Summer Delights

Everybody was up early this morning - sleeping in the tree fort was fun but the birds were singing and the sun was shining early. The kids all wanted to sleep in there again tonight but promises were made for another day.

We got lots of work done for our presentation on Friday - now I can relax a little about that. We still have some practicing to do on it but we know what we are doing. We are looking forward to celebrating Canada Day tomorrow but we promised Caleb that he could tell about it on the blog tomorrow so I won't spill the beans tonight.

Just thought I would post a few pictures of the last few days. The kids enjoyed the slip -n- slide again today. I also posted a few pictures of my flowers. I am enjoying them very much this year.

(Picking up the fallen apples before Lobo eats them)

Sandy

First Sleep in the Tree Fort

The hunt is on for the perfect combination of sleeping mats for the first sleep in the tree fort. Olivia isn't concerned as she quickly informed me that she fits on the first mattress that was taken out there. Gerald says it isn't about comfort (which is why I am still choosing to sleep in the comfort of my bed in the house). Gerald is the greatest dad - once again choosing the desires of the kids. Way to go daddy!!!! Olivia fell asleep on the living room this afternoon - I have a feeling she will be awake for a looong time out in the tree fort. Once again, way to go dad!!!

Saturday we had the wind up soccer party for Caleb's team (which Gerald coached). We had planned a huge slip-n-slide in the yard but the weather didn't cooperate. We still had a fun time with all the kids and parents here. Gerald cooked a disco and we ate and visited and had a good time. Several of the kids didn't want the party to end - it was a good season and we had a very enjoyable time watching our boys play.

Today the kids and I biked to church as Gerald was in Winnipeg picking up four students that arrived for the summer leadership program SOLID. He had them at their destination and back home before two o'clock and then set up the slip-n-slide for the kids. One day later than planned but still fun nonetheless.

Tomorrow if nothing else gets done we have to figure out what we are doing for the missions presentation we are to give on Friday. Since Gerald has informed me that from Wednesday on we probably will not see much of him he is taking the morning off and hopefully we will get it all figured out and ready to go.

Well, off to help the crew get the bedding all ready for the night in the tree fort.
Sandy

Cousin Power Party

19 cousins in their tie dye shirts

In order from cousin 1 to cousin 19

Andrew on the hay ride

Olivia riding with Karissa

Caleb and Jack on top of Castle Rock

The three princess'

Well, the kids had a blast at the cousin power party. All three kids agreed that the most fun activity was go-carting. Caleb was thrilled to be able to drive this year. Olivia, along with her cousin Kimmie, were the only riders so they got lots of turns. The week was packed with two trains rides, camping, tie dyeing their camp shirts, go-carting, hay ride at the farm along with 4-wheeling, climbing Castle Rock and carving their names in the sand at Secret Sands. There was also a trip to the Dairy Queen, visiting Great Grandma and doing a puppet show at the nursing home, going to the museum, a fireworks show and night games(Olivia loved being a robber in Cops and Robbers). It was a long 28 hours from the time we left Grandma Katie's house until we arrived home. Can you believe Gerald's first words to us were "You stink!" I am sure that we did.

We seem to have come home to summer and we are loving it. The garden and the flowers are growing and look very beautiful. I am enjoying them very much.

Gerald is still being cautious since his surgery but feeling good. I am thankful that he is cautious since I don't see the need to have the surgery once again. It was a long 10 days for him while we were gone. Thank you to those of you who had him in for a meal and called to check up on him.

We are gearing up for a very busy first two weeks of July. The EMC Convention will keep Gerald hopping. I am helping with registration for the children's program as well as our family doing a missions spotlight for the children one evening. On the heels of that is VBS at our church and Gerald and I are doing the food for that. We have everything organized and ready to go.

