Bless our homes with Joy

In a whirlwind trip to beat a snow storm, we took a much needed trip to a Denver hospital to visit our friend Joy and to stay overnight with cousin Lea and her family.

It was a total mom coordinated kind of trip, and this is a total mom kind of recap of the event. After finding doggy day and night care, as well as packing suitcases, snow pants and snacks, we were ready to hit the road.

We took the kids out of school early yesterday, and headed south, hitting every possible amount of bumper to bumper stop-n-go traffic as we possibly could, reaching Swedish Medical about supper time, when all the kids were starving. As we reviewed the rules of hospital etiquette, jumped up and down to get the car wiggles out, we thoroughly scrubbed our faces and hands up to our elbows.  No germs were going in that room on our behalf!  Now it was off to find Roy and Joy.

Upon entering the cramped but clean upper floor room, we adjusted our eyes to the lady at the center of all the attention. And what a blessed sight indeed! In our brief visit with our dear friends, and truly my children's adopted grandparents, we shared some hugs and a few quiet smiles. Still a long way from recovery and an even a longer way from home, Joy is as wonderful as she always is. Her hearing is impeccable, a gift only a former school teacher can hold on to.  There was little laughter in the room until Lars, in all his glory and to my complete horror, said, "Mommy,  Joy looks like an elephant".  In my humiliation, I look up at her to see if she heard him. Oh yes, she did. And she actually started laughing. Finally! ! In that shoulder bobbing, chest heaving way that only Joy laughs. Only without any sound whatsoever.

When it was time to go, we took Roy with us to find food. Joy badly wanted to go and I promised her pizza as soon as she could stand up and chase us! We took Roy to the parking garage, only to lead him on a wild goose chase to find a lost car and then watch him miss a step down and crash to the ground in a barrel roll. At least we were at a hospital.

If you love pizza and you're ever in Denver,  Rico's on Broadway is the place to be. Literally a hole in the wall, this family owned Italian eatery with exposed brick, tons of character and wall photos to prove the town of Rico really exists, is top notch. Regardless of the fact that I was hungry enough to eat my own shoe leather, it was the best pizza I've had since The Villa closed in Lapeer. (Dad, I'm not joking-a must try! ) I'm still drooling. Unfortunately for me, I spent more time cutting up pizza pieces, blowing on them to cool them off, and keeping kids who had been well behaved all day, occupied.  I was only just beginning dinner when everybody else was ready to go. I was not too proud to take a child in each hand to cross the parking lot with a hot piece of pizza still hanging out of my mouth.

After dropping Roy back off at the hospital, we headed north to cousin Lea's is house for the night, arriving well after bedtime & well ahead of the blizzard.   The kids got settled in and we were all quickly asleep.  Until midnight.  When Elia woke up, coughing and crying and wheezing like a smoker. Three hours later, everybody was back to sleep and three hours later... good morning Lars!

After playing with baby Caleb and a hot and hearty breakfast, we were repacking the car. I picked up the trash and of all the lids to pop off, it was of course the one that was half full of melted chocolate milkshake. All over the floor and blankets it went. (This just hours before a bump in the road dropped Lars cherry slushy all over the backseat & floor). No, I didn't just detail the car on Friday morning.  Nope. Not me.

Less than 24 after our departure, we were back home, unpacking the car, starting laundry and pulling out the carpet cleaner to steam clean the diarrhea Sprite left for me all over the upstairs carpet.  Love my Bissell.  Had no idea she was a nervous dog.

In closing, an anecdotal that I shared with Joy around thanksgiving time;

Every Sunday in church, Pastor says a set of prayers and one line is the same every single week, ending with the words. "...and bless our homes with joy."  Roy and Joy sit at the end of our pew so I always look over at her when he says that. I told her at Thanksgiving that every time I hear those words I think how much my home and my life IS blessed with her, Joy. She laughed her laugh and said, "Oh Sarah!"And then she squeezed my hand and smiled. 

Yes, Lord, bless our homes with Joy.

Christmas concert night

Our year in pictures

 Read the letter, skim a few sentences, or just enjoy the pictures!

