~Our Exciting Field Trip to Creation Museum...which ended with a ride in the Ambulance!~

 This past Thursday, we planned a fun field trip to the Creation Museum!  My sis-in-law Beth and her kids were going to join us, and we could not wait.  Then Kimberly's brother-in-laws came into town, so we invited them to join us as well!  

We had not been to the Creation Museum since 2018!

Thursday at 4:30 AM Abigail woke me up telling me that her stomach hurt.  It was not long and it was obvious that Phillip should keep Abigail home.  :-(. 

So, Phillip and Abigail did not go to the Creation Museum, but the rest of us did.  Abigail was so SAD not to go, so I told her I would bring her a treat! 

We got checked into the Creation Museum, and were enjoying ourselves.  

~Inside the 4D films~

~Our yummy Picnic Lunch outside by the parking lot. 

It was a little on the chilly side, but we were THANKFUL to Jesus for the sun!~

~Mary and her cousin Sophia~

~Jeremiah and Elijah~

~Sophia, Mary, and Aunt Beth~

~Adorable Ava and Mary.  

(We love little Ava to pieces.  She will soon be 7 but is very tiny.  She is so cute!)~

"Sympathy Sickness"

However, I do not know about you, but if I hear someone has LICE, then my head starts itching. :-).

So, ever since we heard that Abigail was sick to her stomach, Noah, Mary, and I felt queasy to our stomachs.

We knew a friend of Abigail's had been sick, but only threw up one time, so we thought that was what Abigail had.

(We would never had gone to the Creation Museum that day, 

had we known Mary was sick!)

I chewed peppermint gum and felt much better.  And we all enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch of subs, veggies, etc. 

BUT WE DID NOT WANT TO DRINK A LOT, KNOWING THAT WE COULD LOSE IT!!!  We did not know if we would get sick, but because Abigail was, it made us all Leary of Drinking.

~MARY SCARES US HALF TO DEATH!!~

We were almost through the Creation Museum when Mary told me that she was not feeling well.  I told her to get a piece of gum from Kimberly, that it really helped! 

About 20 mins. later, she was sitting at a table in an eating area of Creation Museum, with her head on the table.   I came over to her and happened to mention that everyone was upstairs seeing the dinasours that Buddy Davis had built.  

Mary disappeared for a little while.  

Here, she had climbed those stairs to the top, then told her cousin Sophia that she could not do this, and came back down the stairs, around the corner, and came over to our table.  

Someone had taken Mary's seat by then, so she knelt beside the table and put her head on the table.  

I looked at Beth and told her that Mary was not feeling well, so that I needed to run to the Book Store and get a gift for Abigail, and then we needed to head home.  

Mary had handed me a go-go squeeze that she had been eating, so I asked her if she wanted anymore, or if she wanted me to throw it away.  She told me to throw it away.  

I walked around the table to throw it away, when Mary FAINTED and hit her head HARD on the tile.  I can still hear that THUD sound now!!  

I screamed, ran to throw away the go-go squeeze, and then Beth, Kimberly, and I were instantly on the floor, splashing Mary with cold water, and thankfully Beth thought to get Mary's gum out of her mouth.  

It wasn't but like a few seconds and we were surrounded by security, and they started taking over.  They were asking me questions and asking if they should call the ambulance.  

I told them that Mary had fainted quite a bit in her life time if she was sick or in pain, so that I thought she would come to soon.  

BUT SHE DID NOT COME TO.  

Finally I turned to the guy and told him he could call the ambulance.  

He told me that he had already called the Squad. 

They put smelling salts under her nose, which woke her up, but she was still laying there mostly asleep.  They kept putting ice on her, talking to her, asking her questions, checked her blood sugar, and working with her for probably 10 or 15 minutes.  

All the while, I was trying to get a hold of Phillip!!!  

Due to us living in the boonies, sometimes we cannot get phone calls.  I was feeling quite stressed!  I am not the medical one of our family!  

I normally call my Phillip, "Dr. Phillip." Because he always knows what to do in these situations. 

Now, Here I was alone, trying to make the decisions, and Phillip was at home, 2 hours away!!  

Finally, they sat Mary up, thinking that she was ok.  

I yelled, "She's fainting again!!!"  

And sure enough, she was out again.  

By then, the ambulance was there.  So, they put her on a stretcher and I followed them to the ambulance.   

