Juggling can be painful.............

Wow, how many balls can you keep juggling at once?  I personally can not juggle real balls, not a prayer!  With my vertical imbalance I'm lucky I can stay standing some days.  But apparently I'm quite adept at "juggling."  My skills will be seriously put to the test in the next weeks.
         2 weeks ago my Mom went in for her physical, she had mentioned a change in a old scar on her breast but just left it alone for the holidays. The mammogram was clear, but the doctor opted for additionally testing.  A ultrasound saw something, so then onto a biopsy.  The biopsy revealed it was cancerous.  Then started a whirlwind of appointments and testing.  A MRI confirmed there was a mass, over 6cm.  Ok, next step deciding on a single or double mastectomy.  Mom said "I have no attachment to these things, take them away." Ok, double it is.  So then came more waiting and finally surgery yesterday.  Well all said and done, there was cancer in both breasts.  The left one had just not been detected on any of the imaging.  THANK YOU ANGELS for helping push things in the right direction.  Now we head into recovery mode.  As Mom was laying in the hospital bed last night in and out of it, we knew she was going to be fine when she was still able to crack a one liner and flip me off.  Hoping today she will be more awake and coherent and able to get up and move a bit.  We will not know till the 6th of February if she will need chemo or not, but we will throw that ball into the air to juggle if necessary.  Its going to be a interesting few weeks as Mom enjoys sitting still, but isn't all about being the patient.  She will just have to accept this and enjoy it.  Shes earned it. 
             Juggling the tween, in 2 more days Linnea will officially be a teenager.  Officially she will be there, technically I think we have been there since September when school started.  She has her moments when I see glimpses of my little flower, giggly, sweet, silly, and just a plain goofball.  Then there's the days of her tough girl attitude, loud music and growing up.  She loves her 80's hard rock, her dark clothes, and hiding in her room.  Such a adjustment.....
           Juggling the preschooler............. Attitude Annika, so opinionated.  She knows what she wants and she is not afraid to tell you.  She has nothing wrong with calling you names to get it.  She is becoming very familiar with a kitchen wall!  I don't know if it is added stress at home or if something has changed with her kidney reflux.  We have had almost 1 or 2 accidents a day and this has not been a problem since she was potty trained.  I changed her appointment to sooner to meet with the doctor about surgery.  So throw another ball in the air, because its looking sooner then later.
            Juggling the boy, there 's not much to juggle here.  Other then his energy and want for yet another Skylander, Ulrik is such a easy keeper.  He is helpful, quiet, understanding.  He looks so forward to every moment he gets to play the Wii.  To run to the store with just me, to share a secret treat between us. He really enjoys when we get to sit and read before bed.  I feel badly when it doesn't work out to give him this quiet time together.  But yet he just keeps rolling along with it all.  Oh I hope HIS teenage years stay this easy!
         Juggling the husband............ We have been dealing with Thomas and his acid reflux for awhile.  It has gotten to be plain annoying!! He decided the other day to "screw it" if the medicine isn't working then fine I'm not going to take it.  So today it off to the "gag me with a spoon" doctor to see if things have changed.  So............am I looking at the possibility of a third surgery for the year?? I have a feeling definitely more doctoring. UGH!
I'm trying to keep sane, while juggling. I painted half the kitchen yesterday while waiting to hear how Mom was.  I think I might just have to go get the paint to finish the other half tomorrow.  Ive got the bathroom to paint still, but Ive been stalling on that one, so I can change things a bit.  New cabinet and light take a little extra time and money.  Annika and Ulrik especially love to craft with me.  I found a salad spinner for under 5 bucks at IKEA.  They have been patiently waiting to try to make some spin art crafts of sort.  I'm looking forward to it also.  We just made our donation for the upcoming IRIS fundraiser.  Ulrik and Annika had a blast helping to pick out fleece and stuff our "Hooters"  I hope everyone enjoys them. 
Juggling, I have Moms recovery and subsequent care.
Juggling, Linnea becoming a teenager
Juggling, Annika and her kidneys
Juggling, Time for Ulrik
Juggling, Thomas and the acid
Juggling, every ones schedules
Juggling, Zacharys 14th heavenly birthday
Juggling, Juggling, Juggling.


You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
Eleanor Roosevelt

A couch full of Hooters

Our Pinterest snow balls

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary!



Yes that really is Mt. Rushmore!

