A Long Day

This has been a long day.

It started last night about 8:30pm. Daniel had a seizure. He didn't take his medication on Tuesday night (which I didn't realize till the next day). In the past when we've forgotten his meds, the next night he wakes up with tingley lips. It lasts a couple minutes and a cool damp cloth seems to sooth his lips.

Well last night, he woke up, managed to walk out to the living room while having his seizure. We immediately laid him on the couch on his side. We didn't want any choking to occur. His seizure only lasted about 2 minutes, but this is the worst it's been since his very first one 4 years ago. After his seizure finished he fell fast asleep & was fine for the rest of the night.

Mentally, we knew he was fine, but it really took an emotional toll on us. This morning I let his teacher know - just in case, but all was fine.

Then...the next part of our day happened! I was visiting with one of the moms after the kids went into class & our kids were playing. Of course, I was babysitting today & had the 4yr old boy with me. Well the kids found a frozen puddle & were having fun with the ice.

Becca had pulled her arms out of her coat sleeves & tucked them inside her zipped up coat (kind of like a mummy). That spells disaster but my brain was still foggy from Daniel's seizure last night, so I didn't think to say anything. Soon enough, she slipped and fell face forward onto the ice...with no hands to break her fall (they were safely tucked inside her coat!).

Her tooth cut right through her top lip. I quickly took her inside to the school office & the principal came & helped. I couldn't think of what to do. It's unusual for me, normally I jump into action. But I think my head was still too full with last night's events. After cleaning Becca up & seeing that the bleeding was stopping, I took her to a walk-in clinic. The doctor there sent us to the Emergency at the hospital because he didn't have the necessary thread for stitching - if it was going to be neccesary.

To make a longer story shorter, the doctor at the hospital decided that Becca did not need stitches. The cut was closed up enough that the doctor said he couldn't do anything better to help it. Becca (& I) were very happy to hear that!

Jeremy was able to get off work early & met me at the hospital. He took my babysitting boy home so I could focus better on Becca.

The kids are in bed right now, both sleeping. Jeremy & I are waiting to see if Daniel will have another seizure or be fine. If he's going to have one, it's about 10-15 minutes after he goes to sleep. At this point, it looks like he's going to be fine. So, we're praying that our long "day" will soon be done!

One last thing, while Jeremy was praying today, the song "God is good, all the time..." kept running through his head. He felt that God was asking him if he really believed that. Yes, we KNOW that God IS good...ALL the time!

Weigh In Wednesday

Well, Jeremy's been eating much healthier this past week & really focusing on his diet. He has lessened the amount of coffee he drinks and has been enjoying his variety of teas.

Last night he went to a movie with a friend and enjoyed some diet pop & popcorn, which unfortunately didn't help with his weigh in this morning. The scale said 242lbs.

Okay, now the truth is coming out. Jeremy just told me that he's been enjoying a "few" hedgehog chocolates at work (Christmas leftovers!), etc. So in some ways he's been eating better but overall it wasn't enough to make a dent in his weight loss. Each day is a new day...one day at a time...

Here's to next week!

Catch Up - Again!

I've been going through our more recent photos and wanting to post them, so here goes!

One Saturday in December, I was working so Jeremy took Daniel & Becca along with another friend and two of his kids to the Surrey Museum to see the Lego exhibit that was showing. It was SO neat! The kids (both young & old) had a great time, looking at all the intricate Lego displays. There was also an area where the kids could build their own creations with Lego. Here are just a few of the pictures Jeremy took. Oh and by the way, there will be a Lego exhibit at Science World in Vancouver, BC. Click here for more info.

This is a picture of Jeremy & I at his work Christmas banquet in December.
Here is Becca all bundled up & ready to play in the first snowfall in December (Daniel was still in school)! It was quite a process but she didn't complain and actually stayed outside by herself for quite sometime!

And finally, here are a couple pictures Daniel took.

The teddy bear is Becca's and is very special to her. In early December I took Becca to the firehall for a car seat safety check. We have been waiting for her to weigh 40lbs so she could get out of the Stage 2 seat & go into a booster seat but she wasn't quite at the required weight. One day I noticed that her shoulders were above hole for the straps so I booked us an appointment. Rebecca has been quite anxious to advance to a booster seat so she was all smiles when the fireman said she was tall enough for a booster! Although she didn't quite weigh enough, her height was sufficient. During the inspection, the fireman gave Rebecca this teddy bear. She slept with it every night after dressing it & putting a little blanket on it. Needless to say I was very shocked when she allowed Grandma & Grandpa (my parents) to sleep with it when they were here after Christmas! But no matter how much Grandpa asked, Becca wouldn't let them take the teddy bear home with them! It was so sweet!