(Thank God that Beth had gotten a hold of Phillip by then.) 

~IN THE AMBULANCE~

When we got into the Ambulance, they did a scan of Mary's heart, and they thought it looked Abnormal.  They did 2 more and they all looked the same.  

So, they told me that Mary's heart might be Abnormal!!! 

Here I was alone, in an ambulance, picturing my sweet 12 year old having open heart surgery!!! 

;-(

It was quite scary!!! 

Phillip called and I told him that I was in the ambulance with Mary!!

That I needed him to come down to Children's Hospital, 

and to please write our Church's prayer chain to pray for Mary. 

Thankfully, Kimberly's Mother-in-law Karen Kline was at Kimberly's house.  So, Phillip took a now-feeling-better Abigail, to Karen, and drove down to Cinci.

~IV~

On the ride to Children's hospital, Mary's blood pressure got down to 85/60, so they quickly put in an IV! 

(This pic is after Mary had had the IV for several minutes and color was coming back to her face.  Before she was white as a sheet.)

~In the Hospital~

Once at the hospital, Mary rested.   Then Mary did eventually lose her lunch. :-(

Kimberly was able to come to the hospital to be with Mary and Me!!  

That was very comforting to both Mary and Me!  <3

All the while I was trying to keep Sarah, my parents, my in-laws, my cousins, my sister, nieces, brothers and sis-in-laws, Mary's friends, my friends, etc. all informed of what was going on with Mary.   

But we had so much waiting in the hospital, that the texting back and forth with family and friends, SURELY comforted my heart!!!

Big Sister Sarah was dying to come to see Mary!!  She didn't know what to do, so while she was praying for Mary, she drew these adorable stickers for Mary!! <3

Beth was a Dear and took Noah, Elijah, and the 3 Kline boys over to meet Chris so he could take them home. 

Phillip was finally able to get there!  And oh, how wonderful it was to have him by our side!! <3

They gave Mary another bag of Saline to help her blood pressure come up.

They also did an EKG to make sure that her heart is ok.  

~"VASOVAGAL SYNCOPE." ~

Around 8:30 that evening they told us that her EKG was perfectly normal.   PRAISE JESUS!!!  CUE ANGELS REJOICING AND MOMMY WANTING TO CRY FROM RELIEF!!!!

They told us that Mary has something called, 

"VASOVAGAL SYNCOPE." 

WHICH BASICALLY MEANS THAT WHEN SHE IS IN PAIN OR SICK, OR EVEN UNDER STRESS, HER BLOOD PRESSURE DROPS AND SHE FAINTS. 

They said to make sure she is always hydrated and to eat salty snacks to help keep her blood pressure up. 

(Which we knew, but it was hard to have her hydrated on the day when we were afraid that anything we drank would come back up.)

The doctor said that since it happened on the day that the stomach virus had hit our home, that there was nothing we could have done differently to prevent what happened.  

Basically, she normally faints, and comes back pretty fast.  But this time, due to dehydration, her blood pressure was too low to let her come back.

Praise Jesus that she did not split her head open when she hit the tile Floor!!!  

And Praise Jesus that she got off of those stairs that she had JUST BEEN ON, right before she fainted.  It would have been horrible if she would have fallen down those stairs!! 

Mary was like, 

"WOW! I never planned to do all of this today!

Listen to my List of FIRSTS that I did today!

~Fainted twice in the Creation Museum.

~Slapped my head on the tile floor.

~Rode on a stretcher

~Rode in an Ambulance

~Got an IV

~Spent a lot of my day in a hospital

~Vomited in a Hospital.

~Got an EKG"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

~THANK YOU~

A Great Big Thank you to:

~Kimberly and Beth for being there for Mary and me!

~To the Security people at Creation Museum!

~To the sweet nurses and doctors!

(Especially our wonderful Erin who was Mary's nurse in the Ambulance!  She was amazing!)

~Also, Nurse Mackenzie, Dr. Stephanie, Nurse Raegan, Nurse Maria.

~To Chris for picking up the boys!

~To Karen for watching Abigail!

~To Each and everyone that was Praying and texting sweet messages of love to Mary and us!!

~AND TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER FOR BEING THERE WITH MARY AND US!!

