New Pics

When Jeremy's parents and brother were here last month, our friend Scott took some pictures for us. Once again, he got some great ones. Hope you enjoy.

Sunny September

I have mentioned before that we have had the most perfect summer, weather-wise. And it hasn't ended yet. It's the end of September and it's still been in the 80's. Some of my friends have commented that they're getting kind of tired of the warm weather, tired of their summer wardrobe (ok, I somewhat agree), and ready for fall. Although I love fall with the leaves changing and all that, I'm loving the warm weather and not at all ready to be cooped up inside all winter!

Today was absolutely perfect, so after our first "MOMS group" of the year at church this morning and after Bri's nap, we spent the next few hours outside. First we tried a new smoothie recipe (orange juice concentrate, milk, powdered sugar, vanilla, and ice) and ate them outside. Then we painted toenails (Emily wanted to paint Bri's. I only let her paint one big toe -- about half the polish actually made it on the toenail.) Then the girls decided they wanted to get their swimsuits on. Kind of a bother, but I figured why not. So we did the sprinkler, baby pool, water table, etc. and tried to take advantage of these last summer days. Here's a little glimpse of our fun.

Even though Emily looks a little strange in this last picture, she is quite the affectionate one. That's probably why she isn't the best sleeper -- she always wants to be snuggling mom and dad. Her sleep is improving, though. Lately she's been coming into our room at about 6:00 am, climbs into our bed, and goes back to sleep with her arm around my neck. Even though I get pretty stiff with her there, it's hard to resist her arm around my neck and her face snuggled into mine. Today her favorite phrase was, "You're the best mom ever I seen." How sweet is that.

Our little Cubbie

Tomorrow night is Emily's first real night of AWANA. If you don't know what AWANA is, it's a kids club at church that focuses on Bible memory. I was in AWANA when I was little, from 3rd-6th grade. I was never in Cubbies so I really have no idea about the structure of the night. Cubbies is the youngest club in AWANA, for ages 3-4 (two years before kindergarten.)

Last Tuesday was just Open House, where they didn't do much except get their vest and bag. Bri came along with us last week and was having fun taking other kids' bags off the hooks and carrying them around. She is definitely jealous that her older sister gets to go to AWANA and not her -- one more year.

Here is Emily in her Cubbies vest, which she loves.

We've been working on her memory verse this week, which you can see in the video below. :)

My Little Cornhuskers

Since these girls aren't growing up in Nebraska, I've gotta train them right:

We've had some great corn this year, some from friends and some from roadside stands. The funniest place was a house in Dayton -- they had bags of corn in the back of a pick-up truck in their driveway, complete with a tackle box where you could make your own change! Jeremy's brother and wife were floored at this, you wouldn't even think about doing that in Las Vegas! It reminds me of the bait shop we had when we were little, always checking the "can" for money when we got home. Ah, the good old days. . . are apparently still here!

Remembering 9-11

The other night Jeremy and I were commenting that it's hard to believe 9-11 was already 8 years ago. It seems like forever, yet it kind of seems like yesterday. So much has happened in our lives since then. It is a horrible memory, yet you don't want to forget it. You can't forget it.

Our world has changed so much since that day, but God is still in control. As Emily sings, He's got the whole world in His hands. Is your life in His hands? With our world so uncertain, only one thing is certain -- we can spend eternity with the creator of the universe in a place more wonderful than we can imagine, IF we have given Him our life. If we choose not to believe that He is the ONLY way to heaven, not to mention a life filled with purpose here on earth, well, then what happened on 9-11 is nothing compared to the eternity you will spend apart from God. Do you know Him?

Three years ago Jeremy and I went to New York City for a trip he won with American Family. Emily was only three months old and she came along, too -- she was great. One of the neatest things we did was visit several fire stations. At one of them the guys dressed me up in all their firemen gear. I couldn't believe how heavy it was. I tried walking up the stairs and only made it up about 2 steps. I gained a new appreciation for all the firemen walking up flights and flights of stairs on 9-11, in total sacrifice to save others' lives.

These 2 pages are from my scrapbook -- the pages didn't quite fit in my scanner but you get the idea. Each firehouse had some sort of tribute to the men they lost that day, as you can see in some of the pictures.

