Update

I know it's been a while, but I do have some updates. First, Mark's mom is doing very well so far with her chemo. It's been somewhat frustrating to wait so long between treatments (she wasn't healing from her incision very quickly) but in general she's doing okay. We're pretty excited to finally be able to visit this weekend and see her in person.

Second, Mark is still unemployed but our finances do seem to be working out okay so far. He's had several leads with 3 different "head-hunting" groups in the last couple of weeks and he's optimistic they'll be able to help him out. In the meantime I've been working a lot and he's kind of enjoying the time home alone with Gracie. :) Since it took so long to start getting his unemployment checks (it's been six weeks and we still haven't received any) we actually qualified for Medicaid for the entire family, which is awesome so we don't have to pay the $1000/month for COBRA, and it's kind of weird/embarrassing but we even got a debit card with money for food stamps ! I can't believe we're actually getting food stamps. We found out a few days ago they finally wrote the first unemployment check so we won't get any of that stuff in October, but the Medicaid thing helps a lot because we have another 60 days to find insurance.

My grandmas are also doing much better. My dad's mom is still in Sanborn in the nursing home there and it turns out she's really enjoying it! I don't think she or any of her kids would have predicted that, but she's been very content making new friends and having other people make her meals for her. So as far as I know she'll be staying there for a while. My other grandma is still having issues with her hip/back but my mom said she started physical therapy so hopefully that will help.

And lastly, our vehicle situation: we did get the first problem fixed right away and unfortunately had to shell out some money for that, but we're hoping to fix the brake problems ourselves this weekend. My dad and Mark think maybe they can handle it and we can get the parts cheap through my dad's shop. We've only put on about 500 miles so all we have to do is get to Sioux Center and then we should be fine.

I do have one new request but I don't feel comfortable sharing too many details yet. My brother Cory and his wife live in Orange City and it seems they are having some financial and marital problems right now. Mark and I are very sympathetic because we've definitely had our ups and downs before, but I don't know if there's a whole lot we can do except pray for them. Please keep them in your prayers for the next couple of weeks as they try to figure out what to do next.

Wish us luck this weekend with the van repair and also for a great visit with all the grandpas and grandmas! The kids and I don't have school on Monday so we're making it a long weekend and it should be a good time.

Love,

Laurie