Tuesday, December 4, 2007
As promised
Ok, I didn't realize Brian had uploaded pictures. I apologize for there being so many, but we haven't done this since last spring.
What is God doing?
Do you ever have one of those days where you are sure that God has completely forgotten about you, or that He "has it in for you"? Well, that just seems to be the basic premise of our lives' lately. Oh, and by the way, after almost two months since our last post, hello again to all of you who read this (which I am guessing is about 3 people anymore).
It seems like every time we get into a situation that we enjoy, God seems to really test us and our faith in Him. Unfortuantely, many times we fail, but I am amazed to see how my husband is handling this so far. In case you are wondering what I am talking about, last week Wednesday Brian came home from his job that he has had for just over five months - a job which he absolutely loves! - and thought everything was fine and dandy. He got up Thursday morning and noticed that his boss had called his cell phone twice and left a voice mail - all before 6AM! Brian's boss NEVER calls him at home before 8AM, so he knew this couldn't be very good news. Well, long story short, his company announced that they had been bought out by a competitor. It is supposed to be a merger, but everyone calls it an acquisition. See attached story if you are interested: http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com/articles/485647
Anyway, after the initial shock, Brian has just tried to keep his eyes focused on God and let Him control the path. He figures that in a worst case scenario he has about 4 months left until he may or may not have a job - depending on where the headquarters is finally located. The timing of this really couldn't be any worse from the world's view, as he figures he is good through the end of March, or perhaps into April, and of course, baby number three could make an appearance anytime after March 17th (33 weeks early). We are just asking for prayer that God shows Brian the right path. This was very big news in the Ethanol industry, so it was a big story in the Wall Street Journal too. Anyway, Brian finally had to stop answering his phones last Friday, as he had more than 10 recruiters try to cold call him that day! We know that God has a plan for this, and we are just praying that we don't mess things up by trying to get in the way of His Will.
Other than that, things are progressing well with the pregnancy. I am noticing that I have less and less energy and have to rest more, but we are all extremely excited about the baby. Even the boys are very excited to see the new baby.
This is also a weird winter, because for the first time in 8 years, Brian isn't running off to coach a basketball game, run a practice, or the myriad of other things involved with coaching. I can tell that he does miss it, but he is filling in his time with studying for his CMA license, taking care of a pregnant, tired mommy and two VERY active little boys.
I know pictures were promised with the last post, but Brian has to finish uploading the pictures, and then we will get some new ones of the boys out here.
It seems like every time we get into a situation that we enjoy, God seems to really test us and our faith in Him. Unfortuantely, many times we fail, but I am amazed to see how my husband is handling this so far. In case you are wondering what I am talking about, last week Wednesday Brian came home from his job that he has had for just over five months - a job which he absolutely loves! - and thought everything was fine and dandy. He got up Thursday morning and noticed that his boss had called his cell phone twice and left a voice mail - all before 6AM! Brian's boss NEVER calls him at home before 8AM, so he knew this couldn't be very good news. Well, long story short, his company announced that they had been bought out by a competitor. It is supposed to be a merger, but everyone calls it an acquisition. See attached story if you are interested: http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com/articles/485647
Anyway, after the initial shock, Brian has just tried to keep his eyes focused on God and let Him control the path. He figures that in a worst case scenario he has about 4 months left until he may or may not have a job - depending on where the headquarters is finally located. The timing of this really couldn't be any worse from the world's view, as he figures he is good through the end of March, or perhaps into April, and of course, baby number three could make an appearance anytime after March 17th (33 weeks early). We are just asking for prayer that God shows Brian the right path. This was very big news in the Ethanol industry, so it was a big story in the Wall Street Journal too. Anyway, Brian finally had to stop answering his phones last Friday, as he had more than 10 recruiters try to cold call him that day! We know that God has a plan for this, and we are just praying that we don't mess things up by trying to get in the way of His Will.
Other than that, things are progressing well with the pregnancy. I am noticing that I have less and less energy and have to rest more, but we are all extremely excited about the baby. Even the boys are very excited to see the new baby.
This is also a weird winter, because for the first time in 8 years, Brian isn't running off to coach a basketball game, run a practice, or the myriad of other things involved with coaching. I can tell that he does miss it, but he is filling in his time with studying for his CMA license, taking care of a pregnant, tired mommy and two VERY active little boys.
I know pictures were promised with the last post, but Brian has to finish uploading the pictures, and then we will get some new ones of the boys out here.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Just trying to keep up
Well, apparently we are not as good at keeping up with our blog as we would like to be. It has been not quite two months since our last blog, and just like everyone else in the world, we have been rather busy.