Well 14 years ago I stood in front of family and friends and the head honcho upstairs and married this guy with a southern drawl, red hair and tattoos.  In redneck fashion we had us a shotgun wedding, with the knowledge that the little one inside me would be appearing in less then 6 weeks. We had originally planned on waiting until August of 1999 to get married and have the big party and wear the fancy clothes.  I woke up right after Thanksgiving in 1998 and had a feeling come over me that told me we needed to get married sooner then later.  I think back now this was probably Zachary chiming in.  So we looked at a calendar got days off work and had things planned, plotted and invitations in the mail in less then a week.  We looked through the closet found some dress clothes and we were ready. We picked a day that neither of us can forget the date.  Thomas can never use that excuse,
1-9-99, pretty damn easy!!! 

Our lives forever changed the day we said "I do."  Little did we know how much our lives were going to change in less then 4 weeks after that.  We had our marriage seriously tested and we hadn't been married for a month yet!  We have been to hell and back together and survived the trip.  A little banged up but we are still standing.  I have been so blessed with my self proclaimed a-hole.  He continues to provide for our family and me.  He gets up every weekday to go to work, so I can continue to be a CLO(chief life officer) sounds sooooo much better then homemaker, wouldn't that make me a carpenter?! He puts up with my food, lack of fabric softener in his clothes, and my super corny sense of humor.  I put up with his attitude, video games, and his warped sense of humor.  Together we make a pretty good match.  We communicate, that is the most important thing we have. We also went into this relationship with the knowledge that we could not change each other(well Ididn't say waistlines) but we needed to change together to grow together(again I didn't say waistline).  We have maintianed our individual selfs, but have also melded into what I think is a pretty amazing couple(toot,toot, my own horn).  We have been blessed with 3 amazing children here on earth and 1 amazing angel upstairs.

Yup, im corny like my Mom!
Linnea 2002
 

Yup, I got my Dad's voice, Roar!
Ulrik 2004

Yup, I got Mom's cuddly nature, but Dad's firey red hair and attitude to match, the best of both worlds!
Annika 2009

Holy Moly this kid is crazy!!!
Ulrik and Linnea 2004

All our children together!
September 2008

 All these things wouldnt have ever come to fruition if he hadnt stayed late one night at work and offered up his pager number(dates us a bit) and I hadn't thrown caution to the wind and paged him a couple days later. Im forever grateful for whatever spirit picked up my hand and led it to the phone.  Thank you Thomas for a amazing 14 years, I'm looking forward to the next 14 and many more after that.  I love you!





Woo hoo 14 years!!!!


 

Our song. Louis Armstrong, What a wonderful world

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

.

Christmas Eve before Church

Wow how the time flies, another year.  In 7 days Thomas and I will be celebrating our 14th anniversary.  Then 23 days later our "little flower" Linnea will officially become a TEENAGER!!!  With those days counted comes another countdown, 35 days will be Zachary's 14th birthday in heaven.  In the words of Annika "holy wackamole" 14 years, 13 years, all these events feel like they just happened a few years ago not past the 10 year mark already.  To think, yes I already have a teenager who is a amazing part of our lives, and soon I will have a second one who can argue back, haha! I am praying for beautiful calm weather on both January 25 and February 6.  I will be setting the alarm and waking up Linnea to do something very special for her birthday.  At 2:12 am we will be awake celebrating her entrance into the teenage years!  Pictures to come.   

We had a wonderful Christmas. on the 22nd my brother, sister and their families came over and we demolished a crock pot of sloppy joes and desserts. The kids got to spend time together, annoying each other and playing. Christmas day was just ours. The kids didn't get up till after 7. I had the alarm set for 730 so Grandma had time to watch them open present before work. Santa brought some nice and needed items. Annika had the best line of the day with her first gift. "This isn't what I asked for!" She asked Santa for only 2 things, a nightie with her twin "Merida" from Brave on it and Meridas horse "Angus". The first present was a tshirt I had made. After being shown that there were more gifts she decided to wait and see if it was there. And yes the last present was indeed what she had asked Santa

Annika and Angus

Annika and her twin Merida

 

Ulrik and his knives

Ulrik received his first and second pocket knives, and Linnea received a pile of pens along with 700 sheets of paper in a binder.  That will hopefully save a few notebooks so we can make it to the end of the year. We spent the afternoon watching "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation" and the timeless classic "A Christmas Story" I think we watched 12 hours of the 24 hour marathon. 





