A very beautiful surprise

On Wednesday my husband brought this beautiful surprise home for me. Bishop McBain is an artist and last Sunday he visited the bishop at his home. On Wednesday he stopped by the McBain's and purchased this beautiful chalk portrait of the Washington D.C. temple. We used a frame that my mom had. I repainted the gold on it and cut the mat to fit inside the frame. It was in our bedroom for 2 days before I decided it was too beautiful to be seen by so few. After mounting it on our livingroom wall, I then accented the portrait with our family. After all, this was the place where our eternal family began. What a thoughtful husband I have!

A Missionary Parent

When Sammi decided to serve a mission, I told her not to worry where the money would come from. Somehow the Lord would provide. I looked at my budget and knew it had to come from there, but didn't know exactly how. My dad generously donated a large sum of money to help support her but we still needed to come up with our portion. I can tell you that the Lord does provide. I've been able to deduct the amount needed each month from our income without us even feeling it. That is amazing! I know if I sat down and did the math, there is no way that it would come out. The Lord truly blesses those that serve Him.

Since I've never had a child serve a mission away from home before, I wasn't sure what to expect. I've read lots of letters from missionaries and pretty much they're all the same so I expected my daughter's letters to be very similar. Perhaps because she's very expressive or maybe because she's female, her letters are very different in many ways from those I've read from Elders.

Sammi is very outgoing and friendly. Those attributes can only help her in her efforts to share the gospel. I had an interesting experience just after getting on the airplane following us dropping her off at the MTC. The Spirit of the Lord washed over me and let me know that Sammi would be watched over and kept safe as she served the Lord. That wasn't a fear I had, but our Heavenly Father must know that moms especially need to know that their children are safe.

Sammi sent a letter home yesterday which showed the tender mercies sent from above in keeping her safe. I testify that the Lord keeps his promises. If you'd like to read her letters, any of them, they are posted on her missionary blog which is sisterpleshek.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Mom

February 11th was the day my mom was born. It was a very cold, blustery day and my grandmother had a difficult delivery with a big baby. Doc Litzen was the attending physican at my grandparent's home. Following are a few photos of her that I found. This one is of my parents while they were dating. I understand they were high school sweethearts.


This is her high school graduation picture.


I don't know where exactly this was taken, but that's me on her lap. My brother Kurt is off to the right and brother Brett is in the foreground. It appears we are playing BINGO. I'm guessing it was at my grandparent's home.


This photo was taken outside my great aunt June's home. It seems like we visited there a lot. I recall they had a great sand hill in the back yard that we spend hours in. It's interesting that we were only a family of five. I couldn't have been more than 3 years old, yet I remember this photo being taken.


This is one of my favorite photos of my mom with her sisters and their mom. It was taken in Oshkosh at my cousin Renee's wedding in 1983. She's only 45 in this photo which is younger than I am now. She was thin!!!

I am blessed to have been raised by this very independent, head-strong, talented, practical, giving woman. I feel bad that I didn't notice how great she was while I was young. Then it seemed she was just mean. She was responsible for all the discipline in our family. I'm sure it was a chore she didn't enjoy and wished my dad would've been a more active participant. Still, as I became a mother and looked to her for advice, she always knew best. She passed far too young for my liking. So, as you no longer celebrate birthdays Mom, know that you are still loved and missed every single day.

Nothing new to report

So what should I say today? I'm happy, healthy and feeling fine. It's snowing outside. Not heavy snow, but still snow. It's February so I expect that there will still be snow. Heck, I expect it through March. After all, I live in the frozen tundra. I do like snow. It covers the ground and makes everything look fresh and clean. I especially like it hanging on the branches of the pine trees. It reminds me of Christmas and I love Christmas!

The past couple of winters have been great as far as snow removal goes. My husband has a tractor that he plows with. I don't do much snow removal anymore. I used to do 98% of it. I'm not sure how that was even fair. Give a man a toy and he'll play until his little heart is content. It works for me!

I love the changing seasons of the midwest. I don't think I would like to live in a climate where you don't see the new buds in the trees, feel the heat of the summer, see and smell the colored, crispy leaves and watch the white stuff fall while staying warm inside. Perhaps it's because I grew up with all of that. I appreciate God's handiwork because I see it everyday in every season.

Life is much to short not to enjoy as much of it as possible. My plan is to keep enjoying the sights, sounds and smells all around me in this beautiful world!

Heart Health

I had an interesting experience over the past week. I began having some chest discomfort about last Wednesday. Nothing that I would call pain. By Friday I had actual pain that shot up my neck and down my shoulders. This causes me some stress. I read about heart attack symptoms in women, which by the way are very different than in men. Then I consider my family history in this area and I'm really not doing so great. I'm taking everything very easy and not over-exerting in any way. At some points I think, "I'm going in to have this looked at." Then I'd feel great and not do it.

By Monday afternoon, I'd had enough. I made the decision to go get checked out. My husband takes me to the ER and I assure them that I'm not a hypocondriac, but that with my family history I'd prefer to have this checked out. My own doctor comes over to the hospital and agrees with my decision. By the way, not one chest pain or any discomfort the entire time I was there. By morning I've had 3 EKGs and 3 blood draws checking for the enzyme that shows if you've had a heart attack. Nothing. That's good news.

On Tuesday morning my husband, against doctor's advice, drives me (no ambulance ride for me) to the hospital in Green Bay. I'm having a cardiac cath done. That's the procedure where they put the scope up through the femoral artery and look inside your heart. By 4pm I'm finally on my way to have this test. I'm told it is the BEST test for actually knowing what's going on inside the major arteries of your heart. The results? I'm clean as a whistle!!!! I can't even explain how good that feels to know that I have no heart disease.

So where's the discomfort coming from? I don't even care. Probably some acid reflux. At least that's what Dr. Hiltgen and my dad both say. I can deal with that. More good news, my cholesterol is down 30 points since it was last tested. My LDLs are only 2 points higher than the doctor would like them.

Other than the fact that my groin is very tender and sore from the site of the cath., I'm doing great! As soon as I'm healed, I'm ready to get back to my work-out regimine to shed some excess pounds. I love life!!!