Home Once Again, Too Soon.

It is with sadness that I post our return home.  It was not because we couldn't or didn't want to stay and we were not fired. :)  When we left for Yellowstone, Bud had an exisiting Mandibular Infection from Oral Surgery on April 3.  We left with Bud taking a megadose of antibitotics everyday and we went out knowing that follow up care in Jackson, WY would be a necessity after 4 weeks or so.  We saw an Oral Surgeon in Jackson who was adamant that we come home for further care and suggested Bud NOT see the Oral Surgeon who had done the original surgery.  He called ahead to an Oral Surgeon in Nashville, a colleague from Harvard and made Bud's problem known to him.  He  saw us immediately on our return home.  That Oral Surgeon  referred Bud to a specialist at Vanderbilt.  As of today, Bud has seen the specialist and had a CT scan.  Now we are awaiting a surgical date for the cleaning away of the infection and the dead bone that is floating around in his jaw.  His jawbone is very thin and he has had to be ever so careful of what he eats for fear that the jawbone might break.  At this time we are not sure if part of his jawbone will need to be removed and replaced with grafting and metal support or not.  Hopefully, we will know that for sure before his surgery.

We had a wonderful time in Yellowstone and really wanted to stay our contracted time.  We tried to compromise with the Oral Surgeon asking to stay until the end of July, but he was not hopeful that Bud's jaw would last that long.  So a week ago today - June 20 - we packed up our belongings and headed home.  We had a really good time and hated to leave.  We loved out jobs and the people we worked with.  We loved meeting so many people from all over the world and sharing our National Treasure - Yellowstone National Park - with them.

As always, we KNOW that God had a plan and a purpose.  We are realizing day by day that there are blessings in disappointment and that God is ALWAYS in control.  We learned a long time ago that when we say - Have thine own way, Lord - it is best to mean it. 

Happy to be back home and glad that we are back where we have close family and friend support.

I may post a few more pictures in the next few days - but there is unpacking to be done at the moment.