At the end of August, we celebrated my dad's birthday, then Brian took the Friday of Labor Day weekend off and we took the boys to the State Fair. It was a lot of fun and the boys had a blast. In fact, the company Brian works for is associated with a company called CHS (the old Cenex Harvestland States), and they are the one's who sponsor the "Miracle of Birth" barn. That was a great treat for the boys, but man was it crowded! We usually try to get there before 8AM to go through all the animal exhibits and whatever else the boys really like before it gets too crowded, but this year for some reason there were so many people already there when we got there, so that made it interesting. Also, me feeling sick didn't help any.
We spent Labor Day weekend at Brian's parents, and then Brian flew to New York for a couple of days for some training for work. Have we mentioned how much we really like his company? They are very family conscious and his boss is very understanding of things right now.
Oh yeah, I should probably talk about that. I am sure that by now you have seen the thing at the top of our blog (probably all 3 people who read this), but we are expecting our third child next spring! We are very nervous and very excited all at the same time. If you know about our family history you will know that we always have high risk pregnancies, and that both boys were preemies. Even as I was pregnant with Jefferson, the doctors told us that from then on to always expect deliveries to be 7 - 10 weeks early, so even though our due date is May 5, we are praying that we make it to at least March 17, which would be 33 weeks. Please pray with us, as we know that it is going to be a challenge each step of the way.
We had great evangelistic meetings with the Herbsters in September, but I think I did a little too much with that, as the boys and I have pretty much been sick since then. I am starting to feel better, other than the normal nausea, and the boys are finally starting to look and sound better.
October is another busy month. We celebrated Brian's dad's birthday, and then had Jefferson's birthday party this past Thursday (he is two tomorrow).
We will put more pictures out for you to see once we get them transfered out of our camera.
At the end of August, we celebrated my dad's birthday, then Brian took the Friday of Labor Day weekend off and we took the boys to the State Fair. It was a lot of fun and the boys had a blast. In fact, the company Brian works for is associated with a company called CHS (the old Cenex Harvestland States), and they are the one's who sponsor the "Miracle of Birth" barn. That was a great treat for the boys, but man was it crowded! We usually try to get there before 8AM to go through all the animal exhibits and whatever else the boys really like before it gets too crowded, but this year for some reason there were so many people already there when we got there, so that made it interesting. Also, me feeling sick didn't help any.
We spent Labor Day weekend at Brian's parents, and then Brian flew to New York for a couple of days for some training for work. Have we mentioned how much we really like his company? They are very family conscious and his boss is very understanding of things right now.
Oh yeah, I should probably talk about that. I am sure that by now you have seen the thing at the top of our blog (probably all 3 people who read this), but we are expecting our third child next spring! We are very nervous and very excited all at the same time. If you know about our family history you will know that we always have high risk pregnancies, and that both boys were preemies. Even as I was pregnant with Jefferson, the doctors told us that from then on to always expect deliveries to be 7 - 10 weeks early, so even though our due date is May 5, we are praying that we make it to at least March 17, which would be 33 weeks. Please pray with us, as we know that it is going to be a challenge each step of the way.
We had great evangelistic meetings with the Herbsters in September, but I think I did a little too much with that, as the boys and I have pretty much been sick since then. I am starting to feel better, other than the normal nausea, and the boys are finally starting to look and sound better.
October is another busy month. We celebrated Brian's dad's birthday, and then had Jefferson's birthday party this past Thursday (he is two tomorrow).
We will put more pictures out for you to see once we get them transfered out of our camera.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
It has been a while
Sorry it has been so long, but like everyone else, we have been rather busy.
Brian has been at his job for over 2 months now, and we all love it. He is home almost every night for supper, has only worked one Saturday for 4 hours, and in general is very relaxed.
Jackson turned 4 about a month ago (I feel bad for not getting it in here sooner) and we just can't believe it! Where has the time gone? We are thankful every day for our boys, especially since we had several doctors tell us point blank that it would be impossible for us to have one child, let alone two. Thank God for miracles!
I taught the 2 & 3 year olds in VBS at the end of July, which was a lot of fun.
Of course, the biggest news was on August 1, when the 35W bridge collapsed. It was hard to see all that destruction, but it was also hard for Brian, as one of the ladies that was pronounced dead on the first day was the wife of a man that Brian had just recently worked with. It just provides us with a great reminder that we can't take anything for granted.
Other than that, we are just trying to keep up with life. I trust this post finds all who read it well. We will follow up with more pictures of the boys soon.
Brian has been at his job for over 2 months now, and we all love it. He is home almost every night for supper, has only worked one Saturday for 4 hours, and in general is very relaxed.
Jackson turned 4 about a month ago (I feel bad for not getting it in here sooner) and we just can't believe it! Where has the time gone? We are thankful every day for our boys, especially since we had several doctors tell us point blank that it would be impossible for us to have one child, let alone two. Thank God for miracles!
