The Tannahill Times

Robert Hugh Jones....see you soon...

2010-10-11T13:45:00.001-07:00

Rob's grandfather, Robert Hugh Jones passed away on Saturday evening. He was 89. Rob had flown to the US to be with his parents, and other family members to celebrate his grandfathers' 90th birthday which would have been on October 21st. Instead, the family spent the weekend over Canadian Thanksgiving / Columbus Day weekend sharing memories of this wonderful man and supporting each other in grief.

Pappy, as we called him, was in failing health. In the last month he had experienced many physical set backs and was in the hospital when he passed away.

He was a kind and gentle soul. He loved his family. His passions in life were good food, lots of cards [he'd play just about anything] and his friends and family.

When he first met me he took me out to his garden and tested me on what the various growing plants were. He told me if I didn't pass the test, I couldn't marry Rob. Lucky for me I recognized many of them and Rob subtly helped with the less obvious ones. :0)

Pappy was a kind man. He welcomed me into their family right away with kindness and gentleness. We spent time over many Christmases playing cards, eating great food, laughing and just sharing time together.

Pappy loved my children and when we were together gave them attention and encouragement. Jonah loved to sit and play 'Pitch' with his great-grandfather. He has very fond memories of those card games. Lauren has been very tearful over the last few days. I have sat with her and allowed her to express her memories and feelings about losing her great-grandfather. She has said things like,"He was so nice", "He really loved us", "We had fun together". I'm so glad that she has these wonderful warm memories. I'm glad that I have them too.

So, I just want to take this opportunity to say...See you soon Robert Hugh Jones. I'm glad that you are reunited with your wonderful wife and your grandson who passed away too soon. I'm glad that you are with your Lord and saviour. I am sad to have lost you in this life, but am thrilled to know that this is not goodbye. It is 'see you soon' because I believe I will see you again in that eternal place where there is no pain or sorrow and there are no goodbyes...ever. Thanks for your love, encouragement, enthusiastic smile, and for all of the hours of card playing we shared. Thanks for welcoming me into your family and for how you have loved and encouraged my children. You were one of a kind and my life is better for having known you.

With much love and hope for the future,
Your grand-daughter in-law,
Andrea

Church is AWESOME!!!

2010-09-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

Last night we started our 3rd service per Sunday at CrossRoads church here in Red Deer. We're doing the same service 3 times each Sunday in the hopes of appealing to people who like to attend church at different times in the day.

So, the kids and I attended service last night at 6:30 pm. It was a great family service. After the service, there was a pancake supper served by church volunteers. They had all kinds of different toppings. It was wonderful to sit with people and fellowship over food after our time of worship.

This morning, Spencer and her father had a conversation on the way to the sitter's house. According to Rob, it went something like this....

Spencer: "Dad, last night I go to church and it was AWESOME!"

Rob: "Really Spencer?"

Spencer: "Yep, they had pancakes at church and I had some and they were AWESOME!"

Rob: "They were Spencer? That's great!"

Spencer : "Yep. Mine had whip cream and that was AWESOME!"

Spencer: "Mine had stawberries and they were AWESOME!"

Spencer: "And mine had syrup and that was AWESOME!"

Spencer: "And mine even had Gummi bears and that was AWESOME!"

Spencer: "Yep church and pancakes are REALLY AWESOME!"

Spencer obviously has discovered the word 'awesome' in the last week. But even more special for us was how much she enjoyed this event in which we got to eat nice food and spend time with people who love Jesus. Spencer is right....it was AWESOME!!!!

This week....bad news all around

2010-09-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

I realize that I am not the only one that this happens to, but this week it seems that as each day went by, Rob and I were confronted with bad news. Early in the week my mother called and said that my grandfather had fallen in the nursing home and apparently had suffered a stroke [we were told that this was likely the cause of his fall]. He had left sided paralysis.

A few days later I got an e-mail from a friend going through a very dark time on a number of fronts. And still later in the week we got a call from another friend who has a tumor on their Thyroid gland and water on their brain. They are not sure if they are dealing with cancer at this point or not.

Then I got a call from my mother late yesterday to say that my grandfather had been taken by ambulance from the nursing home to the hospital. He was then transferred to a larger city likely for brain surgery. Apparently, he hadn't suffered a stroke but instead had fallen, hit his head and his brain had bled due to the head trauma!!! So today, my 87 year old grandfather, who is already suffering from Dementia, underwent brain surgery to remove the blood that had accumulated in his brain after his fall. Following the surgery, all of the paralysis has resolved and this has made my 89 year old grandmother jump for joy to say the least.

We are all breathing a sigh of relief as this could have had a much more negative outcome.

It is in times like these, that I am so glad that I have a loving saviour that I can lean on. I spent the day today, praying. Praying for my grandfather, my grandmother, and the surgeon as he performed neurosurgery in a city that is mostly without power due to Hurricane Earl hitting the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

I felt peace today, despite the bad news of the week as I know that no matter what is on the horizon God knows the circumstances and is with me no matter what. No matter what!! The circumstances may look bleak. They may actually be bleak. But that doesn't change His love for me or His desire for my good.

Thank you Jesus for the peace that you give to us. Peace that passes all understanding!!

"See ya later Dad!!"

2010-09-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time again for a Seth story. For those of you who read this blog, you have gotten to read a lot of "Seth stories". These are stories that detail the exploits of our Autistic son Seth. He has a zest for life that is unrivaled!

Yesterday I was at an all day meeting. My wonderful husband was with the kids for the day. Jonah had a dentist appointment for a cleaning so Rob pondered what to do with Seth and Lauren for the 75 minutes Jonah would be in the dentist's office because there is NO way that Seth would sit for that time.

Rob decided to take them to Bower Ponds. For those of you not from Red Deer, Bower Ponds is a wonderful park area in our city with walking trails, paddle boats, a children's park etc. While walking through the park, they saw a young man that Rob knows from church working in the paddle boat area. He waved Rob over and told him that he would let Rob and the kids use a paddle boat for no charge. So, into the paddle boat the 3 of them climb.

They started to paddle around the pond areas and all of a sudden Seth stands up in the boat. Knowing our sons' love of water, Rob quickly grabs him by the shirt and says, "Seth sit down." Seth then turns to his father and says, "See ya later Dad!" and jumps out of the boat and into the water!!!! Now, if you live in Arizona this is likely a refreshing thing to do. In Red Deer yesterday, the high was 15 C and at night it is getting down to around 4 C, so the water was quite cool yesterday morning to say the least.

According to Rob, as Seth hit the water his eyes became the size of dish plates and he yelled, "Help me Father, Help me!! Rob paddled the boat back to him and hauled him back into the paddle boat and they quickly returned to dry land. Seth had to strip off in the parking lot and wear Rob's coat home to ensure he stayed warm and dry.

As you can see even little excursions with Seth become very interesting and adventurous!!

I lost my magic

2010-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast the time goes. The weeks since Rob returned home have flown by. Rob got home, was home for 24 hours, then went to a 2 day conference in Calgary and within the first 24 hours he was home from that his parents arrived from Toronto.

We had Rob's parents here last week from Saturday to Thursday and then this week on Monday I started back at the College!!

WHEW!!! No wonder I feel tired a lot of the time. :-) Anyways, I've missed writing so I am going to write today.

Seth has been having some trouble with sleeping. He has not been settling to sleep easily. This is nothing new for Seth. He has been this way since birth and we have always gone through times when his sleeping was very little indeed.

But this time is a little different. It's different because of what Seth is communicating at bed time. He gets into bed and then gets up in tears and tells me, "Mom, I can't sleep because I've lost my magic." What does that mean???? I have no idea. I try to ask him questions about it, but he doesn't seem to have the words to tell me anything more. Rob goes in and talks to him, but he has no ideas either. In the morning, he has "found the magic again" which I guess is good, but gives me nothing else to go on. He has also told me that he keeps the magic in his hand. So, I can never quite understand how it gets lost in the first place.

So if anyone knows how to find Seth's magic at around 8 pm Mountain time, I'd sure appreciate the help. :0)

Coping

2010-07-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

This is going to be very sappy I guess, but I just have to get off my chest how much I am missing my husband. For those of you that don't know, Rob is on a missions trip with some of his young adults handing out Bibles in Greece. He is in the middle of a 14 day trip. For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you know that this will be the longest we have not had contact with each other in 17 years!!

It's hard to go for 14 days without speaking to the person who is your best friend and really helps you do life. I realize that many marriages are not like that, but ours really is. Even after all this time, I look to him for feedback on so many things. I can always count on him to be honest with me and tell me when I need to make changes. He's also the first one to tell me when I've done a great job at something. His opinion means the world to me.

Also, I have to say that I have a new appreciation of the hard work that is involved in single parenting. Kudos to any of you are doing that or have done that in the past. I realize that many single parents don't have 4 kids and included in that a child with special needs and a child that is not yet 3 years old, but regardless of the circumstances, being the sole parent in ANY situation I think is daunting. It's hard being the one that makes all of the decisions, deals with all of the conflicts, and has to be everything to all people. I didn't realize how much I rely on Rob to come home at night and just be a sounding board about various situations that have come up with the children.

So, I had to come up with some coping mechanisms to get through these two weeks. It's likely wimpy but here's what I did. I developed some new 'while Dad is in Greece' rules.
1) Anyone who argues with the Mom goes to their room for 2 hours.
2)The children are being given 2 warnings to stop any fighting between them. If they cannot come up with a compromise / resolution in 2 warnings, they each go to their respective rooms for 2 hours.
These rules are absolute and unwavering. They do not change because of someone's opinion, feelings, etc. Life has been going well since the implementation of the new rules.

I also have been writing e-mails to Rob. He won't get them until he comes home and quite frankly, they aren't for him...they're for me. They're my way to get my thoughts and feelings out so that I can process my day and move on. They are serving their purpose. I write to Rob and I feel so much better. I can often hear what he would say back to me. I'm sure when he gets home, he'll make fun of me for sending him all of these messages, but as I said, they aren't for him...they're helping me get through this time alone.

So, I'm a little lonely, I'm tired and a little cranky at times, but this is time of real growth for me. I am spending this time with my kids and enjoying being in their lives all day every day for 2 whole weeks. I don't have a lot of time left to do that. I'm spending concentrated time praying for my husband and our young adults on this trip and trusting that God is using them to tell people about Jesus. And I'm waiting. Waiting 7 more days to see this face again......OPA!!

Hop...Hop...Hop...

2010-07-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

We're getting a bunny. Today. I know...I have a lot on my plate and what am I thinking. He's coming from a breeder here in Alberta and he likes to be be petted and held as do both of his parents. He is a pure bred Netherland Dwarf rabbit. That means that he will be no bigger than 2 lbs when he is full grown. I thought that would be good as he will always look like a baby bunny. I am intending to bring him to visit Seth's class in the Fall. He is 8 weeks old and the kids are over the moon excited. Now the compromise begins on what to name this cute little creature. I'll post some new pictures over the weekend of the kids with the bunny.

This picture was taken from the web site of the bunny breeder....Happy Days Rabbitry in Grande Prairie Alberta Canada. Her web site is www.happydaysrabbitry.webs.com

I had to get pretzels.

2010-05-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well I think that all of you out there know that our second child, Seth, has Autism. It is something I have blogged quite a bit about. Last night, our darling little guy, decided that he would "get his mom some pretzels", and disappeared for 30 minutes.

I'm not sure if any of you have ever had a lost child, but the day and age in which we live is a very scary time for someone to have a lost child. Every day we are swamped with stories of missing and abused children and a lot was on my mind last night for those 30 minutes I can tell you. You are conditioned to believe that your child will be snapped up by a pedophile and abused and then murdered. And that happens to families every day. Terrible.

As I frantically searched parks and nearby rec centres for my son, these thoughts were on my mind. I know that they were on Rob's mind as well.

