MI-OR-IDA-CO Minitaters

Jul. 7, 2008

Normal?

How was everyone's 4th of July (if you celebrate it)? We did fine here. I thought the baby would be upset but he actually enjoyed them all and even equated them to "Neverland". He thought the fireworks raining down was like the giant willow tree in the "Peter Pan" movies. I thought that was kind of cool that he would make that association.

My husband and two of my kids went and stayed at their Grandparents' house. Dad is doing well after his neck breaking accident. He walks with a cane now and moves a little slower but he's in great spirits and that seems to help his recovery greatly.

I'm sorry for the sparse writings but things are getting busy around here. My bosses at the laundry mat are going on a vacation and that puts me at 9 days straight on days. Kids aren't to happy about that because that means our summer classes are delayed again. They have summer camp the first week of August so we're going to be busy busy.

Norman still doesn't have a job but he's got some interesting prospects. Pray for him and that he finally finds the peace he's been looking for for the last six months.

Take care my friends,
jaimers

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Jun. 14, 2008

We're Back!!!!!

Posted in The Lord's Grace

What a whirlwind vacation that was. It was good to see family members (old and new). We were blessed with a good vehicle and plenty of weather (tornado's, snow, hail, rain, wind, you name it we had it).

The kids did fine, with only one minor hiccup. Our DVD player died only an hour after leaving home. But that was only a minor hiccup for them, we almost didn't make it out of the state.

At first we were so proud that we were all packed, showered and ready to load up. First thing my sister did was attempt to carry the cooler out and fell down the stairs. Her bum was bruised but good, but nothing was broken. I then attempted to change the head on my electric toothbrush and sliced open three of my fingers doing it. Should have had stitches but didn't have time. So banged up we were we set out. First stop STARBUCKS! Can't start a day with out it, probably should have though. While I was inside that delicious smelling place, my sister was arguing with the kids about the DVD player. She decided to let them fight it out but was so angry she wasn't watching what she was doing and opened the truck door right into her head (full force), she knocked herself out briefly. When I got back to the car, her forehead was swelling up nicely. Yep that ought to look good for wedding photos.

Next, we finally get on the road. Just outside of town, I realized I forgot my insurance card. Drats! Had to drive back home. Figured might as well have sis take a potty break (2 hour limit is she). The dingbat fell off the toilet and bruised her other bum cheek on the bathtub. I figured we'd better get on the road before someone gets killed.

Our first day's drive was uneventful (after all the accidents in town) and we got to our hotel in Nebraska by 8pm which was good to get the kids down for the night. It was raining but nothing major, so we thought. Then my husband called to say that he was laid off AGAIN!!!! He only had the job for seven days. Well I didn't have time to dwell on it so I told him we'd talk about it more when we got to our destination safely.
When we got up the next morning we saw the parking lot flooded (it was still raining) and the announcement of bad weather all day. Oh well we needed to get moving so we did.

We saw the tornado ravaged section of I-80 and it made us grateful to live in the mountains. About two hours west of Lincoln we got a phone call from my sister in Kansas (who we were going to see) and she said they were under tornado warnings and that we needed to be careful. Ha just our luck we spotted the dreaded storm behind us. That monster chased us for the next 4 hours. Every time we stopped it caught up to us. At one point the lightening was so close it was orange. Very scary.

Our only mishap that day was a directional problem. We were going along Hwy 2 and we were getting ready to hit the Kansas boarder (so we thought), the anticipation was high when the sign came into view. Then set in the confusion, turns out we ended up in Iowa. Missed a turn somewhere. We backtracked and made our connection to Hwy 75 S and headed into Kansas and right back into that storm. We got to my sisters at about 8pm and within 30 minutes we were being evacuated to a shelter because of a tornado heading into Topeka. Did you know there are no speed limits when there is a tornado? I didn't. My sister (who was leading in her van) was doing 75 in a 25. Apparently that's allowed, who knew.

We survived the tornado and went on to our hotel. The kids thought the lightening was cool. The rest of the weekend was great, my niece's wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was an outdoor ceremony and her prayers for sunny weather were granted (we all got sunburned).