The stuffed border collie dog is Daniel's first and only Webkin. While we were on our holidays in November we got the kids each a Webkin (another very special item).

Well, that's it for now. I have more pictures to post but I will post them separately.

Back to the Basics

Christmas has come and gone, along with all the celebrations (aka "lots of eating"). Jeremy is ready to get back to the basics with losing weight.

Yesterday he weighed himself. It wasn't a very pleasant number but was somewhat expected. He weighed 245lbs. The past couple days he has been eating healthier, making conscious decisions about what & how much he's eating. He weighed himself this morning and is already down to 242lbs. We know that the first week or two of starting a diet (or starting again) always sees big weight loss results, so Jeremy's hoping that by next week he will be under 240lbs.

We'll keep you posted each week on his continued journey.

Treasure

It's been quite some time since I've shared my thoughts about what I'm learning from God, but today I feel compelled to share.

I've been processing some things lately (and still am to be honest), but I think I've been getting somewhere with the processing. Yesterday's sermon certainly helped. Our pastor is working through Matthew right now and spoke on Matthew 6:19-21 yesterday.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where our treasure is, there your heart will be also" Matthew 6:19-21.

These verses really struck a chord in my heart. There are some areas in my life where I realized I am not focussing on the eternal treasure like I should. Thankfully, God is patient and gracious. I know that as I wrestle through these areas and allow God to refocus my attention towards Him that He will not let me down. I am confident that God, who has begun a good work in me, will continue to work in me until the day of completion, the day of Jesus' return (Philippians 1:6).

Thankful Thursday - UPDATED

Here it is January 3rd, 2009 and I'm just adding pictures! Jeremy found the cord for transferring pictures from our camera to our computer. So I thought instead of creating a whole new post & having to describe each picture again, I would simply put the pictures in where they should be.

Hope you enjoy!

I have much to be thankful for today! I have been wanting to post all week, but haven't because I want to post pictures with it. I can't seem to find the USB cord to transfer pictures from our camera to our laptop. So today's post will have to be without photos - Sorry!

November 9th, Jeremy & I celebrated our 12th anniversary! That is the super-condensed version! Despite not having much time today, I will elaborate a little more than that!

Earlier this fall, Jeremy told me that we were going to go away for our anniversary. He didn't want to say anything until a day or two before we left, but because of my new business & my babysitting schedule, he chose to give me fair warning. I knew we were going from Friday night to Tuesday (it was a long weekend because of Remembrance Day), but that's all he told me. I had no idea where we were staying or what we were doing.

This is how the weekend played out for me:

• Nov. 7th, Friday night - babysitting kids go home; we're packed but so are the ferries. We decide to wait & go in the morning.
• Saturday morning (Nov. 8th) we (Jeremy, the kids & I) headed for the ferry
• Saturday noon, we met my parents at Walmart near their home & left the kids & their stuff with them; Jeremy & I left for Victoria for the night to celebrate our anniversary
• Saturday - on the drive to Victoria, Jeremy hands me Envelope #1. Inside it told me where we were staying for the night
• Saturday - mid-afternoon we arrived at our Bed & Breakfast Mountainside Luxury Resort & Spa (turns out it was very close to where my grandparents lived when I was growing up!)

