Church Campout

What a great weekend! Camping with church family. This was lunch with 3 of the 4 families that brought their campers in. No men...it's a Friday and they all went to work, leaving us women with the kids.

Pastor Chris and Karen Johnson

Relaxing and Visiting

Even the men enjoyed conversation!

A lot of people showed up for the meals.

One of many afternoon activities....

SCRABBLE anyone?

It wouldn't be a campout without a bonfire!

Yes, for an August night it was very chilly.

The next night was warmer, but more mosquitoes.

I think everyone had a good time. Looking forward to next year's campout!

Another Day

After a fun weekend of camping, I just vegged today. Funny how camping can make you tired. But yet, it did....this time. And that's probably because I didn't sleep well on Saturday night. Actually, I don't think I slept at all.

My parents were here and brought a niece and nephew along. My kids enjoyed being able to see their cousins. I wish my parents could have stayed longer, but they needed to get back home. Hopefully they will be able to come back again and stay longer.

My brother, Mike is back in the hospital now. He has a high fever and a nasty rash from head to toe. He is very miserable right now. His white blood count is extremely low right now too. He looks to be in for a week or more. Cancer really stinks for everyone involved. It affects so many people, not just the person that has it. Mike is still waiting for a bone marrow donor. It is his only chance of getting better.

I started a summer reading program of the Bible. It's one that I can read the Bible in 90 days. They said that if you were diligent you could do it. Well, things happened this last week and I got behind. Now I need to try and catch up. I would like to complete it before I have to go back to work this Fall.

Summer has been good so far. It hasn't been real hot yet so that is nice. No really bad storms yet either. I don't mind the cooler days. It could stay around 72 to 75 degrees with no humidity all the time as far as I'm concerned.

My brother needs a bone marrow donor.

This is my brother. He has an aggressive and very hard to treat form of leukemia. A bone marrow transplant is his best option for a cure. Thank you for reading this.

Donor needed! Please spread the word!

by Michael Krutsinger on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 9:07am

Hello my friends,

Unfortunately, the stem cell transplant I received in February was unsuccessful after all and I am no longer in remission. The leukemia has returned in just the last two weeks. I was admitted to KU Medical Center Wednesday and began chemo on Thursday. I will be in the hospital for about 3 weeks. After that we will again be searching the National Registry for a non-related donor to try another bone marrow transplant. Last time there were no matches so I don't have high hopes for a match this time either. If that does happen, they will try to use cord blood, but again, we must have a match and two donors as well. After that there aren't many options left.

Therefore, I am looking for new donors! I would ask that if you or anyone you know would be interested in being a donor, not just for me but for anyone who might be in need, you can get registered at www.bethematch.org or www.marrow.org. It is free and easy to register.

It basically consists of a mouth swab that gets typed and registered. If you are a match for someone, they contact you to then do further testing and scheduling for the transplant. You will never meet the recipient. It all stays confidential. I know some people may believe that bone marrow donation is painfull but that's the way it used to be done. Now it's almost as simple as a blood donation. It is also relatively painless with the exception of several days of injections before they do the harvest in order to boost your bone marrow production. The harvesting itself is no worse than giving a pint of blood. They hook you up to a machine through an IV in your arm, which is similar to a dialysis machine. It then syphons off the needed stem cells and returns the blood back into you. It just takes a couple of days to harvest enough cells.

When you sign up on the registry, it is free, but you do have to be willing to donate to whomever may need it in order to save their life. I've had some people tell me they got registered and were called within 6 months. Others have been on the registry for 20 years and never been called. Strangers or not, the gift of life is a precious thing. I would only pray that if there were a stranger out there who is the perfect match for me, that they would not hold back that gift just because they don't know me or hadn't met me. Imagine where the Red Cross and other blood banks would be if no one donated blood simply because they didn't know the person it was going to.

The other way then, is if you only wanted to be tested in order to donate for me alone, but this would not be a free test, nor would it guarantee that you and I would match. You can order the test kit for $175, and then send it to me to give to the center here to test. The website iswww.bonemarrowtest.com. It will have instructions on how to do the mouth swab and ship the samples.

I would strongly encourage everyone to sign up for the national registry though. As I said it is free, and you may also save someone else's life in doing so, not just mine. And you might just be my match as well!

Other than that, I ask that you keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and to help me through this in whatever way you can. I will admit, I am taking this news much harder this time around, and my morale is suffering greatly tonight. I would appreciate any emails, texts, cards or even a quick phone call just to say hi in order to brighten up my day. Visitors are especially welcome! I am at KU Med Center, Unit 41, room 4110. I miss you all right now and would love to hear from any of you.

Live in Love!

Mike

Content after filling my belly with BBQ! Nom!

Me climbing rocks at Yosemite Park Bridal Veil falls

I need to do this blog more often

September is finally here. Just where did my summer go? I actually had to go back and read my blogs from this Spring. I really need to stop here more often, but sometimes life gets in the way.

My position as a Para-Professional started on August 19. I have been working with the Jr/Sr High kids so far. Kindergarten starts on Sept. 9th. I have really enjoyed getting up early, dashing out the door, stopping for road construction sometimes, and still getting to school on time. Some mornings I walk in with two mugs of coffee instead of one.

My summer went well. I was able to weed some stuff out and especially get my room and closet organized enough to know if I needed to purchase any new work clothes. And of course I did!! lol

I attended my 30 yr class reunion this summer. Okay, so I just told you my age...if you can do the math. No worries, but I'll never tell you what I weigh! LOL It was a great weekend. A good number of classmates turned out for the events. It was good to get caught up with a few of them.