He was gone for about 30 minutes and was brought home by two very nice RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] officers. When I asked Seth where he had gotten the bag of pretzels that was in his hand, the officer told me that Seth had reported to the officer he had gone to the store to get them for me. Many people who have commented on my Facebook post on this have said that they thought it was very sweet that he was getting me pretzels. I guess it was really. However, he had gone to the store with no money with which to buy the pretzels. The officers thought it was humorous that he had shoplifted the pretzels and told me that they had recieved no calls about a child stealing pretzels from a store, so, Seth could keep them.

However, someone here did not think it was funny. Our son Jonah. He very quickly told me that the officers would not have laughed if HE had stolen the pretzels [true] and we would have taken him back to the store to return them and apologize [also true], and why weren't we doing anything to discipline Seth for these actions.

It is interesting when you are the parents of a special needs child. You make allowances for them that you would never make for your other children. Others do as well. Obviously.

We listened to our distressed 11 year old and Jonah and Rob went off to the store to return the pretzels and to apologize to the store manager for Seth having stolen them. The manager told Rob that no one had seen him enter the store alone, take the pretzels or leave the store alone either. That is scary to me. An unattended child entered the store, took something off a shelf and exited the store without paying for the item and no one noticed.

After this conversation with the manager, Jonah turned to his father and said, "Dad I had no idea it was SO easy to shoplift!" Wrong lesson learned I think. :0)

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T07:10:00.001-07:00

Well, Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there. I realize that for some people Mother's Day is a very hard day. They have either lost their mother or they have lost a child or children and so this is a day that is very bittersweet or out right painful. Mother's Day around here is usually full with all of the usual Sunday activities and then some activity that we do as a family. It's still early, but I have been given my gifts from my kids and I have had breakfast made for me by my wonderful 7 year old daughter. I can't wait to see what the rest of the day has instore. I thought I would share with you the gifts that the kids made this year. I love hand made gifts. They are hands down my favourites and this year everyone made me something, including Seth, which is very special indeed!!

Spencer made a hand painted jar that is currently being used a vase [her babysitter put some tulips from her garden into each one after the kids painted them]. But, I'm thinking that I will ultimately take it to work to use as a pen holder.

Lauren brought home several items, including this hand painted jar with Marigold seeds in it. She also created coupons I can redeem to get her to do different jobs around the house along with a hand made card.

Seth's class is in the middle of a unit on frogs. So, for Mother's Day, he made a very interesting frog along with a hand made card and gift bag.

Jonah even surrendered and wrote me a letter. He gave it to me very reluctantly, but he gave it to me. Having an eleven year old requires having a thick skin from time to time.

Well, all in all, a terrific Mother's Day for me. I wish all of you a safe and happy Mother's Day today. Whether your family is near or far, we can all sit and spend some time remembering what our mothers mean to us and all that they have given to us.

Working From Home

2010-04-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

I feel so blessed. I am so enjoying my job at RDC [Red Deer College] teaching in the nursing department. It is really a challenge to impart what I've learned over my almost 15 years [yikes] of being a nurse. [Am I really that old?]

I also love having new research more readily accessible and being able to learn why we do what we do in our practice. After you graduate from your university years, you follow the policies set out by your institution, but who has time to scan the literature yourself? With 4 kids and our busy schedule, I sure didn't. But now that's part of my job and I LOVE it!! I feel like I am really using all that I learned all those years ago at Ryerson U and that I am actually finally working at my full potential. I still have SO much to learn in order to ensure that I'm as effective a teacher as I need to be, but I really feel that the College supports that and has an environment that fosters that learning to take place. For the first time in my career, I feel that I'm not just a cog in the wheel, but really a part of something dynamic.

I have a very nice shared office at the College that is spacious and I'll post some pics of it here soon. But one of the best things about working at the College is the ability to work at home from time to time. So, that's what I'm doing today. Taking some time away from the hustle and bustle at the College itself and working at home in the peace and quiet since the kids are at school today. It is so liberating to sit in your jogging pants and a t-shirt and work to your hearts' content without interruptions.

Well, back to work for me.....

The Useful Woman

2010-04-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today was a LONG day. I had several meetings to attend at the College as well as having my interview to teach next year. I was stressed and went from meeting to interview to meeting with no break in between. When I got home Seth was already home from school, and was having fun with his dad.
Seth always changes his clothes when he gets home from school. He takes off whatever he wore to school and puts on a t-shirt and shorts. Usually he chooses the same t-shirt and shorts. When I arrived home Seth was searching for his shirt and shorts. He was having a difficult time finding them. So, I joined the search. Luckily for me...I found them. Hooray for the mom!!

After I found them, I brought the clothes to my wonderful son and he said.....

"Congratulations Mom!! You are a very useful woman!"

He's absolutely right of course. I am very useful....mostly for finding things I guess. :0)

The doctor

2010-03-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

Rob has been gone for the last 6 days - 3 to Pastor's Retreat just north of us here in Alberta and 3 to Fond du Lac Wisconsin for Faye and Steve Daniels' wedding. He just returned home today and Spencer was VERY excited to see her Daddy. She kept running into his arms yelling, "You're home Daddy....you're home!" When everything settled down, she and her father had the following conversation:

Spencer: "Daddy, I'm gonna be a doctor."

Rob: "Really? That's nice. Will you take care of Daddy when he's sick?"

Spencer: "Nope."

Rob: Oh, why not?"

Spencer: "Cuz, I'm leaving right now."

Rob: "You're leaving to be a doctor right now?"

Spencer: "Yep."

Spencer left the room. Within 5 seconds she was back with her hand outstretched to say...

Spencer: " Dad, I need money!"

I so enjoy conversations like this one with my children. Conversations like this happen all the time. I need to take the time to really remember and enjoy these. I guess I also need to start saving for medical school. :0)

What to write???

2010-03-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

February was a fast month. It seemed to go by in a flash. I was busy wrapping up a clinical session at the College, I was getting the house and the kids ready for Rob and I to go away, I was away on the cruise and then got back and had to immediately dive into another new clinical session. I feel like I hardly had the chance to breathe. So, now it's March and I haven't posted anything in weeks. So, you might be wondering what's new. So....here's the scoop...

Jonah was given an award this week at school. It is called the Timothy Award. It is awarded to one student from each class in the school who has shown outstanding Christian character over the school year. So, our young man [I want to say little boy - but he's not any more] was the recipient of this award for his class this year. He has a wonderful certificate which he is very proud of. We're proud of him too. Way to go Jo!!!

Seth is thrilled that his Mom and Dad are home. He struggles the most when life doesn't go according to the established routine. It is so great that he can now actually articulate how he feels. He has settled back into life easily and is enjoying his days. His class just had a skating field trip to Bower Ponds, a lovely park here in Red Deer that has wonderful outdoor skating facilities in the winter. They spent a morning last week outside skating and having a snack by the ponds. He told his teacher, "This was the best field trip EVER!!"

Lauren is already planning her birthday party. Her birthday is July 1st, but she has big plans and is already discussing her options. Right now she's choosing between taking a few friends to a movie, going bowling or having a party at home. She really wants to have friends from school so we likely will have the party before school is done for the summer. She wants to grow up so fast and it is a challenge to get her to enjoy being 7.

Spencer is a happy well adjusted 2 year old. She knows her own mind though and fought with her Grandpa about being toilet trained while we were away. I realize that many people are strict about toilet training. It's just not me. I figure that they won't graduate from high school wearing diapers so, when they're ready it will happen.

Rob has some exciting things coming up at work like a missions trip to Greece with the young adults this summer. So, he is on cloud 9 loving ministry. He wakes up every day excited to get to work and be part of what God's doing at CrossRoads and here in Central Alberta.

I am learning so much and even though I've had some difficult situations to work through, I can see that I'm growing and I really enjoy teaching. Watching nursing students grow in understanding and confidence is VERY rewarding for me. I am spending some of my $2500 of professional development money on a conference in Boston in May. So I'll be going with a few other instructors to Boston for the weekend, to learn how to be better at what we do. I'm looking forward to it.

On a darker note, my father was recently diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. It is in the early stages and he has decided to have surgery. So, he'll be having his surgery in April. I wish I was closer so that I could help out more once he gets home, but I won't be able to do that. Both he and my mom are happy that they have had such great care by their family doctor and the specialist and we are all very hopeful for a successful outcome. If you are so inclined, please pray for them, it is a stressful time.

Well, that's everything that's new with the Tannahills. Wishing you all a wonderful spring full of new opportunities.

The English Boy

2010-02-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks I have been taking the time to make brunch for our family on Saturday mornings. It has become a wonderful family time. We get to share food that takes some additional time to prepare and is more special than the average morning breakfast, and most of all we sit and have time together. So over the last few weeks we have had bacon and eggs, pancakes, Eggs Benedict....well you get the idea.
This week I thought that I would do something different and I made French Toast. That is breakfast food I really like and it had been a really long time since we had enjoyed that.
So, I started making the French Toast and of course the aroma of the cinnamon and nutmeg started bringing little Tannahills from all over the house. Seth arrived in the kitchen at that time and the conversation went like this:
"Mom whatcha makin?"
"French Toast. Would you like some Seth?"
"No, I don't eat French Toast."
"Why not?"
"I don't eat French Toast because I'm english. I'm english Mom. Will you make me pancakes?"
So, we had French Toast and pancakes. :0)

For a boy that had little to no real self awareness a few years ago, I thought this was great understanding of self . It also shows that we need to do a little work around trying new foods!

The Old Man

2010-01-30T06:09:00.001-08:00

You know how children say the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? All the time.

Well, Rob had that experience this week with Seth. Seth was getting his winter clothes on to leave for school and Rob was helping him get his boots on. Seth grabbed Rob's head and asked, "Dad, what has happened to your hair?" Rob replied, "My hair is wet because it still isn't dry from my shower." Seth then said, "No it's not wet, it's GREY! You are an OLD MAN Dad!"

Poor Rob. I thought it was so funny and asked Rob if he was going to start combing Just For Men into his hair. :0) No mens' hair dye has shown up, so I guess he's made terms with it. Thanks Seth for keeping it real!!

Friends

2010-01-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

I don't think that I have posted any pictures of our puppy Rex. This is a fairly recent one of him with Spencer. As you can see she loves him. She is forever petting him, feeding him, giving him commands and yes even cuddling with him. He is very accomodating. He is close to 75 lbs, so when he is excited he can be too energetic and knock her down by accident to which she looks at him and sternly commands, "NO REX!!" Usually with an outstretched pointer finger.

Mostly she loves him. As I look at this picture I'm thinking that he's in desperate need of a good grooming. I should get on that before we go to Mexico. He doesn't love hair cutting, combing and nail clipping so it can take a day to two to get all of the grooming tasks completed.

Rex is celebrating his first birthday this week. He has been with us since May. It certainly is extra work having a dog and there are moments when I have thought about whatever could have possessed me to get a dog, but mostly I love him to death.

He has such a protective instinct that I no longer feel scared when Rob travels with work. Which is good because I'm getting too old to go for days on end without sleeping and single handedly looking after 4 kids like I did for years when we lived in the States. Back then, when Rob would go to camp or ski trips or conferences I would be up most of the night listening to every sound and pacing around the house. By the time he would come home I would be exhausted. That's part of the reason why we picked a Giant Schnauzer. He is protective and I wouldn't have to worry about anyone breaking in - certainly not unannounced anyways. :0)

So, there's a recent pic of our boy. He is sweet and a nice addition to our family. Happy Birthday Rex! Thanks for all you've added to our family!

A long...LONG...L..O..N..G.. week!

2010-01-09T12:23:00.001-08:00

This was a VERY long week. On Monday, the power steering on the van died. Tuesday it was fixed with just under $200 of parts, labour and fluid put into it. On Wednesday our good friends Chelsea Lefeber and Nate Boyer arrived. It is great to see them and I'm glad that they are here. It is the bright spot in this otherwise terrible week.

