Pow!

'Right between the eyes' is how things have gone for Zane this past year. With three surgeries in nine months and seemingly no closer to understanding why he's having recurring infection, this 'blow' nearly made me crawl in a hole to die. A bit dramatic, I know, but when it's your baby it just hurts. A good night's sleep, prayer, perspective, and Zane's resilient spirit, a new day arrived with hope. His eye is fine and he's going to be okay. Apparently he wanted to work on his ruggedly handsome face.

It has been nearly four weeks since surgery and Zane just finished 21 days of twice a day meds. The surgery did reveal infection, but they couldn't find any source. We have more follow-up appointments this week and are feeling more confident in his healing today than we did about ten days ago. We continue to pray healing and protection over Zane and are doing lots of research and seeking out help with multiple professionals to build Zane's immunity and find solutions.

With all this going on, we decided we needed to have some fun. So we headed to Branson for camping and more SDC...and that's where Zane got his black eye. It was our first day at The City and a heavy metal chair that Zane was sitting on at lunch flipped back. I saved the back of his head from smacking against the metal chair rods and the brick floor but failed to anticipate the front of the chair coming up to hit'em right between the eyes. He cried. Swelling. Blood. And then I yelled, 'GET HELP NOW!' It really wasn't my calmest moment, but all I could compute in the moment was, 'HIS.NOSE.HIS.NOSE!'

Eric was eerily calm and explained later that he knew Zane would be fine. With the 'fresh raw meat' look Zane sported the rest of the afternoon, I wasn't as confident. Eric reassured me that by morning it would all be better. He was right. The swelling came down, the rawness turned darker and Zane didn't miss a beat. Fortunately, the rest of our weekend was fun, meaningful and indeed memorable.

We found the best place to pitch our tent at spot #70, the weather was beautiful, the food was simple, the Church of Christ retreat serenaded us all weekend, the fires were warm, the marshmallows were perfectly roasted and we stayed toasty warm cuddling in our sleeping bags. The fall colors through the Ozarks were beautiful, the mums were lovely and Elle and Zane discovered more to enjoy at The City.

Elle's new favorite ride is F*re In The Hole. Oh my goodness, I didn't remember how fast and dark that ride was and was shocked she was tall enough to ride it, four times over! Zane rode his first ride on the Frog, which made him cry a bit, so he preferred the Ladybugs.

Oh, and there was barn dancing! I don't know a single step, can't dance to save my life, but it was a blast and for Elle, I got up in front of everyone in the hall and danced two songs with her. I was embarrassed, but it was easy to shut out everything and see only my Elle, thrilling over the experience.

We can't wait to go back to Branson again at Christmas. We'll probably leave the tent home for that trip...brrr!