Long winter!!

What a long winter it has been. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am getting pretty sick of all this extreme weather. In Duluth, it will be 35 degrees and sunny and the next day the temperature will drop 45 degrees to -10. I've said this before but I don't think I've ever experienced this kind of weather before. With that being said and all complaining aside, we still love it up here.
Ashley and Isaac are plugging along in home schooling and doing well. Emily does a great job at teaching them and she works really hard at completing all the assignments, test, etc. Its not an easy job and I honestly don't think I could do it, but God gave me a wonderful wife that can!! Praise Him!
We are sending off our last bit of paperwork for our adoption and then we wait. Our "packet" of information will be sent off to adoption agencies across the U.S. and then eventually someone will pick us for whatever reason they decide too. The "unknowns" are a little scary but ultimately we put our trust in the Lord in terms of when our "new one" will arrive. Will it be a little girl, little boy, will he or she have blond hair, black hair, blue or brown eyes? Will it be just one or does God want us to have two?! Will he or she come in one month or twelve months? We can' t wait to find out all these questions and the day will be here sooner than later. We will keep you updated on the status.
How is everyone? Feel free to shoot us an email or respond to this entry via the comments section. We look forward to talking to you or seeing you soon.
God Bless-

More fun times on the Lake

Well, this week it was below zero again with wind chill reaching a "chilling" 50 below. We can't believe it. Although, since I've been growing out my beard it hasn't been all that cold. Emily calls me the "mountain man" and to be honest, how fitting is that. About a month ago we saw a deer mangled on the side of the road not to far from us. We asked around and did some of our own research and we concluded it was probably a bobcat or cougar. A bobcat or cougar.....you gotta be kidding me!!! We asked our neighbor about it who has lived on Island lake his whole life and he stated it isn't that uncommon to see bobcats, cougars, or wolves out here. Lo and behold Emily saw a wolf walking on the lake toward our house just the other day. Need I say it.....we need a gun and dog to protect our selves!!! We've learned a lot out here, absolutely love it, and look forward to many scary adventures to come!!!! And believe me.....I will be writing all about the adventures.

Brrrrrrrr/ Happy V Day!

We have never experienced such cold weather as we have over the last few weeks. The other day I was driving to work and my truck read -27 degrees.....I couldn't believe it. Later that day I was informed the temp's reached 50 below zero factoring in the wind chill. Wow!! I remember one time in college when I cleaned Walgreen floors (yeah, I know what a weird job, huh?!) with my two roommates (I won't mention their names in case their embarassed of their Walgreens experience) it reached 60 below and they cancelled school. Also that night the van we were driving died on us.....and then we almost died of hypothermia. But other than that, I personally haven't experienced such cold weather. With that being said, when is summer ever gonna arrive?!
I started my new job a few weeks ago and so far its everything I expected, and then some. I have entered the work force again so look out people!
And now here is some important Valentines information everyone should know. In case you're interested......
According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)
Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".
I'm sure you all wanted to know that important information about V-Day.
I hope everyone is healthy, happy, and staying warm. Happy Valentines Day! God Bless-

Happy New Year

I hope all of you are well and free from sickness. Our entire family was ill with the stomach flu between Christmas and New Years! It was awful! Thanks for all your pictures and Christmas cards, they were great! It was fun to see how all your children are growing up and how all the men are losing hair! Its nice to know I'm not the only one going bald.

We are finally feeling settled up here in the Northland. Our "brave" deer has seemed to drift off into the woods and hasn't returned for a couple of weeks. We have experienced more snow fall this year than either Emily or I can remember dating back to childhood. Ash and Isaac have been loving the snow, sledding and learning how to cross country skii. Emily is feeling better from her tail bone injury and been able to Xcountry skii as well. I have been enjoying some time off for the first time in over two years. I (We) are so glad to be done with school. I start my new job on Jan 21st and just yesterday I found out I passed my certification exam. I am officially a CRNA now! Praise the Lord. That exam was so hard and I did it, but only with his strength!!I give Him all the credit and glory for getting me through these last couple of years and passing the cert. exam. Praise Him!! So, if anyone wants thousands of anethesia notes to use and study up on, or just for kindling for a fire, let me know!!

