Recent Pictures

Learning how to eat has been a fun adventure for both of us. This was an especially messy session:

In this picture, she is trying to eat pieces of banana right off of her tray...because they were too slippery to pick up, hard as she tried.

She LOVES Daddy and listening to him play the bass guitar.

Bath time has become a favorite activity.

This is her sleepy face...sucking her thumb and playing with her ear.

Happy Birthday, Bill!

Today is Bill Carlson's birthday.
If you tune in to channel 4 at about 12:20...we are going to talk to him live on the air and hear first-hand how he is doing. Then, log on to WCCO's website and send him a birthday and/or get-well wish!
Happy Birthday, Bill! We love you!

Happy Thanksgiving

Phil 1:3-6
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Baby Girl Knoblauch

Congratulations to our friends James & Alyssa! They had their third baby today via C-section. Baby Girl Knoblauch is 6 lbs, 7 oz and 19 inches long. She's very cute - I think she looks like her "bubby," Ezra (He's the one kissing her in the bottom picture).
Alyssa is doing fine - please be praying for her healing.
Congrats guys! We love you!

Hyster Family Photos

Our family pictures from the Hyster side of the family are now available to view online. I love them!
Check them out. Password: Hyster

Listen to The Patriot Today!!!!

My friend Nicole is going to be on The Patriot (AM 1280) today at 3:30pm to talk about her blog, GOP Convention Report.
Tune in or listen to it live on their website!!!

God Understands

Our family recently suffered a loss. Margie's brother Rich passed away very unexpectedly last Thursday. It was a very hard, very tragic loss for all of us, but especially for Margie, Granny, Grampy & Rich's family.
Today my dad emailed me this link. It's audio of a 13-year-old boy in Houston who called into a radio talk show after losing his favorite pet calf. He is heartbroken, but in the midst of his pain and questioning, God gave him a comforting revelation.
Click here to hear what God showed him.

Bill Carlson

I got this note from Nancy Nelson (Bill Carlson's wife) today. He is such a champion. Please keep both of them in your prayers. In fact, please pause and pray for them right now.
Bill, we love you!

Nancy wrote:

Wanted to give you an update on Bill...

As you know, Bill has had an enormous battle since June - and none of it because of the cancer.

* Broke his tail bone
* They overdosed him on oxycodone
* Got shingles
* They overdosed him so severely on prednisone that he became nearly unable to walk
* Because of this problem, fell, hit his head, had convulsions (in AZ - a week in the Mayo hospital there)
* Broke his ribs in the fall
* Got a clot in his lung
* Blood cells dropped requiring blood transfusions
* As they weaned him off prednisone (it took six weeks) lots of physical therapy to walk easily again


(In August when Bill was hopeful he would get back to work, we were confused that he kept getting weaker and weaker - then learned it was from the prednisone. You saw him briefly when he made it out to the state fair - in pretty fragile shape. It got much worse from there - but now, everyday is better.)

GREAT NEWS FOR US - the trials in which Billy has participated, have required that he be in Arizona. A new trial begins this week, and it can be monitored primarily from the cancer clinic at the U of M. This means we will only travel to AZ occasionally. We are very happy about that. The new drug is already approved for other forms of cancer and has shown some considerable results, with generally minor side effects.

Billy, as always, is spirited and positive and talking with the doctor about how much longer to build back from the prednisone so that he can get back to work. That remains his focus and goal. He misses his job and all of you more than you can possibly imagine.

Attaching a picture taken the end of October. You can see all of his hair is back - he has lost all of the prednisone weight.... Isn't he gorgeous.....and in September in a normal position with two of the four dogs (Billy and Daisy) sitting on him!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN AND SUPPORT AND FOR CARING ABOUT BILLY. He loves you all, you know. He really does.
Warmly
Nancy

9 months

Israel had her 9-month check-up today, and she is still a healthy, happy girl! She is now 26 inches long (75th percentile) and 17.4 lbs (20th percentile). She keeps thinning out! My tall, slender baby!
She did get her finger poked today for the first time (blood lead and hemoglobin tests) and got one shot, but she was a trooper and only cried for about 30 seconds.

Fall Weekend

We had a beautiful fall weekend with JP's family, celebrating his step-mom's birthday. Here are some pictures of the festivities.
The first picture is of a pumpkin Rae's great-grandpa made for her.