the view from here

Today is nice, the sun is shining, and the temps in the 40's. It gives me an itch for spring to get here fast, but then I look outside and besides the sunshine and the warmer temps, this is all I still see....



We have the biggest snow pile in all of Dassel, I do believe, and the bad part is it's in our front yard. I think Lake Emery is in the works for this spring. It's kinda funny because right next to the biggest snow pile ever, I saw grass for the first time today. That spot is literally the only spot of grass visable. Even after all the melting the last few days, we still have mounds of snow everywhere.



And then if I go a little further I see our driveway. This has been a spring hazzard at our house since we moved in. (and just made the realization that this May is when we closed on our first house 10 years ago....and we are still here.)
Anyway, back to the driveway, at our house early spring= MUD!!! big time. This is only the start of the warm weather thaw we been experiencing, and it only gets worse from this point on. It still freezes at night and the mornings our front yard and driveway is nothing but an ice rink, I guess for now that beats mud. I do know the mud is coming however, and I'm not excited.



Oh and I can't forget the shower we get when we come through our front door. Our gutter's leak like crazy, and that then makes our front step slippery when it freezes at night. It's a vicious cycle, spring thaw is.




I am excited for spring though, mostly the wamer temps raise my spirit. Today is in the 40's tomorrow they are saying 50's. Thinking spring in February is getting a little ahead of myself.
I want to spring clean, but I still see snow.... alot of snow. My motivation to really clean good, is also dampened by coming into view of the kids rooms lately. I am thankful that their rooms are upstairs and the mess out of sight most of the time. Bailey doesn't spend alot of time in his room "playing", but the last few weeks he has dug some stuff out, and in a room his size a few things can make things look a bit disorganized. I like oraganization, in case you don't know that about me.



So for someone who likes everything to have it's place and when it's not in it's place, I franticly start picking up, but when it comes to Hannah's room ( my I don't care if it's messy child), I have pretty much given up. I have decided she has way too much stuff. We don't have a basement to keep "toys" or storage to keep things put away nicely. Hannah's "stuff" at one point (or 2) all did have it's spot. It was like putting a puzzle together, but it was picked up. I keep telling her to use it or play with it and put it back in it's spot. Yes mommy!!, all excited......and then the next day--- wooosh it hits again.....tornado in winter--maybe, maybe not.



Where does a person begin with that? I think it's time to bring a BIG bin upstairs and start thinking about a garage sale again. Ummm....ok I think I did that same thing last month, and Hannah put 2 things in the bin. I told her too, that maybe the spider she saw last night, was because her room is so messy. Daddy went up to kill the spider and couldn't find it. Hummmm. Maybe we will find the whole family of spiders when or if her room gets cleaned.

If you think the kids rooms look a little bit messy, you haven't see our garage yet. I am not even ready to go look at that yet!!

The kittens we adopted (showed up in messy garage) in August, are now 8 1/2 months old. We believe they were born very early June last year, so they are quickly growing and approaching their 1st birthday. I had the door open for a bit this afternoon and they quickly remembered the porch they would catch some sun in this fall. Here they are enjoying some February sunshine.



So although the view from here has it's ups and downs, I still can't wait to get rid of the snow and onto grass, warmth and sun...it will come I just know it, maybe just a "few days" later this year than most years.

CAUTION-- not advisable to crawl in a hole during a early spring thaw....just saying

Bailey's 13th Birthday-- a teenager in the house.

Bailey had a hockey game in Monticello on his birthday ( Sat. January 29). They lost that game in the end, but they were winning most of the game by 1-2 goals. One of those real dissapointing losses. After the game we went to River City Extreme in Monticello and had a good dinner. Grandma Linda and grandpa Randy, grandma Nancy and Jes and Jose along with their kids were able to join us. They had an arcade, mini golf and bowling alley there as well. We ended up in the arcade againest my better judgement, and the kids played mini golf too. Was hoping to bowl for sure, but that got pushed aside due to lack of time and money. Bailey had another hockey game the next day in Marshall, so we had to do some more travelling. They won that game 7-1.
Bailey had a good birthday weekend.


Bailey-- birthday morning- just relaxing with the kitties.



