Fathers Day

We headed down to Lethbridge for the weekend to celebrate Fathers Day! It was such a relaxing time and was nice to get away from the packing that we've been doing here. We went to church on Sunday morning but didn't last long as they don't provide childcare for the service we went to and the lights were off so the kids couldn't color. They also have 'theatre seating' which is hard for any child to sit in, let alone one with low muscle tone. It just wasn't working...so we left.

As a kid, I didn't love Fathers Day. My dad chose to leave our family when I was quite young. My Fathers Day activities always had to be 'altered'. I couldn't make them for my dad. I had to have a 'special' one made that could be given to an uncle or grandpa. Fortunately, I had the BEST Grandfather in the world and some pretty great Uncles too!! My Grandpa really played the Father-figure roll in my life. I miss him so deeply. He was so full of wisdom. I want to crawl up on his lap somedays and rest my head on his belly, I want to comb his hair and give him a new hairstyle, I want to be the first one to answer the door so I can be his 'helper' for the day, I want to ask him so many questions, I want to have him pray with me, I want to hear him say that 'He loves me, Is proud of me, and is praying for me", I want to listen to his sermons and learn.........

We left church on Sunday and went to pay a little tribute to the man that has had the greatest influence in my life.

Hallie is often still asking about Grandpa Nikkel. I wasn't sure how she would respond to an environment such as this. She is such a soft soul. She could have sat there for hours with me asking questions, reminiscing, crying and praying. The other two...not so much! There is no photos of what they were trying to do. So, our time there was short but well worth it.

Thanks Chris for taking me there!!

Praise God from Whom all Blessing Flow!!

Our sweet little Raya will be 4 years old in less than 12 hours. Words can't describe her. I can't imagine life without her. She is a true blessing and miracle and adds so much joy to our lives. She has come so far in the past few years. I just love love love her! It's hard to look at her and not smile. I'm looking forward to celebrating her life with friends and family on Sunday!

Lately I've been thinking alot about how far she has to go and I need to always remember how far she's already come!!

then

NOW!!

A bit about everything...

First I'll start with the house.... The people you have bought our place had a home inspection done on Saturday. We didn't hear back until Sunday just as we were walking into church. Our realtor called and said that the other Realtor had just called him to advise that both bathrooms were filled with mold and needed to be completely gutted and redone. She had apparently yelled at him for 7 minutes about how horrible it was that we were trying to sell something that was a health hazard...blah blah blah. Anyways, I tried really hard not to let it take away from my worship time and I did pretty well. Chris on the other hand was a mess. We rushed home after church to read the report that she had emailed. It was crazy. The report simply stated "potential signs of mold, however no mold was detected or looked for". WHAT?!! you want us to replace both bathrooms completly? I think not! Anyways, Chris took out a panel in our crawl space which allowed him to see into the basement by the tub (between the walls) and there was NOTHING. We took off both toilets and lifted up the lino...NOTHING! So, we told them to "take it or leave it" but we arent doing anything. If there was mold, we'd be MORE than happy to take care of it. I don't want to sell something harmful, nor continue to live in it for another 6 weeks but really, there is not a sign of it! Other than stained lino that was like that when we moved in 5 years ago. Which is a stain from the glue that the developer used. We will see what happens. They have until Thursday to decide. If they say okay, we move forward, if they say no, then we slap it back up on the market.

We had Raya's follow up appt for her blood work yesterday. I was feeling nervous but at peace at the same time. I knew that whatever the Dr had to say didn't change anything, and if it did, it would be for the better because we could just "face it straight on and deal with it". The more I know about her, the better I can parent her and guide her and encourage her. We didn't find out much except for that she definately has 'something'. Her CK enzyme level is REALLY high. Normal would be between 0-170 and hers is 710. So, now we are waiting on the neurology clinic again.

Church.....(sigh), I love our church. Not the building, the people. It's awesome. I can learn, serve, encourage, cry, laugh, sing, build relationships, worship...... All in the same place! Over the past couple of months I've developed a friendship with someone that I've been wanting to get to know since we started there. I've had a 'gap' in my 'friend portfolio' (haha) and she fills it. She is seriously one of the most amazing women I've ever met. Kind of like my Grandpa is the most amazing man I've ever met. And it's funny, because she's starting to fill the void that has been in my life since my Grandpa passed away. She faithfully prays for me and my family, she encourages me, she tells me great stories from when she was young, she reminds me that the power of prayer is our biggest tool in daily living, she gives me great hugs, she adores me for who I am and I get to listen as she talks about the days when she was a young mom trying to guide and raise her children in this world, how her and her husband met, and started dating, and how she got out of the vehicle and slammed the door when "he tried to get fresh" with her after only a few dates.