Cynthia

Here is our miracle baby. In 1975 after Gail was very very sick we were told that we would have no more children. After looking into adaption of a little girl we put it aside as we moved to St. Paul. Three years later Gail was pregnant. It was a miracle to rival Gail's current healing that we believe is happening.
Of course she is our favorite daughter! Some of the many many things we could say are she is sweet, adventurous, a super cook, a great mother and a good athlete.
Gail, she had a bit of down time yesterday afternoon. For some reason her back bothered her. She did spent much of the day doing things around the house but at times it is frustrating as she is slow, not like the Gail we all know. She continues to have difficulties sleeping. Once again last night she was up a lot and tried different things to fall asleep. We believe in her healing and have seen her continue to feel a bit better each day.
Have a great weekend. Here in St. Paul they are saying we will get rain. Everything here is very very dry so we hope it rains all weekend.
Aaron/Amy/Leo will arrive this afternoon and be here for the weekend. Leo should be here around 3, we can hardly wait.

Amy

We were lucky enough to welcome Amy into the family in 2000. I think she and Aaron are a perfect fit. Amy's list of good qualities is almost endless. She is a great mom, someone who makes a house a home yet works full time, kind and considerate and at least a hundred other things. We think she is great.
Gail had perhaps the most active day yesterday in the last 2 weeks. She was up and doing things most of the day. She did not sleep well last night again and that has become a problem that we have yet to figure out. She has gained about 4 pounds in the last week and I would say that is positive. We continue to believe that God is healing Gail. Please continue to pray with us and believe with us. As I go about things during the day I find that it is fairly easy to say God is healing but to believe it in one's heart takes much faith and love of God. Sometimes as I share my belief of Gail's healing with others they have this far away look in their eyes as if they are so sorry that Gail is dying. It will be so exciting to share with those people when we have physical signs that Gail is being healed. I wish with all my heart that Gail was not going through this health issue but I am very thankful for the trials we go through as my trials draw me closer to God. His love is so great it often wells up tears in my eyes.

Aaron

Aaron is (by the way ignore the bow on his head) the last of our 3 sons. He is a great guy in so many ways. He works full time for Saris Bike in Madison and does woodworking on the side. His wood shop is the envy of his dad. He is currently working on a large walnut chest for a friend. For you woodworkers you can appreciate a project in which one buys 120 bd ft of walnut. It should be beautiful. His many talents in home projects, fatherhood, sports and other areas are awesome. The porch he added to their house is done so well. Actually the only thing wrong with Aaron is he lives in Madison!!.
Gail update. As I write she is juicing the rind of a watermelon which is a task that she would not have had the energy for a few days ago. Over the last several days she has improved ever so slowly each day and we believe that she is being healed by God giving us wisdom in diet and by providing us with 100's of people believing and praying for a complete healing. We have come to the conclusion that her bad cold and her massage in the same week set her back but no problem, God is so good and provides all that we need. As we look at the last 4 months we realize that our journey will be up and down. It seems that each week we have more ups and fewer downs. We are so excited and so thankful to God and to each of you.
Aaron, Amy and Leo are coming this weekend and we can hardly wait.
As we reach mid week we pray that things are going well with you and at least some of your dreams are coming true!! My opinion is that he who stops dreaming stops living.

Wedding pictures with family

A friend of Gail's, sister Helen, sister Debbie, brother Dave, brother Allen and friend Larry
Brother-in-law Ron, sister Joan, sister-in-law Marlys and brother Dave. At this date I think Ron and Joan have been married 48 and Dave and Marlys have been married 44 years

Roxanne and Brian

That's it, for family thought you may enjoy!! I would say those pictures look like classic 60's.

