yeathathurt,

It’s been over a year now since our world went crazy for a couple of months. We have been enjoying quiet times and focusing on survival in Austin. Overall we are doing ok. Megan has been running the budget and I turn my check over to her. I have been doing contract work since April and am really enjoying the variety of experience I have been gaining. It’s so much of the mundane that I really haven’t felt the need to post about it. Until the other day.

Part of our continuing efforts to save money led us to buy a scooter in April, then a Motorcycle in Sept. Both were great on gas, and a LOT of fun to cruise around in. It literally made the commute a lot more endurable. And saved us about $400 in gas that the van required. The Van needed maintenance we couldn’t afford, and before the scooter died we were using the van about 4 times a month unless it rained. We sold the Van to a special needs school that had the resources to take proper care of it, and we got a Geo and the Vulcan you see above. With a break in Employment the sale also bridged a gap in our income and paid rent.

Sadly my Motorcycle came to an end Monday when Cars stopped abruptly in front of me. don’t ask me exactly what happened, because looking at the damage on the bike, and the damage on me and all I can surmise is ‘what the hell’ ?

The right side of my body is perfect, but I came to rest on my left with the bike pinning my left leg. It took two days before my leg would hold weight, and I am bruises galore. But it’s the *right* side of the bike that took heavy damage. I don’t remember ever getting it on the right.

I took a ride in an ambulance to the hosp, as I certainly wasn’t going to walk or crawl anywhere and it was already below 45 Deg. I applied for the charity from the Hospital and the bill is 100% covered. When I bought the Vulcan Megan purchased comprehensive coverage for the bike and paid it up through the year. I was complimented on my Insurance level and good choice of gear, which did in fact save me from a lot more injuries. Instead of feeling the heat of the exhaust coming through my boot, I would have had severe burns. I only had Light scratches on my jacket, pants and shirt. Nothing on the gloves or helmet. Two days later I am able to hobble without crutches, though not for long.

Megan has been incredible, doing everything she can to keep me from hurting myself as I attempt to shower, sleep, and get dressed. She jokes with me about Angels in Heaven being treated for road rash and other injuries from taking the abuse my body didn’t. I know who was with me that day and it’s deeply appreciated. I explained to Megan that I wouldn’t mind riding with her Dad and Uncle up above but I would like to wait a little bit longer for the privilege.

In the meantime, I thank everyone for their care, and concern and our Heavenly Father for his presence in our lives.

The Gallery contains photos of whats left of the bike. I expect it will be totaled by the Ins Company. Sad Sad Day. :(

The lord has seen fit to grant us peace, and work has continued to be a healthy, consistent challenge. Christmas wasn’t spectacular but it was good. We have all our family members in one piece and healthy. We managed to get the children 10 gerbils for the family present, and picked up lots of things at the good will outlet center for individual gifts. Stuffed animals, books and assorted things. We have celebrated Debbie’s 2nd Birthday, Rowan’s 11th and Jaydn’s 13th since the last update. He’s got his Facebook account and has been turned loose on the web. With supervision of course.

The weather has been beautiful, wet, but not wet enough. The days have been mild and we have actually been to church on time. I have been serving in the church as an assistant scout master on Wednesdays and Shirley has been called as president of her youth group. We are working to get ahead of the financial curve again but for now we are making the bills, paying rent and have been blessed with furnishings and other things handed down from people that hadn’t the need for them anymore.

We have been given enough time to refocus on the children’s schooling, and our larger goals for the years ahead. Our evening prayers are that we can continue to enjoy the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. Every day we remember what we had possessed in Florida and lost. We remember the ones we almost lost, and those that have been lost, and give thanks for the promises found in the scriptures. None of this would exist without prayer, and we give everyone thanks that has put a word in for us with our Heavenly Father.

Above this we have been fortunate still, in being able to come to the need of others, and make a difference in their lives. This as been the greatest blessing of them all. And pray to be able to do it more.

