2017 Year Review for our Family

I hope you were able to spend valuable time with friends and family over the Christmas and now New Year holidays.  Family time is so precious and shouldn't be taken for granted!

2017 Family Picture

The year 2017, was full of changes for our family.  In March, there were several wildfires in Hutchinson.  Sadly, we were evacuated, but we praise the Lord for His protection for our safety as well as that of our home. We were able to stay with Skeeter's aunt while we waited for the evacuation to be lifted.  Once we were able to return home, it was neat to watch the Black Hawks fly back and forth as they would fill up their buckets with water.  We were able to see them spraying the water as well.

Skeeter has been working at Pfizer in McPherson.  He has been working in the sanitation department on the night shift.  It's been difficult trying to keep the kids quiet while Skeeter would attempt to get some sleep during the day.  Beginning in January, he will switch to the maintenance department and begin working days again!!

Adia and Jonathan spent a lot of hours working together in Skeeter's shed to build this special organizer for Skeeter out of scrap wood for his Christmas present.

I have been really busy as I've had to keep up with organizing and scheduling the kids'/family's busy schedule.  This year, the Lord worked out the details for me to be able to have a job at home.  I have been spending my days with Jaydon and an adorable little boy who will turn one year old in January.  The transition has gone really well.  As the Lord provides, I have also been doing some photography as well.

Anne, is a junior in high school.  She will be turning 17 years this Thursday!  Wow!!   In May, she was able to participate in the school play and then in November, play a role in the school musical, White Christmas.   The cast and crew did a fantastic job!  In August, Anne was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid.  Having had personal experience with this health issue, I knew we did not want to go the traditional way in treatment.  However, our doctor would not work with us which left me to look for another doctor.  Praise the Lord, we found one who was open to alternative ways of treatment and Anne has been responding well.  Last week, she was thrilled to be able to get her full drivers license.  She can now drive her car anywhere without having to have mom or dad tag along. Another sign that she is growing up and getting ready to fly her wings is that she has had someone special in her life for almost 8 months.  James attends Elyria as well, and last year his father was Anne's Bible teacher. James and his family used to be missionaries in Japan so coming here has been quite a culture shock for him. Our whole family loves James and enjoys spending time with him.  We look forward to seeing how God will continue to lead and work in their relationship.

Anne playing the role of a seamstress in White Christmas.

James and Anne building a gingerbread house together.

Adia, is in 4th grade.  This year, it seemed as though if it was going to happen to someone it was her.  She has had countless x-rays, worn braces on various parts of the body, used crutches, etc.  More recently, as most of you know, she has been battling some health issues.  She was diagnosed with asthma in early October.  After trying the traditional routes of treatment for a couple of months and not getting the results we were hoping for, we started her on an alternative treatment plan.   She is now seeing someone that is at the same clinic that we are using for Anne.  We go back in a couple of weeks to see how she is responding to the new treatment plan.  If this does not work out, additional testing with the new doctor may be required.  In the past, most of her medical treatment has been covered by insurance.  However, with this new doctor, which I believe will have healthier treatment options, insurance will not cover these expenses.  So we pray we can get to the root of her issues without having to do too much testing.  The testing that we are possibly looking at will run $200-$300 a test (there are three possible tests to run).  We pray that 2018 will bring us good results of helping Adia feel better.

Adia made me this Snelf Family for my Christmas present.

Jonathan, who is in 4th grade, found out at his eye exam in August, that he could wear reading glasses if he wanted to.  He thought that was pretty neat.  He loves spending time playing and making new creations with his legos.  I love his imagination and how creative he is.  He has a male teacher this year at school and absolutely loves spending time with him!

One of Jonathan's projects for school allowed him to build with legos.  He was pretty excited about that.

Jonathan built me this heart out of legos for my Christmas present.

Jaydon, recently got over a bad case of bronchitis.  We praise the Lord for insurance covering a nebulizier so that we could continue doing breathing treatments at home as they were necessary.  He loves being 4 years old and can't wait to be 5.  This year, he finally became fully potty trained!!!  This was huge for this momma as there were days when I wondered if it would ever happen.....even though I knew it would when he was ready.  Once the switch occured in his brain it was as if it was an overnight change.

Jaydon modeling his new stocking cap.

Jaydon loves Paw Patrol and blankets, so I made him a new Paw Patrol blanket for Christmas.  It was a lot of fun.....and I didn't have to sew!!!

We hope you are doing well and that in 2018, you will find more ways to grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus.  He is our strength and with the full year we have had, I would never have made it without His arms to uphold me!

Adia's Appointment with the Allergist

Good evening!  This afternoon Adia had a follow up appointment with the allergist to see how she was doing as well as repeat the pulmonary test.  Sadly, the pulmonary test did not go as well as we had hoped it would.  Her levels had dropped since the last test, indicating to the doctor that Adia needed to go back on a steroid inhaler.  Because of the side effects that Adia had been experiencing, the doctor is trying yet another inhaler (the 4th one), at the lowest possible dose.  We have to go back in a month to see the allergist and repeat the pulmonary test to see if what we are doing is working.  Please pray that the side effects to this inhaler will be minimal.  I feel badly for Adia because it seems like as soon as she starts to feel better, something needs to be changed and she starts feeling crummy again.  Her poor body has been through such a roller coaster ride.   Another reason to pray that this inhaler will work effectively is because the doctor will soon run out of inhalers/options that will be acceptable for her age to try.  Thankfully, the doctor told me if there were side effects from this inhaler, that we should stop using it and let her know. 

There is another treatment that was brought up today to keep in mind.  However, this treatment is in pill form (for the life of me I can't remember what it was called), but there is a "black box" warning (I believe that is what she called it) that comes with using that treatment.   With that treatment psychological changes could occur that would not be pleasant.

To be honest, I was really not expecting her levels to be as low as they were.  With the testing we have been doing at home, the numbers were higher than the ones that were measured at the doctor.  We did our best to get an approved air flow meter that would hopefully be as accurate as possible.  Perhaps we are doing something wrong at home.....there is always something to learn. :)

We were also encouraged to get some Vitamin D supplements to help keep her levels stable.  Her levels were within the normal range when they were retested.   Apparently, Vitamin D plays a huge role in helping with asthma and allergies.

Thanks again for praying!