Let's not forget September 11th today, but more than that, remember that God has the whole world in His hands.

Prayer Request

Many of you who read this already know about this prayer request for our friends the Bobendriers. I know others of you sometimes look at the blogs of our family and friends on the side bar. Please read the email below from my friend Tiffany regarding her 4-year-old son Silas and PLEASE PRAY!
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First and foremost, PRAISE THE LORD for His grace and mercy today!!

Most of you on this email should have heard the news about Silas today. We called a few point people and tried to spread the word as quickly as we could. If you were missed, we ask you to join us in prayer now and to pass this along to any and every one who you know will pray.

Last night Silas went to bed with a bad cough which we suspected was due to an oncoming cold. Over the course of the evening his physical state grew worse to the point where it was very difficult for him to breath regularly. I took him into urgent care this morning and they were immediately concerned about the low oxygen level in his blood. The sent us to the local hospital, whose staff did everything in their means to help him. What they were trying was not working and thus they sent us to Children's Hospital for more specialized care. It turns out that he developed a very quick onset of severe pneumonia which caused his left lung to collapse. After many attempts to re-inflate the lung, they were worried about his viability and needed to turn to a lifesaving effort called ECMO (ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation). Basically since his lung was not working properly, his blood was not oxygenating well enough. The ECMO machine cycles his blood from his body, oxygenates it (and removes the CO2) in the unit and pumps it back into his body. This is done to allow his lungs time to heal. ECMO can last anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks. We were told to be prepared for the longer end of that spectrum. We were told that there are many risks involved with ECMO, many which we have already passed, praise the Lord! The procedure itself is risky...he pushed through that this evening and is now stable. The continued risks involved include primarily the potential for bleeding, particularly around incisions he has (he has three chest tubes in) and possibly in the brain (less likely but obviously serious if it develops.) He has two nurses monitoring him 24/7 and we feel very confident in the care that he is receiving. However, we still covet your prayers as we will not be "in the clear" until he is home and healthy.

Please pray specifically for:
a miracle!!
quick healing of his lungs so that he can be off the machine ASAP (long term risks increase with the length of treatment)
no bleeding or clotting as the blood cycles through the ECMO machine and his body
Titus and Judah as we will not be with them for the next couple of days
Dave and I as we weigh our options for long term plans if we need to be here for a few weeks.
complete recovery with no lasting effects

THANK YOU so much for loving this amazing boy of ours. We are anxious to see him open his eyes and talk to us again. We will try to send updates periodically and post on my blog as well: http://immeasurableblessings.blogspot.com/

Storm the gates of heaven for the sweet soul that God graced us with. He's not done with him yet!

Tiffany and Dave

Summer Days

It's been a busy but fun weekend with friends. On Saturday the Klippenes girls came over and played while Jeremy and others helped them move into their new house in Andover. They will now be only about 2 minutes away instead of about 10! Another friend and son Jackson came to keep us company and join in the fun. It all started when the kids got a little dirty outside -- I was just going to get out the hose and baby pool so they could clean off a bit. But they were having so much fun that we decided to get swimsuits on, beach towels out, the whole nine yards. Pretty soon Jackson was naked, . . . and then the fun really began! Just kidding. Then to mix in a St. Bernard who loves the hose and pool, . . . it was hilarious.

Today it was church, then off to another friend's house where the guys watched the kids awhile while us moms went to Chipotle and did a little shopping. We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves without the kids along! But I did find some new running shoes (think I will actually use them to run in? Good one!) -- the selection of size 11 shoes isn't the best, so I was lucky to find some I liked. Thanks Jer!

Confession

Confession #1: We went back to the State Fair yesterday morning.

Confession #2: We went back to the State Fair yet again last night.

So that makes 3 trips to the fair this year. Really only 2 days, but 3 separate trips. Jeremy and I like to go once without kids, so Tori came and watched the girls in the morning while we went. Then we decided to get stamped in case we wanted to come back later with the girls. After nap time we decided they would love to go back one more time, especially since it was free this time (minus the food.) Here was our food count for the day: cheese curds, corn, deep fried Twinkie, deep fried Snickers, chicken taco, kettle corn, pretzel, another deep fried Twinkie, quesadilla, burrito, another cheese curds, . . . I think that's it!