Thursday Seth woke up pointing at his mouth and saying "What is this?" His gum was huge, red and yucky looking so off Rob took him to the dentist. Verdict? An abscessed tooth. He's currently on 7 days of antibiotics and then will have the tooth removed IF he will co-operate with the dentist to have it removed. If he won't, then he will need to have an extraction under sedation and currently there's a 6 month waitlist for that in Red Deer. So, we would need to take him to Calgary to have that done if he does need it. We're praying he doesn't.

Then on the way home from the dentist, Rob's car died. The one he just got to replace the one that got totalled in the accident he had. So we are down to one vehicle with 2 people going all over town each day, 3 kids that go to 3 different schools and one baby that needs to go to her sitter every morning. The next few weeks are going to be interesting in the transportation department. I will be praying that it doesn't get really cold so buses don't start getting cancelled.

All in all not the best week, but I guess not the worst either. So, there's an update on us for this week. Enough said.

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

It is January 1st 2010. Another whole year has come and gone. When I think about this time last year, Rob and I were staying in Ontario with our parents and we were preparing for a long 3 day drive to start our life here in Red Deer. It was a time filled with excitement and a lot of uncertainty. What would our life in Red Deer be like? Would it be all that we were hoping and dreaming it would be?

2009 was a wonderful year. After a very long, dark time for us, this past year was a sort of jubilee year for us.

Rob started out his ministry at CrossRoads Church. The young adults are a wonderful group. He has spent the last year meeting, greeting, counselling, consoling, rejoicing and at times grieving with the young adults of this congregation and community. He is working with men and women who love God and do ministry in a way that makes sense to us. He loves going to work each day.

I started 2009 working in the ER. It was job that I found was not something I could do, but I prayed and sought God about this and soon after our arrival, He provided me with a job that I enjoy more than any other I have had in my 14 years of nursing. Working at Red Deer College is a gift. The people there really are committed to helping each staff member grow and develop. I enjoy that so very much. Instead of hearing about all the areas that the nurses need to improve on....you floor nurses know what I'm talking about...finally I work somewhere where the time and work I put in really is appreciated and I'm told that it's appreciated. More mature instructors are coming alongside those of us who are green and are helping us develop the skills we need with instructing students.

Jonah struggled with his transition back to Canada and to a new school, but as 2010 starts he has great friends and really likes his life here.

Seth had issues with adjusting to a completely new life. Now that he is in the right school program for him, he is doing so very well. He is making progress in areas that he has really struggled in.

Lauren settled in with vigor. She does miss her friends in Wisconsin, but she has really never looked back. She loves life and adventure and started out the year committed to making new friends and trying new things. As 2010 starts she is looking forward to making even more friends and having new adventures.

At the start of last year, Spencer was a one year old that didn't like anyone but her immediate family. She sobbed and cried any time she was left and wouldn't talk to anyone. She has spent the last year at a wonderful day home and now will go anywhere and talk with anyone. She really loves life now, and she's a joy to take places.

Well, that's a little about where God brought us over the last year. As I look into 2010, I'm amazed that 15 years have gone by since I walked down the aisle to meet my wonderful husband and start our life together. We will be going on a cruise in February to celebrate this milestone. Other than that, the year is an open slate. I have no idea what the days, weeks and months hold for our family, but I know that God will be with us every step along the way.

Hoar Frost

2009-12-30T18:00:00.001-08:00

I really like living in Alberta. I don't enjoy it when it gets down to -45 degrees C, but other than that, I enjoy everything that the province offers us in weather. On that note, I wanted to share this with you.

Frequently, Red Deer gets quite foggy. When this happens in the winter something called 'hoar frost' occurs. This is a special type of frost that forms when the objects [trees, fences, etc.] get colder than the surrounding air and if the air is damp [like with a fog] this leafy frost develops. Apparently, this happens about 4 times per winter here, and it happened this week. We woke up to a world covered in ice crystals. It was like living in a fairy tale. None of us had seen anything so pretty. Jonah even remarked that this is the prettiest place we have ever lived!

Isn't that beautiful!! When it happens again, I'll try to snap a few more.

The Mani-Pedi

2009-12-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

Well today I was able to be off for part of the day now that all of the rush of stuff is over at the College. I worked this morning and then came home to spend some time with the kids. One of the things that Spencer LOVES is to have her nails done. Her daycare provider has painted her nails before and had told me that she just loves to sit to have her nails done. Well, today she asked me if I would paint her nails. Since I have been so busy, I jumped at the chance to do something so fun with my daughter. As you can see from the pictures, she LOVED the experience of having her nails painted. She sat perfectly still and even participated in the whole process. Is she a diva or what??!!?? Wanting mani-pedis at 2! Only a Tannahill!! :0)

Here's Spencer blowing on her nails to help them dry! :0)

Spencer admiring her nails.

Doesn't she have pretty pink fingers and...

pretty pink toes!

The Performers

2009-12-20T11:30:00.001-08:00

Some of our kids have had the opportunity this week to be up and performing for people. I thought that I would share each of their opportunities with all of you.

Lauren was asked if she would be willing to do one of the readings for Advent. Of course, she was thrilled to be asked and jumped at the opportunity to stand in front of people. She needed to do the reading at the start of both services. She did beautifully standing in front of about 1000 people at each service.

She did a great job with the reading she was given to do.

Then she lit the advent candle for this week...the candle of peace.

For the first time in his school career, Seth got the opportunity to sing in the Christmas concert. For those of you who know Seth and all of his issues, you can fully understand how big a deal this is. I sat on the floor at the front of the crowd and cried watching my son do something I never thought I would see. God is faithful!

He stood on stage with his class and 2 other classes in front of an auditorium of family members.

He sang the words.

He even did the actions!

The first day of school - the picture

2009-10-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

I promised that I would post this picture and now that I have my new computer I can post pictures again. So....here's the group shot of the kids from the first day of school.

Spencer was having so much fun squishing in between "JoJo" and "O-nee" That's her nicknames for Jonah and Lauren. :0)

Cellulitis

2009-10-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

So I have a very busy weekend this weekend. I have an assignment to grade, a test to mark, 7 weekly logs of nursing practice to review and an interview to prep for. On top of all that, I have cellulitis in my left leg.

If you don't know what this is, it's inflammation of the tissues. So basically I have a left shin that is swollen, red, hot and very, very sore. I went to the doctor today and he told me that if I had waited another 24-48 hours I would have needed to go on IV antibiotics. I'm glad I didn't wait. I've taken my antibiotics, my Tylenol and my Acidophilius tablet, so, I'm going to get myself set up, prop the offending leg up on some pillows and mark my butt off!

Also, there's a sessional position that has opened up at the College and I decided that I would apply for it, so I have to prep for a 15 minute interview for Monday at 2:00 pm. I have to teach a panel of 4 -5 people about a skill that I use in my clinical setting for 15 minutes and I have to draw them into the teaching time with discussion questions. Did I mention that the panel is made up of important people like the Chair of the Nursing Department???!!?? So, an already busy weekend just got busier and now my leg is in a bad way.

So, think of me and pray for me that I can get all of these items marked and reviewed, that the antibiotics start working quickly and that I can prep a very engaging teaching time for Monday.

I'll keep you posted!

YEAH!! A new computer

2009-09-25T15:05:00.001-07:00

Rob and I had decided that I need a new computer in order to do the work I have at the College. So we had been looking around and found a lap top with all of the things that I need to work at the College. It is compatible with the software at the College so that I can open documents from the students and send them things that they can open [this was posing a very large problem with our old computer]. So, I picked it up yesterday and I am enjoying not having to negotiate for time on the computer with the kids. Also, I'm really, really looking forward to being able to post pictures here again. I have not enjoyed blogging nearly as much without the capability of putting pictures up to show you what I'm talking about. So, you can all expect more blog posts now that I will be able to post some pictures.
I'm off to figure out how the new software works so that I can post some pics!!

Make A Difference

2009-09-20T06:45:00.001-07:00

This year Rob and I decided that we needed to be a little more active in teaching our children about social compassion and outreach. We have decided to have a family theme that will stretch over the school year from September to June. Our theme for this year is 'Make A Difference'. To meet our theme, as a family, we are looking for opportunities to bless other people. The opportunities can be big or small, local or international.

So, for example, so far on our family's list we have : sponsoring a child through World Vision, making meals for people in our church who are sick or have had surgery, and we have also started providing a loan to someone in a developing country with a microfinancing opportunity.

Microfinancing is a wonderful opportunity in which you can give a small amount [or a large amount if you so choose] of money to people in developing countries who are trying to start businesses so that they can be self-sufficient. After the person has started their business and is making a profit, they pay the money back to the microfinancing company, who pays it back to you. So, when our money is paid back, we can then invest it in someone else trying to start their own business.

This theme will be sacrificial on our part as a family and at times has not brought out the best sides of our children as they are sacrificing things for themselves in order to help others, but it is great. It is great to be able to stretch, and grow in our compassion for other people. It has been challenging to see the need of others around the world and prayerfully decide where to help.

So, if you feel so led, come along with us this year as we Make A Difference....

Well....it's official...I'm too close to 40

2009-09-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well, as I said in the title of this blog, it is now obvious to me that I have gotten WAY too close to 40. I just spent some time at the eye doctor today to find out what I already knew.....I need to get glasses.

I have always had fabulous vision, but I have noticed that I have been having problems seeing very fine things at work [like insulin syringes and telemetry strips]. Since this is a very important part of my job, and since I haven't been to the eye doctor in about 15 years [yikes], I decided it was definitely time to pay one a visit. So, the very nice Dr. Holtom told me that I was in need of some glasses for reading.

Well, they are ordered and my heart skipped beats at the $461.00 price tag for the glasses, lenses and eye exam. But, I guess after this week, I'll be able to see more clearly and that is a good thing. Even though it is forcing me to take a nice long look in the mirror and come to grips with what is staring back at me....I am aging. Sigh.

Meep....Meep...It's The Road Runner

2009-09-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm that cartoon character that I watched so often as a child. The cartoon character was called the Road Runner. He was this super fast blue bird, who spent his time running through the cartoons and fending off attacks by Wyle E. Coyote. I am thankful that I have no human nemesis like Wyle E. to fend off, [ well at least none that I know of ], but I can totally relate to running like the Road Runner.

Take today for example. Here's a brief overview of my day:

1. I have to read in order to prep for the nursing lab tomorrow at 8 am on pre-and post-op care of patients. I'm not teaching this lab [thank God :-) ] but I need to be prepared to answer student questions when they're in their small groups.

2. I have to make the snacks for the kids school lunches. Buying store bought snacks was killing our grocery budget. So, after thinking long and hard about it, I decided that I could make their snacks from scratch, thereby, saving us a little $$. So the baking plan for today is 5 dozen sugar diamonds, 2 batches of peanut butter cookies, and 4 loaves of pound cake. Whew!! So far, I'm done with the peanut butter cookes and the first part of the sugar diamonds. So, I still have some time in the kitchen.

3. I need to do laundry. For all 6 of us. Laundry is actually a household chore that I enjoy, but it is time consuming. Also, Rob has no idea who belongs to which clothes so it's just easier if I do this job.

4. Housecleaning. I have to give the house a once over so that it's good to go for the rest of the week.

5. I need to make sure that the kids have finished all of their homework for tomorrow. I've been caught a few Monday mornings with panicked children that need help to frantically finish something that they had all weekend to finish but didn't. I've learned my lesson on that one. Everyones' bag gets checked on Sunday afternoon to ensure that we're all on the same page with what needs to be done.

6. I need to do some grocery shopping to replenish what I used when baking today. I think we'll be completely out of flour, sugar, milk, butter and some other things.