It is Wonderful being a part of an Awesome Family, and the Family of God! <3

~All the stickers Mary had on her from her 2 heart tests.~

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Needless to say, I was unable to get Abigail a gift that evening.  

So, the next day I ran to Kroger to get the presciptions for Mary, and grabbed these adorable Squishmallows for Mary and Abigail, and I got each of them a large bag of their favorite candy.

I think Beth and her kids and our family are a little nervous of having another field trip together. :-) The last one we took, there was a tornado!  

This time Mary fainted twice, hit her head on the tile floor, and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance!

May our next field trip be uneventful.  :-D

~HEATHER~

~Central PA Youth Convention, Daddy & Moma's 80th, family visits us, Southwest VA Youth Convention, etc.~

 Thank you for praying! The Lord DID visit us with a Special Sense of His SWEET Presence at Central PA Youth Convention (CPYC)!   Such great services, alter services, sweet testimonies, and wonderful times with dear friends! We consider the Youth Conventions like "Camp meeting in the Winter."  

Now, let me share lots of pictures with y'all!  

~Mary took colored pencils, cut them off, glued them together, and then formed them into a heart for her sweet friend Maren.~

~On the way to CPYC.  Levi came with us.~

Wonderful CPYC of 2023...

Already over? How can it be?

I came to CPYC needing a fresh touch.

Oh! How need God's Presence, so Much!!

I came to soak in and refill...

To determine even more to do HIS WILL!

Like Daffodils soaking up the Rays of Sun

In the midst of life, being with Jesus helps a Ton!

We love everything about CPYC!

It's a great Convention for our Whole Family!

We love the Preaching, the Songs, the Games, and More

The Testimonies, Friendships, and the yummy Food Galore!

For us, we don't go places, just 'cause of a Trend.

We go where God is, and CPYC we Recommend!

As we all are now back home and back in the Groove

May Jesus' Presence stay close and may He continue to Move!

~Heather~ Feb. 2023

~CPYC 2023~

~Taking a family selfie...

~then David Spivey jumped in.~

~Sarah, Bethany, and me.~

~Heather, Kim H., and Sarah.~

~Visiting after church.~

~Macie, Abigail, and Kelsey.~

~Heather, RaeQuelle, Sarah~

~Noah's team playing volleyball.~

~Maren and Mary's team~

~The Beavertown church team does a phenomenal job serving all of us a yummy Sunday dinner!!!  And They serve it FAST!!! This was the Huge line on Sunday waiting to eat!~

~The annual "Heather" Selfie. :-) ~

~The Anthonys speaking about parenting.~

~The youth choir.~

~Us and our cousin AJ.~

~Brian, Phillip and I.~

~I borrowed these pics.~

~A selfie with Josh and Sarah, and our dear friends, Josh's Parents, David and Kelly.

~A sweet paper that Mary wrote for her English PACE, 

"If God lets me be a Mother, I want to be just like my Mother." 

<3

~Our Sweet Friend Lila Kemp.~

~Chris and Kimberly singing at church.~

~My Daddy and Moma's Double 80th Birthday Party!~

Back in July, My Sweet Moma turned 80, but we were singing for Camp Victory in VA, and could not celebrate her.  My Daddy was going to turn 80 On Feb. 11th.  So, my oldest brother Andrew came up with the idea to celebrate both Daddy and Moma together.  We were going to go out, but we decided to host it at our house.

Daddy and Moma came up a few days early.

Daddy took us to Ponderosa for supper on Thursday.~

~Thank you, Dear Jesus, for giving my Dear Sweet Parents 80 wonderful years of life!!!!

Thank you, Lord, that they ever came to know and accept you as their Lord and Saviour!!!  

Thank you, Sweet Jesus, for allowing them to be my Godly Daddy and Moma whom I love with all my heart!!~

~Breakfast Friday AM at our house.~

~Kimberly and Sarah visiting with Gram.

Kimberly and Sarah were such a huge help to me in putting on the 80th party.~

~MOMA'S STORY!!~

~Daddy and Moma's picture back in 1961, I think.  (Below.)

My Moma was raised in a baptist type church and had never heard of Holiness until Levi Whisner came to Tennessee and brought the message of Sanctification to their church.  

Moma was in the 10th or 11th grade and she had tried out to be a cheerleader.   Then one of her friends told her about God's Bible School in Cincinnati, OH.  So, Moma, knowing very little about what God's Bible School was all about, nor what they believed, PUT OUT A FLEECE!  

