Garden Time

One thing Erin and I have strived to do as a parents as been to take advantage of or create moments were are children are able to engage new things. As we entered the month of May, Eliana and I planted several small seeds that would hopefully yield a small harvest of cucumbers and squash. Well, to my dismay, these little seeds took off and a decision laid in my hands, "Do I keep these little sproutlings and make a garden in the back yard or do I throw them away when Eliana is not looking?" Well, I decided to do something no one in my immedi ate family have ever done, so I made the garden! To date we have several little cucumbers and squash growing. Oh yeah...and we planted one watermelon vine. Stay tuned to see what we get. You can see Eliana watering the plants with such care and precision.

Michael Is Dancing

For many of you who have followed with us, my brother-in-law has battled cancer for the past two years. This past week the Lord decided Michael had to fight no more. While I have many words and feelings, I don't think I can express anything quite as well as his awesome wife Jen. Jen sent this email out the following morning after Michael passed. His life was truly one lived to the fullest. We will forever miss him.

FROM JEN:

hi friends!
i didn't think i'd be writing this email this soon. after a two year battle with cancer that michael fought with such toughness and determination he is nowrejoicing with our Lord in heaven. michael peacefullypassed away last night at 11:50 pm. yesterday was atough day. michael went to bed as normal saturday night. he even slipped out of bed around 3:00am. i helped him back into bed and he made some silly comment about being clumsy. when the boys woke me up in the morning around 7:30 i noticed michael was slightly labored in his breathing. at first i justthought he was snoring, but after looking at him his left eye was slightly open and looked un responsive. i tried to wake him up and couldn't. i moved his arms, legs, tried sitting him up and put water on his face,but nothing. i then called our oncologist office who told me to call 911 right away. i did and the firetruck and ambulance were here in under fifteen minutes and by 8:25 we were in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. once arriving they put him on a ventilator and got a ct scan to see what was happening. two of his tumors had some more bleeding and there was tremendous pressure in his head causing his brain tobe pushed down to the base of his brain stem (called herniated). i was quickly told this was not a reversible condition and there was nothing we could do. he would not recover from this. he was not in any pain and it would be a matter of hours before we would lose him. around 11-12 they moved him up to an icu room where we (me, my dad, bill and andy) sat with him. my mom and sister also made it to the hospital for a little while and were able to say their goodbyes. michael's parents got in their car and tarted the seemingly never ending drive. thankfully hey arrived around 10:00pm and michael was still with s. the ventilator was the only thing keeping him live. after spending some time with him we decided round 11:30ish to stop the ventilator. this was something michael and i had talked about. it only took minutes since he was not able to breath on his own before he peacefully was embraced by our loving heavenly Father who took him home. of course i would have preferred a miraculous healing, but since obviously this was michael's time to go i couldn't have asked for better circumstances surrounding the day. we were blessed with lots of loving friends in the waiting room, great neighbors who stepped upwithout hesitating, an amazing hospital staff who wassupportive and michael being painfree and totally peaceful. it was a long hard day, but i can smile today knowing he's where he belongs. and nobody loves him more than my God. he's left an imprint in many lives which is exactly what he wanted to do. he will continue to live on through all of us and especiallyhis sweet boys. please pray for them as this is something so foreign and strange. i talked with them this morning and we shared some tears together, but all agreed we would still love and talk about daddy whenever we wanted to. and of course he would never stop loving us. thank you already for all your love and support. it comforting to know i have so many amazing people around me ready to help with anything! let this week be a celebration of michael's life! he most definitely deserves it!

love,
jen

A Great Week with The Family

I have had the most wonderful week. I have had the opportunity to be at home while our family is getting back on its feet from the birth of our second child - Harper. The time at home has allowed me to accomplish little jobs around the house, but most of all bond with my little man and precious little girl. On Wednesday, Eliana's Memaw and Grandpap (my mother and step-father) came to visit for a few hours. From the pictures you can see one of the things she enjoys the most right now - SWINGING. Probably some of the most frequent words I hear are "Daddy swing?" To which how do you resist such a sweet request? It has been an incredible week and while I look forward to getting back into a little routine, I will forever cherish this week with my beautiful wife and two precious children. Thank you God for the tender grace you give in little things.

A Long Night

Well we have been home now for a few days and I was bragging on how well Harper was doing until...LAST NIGHT! Wow! He decided to make up for his restful evenings. Erin and I have tried to work out our strategy of who does what and when. Well we were both up and down throughout the entire night. Our little man just could not get settled. Or when he did get settled he decided to fill the ol' diaper. Just when he was cleaned and ready to rest, he was hungry. Erin was able to sleep in a little this morning while I took care of Eliana. Amazingly, Eliana slept through everything last night. Our little girl has proven to be a trooper and a great big sister. Eliana seems to be doing good with the new transition, however, when she saw Harper nursing this afernoon, she decided that she needed to be in mommy's lap. Fortunately, Erin was finishing with Harper and could give her the attention she was needing from her Mom. We certainly still have quite a process ahead of us for our little girl. We feel so blessed and fortunate to have our beautiful daughter and new son. Pray that we have a night with a little more rest. :)

New Jernigan Addition!!!

Erin, Eliana, Cooper (dog) and I would like to introduce the newest Jernigan member. Harper Michael Jernigan was born April 17th at 7:00 pm, weighing in at 8lbs 4oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.

We could not be any more proud and excited. We do appologize for taking so long to get pictures out, but there were several technical difficulties that have prohibited us from getting pictures out before we returned home. We are now getting settled in with much thanks to our friends and family that have helped over the past several days. We are looking forward to being at home now with our incredible daughter, hansome son, and insane dog. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. Thank you again to all our friends and family that have helped over the last couple of days and upcoming weeks. We love you all!

New Beginnings

Well today I am stepping foot into the world of blogging. My commitment level to many things says that this will not last more than a few weeks or months. Never the less....I begin. I am not sure exactly what things I will write about. Will it be primarily about myself, my family, my friends, relationship with Christ? I assume it will vary from entry to entry, as it probably should. I welcome you all and look forward to any and all comments. Happy New Year and may you be willing to start the thing you have been putting off. Best wishes to your new beginnings.