So Happy Together

    The highlight of the week was Loren's oral argument before the Armed Forces Court of Appeals .  Under the Supreme Court, that is the highest appeals court with worldwide jurisdiction over all criminal cases involving active military service members. Every once in a while the court visits different law schools as part of its Student Outreach Program and conducts real hearings at the schools.  Loren was chosen to submit a brief and speak on behalf of W&L as an Amicus Curiae (friend of the court). He chose to support the defendant. Loren put in tons of work and time into the brief, staying at the school till 10 pm sometimes trying to get it perfect.  He had a lot of professors working with him too, giving him suggestions and opinions.  Sometimes a little too many.     The day of the argument we all woke up sick.  Lydia had a runny nose, I had a sore throat, congestion and achiness and Loren also had a sore throat.  Lovely! ...

  It's hard to know how to start this post. We've been so overwhelmed and totally shocked by all that's happened this week it's hard to know how to put our feelings into words. Brendan, Loren's 11 year old brother, has cancer. It started conference weekend when he complained that his left eye was fuzzy. He went from partial vision in his eye to no vision at all. After doctor's visits and tests, they confirmed that Brendan has a fast growing malignant mass in his sinus region and it's putting pressure on his eye, thus causing the loss of sight. He was rushed to Primary Children's Hospital where he remains now. As of right now, they're still waiting for the pathology report to come back so they can tell what type of cancer it is and how to treat it. The problem is that the tumor is growing faster than they have time to wait for the results and if they don't act quickly, they might not be able to save his eye. He went into major surgery yesterday wh...

    Last weekend our ward had a mother-daughter "campout" at a member's house in Goshen, about 45 minutes away from Lexington. It turned out to be a blast! I wish more ward's would do this, it was a great bonding experience. The house we stayed at was AMAZING. It reminded me of a Jane Austen house with it's huge circular driveway and majestic views that surrounded it.      Michelle and I drove up together and got there around 6pm. We mingled with the other ladies then had a potluck dinner. There was everything from bean pizza (say what??) to manicotti. Potluck at it's finest.    After dinner we gathered around the campfire and had a short devotional followed by smore's. It was Lydia's first campfire experience and she was in heaven! It was so fun to experience it with her, counting the stars and watching the marshmallows turn brown. These are the moments I want to keep and remember forever.   Lydia, Adeline, Michelle and I all s...