Christmas break was relaxed with nothing to do but the daily house stuff.  I got to sleep in with the kids, lounge around all day, play outside, play referee, and spend time together.  On the 29th we went to Thomas' sister Tina's house and had another round of good food and good company.  So many memories have been made around the kitchen table.  Maybe its the food that gets everybody settled there or its just where so much live centers around that brings us there. 
We had snow over break which was great for the kids, but not for me.  Once again I'm on the injured list.  Maybe soon I'll find a way to get off of it.  Bonus part the kids shoveled the driveway......TOGETHER!!!!  No argument (gasp!) They were rewarded with Pizza Hut for dinner, again no argument! 

They did it together!

 

We all slept through the New Year. New Years Eve the kids were treated to a fireworks display in the neighbors backyard.  It was quite spectacular for about 15 minutes and then "BOOM" the yard lite up bright red and the show was done.  No firetrucks, no ambulance so it was all good. Thomas and I spent time watching "grown up" movies that had no animation in them.  I've got the instant que on Netflix down from 357 to 350.  I'm working my way there! 

Today everybody went back to normal.  Kids back to school, Thomas back to work and Annika and Piper storming the castle together, and after a week apart storming is exactly the way its been.  By Monday morning everyone, including me will be sliding back into our routine.  Lets hope we can infuse a little magic so it doesn't become so plain old day in day out the same.  I'm sure I can find a recipe on Pinterest for PIXIE DUST!  Everyone is slowly coming home, first Linnea and next will be Thomas and then the boys and Grandma.  Time for me to bring the clean kitchen to life and make a dinner for my family, here's some pictures of December at our house.

The boys in the hats I made them that actually FIT!!

Christmas 2012

Well another year has passed us by.  It is crazy how being busy makes time fly, I thought it required throwing the clock!  Lets see how things went around here.....

Linnea turned 12 in January.  She survived the 6th grade and made the "A" honor roll once and the "B" honor roll 3 times.  She continues to excel at Math, thankfully she got Thomas' math genes and not mine. In April she had her 1st communion at our new church along with her cousins.  She started confirmation classes in September and is learning a lot of things she missed by not attending Sunday school over the years.  I'm thankful our pastor is open to lots of questions. On Thanksgiving she completed her second 5k Turkey Trot benefiting IRIS.  She remained relatively healthy until school started and then once again we began fighting with all the bugs.  After some testing we found a vitamin D deficiency and once again her Iron very low.  This has been a ongoing problem since she was a infant.  Hopefully now with the right combo of vitamins we have her on the right track.  She is very much into music, especially the 80's, who knew our cassette tapes would find a second life! You can find her these days in her room writing and rocking out to her stereo or like a young teenage girl, on the phone or now days on the computer emailing and instant messaging.

Ulrik turned 9 in September.  He has continued to grow, grow, grow.  I'm hoping we have slowed down for just a little while.  He is patiently waiting for basketball to be offered through school so he can give it a try.  His feet are now wearing men's shoes, I'm not sure he can swing track with his gunboats!  Ulrik had a great year of second grade and was very excited for 3rd grade since he has his same teacher from last year.  He adores Mrs. Tuma and works well with her teaching style.  He continues to be all boy, this summer he got sidetracked by a nasty infection in his knee after a "Danger Dude" moment on his cousins bike. It took almost 10 days of heavy antibiotics to get him back up to cruising speed.  Thankfully "chicks dig scars" because he has another keeper.  Right now he is starting to learn to play the guitar and he is busy with finger knitting, its a start, hopefully next year he will move up to real needles which will make Grandma Carol very happy. We are also still quite the legomaniac, building many creations from the floor of his room.  He still very much enjoys his superheroes and shooting the "emenies." Very rarely will you find him sitting still, unless he's knitting or reading.

