Back From Phoenix

We spent a great week down in Phoenix, in the record breaking heat which felt soo good. April 2nd was 100 degrees and that set a new record for the Phoenix area. Usually in the lower 80's this time of year. We flew out of Pasco, WA (2.5 hr drive) on Allegiant Airlines which flies directly to the Mesa Gateway Airport that only has Allegiant Air as a carrier. But they have cheaper air fares and it is worth the drive to Pasco. This picture was the day we drove over to Pasco. It was a 2 hr 4 min flight down. The airline doesn't even give free water out any more. Things change.

Mary, Kayla, Sarah and Laura at the Pasco Airport

Here is a collection of pictures while we were down in Phoenix. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Rick and Aunt Cheryl.

Here we are at the Shopping Mall. Pretty hugh? And so was the day. Girls and shopping just go hand in hand. And me, along for the ride.

On my hike one day, I captured this Cactus Wren on top of a Saguaro Cactus. Last year, I got a really nice picture of a Collared Lizard which Mary Carol submitted into the Gold Canyon Magazine. So my name was in the magazine as the photographer. She is going to submit this one also. My name is getting out.

This is a flowering cactus in front of Rick and Cheryl's house. This time of year is plenty of flowering activities. Nice time of year down there. Unlike the July/August 115 deg temps.

Another cactus. This one in front of Jack and Mary Carol's house.

A group hike up in the canyons of the Superstition Mountains. This day just happened to be on the 100 degree day, but early in the morning when it was only 85 deg. We found the shade!! Leah and Jed flew down the day before. They came down not only for part of Spring Break, but also to go to Nick Dreckman's wedding. Here in the front row, Jed, Leah, Jeanne (Susan's sister), Kayla, and Laura. Back row is Rick (Susan's brother) and Tess (Lindsay's dog).

A bobcat sneaks away near G&G's house. We saw two bobcats this trip near their house.

A picture of Nick as the wedding started.

The family at the wedding. We had a nice time seeing friends and visiting.

The sunset at the wedding. That day it was cloudy and cooler, in the lower 90's. The outdoor wedding temps were very comfortable.

Laura and Mary at the wedding

The kids with Grandma Mary Carol and Grandpa Jack
The kids with Uncle Rick and Aunt Cheryl

Happy Spring!!

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Happy Spring to all of you although right now I look out the window and it is SNOWING! Won't last though. Just a reminder that we are in transition. But it won't matter because we are going to Phoenix this week for spring break and it is suppose to be in the 80's all week. Going down with Sarah, Mary, Laura and Kayla to see Grandma and Grandpa and see Uncle Rick, Aunt Cheryl and Aunt Jeanne. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and being in the nice warm sunny weather. We are also attending Nick Dreckman's wedding on Saturday. Will be good to see our good friends the Dreckman's. So let it snow, blizzard whatever back home because we will enjoy the nice weather down south.
Hannah and the baby are just fine. We think that she might have passed a kidney stone when she was in so much pain. Because it has cleared up and she is doing just fine. So that is an answer to all your prayers. Thank you for love and concern. The baby's due date is June 21st. They have been setting up the baby's room in their house and getting all ready for the big day.
The verse from Romans is such a good reminder that God uses all our circumstances for good and according to His purpose. We don't always see what the purpose is at the time. I just heard a song by the Jesus Culture, a Christian worship group. Song is "Your Love Never Fails". Good song and it has Romans 8:28 in it. The chorus is awesome: "You stay the same through the ages, your love never changes, There maybe pain in the night but joy comes in the morning".
A lot has been going on of late. Sarah has been working almost full time at The Bridge; an assisted living facility in Post Falls Idaho. She is a CNA and wants to pursue her LPN studies at North Idaho College. Sarah is still at home and continues to be a big help out at home. Be praying for Sarah in her pursuit as a nurse. She has a very caring heart and will make a great nurse.

I caught Sarah working at The Bridge one day unannounced. She was surprised.

And the kids threw a Military Retirement Party for me this past month. I actually retired from 29 years in the military (not my civilian job with the Department of the Navy, but my 7 years of active duty sub time and 22 years of naval reserves). I have been so blessed over the years to have such a good military experience and I am so thankful for it. I wouldn't change it a bit. Had four of my children when I was active duty. Susan put up with a lot of lonely nights while I was out to sea. A big part of this retirement goes out to my dear Susan who kept me going in my military career. And all my trips around the world have been such a huge experience that I would have never been able to do if it weren't for the Navy and of course Susan holding down the fort back home. It has been good and it is good timing now to retire. We had a lot of friends over to help celebrate. THANKS to all that came and those that are away and have been a huge part in my Naval career. Here are some pictures from that night.

Grandpa holding my grandson Luke

My Retirement cake; 29 years

My girls and Luke

Update on Hannah

Hannah had further tests and the blood in her urine has cleared up. So that was probably just due to the inflammation. This whole time the baby has been unaffected. Everything is just fine with baby boy Hoy. She is now scheduled to see a urologist on Thursday. In the past, she had a stint put in to her ureter to keep the left kidney draining to the bladder. That stint was removed at a later point. So maybe a stint will have to be placed back in. Of course that is my take on it. But I am not a doctor. Until we find out more, keep Hannah and the baby in your prayers. She is doing fine and continues to work her normal hours.

