The Martin Box » grandkids

pray for Paul

Paula Netherland — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:15:24 +0000

I know very few details at this point, but Charles’ son, Paul was in a really bad accident over the weekend. From what I understand he was riding his motorcycle when he was hit head on by a car.

He’s in a hospital in Shreveport with very severe injuries. He has bleeding on the brain and multiple broken bones.

Please pray for Paul and his family.

I’ll update when I know more.

Camille

Paula Netherland — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:10:49 +0000

Tuesday, May 18th: Jerry called Le Bonheur and said Camille came through her heart surgery fine. The cardiology team came out and said her heart was beating better already. They removed the “dead” area and repaired a leaky valve. She will be in CVICU for a few days. Thanks so much for all of your prayers!!

Sunday, May 16th: Camille Davis will have surgery on Tuesday to remove a section of her heart below the left ventricle. The cardiologists at Le Bonheur say that it is “dead” and has formed an aneurysm. Blood is going into it but the blood is not being pumped out. They have no choice but to remove it. The heart cath and MRI have shown that she had a heart attack at some point. Please continue to pray for Camille, Lois & Casey.

Prayer Request for Camille.

Paula Netherland — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:08:08 +0000

UPDATE: Thursday, May 6th via Denise: I talked to Lois tonight. After taking out Camille’s chest tube on Tuesday, the cardiologists determined that her heart was not functioning properly (not squeezing the blood out of the bottom chamber). So, she had a heart cath today to see if there was any blockage. They found none, but went ahead and took a biopsy to try to find out what is going on. Please keep praying!

UPDATE: Sunday, May 2nd Camille is out of ICU, off the respirator, and has had most of the tubes removed. She even felt like watching TV yesterday. Her older sisters, Kelsey and Chloe, came up from Louisiana with their Aunt Sallie for a visit, so it was a wonderful day.

UPDATE: Friday, April 30th Granna Bec said that Camille had a really good night and that her vitals and blood gases were super in the first 24 hours following surgery. The docs were going to start weaning her off the respirator today. Granna Bec, Papa Ben, Aunt Britney, Uncle Johnny, & Abigale were settled in at the Grizzly House and taking turns going to the hospital to relieve Lois & Casey. God is so good!

UPDATE: Thursday, April 29th Camille had to be taken to Le Bonheur hospital by ambulance last night. She went into cardiac arrest twice. Doctors had no choice but to open her up because the needle procedure did not work. They removed 2 liters of fluid from her chest and also inserted a drain tube. The next 48 hours will be critical so please continue to pray for her.

I’ve been trying to get an update on Camille the last couple days. Denise just posted this on Facebook:

Would everyone please pray for Jerry’s niece, Lois Martin Davis, and her little girl, Camille, who has been treated at St. Jude for the past two years for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. A lot of you will know Lois as the daughter of Ben and Becky Martin, a counselor for Teen Week at Indian Creek Youth Camp (and sister of Corey, Brandon, Sallie and Britney). Camille had to be admitted back into the hospital last week for fluid around her heart. They have been treating her with steroids to reduce the fluid but it seems to be getting worse so she has been moved to ICU. Her breathing has become very labored and this morning her heart stopped and they had to do CPR to revive her. As a last resort, they can do a surgical procedure to draw the fluid off but it is very risky, she cannot be asleep while they do it, and, according to Becky, they have prepared the family for the worst.

As if there wasn’t enough going on, Lois went into premature labor Sunday night and had to be rushed by ambulance to another hospital here in Memphis where she delivered a 4 lb 14 oz baby girl, Keeley. Since we were out of town and no other family had arrived, some of the church members from Cordova stepped in and sat with Camille and Lois until the baby was born. Lois has been released and is back at St. Jude with Camille but the new baby, Keeley, is still in The Med, as a precaution because of her low birth weight.

Ben, Becky, and Casey, Lois’ husband, is now in Memphis and we will be home tomorrow and will send an update as we can.

a letter from Paul, Vanessa & Alahna

Paula Netherland — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:01:22 +0000

This Lord’s day was full of thanks and honor to our most gracious God. He is so good and showers blessings down upon us in times of distress. We are so happy that Alahna could join us today in spirit and in truth in our small group at services. She is a shining light to us. Though Stone was absent, we talked of him in class and reviewed his favorite songs and verses. It is empowering to know that he is in heaven and happy.

Paul and I miss our strong, kind, sweet Stone, but we keep him alive in all we do around here. We are trying to rest and limit our calls/visits for now while we sort through and clean up here. Thanks be to God for our Christian family and friends. Paul and I will “press toward the mark of the high calling” and perservere through the sadness and absence of our dear Stone.

