Author: amylynw

>Grandma

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This morning around 6:30, my grandma, Betty Horton, went to Heaven!  She had been getting weaker and weaker and now we are rejoicing that she is free of suffering and with Jesus AND Grandpa.  My grandpa died in 1996.  Here are a few pictures I found of her. She always made the best oatmeal chocolate chip recipes and worked hard her entire life.  She gave birth to 9 children, of whom my mom is the oldest, and said she doesn’t remember any of them being hard.  She lived through the depression and never let anything go to waste.  She always remembered our birthdays and sent us birthday cards ON TIME and then all of her great-grandchildren as well.  I loved my grandma and am thankful for the heritage that we have!

Four generations!

>Girlfriends?

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>This morning Jack says to me, “Can you take me back to Grandma Weldon’s house?  I want to see all my girlfriends!”
“Your girlfriends?” I asked.
“Yes!  The ones with the hammock.  They have blue hairs and purple hairs.  They were very beautiful.”
I laughed out loud!  A few weeks ago we were there for Heidi’s birthday and her friends were there.  I don’t recall their hair color being what he described, but they did push him in the hammock!  So cute.  However, I think 4 years old is a little too early to have girlfriends. =)

>The Unwanted Flare-up

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>Well, today Matthew went to his rheumatologist to see what is going on with the Wegener’s Disease.  Unfortunately, after two years of being nearly symptom-free, he had another flare up.  The dreaded word, “flare-up”.  So, probably next week he will begin another round of Rituximab treatments.  The last time he had treatments was right before Elsie was born, over 2 years ago.  They told him he would probably need another treatment in 6 months, but it’s been 28 months, so we’re thankful!  I won’t embarrass him by posting pictures of him two years ago, but suffice to say, his eyes and face looked tired.  It is just amazing how good he’s been.  I hope that by catching it early this time he is able to get back on track towards REMISSION… the blessed word.

>Elmer Mud

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So on Sunday Matt and his brothers (Matt is in the middle of the pit, completely submerged, Will has the orange doo-rag, and Jacob is behind Matt) made Weldon history by participating in the Phiadelphia Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run!  It was a 5k complete with four obstacles, the last being the mud pit.  They did a good job, and we got a little dirty ourselves, just watching!  I still don’t have a camera, so these are compliments of Jimbo (a friend whose wife and daughter did it as well and we just happened to run into them!) and my camera phone. 

>Phillies Phireworks!

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Last Thursday we surprised our kids and the Soderberg cousins by going to a Phillies game!  We rode the train into the city, ate at Reading Terminal Market, and enjoyed the breezy seats all the way at the top! =)  We were blessed to be at the game that went into extra innings, and the Phils finally won at the bottom of the 12th.  After the game, we enjoyed an awesome display of fireworks!  Needless to say, we were SO tired when we finally arrived home at 2am!

>He’s Got His Angels Watching Over Me…

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Last week, Elsie fell 3 feet from a backyard onto the paved driveway below and landed on her face.  Thankfully, her only injury was a faceplant complete with bloody nose.  She cried for about 30 minutes, then Aunt Heather gave her a piece of gum and Grandma gave her a smoothie and sher perked up considerably.  Nadine’s sunglasses are hiding most of her injuries and since my camera is broken I only have the camera phone here to document.

>Tests

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Tests.  Life is full of them!  I don’t have time to write them all down in one sitting, but here is part I.
Sunday morning my stomach was doing flip-flops in anticipation of the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia.  It was a hot day, the complete opposite of the previous year’s record low temperatures.  We spent the night at Matt’s parents’ house so we could leave the kids there and head out to the race.  It was a jam-packed day with almost 30,000 runners signed up and ready to go!  The porta-potty lines were 45-minutes long if you picked a slow one.  Broad Street was packed with runners and on-lookers jammed the sides of the street.  When the starting horn went off for the first wave, my heart beat faster!  The sun peeked out just as we edged near the starting line.  Matthew stayed with me to cross the start, gave me a high-five and off he went.  We agreed beforehand that we would run separately this year so he could run as fast as he could.  

It was strange, being alone in a crowd of thousands.  It was much harder in some ways.  The heat was strong and the water-stations were welcome!  Fire-hydrants were opened up all down the Street every half mile or so, water spraying hot runners and cooling us down for a temporary thirty seconds or so. 
The test to endure was really difficult!  I had to keep thinking of things to keep my mind off the pounding in my chest that never seemed to calm down.  One of my last long runs I did during training was so unbelievably fun for me that I fell in love with running for the first time.  I run because it’s healthy and I have goals to accomplish, but not necessarily because I love it.  Well, that time I loved it.  Yesterday was not a run where I felt like I loved it.  I enjoyed it, but I also really had to endure it.  Songs from my training runs went through my ears and head that seemed to match my thoughts exactly.  “Lord, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I’m not scared cuz You’re holding my breath…” and “It’s a beautiful day!”  and  “I get carried away like I’m the only one who’s ever felt the way that I do, but I can hear you say, you’re not the only one, cuz everybody hopes to get through…” “And the pride of my heart makes me forget it’s not me but You who makes the heart beat, I‘m lost without You and dying from me.  So tell me what is our ending?  Will it be beautiful?” “We never give up even though times get hard to understand, it’s never enough for us to sit back and hope He has a plan, we gotta stand up and face the cold with boldness that is focused on the fact we got the keys, so just believe there’s nothing closed.”
So I never gave up.   At mile 9 I passed people who had collapsed on the pavement, throwing up and unable to finish.  I slowed my pace a tad when I started feeling a bit sick myself.  Then as we crossed through the Navy Yard gate I knew we were ¼ of a mile from the finish and I gave it everything I had left (which wasn’t much).  The test was complete and I passed.


It was so awesome finding Matthew in the crowd and exchanging stories.  We also met up with Matt’s brother and his wife, Rebecca.  She told us that it was the longest run she had done pregnant.  We all screamed and hopped up and down in excitement.  I thought, “Wow, if she can do it, anyone can!” Ten weeks pregnant, running 10 miles.  I’m so proud of that girl! 
No excuses.  Was it a hard test?  You bet.  But that is the only way to improve, to grow, and to inspire others.  Tests show us what is true, what is real.  I’m excited for the results of our tests to show in our lives.