Ketelsens' Health Update

By now word has gotten around that Joshua had an eventful trip to the ER in March. We rode in style by ambulance. Once he saw a general practitioner he was diagnosed with migraines due to extremely high blood pressure and stress. He was put on blood pressure medicine and a strict low sodium diet. He is doing much better now.

Stefani has been recently diagnosed as iron deficient. She had some abnormal blood work at her last check up (high white blood cell count). She went in for another blood test and the count was higher. After hearing that Stefani was sleeping so much and tired all the time, her general practitioner referred her to a hematologist. Stefani is now on iron supplements and B12. It will take a few months for there to be positive effects.

It was a crazy month of medical issues for the Ketelsens, but we are on the mend. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and encouragement.

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani

Stefani's March 2011 Trip to St. Louis

Stefani decided to head to St. Louis for a week to visit family and friends. One of her friends was on Spring Break and thought it would be a perfect time to head south.

Stefani arrived in town on a Tuesday. The weather wasn't so great for driving, but she eventually made it. 

Wednesday Stefani, Carolyn, her son, Noah, and Christine headed to the Zoo. It was a beautiful day. We enjoyed seeing all the animals and building animals at the Build-a-Bear workshop at the Zoo. 

Noah looking adorable as usual.

Before he saw the ladies.

After he saw the ladies.

Thursday was the Andrews Academy talent show. Stefani decided to get up bright and early and go. After visiting with her former co-workers, she headed to lunch with Sarah, a good friend from high school. Sarah recently had a son, Parker, and Stefani was dying to meet him. 

Parker and Stefani.

Sarah and Parker.


Friday, Stefani had a lazy morning. Then she met up with her good friend, Beth, and her two kids, Emily and Evan. If you were at our wedding or saw any part of it, you would have seen Emily as our flower girl. It was great to catch up and see how the kids have grown. 

Saturday, Stefani spent the morning shopping with her mom. After they shopped til they dropped Stefani went to dinner and church with her grandma. They had a good time visiting.

Sunday, Stefani headed back "Up North". She enjoyed seeing everyone and lots of fun. 

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani  

Super Bowl 2010

We decided to throw a small Super Bowl party. We two couples from church over for the big game. We ate corn chowder, fresh bread, bacon cheddar pinwheels, and other assorted goodies.

We rooted for the Green Bay Packers. This house is a Cleveland Browns house, so there was no cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Martin even got into the spirit. Stefani decided he needed to join in on the fun. 


God's Blessings,


Joshua and Stefani

Christmas 2010 Trip to St. Louis

We decided we could only visit with one side of the family for Christmas this year. Winter travel is difficult, stressful, and sometimes down right dangerous. Since we spent Thanksgiving with the Ketelsens we decided to spend Christmas with the Marrahs. 

We left the Monday after Christmas and drove straight through. The weather was great and the drive was smooth sailing. We made it in time to exchange gifts that night. 


Tuesday was a difficult day. Stefani's Grandpa (Gavisk) was moved into a nursing home. His Alzheimer's was getting too much for her Grandma to handle by herself. We did everything we could make the transition as smooth as possible. His recliner was brought in a set up in his room, we got him a modest television, and set up pictures around the room. Joshua, Stefani, Stefani's Mom, and Grandma all stayed and ate lunch with him at the nursing home. The staff seem caring and are very nice. So far the only issue he has had is he wanders around looking for Stefani's Grandma. We are happy he is getting some exercise. As long as he doesn't walk out the door. We sincerely appreciate all the prayers we received. Keep them coming for Grandma as she finds a new "normal". 


Wednesday Joshua and Stefani just bummed around town. We had a nice breakfast and did a little shopping (Target of course!). That evening we had some great Mexican at Las Fuentes. 

Thursday, our last day in town, Joshua and Stefani enjoyed a nice breakfast with our friends, Carolyn and Jason and their son, Noah. Stefani's parents took a half day off work and we spent the afternoon playing Stefani's favorite game, Funglish, and watching movies.  


Friday, on New Year's Eve, we traveled back North. The trip was uneventful until we were about 2 hours from Onaway. We hit some very serious fog. Luckily, the temperature was warm and  we didn't have to stop for the night due to dangerous driving conditions. We made it home in time to ring in the New Year from our couch.


The visit was relaxing and just what we needed after a busy Advent season. We hope your Christmas season was full of fun and family!


God's Blessings,


Joshua and Stefani

Martin's Photo Shoot

We picked up a Martin Luther bust at one of the Concordia Publishing House tent sales. Ever since we have been putting accessories on him for every holiday. Stefani decided he needed a photo shoot. Here is what we have so far.

Martin saying, "Happy Thanksgiving!".

Martin saying, "Merry Christmas!".

Martin saying, "Brrr, it's cold out here!".

We hope enjoy Martin's photo shoot. 

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2010

Christmas Eve often goes by in blur. We have two services one at 7:00 pm which is more traditional and one at 11:00 pm that is a carol service. The services were well attended with a grand total of 122 people.

Our annual Christmas Eve picture. This one was taken after the first service, when Stefani was still awake. 

Christmas Day there is no church. Which means we get to spend some much needed quality time together. This year we had a lazy morning with a large brunch. After we ate, we set up Skype with Joshua's family to open presents. We ship each other our gifts before Christmas and then open them via webcam. It works out well for us. After that Skype session we set up another one with Stefani's parents. We just got in a little visiting since we were going to make the trek to St. Louis to see them after Christmas. 


Christmas Day evening we headed for dinner at Mary Kay and Don's house. We had so much delicious food! It was great visiting with them, their son and soon to be daughter in law, and their neighbors. 


Merry Christmas,


Joshua and Stefani

December 2010 (thus far)

December is a busy month around here. With Advent comes two services a week, which means two sermons and two services to plan. 

The first Saturday in December Moran Iron Works puts on a winter event for the town. There is a huge bonfire, Santa, and fireworks. We took two carloads of youth to the event and then went back to church for pizza and games. Everyone had a good time.

The week before Christmas was a busy one. We had the children's Christmas program on Sunday. There were about 35 kids that participated. Stefani helped by running the music so the other music techs could watch their children and grandchildren participate. 


Speaking of church music, as many of you know we do not have an organist. This means our music for service is all digital. We had an ancient laptop to play mp3s, until recently, when the church purchased a new computer. 

It will be nice to have a reliable computer for the music. 


On Monday, we had a couple from church and their young son over for dinner. It was good food and good conversation. This inspired us to decided to try to have one couple from church over for dinner once a month. 


Tuesday was the 456er's (the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade Youth group) Christmas party. We watched Linus tell the Christmas story, played games, made crafts, and ate pizza. The turn out was great with a total of 9 kids. 

The cupcake design for the 456er Christmas Party.




Wednesday Stefani went to visit a lady, Robin, from church whose ankle was basically reconstructed. Usually, it is Joshua doing the visiting, but Stefani had a feeling she would be need some company. While she was there Stefani was introduced the delicious recipe of Bugles dipped in melted white chocolate with an m&m stuck on it. Robin sent Stefani home with the ingredients...

And here is the final product. We ended up taking them to St. Louis to share. 

That evening we had a game night with the High School Youth. We played Wii, Funglish, Sequence, and Uno. And what party is complete without pizza. 


As you can see Christmas week was busy! We wouldn't have it any other way. (Ok, maybe we would like to spend it on a beach sometime.)


God's Blessings,


Joshua and Stefani