Please continue to pray for Peighton

Peighton was flown to Ann Arbor today for further evaluation by their cardiologists. There are so many ups and downs, but we know who is in control. The Great Healer can, and will, keep her in his loving arms. She will be our little miracle.

Pray for Peighton Rose Bonk

I was going to blog about our wonderful camping trip we took to a park on Lake Michigan this week, but that all seems so unimportant at this moment. We now have a wonderful new member added to the Bonk family. Scott's nephew "Little" Ben and his wife had a baby girl shortly after midnight last night. The first text I got was the great news of the healthy baby. The next text at 3 a.m. was the urgent need for prayer. She was being transferred to DeVos Children's hospital. I have tried to describe our day four times now and just can't. What started out looking like a devastating day was a day that ended with hope. God is good! She has some huge hurdles to overcome, the biggest one being a heart surgery. But please pray that she will continue to grow for awhile before they have to aeromed her to Ann Arbor to the best cardiogist in the state. The more days she has before that trip the better. Pray for her parents Ben and Jen, her grandparents, and her doctors. This is where the "rubber meets the road" when it comes to faith. Thank you for yours.

Back from Vegas

A friend and I spent a few days in Vegas this week. It was wonderful. They had record high temps and plenty of sunshine. We stayed at the Mirage hotel. Kim had found a huge deal on the trip back in March. We slept in, lounged at the pool, and walked many miles a day going through the different cultural themed hotels. We prided ourselves on finding the best meal deals and ate everything from Italian, to Mexican and Chinese on a very low budget.

The theme on Fremont Street was "The Summer of '69" focusing on the anniversary of the first moon walk. The light show was awesome and I loved the music. We took the double decker bus back to the hotel which gave us a great view of the night life. Some of which we could have done without seeing.

The highlight of our trip was Broadway's "Lion King." It was FABULOUS!! I can't even begin to describe it. The music, costumes, lighting was so amazing. I would to see it again! I hear it's been in Lansing and am going to look there. Let me know if anyone wants to join me. It was incredible.

As always - be blessed!

Another New Adventure

Well, we were blessed to find a used bike for Scott! We spent Saturday cleaning it up and painting it back to it's original pre-rust colors. It takes a bit to get used to since the steering works by shifting your body one way or the other. Sunday we decided to venture out to the Mackatawac trail in Ravenna. It's a great bike trail that runs from Muskegon past Conklin to.....well....I don't really know where because we didn't make it too far. Apparently pedaling with your arms is a bit tougher than with your legs and Scott tuckered out on us pretty quickly.

On the return trip back to the parking lot we nearly had another disaster. You see, Scott started to get brave and decided to race Alyssa. He tried to psych her out by saying he quit and then proceeded to "sneak" up on her to pass on the left. WRONG THING TO DO! Alyssa looked back to see where we were and pulled her bike to the left colliding with Scott sending them both down the embankment with Alyssa and her bike on top of Scott! Scott was sure Alyssa was going to have a broken bone. She was fine. It took me a few minutes to push him out of the ditch and assess the damages. I was sure he was going to have another broken bone, but no, the only damage was a few scratches on the newly painted bike. The church was spared from sending yet another fruit basket. Whew!

Wow, what a weekend!

Aaron's open house was amazing. I felt honored by the number of people who drove up from great distances to attend this event. It was so busy but fun. I felt like I had a chance to talk to everyone but really didn't get a chance to chat like I wanted to. My very favorite aunts and uncles where there too! (Yes, you know who you are;)Part of me is so sad that the party is over. The next phase is to prepare him for the move to college in early September. OUCH! There goes my heart again, but I know it's part of God's plan Thank you so much for all the loving thoughts, prayers, and support. We have an amazing family and amazing friends.

P.S. The beautiful quilt was made specifically for Aaron by my stepmother, Donna. It's just gorgeous. She put a lot of love into it. Thank you, Donna.

Scott is home

They released Scott from the hospital today around noon. I'm surprised they let him go because he kept telling them that I pushed him from his chair. I'm not sure you should say such things around hospital personnel. I was waiting for the social worker to show up to take an abuse report. In that case, next time I just might:) So until then...he's home.

P.S. The church was kind enough to send a fruit basket to the house today. It's our favorite thing to get as a gift when going through these "things", and I happened to mention it to my brother. He suggested that with my family the church should just sign us up with a "Fruit of the Month" club:) Funny, Chris, very funny!

Never a dull moment....Scott has broken his leg!

Okay, it's hard to explain the odd day we had yesterday and today. Scott was coming out of our small storage shed in his wheelchair when his front wheels caught at the bottom of the ramp and sent him flying straight forward onto his knees. He heard the crack! Wishful thinking was that it was just his knee joint creaking. Then he went to adjust his legs to get back into the chair and knew something was not right with his left leg. Of course, there was no pain involved just a very crooked thigh. After arguing with me about how he didn't need an ambulance, I called an ambulance. (How in the world would I get him into the truck and to the hospital?!) The ambulance lady cut his blue jeans off his leg, his best pair I might add, and exposed one twisted thigh bone. Yuck. Still no pain, however. I felt more pain just looking at it than he did. That's the really weird part to me. All these years of pain that is now finally resolved and this is not even a blimp on the radar.

Long story short, they kept him at Spectrum Butterworth overnight and he went into surgery at 9 a.m. this morning to put a rod and four screws in his femur bone. Again, no pain meds after surgery. He was just groggy from the anesthetics and not sleeping all night. I understand why, but it's just too odd to comprehend since it's one of the most painful breaks you can have. The doctors said it was an "impressive" break:) They created a hinged material, velcro, leg splint for him today since a traditional cast would be too heavy for him to transfer in and out of his wheelchair. Hopefully he'll be home tomorrow.