~2014 in a Reader's Digest sort of way~

Elia, Lars & Eden swimming at Bridgeport State Lakes in July

Lars hangs on tight to his dad's trophy dash winner plaque in June

Elia, Eden & Lars after landing in Detroit in June

Lars loves to pull Elia in his trailer

Grandma Kenny shows Elia & Lars how to card wool and spin it into thread (like Rapunzel only without the long hair)!

Lars, Elia & Eden all dressed in Denver

Eden meets Big Boy himself, in Bay City

We have the best cousins anywhere!

Aunt Meegan and Eden share a smile at Grandma Kraft's house in Marlette June.

Sarah and Meegan grab the bikes and hit the trails around Lapeer!

Eden, Mataya, McKenzie with Josh, Ariya & Ziana

Grandpa and the girls play Barbies (he never grew up)

The now infamous 1.25" shank screw nail

She's seen better days

Lars in is Cub Scout uniform and pack wagon

All smiles on the morning of discharge!

The girls share a smile at Seybolt Park

Allen all Rev'd Up and ready to race!

The Year of Our Lord 2014 brought some interesting moments in the Strawn household, but here we are at December, already looking at another Christmas. A long, cold winter finally melted into spring and the kids enjoyed their new backyard swing set/play house that Allen put together for them.  I liked the picnic table underneath it that would surely prove to bring about many summer picnics, in which the dog could clean up the mess!

 In March my mom came out to stay with the kids so I could attend an EMS conference in Norfolk, far off in eastern Nebraska.  She stayed a week and helped Allen keep things running smoothly, while I ate out every night of the week and ended my day in a quiet hot tub.

 In April, Allen's Grandfather died and he flew back to Michigan, where he was able to reconnect with some cousins of old and spend time with family.  At Easter, we adopted a Pomapoo puppy and named her Sprite.  She pretty much follows me wherever I go, including the bathroom, which I find somewhat intrusive.  She is a lot of energy and is a real snuggle hog.

Not to be finished with his travels, Allen headed to New York City for a joint pastor's conference in May.  I'm not sure who was more excited for the trip, him or the kids (who stayed home and went to school, but talked about it like it was a magical journey to "the place where James and the Giant Peach landed").  The kids ended school upon his return and jumped right into swimming lessons. 

In June, we hit the road to Denver and the kids and I flew to Detroit, where we spent two weeks vacation with the cousins in Michigan.  It's always so fun to watch the kids interact with each other, I think because they are similar ages in two different worlds of life. We were able to meet and spend a little time with Meegan's new beau, Brian. He took an extended lunch one night at work and took Meegan and I to Greektown in Detroit, driving along Lake St. Clair Shores, all while I thought my children were asleep at Grandma and Papa's house.  We stayed out all night like careless teenagers, only to find out Elia was up all night, sick. I spent the next day in the Emergency Room with her, because she (again) had a horrible case of hives that I just couldn't get under control and breathing difficulty was starting to set in. As un-fun as it was, the air conditioning was so efficient, I needed a sweater and long pants to stop from shivering. Meegan took the other two putt putt golfing, which relaxed me a bit.  Mom and Dad and McKenzie and the kids and I also spent a much more fun day at Greenfield Village, seeing my cousin, Jac, who works there, in the process.  Lars was thrilled with the Roundhouse and train rides, Eden liked the industrial equipment playground and Elia enjoyed the Carousel (as did Grandma)!  Allen joined us at the last for Chad's 40th Birthday party and we flew back home without Eden.  Six weeks later, I was one anxious Momma waiting at Denver airport for her to come home!  She had a great time with her cousins and Aunts and Uncle.  

The kids started school mid August, Eden to 3rd Grade and Lars to 1st.  Both are doing well, Eden is very much a procrastinator and will wait until THEE VERY LAST night to get an assignment done, stressing me out to the end of my stomach's knot and Lars has to get his homework done the minute he gets home from school, even before taking his coat and backpack off.  I hope Elia falls somewhere in the middle.  She is now four years old and is in her last year of Headstart Preschool.  I don't even want to think about that, really.

Eden is again a Brownie Girl Scout with Mom as the Leader and we do have fun together at her meetings.  Lars joined Cub Scouts and Allen goes with him to his pack meetings.  He sold popcorn this year and attended the Chuck Wagon Skills day, where he got to shoot a BB Gun with no precision and throw tomahawks at a target.  He even earned a patch and was very proud!

