Life Beyond The Chair

December 16, 2014 Wow! I never thought that one year ago today we would be in a much different spot, no, a different universe. I expected to be back home in CA and celebrating Christmas well and healed. However, God had other plans. Since June, we have been trying to manage a very complex GI issue and manage the further loss of function due to the issues with failing hardware in my back, Trying to make decisions about starving, and no further loss of leg function. All of this while spanning 3 states, 7 kiddos and 2 businesses.  Then trying to navigate this new healthcare nightmare and you can imagine that the last year of our life has been a total and expensive nightmare. But then, despite the stress, nightmare, fear, come the angels. The Prayers, meals, cards, emails and Brooke and Juliet. Then I am showered by love and support. I am reminded that among the tears, the stress, the fear, there is this amazing love. I am reminded that as bad as things get, they will always be

I am dedicating this post to My Wyatt who let me share this story. I am Blessed beyond measure that my kiddos encourage me to share ALL our stories. I knew that starting to share some of my writings on this blog would include some things about our life that they might not be comfortable with sharing. They are not "littles", they have friends that read these words. As I talked to them about sharing these moments, they have always told me that they trusted me to share in a way that is fine with them. I know to them this was just another one of "mom's talks", but to me it meant the world to me that they want to share our stories, our testimony, our Faith. I made a quilt(or Wubbie, as Stephen calls them) for each of our babies when I was pregnant with them. Out of all our kiddos, Wyatt was the only one that carried his Wubbie everywhere. Maybe it was being number 6, and I was more relaxed and let him, I am not sure why. But anyway, where Wyatt goes, Wubbie goes. I

This is one of my favorite pictures. It is Wyatt, Phoebe and Ono jumping off the dock at Emerald Cove in Parker, AZ. We spend every summer there. It is pure bliss, the boat the water, the pools and the summer friendships that we have made. Normally at this time of year, I start planning for the summer trip to Parker. If I had a stressful day I would tell my self: "2 more months until we leave, 3 more weeks and I will be at the lake." It would always be the biggest stress relief. Life on the lake moves at its own pace. The biggest decision of the day is should we boat on the river or should we go to the lake. On the really hot days, we would head into Lake Havasu City for a movie and lunch at Chiles, where they have oven mitts on the door handles because the sun is so hot.:) These summer trips are such a Blessing. I know what a rare privilege it has been to be a stay at home, homeschool mama and get to spend every day with my children. I have never taken that for gr

We have visited a few Churches since we have been in Austin. We have had fun visiting the different Churches in the area to try and find the right fit for our family. While we have not settled on a "home" Church yet, we have found a local Church that we really like. The kids have been attending youth group each Wednesday night and really seem to like it. When I picked the kids up from youth group this past Wednesday night, Phoebe handed me a crumpled up piece of paper as she got in the van. We were in a bit of a rush and so I just dropped it into my purse not even looking at it. As we drove away, I asked her if she needed the paper or was it just trash. She answered that it was something to throw out, but she did not get a chance to throw it away at youth group, so she just handed it to me. I did not think anything more about it.......until today. As I was cleaning out my purse, I found that piece of paper. I almost threw it away, remembering that Phoebe had said it was t

We see the term BFF everywhere. On t-shirts, jewelry, cars, texts, everywhere! Everyone knows what it means, but what does being a real BFF mean to you? Beyond junior high, I have not used this term many times. I have had close friends and some really good friends, but a BFF, I think that would have to be Stephen at this point, although each one of the kiddos might claim the title of mom's BFF.:) I do not like to use BFF, because it is so overused and thereby loses a lot of its true meaning. I do however, LOVE the word friend and I am Blessed beyond measure with some of the "best":) My friends are amazing. I am so Blessed by each and every one of you. I know that some of you have traveled this 10 year journey side by side with us and some have just joined us There never can be enough "Thank Yous" for the love a support that you have given to our family. To my dear friend Michelle, this 5 foot dynamo:). You are my hero! Thank you so much for setting up our

"At least Texas has a lot of rollerskating." That was Phoebe's answer to the question about what she was grateful for in Texas. This question is part of our daily devotional. Our time to remember that despite all the stress and uncertainty, we can find things to be grateful during this season of our life. We are so grateful for the huge and vibrant homeschool world here in Texas. We have met some of the nicest families and enjoy  park day and rollerskating each week with our new friends. This has been such a Blessing for us. A sense of"normal" in a situation that is anything but normal for the kids.

Hello from the  Hupe's ! We hope that you are all well and enjoying Spring. We are finally emerging from the Texas "chill" and having nicer weather. We do not want to complain too much about the cold weather, because in a few weeks when we are sweltering under that famous Texas sun, we will think of those cold days fondly.:) In the past, I have been overly optimistic(okay, in denial:)) and always assumed that things would go better than the doctors would tell us.(see? denial?:)). This has caused major upheaval in our life and we are trying to avoid that happening again. As much as we wished it were different, it is not. With this next surgery, the doctors have told us that there will be new paralysis and other functions that will be affected following this surgery. Therefore there is no way to anticipate how long or involved the recovery may be. Stephen and I firmly believe that the ONLY doctor we trust in this surgery is the one Dr McKinley has referred me to in

Dear Family and Friends: I figured the easiest way to keep everyone posted would be to set up a blog. This will serve 2 purposes. I can keep everyone up to date on all of our "goings on" and I can also keep a journal for myself. A record of any progress because so many times, I feel as though there is none. For those new to the journey, I will do a quick recap of our journey thus far. I will write it in parts as it is a long and very involved story. My story, from becoming paralyzed afterspinal anesthesia administered during the birth of our youngest child in 2004 caused a bleed on my spinal cord leading to Cauda Equina Syndrome. As a result of this injury, I have lost most of the use of both of my legs. I am left with some feeling and pain(yaaay).  A link to more about the syndrome here: Due to changes in the individual health care market in California and the loss of both of my doctors to retirement we find ourselves in Austin, Texas. Crazy I know. The reason we are her