Bailey before we left for hockey- 13 years old




Hockey game in Monticello



mini golf inside River City Extreme



Bailey and his cake.


Bailey in Marshall

JDRF Walk for a Cure 2011 slide show

good sermon

Preacher: Pastor Tim Redfield
Date: January 16, 2011
Text: Isaiah 8:19-9:4
Theme: The Word brings light to all people


Have you ever seen a TV show or perhaps a cartoon where a person is trying to decide between right and wrong and all of a sudden there is a tiny angel on one shoulder and a tiny demon on the other shoulder telling the person what to do? The angel tries to convince the person to do the right thing and the demon tries to get the person to do evil. When we see this on TV it is usually done in an amusing or comical way. And yet this is a good picture for the conscience that all of us have. It is important to remember that the conscience cannot tell us about the light of Jesus – only God‟s Word can do that. Today we are going to see that it is the Word that brings light to all people. Without this Word there is no light, but with the Word, we have the light of salvation.
Part 1: Without the Word there is no light
As we look at the light that Jesus brings into the world, we first need to understand that no one has this light of Jesus when we are born. This does not mean that we have absolutely no knowledge of God. All of us have a natural knowledge of God. This natural knowledge of God tells us a few things but it does not give us the light of Jesus. The natural knowledge tells us that there is a god and that we have sinned against this god. We know that there is a god simply by looking to the world around us. Nature itself declares that there was a creator. The complexity of the world shows that there is a god who created all things.
Our conscience is also part of this natural knowledge of God. Our conscience tells us what is right and wrong. Our conscience makes us feel guilty when we do what is wrong. Conscience is what leads us to see that we have sinned against God. Now certainly people can ignore what their conscience says but we still have a conscience. If we only had this natural knowledge of God, we would remain in the darkness of this world. The reason is that our natural knowledge of God does not tell us who the true God is and it does not tell us how we can be saved from our sins. We can only learn that from God‟s Word.
Isaiah reminds us of the importance of going to God‟s Word in verse 20. He writes, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” If people do not go back to the testimony of God‟s Word, they have no “light of dawn” as Isaiah says. Without God‟s Word, without the light of Jesus, our natural knowledge of God does not know the correct solution to our problem of sin. Our conscience tries to tell us that we have to do what is right to make up for what we did wrong. If we didn‟t have God‟s Word to tell us differently, we would go right along with this idea.
The outlook is not good without God‟s Word to guide us. As we look around this world, we see a place where there is sin around every corner. Isaiah says, “They will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness” (8:22). This world is completely tainted by sin. You can barely watch the news or a sit com without seeing a crime or someone promoting a sinful lifestyle. If we are left to ourselves, human beings have no idea how to escape from the consequences of sin.
You might think that the sins of the world around us and even our own conscience would lead us to read God‟s Word but that is not the case. Consider where it is that people try to look
for answers to spiritual issues. Isaiah mentioned going to mediums and spiritists – people who consult the dead. Some people today think of this as foolishness but there are still those who try to consult the spirits of those who have died. There are still people who ask their dead loved ones to help them with life‟s problems. Some people think that their dead father or mother are watching over them and blessing the things they do.
People search for answers from any number of sources. People go to horoscopes or fortune tellers. Some people will read any kind of spiritual book or even self-help book besides going to the scriptures. Some people put their hope in the government or in a political party to take care of them. Others try to trust in science and the theories of the supposedly intelligent people of this world. All of these things try to look for answers apart from God‟s Word. Even the atheist who claims that there is no God is struggling with his own natural knowledge of God. The atheist hopes that his conscience is wrong and that he will not be judged for his sins. The atheist argues strongly against Christianity mainly because he needs to convince himself of something that his conscience doesn‟t truly believe.
If we keep ourselves away from God‟s Word, then we are going to miss out on the light that Christ brings into our world. Just because we were given the light of faith through baptism and through the study of God‟s Word, there is no guarantee that we will have this light forever. The devil is working hard every day to snatch this light of Christ away from us. It is spiritually dangerous for us to wander away from the teachings of God‟s Word. If we stop looking to God‟s Word for answers, then we will start looking elsewhere and we will be led back into that darkness which leads to hell. Many people have wandered away from the church and gone after other religions or even looked to their own intelligence.
