So last week Jeff and I spent the week at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. It was close to one of the most stressful weeks of my life. Jeff had a full schedule of tests and exams from CT scans to a biopsy of his liver. He went with the idea that he was going to give a piece of life to our dear friends. Half way through the week the reality of the journey we were on hit us both pretty hard. We now saw it as a choice we were going to have to make when as before we just thought we were going to do this thing. Well now that I know my husband very very well inside and out, I love him just as much or more. He has a huge heart for people and is truly a sacrificial giver.

So I began to talk to God. We need this decision to be clear. I wanted some kind of sign or a clear answer to a door open or a door closed. Well God moves fast. Wednesday Morning Dr. Potaruchia called Jeff. He told him that He had too much "fat" in his liver to be a safe donor. When you have fat in your liver it has a hard time regenerating. We wanted to know that if Jeff worked on his cholesterol if he could be a viable donor in a year or so if our friend was still in need. She said no, the percentage was too high that some people who have a little more fat need a liver themselves. This was quite the journey but Jeff now has become serious about his health at last! Oh yeah, and, God slammed that door.

And now some pictures of my kids because I can't go to sleep . . . enjoy!

My Family.

My Kids.

This one's just so funny.

My "Cheeser" and his birthday cheesecake.

Go Lakeshore!

My Girly Dancing beauty.

My future rock-star/comedian.

Do you remember when you were a kid and you got a new toy? Maybe you had saved up your allowance for months, maybe it was christmas or your birthday, no matter what it was exciting! Well tonight Jeff and I got a new toy. I love to figure out new technology or at least new to me. When I get my new cell phone every two years (or sometimes sooner) I spend days just holding it and reading the manual until I know just how everything on that sucker works. When I don't understand something I'm one of the people who call the help line and find out, even if I have to speak with 3 different people who are "americans" with very strong indian accents.

Well Jeff and I are now proud owners of a Garmin nuvi 1300. We did quite a bit of research to pick the right GPS. There are tons of different brands and each of those have many models with lots of different "bell and whistles". The price differences are CRAZY. You can get one for $79.99 or pay $600.00 for a gps for your car. We just wanted the basics plus we found out from some friends that "free map updates" were cool because you pay 30$ when you want to update your maps otherwise. I set our "home" and played around with the settings. I found a really funny yetty voice which cracks me up when ever it "speaks" but you can't understand it, but it was good for a laugh.

After playing with it for a short while (it was pretty easy to set up) I put in some of Jeff and

my trip locations for next week. We will be traveling to Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. Jeff is

going to get all of the testing that he needs to become our friends liver donor. Putting in those

locations to the gps was just one more step towards the reality of this. And my joy and

distraction of my new toy has now faded and now I am frazzled and tired feeling. Childhood

toys were so much less stressful.

So how do you update a blog that hasn't been used in two and a half years? Well first you have to figure out how to get on it to edit. Wait no first you have to remember what it was called. So I did a google search to find my blog, stop laughing! Once I found it I had to log on and because I must have made my password and whatnot very random it was very difficult. Once I remembered my user name I had my password changed and sent to my email which was put in the junk folder because . . . I don't know why! But anyhow here I am again I figured it out. Believe it or not I am rather technology savvy again stop laughing.

Wow March 2008, So much has happened since then first of all we have 4 kids now. Natalie was born August 27 2008. Since there are too many things to write about from the past 2 years I will make a list so here goes:

1. Hali is in 3rd grade, loves art and soccer, hates cheerleading even though she was SO darn cute, and just got glasses last week.

2. Ethan is in 1st grade, loves soccer, baseball, nintendo, computer games & playing with his friends. He is very good in school and copes pretty well for having 3 sisters.

3. Sophia is in preschool, she loves ballet and babies. She is a girly girl who all she wanted for her birthday was "earrings" and babies.

4. Natalie is 2 she repeats everything you say in her own language. She is funny and love being the center of attention, dancing and singing or playing music on her dora guitar or her princess piano.

5. Jeff and I have now made it beyond the years together. It might sound sappy but I think it has been our best year yet.

6. I am turning 30 in a month.

7. My sister had a baby 4 days before Natalie. Her name is Lydia and she is adorable.

8. For a brief time at the end of 2008 and early 2009 I made and sold these cakes made out of diapers with a friend.

9. Dan Sommer because the youth paster that year too and started to make changes in the ministry that would dynamically change us over the next year. He taught a series called the truth and sex. This lead a teen who's family was prominent in the church and in youth ministry to come forward with her sexual abuse to me in a letter. I turned this "man" and family into dhs in march of 2009.

10. Because of the bravery and honesty of the two oldest girls of this family the predator should spend the next 70ish years of his life in prison. The mother also spent time in jail but has now decided that she made the whole thing up and is trying to "appeal" losing her parental rights to her three daughters.

11. I spent a lot of time in court that spring and summer. (2009)

12. Hali went to Disney World with her Grandma and the Penns. (June 2009)

13. We got "kicked" out of Roosevelt Elementary and sent back to our "home school" which is Hollywood. Hali was upset at first and so was I but I LOVE Hollywood now and couldn't imagine us anywhere else.