I taught the 2 & 3 year olds in VBS at the end of July, which was a lot of fun.
Of course, the biggest news was on August 1, when the 35W bridge collapsed. It was hard to see all that destruction, but it was also hard for Brian, as one of the ladies that was pronounced dead on the first day was the wife of a man that Brian had just recently worked with. It just provides us with a great reminder that we can't take anything for granted.
Other than that, we are just trying to keep up with life. I trust this post finds all who read it well. We will follow up with more pictures of the boys soon.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Nine Amazing Years
Well, it seems more and more lately like I am the one that is posting here, so I would just like to take a moment to tell everyone just how lucky and blessed I really am. Yesterday Jody and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary, and I can honestly say that the time has just flown by, and that each day gets better and better. I really do love my wife, and thank God every day that he placed her into my life.
Also, in case we don't get to it on time, we also want to wish Paul and Jill Ice a happy 9th Anniversary on the 25th. That was a very busy summer here at Woodcrest. Happy Anniversary you two.
--Brian
Also, in case we don't get to it on time, we also want to wish Paul and Jill Ice a happy 9th Anniversary on the 25th. That was a very busy summer here at Woodcrest. Happy Anniversary you two.
--Brian
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Happy Birthday America
Well, according to our calendars, today is America's 231st birthday. Happy Birthday to the greatest country on earth!
This past week has been quite an interesting on here in the Minneapolis area. Just last weekend we lost a true "American Hero" - Charles Lindberg. No, not the guy that is famous for the plane, the kidnapped baby, etc., but the "other" Charles Lindberg. You see, this Charles is actually a well-known hero throughout the ranks of the Marines, and many of their recruits are educated about him.
Charles was the last, living survivor of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. But don't look at the famous picture and try to figure out which one is him - you won't. Contrary to very popular belief, the picture that we all know so well is actually the "second" flag raising. The first raising happened when Charles and a few other Marines raised the flag to let the troops down below know that they had captured that fateful hill and it was safe to proceed. Charles was interviewed by several of the tv stations around here during the Memorial Weekend, and he said it sounded like a "growing wave of shouting" when the troops saw the flag.
Those four men the took their flag down and as they were, the four other Marines started to raise a much bigger flag - and that is the picture we are most familiar with. Another interesting note, the second flag raising almost never was. A photographer just happened to be swinging his camera around and this picture was actually an "accident" as he hit the shutter. He wasn't even looking through it! Yet through all of that, we have some of our preserved history.
Today is a celebration: of life, of freedom, and many other things. But I would encourage any of you who read this, please take a moment and thank our troops. If you see someone in uniform, make an effort to go out of your way to say "Thank you". It doesn't cost you a dime, and you never know, you may actually be coming in contact with the next "Charles Lindberg".
--Brian
This past week has been quite an interesting on here in the Minneapolis area. Just last weekend we lost a true "American Hero" - Charles Lindberg. No, not the guy that is famous for the plane, the kidnapped baby, etc., but the "other" Charles Lindberg. You see, this Charles is actually a well-known hero throughout the ranks of the Marines, and many of their recruits are educated about him.
Charles was the last, living survivor of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. But don't look at the famous picture and try to figure out which one is him - you won't. Contrary to very popular belief, the picture that we all know so well is actually the "second" flag raising. The first raising happened when Charles and a few other Marines raised the flag to let the troops down below know that they had captured that fateful hill and it was safe to proceed. Charles was interviewed by several of the tv stations around here during the Memorial Weekend, and he said it sounded like a "growing wave of shouting" when the troops saw the flag.
Those four men the took their flag down and as they were, the four other Marines started to raise a much bigger flag - and that is the picture we are most familiar with. Another interesting note, the second flag raising almost never was. A photographer just happened to be swinging his camera around and this picture was actually an "accident" as he hit the shutter. He wasn't even looking through it! Yet through all of that, we have some of our preserved history.
Today is a celebration: of life, of freedom, and many other things. But I would encourage any of you who read this, please take a moment and thank our troops. If you see someone in uniform, make an effort to go out of your way to say "Thank you". It doesn't cost you a dime, and you never know, you may actually be coming in contact with the next "Charles Lindberg".
--Brian
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Just an update
It's amazing how so much can happen in a short amount of time, and yet keeping up with the blog seems to get missed.
There has been so much that has happened since the last post, but I will just update you on a few things.
May was a very busy month for us. As mentioned in the last post, we spent pretty much the first week of May in Florida. Then it was my mom's birthday, the high school graduation, open houses, helping with the planning of a baby shower and a wedding, and along the way, being a wife and a mommy.
