Christmas

Well, it's been a while since I posted I see..... and I must say that a LOT has happened during that time.

We had a relatively normal first week of December. We went out with my parents and chopped down our Christmas tree, then decorated and all that jazz. It was fun!!!!! We took my two nieces to the town light up (it was cold, so we didn't take them out for long.....) and gave my sister and her husband an evening to themselves, which was nice for them I believe!!!!

And then life hit. On December 6th we got a call from Dan's parents that his sister was going to be sedated as that was the only way they could manage her pain. Basically the doctors figured that the sedation would basically make her like she was unconsious and her body would slowly shut down, so on the 6th we told his parents to tell Keri that we loved her and then we waited. On December 8th we experienced a very weird day. Dan lost his main key to his truck (we have 2 others, so he was still able to get to work) and no matter how much we looked we couldn't find it and Dan just felt really "off" all day. I went to piano lessons at 3:30 and Dan got home at about 4:20. He said that he basically just sat down on the toilet and prayed that God would take his sister to relieve her of her pain. He got in the shower and minutes later his cell rang. I got home at 4:30 and literally like 1 minute after I walked in the door our land line rang. It was Dan's mom. His sister had passed away peacefully at 4:00. It was hard for Dan and me, but at the same time we were both relieved and thankful that God had taken her home and she was no longer in pain. As we found out more details regarding December 8th, we discovered that she was able to spend an hour with Austin that morning and for the most part it was a good day for her with minimal pain. We did however have to make plans for the funeral. Keri was cremated so the funeral was held on December 18th in Lloyd and so we had some time at home before we had to leave. That was nice.

The weekend of December 12th we experienced a deep freeze in the area and had temperatures plumet to -45 plus a windchill. Dan was called into work on December 13th because they had frozen regulators and all that. He worked a full 8 hours that day and was on emergency call until 11:00 that night. His truck then froze and refused to start, the cold water pipe to our kitchen sink froze up (it didn't burst, but it froze), my car was a bit unreliable, and we needed to get to Lloyd, so we ended up borrowing my parents car. It was great to have that opportunity and we are very thankful to my parents that they were flexible that way (we brought the dog with us, and my mom doesn't allow animals in her vehicles or house, so we were very careful to make sure the car didn't have dog smell in it!!!!!).

The trip to Lloyd and the time there was actually very nice. As much as the occasion was sad, we had 3 full days there and were able to help Dan's sister and brother-in-law with some repairs on their house, we helped Dan's parents set up their nursery for when Austin comes home, and we were able to celebrate Keri's life with family and friends.

Monday, December 21st Dan started his week of call, so that made for a busy week, but it was good!!! He had calls from 5:00 to 9:00 on Christmas Eve, but then he had no calls until 10:00 Christmas night!!!! So he got to spend the whole day with my family and it was much more relaxing than he thought it was going to be!!!!! We had a great Christmas Eve and Day and spent enjoyable time with family. We exchanged our gifts with each other Christmas morning before going out to my parents, and I really enjoyed that!!!! This is the only year that it will be just the 2 of us for Christmas (and it's our first Christmas spent together at all because last year I was in California!!!) so it was nice to have that time!!! We were spoiled from our families this year as well, and we just enjoyed the day immensly!!!

And now life is kind of getting back to normal. I have picked up some hours at my brother-in-laws clinic last week and today, and have an at-home project from my old office manager that should take me all day tomorrow to do, so that is good as well!!! We have a few changes happening in the next month as our downstairs renter has given notice and my house will be vacant come the end of January as well. So we are praying hugely that my house sells and that we can get a renter for the basement. God is stretching us and increasing our trust in Him, but He has provided beyond expectations in the past 8 months (and our lives in general) so we are continuing to trust that He will continue to provide as we need, as come February baby Viel will make his/her appearance and we will not be able to sustain 2 houses for long!

In regards to Dan's niece Austin (Keri's daughter), she should be coming home today from what we last knew, so that is a huge answer to prayer!!!!! All of her tests have come back positive, so her hearing, vision, brain development, breathing, everything, looks to be normal. God is definately good and we have much to praise Him for!!!!