Until the next update.
- Dan.

So, I was looking at this in mid October and was thinking it’s been really quiet, but I should post something to bring everyone up to speed on the non-happenings. And then the world exploded. Not quite literally of course but for all the peace we literally had our world turned on end. I am pretty sure most everyone close to us knows how the last several weeks have gone, but I know there’s more that read this blog and wanted to give everyone a timeline of the goings on in our home.

When I posted last Gwendalynn had marked the end of our birthday season, and Megan was pregnant with Ethan. We were settling into what was going to be a record drought for a Texas summer which was looking to be pretty dull. We have a rule of no kids going outside after it’s 85 deg. The door doesn’t get opened and closed as the older 5 came inside and out letting the heat in, and the cold out. The A/C in the duplex was small. The tipping point was 76* on the inside. If the temp got above that point the A/C wouldn’t be able to keep up. Using the stove or the oven before 9 or 10 was not permitted unless we wanted to roast until about 4 am when the AC caught up. The other reason for staying inside is the heat and the kids staying hydrated. Tough to do when the temp is 105+. I was riding a bike to the train station to save money on gas during this time, and even I was having a problem with it. It was far safer to shelter in the duplex rather than attempt to do anything outside. We did this for the entirety of the summer. Didn’t have enough money to do anything at the pool, and no gas to get to a river or anything else anyways. The new job was going good, but the van is a thirsty girl.

It had started to cool off and it felt like we had come out of hibernation. We had to shave everyone bald to fix a hygiene issue that couldn’t be handled with chemicals because of Megan’s pregnancy. A pregnancy that had been a little rougher than usual. We had about a week or so before Megan dropped into labor unexpectedly by going straight for Toxemia. We had been told the Friday before that Ethan was breech and up high in an odd position. The signs of shock she was displaying combined with Ethan’s position was enough for Megan to agree that a C-section was prudent, before it became an emergency. Hence Ethan was born on the 23 of October. We have a tradition of not taking a newborn anyplace or to see anyone for at least the first month of life. Primarily for bonding, establishing a healthy nursing pattern and taking time to for everyone to get to know their new sibling and for Mom and Dad to recover from all this. Our “BabyMoon”, our time of peace when Ethan can eat and sleep undisturbed for his first 30 days in this world wasn’t going to happen.

from September to November we were also scrambling to find a new place to live since the lease was up and it wasn’t going to be renewed. Rent was also being increased and the duplex was in a location where the police chopper was an evening regular. The last night we were there the police were pulling people from our back yard. We had found and been approved for the new apartment the day before Megan went into labor and bought a couple baby jumpers before going home. While Megan was in the hospital I moved the bulk of our living essentials such as beds, desks, computers and accessories to the new apartment. Megan went from the duplex, to the hospital to the apartment without having to take Ethan to the old place. Normally we could have received help from fellow church members to pack and unpack transport for moving. But we had another infestation to cure and everything had to be dismantled, sprayed and transported in small chunks. In total it took me about 7 trips in the van with the benches out.

We had about a week to settle again and put up our feet before my Mom came over for her annual visit from Oregon and Shirley’s 14th Birthday. This was a nice time as well as about a week of peace before Megan’s Dad died of a massive stroke brought on by undiagnosed diabetes and high blood pressure. We have about another week until we could collect my paycheck and head to Fremont California for the viewing and funeral. It was about 1900 miles one way, and done in just under 72 hours. Ethan turned 1 month old the same day of Jay’s funeral.

We spent the next week in a house that her Aunt owns and Megan got to see her children live and play in the house she herself spent some childhood in. We took care of some paperwork we had left behind when we had Left California for Florida in 2006 and picked up Jaydn’s birth certificate since his original had been lost. We then took a trip to some of the places around Hollister we had been frequented when we first became a couple and took photos. It was a tremendous blessing for our family to be able to take our children to where we met, and some of our more memorable early moments in our relationship. Yes, there was the ever iconic tree involved in these photos too. No, we aren’t the type to etch our names into a tree though there is ample evidence of others doing just that.

