Ryan Gets his Nose Fixed

Ryan’s been having trouble with a stuffy nose for the last 2-3 months. He was constantly sniffing and rubbing his nose, and no amount of coaxing or scolding could get him to leave it alone. So about 3 weeks ago we took him to an ear, nose, & throat specialist to get it checked out. The doctor put a camera up Ryan’s nose and determined that he had a capillary hemangioma that needed to be removed. His right nostril was almost completely blocked, so no wonder he was having trouble!

The surgery was scheduled for last Tuesday morning. The plan was to do a CT scan right before the surgery, so the surgeon could get good images of the growth, and so that Ryan would only need to be under anesthesia one time.

Here he is all checked in and ready to go.
He was pretty excited about the little Sanford Health crocodile they gave him. : )

 

Just hanging out with Mom while waiting

 

I was able to stay with him until he was put to sleep,
which was very nice, but also difficult.

 

He did NOT want to change into the hospital’s scrubs for the surgery.
I finally convinced him to wear the top, but the nurse reassured me that it was not worth the battle to make him change out of his own pajama pants & socks. ; )

~

Immediately afterward, the surgeon came into our room with a great big smile and some good news. He was carrying this jar in his hand…


The CT scan had revealed a big surprise – Ryan did not have a capillary hemangioma after all. That tiny red plastic thing is a pellet from one of his big brothers’ airsoft guns! We had no idea it was stuck in his nose for the last 2-3 months.
Poor boy… that must have been miserable!

Here he is after surgery… so sleepy!

 

Starting to wake up a little bit

 

They expected that the breathing tube used for the surgery would make his throat sore. So they offered him Jello, and he insisted on feeding himself,
even though he still had an IV in his hand. : )

 

Happy to be heading home!
(He actually was happy about it, just not happy to have his picture taken. ; )

 

Evidently the breathing tube didn’t make his throat too sore…
We picked up McDonalds on the way home because chicken nuggets are his favorite.
He ate the entire Happy Meal and cried for more. He hadn’t eaten anything but Jello since the night before, so he was hungry!

 

We are very thankful for a safe and successful surgery! It’s never easy to hand your child over to be put to sleep. Ryan has recovered well – he didn’t even take a nap that afternoon. Guess he had a big enough nap in the morning!

(We haven’t decided yet what to do with the BB…
guess we’ll wait ‘til the bills come to see what it’s worth. ; )

~

*If medical images are not your thing, you might want to skip the rest of this post.
If you would like to see some amazing images of the BB in Ryan’s nose, keep going…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo was taken with tiny camera in Ryan’s nose. Because the color blended in so well with the surrounding tissue, it was difficult to tell what it was.

 

These two images are from the CT scan:

Ryan’s nose is pointing up at the ceiling here.
The red arrow points to a hollow circle that is the BB.

 

This one is a profile view. As you can see, it was pretty far in there! The surgeon reassured us that even if they had known what it was from the beginning, it would have taken surgery to remove it. There was no way they would have gotten that out with him awake. Wow!

~

All 3 of our boys have now put something in each of their noses…
Evan stuck a piece of corn in his nose, which we were able to get out by blowing hard into his mouth. Luke got a bead stuck in his nose, which had to be taken out at the ENT’s office. And now this with Ryan. What next?! ; )

Grandma Grace

One week ago today, we laid Grandma “Top” to rest in the Doon cemetery,
not far from where Grandpa & Grandma VE and baby Emily are buried.
Rev. Engelsma comforted and encouraged us with a message based on Proverbs 3:5&6…

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

He spoke of how the Lord had ordained every moment of Grandma’s life,
from her birth through the unexpected stroke that left her unresponsive ‘til she took her last breath, when He took her by the hand and led her Home.
He reminded us that God has not forsaken those of us left behind,
and will continue to guide our steps going forward.
Even those of Grandpa, who now goes on without his dear wife of 56 years.
She was the perfect match for him, laid-back, calm, and full of grace. Her name fit her well. They did everything together, from gardening to exercising and even grocery shopping. Those of us who know and love him don’t know how he’ll manage without her,
but we know that by God’s grace, he will.

As I paged though old photo albums, searching for photos and memories of Grandma,
it struck me how few pictures there were of her. There are many photos of happy birthdays, Sunday night get-togethers, and Christmas gatherings... But there are very few pictures of Grandma. She was always there though, always in the background with her sweet smile, taking care of whatever needed to be done in her quiet, humble way.

Here are a few of the ones I was able to find…

Grandpa & Grandma on their 25th wedding anniversary in 1983

 

Four generations… My mom, me, Great-Grandma Bloemendaal, and Grandma VDT
(Evidently I wasn’t too sure about Great-Grandma at the time… although I have fond memories of visiting her at the nursing home as a child. ; )

 

A typical Sunday night at “Grandma’s house”.
From left to right: Erin, Joel, Grandma and Sherry, Sarah, Bethany, and Lanette

 

Kindergarten Graduation
I wore one of the many dresses Grandma VDT sewed for me, complete with a matching hairbow. : ) Grandma VE is pictured here, as she was my kindergarten teacher. The Lord blessed me and my siblings with two wonderful, godly grandmas. They were women who feared the Lord, lovingly serving their families, church, and school.
Both gone to glory; both deeply missed.
It is after these two lovely ladies (Jeanette and Grace)
that our “Jenna Grace” is named.

 

Years later, Grandma sewed all the bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for our wedding. She’s pictured here with Sarah & Bethany during one of many fitting sessions : )

 

Our wedding day, August 2001
with Grandma & Grandpa VDT, Grandma DJ, and Grandpa & Grandma Flikkema
Three of them now gone to glory.

