Bundle of JOY

Our first grandaughter has arrived.  Dallas Joy.  Grandpa Les wasn't able to get to the hospital to meet her, so Kris & Hannah graciously stopped by our house on their way home.  We are so grateful they took the time and effort to do that.

Proud daddy; proud grandpa

We love her name, we especially love the JOY.  Kris & Hannah Joy's wedding message was about Joy.  I keep running into reminders about Joy; it has become my motto - "Today I Will Choose Joy".  Not easy, believe me!  (Les will tell you I am not very joyful at 3 am)  And now our little baby girl is Dallas Joy.  What a precious gift.

Auntie Leslie making sure she is safe

Speaking of precious girls, sweet Lindsey has been cutting Les' hair at our home.  She keeps Les looking pretty handsome!  She is a good friend of Leslie's.  They are both having babies in January.

Les continues to weaken.  He has had a heavy chest this past week and shortness of breath.  We had to call Hospice in on Monday.  They think that maybe all the smoke in the air (from fires) has compromised his breathing.  We will see if the breathing improves, or if it's the progression of the disease, or maybe a combination.  Les is having a hard time holding his head up.  It is getting very difficult for him to type.  Communication is a huge issue right now.

If you visit, please keep your visits very short.   Just a quick hi and letting him you know you are here is sufficient.    Also, please keep texting him, but don't expect lengthy answers!!  Les doesn't have the energy to do a lot of typing, and he gets pretty groggy off and on.  Please pray for peace for all of us and for strength for each day - one day at a time.  With JOY.

Family

As I have mentioned before, neither of us have any siblings who live near us.  This has been kind of a bummer since Les has been diagnosed.  BUT the good thing about this is that we have had LOTS of visits from these siblings!

My Iowa sister and her husband were here at Christmas and they came back recently.  She did lots of canning with my mom while they were here.  Brother in law Denny sat with Les a few times so we could get out and about.  Sharon will be back in the near future when our mom has foot surgery.

Biking at Birch Bay

We ran into Hannah, Hank, and her baby bump

My California sister has been here several times the past year.  She's just a two hour plane ride away, so it's easier for her to pop in for a few days.  She's always a big help around here - loves to cook, clean and organize, etc.   AND she brings my sweet niece Jenae with her!

Les' brother Howard from Iowa has also been here several times (see prior posts!!).  He was so good about doing whatever asked - clean the garage, wash the car, fix this and that.  He was also great company for Les.  They were content to sit on the back patio and just be.

Les' only sister and his baby brother were just here again this past week.  They both come from the Minneapolis area so travel well together.  They have been here 3 times the past 1.5 years.  This past week they were such blessings to me.  It was like having a full time nurses' aide and a full time handy man living with us!  Brother Gawin put Les to bed every night this past week, so all the other guys had the week off from bedtime duty.

Gawin and Linda were also an extra set of brains to think about how to make things "work" better for Les.  One thing I have discovered about this disease, there is no hand book and there is not alot of customized help items for being handicapped!  Gawin, friend Pastor Ben and friend Rick put their heads together and customized a couple of trays for Les to hold on his lap.  These trays hold his phone on with velcro; we can add the controls for the bed and a doorbell which rings in my bedroom.

Les has gone back to sleeping in the hospital bed.  We've had quite the frustrating times trying to get this bed situation all figured out!  Linda and Gawin finally went to the medical supply store and checked all the beds out and realized we already had the longest bed available.  Linda bought a gel memory foam cushion that we cut to fit the bed we had and Les was game to try sleeping in it again.  He has now slept in the bed for the past two nights - ALL NIGHT LONG!! Praise the Lord.  BUT then we had the issue of needing a different lift than the lift we were using to put him in the recliner.....so more trial and errors with the new lift - at Les' expense.  The first week of using the original lift was hell (sorry, but it was);  we had finally gotten the hang of it.  Now we all have to learn the new lift!  The new lift does seem easier to manuever and is easier on Les; please pray that this next week with learning the new lift goes smoothly.

Anyway, we are grateful for our family who have given time and expense to help us out.  We have some very special moments and memories from these visits.  When they go back home, they don't say good bye, they say "See ya later brother"  because they WILL see each other again in glory.   Praise God!!!

Babies Are Us

Kris & Hannah's baby is due in little less than a month.  Baby girl Kooistra, we call her.  I like to call her Karen, but pretty sure that isn't her name!  We had a family baby shower for her awhile back.  Neither Kris nor Hannah have much immediate family around here, but those of us that were at the shower had lots of fun! (We won't post the videos of us walking with ping pong balls between our legs)  Thanks Emily, Leslie and Becky for the shower.

Kris & Hannah took some "preggie" pictures.  (Kris was thrilled, as you can imagine.)  I think that secretly he loved it.  He looks pretty happy to me!  So great that Hank got to be in the pictures.

