Friday, July 26, 2013

Back to the ship

We were packing Andrew up yesterday to go on the ship for a short job...he got the call in the morning and left in the afternoon.  The job is about a week long based out of Long Beach, California.
 
 
 Ruthanna was trying to fit in the suitcase.
 Ruthanna and Andrew before we left for town to do some fun things before the airport.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Precious 11 month old

 Our precious Ruthanna, who is growing up so quickly
  A month away from being a year old...walking along everything, using only one hand

Loves to crawl fast when there's places to go
We love you baby girl!  :)

Friday, July 12, 2013

Yesterday....

 
Yesterday I spent the day in Fargo visiting my friend who is currently undergoing chemotherapy for her non-hodgkins cancer. She was currently diagnosed within the last few weeks...when at a regular checkup for her the beginning of May she brought up her leg cramps, labs started to determine what the problem was.  After doing labs and tests, a month later, the diagnosis came in....the next week, chemo started.  Yesterday was Sarah's second round of treatment.  She has a total of 9 treatments-- going throughout now and October.
 I met Sarah my freshman year of college.  I got my letter in the mail with the name of my roommate for the fall. We started writing letters and a few weeks later we stood facing each other in our dorm room meeting for the first time.  I remember something that stood out about Sarah was our first meal eating at the cafeteria. We sat down and Sarah bowed her head to pray. It stood out because that wasn't something seen very often at a public university.  I was impressed... We spent that year going through our first year of college together and figuring out our classes and the college routine...those 4 or 5 years went by and I applied for my first teaching job in 2009..I starting teaching in Rosholt and Sarah happened to be going to college 30 miles away for another year.  My second week of school ended on Labor Day and she came to visit for the weekend.  I briefly told her about Andrew, who I had seen 2 days earlier when he came to see me for the first time. I told her that I just "might" like this guy.  She smiled as I told her about him.....  :)  She spent the weekend helping me with teacher things: cutting out things, correcting papers, bulletin board projects, etc..  Then a year later, she graduated from college and moved onto Jamestown to start her career as a nurse.  We have emailed and written letters back and forth with each other since then...

Whenever a holiday or birthday comes- Sarah is one to remember it.  When Ruthanna was born last August, a box came a week later with a beautiful crocheted blanket and nicely sew blankets and burp rags...everytime we bring those out to use, I think of her.

So, in May, an email came and said how she was doctoring and having CT scans and PET scans of different things. Ever so positively she said "it looks like it might be cancer."  The last 2 months of all the tests, scans, labs, etc, Sarah has remained positive with everything that has come her way.  I remember one phone call early on and her saying "well a good thing is it will strengthen our faith." 

So, yesterday I wanted to venture up and sit with her during chemotherapy. I was in the waiting room when she came out of her checkup and was greeted with a big smile on her face.  The day was great and we made up for lost time...I hadn't realized it had been 2  1/2  years since I had seen her.   We spent the day visiting from 8-5 at the hospital and then finished the day with eating at the mall and a little shopping before we parted ways.

To follow her story, go to caring bridge and type saraheppen as the site.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

What we've been up to


 The end of June found us getting busy in the garden with lots of weeds to pull. We are getting vegetables to eat now and enjoying the garden foods.
 At the end of June we went to a wedding from someone in our church. Here we are with Ruthanna standing on the dock.

 The next night we went to a rodeo with some friends.  It's a good place to catch up on a nice cool night.


 Myself, along with Ruthanna and my niece Kayla on the empty wagon when they were hauling hay home last week.
 Going down the road to get more hay with the horses-- Kayla and Andrew

 Ruthanna and I would bring out treats everytime they came through the yard. It was a hot day hauling bales.
 Ruthanna loves her baths!  10 months old
 We celebrated the 4th by watching fireworks.  A little girl who was sitting next to us, came over and played with Ruthanna awhile. Ruthanna loved the attention and playmate for an hour.

 Andrew's mom cleaning out the fridge when they were here last week. Ruthanna was happy to be able to finally get into the fridge and dig around.

 4 generation picture
 We went camping earlier this week. While there, we took a hike in the woods. Ruthanna rode in the backpack and took a nap.



2 cousins riding along---   10 months and 2 1/2 years old

 We went for a swim in the lake that was nearby. While there, Marty was buried in the sand. Ruthanna loved playing in the sand.

 Eating watermelon
 Our cabin
 On the way home, we stopped at the Falls Park.  Here's Ruthanna and I-- such a smiley baby.
The three of us