14. We got a cat "Bella".

15. We went to Silver Lake for a couple weeks as our summer camping trip.

16. We remodeled the bathroom

17. Hali got her own room.

18. I went to the International Quilt Expo in Chicago 2 years in a row.

19. I finished 4 quilts.

20. I canned 40 quarts of peaches in 2009 and 80 quarts plus some pints in 2010.

21. Hali and Ethan both had art in the Box factory district Art show.

22. I went to Superchick and Barlow Girl it some of my favorite students.

23. I got seniors as my iron group on sunday nights.

24. I went on an awesome youth retreat to Spring Hill camp in January 2010. Man was that COLD!

25. Natalie and Sophia got their first haircuts in March.

26. What am I leaving out OH! Jeff and I went to the Bahamas for ten days in February. We stayed on our neighbors boat, snorkeled, shopped, ate yummy fresh lobster, relaxed and recharged our marriage.

27. Hali went to summer camp for the first time Camp Geneva in Holland.

28. We spent a week and a half at Yogi Bear in northern Indiana, for family summer vacation. Sophia, Ethan and Hali all went down water slides for the first times.

29. Liz (my sister) Had her second baby, a boy, Nathan in May. He was born with giant congenital nevi. Which means really big moles. He is heathy and adorable but has this condition which may require surgeries later on in the next couple years.

30. Our friends the Husmanns came back from Mayo and let us and some others know that Galen was going to pursue a "living donor" for his liver disease. Jeff turned to me and whispered, that doesn't sound like that big of a deal, "I could do that"

And so thats where I am going to leave you tonight. If I write anymore what then will encourage me to come back later hopefully in the near future to fill you all in?

Does anyone else out there watch TLC's "What not to wear?" I have been watching that show for quite a few years. Back in the day (like 4 years ago) I really did care about the way that I looked when I left the house. Well sadly, the people they have on that show are starting to look pretty familiar. Uh, kinda like me. They had a chick on there last week that was wearing her PJ pants when she took the kids to school, and maybe here and there for some quick morning shopping. There she was in all her glory running around town in her fancy pj pants a tee shirt and tennis shoes, with funky socks to add to all the beauty. Wow, I think I wore the same outfit last week a couple times. . . Well there is hope for me a guess, just like her I just need to go on that show and let "Stacy and Clinton" pick on me for a while so I can have my $5000.00 and a free trip to NYC. Shoot, I will even let them cut my hair and do my makeup! Of course I gotta wait until after this last baby so I will at least be wearing normal sizes again.

Ok, so I really am not a 2 posts per day kinda girl. I have a hard enough time with one. But today, just now actually I got a phone call from my cell phone. I was perplexed. "Umm, hi. I have your cell phone. I found it outside of Joann's a couple minuets ago." I didn't even know I had lost it. After the initial shock, I stumbled over the words, "So if you are calling me on it I am guessing that your gonna give it back?" "Uh, of course, I will be at the taco bell eating lunch for the next 30 minuets or so. . ." "Oh well I will come and get it there if you leave it with the manager, later cause I just laid my kids down for there naps." "Well where are you at cause maybe I could drop it by there on my way home." "Man I am way over here in Stevensville, pretty far from there I wouldn't ask you to do that." "Hey, its no problem, really. . ."
So I gave this chick my address, and directions to my house. And 10 minuets ago she knocks on my door. She was like, "I didn't want to ring the bell and wake the kids. . " All I could say was, "You are Awesome! God Bless you REALLY!"
She left, I don't know her name, where she lives, and probably will never see her again. It all reminds me of one of those EBay or car insurance commercials, were people just do nice and good things. . . just because. I am in awe. I didn't even know it was missing. Wow.

I have to set this up a bit or you may all think Jeff is NUTS! . . .
One of friends who is also a pastor at our church is in the midst of planting a church in Atlanta G.A. He did a sermon of updates and stuff to pray for a couple weeks ago. It was also about recognizing Gods "call". And LISTENING. . . I know He he was also plugging for some families from the church who felt led to move with them to help start this new church, this is all very cool, although it sucks that yet another good friend of mine will be leaving Michigan. Well this is a conversation that followed this sermon the next week.

Jeff: "Heidi, I have really been thinking hard about Robs message on Sunday."

Me: "Ummm, Honey, There are no Nuclear Power plants in the greater Atlanta area, I doubt we would be any help if we couldn't even afford to buy food. . ."

Jeff: "Oh, No, that isn't what I meant, or was thinking about anyway. . ."

Me: "Uhh, Ok what then?"

Jeff: "Well you know how I have been planing on going under the knife after this Baby is born. Well He (Rob) was talking about how God sometimes calls you to do things that are the opposite of what you are planing on doing or WANT to do.. . . Maybe God doesn't want me to get that snip snip because He wants us to have more kids. . ."

Me: "Did God also tell you that you would be the one of us getting pregnant again? Because if not, I think you are just gonna have to go against God this time babe."