Kaden recently told us (with the help of his mommy) that he is going to be a big brother in January!!  woot woot!  Les was very emotional over this news.  He is very excited for them, but he knows he most likely will not meet this baby here on earth.  Brett and Leslie are great parents and little man is such a fun little guy to have around.  Les gets super sad when he thinks about these grandbabies growing up without grandpa Les around.

 Les is getting very weak.  He cannot stand up at all anymore; transfers are getting very difficult.  Thank goodness for the lift.  We tried a couple different bed options, but beds just don't work for him.  We ended up buying a new "tall man" recliner.   He tried that a couple of nights but he couldn't keep his head from falling forward. We went back with the older brown recliner he has been using.  Nurse Carren has switched up some of Les' meds which has helped him sleep better (which means I sleep better which means I am much more prepared to face the day........)  Les has been sleeping quite a bit during the day, which isn't all bad!  Our biggest challenges are keeping him comfortable.   He doesn't have much meat on his bones anymore so he feels every bump and wrinkle.   He has very limited use of his left hand so even texting-to-talk is getting very difficult.  We all do lots of guessing, which can make Les frustrated, which makes us frustrated.........

Pleas pray that Les keeps his ability to text - limited as it is.  Pray that he can be comfortable.  Pray for peace as he continues to weaken.  Pray for our children as they are in some of the happiest times of their lives, yet they deal with a terminally ill dad.  Pray for daily strength for me. 

UPS Strong

Les had an outing to UPS this past week.  His old supervisor, Rick, retired.  On Rick's last day there was a morning party - similar to what Les had on his last day.  I needed to get Les up EARLY that day - not an easy feat!  He is pretty groggy in the mornings.  But, we made it by 8:45!  It was so fun to see all the drivers come rolling in.  They are always excited for cake and coffee!  Les was greeted very warmly by his old buddies.  Les got very emotional - what he wouldn't give to be going to work in his brown uniform and complaining about the load on his truck.......

Rick and Paula have been so great to us.  They come to church with us quite often.  They stop in with fresh picked raspberries and blueberries and homemade breads.  Les enjoyed Rick as a supervisor;  Rick has gone above and beyond since Les retired. 

This is Janna.  She starts EARLY in the morning and is pretty much the glue that holds that center together!  She also makes awesome chocolate chip cookies.

This is Ed.  He is the driver that delivers to our house.  I should have a picture of him sitting on our couch visiting with Les - because he does that OFTEN. 

 Les gets visits quite often from current drivers and retired drivers.  I don't have pictures of all of them, but here are a few:

Flash back to a year ago and the UPS golf tournament.  We continue to use money from that tournament to pay our medical bills.  SUCH A BLESSING!

Les continues to lose strength in his left arm.  This causes lots of frustration for both of us.  He is still "training" on his eye gaze computer, but that tires him out quickly.  We are having some "boards" made up with the alphabet and various phrases, etc. that we can point to and he can say yes or no to.  Not fun stuff.  Have I mentioned what an awful, nasty disease this is?  We try to continue to focus on just today.

 Our Iowa friend Rachel recently sent a letter and this is what she had to say:  "I wonder sometimes why we aren't told more about heaven in the Bible.  Is it because we are so incapable of understanding that we wouldn't really be able to appreicate it?  Or is it because God has it wrapped up like a gift, and if we were able to open it up too soon we'd lose the excitement of anticipation?  I guess for now, we really need a strong faith to believe that it will be SO far above anything our 'earth-bound' minds could ever dream up."  Les is counting on that last part!!

Visitors

We've had some fun visitors recently!  Having people around sure makes the days go by quicker.

We had a visit from Danny and his sweet wife Kati and their two darling girls.  They live in Moscow.  I first met Danny on a mission trip we went on together - many years ago.  Before they were married, Kati lived in our basement for several months.  It was such a treat to have them visit!  I was so excited, I didn't get a picture!  BUT I found this one from way back when........

Some of my cousins on my mom's side were here for a family wedding.  My mom made a yummy lunch for all of us.  It was so great to catch up with these girls!  Now it's my turn to get to their stomping grounds.

Brielle lives in Phoenix.  She made a point of spending an afternoon with us when she was visiting "home".   We are family friends from way back, so we spent some time watching old home movies.  Oh dear, hilarious!!  Thanks for taking the time Brielle!  It meant alot to Les (and me!!)

My cousins from the eastern side came for a visit.  Les went on a hunting trip with Jody before we were even married and those two formed some sort of bond on that trip.  People say Debbie and I resemble each other........that's not a bad thing in my opinion!!  We had a great visit - thanks so much for taking the time to hang out with us! 

Les' brother Howard came again for a week.  He stayed with us.  He was a big help with cleaning some stuff up - washed vehicles - helped with Les' care - took Les out for drives.  His wife Vicky must have given him a speech when he left home; he was very good about helping himself with meals and cleaning up after himself - even did his own laundry!  Pretty cute!!  It was a hard good bye.  You are a good big brother Howard.

