2023 Reflections

Here's a picture of all of us that I said I would post from when we got together on New Year's Day. We all look so happy. Can you believe that in the next 24-48 hours over half of us got the stomach bug?!?! Ugh! 

Us & the Grands - All 12 of them with #13 coming in April :)

As I sit here at the computer to write on this 27th day of December, 2023, Bryce lays on the sofa, sick with fever and cough. Steve threw up overnight and even though he feels somewhat better, still has a bad headache. I have just recovered from a severe bout of vomiting and diarrhea that laid me up for four days the week before Christmas. Because of all the sickness (others in the family were sick too), we decided to postpone our Christmas get-together, which was scheduled for last Saturday (the 23rd) to New Year's Day.  It will be interesting to see how many make it to that.

Anyway, this is not intended to be a down-and-out blog. I was just sharing where we are at in life right now. On the contrary, we have a lot to be thankful for this year.

First and foremost, we are thankful for Steve's recovery from his heart attack. Since I had written about it on this blog when it happened, I won't repeat it again. For the most part, he feels pretty good. I think the biggest concern for him right now, is managing his diabetes. It is difficult to get the right blend of diet and medication but he and his doctors continue to work at it.  He is also still taxiing for the Amish and enjoys that very much.

We are also thankful that we were able to take a trip to Alaska with Lois and Jim. It had been a long time, since we had traveled. We figured out that the last time we were on a plane was 2012! It was a wonderful week of relaxation and restoration. It was so good to take time away from our "normal" lives. We both came back feeling refreshed and renewed. Although I will never recommend that anyone take a red-eye flight!

We also welcomed two grandsons into the family! Kyle was born in July and Seth in September. It is such a joy to watch these little ones grow. We have never had grandchildren this close in age, and I am betting that these two cousins will share many happy times together. 

We are so thankful that we found Victory Church in August of 2021. We love the sermons, fellowship, and many friends that we have made there. We also teach children's Sunday School once a month. This has been a bit challenging but it is good for us. We meet regularly with our small group and these people have become such good friends to us. The one couple has access to a cabin that their daughter and son-in-law own and our small group was able to share two weekends this year at this wonderful mountain retreat. I'm not sure how people do life without church, friends and family and I'm so thankful to have the support of all three.

My year was busy with managing the store. At times I definitely grew weary of it and wondered why a woman my age was working so hard! Steve and I have always said that we were not going to let the store wear us out and I said that I didn't want to manage it after the age of 65. This year a neighbor started approaching us about buying the store/property. At first, we didn't think he was really serious, but then this fall he gave us a number to consider and said he would like to start the process of buying us out in 2024! It was appealing so we told our children about it and said we were thinking about taking him up on his offer. 

Well, to make a long story short, Shawn and Josh said that if we were going to sell, they had interest in it. We are still working out details, but as of January 1st I will no longer be the manager of the store! Instead I will just be an employee. I am amazed at how quickly this has come about and I couldn't be more excited. I am beyond ready to not have to shoulder so much responsibility and I look forward to having some hours in my day that I don't  have to think about the store. I will still be working a good many hours and also doing some managerial jobs, but at least any final decisions are no longer with me!

As we turn the corner and enter 2024, I am excited to see what God has in store for us. Twelve months is a long time and it is good to look back over a year and reflect on the joys, difficulties and challenges that were faced. However, one thing never changes and that is God's faithfulness. I am thankful for that promise.

Finally, here are my wishes for the coming year.  Good health for Steve and me...less stress...lots of time with grandchildren...relaxing times with God, family and friends...and last but not least....a new car!

I will edit this blog and post our annual Christmas picture if we manage to all get together on New Year's Day.

Annual Grandchildren Birthday Drop

Here are my annual grandchildren birthday pictures taken on or around their birthdays.

Jake - 2 years old

Lydia - 12 years old

Janae - 3 years old

Kyle - Newborn :)

Awstin - 10 years old

Clara - 6 years old

Alexis - 14 years old

Seth - Newborn (I like that I have the same top on for both Kyle and Seth's first visit!)

Bryce - 4 years old

Cassidy - 2 years old

Mark - 11 years old

Hannah - 9 years old

This year we added 2 new grandchildren and next year there will be another one as Jay & Kristen are expecting a baby in April :)  We are so grateful for every single one of our grandchildren! What a blessing!

Welcome Seth Dietrich Lehman!

Josh & Julissa welcomed son Seth Dietrich into their family today! He was born at 3:03 pm and weighed 6 lbs, 11 oz. Everyone is doing great!

Here are some first pictures.

First car ride

Not sure this is a "first" picture but probably pretty close.

First meeting with Grandma

First meeting with Grandpa

Big sister Cassidy gets in on the picture too!

Good thing Daddy has two arms!

First meeting of cousins! I'm sure these two will have many happy times together! 

We now have a dozen grandchildren! We are so grateful for each and every one of them. They are truly one of life's greatest joys!

And of course...here is the Scrabble board. His name went on so easily. I guess it was just meant to be!

Alaska!

