An Expensive Life Lesson..and One for Free

I had all kinds of quips for this post and lots of pics too...but I'm not feeling it at the moment. I've been overwhelmed with gratitude for the mercy God has shown us this past week.

So, after the dr decided to move forward with surgery, we began trying to emphasize a couple of things to Natalie. First, never ever put a stinkin' coin in your mouth. She knows this but now it's an "AH-HA!" moment, the light bulb came on. When your kid is safe after one of those life lessons, it's such a FABULOUS way to learn, don't you think? Expensive, but worth it. Maybe. Ok. Nevermind. No, yes it is totally worth it. And look at His protection over Nat while we were away...that phone call could have been so different, but the quarter lined up perfectly and slid right down.

Second, prayer...I'm such a grateful mommy tonight...we prayed. Kev and I, as a couple at night, as concerned parents, we cried out to God to show us mercy and help Natalie do this without surgical intervention. Then, with Natalie, we would pray simple prayers asking God to touch her tummy and move the quarter out. With every cramp and stomach pain, we'd ask Him again, to do something.

So, Monday morning rolls around and it's time for surgery. They take one last xray right before they are to begin. And what do they find? Hello quarter in colon, making it's way down all of a sudden after 9 days in the belly of the fish. My heart dropped when the nurse called out, "CANCEL!" I was so relieved...then overwhelmed with what God had just done.

After taking goofy pictures in the car on the way home from the surgery center, it hit me again. I then turned to Natalie and excitedly said, "NATALIE! Do you remember us praying over and over that God would touch your tummy and move that quarter?!" She smiled real big and shook her head. "Girlfriend, He totally answered our prayers and MOVED IT!", I said. I reminded her (myself) how BIG He was, how He made everything, the mountains, the stars, all those trees she was staring at on the way home, and He made her too. And He came down to touch her tummy so she wouldn't have to have surgery. I told her she must be pretty important. She said, "I know! He loves me a lot." Amazing. She was not surprised at all. Excited, but not surprised. Hmmm...I, on the other hand, was surprised.

I felt like a parent thanking a movie star (or a hired princesses at our princess party) for taking time to say "hi" and make my kid feel important...I just keep saying thanks to Him for taking time out to show Himself to Natalie, to me, to Corban, Natalie's little friend, who was so concerned and asking God to take care of Natalie. Of course He showed up! Why am I so surprised?! Natalie needed Him, she asked for Him, she got Him. The Creator of everything, and she got Him! I'm not sure who needed that life lesson more.

He is good. He is involved. He wants to be involved. He wants to rescue us and sweep us off our feet. Oh yes, He does. Our Prince...I wish I could have wrapped my brain around this a lot sooner.

Here's our little piggy bank, in the waiting room.

She chose Zoe the Zebra (who is a boy, BTW)

to make this trip with her.

And here we are about to see what God was up to...

And here's the proof!

A few short hours after taking this pic, Nat delivered her baby.

Poor thing, she needed an epidural.

I pulled out all of my doula/nursing skills I could find.

It's all good now.

This Too Shall Pass...Hopefully.

We had such a fun, romantic trip to the wine country last weekend. It was full of rest and relaxation... (and please put a big fat record scratching noise right here!!!)

***

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

...this cute little quarter was making it's way

into cute, not so little and way big enough

to know better, Natalie's mouth.

Now it's getting a little R&R of it's own in Nat's stomach, and after 8 days, it's not coming out. Well, it's not coming out the old fashioned way anyway. Tomorrow morning, Natalie will undergo surgery to get this now very expensive quarter out. No cutting, thankfully. She will undergo an endoscopy. And full anesthesia. Ugh. She's never even had an IV. We're trying to have fun with this and keep the topic "lighthearted". We're total fakers.

As Nat stared at the xrays Friday, she regretfully said, "Man, I shouldn't have put that quarter in my mouth." On a side note, when you ask Natalie how she got so smart, she says with a shrug, "Must be the breast milk!" (She started that a very young age, it still makes us laugh.)

We're thinking it's time for our girls to get a job now!

"WILL WORK FOR FOOD"

Day Three: Must Detox

So on day 3, Mama needed a break from the vino.

Apparently, I am NOT a wino.

***

I like wine and I find this hobby very interesting and appealing, but after 13,678 cabs, merlots, blends, chardonnays, zins, they ALL taste the same. I'm sorry. I said it. I don't taste the layers of tobacco, vanilla, cherry, and blackberries that have been aged for 5 years in a medium toast French oak barrel. I never did and I don't know if my palette will ever be sensitive enough to be an expert. It sure is fun trying to figure it all out though! And we can swirl with the best of the winos.

***

We decided to give our taste buds and brain cells a little break today...we took a drive down to Muir Woods in San Fran to see the Redwoods. This was Kev's first time to experience these giants and he was super excited!

It was CCCCOLD!!!

No, I was not appropriately dressed.

This sucker was huuuuuuge!

And this isn't the biggest one out there...

Yep, that's me, the teeny

weeny white speck at the bottom...

Kev and I had a moment in the forest...

God is BIG. No. Bigger.

And this is Uma Thurman's backside...seriously.This is a nice cowardly shot I took but she was moving too fast and acting too inconspicuous for me to react. Heck yes, I would have stopped her...she was tall, beautiful, and sporting cute pearls over her hiking gear. The pearls made me look twice. Not so inconspicuous, Uma. They totally gave her away.