View from our room

The Parliament buildings in Victoria, BC

• I rested a little, showered & got ready for our evening out; Jeremy presents me with Envelope #2 telling me where we were going for dinner; Jeremy puts on his new suit (he looked awesome!)
• We go to Il Terrazzo Ristorante for dinner. We went there on our honeymoon & both LOVED it! If you're ever in Victoria and looking for a great place to eat (it's a little higher priced & not as suitable for children), definately check it out
• Saturday early evening, during dinner - Jeremy presents me with Envelope #3, telling me where we were going after dinner
• Saturday evening after dinner we walk to the Royal Theatre to watch a perfomance of the Victoria Symphony & El Viento Flamenco. It was like Celtic dancing meets Spanish music - excellent!
• After the perfomance we head back to our B&B. The next morning, Jeremy presents me with Envelope #4 telling me where we were going for brunch.
• Nov. 9th (Happy Anniversary) Sunday morning - brunch at Samuel's by the Park
• After brunch, we attempt shopping for a bathing suit for me with no luck
• Sunday afternoon we drive back up Island and meet my parents & the kids at my aunt & uncle's (their kids planned an open house to celebrate my aunt & uncle's 25th anniversay).
• Sunday early evening, my parents & the kids leave early from the open house to drop some things off at another aunt & uncle's; we leave shortly after and meet my parents & the kids at a swimming pool (my parents have time shares in Parksville so they can use the pool there whenever they want for free).


• Sunday evening my parents take us out for dinner in Parksville to celebrate our anniversary
• Sunday evening, dessert time for the kids - the waitress brings the kids their desserts & hands me an envelope!
• Envelope #5 - "Actually, there is one more thing!"
• Inside the envelope:

Dear Leanne,

You are the wife a man can only dream of having. You have walked with me through some of the hardest days of my life and some of the best days of my life. You have encouraged me, loved me, supported me, and embraced my inner being with deep love & great affection. God has blessed me beyond what I deserve by giving me you. What words or actions, pledges or wonders could I ever do to express the deep gratitude of love I have for you, my best friend.

I have worked on this anniversary since January of this year, looking at ways I could show my appreciation for all the work you have done and all the love you have put into our family. I hope our time in Victoria achieved my desire to let you know how much I love you and how much I appreciate all that you do for me and this family.

BUT, as I said, I could never do enough.

I have arranged for us as a family to spend the rest of this week, until Sunday, at Pacific Shores Nature Resort. I told ___ & ___ (babysitting parents) that you are not available this week and the Epicure party you booked for this coming Thursday has been re-booked for the following Thursday. I have arranged with Daniel's school for him to be away as well and have brought his work to be done.

What do I have planned for this week? Nothing. I have talked with my family about us being here and we can visit them through the week and do whatever else we want to do. This is our family vacation in honor of you and all you do for us as a family. Thank you, Leanne."

Needless to say, the tears were flowing down my face! So in the end, what I thought was going to be a weekend on the Island with Jeremy & I gone for one night, turned into us staying for the entire week! I was completely shocked!

That week was SO good! It was the first time we, as a family - Jeremy, the kids & I, had ever had a holiday by ourselves. When we have holiday time, we always go to visit family. Even when we went to Saskatchewan a few years ago, we travelled with my parents. I am so glad they were with us, but there's also something to be said about just being by ourselves with the kids.

We had a great week hanging out just the four of us. We took the kids to a movie, I finally bought a new bathing suit (yeah!), we played tourist, took pictures (sorry, I still can't find the cord), relaxed and visited family. I loved it! Each evening I'd sit in the living room, look out the windows into the darkness, look at the lights reflecting on the ocean water & sigh. It was so perfect.

My Dad - I love this picture!

Daniel's photography

Cousin time

Family Time

It's been good being home again, but I think I could have stayed another week! Maybe next year!

Thank you to everyone who played a part, in some way or another, in planning this surprise for me. I was completely shocked and amazed at all the details that went into it!

To Jeremy, THANK YOU! I don't know how else to say it! You touched my heart in a very deep way & I love you more than I can put into words. I am SO thankful that God brought us together. Two people who grew up on the Island, with common friends, going to the same church camp at the same time, but not meeting till years later...God's ways are perfect! I love you and I'm looking forward to the next 12 years and beyond!

Catch Up

Jeremy is out for the evening and the kids are in bed. So I thought I'd update a little before starting my movie.

Before Christmas, a friend from Bible school was out for her grandma's funeral so a group of us decided to get together for a little "girl's nite out". Each of us were unit-mates (lived in the same unit) during my first year at Columbia Bible College. The only one missing was my roommate, Elisabeth, who lives in Germany.

First we met at a local restaurant, then because it happened to be the time change ("hey, it's not as late as we thought...!"), we headed back to my place for a little further catching up. Jeremy was there so he got to reminisce with us as we looked through old year books.

Here are a few pictures of our evening.

Me, Laurali, Dolly, Lisa & Misty

Dolly, Lisa & Misty

Me & Laurali