I get the opportunity to help out with a wedding of one of our teens that graduated from the academy here and then graduated from bible college. It will be a lot of fun. She is a very sweet girl, and we are very happy for her.
I am also helping to plan a baby shower for one of my friends from the church. This is actually their third child (all boys), but the first one she has had while a member of the church. We are also sad as they will be moving out east in July. Her husband does the same kind of accounting work that Brian does, and he accepted a position with a company out east, as he will also be starting some seminary classwork as well. We will miss them, but we are glad to see how the Lord has worked in their family.
On our front, Brian will be starting a new job later in June. It is really neat to see how the Lord has provided different opportunities for Brian's career over the years and how his path has grown, and we are excited about this opportunity. Brian has had the opportunity to do what he does at a couple of companies, but this position will allow him to really tie in all his experiences into one chair. It is a smaller, newer company, and Brian is really excited. He will not only be doing his reporting duties, but he will also be able to help with establishing policies, creating procedures, and getting to play an integral part of a growing organization.
Jackson will be four years old in less than six weeks! I have a very hard time believing that! It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital, and now he is all grown up, trying to sound like an adult, and providing much entertainment in our house. His favorite thing in the world right now is baseball. He could play it for hours. Brian already doesn't like pitching to him, as he has been beaned several times by Jackson's hits. Yes, he is not even 4 and hits live pitching! Brian even started to pitch to him overhand last week (soft pitching of course) and Jackson hits the pitching pretty much the length of our backyard. Pretty soon he will not be able to play back there.
Jefferson is 19 months old now, and is really going to be the one to keep us on our toes! He gets into everything, has very little fear, and just keeps going back for more. He is also starting to say words. He talks up a storm, but as Brian says, most of his talking sounds like Klingon (which is an odd statement, since neither of us watch Star Trek at all), but he can say mommy, dada, hot dog, puppy, etc. He is so much fun to watch as he tries to keep up with his big brother. He is JT's shadow. If Jackson does it, Jefferson does not want to be left out. We are so glad for both of our boys health.
Well, no pictures or anything, but I just wanted to give you a brief recap of our lives.
There has been so much that has happened since the last post, but I will just update you on a few things.
May was a very busy month for us. As mentioned in the last post, we spent pretty much the first week of May in Florida. Then it was my mom's birthday, the high school graduation, open houses, helping with the planning of a baby shower and a wedding, and along the way, being a wife and a mommy.
I get the opportunity to help out with a wedding of one of our teens that graduated from the academy here and then graduated from bible college. It will be a lot of fun. She is a very sweet girl, and we are very happy for her.
I am also helping to plan a baby shower for one of my friends from the church. This is actually their third child (all boys), but the first one she has had while a member of the church. We are also sad as they will be moving out east in July. Her husband does the same kind of accounting work that Brian does, and he accepted a position with a company out east, as he will also be starting some seminary classwork as well. We will miss them, but we are glad to see how the Lord has worked in their family.
On our front, Brian will be starting a new job later in June. It is really neat to see how the Lord has provided different opportunities for Brian's career over the years and how his path has grown, and we are excited about this opportunity. Brian has had the opportunity to do what he does at a couple of companies, but this position will allow him to really tie in all his experiences into one chair. It is a smaller, newer company, and Brian is really excited. He will not only be doing his reporting duties, but he will also be able to help with establishing policies, creating procedures, and getting to play an integral part of a growing organization.
Jackson will be four years old in less than six weeks! I have a very hard time believing that! It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital, and now he is all grown up, trying to sound like an adult, and providing much entertainment in our house. His favorite thing in the world right now is baseball. He could play it for hours. Brian already doesn't like pitching to him, as he has been beaned several times by Jackson's hits. Yes, he is not even 4 and hits live pitching! Brian even started to pitch to him overhand last week (soft pitching of course) and Jackson hits the pitching pretty much the length of our backyard. Pretty soon he will not be able to play back there.
Jefferson is 19 months old now, and is really going to be the one to keep us on our toes! He gets into everything, has very little fear, and just keeps going back for more. He is also starting to say words. He talks up a storm, but as Brian says, most of his talking sounds like Klingon (which is an odd statement, since neither of us watch Star Trek at all), but he can say mommy, dada, hot dog, puppy, etc. He is so much fun to watch as he tries to keep up with his big brother. He is JT's shadow. If Jackson does it, Jefferson does not want to be left out. We are so glad for both of our boys health.
Well, no pictures or anything, but I just wanted to give you a brief recap of our lives.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Vacation is so WONDERFUL!
Sorry that it has been so long since the last post, but we have been rather busy. We went on a family vacation with Grandpa and Grandma Meier from Saturday, April 28, through Saturday, May 5. We rented a house just outside of Orlando, and it was absolutely wonderful. We had a five bedroom house with an enclosed swimming pool and spa, with a private dock to the lake in the back. With the exception of Friday, every day was mid-90's with not a cloud in the sky! A far cry from Minnesota.
