Faith's Mom's Blog

Since they moved to Bismarck three years ago, Faith has gotten to spend more time than ever with her grandparents and has especially enjoyed the times she gets to spend with her Grandma. She loves her Grandpa too but he can be a little unpredictable with his sudden sneezes or coughs. Plus, he tends to talk a little loudly due to his slight loss of hearing from being around so many trucks and machinery throughout the years! Grandma is much more predictable and quiet! Faith with one of her favorite people in the world - Grandma! Faith really likes having Grandma come over on Saturday afternoons to hang out with us. Usually Grandma will bring a pizza and we'll have lunch (although Faith has already said this weekend when we see Grandma she wants to go to Perkins instead). Then we'll hop in the van and take Grandma to the library with us then hit Target or the grocery store. Once, Grandma even stayed with Faith for about 20 minutes while I went to get Rob at the office. 

Normally around this time of year, North Dakotans are nearly dying for spring to come. This was the case early last week when the temperature dipped to six degrees below zero. But then a small miracle took place - temperatures soared to over 70 degrees! My only complaint was that our apartment, which is warm anyway, became a heat box. There was even one day I came home and my husband had turned on the air conditioner - in March! The nice weather was the answer to many prayers though, as many ladies involved in JOY International had been praying for weeks that the weather would cooperate for their annual event, the JOY Breakfast. Jennifer Beckham This year's speaker, Jennifer Beckham had come to Bismarck from her home in Jacksonville, Florida. She said she had been amazed to find when flying into Bismarck there was absolutely no snow on the ground. She wondered if the two states had swapped climates because when she left Florida it was only 30 degrees. Seriously, this i

Faith was so excited last weekend when I told her they were having wheelchair soccer again. Her first question was, "Can Adam push me again?" I told her I had no idea if he even went to school at the University of Mary anymore. When we got out there, she was disappointed to learn he had another obligation that day. Everyone assured us Adam would be there next time. She still had fun with a few other guys from the college soccer team who pushed her around to help her play. In wheelchair soccer, they don't use a normal soccer ball, instead it's more like a beach ball. Normally, the soccer players who are pushing the kids around throw the ball to each other then help the kid they are pushing hold onto it as they try to get into the net. She had so much fun and the faster they pushed her, the bigger the smile on her face. Ramsey helps Faith with the ball Faith making friends Faith having fun with Garrett the goalie This weekend, despite the fact she w

Taking Faith to church on Sunday mornings is my favorite activity of the week but something else I love are our Saturday outings. We normally go to the library and sometimes go shopping at Target (her favorite store). One Saturday we even went to the pet store because she wanted to look at the hamsters. She has made it known that she would like to have a hamster but since I'm not much of a rodent person I'm not too excited about it. Rob and I wondered if we could talk her into a guinea pig instead. For some reason a guinea pig seems less "rodenty"! Faith is bundled up and ready to roll! Yesterday, even though the temperature was only in the single digits, she wanted to go to the The Big Event Carnival . It's held every year at the Bismarck Civic Center and is hosted by the area Child Evangelism Fellowship. We have never gone before because I was never sure if Faith would be able to tolerate so many noisy, crazy kids under one roof. Also, one of the main at

Once again everyone in North Dakota is lamenting the near-end to another busy summer that is quickly fading away along with the hot summer sun. A couple of days ago we had an unusually cool late August day and I actually had to put a sweatshirt on Faith before going outdoors. I was reminded this would soon be the norm everyday and it wouldn't be long before we are digging around in the closet to find hats and mittens. Where DID summer go? This seems to be the question everyone asks each year as if there might be just one summer that lasts forever. I think most North Dakotans would relish at least one year-round summer considering winter weather lasts over half the year. But alas, it's never going to happen so we can either move to Arizona or grin and bear our near-approaching cold weather. Spending time with family - me, my sisters and dad at Perkins For us, we had a summer of transition as I quit working my full-time job at the health insurance company. Both my husband

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 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 Universi

The weather outside is truly frightful, as I write this post, it is a frigid -22 degrees F. out there. That's 22 degrees below zero and that's darn cold! My husband is lamenting this fact, for a few reasons - one because he actually had to go outdoors today and two because it is a balmy 23 degrees back home in Toronto - that's a 45 degree difference! He does always say, "We need to move to Canada where it's warm!" Doing puzzles is a great indoor activity Thankfully, inside it was much more delightful and Faith could not have picked a more perfect day to get out all of her puzzles, board games and Christmas books. We had so much fun playing Candyland (she won, of course), reading some of her favorite Christmas stories and listening to Christmas music . Our mailman also dropped off a Christmas package from Faith's grandparents. I told Faith we were going to hide it from Daddy to see how how long it would take him to find it. But as soon as Rob walked th

Faith's birthday didn't start out so well as the day before she came down with a cold and did not sleep very good two nights in row. She missed Thursday and Friday at school. Friday was her birthday and she had been looking so forward to going. Not only was she going to be doing a special birthday activity at school but it was also her school's fall festival party. I had serious hesitations about going forward with her birthday party on Saturday but thankfully, she had a good night sleep and felt much better. Faith celebrates with her mommy, grandma, cousin and aunties Faith with our dear friend, Joann We had her party at our apartment building lobby which worked perfectly for the number of guests that showed up. It was so funny because she said when she came downstairs to the lobby, she wanted everyone to say, "Surprise!" Rob left shortly after bringing her down when he discovered it had turned into an all-girl party. (I really didn't plan it tha

All of us North Dakotans know that summer always goes by way too fast. While winter can last six long months, summer comes and goes before we know it. Normally, I don't mind when summer is over because I look forward to the fall and all the busyness that the new season brings. Not to mention the cooler weather, the changing leaves, and celebrating Faith's  birthday. But this year is different - I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to summer. Maybe I'm not quite ready because it has been unseasonably cool with temps in the 70s and low 80s - to me those are perfect temperatures! Or maybe I'm just not quite mentally prepared for Faith to go back to school where she'll be a 4th grader. Or it just might simply be this summer has a great one for our family and I'm sad to see it end.  Faith and I enjoyed hanging out on the patio at our apartment complex this summer Faith, on the other hand is all gung-ho to start school again. In fact, ever since it ended

Over the last week, we have had a chance to see and visit with some very special friends. Our string of visits started last weekend when we traveled to Hazen to visit with some friends that Rob and I have both known since before we were married. While living in Watford City, there was just Tuck, Greta and their son Kaden but since then, their amazing family has expanded to three more boys and a girl. It was a beautiful drive and it was great seeing the haying season in full swing with lots of golden hay bales dotting the thousands of acres of farmland. While visiting and seeing their new home (they just moved there from Washburn), we found out that they are now attending church at New Life in Beulah, which means we are all part of the same church family! (The New Life church in Bismarck is an extension of the church in Beulah.) It was great hearing about their Junior Bible Quiz adventures including driving all the way to Texas for the national competition. It was obvious that Aubry

I loved the shocked look on my friend's face on the 4th of July when upon asking, "So did just your dad come down for the 4th?" And I told her, "my parents live in Bismarck now." In March of this year, my dad officially retired from the oilfield after 35 years, most of those years spent driving an 18-wheeler. Shortly after his retirement, they officially became residents of Bismarck. In fact, their home is just down the road from my younger brother's place. They still have their land and their home in Watford City though so whenever my dad starts missing home, he can always go back to visit! They were blessed to have met some great people to rent their home out to who moved here from California to work in the Bakken. Welcome to my parent's new place! (I made that sign when I was a freshman in high school!) My youngest sister, dad and me on Father's Day. Besides my parents moving here, my youngest sister also moved here from New Town. So n