Travis

Travis, the man who is between jobs and seems to enjoy it immensely. Golf is his passion but mention painting needs, baby sitting needs or an ear to listen and he is there. Henry and Liam think he is the greatest since ice cream cones were invented and when Travis is around everyone else is second fiddle. We will forever be grateful for the 250+ hours he spent on the house last year.
Now for Gail. It has only been 2 days since I updated you but for some reason it seems longer. A brief summary would be she seems to be coming back from feeling down down down but the recovery is so so slow. Yesterday AM she felt well and actually she spent much of the morning in the kitchen. Then about the time in the afternoon when we asked ourselves why we canceled our night out she felt not good at all. However, I would say she had better color and also was walking a bit better so as I would say "dos is good" for now. She did not go to Dan S. open house but she did enjoy her brother Mark, her sister Deb and other family as they spent about an hour with us Sunday night. Yesterday I called the physical therapy clinic where she has an appt for her hip next Monday and asked if there was any way they could get her in before next week. They called back in 30 min and said she could come in Wed at 10 am so we are so thankful for that.
WAIT--as I read this to me it sounds like we are living in a world of sickness and doom---but that is not true. I say Gail is doing better, she looks better, feels better and God is healing her so we rejoice and praise his name and give him all the glory.
I took time out yesterday to spend about an hour with our friend Jim Cahill. We made a 6 foot cross that he will put in his basement which he is turning into a 24/7 prayer room for all and anyone to come and pray. It was a great time with Jim and I think the cross turned out well.
We are so excited, Leo is coming on Friday. He is bringing Aaron/Amy too so that is good!!! I told Aaron on the phone last night that I decided they have to move back to St. Paul because we get too lonesome, he just laughed.
Today is the first day in the year leading to our 42 anniversary. I thank all of you for praying and believing that God is healing Gail. We are so excited for her to gain her strength back so we can go for walks, ride bike, do work around the house and yard and most of all share God's healing with others.
Tomorrow I will put in a separate entry titled pictures and they will be for family to remember back so for family stay tuned, for others you may want to stay tuned out for that one!!

Wheat-----------Why the blog?

Here is a picture of our wheat in the back yard. We juiced our first tonight and it was good.

I have been thinking allot of what I should put on the blog. I would like everyone to know that it has evolved from a blog about Gail's healing to that + a family blog that is regularly read by family in MN, ND, Utah and Arkansas so when you see much about our family that is the reason. For those of you who read it solely for info about Gail just skip over family things that are not of interest to you. I assure you that any time Gail's health changes I will post that as soon as I can so if you read a post and very little is about Gail be assured that she is doing OK. I will resume our family pictures tomorrow and will fill you in on details about Gail from Sunday and today. I do plan to post several pictures of our wedding day in the near future for family.

June 1st 1968

As you can see we have not changed much! The bride weighed 98 pounds, the groom weighed 170, the expectations were high, the excitement was everywhere, the weather was perfect and we had no idea what a wonderful life lie ahead. A few (so as not to bore you) interesting details

• The next day we headed back to Minot to start summer school
• The first year of marriage Gail went to graduate school and I finished my BA degree. Both of us were on scholarships and we probably had more money to spend than any other time in our lives!!
• Gail finished her BA degree with no debt as she was able to work and almost spent nothing. I finished with $2200 in loans none of which I paid back because I taught in special education for several years. In Gail's second year she spent $1000 for tuition, books and everything else. Mean while at NDSU in Fargo I was the big spender at $1300.
  
• We took a honeymoon in August to Uncle Hugh's cabin in Minnesota. We took our school files along to get them in order. Does that paint a picture or not!
  
• In 1971 we bought a house for $$17,500 with a payment of $165 which of course included taxes and insurance. Many people thought we overextended ourselves. We had to argue to get a loan because we had no credit card and only 1 small car loan so we had no credit rating.
  
• In 1970 we bought a Chevy Impala with 10,000 miles on it. The sticker price was $4300 and we paid $3700 for it. It was my all time favorite car. It featured a 400 engine, 8 track tape, 4 door hardtop and I loved to go driving with the windows down and Gail sitting right by me on the front bench seat!!
  
• My first job a year later in 1969 was at the school for the deaf. I agreed to be the assist football coach and to coach grade basketball so my salary was $6000. We lived at the school for the deaf in a 3 room apt with NO kitchen. We were allowed to go down 2 flights of stairs, through a tunnel and into a kitchen in another building. Our full size bed was 2 old iron single beds put together with the mattresses across the beds.
• During that first year we lived in Minot for 3 months, moved to Devils Lake for 3 months, moved back to Minot for 3 months and then back to Devils Lake. During that time we were able to get everything we owned in the car!
• That summer after we graduated I needed to work so I was hired at Lake Ready Mix cement. I drove 1 of those 6 yard cement trucks and was paid $1.60 an hour.
  
• As we were expecting Gail said it sure would be nice to have a baby with red hair and I said it would be nice to have a boy so God gave us a red headed boy!
• I did not KNOW what health insurance was so we had to pay the whole bill of $495
• Those first years we were so in love and so silly it was all exciting. Now 41 years later we are so in love and we try to live on the edge and life is still all exciting.

O my I think I probably did bore you a bit but I did want to say life is good and God is great. Have a great week.