If we stay away from worship and Bible Study we are putting ourselves in great spiritual danger. People may argue that they can worship God on their own and that they don‟t need to come to church. But do they really worship God on their own or do they follow the ideas of the world? If they truly believed in Jesus then why would they sin against the 3rd Commandment by not joining together with fellow Christians to worship their God? The Apostle John says, “The man who says, „I know [God],‟ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). If we claim to believe in Jesus but then disrespect his Word by sinning without repentance, we are not true believers.
On the other hand John also says, “But if anyone obeys his word, God‟s love is truly made complete in him” (1 John2:5). Obedience to God‟s Word means seeking out the true God through the Scriptures. In this Word we have the light of salvation.
Part 2: With the Word is the light of salvation
In the Word of God we have the “Revealed knowledge of God.” As I said, the natural knowledge of God will not tell us who the true God is or how we can be saved from our sins. But the revealed knowledge of God will make us wise for salvation. God used the prophets and apostles to reveal his Word to the world. When the time was just right, God sent the Word himself, Jesus Christ, to bring light to this sin darkened world. Isaiah said, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (9:2).
Jesus came and delivered us from the sin that held us captive. If Jesus had not come we would still be tormented by our conscience. We would still be told that we are terrible sinners who can never do enough good things to make up for our wickedness. Jesus delivered us from
sin. Isaiah describes the work of the Savior like this, “You have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulder, the rod of their oppressor” (9:4). The devil and our sinful nature had us as captives. We were slaves to our sin. But Christ has released us from our slavery. This is the wonderful light of salvation. The only way we can learn about this is through the revealed knowledge of God that we have in God‟s Word.
Jesus proved that he was this light of the world. The last verse of the gospel lesson for today reminds us of this. We read, “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23). Jesus first of all showed himself to be the light of the world through his teaching and preaching. He told the world the good news about himself. He declared that he was God‟s Son. He told his disciples that he would have to suffer and die for the sins of the world. He instructed people in the true meaning of the law. He pointed out that since no person could ever keep the law, they all deserved death. Then he showed the wonderful message of the gospel. Jesus kept the law for us. He saved us.
He performed miracles which proved that he was God Almighty. We are told that he healed every disease and sickness among the people. He did these miracles to show that he is all powerful. Only God himself could do these acts. Since Jesus is true God, he simply spoke the word and these wonderful miracles took place. Of course he performed many other miracles besides miracles of healing but through these healing miracles we are also reminded that he healed us from our greatest sickness. He healed us from the sickness of sin.
As we live in this world, we are reminded of the fact that Jesus called us out of our sinful lifestyles that we lived in before the Holy Spirit brought us to faith. We now live as children of the light. We live lives of repentance. This means that our sins trouble our conscience because we understand that we have offended our God. We cannot escape these sins in this life but because of our faith, we hate these sins and want to avoid them. Out of repentant hearts we turn to our Savior‟s cross. We know that he has paid for our sins and it is his death that motivates us to continually serve him.
Our response of faith is to keep on growing in God‟s Word. This Word keeps us strong in our faith and leads us to heaven. We understand that the devil is like a wolf who tries to attack us. We are sheep in our Lord‟s flock. If we wander away from God‟s Word, if we wander away from the flock, the devil has an easier time attacking a lone sheep. When we remain with the flock, when we are strengthened together in worship with our fellow Christians, then the devil has a harder time getting us away from God. God‟s Word is our source of strength. God‟s Word brings us that light of Jesus‟ salvation.
Conclusion
Let‟s go back to the picture of a person deciding between right and wrong with a tiny angel on one shoulder and a tiny demon on the other shoulder. I have sometimes seen it play out in a show that the person gets rid of the tiny angel and then follows the demon. Far too often I think this is what happens in real life. Many people ignore the good advice of conscience. For this reason it is very important that we have more than just a conscience. We also need the light of God‟s Word. Only through God‟s word can we learn about our Savior Jesus and what he did to save us. Only through God‟s Word can our faith be strengthened so that we live with repentant hearts. God‟s Word strengthens our natural knowledge of God and tells us that we are forgiven. What a privilege it is that we can live in the light of the gospel message.


view other sermons on our church website @ www.stpaulslitchfield.org

Life is moving right along....2010 year in review.

