Happy Birthday Mike and an Update on Emily

Yesterday was my sweet Mike's birthday. One of the things he wanted was the food grinder attachment for our Kitchen aid mixer. He has been wanting to grind some of his own hamburger and sausage. Sometimes you can get chuck meat cheaper than hamburger so this could prove to be a good money saver to grind our own. Mike can be quite a cook when he has the time and finds it very relaxing.

I made him a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. There is chopped walnuts in the frosting. The cake recipe came from a Taste of Home cookbook and is one of Mike's favorite cakes to eat. Happy birthday Honey, We love you!

In the top photo you can see Emily on the left. I wanted to give you an update on her shoulder pain that I had mentioned a while back. This pain has been quite a mystery and had started back in July. Everything had come back normal in the way of x-rays, lab tests and MRI. We've been trying a number of things to relieve her pain. After a 3 month wait she was finally able to see a doctor a pediatric rheumatology clinic. They have given her the diagnosis of fibromyalgia (a diagnosis for mystery pain) Actually she meets a lot of the fibromyalgia criteria and there was a lot of technical information given to us. Fibromyalgia can often start during adolescence and there is hope that she will grow out of it. We are praying she does. In the meantime she is in the beginning stages of trying various forms of treatment. (Diane, if you happen to read this post, thank you for all the advice you gave me prior to this. It really helped out at the doctor visit.) Poor Emily, as this pain has increased month by month and now radiates up into her head as well as down into her arms and legs. For the most part Emily is so good about it all, but there have been times she will come and just sit on my lap and cry. I am so glad she is getting her education online, a program through our public school. She goes into a classroom setting two days a week and does the remainder of her work at home. She can work for a couple of hours and then rest, get up and finish her studies for the day. On the days she goes into the classroom she can leave early due to her pain. They are flexible at the school so it is such a blessing. Please keep Emily in your prayers. She is only 14 and is such a sweet child. When things change I'll be sure to update all of you. We love you too Emily.

Have a blessed Sunday,

Nancy