Miracles Upon Miracles

It's time to introduce you to a friend of mine. This is Janine, holding Kendra:

Notice that they're wearing matching outfits. That was comPLETEly unplanned. (Notice also my Dad and Tracy in the background. Also not planned, but not quite as cute, either. But oh, well.) I think Janine and the rest of her family have been a part of our family since I was five. Janine is my honorary back-up auxiliary mom. It's a role that she has always taken very seriously and she has also excelled at it. I have the emails to prove it. If I have ever once managed to give you good advice, I probably got that advice from Janine.

I'm going to share one more picture, from the same event:

That's Janine with her own daughter, Juliana. Yes, Juliana is the bride here, and yes, she is very pretty. (Kendra is trying to ruin the picture by wanting her mommy back, but even that can't really spoil it.)

Anyway, I'm going to be fairly brief for once and not go into all the details. But suffice it to say that this week Janine has been producing miracle after miracle for us. She has gone from being on life support to being able to breathe on her own and I could not be happier about it.

And it's also her birthday. So happy birthday, Janine. Keep hanging in there. Keep knowing that our prayers are with you. Keep fighting. Keep remembering how much we love you. And keep giving us miracles-- we can't get enough of them.

Shinanaidene. Anato no kao o ai shite imasu.*



*Ask Luke for a translation if you're not sure. Tell him to lie and say I said it perfectly, even I screwed it up. Which I probably did.