10 days until Aaron's open house. Nice timing, Scott:)

Graduation Day!

Today was the day that seemed so far away 18 years ago. It was a beautiful day for a graduation. I had the pleasure of participating in the ceremony as a staff member of the school as I have for the past 12 years since my second grade students started graduating. It sure is different when you're wearing a "Mommy" hat with the staff hat. Many wondered if I would just melt into a puddle of tears and hang from his ankles screaming "No...no...." as he walked down the aisle to the pomp and circumstance song. I have to admit I thought about it. I think I was so busy organizing and doing things today that it didn't really hit me until just now. Now I'm in a puddle of tears. Aaron is gone, however, to the Senior Overnighter trip so I'm sure he appreciates that I saved these tears for home. Far less embarrassing for him. (I'll save the real tantrum for when he goes to college;)

He received word yesterday that the NCCS in Fremont has hired him for the summer as an intern working with the Boys and Girls Club youth program. We are thrilled. The internship program is designed to match Newaygo county high school kids with organizations that have elements that they are pursuing for a future career. Aaron enjoys working with children and is thinking about entering the social work program in college.

Okay, enough bragging....I guess we're proud of him. Remember, Open House is June 27th from 2-6 p.m at the Grant Wesleyan Church Youth Center. We hope to see you there!

Honors Night

Tonight was honors night for the Grant High School graduating class of 2009. Aaron has received the Michigan Promise Scholarship for his test scores and he also received a scholarship from Spring Arbor University. Graduation is this Sunday. It's so hard to believe that day has already arrived. We are so proud of him.

Aaron's open house is Saturday, June 27, from 2-6p.m. at the Grant Wesleyan Church Youth center. Come ready to play basketball and volleyball or just hang out and talk. See you there!

Happy 12th Birthday, Alyssa!

It's been a week of festivities. Saturday a group of friends and I ran in the River Bank Run in Grand Rapids. That was a blast (now that it's done;) Then Sunday was Mother's Day and Aaron's birthday and today is Alyssa's. I think we've all eaten way too much sugar.

Sweet, sweet Alyssa was 6 months old when Grandma Stahlbaum and I went to Korea to bring her home. She weighed a whopping #12. At a year old she was up to #18 and only weighed #22 at two years old. This year she sprouted long, skinny legs and is almost as tall as I am.

If you know her, you know she has a kind, gentle spirit and a talent for writing. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. Happy birthday, Alyssa. We are so proud of you and love you so much!

Aaron turns 18!

Eighteen years ago today, on the Friday before Mother's day in 1991, Aaron was born at Butterworth Hospital. I was 32 weeks pregnant and he wasn't expected until July 3rd. Unfortunately the pediatrician took one look at this huge preemie of 5# and assessed as being only four week preemie. They put him under the "hood" for oxygen thinking it was enough. I was released on Mother's day to go home. We left around 7p.m. from the NICU leaving Aaron behind. By 10:30 p.m. we got a call from the hospital asking us to come back ASAP. Aaron wasn't doing well. By the time we got down there they had him on a respirator! We almost lost him that night. That was our Mother's day in 1991 and now 18 years later it's his birthday on Mother's day!!! It was six weeks in NICU and 3 more months on the heart monitor and oxygen. But look at him now!
How blessed we are. Thank you, God. Look at this young man. You are awesome!

Prom Day!

Yes, it's Aaron's senior prom! The happy couple headed out for some dinner and dancing. They're so cute! This is Aaron and Brittnee's second prom together. It's so hard to believe they will be graduating in just five weeks. Brittnee will be heading to Grand Valley State University and Aaron to Spring Arbor University.

And we'd like to introduce the newest member of our family......Lorenzo Lopez aka Lo Lo as we fondly call him. He has been living with us since the end of March and we're hoping to keep him around forever. (Okay....until he graduates next year and, hopefully, heads off to college;) We enjoy having him with us. We are truly a multi-cultural family.

This is Lo Lo with his girlfriend, Angela, as they head off to prom too.

Washington DC

We spent yesterday in Washington DC. We drove to Alexandria, VA, and parked the cars in another Wyndham resort secure lot and took the Metro subway the rest of the way. Aside from one very long "oops a bit out of the way walkabout" it was a great day. We got a little off the beaten path trying to find a pizza place that no longer existed. And with 12 of us in tow and a few chiefs at hand, it was interesting:) But we got to see the wharf area where they sell really smelly fresh fish.

Five of us went to the Holocaust Museum after lunch. I left the little girls with Scott. It was a very unreal experience. The whole idea of that happening seems just so sickening. Everyone should experience this place at least once to memorialize these people and to vow that nothing like that ever happens to anyone or any group of people again.

I'd love to go back to Washington DC when I have at least a week to experience it all more in depth.

Spring Break in Williamsburg, Virginia

So far, so good! To date the best part for the kids has been the trip to Busch Gardens on Sunday. My brother and his family are staying in the condo next door. It's been fun hanging out with them. They are getting to really know Abbey for the first time.

For us not so good. The brakes went out in the Suburban so that was fixed today:) But, hey, we made it to Virginia. Scott was stuck for a bit on the second floor today since the elevator decided to quit working. The complex sent us a very nice complementary bag full of goodies since we were abandoned for a bit on the second floor.

We have plans to visit Jamestown Settlement this week along with Washington D.C.