The flight was Jefferson's first, and he did tremendous! The only time he fussed was the last 20 minutes, and on a 3 hour flight, that is fair. JT is the seasoned traveller, and he enjoyed it, as usual.
Once we got to the house, the rest of Saturday was pretty uneventful.
Early Sunday morning grandpa and JT went out for JT's first attempt at fishing. We were lounging around when all of a sudden grandpa and JT started to get extremely animated. Brian went out there to see that grandpa had caught a baby alligator (the one in the picture). Brian got out there and was looking at it while grandpa started to tease the baby with the fish he caught. Brian looked up and saw the 8 foot mama (also in pictures) swimming in hard and fast. At that point all lines came out of the water and the cameras came out! The alligators never tried to come up the bank, but when you are on a dock five feet above the water looking straight down at the alligators, it is rather impressive.
On Monday we met up with the Schaffers, friends of ours from Northland who were also in our wedding, up in St. Augustine. It was a beautiful day. We toured an old fort, the historic part of town, and then had a great seafood supper.
On Tuesday evening we took the boys to their first baseball game ever. It figures that we have to go to Florida to take the boys to a Twins' game (it was great timing though). Brian tried to get JT down to get an autograph, but we just missed it. It would have been neat too, because the last player there was Torii Hunter. Now, for all you that have attended baseball games in the past, here is your chance to get jealous. In the first baseball game he ever attended, JT got an actual foul ball game ball! Actually, a guy a couple rows in front of us caught it, but he gave it to Jackson. All in all a fun time.
On Wednesday we went back to the beach. The boys absolutely loved the Gulf of Mexico! We had no sooner got there and Jefferson tried to eat as much of the beach as he could. JT loved digging in the sand and looking for shells.
Thursday was a different day as grandpa and grandma went out for the whole day with friends of theirs, so we had a day to just the four of us. It really was a great, relaxing time.
On Friday we all just relaxed and enjoyed the pool again. It really is nice to be able to swim every day and not worry about having a bunch of people jumping all around you. The boys were relaxed, so they really had fun in the pool.
As with anything else, all good things must come to an end. On Saturday we flew back home, but we did not want to. When we took off, it was 95 degrees in Orlando. When we landed in Minneapolis it was 57 degrees! Enough said there.
Enjoy the pictures of the trip.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
It has been a while...
I apologize that I haven't posted for a while, but those of you out there with young children can relate. Of course, who isn't busy anymore, right? Life has been pretty hectic here since the end of basketball season. My husband thought that once his season was over that life would be a little more regulated, but boy was he wrong! We have been running pretty crazy right now. In March, Brian was very busy with his job and the SEC filing that he does for his company. The first full weekend of April was Easter, the second weekend of April Woodcrest (my church) hosted a Deaf Retreat, in which I was in charge of the kids program and also helped in the music. Then the next weekend we went to Brian's parents for the weekend.
The boys are growing like weeds and are more and more fun each day. Of course, two "very busy" boys can create all kinds of not fun situations too, but I just love the two little guys to pieces.
Anyway, I really did not have much to say at this point. I just wanted to get a new post out to let people know we are still alive, and that things are going well for us.
The boys are growing like weeds and are more and more fun each day. Of course, two "very busy" boys can create all kinds of not fun situations too, but I just love the two little guys to pieces.
Anyway, I really did not have much to say at this point. I just wanted to get a new post out to let people know we are still alive, and that things are going well for us.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Just the boys
Sorry it has been a while since I have put up any pictures of the boys, so here are some pictures to enjoy.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
This IS Minnesota!
It only took about 5 years, but we finally got a snowstorm kind of worth talking about. We had about a total of 12 inches (I know, for Minnesota that seems small), but it makes us glad we don't live in those areas of New York. We have gotten about 22 inches on the year, with another 6-12 inches supposed on the way the rest of this week, and that is about how much some of those areas out east got in a 24 hour span! At least the boys get to play with their new sled more now.
Monday, February 26, 2007
A seven year career comes to an end
Well, the basketball season is finally officially over. The MACS tournament was this past weekend, and the boys placed third. They were seeded first, but the team experienced a couple of issues and problems on Friday night and came up just a little short in their first game, but responded wonderfully on Saturday afternoon. The girls were also seeded first, and took second place, so all in all, it was a great year for Woodcrest basketball. The girls ended up their season 17 - 3 and the boys ended up 16 - 4. We were very proud of both teams this year.
