MY 5 GIRLS

Going through piles of stuff, I came upon these pictures from 2014 at my nephew's wedding. It made me stop and pause and think about how blessed I am to have my "girls", my nieces. They are pictured here with Sam at the reception. As I have been so close to them, I regret that none of them now lives close to Vermillion. They are all happily married and 4 of them have children of their own. The youngest, Maddie, is getting married this summer, and then the era of Hieb grandchildren weddings will be over.

God did not give me a daughter, but he gifted me with these five sweet girls who feel like daughters to me. When I used to live in Duluth, I got to babysit ALOT for the oldest two. I was single and it became like an adjunct job. (I should remind my brother how much money I saved them all those years!!! Ha.) 

I loved every second I spent with them. I "claimed" Anna, the oldest, as my own when I would take her shopping with me and people would comment on how cute my daughter was. I just smiled and said, "Thank you."

My mom was the caregiver for her aunt, who lived to be 102. One of these dear nieces of mine may end up being my caregiver some day if I am alone. Who knows? All I do know is that they love me dearly and show it/say it and I am so blessed they are in my life. 

From left, Kate, Betsy, Gretchen, Sam, Maddie, Anna

Me with Anna, my first niece, my "goofy twin", as we still call each other.
Our baby pictures look very similar.

Me with Anna, Gretchen, and Betsy

A TOUGH WINTER AND SPRING

Another road trip delayed....this time by Dick's health. Another tough break in this long, cold, incident-filled winter (yes we are still seeing snow). He has felt lousy for a week and finally went into the clinic yesterday. Ironically the Haiti mission trip has come to bite him in the rear once again. The powerful antibiotics that he had to take for the MRSA and cellulitis he came home with have created a virus in his bowels called clostridium difficile. Now he has to take more strong antibiotics to get rid of this. He has felt really lousy and tired and spent about 9 days on the sofa. I pray these meds will alleviate it. Apparently many people who take it have a recurrence. I so don't want that for him.

I have turned into chief cook and bottlewasher, along with handling all the affairs around the house and errands/shopping. I do so with a generous heart full of gratitude for all the times he has taken over for me these past 7 years. 

I do not know if we will take the new trip or when.

Car? Nope. Too dang cold to wander around outside looking at cars. Tried 2 Fords here in town. One is a contender. Someone needs to develop a facility with ALL brands/models of cars which are all INSIDE of an enormous showroom. A couple of airplane hangars??

I am up 6 pounds as of today. YAY!! I look forward to the day when I can lose the butter and whole milk and large amounts of proteins. Back to 2% milk (though I really haven't minded the whole milk----it really is tasty. I may keep the ice cream in my diet!!

Sam came home for a day and a half and it was so special, as always. We fall into all our old routines and traditions and it feels like the family is whole again for that time. He adds such energy and humor to our lives. So wish he lived closer.

Yesterday was a fun day, as 3 of my friends had babies within hours of each other. One was the daughter of a dear friend. This makes 6 babies of friends/nephews in the past 2 months. 

I am trying out a new pair of hearing aids....to compare.....and they have a third pair ready for me to try out. If I am gonna shovel out this much cash for them, I better get the best I can get! I am adjusting as well as I can. 

Please send a prayer up for Dick's infection and that healing would be rapid. Thanks.