Update on Macy

Macy is now over three weeks old and continues to do well. She now weighs 4 pounds 6 ounces, and has transferred out of the NICU and into a level two nursery where she is in a bassinet, is wearing clothes, and is nursing. She just needs to nurse more consistently and she'll be able to go home. Yea!

Keep Macy and her family in your prayers for a while longer.

Brayden bakes cookies!

We're back in Florida and into the Christmas mode. Brayden welcomed us back and Grampa helped him bake cookies. What fun!




Frosting those cookies was a lot of fun too!

Rest in Peace, Mom. I'll love you forever!

We were called back to the St. Louis area with the news of Mom's possible death. She passed away on the evening of December 16 and we had her funeral on Friday.


Although the circumstances were sad, we know Mom is in a better place with our Savior in heaven.










It was an opportunity to have some Niemann family time, however. Here is Judy, my younger sister with me, my younger brother, Larry Vern, and Dad.











Here are the nephews with Dad. Rob, Judy's son, and Nick and Tyler, Larry Vern's boys.



Dad is physically doing well, but his Alzheimers has destroyed his memory. He had a very difficult time understanding Mom's death, and we have, at the advise of his social workers, simply gone back to telling him Mom is in the nursing home, which he understands.

Orlando

We are in Orlando enjoying the warm weather and Disney. We are playing pickleball with Pat and John and Faye and Ken and the rest of the pack rats! Fun!






Snow, the way we like it--on the top of Everest in Disney--a way cool roller coaster ride!










This gigantic Christmas tree reminds me to wish you all a safe and blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with God's blessings.

Update on Macy

Macy is doing well, thanks be to God! This little gal has defied some odds and is now off the ventilator and is being weaned off her medications. Plans are in the works to transfer her from NICU to a less intensive care area. She is now being fed breastmilk. Sarah and Shayne have both had the opportunity to hold her, and Sarah has even changed her diapers and washed her hair.
Shayne says she is an awesome little girl.

Thanks for all the prayers--they worked! Keep praying, she still has a few weeks of growing to do before she goes home.

On the road--through Texas

We stopped to visit Connie and Joe and had a great time--visiting, eating, doing some running around, and playing Phase 10 with homemade chocolate chip cookies and homemade hot chocolate! Yum and Fun!!

On the road again--across Texas

We stopped in Kerrville to visit friends Marilyn and Jerry. We had a day filled with fun things to see and do in Texas Hill Country.

Off to Harper and we see this 1904 hand hewn limestone house. Through the gate, past the goats and llama, we come to Jacques private museum of old car related antiques. Quite interesting.













But Karen shows up and takes us to her little spice shop which features Madagascar peppercorns and a lot of other really fun food stuff!

Then we're off to Fredricksburg to sight see the German town with a lot of cute little shops and ended up in Ingram to visit a local silversmith who makes $29,000 belt buckles and the 85ish year old leather crafter who is world famous for his hand made saddles and cowboy boots. Fascinating and a great way to spend an afternoon.


I talked to Sarah around noon and she was feeling better than she had yesterday. She also said Macy was showing some improvement.

Update on Macy

Macy is doing better again today. The numbers that are supposed to be going down are going down and the numbers that are supposed to be going up are going up. The doctors did put her under the lights for jaundice, but that is pretty normal for premmies.

Sarah is home from the hospital for the first time since early October. Hooray!

Thank God for little blessings and keep on praying!

Update on Macy

Today the news was good. Macy is responding to the medications that she has been given and her oxygen level was better. The Lord is indeed holding her in His hands.

Sarah is hoping to finish her antibiotic regime tonight and be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. Sarah's mom is there to help out and give Sarah a chance to recuperate.

Thank you for your prayers, they make a difference.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM

The long deserted drive to Carsbad was punctuated by the Guadalupe Mountains which boast Guadalupe Peak, the hightest point in Texas.








Most of the trip was punctuated with prickly pear cactus.










After a climb up into the mountains we arrived at Carlsbad Caverns and had to walk down, down, down to the Natural Entrance.










The interior was huge and we walked about two hours through rooms and walkways each showing magnificent stalactites and stalagmites forming draperies, columns, and drinking straws.


















Most of the formations are inactive, meaning they are not growing any more. This formation, though, is still active, shown by the shiny wetness of the mineral water slowly flowing down it sides.











The trip was one we had on our wish list and we weren't disappointed!

Mackenzie Grace

Sarah gave birth to a beautiful baby girl early this morning, November 30. Mackenzie Grace was born about eight weeks early and weighed in at three pounds eight ounces and is 16 1/2 inches long.

Sarah developed an infection and the infection was passed on to the baby. Baby Macy is in a very delicate condition at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. Sarah is also being treated for infection and pain.

Continue to pray for Shayne, Sarah, Addy, and Macy.

On the road again--into New Mexico

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Renny and Marlene's, and thoroughly enjoyed our time with our Indio friends, but our Indio time is up. We're on the road again--through Arizona and into New Mexico.

Check out the diesel prices--$2.19! Haven't seen those prices since we came home with the new coach in the summer of 2004. We spent $100 less on the same amount of diesel than the last fill in New Mexico six weeks ago.

Evening in Indio

The blue sky during the day was sooo blue, but the sky at night was gorgeous!

Jeeping in the desert

Kim and Shelly are avid Jeepers and invitied us to go with them and seven other "Jeeps." Did we have fun!















Down rock hills, through water washes, over big rocks...









Kim even let Mitch drive one of the rock climbs!