What is even harder to believe is that after seven seasons, Brian is not planning ahead for next year. It was a hard decision for him to come to, but he has decided that now is the right time for him to hang up his whistle and focus on some other things that he feels he needs and wants to accomplish before the boys get into high school. Actually, he was really debating whether or not he was even going to coach this year, but after we talked it out, he knew that he needed to see this last group through. He said that even though he went out on a winning note, that when that final horn went off on Saturday, a whole flood of emotions came over him. He really enjoyed coaching, and I am sure that down the road he will manage to get back into it, but I am glad that he was able to have that opportunity, and that he said he feels like he can step down with absolutely no regrets.
As for our family, I will post another day all the fun and different things that have happened, along with some new pictures of the boys.
What is even harder to believe is that after seven seasons, Brian is not planning ahead for next year. It was a hard decision for him to come to, but he has decided that now is the right time for him to hang up his whistle and focus on some other things that he feels he needs and wants to accomplish before the boys get into high school. Actually, he was really debating whether or not he was even going to coach this year, but after we talked it out, he knew that he needed to see this last group through. He said that even though he went out on a winning note, that when that final horn went off on Saturday, a whole flood of emotions came over him. He really enjoyed coaching, and I am sure that down the road he will manage to get back into it, but I am glad that he was able to have that opportunity, and that he said he feels like he can step down with absolutely no regrets.
As for our family, I will post another day all the fun and different things that have happened, along with some new pictures of the boys.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Another day in the life
Well, today I get to post (this is Brian) and update everyone on what has been happening in our lives lately.
This week I have had to do something that I have only had to do one other time in over 8 years of marriage - be a bachellor for a week. The last time was the summer of 2001 when it was just Jody and I. The story is that my mom had reconstructive surgery on her wrist last week Wednesday (January 31). My dad was home with her for a few days, but had to go back to work on Friday night, so after we beat Rosemount for homecoming, we all drove up to my parents house, and then I left on Saturday afternoon to come back home for some appointments, leaving Jody and the boys to take care of my mother.
Well, they were supposed to be coming home today, but my wife had left me a voice mail at work at 4:00AM and then called me on my cell phone on the way in to work to inform me that they were all pretty sick, none of them had slept the night before, and they are all miserable. We narrowed it down to food poisioning at a restaurant they ate at last night. She is tired, the boys are both so sick and miserable that all they can do is lay down and moan and wimper. So, needless to say, I will be home alone until this weekend, and they all need to get better.
Please pray for Jody and the boys to get better and for my mom to heal. Saturday morning she had to wake me up around 6AM to take her to the emergency room. She was afraid she might have had pneumonia, as her lungs were "bubbling" when she breathed. Fortunately it was just an infection in her lungs, not contagious, and easily curable with meds.
Other than that, I have been busy with work and basketball, so I am fortunate there. Otherwise I would probably be going nuts.
This week I have had to do something that I have only had to do one other time in over 8 years of marriage - be a bachellor for a week. The last time was the summer of 2001 when it was just Jody and I. The story is that my mom had reconstructive surgery on her wrist last week Wednesday (January 31). My dad was home with her for a few days, but had to go back to work on Friday night, so after we beat Rosemount for homecoming, we all drove up to my parents house, and then I left on Saturday afternoon to come back home for some appointments, leaving Jody and the boys to take care of my mother.
Well, they were supposed to be coming home today, but my wife had left me a voice mail at work at 4:00AM and then called me on my cell phone on the way in to work to inform me that they were all pretty sick, none of them had slept the night before, and they are all miserable. We narrowed it down to food poisioning at a restaurant they ate at last night. She is tired, the boys are both so sick and miserable that all they can do is lay down and moan and wimper. So, needless to say, I will be home alone until this weekend, and they all need to get better.
Please pray for Jody and the boys to get better and for my mom to heal. Saturday morning she had to wake me up around 6AM to take her to the emergency room. She was afraid she might have had pneumonia, as her lungs were "bubbling" when she breathed. Fortunately it was just an infection in her lungs, not contagious, and easily curable with meds.
Other than that, I have been busy with work and basketball, so I am fortunate there. Otherwise I would probably be going nuts.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
We are still amazed...
We are still amazed every day at how God just leads and guides us, opens and closes doors, protects us (I am firmly convinced that our two boys have more guardian angels per boy than most families have and need combined!) and proves His love to us each and every day.
