Happy 4th of July

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~Erma Bombeck

Happy 4th of July!! 

Some fun facts about 4th of July:

• There's a 1-in-6 chance the beef on your backyard grill came from Texas. The Lone Star State is the leader in the production of cattle and calves.
• Five places adopted the name "freedom." New Freedom, Pennsylvania with 4,464 residents has the largest population among these.  
• $486,026 is the dollar value of exports of U.S. flags in 2010. Mexico was the leading customer, purchasing $256,407 worth.   
• $190.7 million is the dollar value of fireworks imported from China, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imports ($197.3 million) in 2010. U.S. exports of fireworks, came to just $37 million in 2010, with Japan purchasing more than any other country ($6.3 million) 

 

For more fun facts visit http://www.chiff.com/a/fun-facts-fourth.htm

 From the Michaels' Family - Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!

 

A Message from Shane's Mom

To everything there is a season, a time and purpose for everything under Heaven

Eccl. 3:1

Dave and I were blessed with 5 beautiful, healthy children. Of course each went through the school of hard knocks, bumps, bruises, scrapes and even one broken arm. We had the childhood colds, flu, ear infections, allergies, and I could not forget the chicken pox. As the world around us became increasingly affected by the dreaded word "cancer" I often thought with such a large family it was sure to hit someone, sometime. As a protective mother, I would of course hope that if it had to happen it would be to me. I didn't want my wonderful husband or any of my children to suffer in that way. 

While we were vacationing at Bethany Beach in the summer of 2008, we waited for Shane to get the biopsy report. I had been in the shower and when I got out it seemed that Shane, Holly and Dave had disappeared. My mom told me that they were in Shane and Holly's room and that Holly had been looking for me. As I opened their bedroom door, I said "the doctor called and it isn't good." Dave looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "how did you know that?" In some way, God had prepared me because every night as I asked a special prayer for God to watch over and bring home safely one of my other children, I always heard him say you know I will. But when I asked for the biopsy to be benign, I did not hear those comforting words. 

We shared a time of shock and tears together and then we gathered the rest of the family and told them. Joel and Misty were not with us so that phone call also had to be made. 

I was so torn inside, my heart was breaking. Why God? Why did it have to happen to my Shane? Why not to me? I needed to talk to someone. Who better than my dearest friend who had suffered through cancer herself? I went out on the deck and called her. It had been raining off and on all morning and as I was talking to her I suddenly saw in the sky the most beautiful, amazing double rainbow over the ocean. I knew at that moment God was answering me. He was promising that he would take care of Shane. I just needed to trust Him. 

I know it's going to be a long road for Shane and Holly and it will not be without pain and suffering but I know God will always be with them. 

I love you, Shane!

Love, 

Mom

Welcome!

"Our Family is a circle of strength and love...Our Family with every birth and every union the circle grows, Our Family is a circle of strength every crisis faced together makes the circle stronger."

I've had this genius idea to start this blog to provide updates on the upcoming spaghetti dinner/Chinese auction and to provide updates on Shane, Holly & Natalie. Additionally, I wanted to have a common space where friends and family could come to share their thoughts and encouragement for Shane and his family.

 Natalie Joyce :)

The dinner is scheduled for August 13, 2011 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Grassflat Fire Hall. Things are coming along well. Shasta & I are scheduled to do a live radio hit with Forever Broadcasting on August 9 to talk about the dinner and the Bob Perks Assistance Fund. I'm pretty excited about this opportunity and Shasta is too. The tickets are completed at the printer and Holly will be picking them up this week. That means, it's time to start selling! We've all been collecting some pretty awesome auction items and we expect to have a nice selection. A few items we have so far: gun (you'll have to get the specifics from Shane because I have no clue about that stuff), gift baskets, gift cards, nature print, quilt and jewelry. I've asked a local screen printing company to consider donating t-shirts for all of our volunteers to wear during the event. I'm waiting to hear back from them, fingers crossed! And, after many edits from Shane, we finally have a flyer that we'll be posting around town to market the event.


More news at 11....

-Shawna <3