Prayer for Hannah

After Jason's birthday party on this past Monday, Hannah and Jake went to the hospital since Hannah had been experiencing side aches all evening. The doctor diagnosed her with hydronephrosis, which is swelling of the kidney(s). Hannah has had several problems with one of her kidneys years ago with a snowboarding accident and then in 2006 when she had a blocked ureter (drain tube from the kidney to bladder). So we don't know if any of this is related. Or if there is a connection of where the baby is at and if there is pressure on Hannah's kidney/ureter. She has a doctor's appointment on Monday, Feb 14th and will find out more. Pray that we understand the cause and fully know the implications on the baby. At the hospital, the baby was monitored and is doing just great. Hannah was in some pain and given something for that. Since then, she been feeling better with some discomfort. But the biggest thing is that they did find blood in her urine. So there is real concern here. If anyone has had similar experiences or know of others that have, let us know. Thanks. I thought I would include the recent ultrasound 3D images of Jake and Hannah's baby boy. He is 20 weeks in these photos. He weighs 10.5 ounces here.

Baby boy Hoy

His Goodness and Lovingkindness

"Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6

Psalm 23 is one of those Psalms that I have read many times and for the most part, I have memorized it. But every time I read it, the Lord keeps emphasising something different in it. I can read each line and remember specific times when a verse really spoke to me at that time in my life. That is why I love to read God's word. Each day there is something new, something that gives me hope, something that takes me through a trial and I know that God loves me and wants to take care of me. His word applies to my life right now just as it did to the readers when it was written 2 to 3 thousand years ago. This last week, I have been thinking a lot about Psalm 23:6. It is His goodness and His lovingkindness that will follow me all the days of my life. With the new year before us, it is good to see how God has blessed our family and we look with anticipation how He is going to work in our lives this coming year. God is taking care of us. He gives me strength and wisdom each day to be an effective single parent. And I will choose to dwell in the house of the Lord. The house of the Lord is where ever God is and that is everywhere. In our daily rituals, busy lives, that is our focus. "...choose for yourselves today whom you will serve......but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15 That was Susan and my commitment when we got married, while raising our children and it is still my commitment today.

I want to get right into pictures and what has been going on in our lives.This was our Christmas Day photo. We had 16 people at the house on Christmas Day!! What a celebration. My brother Jim came over from Montana. And my brother John and son Francesco came up from Texas. We all had a great time and visit. Not pictured is our new dog, Kaiser. He is a German Shepherd and so far a good dog.

We have been visited by our Santa for the past 10 years or so. We don't really know who he is but he comes to our house faithfully on Christmas eve each year. It has been fun each year to have him come and make it special. He gives out candy canes, knows our names, makes us laugh and then he disappears into the night, down the street.

As you know, Jake and Hannah are expecting in June. As part of their present to me and the family, they gave a BIG box with BLUE balloons and a BLUE teddy bear letting us all know that they are expecting a BOY! Luke will have a cousin to play with as they grow up. How exciting.

AND LUKE IS ONE YEAR OLD!!! Wow how does the time fly. The year went by so fast. Luke's birthday was on December 27th. We had a grand birthday party at Nathan and Michelles house. Luke is a fine boy. He is happy, content and even learning baby sign language. He is walking now and learning to ask and let Michelle know things through sign language. It is so cool to see this.

What a great looking boy. Hannah and Jake are a great looking couple too! Getting use to holding a baby.
Present opening time. How exciting to watch a one year old open up presents. A new experience of gift wrap and wondering what is inside. He got toys and lots of books.

BUNKO night at Hannah and Jakes house. This was a silly picture after the BUNKO game night. Check out the BUNKO hat that Laura has on. What a classic hat (gift from Uncle Bob last year) for our BUNKO game nights. Nathan, Michelle and Luke had already gone home. We also had Denise Stanton over to play games. She played BUNKO for the very first time.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and the POLAR BEAR PLUNGE!!! Our tradition lives on. Along with hundreds of other people, we jump into Coeur d'Alene Lake on New Years morning. Lake temp was about 39 deg. Air temp was about 20 deg. Sun was shining on us and very warming. We have a fun, crazy time. Jessica came along with us (on the left).

This picture was taken by my brother Johnny on the way back from the Polar Bear plunge. It has been a pretty good winter so far. Most of the snow fell at Thanksgiving time. Of late it has been raining and in the 40's.

Living in North Idaho is beautiful. Here is a great sunset picture amidst the evergreens and lilac bushes in our back yard.

"Shout Joyfully to the Lord, all the earth...."

"Shout Joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.... Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with Praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, And His faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100: 1, 4-5.

There are key words in that Psalm that describe this past Thanksgiving week:
SHOUT, JOYFULLY, THANKSGIVING, PRAISE, GOOD, LOVINGKINDNESS, FAITHFULNESS, AND GENERATIONS!!!!!

