It started out like a normal week...

This has been quite the week...I feel like I've momentarily gotten back on our infamous rollercoaster of craziness. It has made me think...a luxury I don't much have time for with 5 kids, and 2 dogs (we'll get to that later). It started last Saturday when we found out little Gracie had passed away. The ability to wrap my head around it, and the level of grief her sweet parents are facing escapes me. That coupled with Wednesday's anniversary made for a somber beginning of our week.

Bryan has been hurting quite a bit more lately. In the past few weeks we have kicked around switching insurances. He never out loud said why he was considering this, but the switch would make it possible for him to go to some doctors that have not been covered by our current provider. Wednesday, he officially switched.

Thursday evening, Bryan went to Gracie's viewing. Her sweet grandpa, asked Bryan almost right away how he was doing (seriously?!). Bryan told him fine, and of course he brushed that off and said to Bryan, "Don't you give up!"

Friday morning we got the call that Bryan's aunt, his dad's sister, had passed away. She had battled MS for 30 years, and had spent the better part of the last 10 years in a nursing home not too far from where we live. She was a very special lady, my kids loved visiting her...especially on trick-or-treat day :) She embodied enduring to the end, and even though I am so happy for her that she gets to be with her parents and brothers again, it's always hard.

Later that day, I made an appointment with a Rheumatologist up at the U for Bryan in February. There are so many alternative medical options out there for us to explore, I have wondered why I get a sick feeling every time we discuss going down those paths in search of answers about his health, especially when those paths seem to reap amazing results for so many. I have wondered why going this direction seems to feel right when we keep getting shut down time after time by doctors who tell us that this illness (or whatever it is) is simply in his head, and "just something [he'll] have to learn to live with." I wonder why so many people can walk in a doctor's office and walk out with an answer. But most of all, I wonder if this time will be different, or, if like the Children of Israel, we'll be forced to wander for 40 years in the wilderness of ignorance because we just aren't grasping the lesson of this whole situation.

Friday night, Bryan came home and told me about a dog he found on ksl.com that was free that looked exactly like his old dog, Wylie. Wylie was a black lab-rotweiler-border collie mix...this was a lab-rot mix and very cute. He talked himself out of it Friday night, so we never called.

I woke up Saturday morning with the sickest feeling like I'd left one of my kids at the grocery store. All I could think about was that stupid dog, and I did NOT want a stupid dog, so you can understand my predicament. When Bryan woke up I told him we had to get that dog, but when we went to look at it, the ad was gone. For fun, I looked through the other ads, and found a 6 year old yellow lab named, Alex, who needed a new home. I showed it to Bryan, and he lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. He made a half-hearted attempt to talk himself out of it, but I could see how much it meant to him, so I called...

Four hours later, they brought home the newest member of our family... A-Rod or Alex...yeah he was named for a Yankee player :) (pray for me!!!)

I am VERY worried about being able to handle it all, but it really did feel like it was meant to be. Alex and Shadeau get along very well...we're hoping Alex's good behavior will rub off on Shadeau. He's already trained, extremely obedient, and is so good with the kids, so I feel very blessed.

We'll see how next week goes...