(Auntie Christy, these baskets are PERFECT - thanks!!!)
smelling the flowers Mom and Dad R sent Steve
Dad B worked from the "Coon Rapids office" while they were here
After a lovely Christmas / New Year's / Carsten's birthday celebration with Steve's family, we were looking forward to enjoying the last few days of break and gearing up for getting back into the routine. We were then issued a rough week that we only made it through by the grace of God and the help of others and are now standing on the other side of it feeling very blessed. Tired. But very blessed.
It started Thursday evening with a broken toilet and a flood that I have only seen the likes of on TV shows, spanning multiple levels. This of course happened on the busiest day of the year at work for Steve, who I couldn't get a hold of, and I literally had no clue what to do, so I called the neighbors and Dan quickly came over with a wet-vac and a dehumidifier and a calm, "it will be ok!" attitude that I very much needed. Lots of time was spent that night sopping up water with every towel and cloth diaper in the house.
Then Steve got sick. It started out as a cold and moved into what we thought was full blown influenza, and for 3 days was the sickest I had ever seen him before. The kids were troopers and kept themselves happy and busy upstairs with new Legos from Christmas and games while we quarantined Dadda downstairs. He got worse and I was going to take him in, and then his fever broke and he slept and got better. Or so we thought. The next day ended with him not being able to move and having a hard time breathing and his chest hurt and I had to call 911 for an ambulance ride to the hospital. It is all surreal yet to me that I actually did that and that actually happened, but it did (thanks again to Lynne for coming over in the middle of the night to sit with the kids!). After a long night in ER, it turns out it was not influenza, but strep pneumonia, which is a particularly nasty form of pnuemonia and it knocked Steve out good. His heart was fine, and they got him hooked up to IV fluids and meds, but it still took him 2 days in the hospital to even be at the point where he could walk out the door to come home (and that was a slow walk - he laughs that he got seriously lapped by an 80 yr old couple). And then it was 5 days of resting and more meds at home before he was in any shape to go back to work. And it will be another week yet before he is truly back to normal. Having sick kids is the worst, but having a seriously sick husband is also the worst.
We are so thankful for all the help we got through this rough patch. To our neighbors who came quickly to help, to J&C who also came as soon as they could the next day, to Steve's parents who moved in for 4 days to help with kids and the house and getting back to normal, to friends who brought meals right away, to church friends who brought meals later after Steve went back to work, and to everyone who lifted Steve and us all up in prayer. The Lord is good and Steve continues to improve each day, despite a very busy week for him. It has not been the easiest for Steve to transition slowly back into work this week as there was a consistory meeting this past Tuesday in which he had a lot of end of the year reporting and budget preparing and such to do as he is church treasurer, and it is also their semi-annual inventory day at work tomorrow which requires a lot of work the week before and day of. Steve has been taking a lot of little naps, taking it very easy at home, and getting to bed as early as possible which has helped. My mom and dad are on their way now to spend the weekend with us which will be so nice - not only for us, but for Steve too as he won't fret too much about us at home while he is so busy at work if Aahma and Boppa are taking good care of us. =)
This has made us all a little more thankful for each other, a little more thankful for health, a little more thankful for the care and love of others, and a lot more thankful for the continued blessings that God grants us all.
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