Highs and Lows

This week has been full of highs and lows. We'll start with the highs!

We have been able to catch up with various relatives throughout the week. The biggest amusement has come from listening to our 2 year old nephew trying to say new things, especially ones his older, 6 year old brother tells him to say. They have entertained us several times now and it's a joy to hear "Uncle Mark and Auntie Rachel" in their accents.

Mark's enjoyed fishing a couple times. The first time was unfortunately not very fruitful, but the second one was! This past Tuesday, Mark and his mother went fishing way off the shore (probably about 9-10 miles). Mark was lucky enough to reel in a black-finned tuna (7 lbs) , a skipjack (3 lbs) and a Wahoo (20 lbs). (We have a picture of the Wahoo that is stuck on a cell phone...hopefully we'll get it on here soon!) He really enjoyed his time and finally caught some bigger fish like he's been dreaming of. Now if only there had been more fish to take the bait! We are both looking forward to fishing off the iron-shore banks soon. I'm also looking forward to seeing the fish while snorkeling rather than on the end of my hook!

My week in particular has been filled with highs and lows. I have had more allergy reactions this week than I have had in a very long time, and I've not had any quite like these before. The problem has been that the reactions aren't coming from anything I've eaten, but from things I have merely smelled. I am still uncertain exactly what is setting off the first stages of anaphylactic shock (I am all about educating everyone on food allergies, so click the link if you are interested to learn more!) but we have it narrowed down to shellfish and vegetable oil being used to cook/fry foods. I praise God for medicine that has been able to stop these reactions before they got more critical. We are trying to take precautions to keep this from happening again, but it is hard to not smell and hard to not be afraid to smell! Thank you for your prayers in this matter. After two very rough days on Monday and Tuesday this week, I have had some relief yesterday and today. I have been reminded of how grateful I am to be alive and how dependent on God I am for each breath to sustain me.