I'm Back?

So...................It's been quite awhile. I have been inspired by several friends recently to get back into the blogging world. I have created a new folder in my favorites for all of the blogs I would like to follow. Hopefully this will help me to stay motivated to keep up with the life of the Christner's via a blog.
Welcome back!

My Girl

Last night Emily slept on the boat. She loved it! Here are the pics to prove it.

Sleepin!

The boat!

The house so far. Tim has been so busy and working hard. I will work to get some more pics of the inside of the house soon.

Pictures

Many people were unable to access the pictures so I have placed most of them here for your enjoyement!

Getting fitted and ready to go!

Going fast!

Doing donuts!

One happy boy!

This is what made my day!

Only one of the reasons I love my job!

Today I had the privilege of watching one of my students gain some independence he has never had before. I have known him since he turned 3 and work with him weekly during the school year. He has been in a wheelchair since he was about 4 and today he got his first power wheelchair. He was so excited he was sqeeling in the gym when he was spinning in circles and going "full out." He loved it. I have no words to describe the feeling of watching him explore the speed and spinning and just being able to move so freely and easily! Below are a few pictures I took. There is more to the story also. He and his family have been in my thoughts and prayers much recently as well. His insurance company originally denied the request for a power wheelchair. The reason was something to the effect that he needed too much supervision. His parents and I appealed the denial and it was eventually approved. During this whole process, his church raised some money to help cover the cost. Since the insurance company changed their mind, the money raised by their church can now be used to help the family purchase a lift for the full size van they recently purchased (another deal.) In talking with the family this afternoon, plans are in the works for a lift to be installed in the van. The lift they found was another answer to prayer! Our God is so good!

Here is the link to the public facebook page where I posted the pics (with his mom's permission) from this afternoon. Just copy and paste into your browser window.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=291782&l=cfd55&id=1021023776

Still Loving the Lake

Can I just say that we are so where God wants us to be? My house has been such a mess, but I am at peace with it. Tim has been working on redoing Hunter's room. He has built a loft bed and now has it disassembled. Hunter's room is empty except for Tim's tools and such. Hunter's bedroom is basically in the living room with his mattress on the bottom bunk in Emily's room. I am amazed at how content I am with all the chaos in this house with what seems to be STUFF everywhere. There are also 2 full pieces of drywall in the dining area/kitchen and clutter all over the table.
Yesterday was spent shopping for Hunter's room. Tim and I had so much fun at Home Depot and Lowe's. We bought flooring, window coverings, closet systems, lights and paint. Tim finished putting up the drywall and put on the first coat of mud last evening. (After spending the afternoon fighting with and winning the battle with the leaky drain in the bathroom sink!) Today was spent taking down the Christmas tree and putting things away, catching up on laundry and trying to organize a bit. Hunter has hardly spent any time inside in the past 24 hours. He was out ice fishing last evening and was out again by 7:30 this morning. He came inside for about an hour this afternoon and was back out again this evening. He came in at about 6:15. He loves the lake no matter the season! The kids were both out ice skating this afternoon as well. There were lots of others out on the lake skating and fishing today too. The ice is so smooth and there is no snow to shovel out of the way, so you can just skate up and down the lake.
I never knew that ice was so noisy, but sitting here in the living room, I can hear the ice popping and cracking as it continues to freeze. The noise is difficult to describe. It almost sounds like a bubble coming to the surface under the ice.
Our God is such an awesome God. He has truely given me the desire of my heart with this home and the family that surrounds me. I can honestly say that I enjoyed ALL of my time with ALL of the family gatherings over this Christmas season. I am blessed to be cared for by so many people!
May God bless each of you in 2009 as well!

Remembering A Hero

Last evening our family went to a calling for Sgt. 1st Class Spencer Kohlheim. I have known Spencer since I was young. Our parents graduated together and Spencer and I went to CCD classes together in LaGrange, IN. As we have aged, our families intertwined even more as his son Tristan and our son Hunter go to school together and played football together together this year. Tim has been friends with Spencer's brother, Ryan, as they went to high school together. Spencer enlisted in the US Army not long after he graduated high school. He was deployed overseas 7 times. Three of the deployments were in Iraq and one in Afganistan. His obituary listed the NUMEROUS medals and honors he has received, including 2 Purple Hearts. Our paths have crossed a few times over the past years. Spencer was found on Friday by his grandmother. He had unfortunately taken his own life. He leaves behind 3 sons and a daughter, his mother and father, 2 sisters and a brother, as well as many other family and friends.

Please excuse my disorganized thoughts. I feel as though I have so many thoughts bouncing around in my head. Thoughts of sadness, of regret, of remembrance and of understanding. I am sad that he was so desperate that he felt he needed to take his own life. I am sad for his family, most especially his children. I regret not knowing him better. I regret not letting him know how thankful I am that he work to maintain my freedom. I take so much for granted here in small town north east Indiana. I regret not thanking others in my life for serving our country and protecting our freedoms. I remember the few times I was able to talk with Spencer. I in a way I can understand where Spencer was at. I too have been at a point in my life when I contemplated not living this life anymore. Our situations are very different. My life experiences can not even compare to Spencer's. He has experienced and seen things I will never be able to imagine. One thing that brought back so many of my memories was last evening in the car on our way to the viewing. We were explaining the situation to Hunter and Emily. We were talking about suicide. The kids were experiencing it from an innocent and Christian perspective and I was remembering my past experience. They were talking about people who kill themselves being stupid, knowing that taking our own life is not something Jesus would want us to do. I had to bite my tongue not to snap too quickly at the remark. I was unable to explain myself immediately because we were almost there. We did come back to the conversation on the way home and I was able to explain to them that people who kill themselves are not stupid, but need help. I explained that I was at that point many years ago when I was still in college. I was able to get the help I needed and continue to work with and through my depression on a daily basis. This time of year is much harder. If it were all up to me, I would crawl into my bedroom with the remote control, my computer and several blankets and come out very little. I would prefer to keep the curtains shut and no lights on. It is work to leave the house and go out for much. Going out for family outings is much easier than going out to meet up with friends or do anything for me. Medicine and prayer have made it less difficult though. I wish it would have been different for Spencer. He was an American Hero.

Father, bless the Kohlheim family and all the others who are close to this situation. May you be known better through this sadness. Amen.

Spencer is on the right. The others are from his company.

Congratulations, Tim!

Yup, he did it. Tim received confirmation this morning that he passed his last test! He is now officially finished with 18 months of class and studying as well as over 1000 hours of clinical time. On top of that he has continued to be a great father and husband and worked on remodeling our home. God really gave me a good one! I am so blessed! To brag on him a little more, when I got home from Indy on Thursday evening, he was out chauffering the kids and the house was picked up, the floors were swept AND the laundry and the dishes were done! Thanks Tim for all you do for us! We love you!

Me & the kids!