It's December and almost Christmas already, and a month ago I was saying it was November already. Ugh! I hate when time seems to fly by. This whole year has just flown by.

It has been a year where mostly things have stayed the same, but there were a few changes and excitement.
The year begins with us keeping Steve's dad's memory alive. We lost him to Agent Orange related cancer the summer of 2009 and it was a very hard time for the family. It happened too fast and we were not ready to loose him. We all had to try to find a new normal and deal with the grief as we knew how, we all chose different paths to follow, which has been challenging, but we all are supportive and love each other to new depths. We are still learning that the only path, the right path is God and His Word and keeping that first and foremost in my life has given me the strength to treasure the memories and to trust God unconditionally for his love and blessings in 2010.

A few things that have stayed the same are on the job front. Steve continues to work hard and stay busy in roofing, bearly able to keep up in the summer months, and staying busy up until the frigid weather and snow hits. Financialy we usually bearly make it though Christmas and when January hits, Steve hits the couch...just kidding. Well mostly it's true, but it is kinda depressing not being able to work at what you know how to do because of the weather....the jobs just stop coming in that quick. It's daunting to try to get out of roofing and start over, maybe less money overall. Winter is hard without his income, so anything has to be better than nothing, but so far things have stayed the same, and we are in for another not so fun winter. His body is taking a toll with roofing as well and as the years go on, his body isn't holding up as well.
I continue to work at the AmericInn hotel in Litchfield, and have been there 3 years just this past October. It's a very flexible job that still allows me time with the family, kids and housework. I am always looking for something more that fits my degree as a Veterinary Technician and after several interviews over the years, nothing has panned out and my lack of recent experience seems to be the cause. I know I am where I am supposed to be for now, and am happy for the part time work I do have, but working with animals is where my passion is, and hoping one day to find the place where I should go next.

2010 started off with some not so good news... Hannah was diagnosed with lichen sclerosis on January 20, 2010. She had been experiencing alot of burning with urination and itchiness for about a year beforehand (majority of 2009). It was off and on, however, I brought it to the attention of 2 family doctors and her endocrinologist, who all thought it was due to constipation, or lack of fiber in her diet and the family doctors never physically looked at her, just made suggestions. She was treated for a so called bladder infection in February 2009, and doctors reassured me we can always check a urine if symptoms come back---ugh. Later on in 2009 as it still continued to cause problems for her, a urine was checked again, and it was negative. The diabetes doctor actually looked, and thought it looked be a yeast infection, although she couldn't be sure and it was kinda out of her speciality. She finally referred Hannah to a pediatric gynocologist at Children's in Minneapolis, where she was instantly diagnosed with Lichen Sclerosis. It is a very painful condition that causes all the symptoms Hannah had, and it can cause scarring, white skin patches,lesions, painful urination and itchiness in the genital area-- which Hannah had all of in January 2010 when she was formally diagnosed. We treated it with several types of creams for a few months and actually within a few weeks it was much better. We continued until May 2010, when she was finally symptom free. We were given a treatment plan if it flared up, and because the condition is chronic and immune system related, it most likely will be a problem for her at some point again. We have gone all year without ANY flare ups and I almost forgot she has this....I was supposed to schedule a recheck appt in November and haven't done that yet since we haven't had any reason to go into Minneapolis for a check up. Didn't want to drive into the Cities, for the doctor to look and say everything is going good for now. Bad news...as of today, Wednesday Dec 15, 2010, we now are in the beginning stages of her first flare up with LS. She stated this morning that it burned to pee. Oh NO!!...so to the stash of cream I went and started on the treatment plan today and the soonest I could schedule her for a follow up appointment is January 12, so until then we will treat the symptoms and hope they resolve.