Annika turned 4 in August.   We very quickly picked up on potty training in June and haven't looked back, this was awesome considering the issues we have had with her kidneys which delayed timing abit.  She started preschool in September and has quickly picked up her alphabet and numbers.  She loves to do her "homework" and write her letters and numbers.  She really enjoys being crafty with her scissors, paper, and crayons.  We are starting to learn to tell time, and to learn to read also.  She very much enjoys annoying Linnea, a task I think she takes pride in. Ulrik and Annika enjoy annoying each other also, but you can find them often building with the pink Legos and chatting. In October we ventured back to Children's to see how her kidney reflux has progressed, unfortunately it appears we will be having surgery next year some time to have a ureteral reimplantation on both kidneys.  We did discover that her right kidney is tipped which could be part of the reason healing has stalled on that side.  Good news those is the left kidney has completely healed. She continues to be the spitting image of her father with the curly red hair and the spitfire, stubborn attitude to match.

Thomas continues at Xcel Energy, he has been with the company for 13 years this past June. For Easter this year I was able with some help to give him a big surprise. His Dad came and visited from Georgia.  He was very, very surprised! This was a wonderful visit for all.  The kids enjoyed teaching Grandpa how to bowl and play Ping-Pong on the Wii, and Thomas got to spend some time reminiscing with Dennis.  I continue to be the CLO(Chief Life Officer) of the house.  I keep busy with keeping track of everyone and everything.  With some help from the kids this years projects were mostly outdoors.  Ulrik and Linnea helped transplant 2 trees to the backyard and plant Grandma’s tree in the front yard.  It took them over 2 hours to dig the hole.  We almost completed the rock garden but we ran out of rock.  We planted tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, and squash. We were able to can 40 jars of salsa from the garden this year. We only had 1 pumpkin make it and we picked the squash too soon, but we are learning.  We had a lot of busy days this summer with my nephew Matthew(8) and niece Piper(2) still coming over for daycare.  I helped out with crafts at VBS and  got a new partner in crime at the same time. At the beginning of November the flu hit our house and knocked me down.  I ended up with a ear infection that spread to the surrounding tissue and nerves.  It was a little frightening when the doctor tells you not to be home alone.  The right side of my head was numb, I had no voice and  had limited use of my right arm.  I had my first and I hope only MRI.  Thankfully we caught things in time before surgery became necessary.  With antibiotics and our chiropractor I'm almost back to fighting shape. The kids enjoyed this time as we all camped out on the couch sick together and I had no voice to tell them what to do!   I have been teaching myself how to crochet with mixed results. I started making dishcloths and have moved onto hats and scarves.  I attempted a pair of fingerless gloves, but after the first one, not being able to fit anyone but Bigfoot, I decided to not attempt mittens anytime soon.  The kids and I completed the "Little House on the Prairie" series this winter and are now working on "The Boxcar Children" We enjoy our reading time.  I continue to volunteer with IRIS.  Thomas and I once again manned the kitchen with wonderful help for the pancake breakfast.  My biggest contribution with some help from my Mom was using my knitting machine to make 500 blankets for a training session. I was literally up to my elbows in yarn and blankets!

At the end of July we a wonderful family vacation to Itasca State Park again.  We took Grandma Carol with and everyone RELAXED!!!  We went to the Mississippi Headwaters quite a few times. The goal was to not leave the park except for 1 day and we succeeded.  We experienced the headwaters in the morning, afternoon, and at dusk. It is amazing how nature changes so much depending on the time of day.  The kids enjoyed picking up rocks for the garden and walking in the Mississippi, they also enjoyed plenty of pool time at the cabin.  Many hours were spent enjoying mother nature and her bounty.  Thomas and the kids went hiking and again climbed Aitin Fire tower. Linnea has made it to the top twice, Ulrik made it further then last time.  We were fortunate to have wonderful weather the entire week, it rained starting at 2am the day we left.

We hope you have had a wonderful year and been blessed with good days.  The road might not always be smooth, but its still a fun ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Wish

The heart of Christmas is hope
We need hope.
We need Christmas!
The New Year gives us time.
We need time to grieve.
But most of all to Heal.

I wish you the gift of peace

from an aching heart;
I wish you the gift of

strength for the day ~
I wish you the gift of recognition,
I wish you the gift of remembrance,
I wish you the gift of care,
I wish you the gift of belonging,
These are the gifts I wrap in prayer,
And loving send your way.

May the memories of this Season
Come on Gentle Wings and
Bring you, your family and friends
Love and Peace.

