Finally

Well, finally things are coming together with Pete's school! After re-registering him 3 times, he's finally going to start school on October 14th. He'll be there for 8 weeks, and then he'll be a second year apprentice when he goes back to work. Yay!!

A Slow Start

I'm definitely enjoying my new culinary freedoms - I've learned that I have to get my body used to all of this new stuff, so I'm slowly growing my gluten intake. Pete's parents came into town on Saturday and took me out for chinese and it was AMAZING! I'm not used to food with flavor so that's definitely the best part about this! I didn't realize how much I was really missing until I tasted the sauces and seasonings. Mmmmmm... Yummy!

I baked cookies for Pete today and didn't feel disgusting and sick afterwards! What a feeling.

An absolute miracle.

Well, the most amazing thing has happened to me. I'll start at the beginning of the end of the story - last week Wednesday....

So I went to PartyLite national conference last week - 4 days at the Shaw, staying in a hotel for three nights. All the meals were catered, and because it was such a big event there were no accomodations for those with allergies such as myself. I picked at the things I could eat, but I knew there was no way I hadn't eaten contaminated food. I got home from conference on Saturday night, knowing full well that I would be really sick for the next few days at least. Pete and I were laying in bed that night, and I asked Pete if he could pray that I wouldn't get sick from the conference food. He prayed that this burden would be lifted off of me. Well, I was absolutely shocked at each day that went by without me doubled over in pain, laying in the fetal position, or on the toilet. When Tuesday came, I was praying about what had happened, and questioning if God had healed me or if I had been temporarily relieved of the pain. I really thought I heard the answer that I was healed, but I really wasn't 100% sure. I ate an oreo that evening just to see if it would make me sick (normally just kissing Pete after HE ate an oreo would make me sick!) and to my surprise I felt nothing. Well, I just HAD to know - was I completely healed?? Pete and I took some time to seperately pray, and we both received the same answer. We couldn't even finish asking the question before we were overwhelmed with a mighty "YES!!!" coming from Him. Jesus took out my stomach and intestines, showed them to me and said, "Look! They're healed." Just like you would lift up a new pair of shoes and blow off the few specs of dust that had gotten on them in the last minute to make sure they were perfect, Jesus blew off those parts of my body, told me they were brand new, and put them back in my body.

So thank you Jesus for doing something I never thought possible. I guess I didn't think that my disease was "bad enough" to ask for healing. I am still in absolute shock from this - and it goes so much deeper than just eating. This is a life change. And most importantly, God healed me so that I could TELL EVERYONE!! God is real! God can heal people! Amen to that.

Nathan's Prayer

Nathan, being a busy boy, is very fast when it comes to praying. His general prayer is usually, "Kyle, Kendra, Zack, Nathan, Amen." The four things he loves - our neighbors Kyle & Kendra, him and his brother. Lately he's edited his prayer so now he says, "Kyle, Kendra, Zack, Nathan, ride bicycles, Amen."

An awesome weekend!

We had a wonderful time this past weekend - lots of cool things to share! First, Pete got off of work early so we could drive down to Rocky Mountain House to visit Pete's family. His brother Dave came up on his motorcycle all the way from Wisconsin, so it was an exciting visit! Dave had seen Zack as a baby and had never met Nathan before, so it was great for the boys to bond with him. We had a great time, and Pete would tell you that the highlight of our time there was that mom made lasagne, Dave and Pete's favorite meal. I even got gluten-free lasagne, and it was fantastic! :) We left on Saturday night, and here is a pic of the boys only 7km down the road. They were exhausted.
Our next adventure started Sunday, when we were invited to one of Kyle's motocross races. As most of you know, Kyle is one of our neighbors, Pete's good friend, and the boys think Kyle is the coolest guy on the planet. Kyle is a pro motocross rider and he's going to be teaching the boys to ride starting next year. It was really exciting to watch him and the boys want to start dirt biking more than ever now! Nathan was busy trying to convince everyone there that he was old enough to race, dragging anyone he could to the bikes and quads so he could sit on them. The boys got such a thrill out of watching Kyle do the jumps and seeing his bike fly. We made signs before we left for the race, and the boys made sure to hold them up even during Kyle's practice laps. Most of the racers know Kyle, so they all couldn't help but smile at his little fans. Nathan was so cute holding up the signs - all you could see were his tiny legs and hands! We got to meet Kyle's family, one of his brothers is a quad racer (Nathan is sitting on his quad on the right) so we got to see his race too. I'd go again in a heartbeat - it was such a fun (but dusty!) day. We had an absolute blast!

My little collection... Well, maybe not so little...

Somehow we started collecting Coke stuff (I really don't know how!), and we've started to get some really cool things from people! There's the plane made out of coke cans, a coke can lamp, and of course cans of coke featuring different designs. There's more to the collection than just what's in this picture, but this is the bulk of it in one spot. We've got vintage pictures and signs, framed postcards, even a little coke toolbox. The coolest part of our collection has to be the bottles and cans from our friends that have been travelling. If you look down at the bottom picture, you'll see (from left to right) a can from Beijing, a bottle from the UAE (middle east) in Arabic, a bottle from Mongolia, and a teeny-tiny can from the UAE. So if you're going anywhere cool, make sure you pick up a can or bottle for our collection!

What you SHOULDN'T do.

Last week, I did something stupid... So here's what happens when you try to cut a piece of plastic with a big kitchen knife... It goes right through the hand. Bad idea. Here I am, 3 stitches and a couple days later...

Peter

My husband. What can I say? He's amazing. I love you, Pete. Happy Birthday.