Sunday, July 5, 2009, Nashville, TN., 7:40 a.m., D.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

A very sleepy Louisiana here.  Hope this finds y'all recovered from your Fourth of July activities (or just about).  I just woke up not even fifteen minutes ago; it may be a struggle to get to church this morning; we just might as well stay home and miss the morning service and go tonight instead.

We may sleep in today.  :)

Husband and children are still in bed; I just looked in on them; all are dead to the world.  They look so cute sleeping in their slumber!  I might as well enjoy this peacetime and write in my journal when I can; I might not get this opportunity once they're awake and ready to face another day!

Well, another Nashville "Red, White, and BOOM!" is over; it lived up to its name:  during the fireworks, a thunderstorm came rolling in, sending everyone ducking for cover.  God decided to up the ante a little by providing His OWN fireworks; it was spectacular!  And so was the sight of the people dashing to get out of the rain!

You try to get fifty plus disabled children out of the rain!  NOT an easy thing to do!  We ducked under a row of food vendors that had awnings until we waited for the storms to pass; the lightning and thunder was quite unnerving to the younger children (and Ronee', who kept yelling, "Make it staaaaaaawwwwwwwp!!").  (Ronee' doesn't like thunderstorms:  she's stormphobic.)

So I had several younger children (and one teenager) to try to quiet during the height of the storm; I kept reassuring them that God was washing the ground, to clean it up after all the people had dirtied it up.  They didn't buy into it; they just wanted the rain to stop, so they could get back to watching the fireworks. 

The fireworks would have gone on for the promised forty five minutes hadn't it been for Mother Nature; instead, it was compressed into a half hour.  Very noisy, and very bright, while it lasted!  It was spectacular!  So was the lightning, which provided an even more exciting display.

The concert went on without a hitch; by then, it had been partly cloudy, then turned cloudy; yet everyone was oblivious to the developing weather because they were so into the patriotic program and the flyover after Kellie Pickler sang our national anthem.

Josh Turner, Toby Keith, and Loretta Lynn, the other stars of the show, delivered many of their favorite patriotic songs and sang some of their biggest hits, much to the delight of the crowd.  Then the B2 Spirit and a B-52 bombers flew over, which shook the ground and thudded our chests.  It was awesome; nearly everyone cheered as the aircraft flew over.

Johnny got burned, but not nearly as bad as usual:  we kept him slathered with sunblock; it did its job.  He's pink, but at least he's not glowing, which is what usually happens.  Poor kid, no matter how hard he tries, he just can't seem to get a decent tan going!

He didn't have any more problems with his respirator alarm going off, and he didn't have any other issues either; he was healthy enough to enjoy the day and act like a normal young teenager, if such a thing were possible, in light of all of his medical concerns.  He had a most wonderful time!

We were indeed thankful for that, and also none of our other medically fragile or disabled children got sick or had problems, other than the usual bug bites or minor cuts or bruises from falls or punching one another.  I had to keep getting after Sergei and Bjorn for fighting; I had to put them in time out more than once.  I was not amused!

Then we lost Enriquesa when she wandered off after a Pomeranian puppy; we couldn't find her for at least fifteen minutes.  We were frantic!  When a man came up to us, with Enriquesa following him, and asked us if the girl belonged to us, we were never so glad to see her in our life!  She was crying, and so were we, when we were reunited!

It was a huge answer to prayer; so much could have happened to her in the short time she was missing!  (She is a quadruple amputee; she gets around by using artificial limbs and a wheeled walker.  She is not very fast, and she is helpless without her limbs.  We always worry she is going to lose them or they are going to fall off somehow.)

Well, that is how our day at the Red, White, and BOOM! Festival in downtown Nashville went.  We had a good time aside from the rain and the other excitement that comes with parenting as many children as we do!  LOL  We could go back today, the last day, but we plan on sleeping, then going to church tonight, once we've awakened and gotten ready. 

I will write in here again soon; until then, this is Louisiana saying so long and God bless!  Hope your holiday was as fun as ours was!

~Love, your friend in Tennessee, Louie May.  :)