We also went through alot of classes at the beginning of the year to get Hannah started on the insulin pump. November 2009 was the Intro to pumping class in St. Paul, and that followed with Pump Prep at the Minnetonka clinic in March, where she was able to "try on" a pump for a few days. It didn't give her the insulin through it yet, but she wore the site and pump to see what it felt like. She was scared for the changes and the unknown, but after she had it on, she kinda got used to the idea....it made more sense in her mind what it was all about. Then we waited a few more months and May 6 was the "Pump Start" class in St Paul. She walked out of there smiling, with her pump working, and mom and dad with a headache and wealth of new information. It was really a change for the better as we counted carbs for the first time in over a year and was able to push a few buttons to deliver her insulin. The pump has given her (and us) more freedom to be able to manage her diabetes and it gave mom and dad less stressful times in dealing with all those shots in a day. Her mood has even changed with less high blood sugars it has made her less moody, which is always a good thing. Overall it gives her more precise doses of insulin (down to 1/10 of a unit vs. 1/2 of unit), and it helped to even out her A1C, even after the first 3 months on the pump. She went down from a
A1C of 8.6% to.... 7%, which is more in the normal range. We still struggle with site changes, which at this point I am the only one who knows how to change it. Steve probably could do it mentally, but physically the site has to be put in manually and he hasn't taken any chances to actually do it, since I have been doing it and Hannah trusts me. Steve could certainly do it....if he had to. LOL. Her sites are put in just under the skin with a needle on her upper butt area where she has the most fat, the needle is pulled out and left under the skin is a small canula (catheter). If the site gets into any muscle it will hurt, and since she is so thin, she uses special sites that go in on an angle, and not straight down and in like most sites. So with her sites there is almost no chance it will hit any muscle and kink, which can be dangerous. If the site kinks it will not deliver insulin, and will cause DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) within hours. That is treated in hospital, and is what she had at dignosis. Most kids can use the regular sites and they seem a little easier to insert just by pushing a button. Hopefully as she grows she will get a little belly fat and she will someday be able to do her own site changes on her tummy area. So as of now I insert her lifeline, and it's a pretty important job.

We use numbing cream to numb the area so it takes a bit longer than it should to insert a site, since we wait a full 1/2 hr or more to make sure the area is numb for her. Still at times it will still hurt and sometimes it doesn't, so each time it makes her nervous because she doesn't know if it will hurt or not. She dreads site change day, which we do every 3 days. The pump however has become a part of Hannah, and although she is aware of it, it doesnt' bother her to have it attached and most times she forgets she is wearing it. Since the pump can't get wet we remove it(ie: disconnect tubing and pump from the site leaving the site intact and capped off) for showers and swimming and as long as we stay on top of blood sugars it is not usually a problem to have it disconnected for up to 1-2 hours. The site sticks very well even through swimming and showers, and even has to be removed on that 3rd day with a special adhesive wipe.

I thank the people over at Pump Wear.com for making these wonderful things called pump bands. We started off by ordering pump packs which were nice small pump sized fanny packs, but visable, and she wasn't able to wear dresses with those. The band fits snuggly around her waist with a little pocket for her pump. It hids the pump and allows her to be more active without it bouncing around so much, and dresses are an option. We love pump bands from Pump Wear. 7 months with the pump and going strong. Dec 3 2010, was 2 years with diabetes in our lives and we are just beginning to get it down. She is growing and changing all the time, therfore her diabetes changes all the time too. Insulin doses are always being watched on a constant basis, and instead of 3 month visits to the diabetes clinic, the next 2 visits are 2 months apart because of some recent changes. We continue to stay vigilant about something that is never for certain.

We did the 2010 JDRF Walk for a Cure at the Mall of America on February 25, and it proved to be very memorable. Our team "Hannah's Hopful Hearts" raised just over $2000 for the cure and this year hope to do more. Hannah loved that she didn't feel so alone that day and how so many people gathered together in one spot all were dealing what she deals with. It was empowering to her and to us, her biggest supporters. On Aug 10 we did another JDRF event and attended ValleyFair family fun day. My parents came along with Hannah and I. (Steve and Bailey were on a trip in Seattle/Oregon at the time). At first we didn't know if we'd be able to attend as it was pouring rain the morning of the event. It cleared up and we had a fun day at ValleyFair. Hannah is not much of a ride person yet, so she enjoyed most of the day at the waterpark. She loves the wave pool!! Lunch was provided by JDRF and they served a wonderful lunch and a short program as we ate. Just a lot of motivation and support from the wonderful people at JDRF. There was music, dancing and some vendor booths too. Hannah got a pump skin from Medtronic-- and changed her pump from blue to pink. I picked up some Dreamfields pasta (good stuff) and a few other things from the vendors. Then back to the park.... we walked around, played some games, went on the antique cars ( Hannah loves driving), played in the Foam Ball Factory, ....until the thunderstorm came at the very end of the day...we quickly headed back to the car before the storm hit and got back to our hotel for the rest of the night. It was truly a fun day and hope to do it next summer too.

