Betsy update #2

Last night, when I posted an update about Betsy, Trey had not been told all of what happened during surgery.  Basically, Betsy lost a lot of blood for certain reasons.  The doctors were contemplating a transfusion but decided it was not necessary.  During the night last night, her fever spiked to around 102 and came down.  She won't be released until she has been at the hospital with no spikes for 24 hours.

We pray that she does not spike anymore so that she can be released and see her son who is in the NICU at another hospital down the street.

Blaise is now eating breast milk again which is a very good thing (he was not for a little while).  Other than that, I have no updates on him.

I ask that you all please pray for Trey, Betsy's husband and Blaise's father.  He sleeps at home (2 yr old Fenton is there) every night.  He gets up and drives downtown to the hospital area of Houston which is a good 45 minute or so drive.  At the moment he is bouncing between 2 hospitals checking on his wife and son.  He really needs your prayers right now.  He is such an inspiration to me with his patience and will to hold on even when life is tearing him in so many directions.  He spent his birthday yesterday in hospitals and his wife having unexpected surgery.

Please send your prayers to the Perryman family.  Trey Perryman, Betsy Perryman, Blaise Perryman, & Fenton Perryman.

Perryman's, you all are constantly in our prayers and we know God will give you the strength and will to pull through this very trying and difficult time in your lives.

Betsy update

Last I heard, Betsy was doing ok after her surgery.  She will be given some medicine to help her sleep tonight, which is a good thing considering she hasn't had too much lately.  She will be in the hospital until Sunday most likely.

I have no new news on Blaise.

Blaise's mom, Betsy having unexpected surgery

Please pray for Betsy!!!  I just got a phone call a little while ago and she is going to Women's hospital for an unexpected/urgent surgery.  She is clotting and they found that all of the placenta did not leave her body.  They are going to surgically remove the rest.

Meanwhile, their son, Blaise's condition has not changed from the last time I updated (at least what I know of right now).

To ice the cake...today is Trey's birthday!  Please please pray for them.  God has special plans for this family.

Peace be with you all.

Michael

Blaise William update #1

Blaise was seen by at least 5 doctors upon his arrival to Texas Children's Hospital.  Long story short is that it may be a viral thing causing his problems.  I don't want to give too much mis-information since I don't know the complete story, but what I do know is that Trey sounded very relieved that Blaise was at TCH's NICU.

I will continue to update as I find out.

Thanks for the prayers!!!  They are already helping.  Keep 'em coming!!!  :)

God bless you all.

Please pray!!!! Please, please!!!!

Whomever reads this:  PLEASE pray for my God-son/Trey & Betsy Perryman's 2 week old son, Blaise William.  He has been in NICU for almost 2 weeks and is now being rushed to Texas Children's Hospital for a heart related problem.

He has barely been given a chance to be on this Earth, and we want him to be able to experience it like the rest of us.  I ask that you pray for his health and survival.

Mary has said in her visits to people around the Earth....

Prayers for suffering:
Creed
7 Our Father's
7 Hail Mary's
7 Glory Be's

Along with this can be fasting of bread and water.

I ask you to join me this Friday (tomorrow) in a day of fasting and prayer for Blaise William Perryman.

Blaise, we love you and know you can pull through this!!!  God bless you and your family!!!

You can see the ISS!!!

For those of you interested, the ISS is easily seen early in the morning or at night.  It is as bright as the brightest star in the sky and moves at a constant speed.  The important thing is that you don't confuse it with a plane.  Planes have blinking lights.  ISS DOES NOT BLINK.

ISS

Here is the link to a site where you choose your state and city to see when it is coming.  There are some really good sitings coming up.

ISS Sightings  (Click ISS Sightings)

The important thing is to get out there a few minutes early and make sure you have the directions correct.  Other than that, it is pretty easy to spot with a clear sight of the horizon.

Remember, if you have any questions on how to read the charts, comment here with an email address, email me, or call me.

There are some good sightings coming up in the next week!!

Views from above

Before I write about some NASA things I would like everyone who reads this to please pray for my God-son, Blaise William Perryman, who remains in the NICU since last week.  He is doing better than he did last week, but still needs some prayers.  Thank you so much!!

I am going to share with you some pictures that were taken from the International Space Station (ISS).  You may have already seen these but I thought they were really cool.  The first two are of Houston early Sunday morning.

Houston early Sunday morning

So awesome!!

The next two are pictures of Aurora Borealis.  My friend, Tess, explained it like this..you will see columns that extend through the ionosphere.  They are caused by the solar wind being concentrated on Earth's magnetic field.  This excites molecules in the atmosphere which is the green you are seeing.  That green is actually "excited" oxygen.  How cool is it that we can actually get these kinds of pictures!!! 

