We Have News!!!

Our family is at the beginning of something exciting in our life journey. We have created a new blog, and hope you'll check it out. We'd love to have you travel the journey with us, if you so desire.

www.holding-tight.blogspot.com

See you there!

Remembering When....

Remember this post: http://familykahl.blogspot.com/2008/01/happy-13108.html

It must be something about the time of the year. That post was on January 31st, and today it is January 28....and we are having a similar kind of day - with the SYMBOLS AGAIN! BANG BANG BANG BANG - over and over and over. This year though - they have electric guitars too!

I feel myself starting to twitch.....

Christmas 2010

Another amazing Christmas - celebrating with family!

The festivities began with some construction.

Each unique creation, contained reflections of its individual builder. They were masterpieces.

A Ginger-Village

Cousin time, is precious time

Great Grandpa Helmer

My sweet babies (don't tell them I called them babies)

Cousin time at the Kuntz's! A great end to a great Christmas celebration!

Outside the Box

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus...And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

-Philippians 4:4-7,19

Fall! Fall is a time of the year that I once treasured: the beauty in God's creation, the fun that comes along with fall activites, and the joy of eating "fall food". Over the past 6 years, it turned into a season that I have learned to dread.

BUT this fall, I am undeniably thankful and in awe of God's great provision and care. This fall marks the first year in Tyler's life that we have been free from asthmatic symptoms - symptoms that have held him back from being an everyday, carefree kid! THIS FALL Tyler is running outside playing just like every other kid, with no symptoms, during his biggest trigger season of the year. Not only is he symptom free, but we have kicked his inhaler to the curb - no inhaler since mid-spring.

And in my exuberant joy (and I truly mean EXUBERANT JOY), I stand in complete awe of God's intricate provision and care for us. In our complete lack of medical knowledge or exposure, God has led us down a path that is far outside our previous exposure and certainly outside of our "box". Certainly in our medical naivety, we could have, and some would say should have, followed the path in which we were directed by doctor #1, or doctor #2, maybe doctor and ENT specialist #3, and certainly with asthma specialist and doctor #4. All of these doctors offered reasonable treatment plans with excellent medical care. But we did not follow any of their treatment plans. At times, choosing to walk away from their plans prompted feelings of carelessness and disapproval (which I don't do so well with). But, we were reminded continusouly, that following God's lead doesn't always bring us down the path that is within our way of thinking because He holds a much bigger view of the full picture!

God knew the answer, to which I stand in thanksgiving and awe. Though doctor 1, 2,3, and 4 were extremely knowledgable in their areas of expertise, God continued to prompt our hearts that these were not the answers He had for His child, Tyler (and later Makenna as well). And each time God prompted us with a spirit of unease, He very intricately placed someone in our path that opened our eyes to a new direction - a direction much outside our knowledge base or way of thinking. A way of thinking that is outside the box, outside our previous exposure - and became the ANSWER TO A HEALTHY TYLER!

On this amazingly gorgeous fall day, I stand grateful for the way that God leads us, as we seek and follow Him. I am so grateful that He is a God that does not work inside a box, but is a HUGE God who sees the FULL picture. I am continuously humbled by the details He works together to unfold His plan for each of His children seeking Him - in which I certainly could not piece together on my own.

With my own way of thinking along this medical journey, we would certainly not be where we are now - LOVING THE BEAUTY OF FALL!

My Baby Grew Up

My baby girl isn't a baby anymore!!! Saturday was her big debut - into the big girl world.

Her first dance recital wowed us. She was glowing and beautiful, and danced like there was nothing to lose. A beautiful day for a beautiful girl.

Kenna, Hannah and Adelyn are ready to take the stage

After the recital, Emerson and Kenna were ready to head home!

Kenna and Hannah joyfully greet one another before the recital

Baby or big girl - we sure do love her!!! Watch out world - here she comes!

God's Mighty Warrior

There is truly nothing more exciting, than to watch our kids desire to know God in deeper ways. They have a desire to understand the Bible, and what it means for them. In their desire, we go there. We read and discuss. His word is just as real in their lives as it is in ours! How cool is that?!

And then....when they bring it full circle - into their play - it makes me smile! Childlike faith. It is pure and special - it could melt my heart.

A couple days ago, Tyler was in quest of the understanding of the Armor of God. Okey doke - to Ephesians 6:13-17 we did go.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. -Ephesians 6:13-17

Then - he got an idea....
Why not WEAR the armor?! From the helmet, all the way to the sandals.

And here is where he rescued God's little princess. It doesn't get much better than this!

Beautiful Spunky Ballerina

Sparkles and glitter. Tutus and bows. It is approaching Dance Recital time!

These 3/4 year old ballerina girls have been practicing for their moments in the limelight for months and months. Their time is finally arriving.

Though, the recital is yet to come, they already had the chance to shine like stars in a performance at the Mitchell Pancake Feed.

They shined!

She Looks Beautiful and Ready to Perform

Get Their Boogy On

This is Where Her Spunk Really Came Out - She the Tongue Sticking Out? That's Our Girl - A Beautiful Spunky Ballerina!

So Much More Than Hockey

Have you ever seen termites? Tiny, but mighty! I had never actually seen any - until a couple weekends ago. Brookings, SD held the 2010 Termite Fest! You may be asking yourself, "why would ANYONE ever hold a 'Fest' for termites?"

