Happy New Year

In just one hour, 2007 will come to an end and we will begin 2008. We are ushering in this new year in the ICU at Children's.

Alan received the call for transplant at 2:30 am December 30th and came out of surgery around 7pm that night. Recovery so far is going pretty well. If you are interested in his updates check out the link in my sidebar called Alan's Medical Updates.

Happy New Year to you all!

Over the River and Through the Woods, Grandma came to us

Ok. This is the last of the What I Did On My Christmas Vacation posts. This blog will soon be back to reporting our regularly scheduled lives. By the end of this post, in fact!

Since Alan could be called to transplant at any day, we can't venture the 3 1/2 hours in the other direction to go visit Grandma & Grandpa Rick. We didn't go see them last year since Alan was just a month old at Christmas, and then soon after that was all the liver stuff, so we haven't been to Grandma's house since... ummm... (calculating).... basically.... a really long time. So anyway... Grandpa had to work so Grandma hit the road on Boxing Day and came to spend a couple of days with us.

First things first, everyone opened presents: Ya think Dale liked what Grandma brought? (Hint: a giant smile followed this gasp)
Sorry for catching Grandma's mouth in a funny position. She was reading the tag. "TO Grandma, from Dale..."
A fun time was had by all. At least those on this end of things. ;)

It was back to just the 4 of us by lunchtime today, and we decided it would be in everyone's best interest if we got out for a while. The week before Christmas and New Year's is notoriously the longest week of the year. Add to that the fact that it is too cold to go outside, and oh yeah... waiting on the call for a transplant and we're about to climb the walls around here!

So after lunch we headed out to go shopping. Greg and I each had a gift card from his mom we were ready to spend, plus some other stuff we wanted to do. I got to go first, and was very pleased with my finds! I was especially glad to be able to throw in a new necklace/earring set.

Greg was next. He got himself a new pair of shoes for work. On the way out of the store we did a little extra shopping for a new workshirt or two for him, and this is where things somehow suddenly went awry.

A whining baby, some miscommunication & assumptions, & those darn waiting-for-transplant nerves joined forces and we ended up ... out-of-sorts with each other. It wasn't enough to be a fight, but it sure was ... something.

We left the store with shoes only, no shirts. We got into the van, still discussing the whole thing, but not really communicating much of anything. You know... going in verbal cirlces.

So the verbal circles turned to real circles as we left the parking lot, still going over the whole shirt/no-shirt debacle while severely miscommunicating about where we were going next. We drove in one huge circle, stopping halfway to park and regroup. In our dumb luck, Alan had gone to sleep while we drove, so we went back to the store and I went in and picked out two shirts. What had been so confusing suddenly turned simple, and I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. Whew! We both felt better after that.

Greg dropped me off at the bookstore and he and the boys did some man-shopping. Alan was even able to get in a decent nap during it all! By the time they picked me back up, we were all getting hungry. We all could have made it home except for Alan, and since we hadn't packed any snacks for him, we decided to get something to eat before heading home. Too bad for us, huh? ;)

We went to CiCi's for a pizza buffet. Alan ate great: he had the topping off 3 slices of sausage pizza! Greg had filled a drink for Alan and I was dripping his water to him through a straw. I noticed he seemed to be extra thirsty because he kept asking for more. Upon closer inspection I found out Alan wasn't drinking water at all. It was Sprite! No wonder he was loving it so much! Lol.

When we first sat down to eat, I said I was not leaving there until I got a cinnamon roll, because they are just that good. The pizza is fine, but the cinnamon rolls? Oh YUM. Just as they were putting out a fresh pan, Dale was ready for dessert. Greg helped him go through the line again and they brought back cinnamon rolls for all of us. Not too much later, I went back for another slice or two of pizza. By the time I had finished my seconds and reached for my cinnamon roll I was shocked to find them all gone! Dale had eaten every one of them! And of course, the pan on the buffet was empty as well. *Sigh* I should have learned from this trip to CiCi's not to put my cinnamon roll on the same plate as Dale's. Eat mine once, shame on you; eat it twice, shame on me! (isn't that how that saying goes?) And even though I had said I wasn't leaving without a cinnamon roll, I decided to go without, because at the rate they were restocking the buffet tonight, we just might still be sitting there waiting!

Alan has turned into a pretty whiny traveler. The ride home tonight was no exception. A little over halfway home I was so surprised to see Dale had fallen asleep! He hardly ever falls asleep in the car! And the stinker Alan made it all the way without sleeping a wink. Here was the state of things in the backseat when we got home:

A rarity, indeed!

