Katie Comes To Visit

Josh came home for the weekend and brought his girlfriend Katie home with him. Katie is a senior in high school and lives about 15 minutes from Crown College. They met through a mutual friend. We were really glad to finally get to meet her. We met them at Hickory Park for dinner Friday night as they came through Ames. Then Saturday we had Zach, Andrea, and the kids over for dinner along with Josh and Katie. Josh has told us for several months now how awesome Katie is and he is right. She is a very sweet girl. We are looking forward to getting to know her better. It was a good weekend!

A New Diagnoses

Zach has been itching with a rash for more than 6 months. After several trips to the family doctor and multiple rounds of prednisone, antihistamines, and creams, we were referred to a dermatologist. In January, Zach was diagnosed with Atopic Dermatitis and given more ointments and lotions to use. As soon as the prednisone wore off though, he was right back to itching. We went back to see the dermatologist again today. This time he did scrapings of the rash and now thinks that it is scabies - which is what Zach suspected last summer when this all started!! Hopefully the new meds will work and this itchy nightmare will be over soon.

My New Book

Over the last 21 years, Jeff has gotten pretty good at picking out gifts for me. He knows that I don't really care for fancy perfumes or expensive jewelry . While I do enjoy getting flowers on occasion, the inflated cost of them on Valentine's Day is just crazy. Instead, he thinks outside of the box. This year he purchased a gift for me that he knew that I would love - a book called Street Gang.

Now this is not a book about inner city thugs, but a book of the complete history of Sesame Street. I've always loved Sesame Street, from my preschool years of watching it on the old black and white T.V. until today. I still occasionally stop to watch it for a few moments if I see it on when I'm flipping through the channels. If I ever get to New York City, I definitely want to visit the set of Sesame Street!

A Road Trip

This past week Jeff and I were able to take a road trip. We started out in Kansas City the first night where Jeff had a couple of meetings with some district pastors. We stayed at the Drury Hotel (I highly recommend it) courtesy of MidAmerica District (thank you!!).

The next day we drove on to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where my grandparents live. They are both 86 years old. We had this visit arranged since Christmas, but God really had perfect timing. Grandpa fell a week before our trip and had to have surgery to repair the broken bone in his arm. Because of this fall, they had to be moved immediately from their apartment to assisted living. It was great being able to go see them during this transition. Jeff and I were able to take a few of their things from their apartment to their new room to help make it more homey.

We really enjoyed seeing Grandma and Grandpa, the time away with each other, AND the 70 degree days!!

Boone Fire

Yesterday morning we woke to discover that a fire had started in one of the downtown buildings during the night. Fire departments from Boone and three other towns spent more than 10 hours working to get the fire under control. The firemen struggled with extremely cold temperatures that caused the water and over-spray to form freezing fog and ice on everything, including themselves. The firemen were able to do a quick search of the building when first called to the scene, but were forced to leave the building by ceilings, floors, and stairways collapsing. There was one person that was unaccounted for that they later found had not made it out.

This was the second day of excitement this week for Jeff and I. Sunday morning we woke to three ambulances and three police cars in front of our house. We later learned that our neighbor died, she was only like 50 or something. Life is fleeting. We can assume that we will live a long life, but you never know when you will die or be struck with major tragedy, like a fire. I am so thankful that I have Jesus as my Savior. If I was to die right now, I know, without any hesitations, that I will be in heaven with my Lord. I also know that should tragedy strike and I live, I am one of God's precious children and no matter what happens, He is with me. Have you made Jesus the Lord of your life??