, and 31 to go! We are so grateful for the opportunity Elijah has to do this therapy, and that our doctors here seem to be behind us (or openly supportive).

apples...astronauts

Perfect reds and yellows all gathered into bags and boxes...

Today we were given bags and bags of lovely apples by a complete stranger! Recently, Todd had stopped at a nearby farm to ask permission to hunt. The elderly lady of the place did not permit hunters, but said we were welcome to have some apples instead. So, today we brought a few buckets and a box to her farm, and she not only loaded those full but insisted we take more.

I just learned about another family's tradition to have a 'gratefulness box' where they wrote on slips of paper about little or big gifts to thank the Lord for. On Thanksgiving, the box was opened and the gifts were all read aloud. I want to start that tradition in our little family...

'Thank you, Lord for the beautiful apples'!

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It has been GREAT to be home for the weekend! I am trying not to think about the fact that I will be leaving again on Monday. Maybe I'll drive home on Wednesday just for the night, so I don't have to stay away the entire week.

Elijah's treatments are going well - we have done four so far. He wears a little bubble over his head in the oxygen chamber and looks like a very short astronaut. He doesn't really like wearing his bubble, i.e. he cries for a large part of the 90 minutes we're in the chamber. The doctor told us that we probably will not see any effects until we complete at least twenty treatments.

Father, You are sovereign, and YOU decide the outcome of each life, and whether it seem good or bad to us...you can be trusted.

2 down, 38 to go...

We have begun! Elijah had his SPECT scan on Monday, and we were successful in doing the scan without having to use general anesthetic (for which I am thankful).

On Tuesday, things were good to go with our paperwork and Elijah started his hyperbaric oxygen therapy! He goes once a day, five times per week, and we will be doing this for the next eight weeks (a total of 40 treatments). The clinic is 90 minutes from our house, but some kind friends have given Elijah and I a place to stay during the weekdays. We'll go home on weekends. Please pray that God will give us grace to be apart as a family, and that Elijah will show GREAT improvement over the next few weeks.

another try!

Monday (October 6) is the new date for Elijah's SPECT scan! We are hoping that all the paperwork will have cleared and Elijah will also be able to start Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Monday or Tuesday as well. We are excited and thankful for this opportunity...and are asking the Lord to use this to do great things in Elijah's life.

We are praying for the small (yet huge) things to improve as a result of HBOT, like his sleep habits, his reflux issues, and the irritability that we have dealt with for most of the past two and a half years. We don't write much about Elijah's fussiness here, and most of the pictures you see are of a happy little boy. Elijah has improved from being a baby who cried constantly to a little guy that IS very content and "smilie" (when he wakes up in the morning or right after a nap)...and those times absolutely melt us!! They help make up for the rest of the day when he is crying and wanting to be held.

So, so many times I fight the urge to not compare our lives with what they would be like were Elijah 'normal'. Most of the comparisons I'm tempted to make don't just involve what Elijah would be doing, but how much more peaceful life would be if Elijah wouldn't cry the entire time he's in his carseat, or scream while grocery-shopping with me, or have to cry hours just to fall asleep -- at least not on an every-day basis.

So, while I am very thankful for all the progress Elijah has made, it just feels like we have been operating under a lot of stress as a family for a long time. We can keep going, and we will...because the Lord is our strength, and He gives times of incredible JOY despite hard circumstances! However, it would THRILL us to no end if Elijah could make some improvements that would make taking care of him easier for his Mommy and Daddy!

We don't want to limit God to the "small" improvements, though. We know it's way beyond unlikely -- more like impossible -- but we are praying that Elijah will be able to walk and talk someday. Nothing is too hard for God. Maybe the Lord will use the hyperbaric oxygen therapy to accomplish those things. Maybe not, and maybe He won't ever choose to. Whatever the case, we are so thankful for our little boy, for the God we serve, and for the prayers of His people.