On top of that I received a letter today from the Citizenship Office to inform me that the date of my exam is July 23. While I have been looking over the book I haven't been too serious about studying. I have to admit it was an anxious feeling knowing that the time is short and I need to be diligent in the next few weeks. That has to take priority over the house - good excuse to take it easy for the next few weeks :)

This is the short version of the last few weeks. I took over three hundred pictures while we were gone - aren't you glad I didn't post them all?

Enjoy your weekend.
Sandy

Montana Update...

If you feel led, we would appreciate if you prayed for our daughter Olivia. As many of you know Sandy and the kids are in Montana this week enjoying a special time with all the cousins at Grandma Katie's house. The issue with Olivia is that having arrived into Montana with very little sleep (a 13 hour train ride from Minneapolis has something to do with that) and her tendency to be nervous in big groups, she seems to be struggling to relax and actually enjoy the activities. She is a perfectionist and one of her fears is that she will not know what is going on or how to play a certain game or be left out of a certain activity because she was playing off somewhere else at that moment. Sandy told me today by phone that Olivia slept 13 hours last night and while that seems to have helped somewhat today, she is still not completely relaxed.
Join us as we pray against the spirit of fear in her heart and that she would take hold of the love and confidence in Christ Jesus and as a result have peace in her heart and begin to relax and enjoy the week of activities.
Caleb and Andrew are having a blast and overall Sandy said things are going great, for which I am very thankful!
Blessings,
Gerald

Improvements...

I finally slept lying down for the first time in three nights. How is that possible? I went to the chiropractor yesterday morning and he found some serious muscle problems around my rib cage, including some pinched nerves and so on. Although it was a very painful "tune up" it seems to have done the job.
After three very painful days of inactivity and trying to find a comfortable position to sit/lie/stand, I am actually a lot more mobile now. I still have quite a lot of pain/discomfort in my back but it is more manageable then it has been in about five days.
I'm still not sure how this is connected with my hernia surgery that I had last week Thursday morning but whatever the case, I am so glad that it seems to be making progress in the right direction now.
Having pretty much been house bound (or shall I say couch bound) for this past week, it certainly feels good to be able to get out and enjoy the sunshine this morning. Of course, the temptation is to overdue it but I'm not planning on doing that right aways...I don't want it to go backwards again.
Sandy and the kids are due to arrive into Williston, ND right about now (11:00 a.m.) and then after lunch they will head across the border into Montana and spend next week at her mom's. I hope their overnight train ride went well...I'm guessing they didn't get a whole lot of sleep. I am planning on talking to her in an hour or two to see how they are doing.

Thank you to all of you who have called or stopped in to check on me...I sure appreciate that support. If I don't answer the phone it's probably because I'm sleeping (something I feel like I am way behind on after three nights on the couch).

One of the positives from this type of "injury" is that because I'm on "bed rest" I have lots of time to read and listen to sermons or music online and be in prayer. I am so thankful for the relationship I have with my Saviour and have learned to depend upon him even more this past week than I have in quite some time. Thank you also for your prayers on my behalf and for Sandy and the kids...I miss them all like crazy!

~ Gerald

Sandy and the kids have left for Minneapolis...

Here I am sitting on the couch at home trying to "recuperate" from some mysterious muscle cramping and soreness around my lungs. The x-rays yesterday showed that at least it is not a blood clot, as the doctors suspected. Last night I slept on the couch again...I'm much more comfortable partially sitting up rather than lying down. Sandy and I made the decision this morning that she would go ahead on her trip to Minneapolis with the kids...they left around 8 a.m. Those are not easy goodbyes, particularly for her, feeling badly to be leaving me in the shape I'm in.
I am confident that things will turn around with my pain and hopefully be able to pull out of this in the next couple of days. I am popping pills, resting on the couch and spending time in prayer and in worship as my body allows me to with discomfort and with drowsiness.
Anyways, I appreciate your prayers for Sandy and the kids as they travel and for me as I recuperate in my quiet home...our dog Lobo is pretty much missing Sandy like crazy...I will do my best to be a dog-lover over these next ten days!!!
~ Gerald