Aurora Borealis

That green is excited oxygen

Our world is such a mystery to us.  Thanks to those who spend their time revolving around it, trying to help us here on Earth!!  

Letter to Gabriel....

Gabriel, I want to take this chance to publicly apologize for what I did.  Earlier when I was putting you in your bouncer, I accidentally pinched your wrist in the buckle.  I know it did not draw blood, but simply left a bruise on your arm.  I am sincerely sorry for that, and would really like to ask for your forgiveness.

I also want you to know that many wise people have told me through the years, that whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.  Gabriel, you are on your way to being a very strong warrior.  Mommy may say that you cried, but daddy knows that not one tear left those ducts.

You are a Franco.  Franco's laugh at pain....only after it subsides and is several months down the road :)

Gabriel, I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Gabriel, birth, shrimp creole, putt putt, and taboo

What a week this has been!  Gabriel is just as beautiful as ever and becoming more alert.  Not only does this little boy roll over when he wants to but started saying "hi" as well (of course we must repeat it about 10 times before he mimics us).

Another great event this week was the birth of my God-son, Blaise William Perryman.  I have not met him yet because he has been in the NICU since he was born.  He has not been able to keep any food down and has been surviving on IVs.  I ask you to please keep him in your prayers.  That family has had their share of difficulties and this is one that really deserves our prayers!!!!

I received an award this week at work which I completely did not expect!!!  I helped automate this financial process at work in excel.  A co-worker of mine has to input many cells of numbers manually from another sheet (copy and pasting).  These financial sheets get distributed to our client monthly.  I cut down the amount of formulas she has to deal with from 138 to 1.  All she has to do is manually change the date on one page and everything automatically populates across the other 15 or so sheets.  I was simply doing my job but was rewarded for it.  I love this company--not because I got an award, but because they make you feel good about the work you do.  They recognize the work you do.

To top off the week, Erin and I had a date night tonight.  We went to Abe's, this Cajun restaurant in Houston, which turned out to be really tasty, and then went to play Putt Putt golf.  How fun!!!  I won't tell you who won :)  We then finished off the night with the Matt and Lucy Coles (they babysat for us) and their friends.  We played a great game of Taboo.

I often wonder what God has planned for me in the future, but then remember that I should really enjoy the present.  I love having a 2 month old, living with my wife in a humble apartment, and working for a program that might get cancelled.  Anyway you slice it, I am blessed and in a fascinating time of my life!!!!!

Gabriel's Baptism

This past Sunday was Gabriel's baptism and what an experience that was!!!  This boy was amazing during the entire baptism!  He never cried and in fact, laughed after Father Dominic finished pouring holy water over his head.  We took him up on the altar and he just sat and watched the entire church while being up there.  He never cried!!  Erin and I were so thankful and that night....he had a 7 hour stretch of sleep--God-given for sure!

We are blessed to have two wonderful God-parents who will be prayer warriors for Gabriel: Lucy Coles and Adam Trufant.

Here are some pictures from his visit with Adam Trufant (who came from North Carolina), his God-father and the baptism day.

Adam & Gabriel

Look how much his God-father loves him :)

I love this one!

The get together before the baptism

Gabriel in his Baptismal outfit

Gabriel & his Aunt Shelley

Gabriel & Uncle Jeff

The procession into mass

Cleansing of Gabriel's Original Sin!!!!

Lucy, his God-mother, Erin, Gabriel, me, and Adam, his God-father on the altar

Franco family

Berryhill family

Gabriel with his loving God-parents and parents

Pictures from Colorado Springs visit

Pictures from Colorado Springs (if you click on the picture you can see it better):

View from my room

The Booz Allen Hamilton building where my class was

View from the street next to my hotel

Taken from a bridge--cool shot!!

Beautiful mountains

A continuation of beautiful mountains!

Another cool shot--there is a church off to the right

Yes, we were 6000 ft above sea level :)

A small park behind the hotel

Same park behind the hotel

View from hotel room at night

CSEP training in Colorado Springs, CO

I know I know...I haven't been keeping up with this as much as I want to.

I just got back to Houston from Colorado Springs about 2 hours ago.  I had a training seminar for work to go to.  What a week it was.  While we were on our way to check our luggage in at the airport on Tuesday, we saw this guy walking with a few guys escorting him in suits.  The guy being escorted must have been a prisoner b/c he had handcuff chain things around his ankles and a chain around his waist that had his arms involved some kind of way.  He didn't look dangerous--the men were very nice and respectful to him and he was very chill and compliant.  I actually felt bad for him in a way...

