We are thankful that Case's parents were able to make the trip to our place and stay with us for 2 weeks. While they were here, we went to visit Amy at Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp, and Jenn at Blue Bronna Wilderness Camp.
It was so nice to see those girls again. Alisa met us at CROW and we had lunch together with Amy. Amy has been in The Pass since the end of April doing the C.O.L.T.S program .
http://www.crowcamp.ca/programs/colts-crowsnest-outdoor-leadership-training-schoolhttp://www.crowcamp.ca/programs/colts-crowsnest-outdoor-leadership-training-school
This program is pretty intense and Amy has been challenged and stretched in many different ways. I think that God is teaching her lots of things in preparation for her stay in Uganda in the Fall.
While we were there, it snowed, rained and blew! It was very cold with some nasty weather goin' on. We were planning to take the gravel roads all the way across the hills to where Jenn's camp is. It was recommended to us that we not do this. We ended up driving part of the way on the 22 and then cutting across on the gravel to get to where Jenn was at. We were also bringing 2 kittens to the camp. The camp needed them to ensure that there would not be a rodent problem there. The kitties got a little bored in the van so went exploring. When we got to the big blue sign that said, "Blue Bronna Wilderness Camp", we drove in. The trail was gravelly and muddy. (This was the morning after we had the tornado warnings and the torrential rain) We stopped at the horse corrals because the road turned to straight mud and Case was not about to embark on a goat trail that was not designed for mini vans. I started walking down the hill to see if I could find the camp. After about 300 meters, I saw some tents and smoke. Smoke is always a good sign as it indicates life! So I slipped and slithered down the rest of the trail and there was our Jenny, just cooking up a storm over the camp fire. It was rather chilly there. They had had snow that morning and torrents of rain the night before.
This camp is situated on the Livingston River. The location is beautiful! If you ever have a chance, take the drive out there and say "hi" to Jenn. She would love a visit and you will be rewarded with some amazing scenery. (maybe she will cook something for you)
Oh our drive from Amy to Jenn, we drove along the same creek that we always drive along. However, it was no longer a creek but a raging river. The rains had produced an incredible amount of water flowing down the mountains. The streams were swollen and bursting. The power and force of the water is so amazing! Trees and debris come bouncing and jumping down. Nothing will stop them. They might slow for a moment, caught in an eddy or calmer water, but soon continue furiously onward until they find release in some smoother open water.
The horse corrals at BBWC.
After we visited Jenn, we continued our journey. We reached 'The Hump' and stopped for a while to enjoy the incredible view. The hills just keep on going! This picture is looking from the hills East toward highway 2. (I think) This is a breath stopping, close your mouth and say nothing kind of view. This is one of those times where one sits and says, "Thank -you God for allowing me to observe this part of Your creation".
Another view from 'The Hump'
On our descent, this is what we came across! A Grizzly sow and her cub. How many times have we been privileged to see one of these? Here in Southern Alberta it is more common to see one, but it is still a rare sight. Again, we were pretty struck by the power of God's creation.
As we continued our travels, our widdle willy pronk had to a widdle piddle. We were coming up to the main site for BBWC so decided to take a pee break. I got a nice picture of our favorite Laura daughter. Isn't she lovely?
And, here's one of the old 'Ma and Pa'
Leaving BBWC, we came across a valley with a whole bunch of beaver dams. This was another of those 'take your breath away' moments. Look at the incredible design of those dams. You can count 5 ponds here each held back by the intricate weaving of twigs and branches. How much thought and designing would have to go into this if humans were designing it? How much would it cost? Who could ever design this intricate a system of dams and still keep the beauty of nature around it? Not you and me! Only the little brown furry creatures that God created to do exactly that! God truly is amazing!
When Opa and Oma were here, Opa took a turn feeding Nibbles. Nibbles is a nibbler. He nibbles on my flowers, on our clothing, on dog food and everything else his little mouth comes in contact with. He is quite a nuisance! (Oh, he is a she so we will probably have more Nibbles next Spring)
We purchased an ipad to try to help Jason with communication skills as this is still very challenging for him. The first day we had it, Laura found a game that he just loved. He played it for a couple hours, concentrating fully on what he was doing. This was really neat to see because it is so hard to engage Jason in any activity for longer than a few moments.
We got another critter at the Pronk Zoo. He and his sibling were victims of a swather attack. This one survived, the other didn't. He is currently being fed cows milk with a bottle.
Jason had a birthday on June 18th. Our big guy is 14 years old now. Much taller than mom and taller than his sisters. We will see if he will beat Dad too ! We have been so blessed to celebrate 14 birthdays with Jason. Somehow we take for granted that we are just going to have lots of birthdays with our kids. This definitely is not always the case. Many have lost their children at an early age. This possibility seems much more real to us when we live with a child who has medical challenges. This February, the doctor told us that if Jason's seizures were not controlled, there was a very high chance of him not making it for the next 5 years. These were a couple of tough days working this through my mind. We started the process of trying one more new medication for Jason.
Now, at the end of June, Jason's seizures have been dramatically reduced. From having 15 - 20 seizures/month, he has had 6 so far in June. I hesitate to speak too much, because we have experienced reduction in seizures before and then have them come back with a vengeance. Like I wrote on my fb page, "It seems like we are living by quiet waters right now. However, I know that the rapids can come any time"
Anyway, right now Jason is doing really well. And, this moment is all we are guaranteed so we will give thanks this moment for the wonder of a better than 50% seizure reduction.
We give thanks to God for His mercy toward Jason. We give thanks for improved speech and understanding. We give thanks for much more calmness each day. And the sleep!! I don't even know where to start to give thanks for that. Thank-you, Thank-you dear Father for giving Jason sleep. We have gone from :
seeing Jason night after night not being able to sleep. Walking into his room and seeing that pained look in his face. Seeing him on his bed on his knees with his head in his hands stuffed in his pillow rocking back and forth, a look of misery on his face. Checking on him at night and seeing him do 'beans' the whole night and then falling asleep half sitting, with his head on the floor in complete exhaustion only to wake up in a few minutes!!
Pacing!!
Oh that horrendous pacing that Jason has done for years, night after night. It seemed like he was trying to walk right out of his body.
He would look at me then as if to say, "Mom, please help me! Do something to get this to go away!" And all I could do was helplessly watch him. The pain on a parents heart to watch their child go through so much and not be able to do anything about it is beyond words.
Anyway, we have gone from the above to:
Sleeping almost every night!! Jason goes to be around 8 o'clock and sleeps all the way until 6am!!!!! I can not describe how absolutely HUGE this is! He is relaxed, goes to bed and SLEEPS!!
Jason's speech and thought process has improved so much too. He is saying things spontaneously which he doesn't often do. One example, we were sitting on the couch together and he pipes up, "birds in the sky". He was looking out the window and saw a seagull fly by.
He went in to Oma Stoutjesdyk's fridge and said, "I see whipping cream".
To any of you who know Jason, you will understand how significant this is.
Jason got a trampoline for his birthday. As you can see, he is thoroughly enjoying it.
Opa and Oma Pronk gave Jason a John Deere mug. As you can see, this was a hit! It doesn't take much or cost a lot of money to make Jason happy. A phone book so he can look up the excavators in the yellow pages, a slurpee coupon book or a mug!
Jumping in the rain with my little sister
love the john deere mug - jason is so very special
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Nicky, Wayne, Brody, Eli & Family