7. Then I need to read some more. I have nursing students completing Nursing Care Plans for their patients for the very first time this week and I need to review them. So, when all that other work is done, I need to sit down and spend some time in the nursing diagnosis and care plan book so that I'm ready to help them with that on Tues. and Wed.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that Rob is out today all day at 2 church services in the morning, prep for his young adult service this afternoon and then doing his young adult service tonight? So, the above 7 tasks are being completed by me with no help from my wonderful husband, while 4 kids go about their own activities in the house!!!????!!!!!

I guess you all get the picture. So here I goooooooo.....MEEP......MEEP

The First Day of School 2009

2009-09-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

Well, another first day of school has come. I am so excited for each of my kids.

Jonah is starting Grade 5. He is maturing so very much and I have realized that I don't have much more time with him. He will always be my son but his days of living in my home and being in my life every day are winding down. He will soon be off to college and out into the world. It is a bittersweet feeling. I can hear my mother-in-law saying "Come on Andrea. Stop being so morbid!" I don't want to be morbid, but I just see that he is getting ready little by little. I know that it is the way that life is supposed to go, but I my mother's heart is twisting at the thought. I think God has me think about these things so far ahead so that I don't completely fall apart when they happen. When they come, He has prepared me in little tiny steps to deal with them in a healthy way.

Seth is starting in the Pathways program today. He is at a new school, with a new teacher and I have really prayed about this placement. I feel that God has opened this door, and so we are walking through it with great excitement. This program will focus a lot on behaviours and social graces and interactions. Seth still needs a lot of education in these areas so we are happy about him being in this program.

Lauren is off to Grade 2. It truly does feel like yesterday that she was an infant sitting in the middle of the carpet of our living room in Fond du Lac. Back then all she did was sit and drool and now she's a very mature 7 year old picking out her outfit and all its' accessories for the first day of school. The outfit she picked even had a co-ordinating scarf [Mom T, you know which one I mean :-) ] and she had to have me tie it just the right way so that she had the right 'look' on. She is 7 going on 16. Sigh

Spencer is at Dorothy's today since I am working later on. She was so excited to see "Dorfee" as she calls her day home provider. We have been so blessed with this lady. She has taken a little girl who hated anyone but her dad, and turned her into a precious little lady that loves everyone she meets. I am so thankful to her!

I was going to include the group shot I took of everyone this morning, but of course the computer won't co-operate with loading the pic, so I will get Rob to e-mail it to me later.

I have to say that I was really proud of myself. Why you might ask??? Well, here's why...I didn't do anything embarrasing. Really, I didn't....no crying, no waving... just sitting in the van, dropping everyone off and smiling....smiling about these 4 precious gifts that God has given me. Smiling that I have the wonderful blessing of living in a country in which my kids are being educated. Smiling about being able to come home and have a hot shower in peace!!!!

Life Comes Together

2009-08-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't know about all of you, but our life this summer has been an absolute whirlwind! We have been busy with me working different shifts at the hospital, Rob doing all kinds of things at the church - including being away for a few days for a leadership conference. Also, the whirlwind of having all of the kids home 24 hours per day without the distractions of school life. WHEW!!

On top of all of that, some decisions have been hanging around our heads and weighing on our shoulders. Decisions around schooling for Seth, and work for me and upcoming things in Rob's ministry with the Young Adults at CrossRoads. This week it feels to me like life is finally coming together for the Fall.

We have settled on changing Seth's school placement from the Foundations program that he was in last year to the Pathways program. In the Pathways program, there is a smaller class size and more staff. Also, the focus remains on working with problem behaviours [of which Seth has MANY]. That is such a relief to me. I felt like he was just not in the right place last year and after praying about it and asking questions, this new program seems like it is a very good fit for him, and for us.

Also, I just found out today that I will be teaching again at Red Deer College in the Nursing Department. I am excited to again try my hand at teaching. It is exhausting, but very fullfilling and it makes me happy. I get the opportunity this Fall to teach a 2nd year clinical rotation and then move into a 1st year clinical rotation. So, since I taught 3rd years last year, this will give me some variety and a bunch of new experiences. I also get to work with different teams of instructors, and that will also teach me so much.

Rob is nailing down his schedule of events for the Fall with Young Adults and we are both excited about what is coming up for that group. They are a great group of people who love God and want to open up the community to new people and introduce them to Jesus. We are so blessed to be able to work with them, support them, and participate with them in the family of God.

Also, we have some exciting things starting with our family this Fall. We both feel that our kids need to recognize that they have a role to play in the larger world around them. That they cannot sit back just feeling content with their lot in life. They have an obligation to give to others that are less fortunate than them and there are many ways to do that. This Fall our family is going to explore that idea. Hopefully we will do that in very practical ways. I will keep you updated on that.

Well, that's what's new with us this week. Next week Rob's sisters and mother will be here with us so we will be busy spending time with the family that we love so much and see so little.

Hoping your lives are 'coming together'.

Gratefulness

2009-07-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and I feel an overwhelming sense of gratefulness. Gratefulness to God mostly.

I am grateful for so many things, my husband, my kids, my health, that I have a job that meets our needs and pays our bills, for a great church family that loves us and is mentoring Rob into becoming an even better pastor. I'm grateful for a wonderful group of pastor's wives that are so different, married to such different men, but still working together to meet the needs of our congregation. Thanks Ginny, for setting up our time together on Sat. It was wonderful!

I'm grateful for a great extended family in which we can be ourselves and spend great times together [some of which are coming up shortly :-) ]. I'm grateful for good friends near and far that love and support even when you don't know it.

I'm grateful to my husband for loving me even though I can't manage money to save my life and all my other faults that he simply overlooks each time he tells me " it's easy to love you". Because it definitely is NOT easy to love me. I know it takes a lot of work to love me, but he does it with such patience.

I'm grateful for my children that are not perfect, but have made my life a rich and interesting collage of stories, experiences, memories and adventures yet to come. I have found that being a parent is the hardest job I will ever, ever have...and there are days that I am still shocked that God has entrusted me with little people to raise...but I wouldn't trade it for all the world. My children have made me a better person, and for that I will always be grateful to them.

Most of all, I'm grateful to God for sending Jesus to die on the cross for me even though I in no way deserved it and can do absolutely nothing to ever deserve it. I am looking forward to heaven with such expectation. Eternity is going to be great - way, way beyond great!!

Thanks for sharing my day of gratefulness with me. Sometimes I tend to spend more time with my focus on the things I don't have or would like to change instead of placing my focus on what I do have and appreciate about my life.

Facebook

2009-07-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

As you can see from the badge to the right, I have gone into the Facebook world. It is rather addicting really. There are SO many options....live chat, writing little comments, sending whole e-mails, adding pictures and I'm sure others I haven't quite figured out yet.

So, if you do Facebook and you haven't found me, look for me and we can connect over there.

I love technology.

Good Friends

2009-07-12T08:17:00.001-07:00

We recently had some very good friends from Wisconsin visiting us for about a week. Chelsea and Ryan were just jr. high kids when we started youth pastoring in Wisconsin, now they are our friends. They drove 26 hours each way to see us! We had a wonderul time catching up and spending time together. I am so thankful for good friends that you can just be completely yourself with. Chelsea and Ryan, thanks for the visit. You guys mean the world to us.

We spent a great day in the mountains! More on that in a future post...

Several soccer games were played.

We played many games of Catan!
There were also many nice talks and one episode of frantically searching for Seth. [Thanks Chelsea for your help with that. You really kept me calm! :-/ ] All in all a great time with truly great people!

14 years

2009-07-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday it was our 14th wedding anniversary. We were busy with company here from the U.S., so I didn't have the chance to hop on here and blog. As I look back on the last 14 years, I am really shocked that we have been married this long. It sounds like such a long time and yet feels very short. But, as I look at the ages of our children and I look back at all of the places we have lived and done ministry in, I can see that 14 whole years have gone by.

I sat for a while on Wednesday and spent some time thinking about my life. I have been so blessed! Being married to Rob has been a wonderful journey. To have someone who knows everything about you and still loves you, is a very special thing. People who have met Rob have often said to me, 'You must be a special person to be married to him. I could never do it.' Those comments always make me smile, because in so many ways Rob is so much easier to live with than I am. I just look nice and kind on the outside, but living with me is not always easy. For example, Rob is much more flexible than I am. He is very quick to forgive, and that is often difficult for me. He is spontaneous and a lot of fun. He pushes me to try new things. He is faithful. He trusts God without wavering. He does his best to spend time with the children and with me doing things that we enjoy. He is very often the last one to get anything new, putting the needs of the children and myself ahead of his own. He works hard and goes above and beyond providing for his family. Rob balances me perfectly. Our relationship works because we balance each other completely. His strengths are my weaknesses and his weaknesses are my strengths. Together we are better than we would be alone.

That does not mean that there are not times that we struggle. We definitely do. But at the end of it all, we recognize that God put us together to help each other. To bless each other. And yes, at times, to challenge each other and to help the other one look at our issues and deal with our stuff.

I recently heard someone say that their marriage ended because they just didn't have what it took to make it work. That saddened me. It saddened me because this individual didn't recognize that no couple, no matter how wealthy, healthy, committed or in love they are, just inherently have what it takes to make a marriage last a lifetime. I have discovered that at some point every couple comes to the place where they feel like they don't have what it takes to keep going. That's when you both have to roll up your sleeves and build what it takes. This is the work of marriage. It involves spending time together, doing things that matter to the other person. Talking about the real you...the you that is hard to share. It involves letting someone else point out your weaknesses and to challenge you to work on those things. It involves LOVE.

Thank you my darling for 14 great years, I am enthusiastically looking forward to 14 more. I am excited to walk this journey of life with you holding your hand and experiencing all that life has for us.

How to freak out your mom.....drink Tylenol!

2009-06-17T12:12:00.001-07:00

Yes, you read that correctly. I have Spencer home with me today and while I was doing some much needed laundry, Spencer must have somehow opened one of those 'child proof' caps which apparently aren't actually child proof and drank about 25 mL - 30 mL of Tylenol Cough and Cold. I found the cap of the bottle under the ottoman in the living room and then started to get concerned. I then found the bottle under the couch in the living room .... empty! Now I was in panic mode!!!!!!!!

So, the panicked mother in me was ready to call an ambulance and wisk this now very sleepy toddler off to the ER to have some intervention and the nurse in me decided to call Poison Control to see if she had ingested a toxic dose. Thankfully the bottle didn't have all that much left in it.

Edward, the very nice man who answered my call at Poison Control did all of his investigations and calculations and told me that she had not ingested a toxic dose of any of the 4 medications found in the preparation. He just told me to check on her every 30 min to make sure she was still rousable. As long as she can open her eyes and look at me when I talk to her, everything is fine.

So, she slept for about 30 min. with me frantically checking her every 5 min. I just had to keep checking on her. I felt awful! Well, then Rob came home for lunch. He walked into the living room where she was sleeping on the couch, he kissed her, she opened her eyes and said, "More cake?" She then walked to the kitchen table, climbed into her highchair and proceeded to eat 2 whole pieces of birthday cake. I realize this was not the healthiest of lunches, but quite frankly, she was awake, alert, talking and walking so she could have whatever she wanted. If the kid had wanted a pony I likely would have tried to find her one!

So, I guess this is a crisis averted and a huge lesson learned. I always keep the medications in a bin at the top of the linen closet, so they are completely out of the reach of anyone by Rob or I. Last night I forgot and I left the bottle on the counter. NEVER AGAIN WILL THAT HAPPEN!

Filling you in on the birthday events....

2009-06-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, I did mean what I said yesterday and I am going to blog more regularly. So, here I am to fill you all in on how the big birthday went.

We had pizza, chocolate cake and we laughed....a lot. I have a wonderful family, and they have taught me that life should not be taken so seriously and that laughter really is the best medicine.