That Sunday after services we headed to Colorado to stay at my mom's. Guess what, we headed right back into a tornado warning. This was a joke right? Apparently not. There were times I couldn't see the road because the rain was coming down so hard. But the kids did great and no one got hurt. We got to Mom and Dad's while the sun was still up.

We spent a couple of days in Colorado, got to visit my grandparents and the kids got to go swimming and such. But on Tuesday the Baby drank a whole thing of apple juice and was sick. We had stayed one day too long. He was sick all of Tuesday and Wednesday as we were driving home. Luckily the Lord smiled upon me and we made it home in one piece. It had snowed (yes I said snowed) all the way from Cheyenne, WY to Rawlins, WY. Well it was better than a tornado I guess, snow I'm used to. The wind was really strong, enough that my gas mileage sucked (8 mpg). We ended up spending over $600 in gas alone. Expensive trip! I had driven over 2100 miles in 7 days and boy I was tired and broke.

So now we're just trying to get back into routine. Our best friends are moving back into town today so we'll get to see them more often (yeah!). Norm's got an interview on Wednesday with the Dept of Transportation (please pray it goes well) and I get back to work on Monday.

So how has your summer started off?

In his blessed name,
Jaimers

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Apr. 30, 2008

Our Ancestors Pasts

Posted in The Lord's Grace

Have you ever wondered by what moral character your ancestors were regarded? I realize it's not a day to day question but it is thought provoking isn't it? Were they liked by their peers? Their co-workers, family, church members? Were they upstanding citizens or were they the black sheep no one speaks of?

This afternoon during Bible Literature Class we were discussing I Chronicles. Noting the genealogy layout and then discussing the Hebrew text I opened up my Great Grandmother Morrison's family bible to the genealogy page. It wouldn't stay open and it was bugging me so I started flipping though the pages and long about Psalms a small folded up piece of paper fell out.

It was about the size of the middle fold of a man's wallet. There was a paper clip impression as well as a rubbing of what appeared to be a dollar bill. There was some writing in pencil as well. As I unfolded the letter, I noticed that it was hand typed. The date October 1937.

It appeared to be a letter of recommendation for my Great Grandfather. He must have been pursuing employment elsewhere because this was from his previous employer in 1936. It was short, sweet and to the point. He was a hard worker and a good man. It was typed on official letter head and was signed in blue and green ink. No fluff and stuff!

It made a statement and it made a hard impact. Mainly because my lesson of the day regarding the genealogy was that your word is your bond and it follows you throughout your life. From Adam to Noah, from Saul to David, from David to Jesus and from Jesus to us. God knows our moral character and he knows our flaws.

I guess what makes this letter a shocking discovery is that I feel Grandma's bible is a bit like Mary Poppins' carpet bag. You never know what's inside and it's never the same thing twice. I say that with experience because I have had that bible since 2004 I've gone over it with a fine tooth comb and twice that I've specifically opened it for genealogy something different has fallen out.

They say that the dead can speak, I'm convinced the dead decided to teach my class, because why else would I find that letter on the exact day I was teaching my kids about moral character?

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa. You point is well taken.

jaimers

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Apr. 24, 2008

Update On Dad

Posted in The Lord's Grace

Dad came through his surgery just fine. He is starting his road to recovery. Thank you all for your prayers, calls and concerns. I'll keep every posted as the months go on.

Much love and God Bless
jaimers

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Apr. 21, 2008

Prayers Are Needed

Posted in Rambling On

At 5:30am this morning (MDT) we were contacted and notified that my husband's father passed out in his bathroom and fell and broke his neck. He was airlifted to a hospital in Boise, ID and my husband has driven out there to be with him and his step mom.

Dad's in surgery now and we don't know the projected outcome. The have determined it was NOT a stroke, but because of the partial paralysis on his left side they don't know if the neurosurgeon can fix the problem.

Please keep my husband and all of our family in your prayers in the coming weeks. My husband lost his mom over 11 years ago and I know this is bringing up some memories of that.

Thank you my friends,
Jaimers

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