Six years ago my sister Lois and her husband Jim bought a house in  Fairbanks, Alaska. They travel there quite frequently and have always said that we should go along with them sometime. We agreed that would be a fun thing to do but as is often the case "life got in the way." The airline tickets were expensive and we didn't really see how I could leave the store for an extended period of time.

Earlier this year at one of our Wednesday night suppers, Josh made the comment that we should go to Alaska this year. We kind of brushed it off but it did get us thinking about it again. Eventually, plans fell in place and we purchased the tickets in May for an August 1-8 trip. The employees agreed to step up and cover for me and it seemed like everything was working out. 

Then Steve had his heart attack and it looked like our plans would be foiled. However, since he was able to avoid open heart surgery, the doctors said that as long as he felt well enough there was no reason for him not to go. Ironically, I also was dealing with a rapid heart beat and until I got checked out for that, we were unsure about traveling. Thankfully, my issue was taken care of with medication and on August 1, we boarded a plane with Jim & Lois for Alaska.

It was a wonderful week. We did some sightseeing around Fairbanks and Steve and I took a day and drove two hours to Denali State Park in the hopes of seeing the great mountain. It was a cloudy day and the buses were full that take you part way up the mountain so we were unable to visibly see it, but honestly we didn't really care. We spent quite a long time in the visitors center and probably learned more about the mountain than we would have if we had ridden the bus. 

Steve and Jim drove 4 hours one way to go salmon fishing for 8 hours. It was expensive and a long way to go and by the time they got back, both were exhausted but Jim caught a king salmon so I guess it was worth it. 

Alaska has a lot of wildfires that basically they just let burn, unless they get too close to civilization.  They were close to Fairbanks when we were there and we had 3 days of heavy smoke. You could smell smoke even in the house and visibility was not very far. I was a little concerned and Jim said he had never seen anything like it, but there never seemed to be any danger of an evacuation so we just put up with it.

We also had plenty of time for relaxation. Lois & I put a puzzle together, played Scrabble and read books. For the most part we just enjoyed spending time together. It was just what Steve and I needed--a restful and rejuvenating week. (Although I will say that I don't recommend taking a red-eye flight home. That was a little brutal.)

Here are some pictures of our week.

Flying over the Rockies was beautiful. Of course the picture doesn't do it justice.

View from Jim & Lois' deck

Pipeline - I remember when it was being built 45 years ago

A cute place to visit. Lots of Christmas stuff.

Riverboat tour

On the boat

These planes are 50 years old and they still use them daily. They are great for fighting fires and also delivering items in the winter to those who can't get out.

Home of Susan Butcher who won the Alaskan dogsled race 4 years.

Reindeer

The only moose that I saw. Steve saw some when he and Jim were traveling to salmon fish, but he didn't get a picture of them

Beautiful scenery near Denali State Park

Jim's king salmon

Jim & Lois' house

Dense Smoke

We are very thankful that we could make this trip. The employees did a fantastic job of covering the store. A very special thanks to Julissa for overseeing everything and making sure things went smoothly. Alaska is indeed a beautiful state and I'm glad we got to experience it for one week. 

 

Steve's Heart Attack

 

I was looking forward to Monday morning, July 10. Megan had just come home from the hospital on Sunday with baby Kyle and I was planning to go down and be with her for a couple of hours while Jeremy & Jake ran some errands. I had barely settled in with them, when Steve called and said he wasn't feeling well and could I come home. Upon arriving home, I found Steve looking pale and in a cold sweat. He said he had tingling in his arms and mild discomfort in his chest. He also felt a little nauseated. Knowing these were the signs of a heart attack, I called 911.

The ambulance arrived fairly quickly and after doing an EKG and an initial assessment they determined it would be best for Steve to go to the hospital. We agreed. I rode in the ambulance and at the hospital Steve was quickly taken to the emergency room. After taking further tests and drawing much blood, the doctors informed us that Steve had indeed had a mild heart attack and they suggested he be admitted and they would perform a heart catherization and hopefully find the blockage(s) and open the artery with a stent or stents.

Late Monday afternoon Steve was settled into Room 6804. It was the beginning of a long and stressful week. Shawn took the time to write down his version of events and I think I will just share it here, rather than rewrite it.

On Monday, July 10 around 11:00 am Dad was taken to the hospital by ambulance after experiencing chest pain and other heart attack like symptoms. The initial examination at the hospital confirmed he did have a mild heart attack and his blood oxygen levels were low. The doctors assumed that there was blockage in his arteries and scheduled a heart catheterization procedure for Tuesday morning. We were told they would insert a camera through a vein in his wrist and go in his heart and look around for the blockage. If they found the blockage, they would then put a stent in and there was a good chance he could go home Wednesday with no restrictions.

Tuesday was a very long frustrating day. Dad was not allowed to eat or drink anything because any minute they would be coming to get him for the procedure. At the end of the day, we were informed that the procedure had been pushed off until Wednesday morning and Dad was finally given something to eat.

