Grand Babies Come to Visit

Just 36 hours after I got home from my vacation to Pennsylvania, Jeff and I drove to Iowa for a doctor's appointment. We met Zach and Andrea while we were there and picked up our two oldest grandchildren. Bryce is 4 1/2 and Hailey is 2 1/2. They came back to Minnesota and spent seven days visiting us. We had a good time while they were here and enjoyed a trip to the beach, several parks, a very short boat ride, story time at the library, a parade, and a church picnic. We did not keep Khloe this time. I decided that with a baby, it wouldn't be as easy to do all the activities we had planned. Maybe we will take her another time.

I miss Zach and Andrea, but I especially miss the grand kids. It has probably been the hardest part about us moving to Minnesota. I don't want the kids to think of us as the old people that spoil them rotten every few months. I want to make a difference in their lives. I remember the special times that I had with my Grandma and Grandpa who lived just a few blocks from me when I was a kid. My parents were great loving parents and provided for me above and beyond the necessities, but grandparents give something that parents just can't give. It's hard to explain.

Somehow, I need to figure out how to be a grandma more than just a few days or weeks of each year. If anyone is in a similar situation, I would appreciate some feed back as to how you keep up with your relationship with your grand kids.

Family Vacation

Me attempting to get a campfire started.


A couple of years ago when I was visiting my parents and doing some genealogy research on my dad's side of the family in Michigan, we started talking about making a trip to Pennsylvania to research my mom's side. Life got busy and not much more was said about it until early this summer. Mom and Dad started planning a trip and it was perfect timing for me since I'm not working right now.

A few weeks ago, I drove down to Chicago area where I left my car and joined my parents and one of my sisters (who is laid off for the summer) and traveled to the area west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a very LONG trip that included my traveling in 7 states for more than 40 hours and over 2000 miles...most of which was in the backseat of a pick-up truck!

We spent most of our time walking through cemeteries looking for the graves of several generations of my family. We were thankful for the help of my grandpa's younger sister who still lives in the area. My parents took their Fifth-wheel and we camped at a state park while we were there. I haven't camped in more than 20 years! That area of the state is very hilly and mountainous, at least to a mid-western girl. We all came home with sore muscles in our legs from walking up and down the hills everywhere we went - including the bathrooms!

I enjoyed the trip with my family very much. It is hard to be so far away from family so I treasure the times that I get to spend with them. Thanks for the memories Mom, Dad, and Julie!

Quick Update

Sorry that I haven't blogged lately. I will give you a quick update on all that is happening. I am still looking for a job. I've had a couple of interviews, but nothing has come of that so far. I have another interview this week. I'm helping Jeff with some projects at church as long as I have the time.

Jeff is also keeping busy. Summer is slower than the rest of the year and he is enjoying the warm weather. He is building relationships with guys from church as he golfs and fishes with them.

Josh recently got an award at work for going above and beyond in customer service. He is also the top sales person in his store and one of the top in his district. He is still trying to get into the military. We'll see what happens with that.

Jeff and I recently drove back to Iowa to visit Zach's family. They are enjoying the warmer weather, too. They spend a lot of time at parks on Zach's days off. Zach has even taken Bryce fishing. I hope they can come up and visit soon, otherwise, I might have to kidnap the kids for a few days.

Teaching Troubles

Now that I'm back in Minnesota, I am looking for a job. I would really like to get back into the teaching field, especially since I am in an area where there are many more teaching opportunities than what there was in Boone. My Minnesota teaching license is due to expire the end of this month. Unfortunately, it is not going to be a simple process to renew it. In order to renew my license, I have to have either 8 additional credit hours of college courses in my field or 125 professional development hours approved by a local school district's licensing committee. I don't have either one.

While in Iowa, I turned down the teaching job that I was hired for at a Lutheran School because of my cancer diagnoses. When I did go back to the education field, I was a director of a daycare, which left me without a school district to work through. I really only have one option. I will be getting my short-term substitute license. This will at least give me an active license.

Now I need to find a school district that is willing to work with me. I need to be able to attend their trainings and professional development meetings so that I can re-apply for my Birth-3rd grade teaching license. I would love to find a job as a paraprofessional in a school. This would automatically give me the "in" that I need to work with a district. On top of all of that, I need a job for the summer as well. Please keep me in your prayers that I will find the right job(s) and connections.

Emergency Trip to Boone

On Wednesday morning I made an emergency trip back to Boone. Zach called Tuesday evening while driving himself to the E.R. He was having an asthma attack and couldn't get it under control. He was bad enough that not only did they admit him, but they put him in I.C.U. I went down to help out with the grand kids so that Andrea could be at the hospital with him. Thankfully, he was able to come home on Friday. He is off work until at least next Wednesday and it is a good thing since walking through the house or picking up the baby leaves him totally breathless.

I'm sorry that Zach was sick, but it was a good excuse for me to see Bryce, Hailey, and Khloe. It's been a month since I moved to Minnesota and I was really missing them. I took the kids twice a day up to the hospital to see Daddy. They weren't to sure about all the wires and tubes at first, but they adjusted pretty quickly. We also spent a lot of time playing outside. I'm not used to having three kids to care for. Somehow, adding one more child feels like adding two or three instead. I was definitely tired by bedtime and thankful that Khloe sleeps through the night. I'm so glad that I was able to help my kids out.

Friends Are Friends Forever

Jeff and I had the pleasure of driving to Northern Minnesota for a couple of days away this week. I have a girlfriend who lives a half hour or so northwest of Bemidji with her family. It has been 5 years since I last saw her, so it was a trip that I looked forward to.

Sue and I have been friend for just about forever. Her family lived across the street from my grandparents and our families went to the same church in Wheaton, Illinois when we were born (just 12 days apart). We went to school and church together for most of our first 19 years of life. We were inseparable in high school and we were roommates in college. We were, and still are, like sisters.

After we both married and had families, physical distance has separated us throughout the years. We have become busy with our own lives and have not been able to enjoy the closeness that we had as kids. I am thankful for the times that we have been able to visit each other and for social technology such as email, facebook, and texting that has allowed us to always stay in touch.

I am amazed that after not seeing each other for so long, that we are always so comfortable with each other. We are able to pick up like we just saw each other last week. Sue is a forever friend that God has given me.

Josh's Apartment

Jeff and I are empty-nesters once again. Josh moved out of our apartment about 3 days before I moved up from Boone. This wasn't a big surprise. He thought is was a little embarrassing to tell people he still lived with his parents. More practically, though, was that he had a 35 minute drive to work - longer when traffic was bad. He wanted to live closer to work (and to his girlfriend). He is now about 10 minutes from work and about the same to Katie's house.

Today I finally got the opportunity to see Josh's apartment. I took him a couple of boxes of stuff for his apartment and he fixed me lunch. His roommate, Tyler, is a friend that Josh went to Crown College with last year. This picture is Tyler and Josh standing in their living room. It's kind of weird to think that both my boys are on their own now.