And as we head into this new year, Dan and me are looking forward in anticipation to what God has in store and we are excited for the new challenges and happenings that we will experience!!!

Merry Christmas everyone and have a wonderful New Year!!!!

Life in General...

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted something, and during that time life has generally happened.....

Over halloween weekend Dan and me flew to Edmonton to see his sister and our niece. It was a good weekend and Keri seemed to be doing well at that point. Austin is doing amazing and at that point (about 5 weeks old) was just under 2 pounds. It was a nice relaxing weekend and good to fly as opposed to drive!!!!!

Throughout the rest of november life has just kind of happened. I've been going to water aerobics once a week, going for walks as much as possible and generally feeling very well!!!!
Last weekend Dan and I went to Three Hills to see my brother and his family. We stopped in Edmonton to see his sister for a few hours on the way down and generally had a good weekend!!! It was relaxing and enjoyable!! Dan even got to go up with Dallas for a flight, which was great fun for him. I would have gone, but since I am in my third trimester now it isn't advisable for me to fly, especially in a little 4 seater.

This weekend is the Ladies Tea at our church and so this week has been crazy to say the least. I've been at the church every day since Tuesday and will be there every evening until Sunday as I am primary sound person. Dan is covering for me on Saturday as I am actually going, and since Dan is drumming he has to be there anyway, so he's going to be there every night as well. He feels a little bit out of place, but at least he doesn't have to sit at home every night while I have fun!!!!

And that's about what's happening with life right now.

Baby Austin and more

Just thought I would share a couple pictures of my cute little, and she is little, niece. It's kind of hard to get a good picture because of all the tubes and stuff, but you can still see her and how small she is!!!!! Austin is doing well and the doctors are pleased with her levels and such. She hasn't grown too much weight wise, but she is a fighter and she's doing well!!!!!

Keri is not doing well however. There is pretty much constant pain and while the doctors are still treating the cancer with hopes that it will help with the pain, there is no medical hope for a cure. We have not given up hope as the Lord can and does work miracles, but life is kind of a waiting game right now. The cancer brings with it a high risk of blood clots, which will likely cause death before the cancer will, so it's tough to know what to pray and what to do right now.

I am doing well with the pregnancy however. The second ultrasound is in a three weeks and I am feeling baby move every day and we are just waiting for when Dan can feel it on the outside!!!!!!!!!!!! My sister is also pregnant now, and so at Thanksgiving supper we took a picture of the two of us. We are due a week apart and are pretty much exactly the same size!!!!!!

And that's it for now!!!!!!

My Baby

A week and a half ago I went for my ultrasound for our baby. Dan took the day off so that he could come with me, and it was a great experience!!!! We were able to see baby quite clearly and because Dan wanted to, we found out what we were having, but we are keeping it a secret from everybody else. It was fun though!!! I also had a doctors appointment last week and discovered that I need to go back for a second ultrasound because they couldn't get a good picture of the spine in the first one. Everything else was normal and the doctor was not at all concerned, so I am not worried, but it is sometimes hard to think positive, so please pray that I will have a continued positive mind set.

We have also had a big week in regards to family situations!!! Due to complications with the placenta, Dan's sister Keri had a somewhat emergency c-section to deliever her baby at 27 weeks, 13 weeks premature. Keri has been struggling with health issues for the past year and a half and has been in the hospital pretty much her entire pregnancy fighting cancer. Both her and the baby were doing well, but last week the baby went into distress and had to be taken out so that both Keri and baby would survive. The baby (a girl named Austin) is a surprising 1 1/2 lbs and 11 3/4 inches long and is doing well!!!! Praise God for that!!!!!!! She is breathing on her own, in the incubater but without forced air. Keri is also doing better now as well. Please keep praying for Keri and Austin that God would be faithful and present to them now and that Austin would keep developing properly and that healing would be quick for Keri.

Dan has a work course in Edmonton tomorrow, so he has gone down and will see Austin and Keri tonight, which is good for him. He has been quite worried, and reasonably so, with the whole situation.