 

For as long as I can remember, my Mom and aunts have been making Grandma & Grandpa a calendar of family photos to be given to them each year at Christmas time. Every so often we look through the binders full of those calendar pages,
and can’t help but smile at the memories of years gone by.

 

Mother-Daughter Banquet at Doon PRC in 2002

 

Grandma & Grandpa at our home in Lansing, IL shortly after Jenna was born in 2003

 

Grandma & Grandpa with Evan James in 2005

 

With Jenna, Evan, and Luke William in 2007

 

With Kara Brielle in 2009

 

At Ryan Perry’s baptism in 2012

 

This photo was taken after Grandpa gave a presentation at NWIPR School on Veteran’s Day in 2012. Grandpa & Grandma are pictured with their grandsons Braden, Andrew, & Jerron, and great-granddaughter, Jenna.
There are now 5 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren attending this school,
which Grandpa & Grandma have tirelessly supported for many years.
Our kids always looked forward to seeing them when they served hot lunch together, which they did for the last time just over a month ago.

 

 

This is how many of us will remember Grandpa & Grandma… together at the annual school kick-off camping at Newton Hills. They pulled their trusty camper out there year after year, and spent the days relaxing together in the shade. They were always the first ones up in the morning. By the time the rest of us were rolling out of bed, Grandpa had a roaring fire going, and Grandma had a pot of coffee hot and ready to be shared.

 

 

One of my favorite photos of Grandma & Grandpa…
watching their grandkids & great-grandkids in a pedal pull at Doon Days
on a scorching hot day in July 2014. : )

 

 

Grandpa & Grandma’s 50th anniversary photo, August 2008

~

To read Grandma’s full obituary click here.

To read my sister Sarah’s beautiful post about Grandma, click here.

~

Looking forward seeing Grandma again one day…
and what a day that will be!

 

Happy Hearts Day!

  
Our kids always enjoy making Valentines for their classmates, cousins, & teachers…
 

In Evan’s classroom, the boys all wore red & the girls wore pink : )

 

Heart hair

 

Beautiful flowers from Paul

 

 
Candygram for Paul

 

Jenna made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. They were delicious!

 

Look who showed up to help us celebrate : )

 

We used these cute Valentine’s gift cards to have lunch at McDonalds.
(Thanks, Grandma! ; )

 

Heart-shaped food for supper… it’s tradition! <3

Strawberry cake for dessert… yum!
(Yes, it tastes as good as it looks – click here for recipe. ; )

Lots of love around this table <3

We hope you and yours had a wonderful Valentine’s Day! : )

Josh Duggar says Hello

Those of you who know me know I’m a big fan of the Duggars. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are the family from the reality television show “19 Kids and Counting”. The show is about Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children - nine girls and ten boys (including two sets of twins), all of whose names begin with the letter "J".

Josh Duggar is the oldest of the 19 children, who now lives in Washington, DC, with his wife Anna and their 3 children. He is the executive director of the Family Research Council Action committee, which is dedicated to preserving and advancing the interests of family, faith, and freedom in the political arena.

This past week, Josh spoke at the South Dakota Ministry Leaders’ Capitol Summit in Pierre, urging South Dakotans to continue their stand for religious liberty, marriage, and life. Our pastor attended the conference and surprised me with this video clip…
(Thanks, Rev. Brummel! : )

 

I sent Josh an email thanking him for the video,
and was pleasantly surprised to receive the following response,

“Thanks for the kind email!

It was great to meet your Pastor last week, and I really enjoyed South Dakota - especially the fact that it was much warmer than I expected (over 55 degrees on Friday)! 

God Bless Your Family!

Sincerely,
Josh (& Anna) Duggar”

~

If you’d like to learn more about the Duggars, click here for links to view
many of their shows online. They have also written some excellent
books on parenting and growing up in a large family.
Can’t wait for their new season which premieres next Tuesday, February 17th! : )

Grandma & Great-Grandma

Our dear Grandma and Great-Grandma passed away on Saturday.
She was sweet and kind to all who knew her, and will be greatly missed.

Grandma always enjoyed hearing songs of praise,
and we are so thankful that we were able to see her
and sing with her one last time in December.

 

Nearly all of her grandchildren and great-children were at the funeral yesterday,
and it was a joy for us to sing together
“The Lord’s my Shepherd” and “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”.

From left to right – Nate & Brenda (playing piano), Paul & Erin, Richard & Joanna, Mike & Beth, Heidi & Joe, Mike & Tricia, Tammy, and Matt & Stacy

In the front left pew are her children,
Aunt Marcia & Uncle Rich, Aunt Denise & Uncle George, Mom & Dad DJ, and Uncle Jim

Grandma suffered a great deal physically in the last month of her life,
and it was a blessing to hear the message she had chosen from 2 Corinthians 4:17,
”For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

~

We will always treasure the many memories we made with Grandma over the years…

*Any time the cousins are together, they talk about all the fun they had camping at Jellystone with Grandpa & Grandma. Wish we had some pictures of that to share,
and thought it should at least be mentioned for those who remember! : )

 

Grandpa & Grandma walking in with Paul
at our wedding, August 2001

 

Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma at Jenna’s baptism, September 2003

 

Great-Grandma and Jenna, 2004

 

Paul, Erin, Jenna, Evan, & Luke at the zoo with Grandpa & Grandma,
Dad & Mom DJ, and Beth & Caleb, Fall of 2007

 

Great-Grandma with Jenna & Evan, Summer 2008

 

Great-Grandma and Luke, Summer 2008

 

Kara’s Baptism, Summer 2009

 

Great-Grandma & Kara, February 2011

 

Both Great-Grandmas at Richard & Joanna’s wedding,
July 2014

~

If you would like, you can read her obituary at:
http://www.smitsfuneralhomes.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1513293