grace led in life: COURAGE - life update and Isla's next V.E.P.T.R. surgery

Hey!
I wish I was sitting across a table getting to have coffee/tea with you and getting to chat in person...
I will have to settle for a blog update :)

In a nutshell...
It's been a good, busy, crazy, unexpected, challenging, faith-building, sweet and hard summer to autumn season. Isn't that life?!

We finished the 2023-2024 school year strong! SO PROUD OF THESE KIDDOS!!!!
We were so excited for summertime!

We were able to get a bit of pool time in at the beginning of summer! Not for long... will explain that more, a couple bullet points down.
Zeke attended "kids camp" through our church and once again... had the best time ever!

We were able to see some family here in WA in July and it was such a precious time with them! We don't get to see family often and while it included some stress for Isla, she and our whole family were incredibly blessed and deeply thankful to get to see family and spend a few days away from home. What a massive blessing! Thanks for the best memories, Jeremy, Sarah, Joel, Vivian, and Ivan!

We were about 15 minutes away from saying good-bye to our Sindelar family that was visiting from MN, and Zeke had a bad fall off some monkey bars :( The beast-master moves just didn't quite work on those monkey bars and he ended up with two broken arms (ulna and radius fully broken in his right arm and a slight fracture on left arm). We VERY quickly said our good-byes to our visiting family and headed to Seattle Children's with our brave boy. Zeke handled the breaks and recovery LIKE THE CHAMP THAT HE IS. He was incredibly brave and while he was so sad that summer activities would have a big shift for the rest of the summer, he bravely looked at the bright side and had the best attitude during his healing. He followed the recovery rules so well and was able to get his cast off between weeks 5-6 of healing. He wore a brace for two more weeks and now is back to normal! We will have to go see his orthopedic doctor in a few months to check on his growth plates...but so far, so good! PROUD OF YOU, ZEKE!
We've taken any chance we can and LOVE to get out for a hike or exploring! God's creation is so amazing...so thankful for the beauty that we get to experience in nature!

I (molly) had been struggling with my ulcerative colitis and other health issues during these months...
Last spring, I had another treatment "fail". I started to become anaphylactic to it and developed a lot of other side effects to the biologic treatment. So, I was quickly taken off that treatment and spent some months waiting for it to be fully out of my system. By later July, I had a sudden bad turn with this auto immune disease, and it went from bad to severe pretty quickly. Long story short - I was very sick all of August and I had no choice but to go on high dose steroids. Anyone that has been on them knows they are a scary beast in and of themselves. While they have helped the UC to an extent, it has been horrible being on them as well. I am still working my way off of them and may be starting a new treatment soon. Feeling very hesitant and worn out. Would love prayer for wisdom on treatment and for healing. I'm still not in a "well" place but better than the severe place I was in in August and hoping and praying I can be well. It has been really hard.

The kiddos started school! We were very excited for the change of season from summer to autumn and school starting! We are doing a combination of homeschool, public school - Functional Skills and Academics classroom, and two different co-ops! It has been a great start to the year, and we are so excited for the growing and learning this year will bring! Zeke loves his co-op groups, classes, teachers, and friends and Isla has been loving her teacher, para-educators, therapists, and classmates! So thankful for it all!

An added situation that we have been experiencing is the strike with Boeing. Justin has not been working for two weeks now. We are praying for wisdom and for a contract to be agreed upon.
Definitely a challenging time and added stressor with medical insurance needs, finances, and financially with Isla's next surgery approaching as well. Yesterday marked 14 years being in WA and 14 years of Justin working at Boeing. Justin has worked so hard these last 14 years - we are so grateful for his job and I'm so proud of Justin for how hard he works to provide for our family and his integrity in his work. Love my aviation loving man!

on NOVEMBER 8, 2024, Isla will be having her 13th VEPTR surgery (14th surgery overall).
Isla has been so courageously taking on each day. Her journey physically, mentally, emotionally, and developmentally is very challenging for her and these past years have been incredibly hard. We are so proud of our warrior girl. There is a lot of anxiety for Isla, knowing the next surgery is approaching. Isla is not able to understand why this all happens, which is quite traumatic for her. She has been so BRAVE, STRONG, AND COURAGEOUS. She is working so hard in so many ways...she is an overcomer. God has done incredible miracles for Isla, and we continue to pray for our courageous girl.
Please pray for Isla, her medical team, for a safe and successful surgery and recovery.

We have designed another shirt in support of Isla
Our girl has COURAGE and we want to help her to see how proud of her we are!
We have opened up our "shirt shop" and a new design, along with all past designs, will be available for order! Isla is such a visual girl and this continues to be an incredible way to SHOW her love and support!
Would you please help us out by sharing this store with others to help us spread the word?
We appreciate it so very much! The first "batch" of ordering ends Oct 5th. These shirts will then be printed and shipped arriving right before Isla's surgery. We will be able to wear them as a support for her and a great reminder to be praying for her!
SHIRT SHOP...CLICK HERE