Indio, CA

We are at home in Outdoor Resort Indio, living on Ed and Betsy's (Monacos in Motion) extra pad. It's a gorgeous place--this is our backyard, and we have a number of friends in this park from Monaco North Central. If we get the walking, biking, pickle ball, swimming, jeeping done before 5:00 for drinking we'll do fine!

Back to Minnesota

We left Indio on the morning of Mitch's birthday. Caryn taught Brayden "Happy Birthday to Grampa". Check it out at braydenandus.blogspot.com.


We arrived in Minnesota late and woke up to snow. Beautiful (for a day)!












Our other greeting was Addy--we were looking forward to that one!














Then off to "up north" deer hunting. Bryan actually shot this six pointer, but Jim and Mitch had to clean it!
















Back in the cities Bryan and Stacy came over to make wild rice soup--a lot of it-- 13 pheasants worth! The soup was wonderful!












Every day we took Addy to the hospital to "play" with Mommy. Sarah is now 30 weeks along in her pregnancy and she and the baby are doing well. They still have four weeks to go before the little one is born. That is a long hospital stay for that family! Say a little prayer for them.













Addy, however, is a charmer, and we had a ball with her. She loved making "tall towers" with Grampa.











She is also a little character. After telling Kaiser the dog to move, she sat down on his bed. When I asked her what Mommy would say about being on the hairy bed, she said, "No no!"

She also loves to color and will carry one crayon around saying "paper only" before she slyly makes her mark on whatever is close. I love those washable crayons!





Addy is very verbal and has a great vocabulary for an 18 month old. Since Mommy has been in the hospital Addy has gotten to watch TV (football) with Daddy. Play the video to see what he has taught her.

It was a busy 12 days in Minnesota and we loved seeing our family and friends! We are now back in Indio being busy in a different way!

Brayden--Days Gone By

A professional photographer came to "school" to take pictures of the kids one day. Brayden didn't feel to well, but that stoic little face just makes the picture!

Update on Sarah

Sarah always sounds upbeat when I talk to her on the phone. She is trying to keep busy and is now doing some of her work with her laptop from her bed. She just had a bout of kidney stones, but they passed and she is now pain free.

Coming up to four weeks--thank God and let's keep praying!

Bullhead City, Arizona

We are parked in Bullhead City across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, the "new" Las Vegas. This is a view of the strip of casinos that we can see from our campground.

This deserty area is full of arroyos, large gullies the look liked they have been scraped out of the desert. If Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Arizona must be the Land of 10,000 Arroyos!

On the road again--to northwest Arizona

We are always amazed at the country we see. Driving through northern Arizona was fascinating. Although there is desert, there was a lot of mountains--sharp and craggy. We were amazed that Flagstaff sits at 7000 feet and gets about 100 inches of snow in the winter.

This is the London Bridge. I wanted Mitch to sing and I would do a video, but he wouldn't do it. The London Bridge was purchased for $2,500,000 from London and put back together for $4,500,000 in Lake Havasu City.

Pickle-Ball

Mitch's mom keeps track of where we are and what we are doing, but doesn't know what pickle-ball is. So, these are the paddles and the whiffle balls that we use. The game is played on a sport court (like a small tennis court).

One must play as often as possible--preferably twice a day for a least two hours each. But never run backwards to return a ball--it's only worth one point!

Actually, there are rules, we usually play doubles--the game is similar to tennis and we play for fun.


We've met some great friends on the court! Our last night at Verde Valley was a pickle-ball get-together.

Update on Sarah

Sarah is now over three weeks in the hospital, but that is great! Every day is one day closer to a safe, healthy delivery.

The last ultrasound showed that the baby is growing and is now almost two pounds and everything is looking normal and healthy. Let's keep on praying--the Lord keeps those little ones in the palms of His hands!


Another prayer request is for our Monaco friends Renny and Marlene who have just found out that their 35 year old son, Renny II (our airplane pilot last Thanksgiving), has been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the blood, and will be undergoing treatments soon.

Always something to do

The weather here is purr-fect! Besides playing pickle-ball every morning, we use the pool as often as we can. It's a balmy 84 degrees in the pool, 103 degrees in the hot tub, and sitting in the sun can't be beat.








Hi Brayden and Addy! Just in case you can't find Gramma here I am!

Things to do at VVTT

The mornings are absolutely beautiful here at Verde Valley--just right for playing pickle ball. And guess who's back at it? Mitch!!! Yea!




We have a great great in the mornings including Tracy and Jim and Oland and Marilee--we played with them back in Florida!! I love this small TT world! Back row--Phil, Jim, Mitch, Tom, and Oland. Front row--Marilee, Cindy, and Tracy.







Yesterday we drove to Sedona and the Red Rocks are gorgeous. Of course we stopped for a little afternoon break:


the Prickly Pear Margarita was superb and the Calamari with the Roasted Red Pepper and Chipolte Ketchup was wonderful.








We enjoyed the food on the deck overlooking what else--some more red rocks!!

Update on Sarah

Sarah has two weeks behind her and that is great news. Also the baby has turned around and is now head down the way it's supposed to be! That is also great news. So now Sarah is just laying around waiting -- about eight weeks to go! She figures she will have watched enough TV to last a long, long time.

Keep on praying!

On the road again--Arizona

We have planted ourselves at Verde Valley Thousand Trails, just south of Flagstaff, Arizona. The campground is nestled in the valley of the Verde River. The first picture was taken from the middle of the park, halfway down the 1 1/2 mile road that gets you to our campsite. Big place. Very nice.







We started checking out the National Monuments close by--Tuzigoot and Montezuma's Castle, both Sinagua ruins, but very different from each other.











It always amazes us that people so long ago could build their homes in the sides of cliffs!