Merry Christmas from heaven,

Zachary Andrew

 

 

 

 

 



Linnea 7th Grade

Ulrik 3rd Grade

Annika - 1st day of preschool

Christmas card picture
 

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! 
Love and Peace
Libby and the Crew

Well its another cloudy,cool day here in Veseli, but I'm snuggled down in the house where it is a balmy 70 degrees.  It feels like there is a window open somewhere in the house which just tells me, I need to finish sealing us in for the winter with the help of 3M and a hairdryer.
         Annika has been trying to convince me she could wear her new winter boots to preschool.  I convinced her to wear her sudo suede boots that served as winter boots last year because we had no snow!!  Unfortunately we have had our last wearing on them as all the kids feet are deciding to grow within weeks of each other.  Linnea is wearing a womans size 9 and Ulrik is a mens 7!!  Right now my nearly 13 year old and 9 year old can wear the same size shoe!!!!!  Crazy how school starts and then they grow.  Thankfully I've learned over the years that its not worth buying clothes before school starts because they will start to grow on the second week.
    We have been enjoying the fall weather with great fanfare.  The kids get bundled up and head outdoors for a hour or so in the afternoon which helps me to get dinner ready and helps me even more to get some energy out.  If life works out this trend will be continuing for awhile. Last night was pleasant for trick or treating.  I handed out candy while Thomas and the kids were treating with some friends of ours.  It was nice that the weather cooperated and everyone was done before we started to lose feeling in all fingers.
    Thanksgiving is fast approaching, which means Christmas will be even faster approaching.  Ive been very busy learning to crochet so I can give the kids the one of a kind presents that I enjoy making for them.  Whether they are truly appreciated or not, to me its the thought that goes into them.  Christmas isn't all about how many Lego sets or gift cards you can get and I feel its important to remind the kids of this OFTEN!  Thanksgiving is bringing us together for the IRIS turkey trot.  Ulrik is the most excited about doing his second 5k. I think he would enjoy doing one a month if possible. 
     The last year seems like a blur in so many ways.  I guess that's what happens when you are flying by the seat of your pants most of the time.  We have had birthdays, anniversaries, good days, bad days, special moments, vacation, the passing of the school year and the starting of another.  It just seems obscene to consider it is the first of November already.  I feel I still have so many things to do before I can recycle the calendar.  Theres rooms to be painted, pictures to take and hang, more crafts to start and finish, more books to read, more things to show the kids................... but life is really a perpetual calendar.  It just changes when another event pops up and you have to adjust to having a real teenager in the house or a official preschooler(who thinks she's a teenager), or you cross something else of the "honey do list". Its life and it doesn't stop even if you want it to, just to let you off and catch your breath.  I am truly thankful for each and every moment of it and I don't always stop to look at it.  Finding a moment to stop and look can be exhausting, just looking up and finding you are smack in the middle of "that moment" is the reward.
    I had a moment of complete and utter silence a couple weeks ago, it was only me, the house and the dog.  I can count on one hand how many times in the last 13 years I have had moments like these.  It disturbed me. I felt out of my element.  I love the hulabaloo of everyday life, I enjoy the sounds of the kids bickering, wrestling, giggling, spitting toothpaste in the sink, or sleeping.  It was just me and me and my thoughts alone are consuming, I don't like it.  But on the never ending river of grief I had a bit of a "aha" moment.  How many times had I wondered if things had been different if Zachary had lived, how many times have I wished he were here?  But I realized that he has lived, through me I have kept his name in our house, I have told his siblings about him, I have seen him in each and everyone of the kids. He is here with us, in spirit, in my thoughts daily, in my prayers at night.  The world may not be able to physically see him or touch him, but for me (the wacko typing this) he is here. He helped pick out 3 of the craziest, wonderful kids.  He has helped grab his brother by the scruff of his neck to keep him from breaking a limb in one of his "DangerDude" moments.  He has held Annikas hand as she went though her first surgery and all of her nasty testing. He has helped Linnea to be inquisitive about life.  And he has helped hold our hands when we need a little comforting. 
      Zachary is not a missing piece of our family but rather the glue that helps to keep it stuck together. 
     This is my birthday present to myself.  I am the large dragonfly and there are four small ones.  Each represent my children.  Two blue ones for my boys, two pink ones for my girls.
                                            

                                              MY CHILDREN AND ME ALWAYS.
                                           

  
  

Intentions are like (bleep) we all have them.