Friend Dan gave a tour of the new cold storage in town!!

My baby sister Becky was back recently.  She took her daughter Jenae along and they also stayed with us.  Her hubs Darrell came later for a couple of nights.  Again, they were very helpful to have around.  Becky even cleaned out my fridge and some cupboards-- cleaned up some nasty sticky stuff in the fridge that has been there for awhile and we finally dumped the Christmas cookies in the cupboard that were waiting to get frosted!  My brother Don, his wife Sue, and Gretta and Nick also came up for the weekend, but again, I was so excited I didn't get a picture of them!

Sweet nieces!

If you have a couple of minutes, please don't hesitate to just pop in for a quick visit.  If it's not a good time, I will let you know.  Les has long days and he loves it when people just stop to say hi.  Please pray that his left hand doesn't get any weaker.  He continues to deteriorate but we are praying that he can continue to use his hand for communicating.

Blessings

The blessings continue!  These are all so great!!

Our van pooped out a couple weeks ago (you can ask Barry and Rick about that if you want details, tee hee).  Long story short - neighbor friend Melinda found out and called our friend Roy who owns an auto repair shop.  Roy and Rick got the van to Roy's shop - Roy had it back the next evening, working just fine.  AND we haven't received a bill from Roy.......

We needed some major yard trimming done this spring.  Les usually does all this stuff!  We called Mark who does yard work; he attends our church.  He came over and got the trimming done.  Such a nice guy - if you need yard work done, give him a call!  AND we haven't received a bill.........

We have some friends in Palm Springs.  They used to live up here and they attended our church. When they lived here, Les was Rene's "handy man" - he would help out with various odd jobs around Rene & Geraldine's house. We had a chance to visit them last year when we were in Palm Springs.  Anyway, Rene called awhile back to check in on us.   Rene found out that Les likes to listen to books on tape.  Two days later we received a FULL BOX of books and books-on-tape from David Jeremiah.  What an awesome surprise!  Les has been working through them - I believe he might be on the last one.  He has been so blessed by these books.  Les has also been passing them on - and others are being blessed!

Daniel takes pictures.  We have had him take family pictures in the past; he took the wedding pictures of Kris & Hannah.  He doesn't technically take family pictures anymore, but he came and took some of us a few weeks ago.  His wife Traci owns a hair salon and she recently sent over a gift certificate for a pedicure for me, Leslie and Hannah.  How sweet is that???  Such a great young couple.

Our long time friend Roby gifted Les and I each a massage.  Les' massage was in our house - I opted to go to the "spa" because I knew I would be more relaxed there.  We don't see much of Roby anymore but she continues to send thoughts and prayers our way.  Love ya Roby!

Niece Emily's bunco group brought over some single serve meals.  They also did this last fall when Les wasn't eating at all.  Such a great idea, and such a blessing for me.  I don't even know some of these girls!!  Servant hearts.

We had a good Father's Day.  My dad wasn't feeling well, but at least we had coffee with him and mom after church.  (My dad has Parkinsons.)  Our family had pizza at Kris and Hannah's in the evening.  It's so peaceful out there--the little red house in the country.  Les' brother Howard is visiting so he and niece Emily joined us.  A good day.  We are still focusing on just one day at a time.

Choose Joy

 I was convicted recently of two things.

The first for me was to choose joy.  I had read some quotes posted by my Iowa-friend Starla from a book she was reading, "Fight Back With Joy" by Margaret Feinberg.  I commented on her post - two days later the book was on our doorstep.  (THANKS STARLA!)  This is a great book about choosing joy in the midst of whatever you are going through.   Shortly after that,  I saw this chalk frame posted:

I contacted sweet Rachel who creates these and she made one for me that same week.  It will be hanging in my bedroom (as soon as Kris hangs it...........I'm new to all this handyman stuff!!)

The second conviction was to take one day at a time.  Les and I were both worrying/thinking of the future too much, and that made us anxious.  Les and I have been going through the Jesus Calling devotional, and several days have been talking directly to us about this.  Here is an example:

AMEN!!!

We are now trying to just think about today.  Our days aren't quite as stressful as they were and we are both more content and at peace.  Just today is good.

Please pray that Les keeps use of his left arm/hand.  That arm continues to deteriorate bit by bit.  We try not to worry about it, but that hand is his communication tool!  We are trying to decide if it would be wise to get him a new iPad to type with instead of his phone.  Les isn't eating solid foods anymore.  He was eating blended foods with a syringe, but even that made him very tired - it took too much effort.  Every now and then he will try a shake, or coffee in the morning, but it wears him out.

We took a few family pictures in our backyard a few weeks ago.  Daniel, Tracy and sweet little January were so fun to have around that evening!  This is a super sweet family who has become very dear to us!