Our Trip Home...

Nathan & I had an awesome time back in Portage, visting friends and family. It was so good to see Jeff & Ali again. They are FINALLY home from their missions trip in England. We couldn't be happier to have them home......

We drove with Shauna and her friend James from Caronport to Portage. Shauna & I had way too much fun on the way there. Ridiculously hyper would be a good term I think! There were lots of laughs, tears from those laughs & then some more laughs!



James & me being a creeper in the background! haha!

Oh you have to love car dancing!


On Saturday Nathan & I got to babysit for our friends Steve & Bonnie. They had training for the Cal Breakaway so, we got to watch Alej & Niko for the afternoon! We had a jam packed day, full of tickles, laughs, hillarious comments made by Niko, a trip to Dollarama!
..sharing a ring pop...

...Uncle Nathan reading with Alej and Geniko...

Alej got a jewelery box at Dollarama and wanted to paint it. So we whipped out the paint and got in our grubbies! We had alot of fun watching them experiment with the paint. Niko had to do everything that his big sister was doing. It was so fun to watch them interact with each other.





That evening there was a get together for Jeff & Ali. A welcome home party you could say. There was lots of good food and good friends! Ali put together a slide show from their trip. It was so good to see just a part of what they have been up to for the last 6 months! The boys enjoyed some jam time after the slide show. The girls enjoyed visiting. It was a good night.


The drive home was a little less hyper then the trip there. We were pretty exhausted but we still managed to find some things to do! Good times. It was a really good trip. Very refreshing for Nathan & I. It was so good to see everyone. If only there was more time to spend with everyone!
All in all it was a GREAT trip!
Until next time take care & God bless.

Jeff & Ali...here we COME!!

Shauna & Ali at our wedding

Nathan and I are off today. We are heading to see his brother Jeff and his wife Ali who just got back from a missions trip! They have been gone for about six months I guess it is! They were over in England doing some training and then got sent to India to do their missions. We are excited to hear all of their stories. We are excited just to see them again!! It's been too long!

So we are going to Moose Jaw tonight. We'll stay there with our friend Ryan overnight. In the morning we will pick up our friend Shauna and head out to Portage! It should be a great time! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures so I can post when we get home!

So until next week sometime!

The Woman That I Love....

Somedays I don't understand how she put up with me, other days I wonder how we even get along? Somedays I wonder why we are so different? Other days I can't get enough of her. Somedays she drives me crazy, somedays I drive her crazy. But you know what...that works for us. She's my mom and I love her more and more everyday.

When I 'take a step back' and look at my mom I am caught in awe of the things that she has accomplished in her life. She's an amazing mother of three. I know that I might be biast (spelling?) in saying that because she is my mom, but in all honesty she is a great mom. Yeah sometimes I don't agree with her techniques or the way that she handles things but in the end I get it. My mom and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye. Throughout my teenage years we disliked each other very much. I think that she saw too much of me in her and didn't like it. Over the last couple of years her and I have really really started to click. We've found our 'goove', what works. And it's awesome, but it's also the hardest thing I've had to do. In getting to know my mom, she's also slowly slipping away from me and the rest of our family.

My mom was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease about two years ago now I guess it was. (For those who don't know the easiest way for me to sum it up is that it's a hereditary disease that affects the nervous system, over time it eventually shuts your body down.) My grandpa (her dad) was diagnosed with Huntington's the year that I was born. So I grew up watching my grandpa 'change'. Which has really helped me but also set me back with my mom. It's helped me in the sense that it kept me informed about the syptoms, etc. But it set me back in the sense that it's that much harder to see it happen to your mom and be completely helpless to stop it. I know that it's something that I can't control, but no matter how many times I am told that it doesn't ease the pain of watching someone you love suffer.

I know that she isn't in any physical pain. It's just emotional and mental. I'm not sure which is better or easier. It's so hard to see her get frustrated when she can't do the things that she used to. I don't even know how to explain it. Take the way that someone you are close to is now, their character I mean, and flip it. Everything is the exact opposite. Strange feeling? I know it all to well. My mom has turned into her opposite. She is no longer the quiet reserved person that she used to be, she is out-spoken, can't concentrate for too long on one thing, has little motivation for anything, and I could go on. Basically I am getting to know her all over again.

It's so hard to see her turning into my Grandpa. Her actions, the little motions that she makes. So much like Grandpa. Which is so scary because I was about 16 when he was at his worst. So I know what these little twitches and choking leads up to. My mom's symptoms are progressing alot quicker then we thought that they would. She's on so many different medications and nothing is making her any better. There's no cure and no matter how many medications she takes it's not going to make it go away.

I feel so ashamed sometimes because I'm embarrased. It's hard to go out in public with someone who everyone else thinks is drunk, or rude, or extremely forward and odd. Sometimes they say it, sometimes they don't need words when their face says it all. That's my mom and I love her but how do I overcome this embarrassment? I know that I shouldn't be at all but it's really hard. People aren't aware of the disease so don't consider it.

I don't understand why she has to go through this. I don't understand why she's not getting any better. I don't understand why people are so judgemental. I don't understand why my brother and sister have to be parents at the age of 15 & 17. I don't understand why my dad has to get to know his wife all over again. I don't understand why no matter how many times I question God about it I never get an answer. I don't understand why I can't find peace with this.

Through all of it though my mom stands strong. She doesn't let anyone see her hurt or her anger. She is the hugest encouragment to me of living life to the fullest. She keeps on perservering.

I guess it's hard for me to since I know that this is what lies ahead for me. I was diagnosed in February 2005 with Huntington's Disease.

The Countdown Has Begun!

The countdown has officially begun. There is only about a month and a half until Nathan and I will finally be able to act like a married couple!

Nathan and I, since really the beginning of our relationship, have been doing the distance thing. When we first started dating I lived in Saskatoon, Nathan was in Manitoba. Then Nathan moved to Estevan, a little bit closer. Then after about a five months before we were married Nathan moved to Saskatoon. Even still we weren't together except for weekends. He was trucking out of town so that was usually the only time that we had together. Then Nathan started doing some city work right before we were married. Which was awesome, except for the fact that I was going to be working for my Dad during the summer. Meaning that I would be gone all week and home on the weekends.

To make a long story short, this summer is going to be the first time that we will actually be with each other every night! We'll go our seperate ways during the day. But we will be together in the evenings! YAY!! I know it doesn't sound all that exciting but for Nathan and I we really can't wait!

Now that it's just around the corner it feels like it's never going to get here! I just hope that I can keep it together for another month!