We had a pretty uneventful, yet busy summer. Lots of birthday celebrations in the summer months, both family and friends. Hannah was enjoying swimming lessons with her cousin, Audri and just enjoyed swimming in general....she did alot of swimming in our pool, practicing all she was learning in lessons. She is not quite so afraid of the water anymore. Bailey started off the summer by going to Wisconsin and being a part of the Green Bay Gamblers hockey camp. He stayed with grandma and grandpa, and they got him to Green Bay every morning by 8am for camp. It lasted from Monday until Thursday from 8-3pm. Lisa and Wil came a couple of days to watch. He learned alot and had so much fun that he wants to do it again next year.

Bailey enjoyed a winning season with his baseball team, the Storm. They didn't looose a game and became the champs in the tournament the end of July. Almost didn't think they could play the championship game, because a storm came rolling through just before game time. It did clear up and the game was on....and the "Storm" came out the champions (after the storm...ha ha). Bailey did alot more pitching this year and was doing pretty good at it. It was fun to watch.

Early August Grandma Barb, along with Steve and Bailey went on a Amtrak train out west. It was supposed to be for the Emery family reunion in Seattle, WA, but it was cancelled due to lack of people being able to attend, but they went to visit anyway.
They had a good time visiting family near Seattle, and then drove to Oregon to visit Steve's aunt and uncle. They even went to northern California to see the Redwoods. They brought back alot of cool pictures and memories from the trip.
About this time Steve's mom also sold the house on the lake in Dassel and was planning on moving to a townhouse in Delano. It was a difficult time to leave that house, but also the right time.

Bailey signed up for a late summer league in St Cloud for hockey....played alot of fun games in St Cloud, even played some games on the ice the college Huskies play on. He had a fun time getting started on hockey a little sooner that usual and got to be on a team with a couple LDC kids and mostly St Cloud kids, he made some friends.

We held the annual Labor Day garage sale for Red Rooster Days in Dassel, it always proves to be fun, but alot of work too. Still debating if I will tackle again it next year. I usually debate about it and then do it anyway.

Just as the summer ended and the kids were getting back to school, I was involved in a car accident on September 11 on my way into work. I rear ended a lady in a large Suburban at about 55-60mph, who had stopped on Hwy 12 attempting to make a U-turn. I didn't realized she was stopped and should have been paying more attention, but I wasn't found at total fault. It happened so fast and am glad everyone ended up being ok...yet our van was totalled. We were all taken by ambulence to Meeker Memorial in Litchfield. I had some pretty severe tissue-nerve damage to my knees and legs. After a week of rest at home, I also discovered I had lower back, hip and neck damage as well. It took 3 months of chiropractor treatments to get my body aligned and healed properly.

We went without a van for about a week when we inherited "the truck". It was Steve's dad's truck that is passed around to whomever needs it. We used it for about a month to get around town and for me to get back to work a few days a week. In mid-October we bought a cheap vehicle from our mechanic and are back in business with a van again and Steve's sister and brother in law are now the new owners of the truck.

I was released from accident treatment at the chiropractor mid-November. It is good to be feeling more normal again. My right knee, right hip and neck are still occasionaly sore. Kneeling is uncomfortable, but not terrible. I am able to get back to my work outs, which usually don't involve kneeling. My knees are stiff and sore in the mornings but loosen up pretty quickly. Stairs are sometimes hard if I've been sitting too long and it's funny the cold weather seems to make them stiff as well. My neck is still grinding and making noise everytime I turn my head and it's annoying, but that's about it. My weight is my biggest issue as I've gained a bit since the accident, but continue to make weight loss a priority as it can only help my knees, hip and overall health. I will go back to the chiropractor for a recheck tomorrow (Dec 16), and go from there. It will be covered under my health insurance now, and it's just a $3 co pay.