Another trip to the hospital

Gerald made a trip to the emergency room today. During the night he started having a lot of back and chest pain especially when breathing in. He finally got up and went to the couch to sleep as laying down was too painful. This morning he decided to get it checked out since it wasn't getting any better. The doctor checked him out and took an x-ray thinking that it might be a blood clot. The chest x-ray was clear(but they did say that they would send it to the radiologist to check it as well) so they gave him more prescriptions for pain control and sent him home. He is currently sleeping on the couch (They told him that all the meds he is on will cause drowsiness). If the pain continues or gets worse he is to go back up to the hospital.

Needless to say I am nervous about leaving tomorrow. Gerald think that it will all be fine and we should leave as scheduled. I guess we will see how the night goes and then decide. I will feel better if I knew someone was checking up on him regularly until he is out of this stage. So, if you are reading this and you live in Steinbach would you give him a call for the next few days and make sure he is doing ok!

Sandy

Soccer Season

Well, it's been a little more than five days since my surgery and things seem to be improving at a daily pace. I still feel very tired and somewhat light-headed (make all the jokes you want about that) from the anaesthetic and then also have a moderate amount of discomfort in my abdomen from the surgery itself. I went to work today for about four hours and that went well but I was pretty tired after that and came home and dozed off on the couch for a while.
I am very thankful for the excellent medical care I received while at the hospital and for the possibility to have these hernias taken care of...I have certainly taken my health for granted for most of my life.

(The apple trees are in full bloom and we anticipate a "bumper crop" of apples once again this fall.)

Andrew played his last soccer game of the season this evening and Sandy and I both agreed he was the player of the game for his team, even though it was in a losing effort (3 to 2). We are so proud of him for how he has shone this year, his first in the Under 10 age category...he is not the biggest kid on the field but he plays an extremely smart game and hustles very hard...he never seems to stop running. He scored several goals through the season and put in some great performances!
Caleb is also doing amazing...he continues to score plenty of goals and has a fantastic attitude on the field, really encouraging his teammates and helping them to be the best they can be as well. Most of the games we feel he comes home having shone both in his ability and his attitude! We are so proud of both of these guys and their soccer success! Caleb's team, which I coach, still goes on to the end of June.

(The boys, posing in their matching "Chivas" shirts from Mexico, kick the ball around almost every afternoon in our backyard.)

Sandy is busily getting ready to head out on Thursday morning for Minneapolis. She and the kids are going there to meet with all the other "cousins" on Sandy's side of the family for a pool party on Friday and then a 13 hour train ride through the night to get to Montana and spend the rest of the week at her mom's home, Grandma Katie to all the kids! Olivia is sooooo excited about this year's Couzin Power Party, and also to be able to go on the train for the first time in her life.
I, on the other hand, will be bonding with our dog Lobo as the two of us will be "bachelors" for 10 days!
Currently, we are enjoying a beautiful rainfall as we wind down for night!
That's it for my rambling tonight!
Gerald

June First!

June has arrived and that means just four more sleeps until we leave for cousin power party. Olivia asked me if she could cross off all the rest of the days on her chart. I told her that wouldn't make it come any sooner. Needless to say all three kids are very excited about leaving Thursday morning for Minneapolis.

Gerald has been feeling a little better every day. He didn't lay down at all today. He is moving a little easier although the up and down has been a little difficult. He was allowed to take his first shower this morning and today he can take his bandages off. He was starting to feel pretty grimy and the hot shower this morning was extremely refreshing. He wants to go into work tomorrow at least for a little while.

The kids and I are planning on getting more things done around the yard tomorrow so that Gerald doesn't have to do them while we are gone. Olivia has reminded me for several days already that we need to pack. So I guess I will let her get a suitcase out tomorrow. At least she will feel like we are getting ready.

Have a good day,
Sandy