And that's kind of it right now!!!!!

Fall

How I love fall. The colors and smells and brisk air.... it's just a great season!!! In fact, and flip flop on this every year, but I think fall is my favorite season. Granted, when spring comes I always think it's my favorite, but for right now, fall is my favorite!!!!

I have experienced some changes in the past few months, and am currently kind of settling into a routine that should be doable until baby comes!!! Seeing as I am not in school (sniff, sniff) I took on more piano students this year and started the teaching this week!!! Not all my students were able to start this week, so I did only 3 hours of lessons, but next week I should have 4 1/2 or 5 hours!!!!! It's a change, but I'm still excited about it, which is nice because this may be my "job" for the next few years. I just seem to always enjoy teaching and always enjoy teaching piano!

My belly has currently popped a little bit, so that I look more pregnant and not so much fat.... it's nice!!!! I have also been able to feel the baby move a bit more this month, and next week is my ultrasound so by this time next week we will have actually seen our baby!!!!!! We are still unsure as to whether we will find out what gender our little baby is, but even if we do, we aren't going to be telling people because that just ruins their fun and if the ultrasound is wrong, then we don't have to backtrack!!!

And I think that's going to be it for now!!! I have to go to town and buy some stuff.... baby stuff and groceries.... so I will see you later!!!!

Surprise, Surprise!!!!

Well, now that the news has spread among family and some friends, I'll do the announcing here, in the form of a question.

What happens when you don't use birth control?

Answer: You get pregnant.

Yup. Dan and me are, unexpectedly, expecting a baby in February of 2010. The news came as somewhat of a surprise to us, as we were not really planning on having a baby this soon after we got married, but hey, we'll take what God gives us with excitement anyway!!!!!! This does put some kind of kink in my school plans, so I am taking this year off and we are praying about what to do after that.

Surprise!!!!!

For Melissa

Especially for Issa, but for all of you who look at my blog also, here are some wedding photos for you!!!!!

It's about time....

Well, considering all of the changes that have gone on in the past month, I guess it's about time to blog about it!!!!! I won't go into all the details, because that would just take WAY to long. But after I was done my final day of work, I took a road trip with my mom to Cochrane to see my Aunt graduate with her masters, came home and cleaned Dan's house from top to bottom, and then worked out last minute details on the wedding.

May 16th was the GREATEST day of my life so far. It was a relaxing and stress free as I wanted it to be and nothing really went wrong!!!! The only really kind of "not planned" thing was that Dan had a runny nose throughout the whole ceremony!!!! We had a BLAST doing pictures and spent some relax time in Tim Hortons between pictures and reception, so that was fun as well!!!!! The reception was great and basically it was just the awesomist day ever!!!!!!

We also had an awesome honeymoon and just spent the week relaxing in Radium and having fun. After the week we came home, opened gifts, organized the house, and just had fun!!!!!!

The past couple of weeks have been spent getting used to regular life again. Dan has been back at work and I have continued getting the house settled and figuring out what we are gonna do with everything. My house has been rented to my sister and brother-in-law for a few months while they are building their new house in Sexsmith, so that has also been a relief for us, as I am not working throughout the summer. I have done some temp work in the last couple of days at our church, and there are is a week that I am doing at my brother-in-laws clinic at the end of the month, so I am doing stuff, just not lots.

So yeah. That's kind of where we are at!!!!!!

Life's Changes

Today is a bittersweet day. Actually, this week is a bittersweet week.

The sweet part of my week was monday because as of Monday, April 27th I am officially done my second year of school!!!!!! My last exam, my computers exam, was on Monday at 11:30 and by 12:15 I was done and out of there!!!! It is such a relief to be done and have 4 months before I have to do any kind of school again. Next year should be a bit more busy with school as I start my actual education degree and do a 5 week practicum during the fall semester.

Also on Monday was my bridal shower with the church. It was a good shower and I felt very blessed by everything that we received and the ladies that were there. Dan's mom and sister came up for the shower so it was good to see them and I very much appreciated the effort they made to attend. It was a little bit weird to be at the church for a shower that was mine though. I've been to so many different bridal showers there and then all of the sudden this one was mine.... it was a weird feeling, but I had fun and enjoyed the evening.