Bailey gradually went off his meds for migraine prevention late June, and September 30th started with the chiropractor instead, for headache prevention. After my accident I realized how much a chiropractor can do, and even though I had the thought before, it came full circle and seemed like the perfect time to start with him.
Bailey continues to go to the chiropractor for his headaches and so far it is still on going. The treatments seem to be helping but for now it's too early to tell. He still gets 1-2 headaches a month, which has been pretty typical over the last year.... even some severe ones still. When the chiropractor hears that he has gotton a headache inbetween times he sees him he makes the appts closer together, and can tell right away what caused the headaches and the misalignment that has taken place. We are hoping the adjustments start to "hold" more instaed of going back to the position his body is used to being in. ( he's had issues with occiput and C2, that I have picked up on). He's had about 8 treatments so far, starting out about once a week, then would go once every 2 weeks, and then back to once a week and then back to every 2 weeks, and now is going for the longest stretch for 3 weeks. He's had one pretty bad migraine since his last adjustment now again, and we go back after the 3weeks tomorrow. I'm pretty convinced to just stick with it, and eventually hoping his headaches are further in between, like he's able to go a few months without any headaches vs. monthly. We shall see.

Hannah started dance for the first time, with the Just for Kix program in Hutchinson. She goes with her friend Mileka who has been in the program a few years now. Mileka lives in Silver Lake, but goes to school with Hannah in Dassel, as her mom is a 1st grade teacher. Hannah loves dance so far and she has gained some confidence, flexibilty and made some new friends....it's good for her overall to be involved. We get to watch her first dance perfomance on January 8th, which was postponed due to the snow from Dec 11.
Can't wait and she is beyond excited to have us watch her.

Bailey is in full swing with hockey, he is on the Pee Wee A team this year. He has lots of games, tournaments and practices. He's all about hockey though, and I hope he has a fun year.

We learned early in September that my sister, Lisa, and her husband Wil are expecting their first child. We were beyond excited as we've been waiting for this news for several years. I'm gonna be an Auntie!! They found out just before Thanksgiving that they are expecting a BOY, Landon William. I saw the ultrasound pictures over Thanskgiving and he's definatly a boy.. and it is SO wonderful. Lisa experienced some early term bleeding and sickness, and she took some time off of work to rest and relax, and since then the placenta has found it's place and baby boy Landon is settled in and looking good and Lisa is feeling much better. Looking forward to his arrival the end of April.

Hannah and I went to WI for Thanksgiving this year and glad we were able to avoid any bad waether and spend some time with my family. I hadn't seen my sister since she told us the "news" and was glad to give her and her belly a hug. Steve had to stay home with Bailey as the good ole hockey team had a tournament over Thanksgiving weekend. They spent the day with Steve's family at his mom's new townhouse in Delano. His sister Jen, is dealing with alot of health problems and it's always good to keep the family close together in tough times. I was sad that our family seperated for the holiday, but it is what it is and I made the decision to just go. I looked back and I have only spent a total of 4 other Thanksgivings with my family in WI since we were married in 1997. Steve only came 3 times when we were on our way to Florida those years (1997, 2000, and 2004) and I came one other time with both kids in 2006 and now with just Hannah in 2010. Hope to make it more frequently as it's hard to not see my family more often. Distance is never easy.

My parents always have made it a point to get to as many of the kids activities as possible, and the kids appreciate their efforts and support, as do Steve and I.
They will be arriving the Wed. before Christmas depending on the weather. Last year they couldn't make it here for Christmas because of all the snow we got. They came later in the week, which worked out good when the kids are on winter break. They really hope to make it this year to see the kids christmas eve service which is mostly what they love. Hoping for reasonable weather for their travels and our plans. They will leave Christmas Day to head back home and they will spend the rest of the Day and next with Lisa and Wil and allow our family to spend Christmas with the Emery's. I do have to work at the hotel Christmas Day from 4-10:30 so it will be a short fun filled day for me as I head into work later in the day.

Wishing all a wonderful holiday season and a very Merry Christmas.

"For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord"

The Type 1 Mom Song

In Christ Alone

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from his hand;
Till he returns or calls me home,
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.


vs 4 of "In Christ Alone"