     Well intentions have gone out the window.  I think I'm going to and then something different comes along or gets in the way.  For my sanity I think I'm going to just start remembering I fly by the seat of my pants more days then not.  Life gets hectic even when all you've done is sit on the couch playing with yarn all day.  I would say I'm going to try harder but I always say that and disappoint myself so I wont say it anymore (well at least for a week or so). 
    So life has been busy, no surprise.  Easter we had a great surprise Thomas'  Dad came to visit.  It had been almost 5 years since we saw him last.  We had a great week together and Annika even warmed up to him by the end of the week.  She is still questioning me about his house and his pool and if he will fill it up before we get there next summer, boy is she going to be shocked to find out its not her little kiddie pool! 
     Spring/summer is still arriving here so its been try to make the yard pretty time.  I'm thinking the neighbors are wondering what the light is in the kitchen all night, its a GROW LIGHT!!!  I was a little slow this year and needed some help.  I have my morning glories sprouting, so now I just need to get my new planters ready.  Today I got the pansies, petunias and tomatoes planted.  Hopefully with some help this weekend I can get the old laundry tub painted and planted for the tomatoes also.  Hard part is after trying to be wonder woman and get so much beautifying done I severely sprained my pectoral muscles on both sides of my chest. 
     After moving 3000 pounds of rock, which was in 50 pound bags.  I moved it from the pallets at the store to the car, from the car to the driveway, from the driveway to the yard, and then had to dump them all out in their places. Things are looking great but my arms don't go over my head, oh wait they don't like me to do much at all.  Lifting a clothes basket or 30 pound kid is excruciating.  Bonus to all this after  5 hours in the ER found out I'm healthy, my heart works great (2 EKGS and lots of blood to prove it), I don't have blood clots (chest xray and ultrasounds on both legs) and my blood pressure is excellent ( I have the bruises from the auto cuff).  So if this weather will hold and I can keep stretching maybe by mothers day ill be back to me.  
       The kids have been soaking up every ray of sunshine they can. We love sun!!!!  They have tolerated the cloudy windy days also, and after last night I have a feeling that Ulrik will be out in the rain.  In front of our house is a hill with a drainage ditch across the bottom.  This is made extra swampy by our sump pump draining there.  Ulrik has figured out how to safely navigate through this muck with his bike without wiping out.  Now he is working on how to jump the sump hose and head down the ditch without having to lift his bike over it.  Linnea joined in this task also.  I'm sure my laundry pile is going to be increasing a bit! Summer vacation starts in 14 days, I am trying to plan some small day trips to parts of our state that can be interesting.  And I also volunteered to help out with Vacation Bible School.  I'm looking forward to both items.   
     Mothers day is approaching quickly.  On Sunday the 6th mothers such as myself have our own day of recognition.  It is International Bereaved Mothers Day.  For all he mothers of baby's lost.  I'm hoping the weather will hold to be able to sail a sky lantern at dusk.  I'm not sure where I'm going to set this off, after looking at the cemetery its going to have to be very calm to not have to worry about the trees.  Hopefully it will work out well otherwise maybe at dawn.  Mothers day is always a bittersweet holiday because of Zachary.  But I also have to think of my other beautiful children.  Its wonderful to know now that on the 6th I can concentrate on Zachary and on the 13th celebrate with the other kids.  For my first mothers day after Zachary, Thomas gave me a ring it says MOM on the outside and has a row of diamonds on top.  It is now welded to my new wedding ring.  It has been my constant ring.  Its nothing extravagant but it means so much to me.  Possibly even more then the emerald ring he also gave me that day.  Its just a constant reminder of all we went through to get to that day, to today and tomorrow and so on........

The Christmas letter is done!!!!

I finally got the christmas letter done.  We have had sick kids, migraines abound for me and a lack of Christmas Spirit.  It is finally snowing today making it feel like Christmas now that it is the New Year.

By the time this reaches you we will already be into 2012! I can't believe its already a new year. The weather here has been so depressing with no snow it was so difficult to fine the Christmas spirit. So on to our year.

On January 25, Little Linnea turned 11. She went away from home for the first time. She went with her 5th grade class to Sandstone Minnesota to a environmental learning center. She had 3 days and 2 nights of (roughing it) sleeping in dorms and learning about Minnesota. She also learned some survival skills that she has tried out a few times just for fun. She finished up Girl Scouts in May and completed 5th grade. In July we had major surgery. She had her tonsils and adenoids removed. Surgery went just fine, recovery was a little rougher. After a week and a half we found out she was allergic to the codeine in the pain meds. After getting her off the medicine we had a complete turn around. She has not had any problems with the recurring strep, sinus infections, and tonsillitis that we had for the last few years. In September we started 6th grade. She continues to grow into a wonderful young lady.

