hospital for what would be the first of two, two week stays. In the end, we spent four and a half weeks in the hospital. Jeff had a flare up of his ulcerative colitis which led to two weeks in the hospital trying to bring it under control with medication, and then another two and half weeks resulting in surgery. Over this time, we were both tested in many ways, and God showed his faithfulness in abundance. We had a lot of visitors that encouraged and lifted us up. We also received a multitude of letters and emails which were great. Finally, God provided for us financially in ways that we could not have imagined. During this time, we got to be pretty close with some of the nurses and hospital staff. 
It was almost strange to check out and go home because we felt close to some of the people there. Nonetheless, we were excited to finally come home on October 3rd. Since then, Jeff has been doing well. He is back teaching and working with computers and is doing good. He's also expanded his diet to include most things and is working on putting a few pounds back on after loosing so many. Over the past six weeks, he lost 50 pounds, bringing him to a weight he hasn't been at since high school.While all this was going on, Leigh Ann was continuing to grow. She is now in her last month of pregnancy and is eagerly anticipating the birth of our new baby. We don't know if it's a boy or girl and are both very excited. Leigh Ann is looking forward to sleeping in normal positions again and returning her body back to a semi-normal state. We weren't able to work on the nursery for a
long time, but fortunately a few people from the ranch really helped out. Dan was mudded and textured the walls for us and Leigh Ann's father primed and painted the room. Therefore, when we returned home, Leigh Ann was able to start decorating with a vengeance. Between Leigh Ann and her sister, the room was pretty well done in a weekend. It looks great, so all we need now is a baby.God has definitely shown his faithfulness to us over the past six weeks. Not only through those around us and our families, but also through the protection of Leigh Ann and the baby. Glenhaven was very gracious in giving us all the time we needed to deal with medical issues and recovery. While Jeff was supposed to start teaching again in early September, he didn't actually start until mid October. Even in this, God was faithful to provide people who could fill in and handle things through this time. Also, God has provided a few more teachers who will be joining staff at the end of October and early November. We are greatly looking forward to this, as the kids will receive a better education as a result of it.
We have truly appreciated all of your prayers and encouragement over the past months. You are all so valuable to us. We have no idea how people without God deal with trials such as these, and we don't want to try. We covet your continued prayers with the new baby coming and all. Prayers for sleep would seem very appropriate. Also, the ranch is going through more difficult times. This past week our executive director had a heart attack while touring in Washington state give seminars. He is scheduled for a triple bypass this week. The ranch has endured many such trials throughout the year, so your continued prayers are appreciated.We'll try and blog again soon after we have the new "baby" Rice. We'll be very excited to be able to send out pictures and finally share our names with everyone. Until then, enjoy the cooler weather and walk with Christ.