Everyone in the airport was staring at him.  I know he obviously did something wrong and I agree that there should be some type of punishment for whatever it was he did.  However, I truly believe that we should say prayers for this man and all of those who do not have God in their lives.  I don't know why I have certain feelings but something was telling me he was trying to become a better person.  Maybe he was on his way to rehab...I will never know.  Either way, this man is in my prayers--he and all those trying to turn their lives around deserve our prayers.

Once arriving in Colorado Springs, 4 of us hopped in a rental car to head to the hotel.  Yeah, it was slightly brisk...15 degrees or close to it.  It had snowed the day before a little bit so there was some residual snow left.

Thursday night, I got to hang out with my cousin Suzette and her husband Pete.  It was so nice to get away form the hotel for a bit and see a little more of the area that what I had seen.  I actually walked around the city a bit taking pictures which will soon make it on the blog.

Suzette drove me through the Garden of Gods park which was AWESOME!!  We met up with Pete at their house and went to Ted's for dinner--a restaurant, not a man :)  After eating, Pete and I played Wii for about 2 hours--I think I burned 39 calories!

Today, I returned to my lovely wife and child and beautifully clean apartment, where I anxious wait the arrival of Adam Trufant, Gabriel's Godfather!!!!!!

Well, for now I am heading out, but you will get to see some of my pictures soon!!

From Houston to New Orleans to Baton Rouge to Lake Charles back to Houston

We left New Orleans on Friday and spent the weekend in Baton Rouge.  We got to visit with many friends and family, which was wonderful.  Saturday was very relaxed which prepared me for that night.  That night we had a guys night and somewhat of a reunion at the Broussard Manor.  What is that you may be wondering?

I lived in a house with 4 other guys for a year...Jason, Steven, James, and Brother Chris (not a brother at the time).  The house was on Broussard St. and our checks were made out to Broussard Manor.  What a fun year that was--always unpredictable!!  Anyway, we used to love lighting fires in this fire pit Jason owns.  We would just grab some drinks and burn stuff.  Saturday night was a continuation of that with more Manor people, past and present.  We had a great time burning broken chairs and small logs!

Elise and Gabriel

Davis and Gabriel

Mrs. Staci and Gabriel

Liz and Gabriel

Sunday we went to 10am mass and headed home to Houston.  While passing through Lake Charles, we were thinking about our friends, David and Kate Dawson.  We decided to call them and see how they were doing and ended up in their driveway 15 minutes later!!!  What a wonderful visit we had with them and their son, John Paul!  He is so adorable!!!!!!  I think Gabriel and John Paul will be very good friends :)

David and Gabriel

David, John Paul, Kate, and Gabriel (yes, Gabriel is a Franco)

We made it back to Houston in time to watch most of the super bowl.  What a super bowl that was?!?!?!?!  I can't tell you how happy it made me feel to watch the Saints hold that trophy and win the game.  It was not just about the game.  Those players and entire staff brought hope to a city getting back on its feet from a storm that was unforgiving.  What I love about the Saints is their willingness to help those around New Orleans.  Check out this link and see what kind of person Drew Brees is.  I really liked and looked up to him before seeing this, but watching this made me respect him even more:

Brees is a hero

Needless to say, I have been on a high since last night!  We had a great visit to Louisiana.  It's always good to go back there and see where you were brought up.  I am headed to Colorado Springs for a few days of training.  My lovely wife and child get to visit with Gran-mere for those days and then it's time for a baptism when I return!!

Also, about 2 hours ago, I was asked to be the God-father of the newest Baby Perryman!!!  How exciting it is to be a God-parent!!  It will be my first time and I am going to make sure he gets all the prayers and spoiling he deserves!!

For now, that's it.  I hope you all have a lovely week.  GO SAINTS!!  WHO DAT?!?!?

Visit to New Orleans

What a visit!  Erin, Gabriel, and I spent 8 nights in New Orleans with the Franco's!!  We had such a good time.  It started off with Jeff's engagement party on Saturday, then Michelle's confirmation on Wednesday, and visits from friends built into the week.  I wanted to show you pictures of our time in New Orleans...

Jeff and Jackie during the speech about them :)

Gabriel with his great-grandmothers (Mema & Granny)

Granny and I!!!!

  

Brian and Shelley are making him laugh!!

I think Gabriel made Patrick and Amanda laugh :)

Gabriel's favorite position while at the Franco grandparents house

We went for a walk with a stroller a little ahead of his size.

So we wedged towels and sweatshirts in there to keep him in place!!

Gabriel wins the Heisman Trophy!!

Gabriel in one of his new outfits

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time as well as Gabriel!  He is getting bigger everyday and continues to amaze us with his little milestones.  We love you, son!