Day One Trip Out West

We left for a three week trip out West, starting off in Arizona. We arrived Friday night, recovered on Saturday, and today we visited some dear friends - the Daukas family. Had the amazing privilege of hearing Chris preach! Great start to our trip!

The view from the back of our rental home... absolutely gorgeous.

Even though I don't enjoy cooking on vacation, I think I might enjoy it in this kitchen!

Jacob - Yet another A+

This was Jacob coming out of his last Biology class with Mrs. Ellis - he was very laid back about the whole thing, but MOM was freaking out! This was the day he took his final exam, and the last time I would pick him up at Mrs. Ellis' house! I know. I am overly sentimental. But it was a big moment for me, picking him up from his last class and watching him finish up his first year of high school...

Not to mention that he once again pulled off an A+ for the second year in a row in science!! Biology is no easy subject - but he aced it - all due to his incredible talent for memorizing and remembering facts! So proud of how HARD he worked during the year and for his amazing grades!!

Catching up

I thought I would just put everything I missed in one big post and just be caught up once and for all! And then promise myself I will never get this behind again! haha

These are shots of our maple syrup making process which was really fun this year. We stayed up for 24 hours straight when it came time to boil, only to fall asleep at the last hour and burn some of the precious stuff!

Yep, we really were still up at 4:29, everyone from Danny down to Ryan.

This is a shot of a bridge we crossed as we drove all the way to New Haven, CT and back (in one day mind you) to take Hannah to see her lyme specialist in CT. It was just Danny, Hannah and I, and we really did have fun! We played lots of 20 questions, and watched several awesome movies with Colin Firth in them, thus was the born the phrase that has been immortalized by my husband, we had a "Firth-a-thon"!!!!

Here are a couple shots of celebrating Ryan's 11th birthday at Dave and Busters.

Ryan picked his favorite dessert - honey-bun cake!

Hannah and I had a special three day weekend in Gettysburg this spring as well. I cannot begin to say what a sweet and precious time that was... we laughed, watched a lot of BBC movies, ate out, went to antique shops, and just totally enjoyed being together. Hannah is so funny - she makes EVERYTHING fun!!

The Dobbin House Restaurant where we had a special dinner...

This was Hannah's latest project in art - I think it is amazing.

Love the detail in the fur.

Ryan and Hannah participated in the History Fair this year with an amazing project about Walt Disney World!

Another cool tunnel picture taken by Hannah on our CT trip.

A cool shot of Jacob at Dave and Busters.

Thanks to the "secret photography" of Hannah Dustin.

Gone so long....

I cannot believe it has been more than two months since I have posted anything. It really makes me sad to think of the events I have missed putting into our family history forever. But posting is not the only thing that has had to get lain aside... for now. In the last five months, the rest of the Dustin family has been diagnosed with lyme disease. We have all joined Hannah in the ranks of the tired and the sick. Some more than others. Needless to say, it has been extremely challenging to keep up with all the doctors visits, prescriptions, supplements, crisis, ill health, school, church, friends, and life in general.

We drive Hannah all the way to Connecticut to see a lyme specialist every 3 months and the rest of us drive an hour and a half to a doctor in Virginia.

Every day, we all take countless pills and supplements.

Every few weeks or so, someone needs a blood draw.

Several times a week we need to pick up prescriptions, now at three different locations.

We rarely get the school portion of our day started before ten or eleven o'clock.

Most of us battle insomnia and don't sleep well. Again, particularly Hannah.

While we don't want lyme disease to define our life and who we are, there are sometimes that is unavoidable. Sometimes it takes it's place in the background of life and we almost feel like a normal family, and sometimes it is all we can talk about or think about as issues move to the forefront. It is a physical, emotional, and spiritual battle. Daily.

So, posting on my dear little blog has taken a back seat, and I will attempt to summarize and catch up on at least the major events over the last months. Meanwhile, here are some pictures of what our medicine cabinet and counter look like. We are being taken over by pills!!

Hannah looking with enthusiasm at her morning pile of pills...

Everyday moments

The other day I just grabbed my camera and decided to take a picture of the kids doing whatever they were doing at the moment. Sometimes we forget to record the ordinary days, where nothing special happens, just seemingly uneventful days, but as we all know, this is where life really happens. In the unobscure. In the ordinary. In the everyday.

Jacob playing video games with his buddy Jeremy

Hannah on the couch focusing on something she was doing (a new game for her DS I believe)

And no, this was not staged. Ryan really was doing school!! haha

However, earlier he was avoiding school and I came upon something he had created. A modern day "school supply sculpture"!!!

Ryan's ebay success

Ryan has been creating his own little business/hobby lately and been actually quite successful at it! He is a huge fan of Stargate, and he has purchased the kits to build two types of their weapons. Some just for himself to keep, but some with the intention of selling. He has painted them entirely on his own, and then turned around and sold them to people all around the world - France, Germany, Spain, Finland, and the US as well. He has made around $50 profit for each one he sold! I am so proud of him. I have no worries that whatever he chooses to do in life he will be successful!

He has a little work station all set up in the basement.

This is how the picture appears on ebay. He really does do an incredible job finishing and painting these.

Beautiful Spirit

I just wanted to take a moment to honor my sweet girl. She endures so many trials as a result of her lyme disease, from complete insomnia (never falling asleep before 3 or 4 am) to constant pain and fatigue and a whole lot more in between. Yet she almost always has a smile on her face, and is full of spirit and joy. She loves her brothers, honors her parents, enjoys her bunnies, and brings a lot of encouragement to everyone around her. I am so proud of her I could burst. She is the one who makes sacrifices to keep the peace when necessary, she puts other's needs above her own, and when she doesn't feel good she just keeps on loving everyone. May God bless her and use this trial in her life to grow her into a beautiful and strong spirit. I see it happening already...