She told her friend that IF SHE DID NOT MAKE THE CHEERLEADING TEAM, SHE WOULD GO TO GBS!!!  

When they printed up the Cheerleading list, Moma's name was on it,  BUT, RIGHT BEFORE THEY PUT IT ON THE BULLETIN BOARD, THEY DECIDED THAT THEY WANTED A SMALLER TEAM, AND TOOK 3 NAMES OFF THE LIST...YEP!!  

You guessed it, Moma's name was among the ones that were taken off.  

So, She started packing for God's Bible School.  God led Daddy and Moma together, and led them in the way of Holiness. ~

~All Because Daddy and Moma fell in LOVE, 

there are now 50 of us!!!

Only 25 of us could come.  

Daryl and Laura and family from FL would have loved to have joined us, but they were in the middle of Hobe Sound camp.

Those in VA would have loved to have come, but couldn't.

And of course those in AK, (my niece Kelsea and her husband are expecting TWIN BOYS, ) couldn't travel down here.) ~

~Mary found these cute little heart cookies at Aldi's.~

~My Sweet Daddy and Moma~!

~Hannah, Gram, Drew and Precious Andy.~

~Gram and Little Natalie.~

~Adorable Natalie.  

We were so happy that Daryl and Laura's Scott, Brittany, and Natalie could join us!!~

~Andrew and Lincoln brought the Yummy pulled pork, brisket, and sauces!

The girls and I made the Mac n cheese, Cole slaw, and baked beans, Cappuccino punch, and Iced tea. 

~Playing ping pong in my dinning room, and visiting in the Living room.~

~Good ole' Sam's Cupcakes.~

~Little Natalie, exhausted.~

~Games~

~The 4 Edgar Andrew Bryans.~

~Then we rushed from One Family Reunion, up to the Sutherland and Dickinson Family Reunion!

Worshiping together at Dad and Mom's church.~

~Dad D., Daddy, and Uncle Scott.~

~It was soooo fun being together with our family from FL and VA!

~We got to meet little Colton!!~

~Sweet Aunt Libby and Abigail~

~VALENTINE'S~

~My Sweetheart and I...taken at Josh and Sarah's wedding!  ~

(Which by the way, I Cannot believe that Josh and Sarah just celebrated 1 1/2 years of Marriage!!  Time flies when you are having fun!!) 

~My Valentine's Day decor.~

~For Valentine's Phillip and I stayed home and celebrated with our children.  We made homemade pizza together ...

and Mary made raspberry scones.~

~Abigail did a great job setting our table that night.~

~We bought this cute little cake from Ella at church.~

~A ONE THOUSAND GIFTS AND BEYOND JOURNAL...that we started as a family!!~

~Then we ran back up to be with Uncle Scott, Aunt Libby, Ostyn, Rachel, Paisley and Colton, Leah, Dad and Mom D. and Michael and Beth and family!~

~Our kid's cousins, Isaiah and Sophia were in a wreck!!  How Grateful we are to Jesus that they are still with us!!~

~Adorable Colton.~

~Aunt Libby made me this fun headband to keep my ears warm.~

~Piano lesson with Mrs. Martha in Cincinnati.~

~Being together, (Minus Phillip, Chris, Josh and Sarah.)

~Cousins Rob and Paul Dickinson come to visit!~

~It was Great having Rob and Paul with us!!~

~Rob wanted to take us to the Ark Encounter.~

~Paul and Abigail.~

~Missionary Convention at our Church, with Mr. Frank Vaughn.~

~Noah and I took a quick trip to Michigan, to attend the funeral of our associate Pastor Paul Pilmore's mother.  (At the same time Phillip, Elijah, Mary, and Abigail were in Zanesville, OH attending the funeral of Mrs. Esther Avery, which was a member of Christian Nation Church.)

On the way to the funeral we happened to pass this poor lady trying to change her own tire in the cold.  So we stopped and Noah helped her until her AAA truck arrived!  She was very grateful!!~

~Michigan had just had a huge ice storm and no one around the funeral had electricity.~

~At Mrs. Carol Pilmore's funeral, I got to meet Mrs. Throne, our dear friend David Fogleman's Sweet Grandmother.~

~Then we rushed back to attend the rest of our Missionary Convention at our Church.