The following weekend, my brothers and our families celebrated mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. What a great time. It was so much fun to celebrate with so many friends and family. And mom was worried that no one would show up. HA!

After I got back home and settled in to life on the farm again, I learned that my mom was in the hospital with heart problems. They ended up putting in a stint. They sent her home and about a week or two later she was back in with the same chest pain. They ended up doing four more stint procedures. Being so far from home is a real pain at times. I really would have liked to have been there, but driving back just wasn't possible as school was starting soon. It's in those times that I have learned to let go and let God take care of things for me.

We have been enjoying the camper this summer, also. We've been out 4 times. We would have like to gone more, but the trip back home ate into our camping time. Hopefully next summer we can take a "longer than a weekend" camping trip. If the weather holds, we might be able to squeeze in one more trip before it turns too cold and the camping areas close and the combining of soybeans starts.

We are finally getting a much needed rain. It was not fun unpacking the camper in the rain, but I got the dirty clothes and such in the house. Hopefully hubby will plug the camper in or we'll have to empty the fridge too. I'm hoping to do that tomorrow night after work, if it's not downpouring.

I think I'm ready for something warm to drink now. Maybe even some dry clothes. lol

Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

I learned how to add pictures. I just need to remember to put them in reverse order or end up dragging them around. lol

A new position

Funny how life changes. Sometimes quickly and other times slowly, without even a notice.

After Easter, I started subbing full-time as a Teacher's Aide till the end of the school year. It was a big change to having to work full-time. I hadn't done that for the last 15 yrs. Okay, I know being a SAHM is a full-time job, but you get the picture.

The school year has now ended and I was offered the position for next Fall. I signed my contract last night. I am so excited about this adventure. I am able to work with all the kids in the school and not just one age group. I'll be working with the Kindergartner's a lot and then a couple days with the Jr/Sr high kids.

So this summer I need to get myself organized around the house so that I won't be as disorganized come next fall. There is cleaning and weeding out that I want to accomplish around here. My figuring is that if I have the house organized by the time school starts up again, 3 of us will not be here all day M-F, sooooo that one person that is left had better keep things in order. I know, it's pobably doubtful that all that will happen, but a girl can dream, right?!

Today is the first day of vacation and I slept in. I just needed to catch up on all that sleep I lost over the last 6 weeks from getting up early. lol I'm looking at Monday to really hit the work around the house hard. Hopefully the kids will help out too....okay, so I'm still dreaming. Just don't wake me up. I kind of like this dream. lol

Through It All

I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned to depend upon His Word.

That about sums up the last two months for me. So much has happened and changed in my life and my family's life. When I am going through a difficult time or situation, I sometimes do not stop and see what God is actually doing in that situation. It is not until things have settled and I look back, that I can see how God was working things out. While I'm in the middle of things, I am very confident that Jesus is walking right beside, helping me get through things. I just need to stop and take it in then and not wait until later.

My parents were able to spend Easter with us. They arrived the Wednesday before so we had a couple of fun days to just visit before the Easter weekend. Easter Sunday I planned to have a single gal from church and the pastor's family out for dinner and an egg hunt. Planned is the word here.

On Good Friday, we went to visit my husband's mother in the nursing home. She wasn't doing good at all that day and hardly talked to us. We didn't stay long. On Saturday, we got a call from the nursing home saying that she was going fast and the family should come. So my dh and his dad drove over at 10 am and the BIL made it down here about 3 pm. It was a tough day for the guys. I had cancelled the plans for Easter Sunday. We went to bed at 11:30pm. I couldn't sleep that night and laid in bed praying. The phone rang at 12:30 am. My first thought was "who was calling at that time of night" and before I could even finish it, I thought "oh, no" and was headed for the phone. Sure enough, it was my FIL calling to say that Roger's mom had passed away.

Easter is to be a joyous day. And in a way it was for us. We were saddened that we didn't have her with us anymore, but very glad that she wasn't suffering any longer. We attended our church's Easter service and the kids had a small egg hunt in the house. The next three days were a whirlwind of planning a funeral, something my husband and I had never done before. But we made it through. My parents stayed until after the funeral and my aunt and uncle came up for it and stayed through till the weekend, just to visit with us.

The week before Easter, I had received an email from the Elementary School Principal asking if I would be able to sub as an aide in the Resource Room until the end of the school year. I had emailed her on that Saturday before Easter and told her I could start on that Tuesday. Then I had to email her back, telling her I could start a week later. It all worked out in the end. So, I have been working full-time, 5 days a week for the last month. That is something I haven't done since I got married. It has been an adjustment for everyone, but we are managing pretty well. The ironic thing is, I had applied for this position a year ago and didn't get it. Now it is looking like I may be able to continue in this position next year too.

I've learned that God's timing is not the same as ours. His is much better. I don't know that a full-time job a year ago would have worked as well for my family. I think the opportunity to sub at the school and seeing if this was a position I would enjoy full-time helped in the decision. I enjoy working with the kids a lot and it seems that they enjoy me.

Waiting on God takes a lot of patience too. I've found that out over the last 2 months also. And there again, His timing worked everything out just fine. I'm so thankful I was patient enough to wait on Him and not jump the gun and try to do things on my own. I probably saved a good friendship by doing so.

"I waited patiently for the Lord;

he turned to me and heard my cry."

Psalm 40:1