George is allergic to eggs.  It's a real pain - for me cooking and baking, for us eating out, and most importantly, for him as a 4 year old who doesn't get to enjoy the yummy things (like cake) that his friends are eating! 

I've been praying often that God will heal him.  But I've found myself not wanting to pray WITH George about this.  I don't want him to be disappointed in God if God chooses not to heal him. 

So ... am I doubting?  What is faith?  I know that God CAN heal him.  I believe that without any doubt.  What I don't know is IF GOD WILL heal him.  Is faith believing that he WILL, or just that he CAN???

Any thoughts???

It's a sleepy Saturday morning, the boys are watching TV, my husband is still in bed, and (since I have to be up) it sounds like a great time to TRY to catch up on what's been happening in our lives the past few months.  So ... sit back and get comfortable ... this will be a novel:

Chapter One: Family Vacation

On August 21st, the Dimmock family boarded a jet plane, destination Colorado.  Upon arrival, Grandma and Grandpa whisked the four of us off on a 2 week multi-generational excursion to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park.  Besides the long hours in the car (the boys were stars!), and two nights of freezing in sleeping bags, it was the perfect vacation!  I'll post a link to some pictures "soon".

A few highlights:

Yellowstone Bear World: where we got to feed donuts, bagels and bread to live bears from the top of an open truck.  We were literally feet from the bears! It was incredible! 

Yellowstone Geysers: Castle was definitely the best!  It was amazing in fact.  It goes off for something like 20 minutes (or longer).  The day we were there is was quite hot, but all in all it was a great experience.  Monkey loved them and the rest of the vacation kept asking to see "more geysers".  D could have spent weeks there seeing every feature and reading every sign!

Canoeing and hiking to waterfalls and rivers: My parents love waterfalls, so we hiked to many of them during our travels.  They boys were in heaven.  They LOVE to be outside, digging in the dirt, throwing rocks into the water, climbing, etc.  We also were able to spend a day canoeing in the Grand Tetons. The boys wanted to go again, but we did have a schedule to keep

Chair Lift: Monkey and George loved the "Big Swings" we rode to the top of one of the Teton mountains.  And George had to take me to the summit of the mountain - that kid has NO fear when it comes to climbing!  Monkey didn't enjoy this day as much though - after 3 crash and burn falls while running DOWN the mountain (a bit scary to watch), Daddy insisted on carrying him - which brought about a half hour screaming tantrum on the top of the mountain!  Eventually he settled down and enjoyed the Big Swing down with Grandma and Grandpa!

Dinosaur Museum - No day would be complete for George right now without dinosaurs ... so we found a Dinosaur Museum to tour.  The wonder and amazement on his face made the extra few hours in the car well worth it! 

Can't forget Camping: The boys are definitely outdoor people.  I think they LOVE everything about camping, even being cold. But the best parts were s'mores, helping put up the tents and being muddy and dirty the whole day!  I was happy to split the trip between camping and a condo that had a shower and proper beds

Chapter Two: The Death of a Lovely Woman

Sadly, the morning of our return to Houston my parents received a phone call that my grandmother was not doing well.  They rushed to the nursing home and were informed that she was "actively dying" and it could be hours or days.  In light of the uncertainty, D and I decided to return home with the boys as scheduled.  The next morning my Grandmother went home to be with Jesus.  So I returned to Colorado less than a week later to attend her funeral.

My Grandmother was a wonderful woman who will truly be missed.  I honestly believe that she prayed for me every day of my life - and will miss her prayers every day for the rest of my life!  But I can hardly be sad that she is now in heaven, with her husband, walking the streets of gold, worshipping her Saviour and receiving her reward!  The last few years of her life she has such bad alzheimers that she didn't know her family and spent her days in a wheel chair in front of the TV.  Now she remembers EVERYTHING and gets to dance and bow before the throne!  Actually, I'm jealous! 

The funeral weekend was a great chance to spend time with my brother and to get to know his girlfriend better.  They came to church with us on Sunday, and both seemed to be impacted by the sermon.  Lori even talked to me afterwards about buying a Bible and which one to buy and how she used to go to church and talk to God but hasn't for a long time and would like to again!  If you are a praying person, please add them to your list - God is doing something in their hearts - hopefully they won't run but submit!

I was also able to spend a wonderful evening with my Aunt who's daughter committed suicide 5 months ago.  Obviously, she's really struggling.  I was able to share from my own experiences with grief and encourage her that really, life will get better and she will heal and the pain will eventually diminish.  We sat at Red Robin for 2 1/2 hours holding hands, crying and talking.  And God gave me the boldness to NOT miss opportunities to talk to my Aunt about God, for which I am grateful!

Chapter Three: Home Again

Now, we are all home again, with no plans to travel in the near future!  The boys have both started preschool - George 5 mornings a week and Monkey 2 mornings.  If you're doing the math, this means that I have SIX HOURS a week BY MYSELF! This is the first time in over 4 years that I've really had consistent time to myself.  And yes, I'm LOVING IT! I honestly feel like a new woman - so much more settled and centered and relaxed and ... it's wonderful!  And to make things even better, the boys absolutely love going to school and love their teachers. Thanks God!

We also have an (almost complete) new kitchen, which was installed while we were on vacation.  It's amazing!  Our fridge is finally in the kitchen and we have lots of counter space and cupboard space!  And we even have an ice maker  

Chapter Four: The Future

Unfortunately, no decisions have been made on our future yet.  It is increasingly clear that we WILL be moving ... we just don't know where or exactly when yet.  D is still waiting on news from Toronto, though getting increasingly frustrated and convinced that they are messing him around.  As for Milwaukee, they are offering everything D wants and more. 

We're also needing to replace my van - it's making funny squeaking noises and we've spent quite a bit the past year in repairs, so it's time to think about a new one.  We're test driving this afternoon, and trying to decide if we're buying used or new.

And of course, as if we don't have enough decisions to make, we're trying to decide if we want to have another baby or not ...