The first is how He takes care of our family. In watching Brian's career and the path (sometimes many paths) he has had to take and endure, it is amazing to be able to see God's leading through it all - even if it is after the fact. A couple of weeks ago Pastor Poorman (Pastor Mark to many of you) preached on how God takes care of us even when we get upset about it. He talked about how he and his wife and the music pastor and his wife went to the music conference at the first of the month, and because they couldn't get into the restaurant they wanted to they had to go somewhere else, but lost time. He mentioned how he was frustrated because they had lost time, and then as they got back on the road there were delays, but when he started doing the calculations, he realized that he could have potentially been in either of the accidents. Well, Brian has worked some long and crazy hours, moved from that job to his current position where he had to work those hours again, but then to find out that most of the staff from his last job has left. In his current position he is in a department that needs four people, but has really only had three since he started. In the past two weeks the director of his department retired and his manager is going to a new company, so now the department went from being one person short to just one person. Well, we weren't too excited about this, because it will probably mean even longer hours during his filing time (he averages about 80 hours a week during those weeks) but he talked to the individual that they all report to, and there potential for a promotion now. We will just have to pray and see.
The reason this is so interesting to us is because Brian also gets calls from recruiters on a daily basis, and sometimes he will just politely dismiss the individual and sometimes he will listen. Well, last November he got a call from a company that really wanted him, and it looked like a great opportunity. There was one catch to it - the company was not in Minnesota. It would have required a move on our part. At first we were discouraged because we knew the town that the company is in, and we knew that the local church and school there is not very good. Thank God for the internet! We started looking around the area thinking that, well, Brian already seems to end up driving long distances whereever he works, so maybe we can find something and split the difference. Here is where we got excited. You see, the company is in Elkhart, Indiana. We know the churches in South Bend, and they are good churches, but we both have reservations about them. So we managed to find this First Baptist Church in Mishawaka, Indiana, which was a little closer to Elkhart. We went to the website and it looked ok, but what was really interesting is when we clicked on the staff page - who should be staring us in the face but Paul Ice! And the picture next to him was Pete Jones. That was very interesting for both of us. Well, through all of it, God closed that door to open the potential door where we are now, but it is interesting to see how God works and moves. Yes Paul, that is why Brian sent you that semi-weird email a few months back. We almost became neighbors to you.
We are also very amazed at how God protects us. I am starting to believe that both of my boys' roles here on earth right now is to be doorstops. I cannot begin to tell you how many times Brian and I have accidentally had the door stop short on us, only to hear the "build up" before the scream - and any of you parents know exactly what I mean there. When you hear the thump, and then nothing for about 30 seconds or so, but you can tell that the air pressure is dropping int he room? Follow that by the really loud sound! Jefferson has also taken more dives and headers off our furniture right now than we care to count, but he is at that stage where he does not want to be helped. Still really doesn't want to walk by himself, but heaven forbid if you try to help him down when he has his mind set on it.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but this is just something I wanted to share.
The first is how He takes care of our family. In watching Brian's career and the path (sometimes many paths) he has had to take and endure, it is amazing to be able to see God's leading through it all - even if it is after the fact. A couple of weeks ago Pastor Poorman (Pastor Mark to many of you) preached on how God takes care of us even when we get upset about it. He talked about how he and his wife and the music pastor and his wife went to the music conference at the first of the month, and because they couldn't get into the restaurant they wanted to they had to go somewhere else, but lost time. He mentioned how he was frustrated because they had lost time, and then as they got back on the road there were delays, but when he started doing the calculations, he realized that he could have potentially been in either of the accidents. Well, Brian has worked some long and crazy hours, moved from that job to his current position where he had to work those hours again, but then to find out that most of the staff from his last job has left. In his current position he is in a department that needs four people, but has really only had three since he started. In the past two weeks the director of his department retired and his manager is going to a new company, so now the department went from being one person short to just one person. Well, we weren't too excited about this, because it will probably mean even longer hours during his filing time (he averages about 80 hours a week during those weeks) but he talked to the individual that they all report to, and there potential for a promotion now. We will just have to pray and see.
The reason this is so interesting to us is because Brian also gets calls from recruiters on a daily basis, and sometimes he will just politely dismiss the individual and sometimes he will listen. Well, last November he got a call from a company that really wanted him, and it looked like a great opportunity. There was one catch to it - the company was not in Minnesota. It would have required a move on our part. At first we were discouraged because we knew the town that the company is in, and we knew that the local church and school there is not very good. Thank God for the internet! We started looking around the area thinking that, well, Brian already seems to end up driving long distances whereever he works, so maybe we can find something and split the difference. Here is where we got excited. You see, the company is in Elkhart, Indiana. We know the churches in South Bend, and they are good churches, but we both have reservations about them. So we managed to find this First Baptist Church in Mishawaka, Indiana, which was a little closer to Elkhart. We went to the website and it looked ok, but what was really interesting is when we clicked on the staff page - who should be staring us in the face but Paul Ice! And the picture next to him was Pete Jones. That was very interesting for both of us. Well, through all of it, God closed that door to open the potential door where we are now, but it is interesting to see how God works and moves. Yes Paul, that is why Brian sent you that semi-weird email a few months back. We almost became neighbors to you.
