2013: A Year in Review

This past year has held many challenges, many changes, and some breakthroughs as well. We have met some new people who have helped Faith make forward progress but have been discouraged as certain prayers continue to go unanswered. Through it all though, there is one truth that remains - God has been with us and He has been faithful.

He has placed many people in our lives who have kept us encouraged and who continue to inspire us each and every day to "walk by faith not by sight." As I think about our past year, I can't help but feel hopeful that the New Year will be better than the last!

JANUARY - Me and Faith spent the tail-end of last year and the beginning of 2013 recovering from the flu. In fact, she was at the walk-in clinic on New Year's Eve. We recovered just in time to celebrate the NDSU Bison winning their second straight national championship. This year they are once again headed to Frisco, Texas to defend their title as they take on Towson University on January 4th.

In other news, we were without an elevator for almost a week in our building which made our lives very interesting getting Faith and her chair up and down the stairs.

FEBRUARY - Both me and Rob had birthdays this month, which we celebrated with friends from church at Bruno's Pizza. At work, we had an old-school Valentines Day party, and my Valentine pizza box even won a prize! Speaking of hearts, I had one of the longest pacemaker appointments ever that included being hooked up to a 24-hour Holter monitor just to make sure it was functioning as it should. 

MARCH - We celebrated the resurrection of our Savior with some friends at their home for Easter dinner. Unfortunately, the snow, cold and wind kept us from our tradition of flying kites.

Faith had her first lessons with Pati Holman who is an Anat Baniel Practitioner. Pati comes to Bismarck about every 2 months from Wisconsin to work with children in our area. 

Faith had lessons in the summer and fall as well and we are currently in prayer about continuing with the lessons as we have also found some other kinds of treatment that are beneficial.

APRIL - Bismarck broke their record for the most snowfall in one day as over 17 inches fell on the city. School was canceled and even I got a snow day from work. It is a rare occasion for any town in North Dakota to shut down on account of the weather! 

Besides North Dakota making news because of unprecedented snow fall, we also continued to make news throughout April due to a pro-life piece of legislation signed by our governor in which North Dakota became the first state to ban abortions based on gender and/or genetic defects.

MAY - Spring finally sprung and with the warmer weather, Faith ended her school year as a third grader. We all loved having Mrs. Ternes as her teacher and were a bit sad to find out she would be retiring. We are glad though that Faith had her during her final year of teaching.

While Faith was finishing up school, Cari finished up another season of Java JOY for which she volunteers as coordinator. Sadly, during a season we celebrate new life, we lost a precious person to our family - Rob's Aunt Audrey. How wonderful though is the assurance that she is resting peacefully in her eternal home!

JUNE - Our long-awaited summer vacation was finally here! We were so thrilled to be able to go to Winnipeg, Manitoba to meet Rob's parents - David and Jean who flew there from Toronto. We had so much fun at the Holiday Inn, visiting, watching hockey, drinking Tim Horton's coffee, eating, laughing and just enjoying being together.

We also went to the zoo where the highlight was Hudson the Polar Bear. The time went by way too fast, but we promised we would not let another two years go by without seeing one another and are looking forward getting together again in 2014.

JULY - My dad had officially retired from the oilfield in March and he and my mom made the move to Bismarck. They found the perfect retirement home north of Bismarck, close to my brother Todd's. We had a fun family get-together in July to celebrate dad's retirement and their new home.

Faith and I also enjoyed a lot of time outside on the patio downstairs of our apartment which also ended up being a great place for others to come visit her.

August - The last month of summer vacation was full of fun visits with friends. Kimberly, Matt and their baby, Gunnar came up from Kansas and I reunited with two of my college roomies when they were in Bismarck for a conference. The month went by too fast and before we knew it, Faith was starting 4th grade at Centennial Elementary!

September - This month we became aware of the benefits of the chiropractic care. Faith sleeps much better and her startle is not as severe. She has more energy and instead of needing to take two afternoons off a week from school, she goes five days a week, six hours a day. In September, she went on a few field trips for school and all three of us went to the International Powwow.

The last weekend of the month was a little chaotic as we moved to a different apartment and my job transferred locations. I also took a trip to Brookings, South Dakota with my dad where we met my sister, Tesa for the NDSU Bison game - which of course they won! 

October - Faith turned 10 years old this month and celebrated by having not one but two parties! Unplanned by me, one of them ended up being an all-girls party which we had downstairs in our lobby. Faith got to share her day with her grandma, her aunts, cousin, friends and neighbors. The next day we had another get together with some of our church family.

November - Faith had a few fun visits at her grandparents in November but unfortunately towards the end of the month she came down with a fever and not feeling well. She ended up missing Thanksgiving dinner at her aunts, but we had our own little Thanksgiving celebration writing letters and little thank you notes to people. Faith certainly has much to be thankful for and is especially thankful for all the wonderful people in her life.

December - Faith is enjoying her break from school. Bismarck is experiencing one of the coldest Decembers ever, so we have all been content spending time indoors. This month she had her first music therapy session which she absolutely loved and can't wait to do more of.

We had a nice relaxing Christmas and are gearing up for an uneventful New Year's Eve!

We look forward to what the New Year holds 
and pray you have a blessed New Year too!