Thanks to everyone for your calls, cards, visits, emails etc. Please know that if we do not answer the door, respond to your emails or messages. or if the phone is off the hook, we still care and appreciate you all. We are trying to make up for lost sleep and are trying to get caught up on household duties that didn’t wait for us while we were in the hospital. We will be back in the swing of things soon enough.

God is so good and Alahna continues to recover quickly. She has had the comfort of the Lord all around her and the support of family and friends’ prayers to heal her along the way. Her intellect amazes me the understanding of where she is in the grieving process is one that some adults cannot figure out. She is so open and honest about how she feels. I am proud of her to say the least! I learn so much from her example and thank God for her continued faith in Him. She said that she just wants to be a good Christian so that she can see her brother again some day. She is excited to be about the Father’s business.

Thank you all once again. God blesses us through your support!

getting better

Paula Netherland — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:08:01 +0000

Jerry and I arrived safely back in Memphis. Before we left, we took some pictures of Alahna so that you all could see the improvement that she has made in the past few days. It is truly a visual of God’s blessings! She is making great strides (literally) walking with the walker and getting stronger every day. She got the feeding tube out yesterday. The rehab doctor says another couple of weeks in the hospital but she keeps exceeding the goals they set for her so we are hoping she will be released sooner than that. She is talking about Stone now, but not with sadness. She laughs about the funny things she remembers. Please continue to pray for her, Paul, and Vanessa’s healing, both physically and emotionally. -Denise

the plaque

Paula Netherland — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:16:09 +0000

For those of you who haven’t seen the plaque on Granny’s birdhouse.

things are hoppin’

Paula Netherland — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:23:38 +0000

I’ve been a busy little bee frog the last couple of weeks. I’ve had my photography business for several years now, but a couple years ago I had the idea of changing the name to TreeFrog Studios. I decided that was silly and just kept it to myself. It’s just stayed with me, so a couple weeks ago I told Wynn my idea. He loved it! I told him what I had in mind for a logo, and he took it and ran with it. It’s been full press since then. We launched the new site yesterday. I LOVE it! I’m so excited about it, and wanted to share it with all of you. I’d love for you to “hop” over and check it out and tell me what you think.

http://treefrogkids.com/

christmas cards

Paula Netherland — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:05:52 +0000

I love getting mail…seriously. Since you never know what you’re going to get, it’s like a little present every day. Sometimes you love it, sometimes you don’t, and sometimes (though not very often) it’s something you can regift to someone else. Since I love mail so much, I really love the holidays because I know Christmas cards are on their way. I always send my cards out riduculously early, but I can’t help it. I just can’t wait to send them. Well, today we got our first Christmas card. It was so exciting to see it there in the mailbox. Who’s it from? What does it look like? What does it say? So many questions in just one little white (sometimes colored) envelope. This year’s first card came from Aunt B and Uncle Buck. Rea squealled in delight at the three little snowmen on the front. She grabbed it and ran to show her daddy. I love getting cards from Aunt B because she always puts the date on the inside and if it’s a birthday card she also puts a mark for each year. I always count those little marks. I love those little marks, and I love you Aunt B for making each one.

Fun times!

Courtney — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:27:11 +0000

We all had such fun for Audrey-Kate’s first Thanksgiving and Martin reunion! Hope to see you all again soon!

God blessed us all the day we became your grandchildren.

martha — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:33:32 +0000

Letters were sent out to all the grandchildren telling them that we wanted to do something in Granny’s memory; several sent in donations for this. (I threatened each of the them to keep this a secret from their parents) This was not only done in Granny’s memory but it was in the honor of her kids, our parents. We want them to know how much we love their Mother, our Granny.

Just as us Martins return to the park for the family reunion every year, the Martin birds return to their nesting place every year. Therefore, Paula had the wonderful idea of the Martin Birdhouse. While again, I am so sorry that we did not have it there and put up in time.

The park employees had agreed to put the birdhouse up when it arrives. It is two stories to allow for several Martins, you know there is never just one Martin anywhere. ( you may wish it was, but it never is)

Paula designed the plaque for the post of the birdhouse. It reads as follows:

In Loving Memory

Marie

“Granny”

Martin

1920 – 2008

God blessed us all the day we became your grandchildren.

You filled our lives with love, beauty, and laughter.

We miss you.

We love you.

- your grandchildren

“Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever.”

– Author Unknown

Also, the grandchildren will have a brick paver placed at the Centennial Park on Main Street in Crossett, in Granny’s Memory.

I will send pictures of each of these items when they are in place. Please take a moment to thank Paula for the plaque design. Paula has worked hard on many projects, not only on her projects but on so many of my projects ideas. I think after this she is blocking all my phone calls and emails. Thank you Paula, for all that you have done.

So parents be sure to thank your children for assisting with this Memorial for Granny.