We are also very amazed at how God protects us. I am starting to believe that both of my boys' roles here on earth right now is to be doorstops. I cannot begin to tell you how many times Brian and I have accidentally had the door stop short on us, only to hear the "build up" before the scream - and any of you parents know exactly what I mean there. When you hear the thump, and then nothing for about 30 seconds or so, but you can tell that the air pressure is dropping int he room? Follow that by the really loud sound! Jefferson has also taken more dives and headers off our furniture right now than we care to count, but he is at that stage where he does not want to be helped. Still really doesn't want to walk by himself, but heaven forbid if you try to help him down when he has his mind set on it.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but this is just something I wanted to share.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Minnesota Reminder
Well, we finally got snow that I think is going to stay this time. It started last night during church, and by this morning when Brian got up to go to work, there was maybe an inch on the ground. The difference this time from a month ago is that the temperature has dropped considerably. With the windchill it is finally below zero.
The boys are finally pretty much healthy, and for that we are very grateful. Every Christmas we seem to be attacked by illness, and this year definitely did not disappoint! Brian started with a quick bout of the flu, then the boys just got hit hard with all kinds of stuff: flu, fever, chills, pink eye, etc. Then of course, being home with them, I get to share in all of it. Talk about so much fun. Then, because of the long hours he had to work during December and the first two weeks of January, Brian had another fun round of what we think is the flu, but because of specific deadlines at work, he went in every day anyway. Now I think it is finally down to just me having a cough. Does anyone else go through this every year, or is it just us?
Jefferson is so close to walking all the time now that we just can't wait. He will walk while holding something, and is willing to take a few steps if going to myself or Brian, but otherwise he still likes the faster mode of transportation - crawling. It is quite funny to walk into a room though, and see Jefferson just standing in the middle as if to say "I have conquered all!" Oh, the boys are so much fun at this age!
The boys are finally pretty much healthy, and for that we are very grateful. Every Christmas we seem to be attacked by illness, and this year definitely did not disappoint! Brian started with a quick bout of the flu, then the boys just got hit hard with all kinds of stuff: flu, fever, chills, pink eye, etc. Then of course, being home with them, I get to share in all of it. Talk about so much fun. Then, because of the long hours he had to work during December and the first two weeks of January, Brian had another fun round of what we think is the flu, but because of specific deadlines at work, he went in every day anyway. Now I think it is finally down to just me having a cough. Does anyone else go through this every year, or is it just us?
Jefferson is so close to walking all the time now that we just can't wait. He will walk while holding something, and is willing to take a few steps if going to myself or Brian, but otherwise he still likes the faster mode of transportation - crawling. It is quite funny to walk into a room though, and see Jefferson just standing in the middle as if to say "I have conquered all!" Oh, the boys are so much fun at this age!
Monday, January 8, 2007
Christmas is finally over!
I am just amazed at how much Christmas has grown since I was a little boy! I can remember having Christmas eve with my parents, opening gifts, etc., and then maybe getting together one or two other times with people. Now we seem to have a Christmas thing every other day (or so it seems) from the first week of December until mid-January. That is ok though, because it is a fun time to get togther with friends and family.
With the piano:
Jefferson before and after haircut:
And the boys ready for church:
Of course, now that I have kids, it is so much fun to see them with their Grandpas and Grandmas. Earlier I wrote about Christmas with Jody's parents. Over New Year's Weekend we celebrated Christmas with my parents. It was an enjoyable time. The boys had fun, Jefferson got his first "official haircut" and Jackson got a little kids piano with a microphone, and both boys just LOVE that thing!
The funniest thing I can think of from that weekend is when we got there on Thursday night. The boys got to see my dad for a few minutes, but then my dad got called to work, so the boys just started pulling out toys to play with (mind you, this is at about 10PM at night!). Then all of a sudden Jackson starts to want to cuddle with my mom, hugging her, kissing her, etc. Grandma was enjoying it and thinking that it was all fun until JT then backed up a little bit, and with a very eager but sincere look on his face asked my mom straightforward "grandma, do you have any presents hidden for me here?" I guess they learn at an early age.
Anyway, here is a picture of the boys with my parents:
With great-grandma:
With the piano:
Jefferson before and after haircut:
And the boys ready for church:
Saturday, January 6, 2007
The Rivalry Continued...
Well, last night we had the opportunity to play basketball against our biggest rivals - Rosemount. It turned out to be a great night for Warrior Basketball, as the Varsity Girls won their game 46 - 44 and the Varsity Boys won 74 - 61.
On a family note, I will be posting more Christmas pictures from our Christmas with Brian's parents over the new years weekend as well.
On a family note, I will be posting more Christmas pictures from our Christmas with Brian's parents over the new years weekend as well.
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