We met our friends the Buchmans there, so that was fun, too. We let the girls each do one ride. Emily chose the cars:

And Bri took her turn on the skyway with daddy, since she didn't get to last time.

The girls were such troopers. We didn't get home until after 9:00 and boy were they tired. And even though it took forever, they did enjoy riding the Park-and-Ride bus. Here they are waiting, and waiting, and waiting, for the bus:

It was another great day at the Fair. Now we're back on the diet!

Teddy Bear Park

To spend our last day together with our parents, we decided to try a new park in Stillwater -- Teddy Bear Park. I'd heard of it before but had never been there. It's awesome! It's a big fenced in park in downtown Stillwater that has tons of things to climb on, slides, rock formations, gravel/sand to play in, and of course teddy bears. Although it was fairly crowded the day we went, there was still plenty of room to play.

My attempt at getting a picture of me and the girls. As you can see, they are in no way interested.

After playing and having a picnic lunch, we headed up the hill in Stillwater to Nelson's, a somewhat famous (I think) ice cream place. I think they are known for huge portions (which I don't have a problem with). A "child size" was at least two times bigger than a normal amount you'd get elsewhere. But I think we got them all eaten!

If you're ever looking for a new park to try, it's a great one! I'd like to go back on a nice fall day if anyone wants to join us!

Fair, Food, Fun, Family, and more FOOD

My mom and sister Jessie got in last Thursday to bring Jessie to college at North Central, but before doing that we all went to the State Fair with Jeremy's family on Friday. We had a blast eating, seeing the sights, hanging out, and eating some more. Here is our day in pictures.

Here is our stroller caravan. Our girls on the right (maneuvering the double stroller through fair crowds isn't the easiest, thanks Jer!), cousin Michael in the middle, and their friend's little boy Mason on the left.


My mom and Bri.
Jeremy's mom and Emily.

Darryl, Wendy and Michael eating funnel cake.

Jessie taking Bri down the giant slide. Even though I didn't do it, everybody said it was so fun and pretty fast! I love this picture of Jessie and the girls. We're so glad that Aunt Jessie is finally close!

The first thing we do when we arrive at the fair each year is head straight for the cheese curd stand (for Jeremy's sake). I like them, too, but a few is enough. This year Jer got everyone else hooked on them; I think our group alone bought 8 orders of cheese curds over the course of about 5 hours.

When we saw this stand we just had to take a picture. Jer's absolute worst food is pot roast, and when he saw this place selling "pot roast sundaes" he had to show his support by puking in the nearby garbage can. Lovely.

Besides eating, our next favorite thing to do at the fair is see the animals. Here is Bri visiting the biggest pig and piglets.

The baby lambs are one of the cutest animals in the Miracle of Birth center, which we love.

Sure girls, go ahead and put your mouths around the bars here; I'm sure they're very sanitary.

One of my favorite things is the alpacas. I always joke that one day I will own a pair of alpacas, I think they are so cute. I will raise them and my mom will have a yarn/knitting business using their fur. Here is my mom seeing that a skein of alpaca yarn goes for $62 (we're talking one small ball of yarn!) The funniest thing about this picture is that my mom (on the right) and the other 2 ladies (that we don't know) are like triplets. Jean capris, pink and denim shirts, and gray hair. Jeremy said I just had to get a picture of that! This is apparently the look of "older" ladies into knitting!

Besides cheese curds, we had a steak kebab, deep fried twinkie, buffalo on a stick, fried fruit on a stick, kettle corn, and of course Sweet Martha's Cookies.
By the end of the state fair, there will be so many of these cookies that are basically part of the pavement. See what I mean? And this was only day 2 of the fair.

Emily and I ended our day at the fair by taking a ride on this little skyway. Emily had a blast. And so did Bri waving at us down below. Until the end when we came out, and Bri tried to go in the gate saying, "My turn!" Poor Bri, next year!

As you can see, it was a great day at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.