Back to Africa for Diana

I'm headed back to Malawi with the special needs team again this year. I've mailed out support letters already and would certainly love the support - whether through prayer, funding, or supplies. The link to donate is here: http://bit.ly/2lwkeVD

I'll be in charge of planning the Bible study curriculum for the teens and caregivers before we leave and will lead the caregiver break-out groups while in-country. I can't wait!

The Big 0-5!

Nico had a fantastic 5th birthday party at the park. The theme was mermaids (but not 'The Little Mermaid' according to her). We had a bounce house, popcorn machine, popsicles, some snacks, and two very awesome cakes from Valhalla Bakery. There were 45 kids there, plus adults, and boy oh boy is Nico one loved little girl!

Mermaid cupcakes for her birthday celebration at school

The "coolest" birthday present from Tio and Tia, her very own ice cream parlour!

Oh, just your average five (twenty five) year old going out for a walk.

Yip + Happy Birthday to Mama

Yip ate a good 4-5' piece of ribbon and ended up with kitty tummy surgery. At 12 years old she has thankfully recovered wonderfully and is back to acting like she's 10 months old.

Daddy taught Nico how to wink to say Happy Birthday to Mama :) 

Christmas Festivities

First blow dry (still no haircut)

Meeting Tinkerbell at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas

Playing Mary in the school Christmas program

Christmas card with a broken right arm

Second Broken Bone(s)

Late on the updates, but I'll post a few to make up for that.

3 months minus one day (to the day), Nico was running up and down the sidewalk after school and tripped and fell and... well, broke her LEFT arm! Same bones (radius and ulna), same break (buckle fracture), same spot (forearm). This time we went to a pediatric ortho to make sure eyes were on the right thing, and they didn't see any issues or reason to proceed with a bone density scan. All is well and healed now and she's back to her normal antics.

Broken right arm - October 25, 2016

Broken left arm - January 24, 2017

First Broken Bone(s)

Nico fell on the playground at school on Tuesday and after a visit to the ER and some x-rays, they determined she has a buckle fracture in both her radius and ulna just below the wrist. We visited the orthopedic office the next morning (Wednesday), they took a couple more x-rays to determine if the bones were in alignment, and decided on a splint for one more week to allow for the swelling to go down as much as possible before putting on a hard cast. Thankfully the bones are aligned well enough that they don't need to be reset and she should be in a hard cast for about a month. She's decided on "rainbow colors" for her cast, so we'll see what they can do with that at the office next week! 

She's been such a trooper and barely complained about the pain or fussed at all. The only time she winced was when the ER doctor was putting the splint on. She went back to school on Thursday and was already writing her name with her left hand.

Happy 4th Birthday!

Nico was very excited to turn 4! She had a great time celebrating her birthday with lots of her friends at My Gym this year. A few pictures are below (and apologies for the very late post). Things get busy with a 4 year old!

There were 23 kiddos at her party, an impossible task to get them all together for a picture.

Top row: George, Vada, Leo, Cade

Bottom row: Amaya, Wren, Jack Rocket, Nico, Evan, Harlo, Romeo

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!