Alright - these weren't termite bugs, they were a herd of mini-mite hockey players. Though they were "mini", they certainly were mighty! 3 different towns (Luverne, MN, Brookings, SD, and Mitchell, SD), each brought several mini-mite teams to participate in an action-packed "Termite Fest" hockey tournament.

For my friend Heidi, and I - the tournment looked like this:

2 nights + 1 room + 2 moms + 3 hockey boys = ??? (you tell me what you think)....

2 nights + 1 room + 2 moms + 3 hockey boys = so much more than hockey!

Friendship, fun, team, sharing, laughing, winning, losing, disappoints, learning, goals, playing hard, basketball, and oh so much more! Another amazing memory for the memory books - for the boys AND the 2 moms.

Game Day

His adreneline was high, and his excitement was contagious! It was a day for the record books....

Tyler's First Hockey Games - 2 of them in 1 day. He processed and imagined these games for days prior. The day started with a "high energy breakfast" by request of the athlete.

Game day "high energy" breakfast consisted of oatmeal, "Power Cereal", bacon, and smoothie. At the point that it was time to EAT the breakfast, he was too nervous....and ate NONE OF IT!

Tyler and his opponent race for the puck.


Tyler (#7) and Chase (#12) are ready!

We call these three "The Three Amigos" - Tyler and his buddies Landon and Chase

Tyler (yellow mouth guard) and Chase (blue mouth guard) seem to be coming up with their own game plan on the ice.

Waiting for ice time

Kenna and Rylie had fun hanging out in the stands - while cheering on their brothers!

Tyler Dives to Protect the Mini-Mite Goal. Goalie was his favorite position to play. He did a great job making saves!

There was a lot of action on the ice. Tyler's movin' in to take that puck!

Don't ask about the score - it wasn't pretty. The Mini-Mites have A LOT to learn, but their parents could not have had more fun watching them play!!!! They worked hard, and had intense amounts of fun. And at age 5 - that's all we ask for!

Maybe they would have been better off - drivng the Zamboni!

BEAUTIFUL

This is - BEAUTIFUL....

A homemade pillowcase given to me today, by a BEAUTIFUL friend. She made it perfectly beautiful, just for me. She knows my heart, she knows my style, and she knows my "color".

The pillowcase was given as a reminder to me that she is praying for me - continuously. As I lay down at night, and there is chaos in my head, I can find peace in remembering she is praying - for me. She is praying for the children and familes I interact with. She is praying for the children, around the world, that she knows my heart is drawn to.

She is part of the body of Christ - just like these children. She is serving Him, daily.

AND THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!

Not So Scary Halloween

Halloween is supposed to be the scary, spooky celebration of the year. Our family just doesn't do scary, spooky. But...we DO DO FUN! And, fun it was!

The weather was beautiful. The costumes were adorable. The candy was good. And the cousins were here! It was a perfectly FUN Halloween Day!

The animals of the household spent some animal bonding time. Maybe it is because one of the animals is feeding the other some candy???

Here is the crew: a hip-hop policeman, a scary little lion, a Hawkeye football player, and of course a princess.

This is a classic picture what life ACTUALLY looks like!

The big cousins did pumpkins together.

Maybe I was wrong....there was a LITTLE bit of scary amongst us - YIKES!

Family Strongholds

Every family has their "things". They things that drag them down a little...or a lot. These are things that tend to bring out the bad side in family members.

Strongholds - or ISSUES - are things that can pass down from generation to generation, UNLESS, a family can recognize them. Once they are recognized, the next step would be acknowledge that these things ARE issues. Finally, it would important to make steps towards working through the issues, to release them, and move onward and upward, however challenging it may be.

Yesterday, we reached step 2 - There IS an issue. One that has rooted itself into the depths of our family. This issue has started the pattern of affecting others around us...it is time to face the reality - conquer the stronghold....

The Nukkie Addiciton

We found Leo taking "hits" of this Nukkie, last night. He has been brought into a home of bad influence, and he has picked up on the habit.

The reality hit - it is time for a Nukkie Intervention. I mean come on, you know it's bad when you DOG starts participating!

Adults Can Act Crazy TOO!

Do you ever think to yourself, "I'm too old to act silly. I'm too old to let loose. I'm too old to REALLY have fun"? Do you? Do you ever think that???

In the event that you believe such things - we tested it out this past Saturday. And we're here to say....IT'S NOT TRUE!!!

26 adults left their children at home with babysitters to participate in a crazy game tournament at our house. There was silliness. There was competition. There was bantering. Best of all - there was lots and lots of laughter!

The evening began with huge game of extremely funny Blind Dodge Ball:
After everyone was warmed up and the ice was broken, the crew spent the rest of the evening tracking their scores as they rotated between 4 game stations. Scores were important as the evening ended with 1 winner and 1 Winner of Losers - coveted titles, desired by all.

Wii Boxing - Sweating, punching, and even some screaming

Mad Gab - Crazy Words and Crazy Laughter

Tower Building - Objective was to build the tallest tower that could support an egg: These gals had FUN building their tower

This group built a very nice looking tower...but it definitely was NOT tall


These guys went all the way. The tallest possible!

And finally, Spoons. Intense Competition. The claws came out in this game!

Claws...
Claws....

Claws...

We have opted not to reveal the Winner or Loser of the tournament, as they would prefer to remain out of the media spotlight. You can make your own assumptions from the pictures you see above.

The night was a success. The proof was in the pudding - or - in the games. Adults CAN act silly/crazy and love every second they're doing it!

What are you going to do to let loose and have fun?!