The bitter part of this week is that today is my last day of work..... Because I was going to be quitting in August, work decided to bump up my final day to today in an effort to save money (because of the economy....). So Tuesday evening the girls from work went out to the Keg for supper and just had a fun evening. I had rib and lobster.... and it was SOOOOOOOOOO good. It was a fun evening, but all week has been slightly overshadowed by the fact that I am done now. And as I am sitting at work now it's still kind of sureal that tomorrow I will not have to come in and I won't have the work keys that have been on my key ring for the last 4 years. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 4 years since I took this job, but it has been that long and it's a different feeling knowing that this chapter of my life is coming to an end, although I must admit that I am looking forward with eager anticipation for the next chapter!!!!

So that's kind of what's happening right now. A week of mixed feelings and events!!!!! In an effort to just get away to process, I am going to Cochrane with my mom tomorrow for my Aunt's graduation from seminary. It will be good because I won't be sitting around at home going "what do I do????" and when I come home it's gonna be busy, busy, busy because I am going to steam clean Dan's house while he is in Edmonton for school and then getting ready for wedding. So yeah, I'm looking forward to the weekend and then the craziness of the next couple of weeks before my wedding on May 16th!!!!! Whoo, hoo!!!!!!!

Spring!!!!!

Well, it seems to have been a while since I posted last, and since I am once again bored in art history, I'll do it again!!!!!

The past month has been quite eventful actually. School is winding down, so I am down to my last few assignments before exams start, so that is soooooooo exciting for me!!!!!! My classes end next week Tuesday and then I have four exams stretched from April 16 to 27. It has been a good semester, but I am more than ready for a break. I'm looking forward to the summer for sure!!!!! (For more reasons than one....)

My schedule in March allowed me to attend Friday night youth more often this month, so that was soooo good to do again. Just the chance to let the week stress go by acting crazy was muchly needed!!!!! I love helping with the youth, and although originally I was going to call this my last year, I'm not so sure now. We'll see where God leads during the summer I guess!!!

March also brought about some exciting events for Dan and me. We were able to rent out Dan's basement suite and so we have a lady moving down there in the middle of April. We also put up advertisements for my house, but so far have had very little response so we are praying about what to do there. We have a couple of options available, but it's just a matter of timing and God's provision. We also bought new appliances for Dan's house, went and did our wedding registry/certificate thingy and are now getting into the nitty gritty details of wedding planning. We've done 3 of the 4 pre-marital counselling with our pastor and that has brought about some good conversations, and overall it's just getting very exciting for us!!!!! My one roommate also moved out last weekend, so that is also making things a bit more real as well!!!!

And I think that is kind of about it. I am sure that there is more that has gone on, but seeing as I should be paying attention to class, I should probably go. Only 38 more days to go!!!!!!!!!!!

The hum drum of life.....

Well, as I am sitting here in my Art History class, I am feeling that bored, hum, drum of life. My reading week was a week and a half ago and it seems like it's been forever since then.... The good news is that I have only 6 weeks of school left!!!! And then 4 weeks until I get married!!!!!! So in 10 weeks I will be Mrs. Viel, which is super super exciting for me!!!!!!! (And Dan too....)

And that's pretty much it for now. Life goes on. I breathe in, breathe out..... and then I go to school, work, and eat and sleep.....

Just Because.....

Happy Valentines Day to you!!!!!

I realized that is has been a while since I posted, and while not a whole lot has happened, I figured I would blab a little. On the last weekend of January Dan and I went to Lloydminster to see his family and they held a pampered chef bridal shower for us. We were SPOILED rotten, but I felt very welcomed into the family and it was nice to see his family (and meet those I hadn't met yet....).

And since then we have done some more wedding stuff, sent out invitations, and are now just kinda waiting until we can plan more of the decorations stuff....... and do the powerpoint thing.... that might take me a while.

Anyway, that's kinda it right now!!!! Have a great long weekend everyone and enjoy your valentines day!!!!