We are now in the waiting phase for our new adopted baby. It is estimated we should have our baby sometime over the next year! We can't even believe it. In some ways, it will feel like our first child because our kids are older. We are praying now for all the circumstances surrounding the baby, the babies mother and the timing of the adoption.

Just on aside, the other day Isaac and I walked out to the Island directly across from our house. Previously we attempted to, however, we discovered it was a little too "slushy" to attempt to cross. This day the water was solid. This was the first time I ever "walked on water", what was Peters problem....lol. Anwyays, Isaac and I had an imaginary picnic that consisted of burgers, beans, corn on cob and watermelon. It was fun and a great bonding experience for my son and I.

Enjoying the winter wonderland!

Hey all you friends and family who check out our blog spot. Todd told me I needed to write a blog, since it is from the two of us..... So here goes. As you can all see, much has happened over the past few months for our family. I still can' t believe all the events that have taken place. So here is what I have been up to as well. I have been home-schooling Ashley, mainly. She is in 2nd grade and doing well at this point. Reading has been challenging, not for her but for me in the teaching category. I do belive the Lord is trying to teach me instead of her. I am struggling to remain in control of my patience. We are managing though. Isaac is working very hard at preschool books and I will be advancing him into some Kindergarten stuff soon.
I have tried hard to continue with exercise with the kids, so as it be, we have an awesome, amazing mountain for a sledding hill, well until Ashley and I almost died trying to ride it..... Yes I did say die. I of course wanted to go "faster", well never again. We flew over a massive mound of snow (approx 4 ft high) and then about 20 feet away from that. I landed on my tailbone, and Ashley couldn't move.... It was horrible, and I haven't been able to sit for over a week and some tell me it will be another 2 weeks. So the moral of the story for us is slow ain't so bad. I mean, isn't. I am a homeschooler you know, I don't want my reader's to think I'm raising a bunch of "he-haw's up here in the Northland".

Is the deer Dumb or is she our friend?

Well, for the last two days, we've had a new friend out here in the northwoods. Yes, a deer. She has gotten within five feet of our front door and let me tell you I can't believe how brave she is. She just stands there and looks at us. Its almost like she's wondering if we''re going to come out and "pet" her. Don't worry, we haven't (yet)! Anwyays, its been pretty cool for the kids to see. If you have any interest in checking out "buddy" (thats what the kids named her) click on the video link.

Anesthesia School comes to an end

Hey Everyone-
Well, we finally finished anesthesia school. We drove five hours (from Duluth to Chanhassen) this past Saturday in a horrible snow storm to make graduation just in the "nick of time." Emily actually drove the whole trip and I just sat back and relaxed. Just kidding, if I would have drove she probably would have "lost her cookies" several times along the way (and then we wouldn't have made it on time). Praise the Lord we made it. It was a little dangerous at times. Graduation was a nice time, a time to celebrate this long journey and close the last page of the book in this phase in our life. We feel so blessed to have made it through this challenging time and are looking forward to moving on. We headed back to Duluth that same night and made it as far as Hinckley. The roads were so bad and we decided to stay in a hotel. The next day we drove to Duluth and when we arrived at our house we couldn't get in our driveway. There was an estimated 14 inches of snow in which the minivan would have only got stuck, So......we had to walk up our 300 ft driveway in 14 inches of snow. See the pics on the side that demonstrate how bad it was. Anyways, one of our new neighbors, Lud, came to the rescue. He plowed us out and now the minivan can make it up the driveway. Not to worry, we purchased a four wheel drive truck this past week so that at least I can make it to work on time. Only three more weeks and one more hurdle before I can refer to myself as a "certified" registered nurse anesthetist. My certification exam will be on the 21st and what a relief it will be to have that exam over with