First thing Wednesday morning he was taken for the catheterization procedure. When it was over the doctor informed us that Dad had two blockages and that due to the location of the one blockage, putting a stent in was too risky and he was recommending double bypass open heart surgery. This was not the news we were hoping for, but we accepted it and surgery was scheduled for 8:00 am Thursday morning.

Wednesday afternoon the surgeon came in and told us that surgery was being pushed back to Friday morning due to low levels of hemoglobin in his blood. He said he was puzzled by the low levels but needed to get the levels back to normal before surgery. This was a big disappointment. Around 5:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon Dad had another heart episode with extreme chest pain that was way worse than the first time. After a scary couple of minutes things settled down and by 9:00 pm Dad was resting comfortably.

It turned out to be a terrible night for Dad. At 1:30 am he had another heart episode and after that constant chest pain. The nurses did what they could to keep him comfortable, but it was not working. Shortly after 7:00 am when the doctor was making her morning rounds, she saw the condition Dad was in and his current heart activity and was upset that nothing was being done. She said someone dropped the ball overnight and something should have been done. At that point he would have been taken immediately into the OR for surgery but both heart surgeons were currently operating and there was no operating room available. Dad was taken to the catheter lab so they could go in and examine the blockage again. If the doctor thought Dad could make it another 2-3 hours until an operating room opened, he would insert a balloon pump in preparation for surgery. If he did not think he could make it, he would try to insert a stent because at this point there was nothing to lose. When Dad left the room, we were told to pack up his things. There was no way he would come back to this room. His next stop would be the ICU so we knew the Doctor had very little confidence that he could place the stent.

After the procedure, he came out to talk to us and said that Dad’s artery was 99% blocked and he wasn’t confident he would make it another 2-3 hours for an operating room. He went ahead and placed the stent. With a big smile on his face, he said “I nailed it.” He had his iPad in his hand and showed us before and after pictures of Dads heart. He was so pleased. He had pulled off the impossible and landed the stent in the perfect spot. Yes, you are amazing, but you had some help. God is the perfect surgeon.

Dad was then taken back to his regular room, an outcome no one expected. He had a blockage in 2 arteries. The complicated one was taken care of, and another catheterization procedure was scheduled for Friday morning to place a stent in the other one. Dad rested comfortably the rest of the day Thursday with no more chest pain. The second artery was fixed Friday morning, and he came home Saturday.

This is truly a God story in how what seemed like an incompetent hospital was actually God working a plan to fix Dad’s heart without open heart surgery.

1. If the hospital had done the first heart catheterization on Tuesday like we thought they should have, Dad probably would have had surgery on Wednesday. 

2. His surgery was scheduled for Thursday morning and pushed to Friday due to low hemoglobin in his blood. It turned out somehow the hospital mixed up his blood sample and there was never a problem with his hemoglobin. 

3. Wednesday night Dad had chest pain all night but somehow got overlooked until the first surgeries Thursday morning were already in progress. Had the right people realized the situation 30 minutes earlier he probably would have been on the operating table first thing Thursday morning.

4. I (Shawn) was planning to stay with Dad Wednesday night but since he was resting comfortably, decided to go home. If I had been there, I probably would have questioned why nothing was being done and maybe someone would have looked into it soon enough to get him in the OR Thursday morning.

God is good all the time, all the time God is good. When things seem out of control, and nothing is going like it should, it might just be God working out his perfect plan.

I have many people to thank for their prayers and support. The children were incredible. Everyone of them came with their families to the hospital to visit, even Megan with 5 day old Kyle. Shawn and Josh each transported me from the hospital the first two days. After that I drove in myself. Shawn found the perfect parking place for me. Jay came in every day that Steve had his heart catherizations and sat with me in the waiting room and kept the other children updated as to what was happening. Josh & Julissa & Cassidy came in for a meal and I showed them my expertise in navigating the hospital cafeteria (believe me, it took me quite a few days to master it). Megan did what she could through texts & phone calls. Our pastor visited Steve also as well as friends from our small group. Sometimes I just had to silence my phone because the texts were so constant and I couldn't handle it anymore! But we were so appreciative that everyone cared so much. It is wonderful to have family and friends supporting you when going through something like this.

Even though it was an exhausting week, we are so thankful that Steve did not need open heart surgery and that he is back home, feeling pretty good and able to resume normal activities. Shawn said it best...God is good...all the time.

Welcome Kyle Lee Kreider

We are so happy to welcome Kyle Lee Kreider to the family! He was born at 2:02 this afternoon, weighing 8lb 9oz and measuring 20.5in. Jeremy and Megan are now the proud parents of 2 precious boys! 

That round face! 

So precious! I will never, ever get tired of seeing and holding a newborn!

Hard to believe that the very next day, Steve had his heart attack.

And here are a couple of pictures of Jake with Kyle. He was thrilled!

Just look how Jake's eyes are shining!

He loves his brother so much! 

And...for those of you who wondered, I did get his name on my Scrabble board!

Eventually I hope to get all matching Scrabble tiles. Do you think I can fit Josh & Julissa's baby's name on yet in September? I hope so!

A few weeks later, Steve's mom was visiting and I snapped a picture of her with Kyle.

Great-Grandma & Kyle