where is harper - "here I am"

 Thursday night Harper was in no way interested in going to bed.  After being put to bed he came out and plopped down, covered himself up, and sat there until I put him back in bed.  He did this about 6 times, once with each one of his "favorite" blankets.  He would sit so still, and was not moving until I moved him.  It was a long process!

this is Harper's imitation of a "snowman".  I just went with it...!  

Happy Mother's Day!

 me and my incredible mother!  In Sunday school this week students made cards for their moms, so I did too!  I probably haven't made a handmade (with construction paper, glue, beads, and marker!) since grade school!  I reminded her that my favorite things about her are that she loves my family, she makes my favorite cookies, and she always helps if we are in need.  She really is an amazing women.  As an example...most husbands would never say "when you grow up I hope you are half as nice as your mom" -- which is what Chad tells me often!!  :-)  

 this is exactly how my family should be reflected right now...this picture says everything just like it is now with these too!!  Charli is always ready to give a thumbs up and Harper is all cheese with some whine on the side! :-)

 special, special, special day!  Charli went with Grandpa (my dad)  to buy seeds for the garden and rode to the farm with grandma & grandpa to start working in the garden!  Grandpa and Charli planted the garden, and Charli informed me that she now has a "green thumb".  They enjoyed their time together, and did a great job!

 planting the seeds!

 Charlie * Charli

 Grandpa needs to have someone (his son-in-law) put sprinklers in his garden to save the trips to the hydrant!

 Grandpa * Custor * Harper

the remains of an ant hill!

Tonight after supper the kids were both told they could not have candy snacks, Harper decided that was a great time to climb into the cupboard and come back with a giant box of hot tamales.  Chad was convinced he wouldn't like them so he let him have one (to my dismay).  Minutes later Harper was in heaven, with his mouth full of hot tamales...he probably had 10 of them before deciding he was done.  Charli can handle about five at a time before needing a break!  Oh Harper....

13 years....and here we are.

Thirteen years ago our life was changed in a way I could never begin to comprehend.  Thirteen years ago Chad,  then my boyfriend of just over a year, was the victim of a tragic accident.  Chad was working in a 12-foot trench when the sides started to collapse, burying Chad under it's rubble.  In the process of Chad trying to get out he was pinned on top of a backhoe bucket, which he was going to try to use as his escape route out of the hole.  This piece of equipment probably saved his life, but also caused dramatic injury. This was just days before my high school graduation.


After being life flighted to Omaha he was stabilized...and days later his doctors discovered he had necrotizing fasciitis.  This "little" virus still haunts us today,  If you are not familiar with necrotizing faciitis, you can click THIS LINK, but know it is not pleasant to look at or read about!  It is this virus which made the many surgeries he had in 1999-2001 necessary and ultimately the reason why he has had all the problems since.


Chad has been through a lot in the past 13 years as a result of his accident and sadly for him, and our entire family, he still has regular, daily, pain and complications as a result of his accident.  In fact the surgery he had just before Charli's trip in March was a direct result of his accident in '99.  Thirteen years ago had you told me that it would be haunting us all yet today, I would have told you that you were crazy, not then knowing (at the ever so knowledgeable age of a fresh 18 year old!) half of what was to come!


On days like today when I truly reflect on what he has been through I can realize how amazing all of his miracles have been.  Some of you may remember this like it was yesterday, some of you may not have known anything about this piece of our history.  The bottom line is that 13 years and one day ago, I had no idea what we were in for!  But...isn't this the truth for all of us?


Miracles happen everyday, and I am blessed to have had several used in my family over the years!  I pray that one day we will find the miracle that will "fix" this for Chad once and for all...and in the meantime I pray for Chad's patience and strength as he continues to defy all the obstacles this has presented to him.

friends are made to make you smile

Happy Birthday to me!  I was surprised by this beautiful cake at work on Monday to celebrate my birthday over the weekend!  I work with some wonderful people, lucky me!!

"Lipsticks & .... the guys"

a few weeks ago this group of friends, and a few others, gathered together to raise money for the Relay For Life by putt putt golfing.  We were *not* pretty awesome, but had a great time!

 I was absolutely the worst golfer on our team, without question!  But, I would argue that I was the most fun :-)

Harper and his big cousin Braxton at his 3rd bday party! 

 we made homemade blueberry muffins with fresh blueberries together for the first time, and have decided the blueberries from the can tasted better than fresh! (I think we had sour berries!)  But...kids loved it!  Look at that teamwork!

 Harper was in love with his new book I guess!!

they are starting to really love their snuggle time before bed!

We had our annual Relay For Life garage sale this weekend.  We did it a little differently this year, and as a result we tossed all of our baby gear out this year.  Charli has an obnoxious amount of clothes, and made lots of other little girls happy with the treasures their parents found!  My mom helped me organize everything and hung in there for the entire thing - start to finish, and then some!  Dad came down to help a lot too, as did my Aunt Kay, Chad's Uncle Ivan, and Aunt Janice.  It was fun to spend the time visiting with everyone!  And, I think it was probably the first time in 15 years that I spend most of my birthday "day" with my parents - which was great!  

We made a quick trip to Omaha this afternoon and we stopped in Fremont for supper.  While at Wendy's a couple, about our age, sat next to us with two young girls (4 & 2).  The youngest one was a pistol, reminded us of Harper!  After she was scolded a time or two we discovered that her name was Harper!  One time her daddy said her name and Harper heard him, and giggled so we explained that they shared a name.  A few minutes later we thought we heard something else strange, but assumed we heard wrong.  On our way out we stopped by to say good-bye to "Harper" and discovered that Harper's big sister's name was "Charlee"!  What are the odds to meet another Charlee & Harper!  The kids thought it was hilarious to say good-bye to "Charlee & Harper".  This is a once in a lifetime event I am sure, how fun!!!

living life & growing dreams

Sometimes when we are so busy living life, we realize we haven't been capturing it on film!  Which...is what has been happening since we got back from Florida!

I wanted to share this link before I forgot, because I have been forgetting for the past week!  If you would like to donate to Charli's Relay For Life goal of 2012 you can do so by clicking this link!  CLICK HERE!!!!  Charli set a goal to raise $1,000 and with the help of facebook friends hit that over one weekend!  (this has her pretty excited!)  She has been the fundraising queen lately, she is always raising money for our local rescue mission, and made her first of several donations to them last night - she was so proud to deliver the money!

By clicking on the link above you will go directly to her page and it will walk you through how you donate, but if you have any questions please let me know!

Here is Charli and her buddy three years ago!