Engagment Pics

So Dan & me had some engagment pictures taken yesterday afternoon. Our friends Martha takes AMAZING pictures, so we took her out for lunch and went to Muskroseepi Park (my pronunciation....) and the GP Tourist Centre to take some pictures. It was somewhat cold outside, but we had fun anyway, and it made for a good afternoon!!!!! Martha also did some editing for us on some of the pictures, so that's what the bottom ones are. Enjoy!!!!
My ring

us being cheesy.... but we like it!!!!

Exciting News and a story......

So, for those of you who are really out of touch, I am now engaged. Dan proposed on January 7th and I said yes. We are getting married on May 16th of this year and so the planning and preparing has officially begun.

And for those of you who are asking (Adrienne.....) here is the story......

Dan and me started dating in late August of 2008 and about 3 weeks after that I went with him to Lloyd to meet his family. Things went really well and, although it was quick, I had the "this is it" revelation after that trip. The first mention of marriage came up in October, however I was not ready to talk serious yet, so it kind of just passed. In late November I went ring shopping with a friend, gave my list to Dan, and then waited. Only a week later, while we were Christmas tree hunting in the bush, Dan asked my parents for their permission to marry me, and they said yes. We did promise them though that we would not be engaged before Christmas, however that day Dan and I did pick a potential wedding date. Dan was supposed to get a bonus at work on January 1st, however that was postponed for a couple of weeks, so I was not expecting any kind of question until after January 16th. We did decide to start planning for our wedding however because we knew that 4 months was a short time and we wanted the big things like church and reception hall booked as quick as possible. So we made a couple of phone calls and started the process. On January 4th my car blew the head gasket, so I was out a car. Arrangments were made and on the evening of January 7th Dan & me were going to go out to my parents house to pick up my Dad's second truck for me to drive until my car was fixed. So Dan came over after supper and I was cleaning up Christmas decorations in my living room while we waited for my parents to call and say the truck was ready to be picked up. We were just chatting about this and that and all of the sudden Dan told me he had to get something. So he went over to his coat (I did ask if he was leaving......I thought maybe he had forgotten something at home.....) so I turned back around to keep cleaning up decorations. I saw Dan walking back from his coat (a total of 5 steps away....) and turned back around. He got down on one knee, to which I said "you didn't" and asked me to marry him. I actually said "yeah" instead of yes, but whatever, the meaning is the same. So then we made phone calls to his family and phoned my parents to see if the truck was ready and went out to surprise them with the news.

So that's it!!!!! It's not huge or elaborate, but I have never wanted a huge, planned engagement so it was absolutely perfect for me and Dan!!!!!!

Post Christmas & New Years

Well, this post probably should have happened last week, but sometimes life gets away from you!!!!

I had a great Christmas. My parents, younger brother and me went to Disneyland for Christmas and it was AWESOME!!!! We had an extra 4 1/2 hours in airports on the way down, but compared to what some others had, we had it easy. The weather was not crazily warm, but it was warmer than the -30 to -40 that those here were having, so I had nothing to complain about. It was kind of weird to see Christmas decorations hung out on palm trees and such, but I thouroughly enjoyed my time there, got to ride on some sweet rides, and just relax and spend some time away from home. And for those of you asking, yes I did miss Dan a lot, but so goes life and we survived the week apart and learned some valuable communication skills from it, so that's good as well.

I had to go back to work on the Monday after I got back, so I worked on the Monday & Tuesday, had Wednesday & Thursday off for New Years, and then went back to work on Friday. Not that fun, but I still can't complain!!!! New Years was spent at my parents having our family Christmas, which included the first of me having a special someone there with me!!!!! It was fun, Dan learned some things about me and my family, I learned some things about Dan, and all in all Christmas and New Years was a great time, relaxing, and a nice break.

And now things are back into the swing of things. The first day of school was yesterday, youth group starts today, and piano lessons start next week. Hip hip horray for a return to schedule (insert sarcasm here) and yet another busy semester of school, work, piano lessons, and youth group.

Pictures of Disneyland to come later.....