With Thanksgiving just the next day we spent Thanksgiving with family we hadn’t seen for 5 years, and started packing up that evening. getting the majority of everything in the van that we didn’t need for sleep. We left around noon on Black Friday, for another trip of 1900 miles, done in 48 hours. Getting better rest before the initial leg made a huge difference. We got home Sunday afternoon, brought in perishables and collapsed. Later that evening we unpacked the van, cleaned it, and washed the road grime. Time for an oil change, tuneup, front tires and rear brakes.

I had about a week of normal work getting caught up on the larger items that required special attention. I than Took Little Debbie to the hospital for a fever that was discovered to be caused by a bladder infection. Most likely acquired during the endurance drive from California. On Sunday I took Megan to the ER for a huge Fever for which she would spend the entire week in the Ante Partem wing. temps there reached 104+ and required ice packs in various locations to keep her brain from cooking. She seems to have come out of that ok but it’s the second time this year she’s made me start planning what I would have to do to raise our children if she had died.

All this time we hadn’t been able to get to church. It was a physical impossibility. The only optional weeks were right after we had shaved everyone, and that was only two. Today, we were able to return. Not only were we at church, we were on time!

Some people would look at this and see how tough it’s been for us. True, it’s been hard, but the Lord has been in full evidence for the blessings we have received along the way. We have a wonderful new boy, we got to spend time with my Mom, and she and the children got to spend some time with Grandma. The great-aunts got to meet all the kids and we had Thanksgiving with family we hadn’t seen in a long time. We came home with some of the little inexpensive things that were sorely needed like silverware and bowls, towels and some blankets. We were blessed with a safe trip and with an awesome Job that provided an income that enabled us to complete all of these challenges, and still remain stable as a family, as well as residence and employment. Oh, and somewhere in all this, I made employee of the Month for November. First. Time. Ever.

I am very proud of my family, for we have faced these multiple life events. Which for many even one would rend the fabric of an individual, much less a family. We have faced all these and are home and safe, ready to start the new week. I pray the lord see’s fit to bless us with peace, tranquility and Serenity for the next year or two. Because while we survived all this, it sure would be nice to have some dullness and regularity back in our lives. :)

Photos will begin appearing on the Baker Family Photo Album soon and will continue to be updated as we process them.

Peace and God Bless,
- Dan.

Gwendalynn turns 3 tomorrow, and it’s hard to believe how far we have come since then. None of it would have been possible without God, good family, church family, friends and generous people. For those that are finding this blog for the first time, Gwendalynn was born at home, in the dark. Our power in Florida had been turned off for about 3 months in April of 2007, after getting laid off in August of that year. We lost just about everything except each other, the van we had, and only enough belongings that would fit in that van on the drive to Texas.

Progress has been made in Austin despite getting fired from Hostgator in January. They weren’t hiring Linux admins, they were hiring tech support, advertised as a Linux Admin position and I tossed a perfectly good job with Farrowmedical.com because of it. We had a small buffer built and I started contracting through Odesk. we are still in Austin which technically should make things easier as far as jobs are concerned. I have done some work for people and not received payment, which has put the crimps on more than a few plans. More on that later.

I apologize for getting hopes up with friends and family members, but it looks like we will be staying here after all. After much prayer and deliberation we felt prayers were answered here, and in the process, we have been the answer to others prayers as well. Right now it appears I have found an incredible match and for the first time in a long time I feel this is something can be a very long term deal. Which would be good. I am so absolutely tired of moving.

Austin is really interesting. The weather here is really odd though. It’s a strange mix of all the different places we have lived. I just wish it would rain more but apparently this is a record year for a drought. Not exactly what one would expect from a city sitting on top of an Extinct Volcano (wikipedia) . We look forward to visiting some pools this year, and maybe actually getting out and doing something.

Wish us luck!

- Dan.