Christmas Day, part 2

After lunch we headed over to my parents' house for presents. Before anything, of course, there was more posing for pictures. Not many though. We wouldn't torture Dale like that. ;) Making him wait until after lunch was bad enough! :) Do you like my parents' "tree"? It's fresh greenery, and they bought it at Alan's benefit auction a couple of weeks ago. This is the first time in 30 year they haven't put up a tree, but this was a beautiful substitute!

Dale has really been into puzzles lately and received several as gifts. He's pretty good at them, but this one came apart as it came out of the package, and what 4 yr old has time for jig-saw puzzles in the middle of opening presents?! I mean, really. Good job, Dad. Thanks for pitching in. ;) Opening....

...and.... opened! A really neat game from Dale's aunt, Kristin. You take turns hanging little plastic monkeys on a tree and try not to be the one to make the tree fall down. Think a combination of Barrel of Monkeys, Jenga, & the book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. :)
My mom and me, wearing the gift she made me! I was am so excited! It's only thanks to the blogging world that I know aprons are actually fashionable, especially in the stay-at-home-mom realm. I felt so good when I put it on! Although I did have to laugh at myself wearing an apron and a string of pearls! ;) lol!
Now this, this is the way to spend the last moments of your Christmas Day. We had spent days looking forward to doing just this:

And hopefully we'll be able to get in some more quality time just like this before the break is over. :)

Christma Day, part 1

Okay. Christmas Day.
Alan woke up at 6am and obviously wasn't going back to sleep, so while he was still in a good mood, we actually WOKE UP Dale around 7:00. After looking over all the goodies Santa brought and enjoying them throughout the morning, we had Christmas dinner at our house. We kept it simple and were so glad we did! Ham, sweet potatoes, garlic green beans, macaroni & cheese, and pear-lime jello. Ok, so it doesn't sound simple typed out, but really - it was. We sat Dale at the "kid table". It'll be a lot more fun when he's not the only kid at the kid table, but he didn't seem to mind, lol.
This could be a pic of Alan eating any day of the year, but it really was Christmas dinner.
Us.

Christmas Eve

I have several pics I want to share from our Christmas, so I'm going to divide it into 2 or 3 posts. First up we have my contribution to our Christmas Eve family get-together. This has always been my favorite gathering of the Holidays, at least as far as food is concerned. We have a huge buffet of all types of appetizers, sandwiches, & desserts. In 20+ years, I have never been disappointed! :)
This year, my aunt and her daughter did most of the work, and I only needed to bring one thing. I chose Mini Jello Trifle Bites. Greg said it best: they got more points for presentation than taste. They were good, but not like "oh wow - hand me another one good." Anyway... they were fun. Cousins posing on the stairs:
The four of us:
Dale & Alan. The stairs were a way-fun place for pictures. Don't worry, there is a very strong and very quick pair of Gramps-hands just off camera (or more likely, cropped out of the pic, lol) waiting to catch any unsteady babies. :)
We drove through a major lights display on the way home, and got a picture of Dale with Jumbo Santa just hours before the not-so-jumbo Santa would be making his visit.

For more pics and some fun details of our Christmas, be sure and visit my sister's blog!

Seeing the Christmas Story in a new way

As you may or may not know, 2007 has been a pretty rough year for our family. Just two weeks into the year, Alan was diagnosed with a rare liver disease and underwent a corrective surgery. He was 10 weeks old. We stayed in the hospital 15 days.

Around the same time, Greg began to go through a lot of trials at work. A lot of things weren’t right. “Unfair” seems a rather childish and mild way to put it, but without going into details, “unfair” will have to do.

We often found ourselves wondering “why now?” Wouldn’t just one of these problems be enough?

2007 also brought hardships to our siblings and parents and their families. And because we love them, we hurt along with them, just like they hurt with us. Soon, we found out Alan would need to be listed for transplant. We felt the pain of another blow, and again we wondered “why?” Why do these things keep coming? What will be next?

I say all this, not to play “poor us” or complain, but to share the following thoughts with you. It is a familiar story, but suddenly this week, I saw it in a new way.

Over 2000 years ago, an innocent, unmarried young woman suddenly found her world shaken to its very core. Weeks before she was to be married, she found out she was pregnant. Even though she was completely pure. Oh the shock she must have felt. The fear. Thousands of questions and scenarios doubtlessly played through her mind. But Mary accepted these things. She trusted God. She told Him she was His servant, and then she submitted herself to His will.

But that didn’t mean there wasn’t heartache. And questions. And tears. And strains on relationships.