My mother-in-law called and didn't believe me when I told her that I was 37. Thanks for that Mom. I really love that you think I am still so young and hip! :-)

My parents called and sang to me....that's an annual tradition for them and it really did make me smile.

The kids made me little homemade cards and things, and wished me 'Happy Birthday' a lot.

Seth even sang me an original song he composed! It was fabulous. He played his little toy guitar and sang and the song went something like this...

Yay, it's Mom's Happy Birthday.
And we're going to eat cake.
Yay, it's Mom's birthday and we're going to have candles and balloons.
Yay, it's Mom's birthdaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I realize that he's no Bob Dylan, Joan Baez or Peter, Paul and Mary, but it was a nice little tune and we all laughed and smiled along with him and when he was done we clapped for him like he had played at Carnegie Hall! :-) He was thrilled with himself. We were thrilled with him too!

My wonderful husband brought me something 'uplifting' like I had asked him for and I got the most beautiful roses. They smell lovely and they make me smile.

Rex and I played a pretty enthusiastic game of fetch.

Really, one of the best days ever!! A special thanks to all of you that e-mailed and called to wish me a fabulous birthday. You're the best and I love you all!!

Happy Birthday to ....Me...YUK!!

2009-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.

If there's anyone who still checks this blog since I haven't written for so long [I am going to change that starting today], today is my 37th birthday. All I can say is ...YUK!! Of course, being younger than me, Rob is enjoying this a little too much. I have asked him to stop or when his 34th birthday comes around this year, he will get a little dose of what he is dishing out on me. That brought him under control! :-)

While I do feel that I am getting way too close to 40, I do realize this morning that I have a lot to be thankful for. Here's my list:

- a loving husband who has stuck by me for 14 years [more on that on June 24th]

- 4 great kids who all told me 'happy birthday' this morning and that I'm 'the greatest mom in the world'...you can't beat that! :-)

- a new puppy [more on that in a later post too], who is lots of fun and something I've been wanting for a few years now

- a wonderful new church family and amazing group of pastor's wives like I've experienced no where else in ministry

- a job that pay such good money and provides for my family

-the nicest house we have ever lived in

-good health

- a wonderful family that is the best in the whole world

-good friends [most of whom are way too far away....I miss you all so much! ]

- a great country to live in where I am free to worship and live my life as I choose - YAY CANADA!!

- most importantly, a Lord and saviour who loves me no matter what and stays beside me in the difficult times and in the times of celebration

Thanks to all of you for celebrating my day with me even if you can't be here for pizza, cake, balloons and the presentation of my children's handmade gifts later today. You have all made my life so much more enjoyable and you make turning 37 bearable. :-)

Back from the dead....

2009-05-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been this long since I blogged something. I have had so many of you e-mailing and even e-mailing, texting or calling Rob to tell him to get me back on here and let me fill you in on how we are doing and what we are up to. So here I am.....

The truth is that we have been having issues with the computer uploading any pictures, so I can't publish any pics with my posts, so it has deterred me from posting. Rob is being nagged constantly about it so, hopefully, he will fix the issue so that I can show you in words and pictures what we have been up to.

So, we have been very busy. My time at the college was very busy. It seemed like every waking moment I was working. Kudos to all of you who are teachers or are married to teachers. That is a job that is all consuming! I was either at the college or hospital actively working with students, or reading books and articles for prep for teaching, or marking assignments, or talking with students on the phone or responding to e-mails from students or meeting students in the office at the college. I really did enjoy the job, but I do have to admit that I am glad that it is over and done with for the time being. I am enjoying working my shift at the hospital and then coming home and just doing nothing with Rob and the kids. I am working casual on the Cardiology unit at the hospital. That is the unit that I had my students on. I really like the floor, like the nurses and I felt that it was a much better fit for me than the ER.

The kids are great. Jonah turned 10 on April 24th. Where has a whole decade of being a mother gone??? I am shocked by how quickly that time has passed, because I know the next 10 will go by even faster and he will be gone off to start his own life. Don't get me wrong, I do want him to be independent and self-sufficient, I just can so clearly see how quickly we are going there and I still feel like he is that little baby that I held in my arms for the first time feeling blown away by the miracle of conception, birth and motherhood.
Seth is having a few issues at school. Nothing new for Seth, but I think some new situations for his teaching team to deal with. So, please pray about that.
Lauren is fine. Still the diva. Spencer is quickly following in her sisters' footsteps. Here's an example...

Today we went for a walk by the Red Deer River for Mother's Day. Spencer was adamant that she was walking the whole way independently without being carried or even holding our hands. Rob and I laughed so hard about this as it took us back in time to a family hike we took for Thanksgiving in 2003. Lauren was a little over a year and she too, was adamant that she was doing this hike on the Bruce Trail completely independently. It is amazing how strong those Tannahill genes are! Anyways, while everyone else is watching the geese, ducks, and muskrats swimming in ponds just off the river, Spencer is constantly saying hi to people, dogs, trees you name it. :-) She defintely is a social butterfly! It is 17 degrees C here today, the sun is shining and we have just had a wonderful day as a family.

We had Ezra Swanson visit in March. I can't believe it was that long ago! He and Rob went to Banff skiing. It was great to spend time with him and hear how he is doing at West Point. It was also nice to hear how all of the Swansons are doing.

So, Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mothers. As I said above, I have had a wonderful Mother's Day. I also will try to be more faithful in my posts. Now that I have more free time, that shouldn't be a problem!

A Seth Update...

2009-03-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

I know that many of you like to hear about how each of the kids are doing. But I have had so many great e-mails and comments when I have talked about Seths' progress. Well, here's another of those posts. I had a parent-teacher interview with Seth's new teacher this week. Mrs. Manning is an older lady who has been teaching for many years. She has just returned to school after having a hip replacement. Now for those of you who truly know our Seth, you must be thinking [like we were] how is this woman possibly going to manage Seth? Well, for starters she has two wonderful assistants that help her in the classroom. But, I have to say that this woman is strong and commanding. She may look like someone's grandmother [and she is], but she runs her classroom like a navy captain.

Seth has taken to her routines like a fish to water. He has tested her but realized that it is Mrs. Mannings' way or the highway so to speak. He is now doing addition and subtraction equations orally with the rest of his class. He is interacting more and more with his classmates. His penmanship has improved dramatically. He just completed a rollerblading unit in gym class and was the only one in his class to stop and help a fellow classmate off the floor when he had fallen.
Seth has continued with outbursts and tantrums but he has started to request going to the time out room when he is getting upset. This past week, as he was getting upset, he asked to use the bathroom. He went to the bathroom, and was able to come back to the classroom and continue on with the classroom activities without ever having had a meltdown! For Seth that is HUGE!!!!
We are allowed to visit his classroom at any time so I will take some pictures and post them here for you so you can meet Mrs. Manning. I believe that we have met a woman that is going to change Seths' life for the better. I am so excited to see what God has planned!!

Teaching

2009-03-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you that have been praying for me as I settle into my new life as a teacher. It is tiring and a little overwhelming making sure that you are teaching these students everything that they need to know in order to do well in the clinical setting. I really hope that I do a good job with it.

I had my first crying student. I was shocked. I have only been teaching a week and I have already had to deal with a crying student. Those of you who are nurses know exactly how difficult nursing programs are. Frankly, I think they should be challenging. Nurses don't sit behind desks all day. We do very important jobs that affect people's very lives. I guess that sounds a little dramatic, but it is true. This student was just feeling overwhelmed by the serious nature of what nurses do. If we give the wrong medication or the wrong dose of a medication we can cause serious harm or even death. That can freak you out. It should freak us out.

Now, for me, being in charge of 8 students all at very different level of competence is freaking me out for exactly the same reason! Please pray for me as I walk through these clinical days over the next few weeks. I need discernment, wisdom, knowledge and patience as I try to teach and guide these students through caring for the patients.

My How Things Change

2009-02-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

I wish that I had something positive and uplifting to post about today, but I don't. I have had a very tough week. Now, before you all think that someone here has died or something, let me just say that Rob, and the kids and I are just fine. But, we had a call from very good friends of ours in Wisconsin this week. It was the husband calling to inform us that his wife has left him. I have to say that I was completely in shock. So, we have spent this week talking with this distraught husband and praying our butts off. I had left several messages for my friend, and she finally called me back today. It was great to talk to her. It was so hard though hearing her pain and knowing that there was nothing physically I can do about it.

I have to be honest, when we got this call on Monday, my gut reaction was to fly to Wisconsin and intervene in any way that I could. However, my very logical husband pointed out that I couldn't do that and even if I could, this was a situation that I am powerless to fix. I sure wish that wasn't the case. Don't you wish that you could fix situations like this? Am I the only one that feels that way?

While talking with my friend on the phone today it was like the miles had melted away and we were together again, sharing our lives honestly and completely. I could hear her pain, confusion and also her love. It made me again want to make the trip and help to reunite these two that Rob and I love so very much. But I can't. So, I will pray. I will pray diligently that God will break through and have His way in this marriage and in these lives. He knows both of them and what needs to happen to bridge the gulf that sits between them, and only He can mend broken hearts and release people from the bondage of their past and allow them to live the life that He wills for them.

I am thankful that God does care about His people and that He never leaves them. I am thankful that I don't have to intervene, because I can ask the One who is all knowing and all powerful to intervene. Please pray along with us for our friends. God is still in the business of miracles and we need one!

Feeling Blessed

2009-02-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I am having a time in my life in which I am feeling incredibly blessed. Rob is loving his job at CrossRoads, I am starting at Red Deer College, the kids have all settled in at their schools, the baby is loving her new sitter, the house we live in is the by far the best we have ever lived in. It is a little overwhelming actually. As I look at our current circumstances, it makes me realize how dark our life had been sitting in limbo for the past 2 years.

Looking back on that time, I see that it was a very, very lean time. It was lean in a number of ways: it was lean financially - 6 people living on 1 income is very challenging. It was lean relationally - Rob and I did very well in our relationship during that time, in fact, it was one of the best times in our marriage, but with our families in Canada and many of our friends busy or going through difficult circumstances, many times I felt very isolated. It was lean spiritually - it truly was a time to seek God and talk honestly with Him about the 'why' of our circumstances. I know that I am not alone in wanting to know the 'why' of my circumstances. However, I went through some long moments with God desperately wanting Him to talk to me and having Him ask me to trust Him and wait for Him. I don't know about you, but the trusting and the waiting are very difficult things for me to do. I do understand that we can't always live on the 'mountain top', and that the valleys of life are very important for us to learn to lean on God and develop trust in God's faithfulness. I do really believe that we did learn a whole lot about God's character and quite frankly our own, as we walked through those days, months and years.

But, sitting where I am sitting right now, I wouldn't change the last several years for anything. I see now that they built our marriage up to a place of great strength, honesty, love and reliance on one another. I see that it built my faith that God would meet our needs. He certainly did. We didn't have savings but we our bills were paid every month because of His provision and Him moving people at various times to bless us. It built my character as I was forced to take my eyes off of myself and focus instead on The One who held my life and circumstances in His hands.

I am sure that many of you are going through valleys right now. I just want to encourage you to spend time with God. Talk to Him, and really wait for Him. Listen to what He is trying to tell you and walk where He opens the doors.

Trying to take the whirl out of the whirlwind

2009-02-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Well, my life is officially a whirlwind!! It is very difficult trying to juggle 2-3 paid shifts at the hospital a week with a day or two of unpaid orientation at the College. It is especially hard when the hospital shifts are night shifts. I am trying to do this so that when I walk into the College a couple of weeks from now, I don't look like a complete idiot. If there's one thing I know about teenagers and young adults, it's that they can spot an unprepared phony in a heartbeat. These students will have paid a lot of money to the College for this experience and I want to do a good job, so I have to put the prep time in. Along with that, both Lauren and the baby have colds and have been up in the night stuffed up and just generally not feeling well. That's always the way it goes right?? When the parents are stressed, the kids seem to get sick and add to an already busy time. Not that you don't love your kids, but it just seems that sickness comes at the most inconvenient times.

