Dear Erik,
This week going by so slowly. I keep telling myself that this will be one of those times that I'll be able to look back on, and it will seem like it flew by. But the way it's going, I'm not sure if that'll be so true. Last night I laid in bed and watched the clock go around and around. I kept thinking, "I wonder what Erik is doing right now," or, "Wow, it's 3:00 in the afternoon over in China right now..." my thoughts kept going and going - I didn't sleep much.
Today my mom and I went through all the garage sale stuff. I priced all of our junk, but we aren't going to have the garage sale until later on in the fall. Aunt Carol is going to put some stuff into it too. We worked all day cleaning out the garage (Maida nearly took a four hour nap!) and I finally talked my mom into throwing out some stuff. It was a good feeling to see her throw stuff, like old high school papers of Tony's (junk).
Maida did a somersault last night! Yes, a complete somersault. I haven't got a video of it yet, because we've been so busy. Tonight we went to church and Maida didn't want to leave Bible class. I had to take her out kicking and screaming! I'm glad that she likes Bible class so much. Her teacher asked her to help clean up the legos at the end of class and Maida stood way back, throwing the legos at the bucket, trying to make them in. If she missed (and she missed every one!), she'd breathe out heavily and then stomp over, pick up the lego, and lay it in the bucket. So funny! Tonight after church Maida and I were sitting at the end of the dock with my mom and Maida was looking for "jish" in the river. My mom pointed out the moon to Maida, which was so full and beautiful. Maida said, "MOO! MOO!" and then pointed in the water to the moon's reflection. She is so smart. I asked her if there were two moons and she said yes, while pointing to the one in the sky, then the one in the river. Cute memory.
I haven't moved back home yet because tomorrow I'm going to help my mom freeze some corn off the cob. I figured that would be a good thing for me to help with. I plan to go back, though, sometime on Friday or Saturday. I just feel so homesick without you here and feel like if I get back home, at least I can get the place organized and do something with my time. There really isn't anything for me to do here now that all the family is gone.
Call or write when you can. I know that hearing from you would maybe ease my worries a little bit. Just to know that you're safe and having fun would be nice. I am so thankful that you are having this experience, though, and I love you a lot.
~ Kara :)
.
Our Blessings
Erik & Kara
Even though we met as babies and grew up as family friends, we didn't date each other until the end of college. Nine short months after "becoming official" we got married on August 28, 2004. We had a beautiful barefoot wedding on the beach in northern Minnesota, with lots of our friends and family in attendance. Now, after moving almost every year since we got married, we have officially decided that it's not time to settle, yet. After returning from six months of medical mission work in Zimbabwe, at Nhowe Mission, we are living as ski bums in our 45 foot RV motorcoach!
Maida Raine
Our princess was born on May 3, 2007 by an emergency c-section and has been the center of our universe ever since! She weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce, was 21 inches long, and has somehow, over night, turned into a very intelligent ten-year-old. After a life-threatening appendicitis last year, Maida has made a full recovery and we're thankful for God's provision through it all. Her bubbly personality and confidence follows her everywhere and she truly makes every thing better with her presence. Maida enjoys dance, acting, and has already written several books (one that's well on its way to publication)! She has a passion for animals, learning, and song writing, as well.
Skogen Roux
Even though a VBAC was the original plan, our BIG boy Skogie-Bear was born two weeks early on January 14, 2009 by C-section. He weighed a whopping 9 pounds 5.6 ounces and was 20 inches long. Skogen is a sweet, loving boy with a great amount of confidence. Nothing holds him back from having a good time. Skogen spends most of his time dreaming of skiing and when there is snow on the ground, he expects to be skiing 100% of the time! In the meantime, he plays soccer, tennis, t-ball, basketball, and gymnastics. Skogen has a huge heart for Africa and loved his time in Zimbabwe!
Klaasen Burke
Klaasen was born on July 27, 2010 by scheduled c-section after plans of a VBAC were changed when his due date was reached and he was still nice and cozy inside! He outweighed his brother's birth weight at 9 pounds 6.6 ounces and was 21 ½ inches long. One of Klaasen’s earliest achievements in life was being one of the largest babies anyone had ever seen with a weight of 20 pounds at two months and 30 pounds at six months! But as seven years have now passed, he has slimmed down and is now quite average in weight and height for his age. Klaasen was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder a year ago. This was expected and a shock all at the same time. We make sure to tell him every day that autism is his super power and there is nothing he can't do. We're fairly new to navigating this world of having a "special needs" child, but we're enjoying the successes as Klaasen continually amazes us along the way. Klaasen is creative, inventive, and always keeping us laughing. Klaasen enjoyed his time in Zimbabwe, making more friends than he's ever dreamed of having. He would like to go back as soon as he can.
Torsten S
Torsten was born in 2012, on the only day in August Kara didn’t want him to come – our anniversary! A planned fourth c-section was scheduled on August 31st, but God had other plans, and a spontaneous labor on August 28th fulfilled Kara’s dreams of being able to labor one more time. After an afternoon of laboring at home and a successful c-section, more prayers were answered as Kara was able to hold Torsten skin-to-skin and even breastfeed while still in the operating room minutes after birth (two things that she never got to experience with any of the other births). Torsten was our smallest boy, weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 ¼ inches long. At five years old now, Torsten is a very feisty little guy, never slowing down for a second! He keeps up with his older siblings quite well and perhaps will eventually be a better skier than them all, as he has been keeping up with the family on skis since he was 18 months old! Torsten loves playing with cars, playdough, enjoys Bible class, and prefers skiing black diamonds more than anything else in the world.
Barkley!
Barkley! joined our family in September of 2005. We never found out what kind of dog he was, but when someone asked, we just simply replied, "He's a rottweiler-pitbull-boxer-lab,"(unless it was a rental application, then he was a "lab mix"). He was everything we could have wished for in a dog. We lost him to cancer in 2016. Our hearts broke as we let him go and we are convinced that we'll never completely fill his role in our family again. He was a playmate, protector, the third parent, and confidant. We will always wish that we had more time with him.
Camber Cameille
We rescued Camber shortly after Barkley passed away. Not knowing what kind of dog she was or what size to expect, we excitedly welcomed her into our home. She took a six month vacation to Nanna's house in Oklahoma while we were in Zimbabwe and it's been fun to have her home. Now fully grown, she is a dainty little lady, the happiest when she's with the kids.
Simba Zino
Among all of our gifts we brought back from Zimbabwe, Simba is probably our favorite. Simba Zino means "strong and powerful fang" in Shona, which will be very appropriate for him since he will eventually weigh around 200 pounds. Simba's breed is a South African Boerboel, which we don't have in the United States, and they are known in Africa for protecting the farms there from cheetahs, lions, and hyenas! Even though he's already very large, he's a gentle giant. He's an amazing companion and we're excited to watch him grow, grow, grow!
No comments:
Post a Comment