Allen's parents came out for a week long visit in September, arriving in time for the shoot out at the race track to see Allen race.  They haven't been out here since his mother's stroke three years ago, so it was nice to see them out and going again.  The kids and I also went to Denver for Cousin Lea's first baby (Caleb John K)'s baptism.  We had such a great time with Aunt Karen, Uncle John and the whole Karavais and Vega families.  It was a short but wonderful visit, and well worth the drive!  Didn't know then that I'd be making the Denver trip again so soon!

In October, Elia swallowed "The Nail".  The story was played out in several days with numerous photo updates over Facebook and I won't bore you with the details, but the Reader's Digest version is this:  Elia came running down the hall from the bathroom to the kitchen where I was doing dishes and with a look of sheer panic on her face said, "Mom, I just swallowed a nail!"  To which I said, "I am leaving in 15 minutes for a very important meeting and I don't have time for this.  You did not swallow a nail, now go get into the bathtub RIGHT NOW!"  To which she insisted she indeed swallowed a nail.  We looked for "the nail" for about 20 minutes while Allen panicked and I muttered the improbability of swallowing a nail that size (I'd seen her holding it at supper) without her mouth bleeding or coughing up blood or seeing any other sort of trauma to her throat.  When "the nail" wouldn't turn up,  I walked her to the ER with not even my handbag or wallet (Oh wait, those got stolen out of my car the week before, but I digress...)  As I chatted light-heartedly with the nurse on duty, Elia totted off down the hall with the X-Ray tech.  A few minutes later, I wandered down to the X-Ray room just as the tech looked at me and said, "it's positive".  I was stunned.  I looked over at the picture and sure enough, a nail in her gut.  In no time at all, we were looking at  trip to Rocky Mountian Children's in Denver, over 3 hours away. I called the guys and told them I wouldn't be at the meeting, sent a photo to Allen and power walked home to pack an overnight bag.  I grabbed some cash and fully expected to be home by supper tomorrow.  WRONG!  Five days and a change-of-plans-for-homecoming-weekend later, Allen and the two older kids met Cousin Lea and I in Sterling, CO for supper and a ride home.  Lea lives about 20 minutes from the hospital and kept me sane by bringing me clothes, her new baby, and a real live adult for conversation.

Lars in a forever world of construction trucks

Since then, life has been back to normal for us.  I am still running on the ambulance and was promoted to EMS Administrator this past fall.  Allen is finishing up his 8th year as Pastor of St. Paul's here in Bridgeport and the kids are looking forward to Phase One of the New School being finished over Christmas break, where they will be moving into a new building when they return in January.  Lars has gotten a couple private tours of the new school, and is comfortable knowing where his classroom and bathrooms are.  Eden will see it with her class on Friday.

We hope this finds you well and that you can enjoy the season of Advent and the Birth of Jesus Christ!

Cowgirls in the making!

We live in Western Nebraska, we can't help the wardrobe

Sprite

Eden is Nine

Happy Labor Day to me, I guess. Eden turned 9 on Friday. After taking rice krispie treats and drink boxes to school, she had a friend come home from school with her, go to the racetrack, and sleep over.

On Saturday, the two girls rode bikes all over town, collecting more friends, and by 4:00 in the afternoon, had most of the children on our street and several other friends over for what was supposed to be swimming in the backyard and running through the sprinkler. However, for about the second time all summer, it decided to rain. It clouded up quite suddenly and rain it did!  In a matter of about 15 minutes, we had a half inch of rain to contend with.  I quickly ran downstairs, cleaned up Lars' train set, and pulled out board games, panicking a little that the party might go to pot and everybody would be bored. How wrong I was.  Before I knew it, the kids were bare feet running through the puddles and into the flooded streets. They played for over an hour in the muddy water, laughing and splashing and giggling.

When it was finally time for presents, lasagna & cake and ice cream, they walked back to our house, wrapped in warm towels and borrowed sweatpants, and settled in for the evening. Eden had a great time, and the adults finally showed up to relieve me, as well.

Happy birthday Eden, love you lots!!