I do want to take this moment and give my wonderful husband a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the back. Rob has been wonderful through all of this. He has by and large managed the night duty with the sick girls because I have been at work and he is covering the home front while I am at the College this week because, of course, the school age kids are off school due to a Teacher's Conference. Thanks Rob. You continue to be my knight!!

Well, I found this picture of the baby that Jonah took last week, and it just made me smile and melted some of the stress away. Because of that, I decided to share it with you. Happy melting!! :-)

CrossRoads Church

2009-02-02T08:58:00.001-08:00

So, I just thought I would give you guys a glimpse at our new church. CrossRoads Church is a church unlike any other that we have had the priviledge to work at so far in our ministry career. This building houses a sanctuary, multiple offices, a first aid room, library, gym, cafe with large seating area, a chapel for smaller weddings, and funerals and for overflow seating on Sunday mornings and a full commercial kitchen. The have multiple pastors and support staff as well as maintainence staff and a full time chef. That's right a chef!! Maggie is wonderful and she and her team of volunteers cook up wonderful things that are sold in the cafe on Sunday mornings. They also make the food for funerals, and they cater many of the weddings that happen at the church. The cafe is the site of many wedding receptions for the Red Deer area. The church is always hopping with activities, not just church activities either. Many of the facilities are rented or borrowed for community events. We are quickly outgrowing these facilities, but with the current economic conditions, going ahead with the planned building expansion may have to wait a year or two. I will try to nab some pictures of the inside so that you can see it first hand.

Rob, Anton [the new Missions pastor], and Jordan C. [the Sr. High youth pastor], spent a day last week on some Indian Reservations up in Rocky Mountain House, a community about 45 minutes from Red Deer. The conditions on the reservations in some cases are awful and it will be nice to take part in some home missions projects geared at blessing the Native People around us. On many of the reserves the water is not safe to drink and many people share homes due the level of poverty. They have very sub standard health care available on the reserve and many have little or no way of getting transportation into town to see a doctor. Substance abuse and domestic violence are huge issues as well.

Pray for Rob, Anton and Jordan as they work with a couple who are living on the reserve and trying to reach out to the Native people. This is missions at it's best - meeting the needs of people right in your own community.

Our House

2009-01-27T20:20:00.001-08:00

Well, here is our new home at 716 Lancaster Dr. in Red Deer. It is a nice bi-level home. I will have to get a picture of our back alley. Here in Alberta it is very common to have no drive way or garage in the front and to have on the street parking in the front of your home. In the back, there is an alley where you can park additional cars and put your garbage out. It is odd for Rob and I and when we buy a house we would really like for it to have a driveway and a garage.

Here's a picture of our entry taken from the living room upstairs. That's the closet to the left there, and right by the closet is the stairs to go downstairs to the family room and the kids bathroom and bedrooms.

Here's the eating area in the kitchen. There's a nice breakfast bar area that we could put some stools at. But for now, we're just going to leave it.

We have two full baths that are pretty well identical.

Here's our basement family room which is just down the stairs from the front door.

Where Has Seth Tannahill Gone?

2009-01-27T19:54:00.001-08:00

Seth's teacher in Fond du Lac, Melissa Kees has asked me to do a blog entry on where Seth has gone to help his previous class adjust to him being gone. So, hello from Red Deer, Alberta Canada to Olivia, Emily, Kira, Rene, Montea, Fernando, Mrs. Kees and Mrs. Coyne from Seth!

These 3 pictures were taken on Seth's last day of school in Fond du Lac. He still talks about his class and teachers there. The top picture is of Seth and his teacher Melissa Kees, the middle picture is with his teacher's assistant Mrs. Coyne, and this one is a picture of Seth with a part of his class. There are a couple of girls missing from this picture since they weren't at school that day. Rob and I can't thank the team in Fond du Lac enough for their tireless work with Seth. He has made many gains because of their perserverance. We owe you so much. We miss you!

This is Seth's new school...West Park Elementary school.

Seth getting off the school bus after a long day at his new school.
His new bus driver Carol does not compare to Ann and Willie. We miss you!

This is Seth sitting on our new front porch.

Here's Seth helping to decorate the Christmas tree at his Grandma's house.

Some news...

2009-01-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

First of all, our new Canadian e-mail address is up and running. It is tannahills@shaw.ca . I know that many of you have been waiting for that info. Our old Charter account will no longer be valid later this week, so you will have to change that address if you want to keep in touch.

The other thing is that I just got off of the phone with Wendy at Red Deer College and she has offered me the 7 week sessional teaching position!! I start on Feb. 19th and I am so excited. So I guess now I have to look into starting my Master's degree. That's sort of bittersweet I guess. Anyways, I'm off to take some pictures of Seth to post a blog about him later on tonight as requested by his Wisconsin teacher Mrs. M. Kees. :-)

I'll write again later.

Finally....Hello from Alberta

2009-01-24T06:45:00.001-08:00

Well, the POD finally arrived 2 days ago and we have the computer unpacked, the internet service started and I can now start filling you all in on how we are doing. After living for weeks without our belongings it is so nice to be able to sleep in our own beds and to have the things that make our house a home! :-)

Thanks to many of you for your messages on this blog, your phone calls, and your e-mails. So many of you have been keeping in touch and that is so very nice.

I have still not had the time to load new pictures into the computer yet, [I will do that later today], so this post will not hold pics, but I have so many things to let all of you know, that I will spread things out in a few posts.

Rob is absolutely loving his job at CrossRoads church. Everyone has been so welcoming. They have provided meals for us [since I didn't have pots or pans to cook with], they provided extra beds for the kids to sleep on, they have even offered us the loan of cars so that we can have a second car to get around town! Talk about generous!! Rob is busy meeting with various groups of the larger young adult group here to find out what they would like to see happen with the group. He is also working hard at making connections with other young adult pastors in Calgary and Edmonton. Rob loves to work in collaboration, so he is really excited to meet others doing what he is doing and joining up with them to reach more young adults. Every day he comes home talking about the great things they discussed at the church, the great people he has met and the great experiences he is having. I have to say that while I realize that it is very early on in the process, this is the most fulfilled that Rob has been in starting a new job. Rob is finally working with people that are of like mind and heart to him. They see ministry the way we see ministry and that is so wonderful to be a part of. Continue to pray for him. He needs to have some clear direction from God on how to guide the young adult ministry here to try to meet the needs of over 400 young adults. Not a small task!

I, on the other hand, have decided that I don't like the ER at all! The Red Deer ER services approximately 200 patients per day!! It is a swirling chaotic mass of patients. It is a pressure cooker and it is just too much pressure for me. While the paycheck is very, very good [I'm making $13/hour more than I made in Wisconsin], I can't be driving to and from work in tears and breathing into a paper bag, so a change is very necessary. So, last Sunday in a mass of tears, I prayed and asked God to open another door for me as far as work was concerned. I thought that I would call one of the other hospital managers that I had already talked with and go to another unit. However, God it appears had other plans. While at church last Sunday, a woman walked up to Rob and introduced herself. It turns out that she is a nurse and works at Red Deer College teaching in the Bachelor's Degree program. When I walked up, she asked me how I liked work at the hospital. I told her the truth. She looked at me and said, "Well, you need to come and teach at the College. We are desperate for teachers!" She went on to give me the contact info for the Associate Dean of Nursing and encouraged me to call her.

First thing Monday morning I called Wendy, the Associate Dean of Nursing and she told me that this lady had already been in her office that morning telling her all about me and encouraging her to hire me! :-) I had an interview with Wendy on Wednesday, and she took me all around introducing me to everyone as "the lady who is coming on board to teach Nursing 384." She had not even checked my references yet! So, this interview was just to get me a job teaching a 7 week session of medical-surgical nursing and having clinical students on one of the surgical floors at the hospital. I will be teaching in a group of 3 teachers so that I get the opportunity to share the responsibilites and have some support while getting my feet wet. Wendy also told me that they do their hiring for Fall teaching positions in late February and that they will have a number of teaching positions available!! I am over the moon. If I want to have a job that will pay me 12 months out of the year, I will need to start my Master's degree, but I think in this case, some short term pain is worth the long term gain. This summer I will have to pick up some casual shifts at the hospital so I am calling the other managers that I talked with to see if I can switch floors so I will keep you posted on that. I am so excited about this whole new career path that God may be opening up for me.

Well, that's the work scoop. I do want to say a special thanks to my friend Laura Doern who called the other night and encouraged me to look for a different position. It is so nice to have friends that know you so well and speak truth to you! :-)

I will post again later today or tomorrow with some pics of the new house and the kids. I am so glad to be able to blog again. I have missed all of you! :-)

Happy New Year [and our new contact information]

2008-12-31T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! Happy New Year to one and all!! Needless to say, Rob and I are very excited about what 2009 will bring for us as we move on to Red Deer. I have so much to write about and yet I have so little time and no way to add pictures, so I will be writing a lot once we are settled out in Red Deer. :-)

Our new contact information is as follows:

Our home info:

716 Lancaster Drive

Red Deer, AB

T4R 2V6

CANADA

We have chosen not to have land lines at this time so:

Andrea cell: 403-877-2033

Rob cell: 403-877-2202

Our e-mail will be staying tannahills@charter.net until Jan. 30th in order to give us time to get our new Canadian service up and running so I will post that address once I have it.

For any of you that may want to get a hold of Rob at the church, the info is:

CrossRoads Church

38105 Range Road 275

Red Deer, AB

T4S 2N4

The phone number at the church is: 403-347-6425

We don't have an official e-mail address for Rob at the church yet, so check the web site and watch for them to get that up and running. The web site is:

www.crossroadschurch.ca

I talked with my new boss in the ER today and she wants me to do some orientation days on January 8th and 9th since these orientation days won't be available again until April! So, it looks like I will be off and running right away!! I'm hoping to negotiate some extra time off the following week as Rob is scheduled to start work on January 12th and I think that we will need a few days to settle in with school and daycare without both Rob and I at work as well.

Well, that's all of the information that I have for now. We are very excited to get out to Red Deer and start this new chapter of our life. Please pray that the 3 day drive out West goes smoothly and safely. I will blog as soon as we get everything set up out there and I will update you on how all the travelling went.

Take care and I will write again in 2009.

An Update

2008-12-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to write a little update. We had a wonderful time in Red Deer. The people are very warm and friendly and we were treated like a king and queen. Rob has officially been offered the job as Young Adults Pastor at CrossRoads Church in Red Deer. We have already officially accepted and we have a tenative start date of January 5th 2009. HOORAY!!! That is still tentative due to some issues we are still working through on housing, so once we know when we can get into a home, we will know when we can officially start.

I had a great interview with the manager of the ER at the Red Deer Hospital but I will still be talking with the manager of the Neuromedical Unit just to be sure that she doesn't have something I would be more interested in doing.

So overall, everything is going great. Seth is having a bit of an adjustment and has asked to "go home" a few times but so far so good.

We are wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Once we are settled, I will post all of our new contact info.

Thanks for all of your love and prayers.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-08T16:14:00.001-08:00

Well, the POD is in the driveway being loaded and the final things are being packed up [including the computer in the next few minutes], so I am writing our final blog from Fond du Lac. I will try to post some pics from Red Deer and from our family time in Ontario.

I love this picture of Spencer that Rob took this week. I was so excited to share it here on the blog. As I said earlier, Christmas is my favorite time of year. Time with family and friends celebrating the birth of Jesus is for me the highlight of my year. Rob's mom just told us that she has bought tickets for Rob and I to join them at Handel's Messiah. That is also one of my favorite things to do, so on Dec. 20th Rob and I will be listening to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra play and the Mendelson Choir sing out scripture about the birth of Jesus and how He will save all mankind. For me, it is a little snapshot of what heaven will be like with the angels singing about the greatness of God.