First there was the relationship between Mary and Joseph. Even if Mary never knew Joseph considered divorcing her, she had to wonder. And fear. And surely it grieved Joseph to think of divorcing Mary. That couldn’t have been an easy decision. His heart must have hurt deep inside him to think of losing Mary, and wondering what she had done. Had she betrayed him?

Then there were relationships with parents, siblings, family, friends & neighbors. Surely there was gossip. And surely Mary & Joseph and their families were aware of it. If you have been pregnant, you know how long 9 months can be. This was the daily life of this couple and their family. There wasn’t a day that went by that some question or decision or wondering came to mind. Of course, at the same time, there was much joy. A baby! Not only a baby, but the Son of God! A visit from an angel! I am certain Mary and Joseph found themselves on a roller-coaster of emotions (although something tells me that’s not how they described it ;) ).

And then, each time they found themselves accepting and dealing and moving forward with obedience, they were dealt another blow.

You must go to Bethlehem. Late in the pregnancy. Long, difficult travel. No mother, aunts, sisters to be there with you for your first birth.

You must stay in a stable. No bed, no comforts.

You must travel to Egypt. Traveling with a young child. Not going back to family, for them to kiss and cuddle your first-born child, of whom you are so proud.

We are used to seeing this story condensed down to a few passages. But this was their life. We hear it and read it, and we know how it all worked out. They didn’t know. They had each day. One day at a time. Without a doubt they struggled: with decisions, with fears, with trusting God through it all. And when history looks back on the story of Jesus’ birth, we don’t see those daily struggles. The conversations. The heartaches. Those are all washed away with time, and what is left to shine through is God’s perfect plan. God knew Mary and Joseph’s hearts. He knew the questions in their minds. And surely he loved them as much as he did his own Son that he had entrusted to them for such a little while. The Son whose life would one day be given for them, and for us. He hurt when they hurt. He provided peace when they had questions, and joy when they had fears.

In 2000 years, God has not changed. When we are mired down and seemingly surrounded by troubles, He provides peace when we have questions, and joy when we have fears. He has provided a Savior who came as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem to offer us eternal life. And to give us an eternal perspective. This life and all its struggles is temporary. Threaded through it all is His perfect plan, and someday, when we are spending eternity with Him in heaven, we will look back, and that is all we will see. That, and the most remarkable, unending love ever known.

The first day of....

Winter??

Well..... the calendar says so, anyway. :)
But not the weather. It was a beautiful warm, sunny, mild day. The high was near 70! It was also Greg's first day home for Christmas break.

I sent Dale to play outside a lot trying to explain that one day soon the days would all be too cold and rainy. This afternoon all 4 of us headed out for a walk. It was so nice!

Supper was late, quick & easy, but that is ok, because I impressed myself with the Best Tuna Patties ever! And since I was so proud of them, I will share with you here. :)

Best Tuna Patties Ever
1 egg, beaten
1 can tuna, drained
1/4 cup prepared bread crumbs
1 tablespoon onion, chopped finely
1/2 celerly stalk, chopped finely
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp real mayonnaise

Mix all ingredients. Heat 2 Tablespoons butter or margarine on medium-high in large skillet. Cook thoroughly, until golden on both sides. Makes about 5 patties. (I also added a little wheat germ in with the bread crumbs, just 'cause I had some. Added great texture!)

Earlier in the day I had talked through the Christmas story with Dale while we were working in the kitchen. So, over our Best Tuna Patties Ever (with macaroni & cheese and fresh veggies w/dip) I asked Dale to tell it to Daddy.

Dale started his telling the the Christmas story with Mary, who was a "very nice woman." One day an angel came to Mary while she was cleaning the table. It was made of wood. The angel told her she was going to have a baby.

Then an angel came to Joseph in a dream and.... "what did he tell him?"

I refreshed Dale's memory: the angel told Joseph it was ok to go ahead and get married to Mary.

Dale picked back up with his story:
"Joseph was excited."

Then they went to Bethlehem and there wasn't any room in the motel. So they met a man that let them stay in his stable (that's like a barn). He was a farmer.

Then it was time for the baby Jesus to be born.

Then Joseph and Mary went to the "store builded close to a tree." They bought a fire truck suit (for the baby). It had a red fire truck on it with the number zero. It had black stripes and at the bottom it said "Be Cool."

Nearby, there were shepherds "watching towards" their sheep. And angel appeared to them to tell them Jesus had been born, and the shepherds went all the way to the farm to worship him.

There you have it.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

And Be Cool.