We were altogether for Thanksgiving up at the condo at Stoneridge Resort. And a lot of shouting was going on. Not only for all the other blessings and words mentioned above but especially keying in on GENERATIONS!!!! That is because when we were all going around the table on what we were thankful for, when Jake's turn came around he said he was thankful for "THE NEW ADDITION TO HIS AND HANNAH'S FAMILY"!!!! That is right, they are expecting a baby next JUNE. Then the celebrating began. Some people suspected, some knew already but I was totally surprised at the news. And I am so excited about the news. Another Grand baby.
And we are thankful for the Lord's Faithfulness and Lovingkindness because of the blessings that we have with each other and to those all around us. That includes you. We are richly blessed. And the other big news is that Jake and Hannah bought a house too! They bought into a lovely home that is a perfect match for them. I included a picture of them in front of their house with the for sale sign, SOLD!!

Here I am with my expecting kids.

In front of their new house and the SOLD sign!!

Up at Stoneridge in the Wally Ball court after a heated match. The victory stance. We had such fun on the court. This day we just had a few people.

More to come... I have to take the kids shopping. Be back soon....

Holy is the Lord Almighty

"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His Glory." Isaiah 6:3
Hello everyone, it has been a while since I updated the blog. Life has been busy but I want to slow down at least a while to catch you all up on what has been going on with the Vetsch family in Idaho. I have been doing Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) this year, studying Isaiah which is a new study curriculum for BSF. And the verse above, is just a perfect verse in the Bible to always remind me that our God is Holy. In fact Holy, Holy, Holy with an exclamation point. And the earth is full of His Glory. Just look around you now in the season of fall, the colors are incredible. These are the simple things in life that God puts on display for us to enjoy about His majesty. I love the fall, my favorite, if I had to choose. But I still like them all, even the snow, which they say will be plentiful this year in our area. I am really enjoying BSF and the study on Isaiah.
We are all doing well. Since the last time, we were back from Cannon Beach and getting right into the County Fair time. Both Mary and Laura showed their pigs in 4H, Mary showed her lamb & Kayla and Laura showed their rabbits. And they all did great again this year. We always have a fun time doing 4H and that is because my beloved Susan was in 4H as a youngster. 4H became a part of our family starting with Nathan all the way down to Kayla. So it is a busy but fun way to end the summer before school starts.
With school now in its first full month, Mary is at CDA High School, Laura is at Canfield Middle School and Kayla is in Dalton Elementary School. Both Mary and Laura are into volleyball at their schools and they both are doing very well. Kayla was in Cross Country and she is developing into a pretty steady runner. Academics are going great for all three. Here are pictures of the first day at school.


That day also, we had Grandpa Jack and Grandma Mary Carol come visit with us in Dalton Gardens. They celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary this year on Sept 23rd and made a trip up to Montana. They were raised and married in Helena, so the whole Hall family planned a get together to celebrate their anniversary. So they came over to our house to visit a few days before going over to Helena to meet up with others. I took Mary, Laura and Kayla over to Helena also to celebrate the event. We stayed at the Carolina Bed and Breakfast near downtown Helena. First experience at a B&B and it was very very nice. Great breakfast. Jack and Mary Carol were married at the beautiful Catholic Cathedral in Helena so we went to mass on Sunday morning. The whole weekend was so nice. It was really good to be with Susan's family again. They are so dear to me. They both are doing exceptionally well. They still love living down in Phoenix. We are planning a trip down that way again for Spring Break. Here is a picture at the B&B. Jack's cousin Monty joined us also.
We are a family of runners, and in September, Michelle had set out to do her very first half marathon. She had been training with a group of friends for several months and Sept 19th ran in the Sandpoint Half Marathon. Even though it rained which may have helped, Michelle was awesome. She ran the 13.1 miles in 2 hrs and 4 minutes. For her very first long distance run, she did great! She said she will continue to do some long runs which is exciting. Maybe the CDA Half Marathon next May she said. Here are some pictures of Michelle and her running group of friends. Laura is holding Luke also during the race, while cheering on mom!
Big news! Jake and Hannah also bought a house in September. They bought a house in the Hawk's Nest subdivision west of us by about three miles. A beautiful home. It has 5 bedrooms! So I don't know if that tells us anything about size of family they plan on having but, it is very nice for them. Hannah plans on having a House Warming Party this month. So I will include some pictures of their house then. Praises for the blessings of a new home.
PORTLAND MARATHON! This past weekend, Nathan, Leah and I ran in the Portland Marathon on 10-10-10. And it rained almost the entire time we were running. Nathan had an incredible, best ever time for a marathon, running 26.2 miles in 3 hrs 37 minutes. I also had my best time of 3 hrs 47 minutes. And Leah (for not training too much) ran in 4 hrs 1o minutes. I think the rain really helped although Leah was cold during the run and especially at the end. But we are all recovered and looking forward to our next running adventure. It was a great day for all of us. Got to go to work now. More very soon. I promise! I will include more on the family and prayer requests also.