Then back to Napa, where the smell of grapes was thick in the air!



This is the machine-equivalent to stomping grapes... It's no "Walk in the Clouds".
The romance of grape stomping is gone.


Speaking of romance...


...back to V. Sattui for a picnic out on the lawn.

These desserts were perty good.


So was the wine...I know, I know.
My stomach was not happy about this decision but it's Napa.

After lunch, we visited our new friend from dinner the night before at the Frank Family Vineyards, then on to Sonoma for some shopping.
We listened to some classical musical at Kev's suggestion thinking that it would help restore the brain cells we killed all weekend. We tried to fit in a little bit each day in the car. I think it helped.


I love my honey and our weekend alone was incredible! We are so ready to get home, though, and love on our kiddos. We are refreshed and ready to pour into those cute little souls again.

M W A H!

...back to reality we gladly go!

Day 2...L.A. in Napa

Day 2 of our get-a-way was full, long, and wonderful.

We started off with a tour at the giant wine maker, Beringer...

do you SEE what time tastings start around here???

This winery was 1 of about 4 that survived the prohibition. "How did they survive?" you ask...they were the official supplier of wine to the Catholic church.

And that's about as religious as this place gets;)

Kevin serving up the breakfast of champions!

It was pretty early...weird but nice.

Tim, our tour guide, taking us out to the vineyards...
we sipped on 3 or 4 different wines as walked the grounds and learned about wine.

Then he took us into the tunnels, where they used to store the goods.

We sat around the table in the caves and learned so much...

Getting wine straight out of the barrel...that barrel costs a minimum of $1000!

We may be in the wrong business...

Leaving the caves, a little lady took our pic
so we could have a pic together that's not just arm's length away.
Thank you little lady.

So, we saw the movie "Bottle Shock" and were mildly entertained.
It definitely peaked our interest in the history of the wine country so...


...we visited the famous Chateau Montelena.

The barrels aren't pretty but it's CRUSH time...
most of the vineyards are harvesting their grapes now.
This is the winery that put Napa on the map when,
for the first time ever, an American wine beat the French wines
in what was called "The Judgement of Paris".

It was cool to see the place after watching the movie

but the experience was entirely underwhelming.

Then on to Francis Ford Coppola's place...

I was so excited to revisit this place since last time

we were here it was SO gorgeous but closed!...


and then we pull up and see this...what??

COMPLETELY under construction and the tastings

were being done in the back...in the garage.


As you can see, parts of it were still B-E-A-utiful.

do you see the tiny gold statues?

A closer view of his Oscars...

We ended up having a fun time at Coppola's place afterall.

Isn't it funny how good wine makes things better:)

Then it was dinner at Mustard's Grill, where we ended up sharing a meal and great conversation with a manager of a boutique winery in Napa and

a sweet Christian couple from Atlanta who looked real familiar.

(Were they in "Fire Proof"??

We will see when get home and watch the movie again;))

***

Stay-at-home Mommy of 3 little ones away on vacay trying to recover

+

wine...allllll day...and I mean alllll day

=

a gooooooood night's sleep!

And one more day to go...

Our Get-A-Way

We are winos
We are foodies.

We are in Napa.

(and cue angels singing)

We are in heaven!

We visited Napa almost two years ago (see pics from that trip here) and fell in love with the whole experience. After Lainey's tough summer, Mom and Dad are in need of some rest and FUN! We thought as we prepare for RSV/Flu season, we should get away while she's well and take time to just be with each other. Our moms and sisters have made this possible for us and we are SO grateful. We owe them BIG time!!! Really, what a gift they have given us.

Yes, Lainey (and Nat) needed some fun too so they got it! I'll post pics about their fun later;)

So, day one started off with one hour of sleep and a 6:30 a.m. departure flight. Three flights and two planes later (it was a beating but hey, they are FREE) we arrive in CA before 11 a.m. (STILL!).

We had a great first (half) day and even had an "experience" on the first day...you know, those little unexpected finds you come across that totally make your trip memorable. Wait! We had TWO of those! Ahhhhhh...and still two full days to go.

My mom and dad had an experience here many, many years ago.

So we had to check it out, for sentimental reasons:)

My big, fancy camera stinks!

Ok, I think I'm a little out of practice and no editing software on Kev's computer so bear with me!

It's all still so beautiful...

It's harvest time in Napa right now, a lot of the grapes are still full on the vine.

Until Swiper swipes them!

...Swiper, nooo swiping!

(yes, we do miss the kids;))

..and now I'm singing Dora...

Here we are blissful and about to be surprised by our next find...

Experience Number One...

There was a wedding about to start and it was picture perfect.

I didn't get a pic of that but here is part of the winery where the wedding was taking place.

Then on to our next experience.

A locals fav that a guy on the plane told us about...
now one of my favorites!

Again, my camera st...ok, III... stink at using my camera but the colors and decor were so charming...kind of vintage black and white mixed with bright fun colors and flowers.

Yeah, you really can't tell at all from this pic what I'm talking about...
oh well, my brain took a picture;)

Now on to DAY TWO...beautiful blue skies and a high of 78 awaits us:)