Curious 'bout the Clarks?

Cousin time

Hannah is my youngest first cousin, and I finally met her at just under being 6 months old.

She weighs just a pound or so more than Jack. :)

My other young cousin, Sam, is Hannah's older brother, and he and Izzy got to be buddies.

Aunt Wendy meeting her newest nephew:

A delish dinner: Justin's grilled ribs and chicken thighs, and Dad's potato salad and pan fried trout!

My Uncle Matt:

Ice cream sundaes!!!

Chickens and Fish

Izzy and Clara's favorite part of being at Nanna and Grandpa's is feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs.

Justin's favorite part of being there is the TROUT fishing so nearby! He went almost every morning we were there, and outfished his guide. Justin even caught a rare Palomino, pictured below:

If we lived there, I don't know if we would see Justin unless we visited him at the trout stream. ;)

Canoeing... with Barbie and a Gun

Grandpa took us canoeing down the Swatara River for a couple hours one day!

Grandpa's first experience canoeing with Barbie! Izzy also brought her (play) hand gun along for the trip. Barbies and guns, what more do you need?

Mid trip stop to swim (and be a nut):

End of trip and Nanna, Aunt Tess, and Jack met us:

Just time spent

Just spending time with loved ones is so satisfying. Makes me thankful that Izzy, Clara, and Jack have grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles that want to spend time with them.

A labor of love: dressing Tess and Maggie's old barbies for Izzy.

PSU vs. UNC?

Whate'er my God ordains is right...

In light of Cam's physical trials and Luke and Evelyn's difficult days of not knowing what the Lord had in store for them, I had to work out knowing God's sovereignty in my head and trusting it in my heart. It truly is amazing to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. I love the Fawcetts, and pray that there will be a day when Jack runs around outside of our church with their Cam, just like Izzy and their Maggie have done these last couple years. This hymn is dear to me, and of course always brings out my tears.

Original Trinity Hymnal, #94

Whate'er my God ordains is right:
Holy his will abideth;
I will be still whate'er he doth;
And follow where he guideth:
He is my God: though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to him I leave it all.

Whate'er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path;
I know he will not leave me:
I take, content, what he hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait his day.

Whate'er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking:
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate'er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet am I not forsaken;
My Father's care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to him I leave it all.

From what I have found, the words are by Samuel Rodigast (1649-1708), who was a teacher and philosophy scholar and the devout son of a German Lutheran pastor. According to the Nordhäuser Hymnal (1687), Rodigast wrote the words for this hymn for a very ill friend, Severus Gastorius. Gastorius not only recovered, but as a church musician, he went on to write the tune for Rodigast’s poem.

The Psalter Hymnal Handbook observes: “A sermon on Deuteronomy 32:4 in hymn form, the text is a confession of unshakable trust in God's providence in our lives. The text expresses the kind of devout faith that produced Lutheran Pietism (which began around 1670) and provides a worthy vehicle for congregations to affirm trust in God's care.”

Meeting T. Campbell!

My parents had to work on Friday, so that was a perfect set up for us to drive 2 hours to Wilmington to spend the day with our dear friends, the Fawcett family. We didn't have much time to see friends on our short trip since it was a family focused weekend, but we were SO HAPPY to have this opportunity with the Fawcetts. I know I've already posted about their son, Cam, having Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, so I won't go into it, but his condition is very serious. He's at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which is one top notch care center!

Evelyn's mom was a dear servant, and kept all three of our children, along with her granddaughter/Izzy's BFF, Margaret. She even fed Jack his very first bottle successfully. Thank you, Louise!!!

Evelyn had taken the train into the hospital early that morning, so Luke chauffeured us to the hospital just after lunchtime.

When we arrived, we lathered on the hand sanitizer, and then I saw Evelyn for the first time in over a month and met Cam! (Justin had already met him the weekend before.)

He was hooked up to the CPAP machine for his breathing, but eventually, Evelyn and the nurse made a special effort to...

allow me to HOLD and rock CAM!!!

I will NEVER forget holding Cam and all the emotions that I felt. It was a very, very special day. Knowing his life was so very fragile at that time was very overwhelming, and holding him made all the emotions of love incredibly strong. (Feeling that bond with Cam has certainly caused me to cry plenty of tears over the past few weeks when he was facing a second open-heart surgery in his short life, but God has been so merciful to him, to his family, and to their friends here in CLT in giving him enough healthy progress to wait for the surgery for a few months!) He looked tiny but so normal on the outside. It was difficult to see him act like Jack with typical newborn movements, and to know that things on the inside were far from normal. What a lesson in truly knowing that we hold our children with an open hand.

Finally, we said goodbye to Cam (although I didn't really want to leave), and went back to Evelyn's parents' home to eat dinner and spend time with everyone there. The girls had a wonderful time together.

What a day!

Crossin' the Mason-Dixon again!

Jack took his first trip on an airplane for the 4th weekend! The girls were so excited to be on a plane again, and the trip was E-A-S-Y. Wish we could fly every time we go to PA, but Clara will not be free to fly in just a few weeks. Driving 9 hours isn't horrible, but I just don't like driving. The girls aren't bad travelers; it's really their momma who can't stand all the driving. A one hour and one minute flight=a happy momma!!!

Apparently, the FAA doesn't allow two lap children to be sitting next to each other, so I was across the aisle with Jack. Not sure of the logic behind that rule... If the plane goes down, what's that rule gonna do? ;)