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!!!!