Superhero Ulrik has continued to be busy. He is our residential LEGOMANIAC. He builds, builds, and builds. He loves to play outside in the fort and demon ride on his bicycle. He finished 1st grade and this fall he started in a combined 2nd and 3rd grade class. He loves the challenges and independent learning involved in the class. Ulrik found a new summer pastime with Uncle Scott and that is semi tractor pulls. They enjoyed quite a few this summer. For his 8th birthday on September 10th they went with Thomas to the last pull of the season. The boys had a blast! Ulrik was the recipient of a G.I.Joe cake made by me, everyone was very impressed. Ulrik also had his tonsils out in July (FINALLY!!) . He needed to be duct taped to a chair by about the 4th day as he was rip roaring and ready to go. Thankfully we haven't had any problems with sleep apnea or strep since. He continues to be all boy!

And then there is little Annika Louise she has grown so much this last year. She loves, loves, loves to chat. She has had fairly good health this year. We had the stomach flu in January and again over Christmas. We had our first bladder infection after the doctor tried taking her off her daily antibiotics. Needless to say we are back on them! At her kidney appointment in August the urologist says her reflux continues to improve and we will just keep monitoring. Potty training has been the biggest challenge. Annika turned 3 on August 23. I made her a Princess Tiana cake that she just loved, the bonus was getting her own Barbie when the cake was done. In October we started going to ECFE for some outside interaction. She made lots of new friends and can't wait to go back in February. Annika spends alot of time playing with her baby dolls, and now her kitchen. She continues to be a redheaded little firecracker with the temper to match. But we sure do love her.

Thomas and I continue with our daily tasks. He at Xcel Energy and me in my position as Home Executive. In January we celebrated our 12th anniversary with a nice

dinner out. In February we spent a day playing Mr. and Mrs. Pancake at the IRIS annual pancake breakfast. Thomas is wonderful in his ability to keep things moving smoothly and swiftly so we can do our part to make it a success. In March Thomas went to Alaska to visit his best friend (brother) Bracy before he deployed to Afghanistan. While there we received news that his older brother James had passed away suddenly in Ohio. He was fortunate to be with family since we were unable to mourn together. Thomas spent alot of time at work this summer. Most of our storms hit on Friday and Saturday nights which lead to alot of long weeknights. In September things slowed down so we were able to enjoy a family weekend together and away from home. We spent a weekend in Rochester. We took the kids to a truck show Saturday morning and they learned alot about the different semis out there. Our favorite of course is a Peterbilt. We then had pool time and relaxed. Thomas, Ulrik and my brother went to the truck pull and the girls and I meet my Mom and sister at my cousins wedding in Lanesboro. It was a beautiful day for a outdoor wedding. The girls had a great time. On Halloween we had another death in the family as my Uncle Bob passed away. I've continued to volunteer as my time allows for IRIS. I've also started dabbling in cake decorating. I do enjoy the reactions from the receiver of the cake. This January I already have 3 requests for cakes. I continue to watch my sisters kids Matthew and Piper. Matthew is 7 and Piper is 18 months. Annika and Piper keep me on my toes all day! I do so enjoy being able to watch everyone grow up.

We all had a wonderful Christmas as Annika was in recovery mood from a stomach bug, Ulrik had also made a complete recovery from whatever had struck him a few days earlier. Santa Claus was nice and brought something everyone had asked for. The kids agreed that without snow it just didn't seem quite like Christmas. We are finishing enjoying a couple of quiet days with just us. My sister took vacation the last week of December which has allowed for some much needed sleep for me, my day typically starts at 5am and doesn't stop till about 10pm, and the kids the ability to just hang out and not have to share me with anyone.

We hope this finds everyone in good health and spirits. We wish everyone a Happy New Year and belated Merry Christmas!

Many Blessings,

Libby, Thomas, Linnea, Ulrik and Annika Schmit

and Angels Zachary & Bailey

　

　

　

I thought about you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have is memories and a picture in a frame. You're a keepsake in which I will never part.

God has you in his keeping;

I have you in my heart.

Merry Christmas to all our special Angels.