Here we are out with the Flings and Carters.~

Kimberly's yummy Argentine Alforejes (cookies) that she made for the International dinner.~

~Is it Spring yet?~

~My Tres Leches (3 milk cake) I made for the International dinner.~

~Mr. Frank Vaughn, Pastor Eisenhart and Phillip visiting at the dinner.~

~Phillip praying over the food.~

~Sweet Friends~

~To the Air Force Museum in Dayton for a field trip. ~ 

We met my sis-in-love Beth and her kids and had a fun time being at the Dayton Air Force Museum together.~

~A very chilly picnic.~

~While in the Air Force Museum, We were quite shocked to see a Tornado Warning to come on our phone!  

So we had to bunker down in a hallway together with other visitors in the Air Force Museum until the warning was over.  

Afterwards the winds were VERY STRONG outside!!

~Phillip and I finally got to take our Valentine's date.  Coffee on the way to get his glasses fixed.~

~Southwest VA Youth Convention. (SVYC) March 3-5.~

~We got to stay in a beautiful place at SVYC.  It felt like a little get-away.~

~Sweet friends.~

~Gareth Nickerson was the speaker at SVYC.  

We would have known each other in Phoenix, AZ back in the late 90's, early 2000's.   

Phillip pastored at Gospel Center across the valley from the Bible Holiness Church where Gareth and his wife attended.  

In 2004 God called our family to leave AZ and go to be missionaries in South America. 

We pretty much lost contact with Gareth, but in comparing notes at SVYC, we learned that shortly after we left Phoenix, God called them and 2 other families to CA to pastor!!  God surely was calling forth labors from the Valley.

We hadn't seen Gareth since 2004!  

It was so fun to catch up!  

The only way it would have been better is if his sweet wife and family could have been with him.~

~God's Sweet Presence was again felt during this wonderful youth convention! That is one of the main reasons we take our children to these youth conventions.  We want them to feel and experience God's sweet Presence and see other young people minding God. ~

~Dear Elijah and Cameron...Pretty Much "Twins Separated at birth!" Lol! ~

~Bro. Gareth and Noah before they went up on the platform for service.~

~Praying together before heading to the platform.~

~Noah praying.~

~I got to hold little Lottie.~

~Elijah and friends a part of David and Goliath for HSBC.~

~Auctioning.~

~Maren and Mary~

~Dear Bro. Smith!~

~My Sweet friends Rhonda, Tonya and little Lottie.~

~Sweet Friends.~

~Such a nice visit with our dear friend Nate Becker.~

~After youth convention.~

~My Sweet friend Ruthann and yours truly.  It has been a long time since we have seen each other.~

~Abigail and Bro. David are pretty good friends.~

~Lauren reading to Macie and Abigail.~

~Phillip, David, Rob, and Gareth.  

After Youth Convention ended, we had such a blast being with our dear friends, and getting to know Mr. Rob.  We laughed until we nearly cried over crazy stories.~

~Macie and Abigail ...happy together.~

~Maren and Mary~

~Near where we stayed.  So relaxing and beautiful~

~Meeting Gram, Brittany, and Natalie for coffee.~

~Gram decided that she would treat us all to coffee.  She was shocked at the coffee prices and declared she would never pay that for coffee again.  :-) I am pretty sure it was CULTURE SHOCK to her!~

~It was so fun being together.~

~Sweet treats from sweet friends Kelsey and Klarissa to Abigail and Mary.~

~So fun to see Kimberly, Kiana, and Samatha playing together in the orchestra at church again.  

Life is changing so fast for everyone.  

Chris and Kimberly have been married for 6 months, and 

in 6 months Chris and Samantha will be married. ~ 

~Phillip preaching at our Church.~

~Is it Spring...or is it still winter?  

I was shocked to look out the other day and see snow.~

~So, Mary put together her Gingerbread house that she had not had the chance to do back at Christmas.~

~And I made 3 hot chocolates for the girls and I.~

~Samantha's Bridal shower.~

~Sweet Friends with the sweet Bride-to-be.~

~Thank the Lord for our wonderful chickens and their eggs!!~

Thank you for stopping by to scroll through ALLL of these pictures and events that have happened in the last 2 months!  

God is so good and we are Loving Serving Him 

together as a family!

~HEATHER~