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Packing Assistant

2008-12-07T05:12:00.001-08:00

Well, as you all know, we are a flurry of packing here. The baby has decided that the best way for her to help is to sit in each box before you get the chance to get anything into it. If you set up two boxes [which I tried so she could play in one while I loaded the other] she goes from one to the other. So, whichever one you focus your attention on gets a big Spencer Grace sitting in it. :-) I really had forgotten what it is like to have a toddler. She is so much fun. She is really getting a sense of humor and she has us all laughing with her and at her a lot of the time.

Let it snow...let it snow...let it snow

2008-12-06T05:33:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I really like winter. I especially like winter in December. Snow makes me feel like Christmas is right around the corner and Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year! It has been snowing a lot over the last few days in Wisconsin. In fact, as I sit here blogging this morning, it is again steadily snowing. I wanted to share some of these pictures that I snuck out one morning to take. For me, there are few things as beautiful as the world around me with fresh snow on it.

On the Road Again...

2008-11-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry that it has taken so long for me to post something here. Our life in the last few weeks has been a flurry of activity. Rob has been talking with a wonderful church in Canada for a very long time. We have been sending and receiving e-mails, having phone interviews and web cam inteviews etc. They have wanted Rob to go for his final interview since June...that's right...I said June. Due to delay after delay with our US visa renewal process this year, he has not been able to go for that interview. Let me be clear, Rob can go to Canada at any time, however, his being able to return to us here in Wisconsin was what we have been unsure of. While it would be manageble to have Rob take a few days away to do his interview...having him unable to come back while I work close to full time on the night shift, manage 4 kids, pack a house and set up a move was just more than I could even think about doing on my own. So we have been sitting here completing form after form for INS thinking that at any time we would be approved and go forward. That has not happened. We just received another request for additional forms from INS just two weeks ago.

We have decided [after a lot of prayer and discussion] to end our petition for our visa renewal, and return to Canada so that Rob can do his final interview at CrossRoads Church. When Rob and I sat down about 10 months ago as our last potential ministry opportunity was going up in smoke, I had Rob list out for me what his dream job would be. Well, I have to say, that CrossRoads offers Rob each thing on that list!! They have been so patient waiting for us to work out our issues with INS, but it has gotten to the point that we have absolutely no idea when we would be able to go for this interview [we have been working on this renewal for almost an entire year!] Two years without work is a very long time for anyone, but it has been especially long for Rob and when you have your dream job sitting there in front of you, it gets to the point that you have to trust God and do what He is directing you to do even if it seems foolish and illogical.

So, we are heading back to Canada so that Rob can do this final interview and we are trusting God that we will be moving to Alberta for Rob to join the pastoral team at CrossRoads Church in Red Deer, Alberta in 2009. We will be leaving Wisconsin on Thursday December 11th and going to stay with our loving, kind and very long-suffering parents. [A special thanks to both sets of our parents for being willing to have our chaos descend upon them! :-) ] From Toronto, we will be flying to Red Deer on the 13th for Rob's interview and a few interviews for me at the hospital in Red Deer. By the end of that week, we are hoping to officially know if that is where God has finally opened the door for us to serve.

Please keep us in your prayers as we go down this road. Doing something in faith like this when you have 4 children is very scary indeed. But, God has been with us for the last 2 years. He has always met our needs and we know that He loves us and has a plan for us. I hope that we can see many of you here in Wisconsin before the move, but if that is not possible due to time constraints, please know that we love you and it has been our pleasure to share the last 6 years with you here in Fond du Lac. We will never forget you!! For our Canadian friends and family, we are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas with our fabulous family and are hoping to see many of you in Ontario before we are hopefully making the long move to Alberta for Rob to start his job.

I love this picture of the baby that I took the other night. We have been so busy sorting, organizing and packing that we have all been very tired. We have gotten rid of a lot of the bigger things that we aren't moving and we moved our lawn furniture into the living room to have somewhere to sit until the move. The kids think that we should have made that change long ago. :-) This picture completely sums up how I have felt over the last two weeks....

Halloween

2008-11-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

I have to say that Halloween is my very least favorite of the seasonal holidays. I have issues with it and for many years we didn't celebrate it at all. Then we sent the kids to Harvest parties at whatever church we were serving at. The last two years, we have allowed the kids to trick or treat in our neighborhood with Rob. Fond du Lac does not celebrate Halloween with great enthusiasm. They only allow trick or treating on the Sunday before Halloween between the hours of 3:00 -5:30 pm. This is due to a child abduction with a very terrible outcome on Halloween night about 20 years ago. On that happy note, here is our brief selection of Halloween pictures from the last week. I'm sorry they're late. It's a combination of not really liking Halloween and being very, very, very busy here.

Here they are...the Wizard, the Fireman and the Queen.

I really liked this choice for a Jack O' Lantern. Jonah drew the bat and the ghost on paper and then Rob transferred the design onto the pumpkin. I think it came out really nice.

Here's the glowing Jack O' Lantern that was on the front step. Seth wanted a straight forward simple design. :-)

The King

2008-10-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well, with Halloween around the corner, we have been dressing up a lot around here over the last few weeks. I thought that I would share this picture of Seth dressed up like 'The King'. He needed some help with cutting out the crown but the blanket robe was all his doing.

I have had a fabulous week with my son. He has done several things this week worth making known to all of you. This week the original prayers continue and Seth said, "Dear Jesus thank you for making me...me." What a fabulous prayer. What an outstanding feeling! We should all be so thankful for who God has made us to be. Thinking that this was something they were covering in school, I asked his teacher and she assured me that they were not. So, that is just something that came into his mind and he shared it in prayer. I'm speechless.

He also introduced me to one of his school friends this week. Seth had forgotten his lunch at home and so I raced over to the school to drop it off. After seeing me in the classroom, Seth brought this little boy over to me. He puffed out his chest proudly, looked up at me, put his arm around the little boy and said, "Mom, this is my pal, Rene." He smiled at me with that little chest held out so proudly, he could have been a soldier standing for inspection by a superior officer. I looked down at his friend and told him that it was nice to meet him. The two friends turned and ran to another part of the classroom getting ready to say The Pledge of Allegiance and hear morning announcements. His teacher looked at me with tears welling in her eyes and said, "Wasn't that just a wonderful thing for him to do?" And I agreed.

When we received our diagnosis of Autism just about 6 years ago now, Seth being able to do these things was thought to be an impossibility....at least the doctor told us that it was.

After that meeting in the doctor's office being told that Seth had already reached the pinacle of what he would achieve in life especially in the areas of relationships and social interaction; after being told that he would need to be institutionalized; after being told that he would likely become violent and unmanageable; I did the only thing I knew to do...I prayed. I believe that God met me that night. He said this into my spirit, "Why do you believe that woman over Me? I made him and I will decide what he will become." With great humility I ended my prayer reminded that God is indeed bigger than our circumstances.

I have to say, that this week I was again reminded of that conversation with God so many years ago. I am so thankful that God has been right and not the very qualified specialty Pediatrician we had taken him to. I want to be sure to tell you that Seth still has many deficits and areas that need a lot of improvement. But, I see God's faithfulness and I know that if He has brought our boy this far, that He is more than able to take Seth as far as He wills for him to go. I am thankful this week for the promises of God and I want to encourage all of you to remember that He does keep them!

Mommy's Little Helper

2008-10-21T16:54:00.001-07:00

Tonight while I was loading the dishwasher after dinner, I turned around to see this site ... a baby in the dishwasher. She was attempting to pull out the bottom rack and unload the dishes that I had just loaded. With this crew of 4, it is always difficult to get tasks completed. Thankfully, I know that I am not alone in this. Those of you that have had small children around know that this is true. Whenever you start something they try to 'help' you. I had forgotten what it is like to have a one year old in the house getting into everything. It is moments like this that are reminding me to work smart and fast!! :-)

The Biker Chick

2008-10-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, my parents went to a family wedding in Upstate New York. While there, they went to Orange County Choppers. My dad loves TLC and watches just about every show on that channel. So, he couldn't resist stopping by the shop and checking out the bikes. I'm sure that he wouldn't have minded meeting Mikey, Vinnie, Paul Sr. or Paul Jr. either for that matter. Anyways, being grandparents, they couldn't resist picking up something from the shop for each of the kids.

Here's Spencer in her OCC onesie. She looks so cute. She has finally decided that she likes to have her picture taken and now smiles every time the camera comes out. :-)

Happy Birthday Duncan Seth Tannahill

2008-10-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well, Happy Birthday to our son Seth. He turned 8 today! I can't believe where the time has gone. It seems like yesterday that he was born. Seth has Autism and that makes life for both he and us quite challenging. Despite all of the challenges that Seth has, he has a zest for life that is contagious. Seth loves to have fun. He loves to experience new things, and go new places. Out of all of our kids, Seth is the one that is always up for an adventure.

Well, my son, I pray that this year will be a wonderful one filled with lots of growth and new adventures.

We love you!

Here's the Cars birthday cake that Seth asked for. I think that it came out beautifully. I picked it up at Wal-Mart and the Lightning McQueen on top of the cake is a toy that he has been playing with ever since we stopped singing 'Happy Birthday'.

Seth loves balloons so Rob took him to the store and he picked out 8 balloons for his birthday.

Here's the older kids sharing a birthday hug.

Here's the birthday boy with the Bald Eagle that Grandma and Grandpa Kozsukan sent him. Seth has an obsession with Bald Eagles and he is so thrilled to own his very own eagle. He is a beautiful puppet with stiff wings that flap. Seth named him 'Edgar', and as you can see by the smile on his face, he loves him!

The Little Farmer

2008-10-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

Hoorah!! The computer has finally decided to co-operate and has uploaded the pictures that we have been trying for days to upload. Well, since it was such a hot, sunny, wonderful weekend, we decided to head off to a local farm to pick pumpkins and apples. The farm is called The Little Farmer and it is a wonderful place with activities for the whole family. They really make pumpkins, apples and other produce into a very family friendly experience. We had a lot of fun as you can see, however, the day ended with Seth being missing for 20 minutes and once found he refused to share his soda with a wasp and was stung. It sure was eventful!! But we were happy that we all arrived home safe and sound after a fabulous day out in the country.

Here's Lauren on one of their tire swings. You're seeing that right - it is shaped to look like a horse. Boy, the tire swing has come a long way since I was a kid!

The older kids liked this huge chair and immediately climbed up on it for a picture.

The older kids loved this 'fort' made out of hay bales. It had tunnels and passage ways. They spent a long time here.

Here's the gang walking through the corn maze. Rob and Jonah thought that it should have been more challenging. Are they Tannahills or what?!

I really like this picture of the baby in the corn maze. She had a lot of fun.

Happy Thanksgiving My Fellow Canadians

2008-10-13T05:57:00.001-07:00

Well, Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!! As most of our family is up there in 'The Great White North', I decided that I would send you all some Thanksgiving wishes. We are again having technical difficulties in uploading pictures to the hard drive [*sigh*], so I looked back into the archives and found these little beauties. These are pictures of Lauren from last year when she was in Kindergarten. They had made Native American headdresses and necklaces and then Pilgrim hats and collars to celebrate American Thanksgiving. She was so proud of her design skills! :-) I think she looks adorable and I can't believe what a difference a year makes. She looks so little in these pictures in comparison to how she looks today. Well, I hope that you like these.

Happy Thanksgiving to you. We love you!!

Here she is as a Native American. I love the necklace made out of Fruit Loops and noodles.

Here's the little Pilgrim. Doesn't she look like she just stepped off of the Mayflower?

Starting Early

2008-10-07T04:48:00.000-07:00

The other night the baby brought out this book,

opened it and began to "read" it out loud to us. She would look down at the pages, tell us what it said in her little baby talk and then look at us to make sure we were paying attention to her. As you can see, she was very happy that we were in fact, paying attention to her. Her choice of reading material, you ask??? A book entitled, Plundering Pirates. :-) [Not exactly age appropriate, I know.]

We love to read in this family. Both sides of our family are strong readers who love to read for pleasure. It is something we are making a very conscious effort to teach our kids. I'm glad to see that our baby is already having 'fun' with reading! :-)

A Star Is Born

2008-10-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

Well, here she is....our little star! :-) Lauren got these star sunglasses in a gift bag at a recent birthday party. Spencer loves them and is always trying to put them on. Well, she succeeded. :-) I for one, think she looks adorable.

The Schlitz Audubon Nature Center

2008-10-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we took the day and went to the Schiltz Audubon Nature Center just north of Milwaukee. It was such a beautiful day and we learned so much. We started out in their Learning Center which is one of the most environmentally friendly buildings in America. It has many special features. We sat through an hour long presentation on Birds of Prey. We got to see a Bald Eagle, a Red-Tailed Hawk, an American Kestrel, and several owls.

We hiked along beautiful nature trails.

We climbed all the way to the top of the Observation Tower.

The climb was absolutely worth it. Look at that view of Lake Michigan!

The kids really liked this teepee that had been constructed on the beach out of drift wood.

The kids are trying to skip stones.

Rob caught this little guy to show the kids and Jonah really liked him. He stayed with Jonah for quite awhile.

Happy Birthday Spencer Grace Tannahill

2008-09-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'm sorry that this post is a day late. We were having technical difficulties getting the pictures from Spencer's birthday loaded into the computer.

Well, our baby is a year old!! I just can't believe how fast this year has gone. I hope that you can bear with me as I take you on a little journey through pictures over the last year. I had wanted to do this as a slideshow, but I couldn't figure out how to do that, so you're stuck with having to go through my pictures one by one.

Here she is all red, wrinkly and brand new. This picture seems like yesterday to me.

Spencer at 1 month old, sleeping peacefully.

This was Christmas 2007. She was so little and not feeling very festive.

This picture is of the 4 kids in March. It is not easy to take a picture of 4 kids and have them all looking 'spot on'. Spencer had had enough and Seth's little chapped lips aside, I thought this was one of the best we could get at that time.

Here's Spencer in her snowsuit last March. I love the little yawn on her face.

Here's a picture of the girls earlier this summer. It's one of my favorites.

Here it is September 21, 2008 - one whole year old!! We decided since we had such a beautiful day to celebrate on, we would grill out in the backyard. Here's the baby sitting on her very own chair in the yard. She certainly wasn't going to sit on anyone else's lap!

Here's the birthday girl with her brand new doll from her Grandma and Grandpa Tannahill. As you can see by the smile on her face, she loves it!

The Prayers of Children

2008-09-19T18:30:00.001-07:00

I love to pray with my kids. It is one of my most favorite things about being a mom. What a special privilege it is to listen each night to the things that are in the depths of their hearts. I think you can tell a lot about a person by what they pray for. You certainly get the opportunity to know what is important to them. I have heard my kids pray for people who are sick or hurting. I have heard them pour out their hearts to God for things that they want for themselves...in our case this is usually for Dad to allow them to have dinner at Culver's or for a puppy. :-) Remember we are still pretty young here. :-)

When you have a special needs child, faith and prayer are very difficult things to teach and to instill. Rob has been working on this with Seth and taught him to say, "Dear Jesus, bless my family. Amen." He has been praying his little memorized prayer for months now. Every night it was the same thing...until the last 2 weeks. He now has a desire to say his own original prayers. I am touched that our son wants to be original in what he shares with his God.

Last week he started out by saying his usual prayer..."Dear Jesus, bless my family. Amen." He then followed that by adding on..."this prayer was brought to you today by the letter S, the letter E and by the number 7." If it has been a while since you've watched PBS, let me just remind you that that is how each episode of Sesame Street closes. We all laughed with him and encouraged him in his original prayer. Telling him that he had done a great job praying.

In the last week he has been expanding on his originality - no longer starting with his little memorized prayer. Tonight his prayer was..."Dear Jesus thank you for the "or" sound in ... corn ... horn ... born ... and ... forlorn. Amen." As I said, it is interesting to listen to what your kids pray. I have to say that I have never heard anyone thank God for the 'or' sound before. But Seth [who is very interested in letters and words] is thankful for it and expressed his thankfulness. I can't wait for prayer time tomorrow night!!

Family

2008-09-08T04:40:00.001-07:00

I 'm not sure why, but today I'm feeling a little home sick. While scrolling through the pictures that we have on the computer I found these two from our family vacation in July of 2007 in Niagara Falls. In these pictures you can see Rob, the kids, myself and both sets of our parents. As you can see Spencer was just a bump in my belly. :-) I have to say that we have the most amazing family! I love that we can all get together and just have fun. This was such a fun few days and the time went by much too quickly. Hello to all our family whether in these pics or not. I love you all !!

That Toothless Grin

2008-09-07T17:46:00.001-07:00

Here's Lauren right after she lost the other of her front teeth. She was very excited to have lost both of them. We are enjoying her toothless smile and her slurred words. :-) She was thrilled to put this tooth under her pillow and find out what the Tooth Fairy would bring her. These are the moments of being a mother that I hope I remember forever!! :-)

The Recycled Baby

2008-09-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of our darling Spencer. She had crawled into the recycle bin. Those of you Canadians who read this blog will recognize the blue 'Region of Peel' recycling bin. We keep this one in the kitchen to hold items until we take them out to the larger covered bin that Waste Management uses here in Fond du Lac. She was so proud of herself standing in that box. Jonah and Lauren thought it was SO funny until Rob suggested that they help him take her out to the big bin outside to go off to be recycled. :-) Dads just LOVE to tease don't they??

The First Day of School

2008-09-02T17:03:00.001-07:00

Here's the annual picture taken in front of the school sign. I can't believe how much bigger they're getting. Jonah and Lauren go to the same school, so they walked together this morning.

Here's Jonah lookin cool as he starts the 4th grade!

Here's Lauren waiting in line for the bell to ring. She was so excited to wear her very patriotic stars dress that her Grandma Kozsukan had bought for her. I think she looks so cute!

Here's Seth sitting on his bus all ready to go off to school. He was SO excited to go. He was dressed an hour before he had to go out the door! :-)

The Hard Times

2008-08-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't posted for a while. Life here has been very busy. In May, while grocery shopping, Laura, my best friend here in Wisconsin had a seizure and woke up in the ER being told that she had a brain tumor. She is 35 years old. She and her husband were completely and totally shocked [as any of us would be]. The doctors have been monitoring the tumor since May and it was behaving itself, however a few weeks ago, her follow up MRI showed quite a bit of growth. The doctor then told them that he had no choice - a biopsy was definitely needed and he would remove as much as he could. Rob and I have been supporting them through this since May and it is a huge weight for us all to bear. She had her surgery one week ago today. The last week has been filled with ups and downs. I have been there a lot over the last few days helping in any way I can.

What do you say in circumstances like these? If any one has a good answer to that I would like to hear it. I have found over the last few days, that our friends don't want answers right now, they just want to know someone is there when they need them to be. We are all waiting until Wed. when they will get the pathology report on the samples that were sent following the surgery. There could be darker days ahead or reason for great celebration.

God keeps giving me Psalm 23. I just keep thinking about it over and over. With all that Rob and I have walked through in the last 2 years, it has comforted me in an incredible way. I have it printed out and stuck to one of my kitchen cupboards so that I see it each day. The version I printed out is from The New Living Translation. Maybe it will comfort some of you if you need it right now as it has been comforting me. Here it is:

Psalm 23
A psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

2 He lets me rest in green meadows;

he leads me beside peaceful streams.

3 He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths,

bringing honor to his name.

4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.

6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

The Baby

2008-08-10T21:02:00.001-07:00

I know that I already posted for today, but I'm really busy this week and so I will post both of these today and then not feel guilty when there isn't something new here until the end of the week. :-)

Here are some new pictures I took of Spencer. She was crawling on our front lawn that was in need of a mowing, and it looks so lush and vibrantly green all around her. She just loves to be outside. She loves to investigate any rock, flower, insect or blade of grass that she comes across. This is something that we hope to encourage in her as we are trying to teach our children a love for this Earth that God has entrusted them with. I know she's mine, but I think she is just a doll!! :-)

The Lost Tooth

2008-08-10T20:47:00.001-07:00

I think that I had forgotten the excitement of losing your "baby teeth" and getting your big grown up teeth. But of course like most things, you get to re-live these moments as your children experience them. I have to say that I am really enjoying that part of being a parent. Here's a picture of Lauren right after she lost her left front tooth. She was so thrilled. She loves the big hole in her smile. She looked at me right after and said, "Mom, I'm getting closer to being a grown up!" I hope not too much closer my darling girl. This is going WAY too fast for your Mom! :-)

The Eagle

2008-08-07T16:16:00.001-07:00

Seth came into the living room the other day looking just like this. He said, "Look Mom, I'm an eagle!" He was very proud of his self made costume. I asked him to get ready for a picture and this was how he posed - with his outstretched wings and scrunched up face [this was for his beak :-) ]. For a child with Autism who is supposed to not have an imagination or be able to pretend, this was fabulous stuff. I am still amazed at what God continues to allow Seth to achieve.

I just love the rubber glove "eagle feet"! :-)

Our Little Climber

2008-08-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here's our little angel looking all innocent and cute....formulating her plan.

She starts with the little ottoman and then when your back is turned she...

...hauls herself up to the top of the back of the couch.

Here she is getting ready to actually hold onto the window and look outside at the world. Only 10 months old and already yearning for independence. Those of you who know any Tannahills will understand that she comes by that honestly enough. :-)

The Madison Zoo

2008-08-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day yesterday at Henry Villa's Zoo in Madison Wisconsin. It truly is one of our family's favorite places to visit in this lovely state of ours. It is a FREE zoo so when you have a limited budget for entertainment [like we do] this is a wonderful family outing. We have gone many, many times over our years here. The older kids are standing on this bridge watching the geese and ducks swimming. It was very restful!

Here's Spencer on her dad's back in the Snugli. She had a lot of fun watching everyone at the park and at the zoo. She doesn't really care for her stroller, so we have resorted to putting her in this. After hours of carrying her, Rob has decided we need to invest in a baby carrier with a sturdy frame to support her little rolls.

There's nothing like an "underdog" from your dad!

Our Seth LOVES to climb just about anything. Here he is on the climbing rock in the kids climbing / play area. While many other kids attempted to climb this and gave up, he had no trouble with this and absolutely no fear.

Of course he made it all the way to the top!

Here's Jonah in the kangaroo's pouch in the kids climbing area.

Starting this again...

2008-08-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I am returning to blogging after a very long absence....too long! I have received some e-mails in recent days directing me to the blogs of friends and decided that I need to get going on this blogging thing again. Now that we have 4 children...that's right 4 I really need to be capturing these events in our lives. For those of you who have been out of the loop [and that would be many of you since we had a complete hard drive crash early in 2007 and we still don't have all of our e-mail addresses back], we are still in Fond du Lac Wisconsin and God has blessed us with a wonderful new addition. Her name is Spencer Grace Tannahill [named after Rob's two wonderful sisters] and she was born on Sept. 21st 2007. She is 10 months old now and has added so much to our lives. Rob and I had always wanted 4 children but after Seth was diagnosed with Autism, we decided that we were done. Well, God decided differently. :-)
I will post some pics later today after I once again figure out how to do that. I hope that you will come along with us and watch our family as we walk this journey of life.