Update

Well, it's been over one month since I last posted an entry. Our flash on our camera has not been working, and they had us keep it over the holidays so we would at least have a camera for Christmas. We took it in for repairs a couple of weeks ago, but we're still waiting on its return. I thought I would at least put on a few photos from before Christmas that I took with it. The lighting is off and they are a little fuzzy because of no flash, but that's life. Christmas was excellent for our family. We got to see all our family, ate too much food, and were spoiled with too many presents. Uncle Aaron and aunt Christy came up from Georgia and Olivia had so much fun playing with them both. She calls Christy "Kisty." It's too cute. Olivia celebrated the New Year at Nana and Papa's house, while Andy and I headed to Detroit with our neighbors Jamie and Aaron for a Red Wings hockey game. Go figure, the team has lost very few games all season, but we manage to go to one where there was no score until the 3rd period and it wasn't the Red Wings. We still had a great time despite their loss. We ended up taking a lot longer coming home New Year's day due to all of the beautiful snow we received on New Year's Eve. Congratulations to our friends Tom and Natalie Roehrig who celebrated the New Year by having a baby boy, Maximilian! He came a little earlier than planned, but just in time for a tax deduction. Both mother and baby are doing fine now. Olivia and I had planned on heading up to Alpena New Year's day, but postponed our trip until the next morning. We wanted to go up to see the family and considering the health of some family members we found it even more so of a necessary trip. For those of you who haven't heard the tragic news in our family I will update you. My uncle Duane MacNeill has been in bad health since his car accident in 2002 which took my aunt Carol's life. He was admitted into the nursing home in Alpena for a short period and then sent home with Hospice so he could die at home. My poor cousins have been through a lot with their parents health and misfortune so I really wanted to go see Duane before he passed and be there for my cousins. Well, my cousin Brett woke up on Christmas morning to the one of the worst possible things one could imagine. His wife of 1 1/2 years Heidi, who had just given birth to their son Hunter in the end of November, was lying unconscious on the floor and not breathing. She has since been transferred to Saint Mary's Hospital in Saginaw where she is in the Neuro ICU. She has been in a coma since, but recently taken off of her ventilator. She is only 22 years old and they found out she has a very rare heart arrhythmia that caused the incident. Your prayers are asked for Heidi and Brett and their family at this time. Olivia and I stopped up at the hospital to see Brett and Heidi for a few hours on our way up to Alpena. My heart goes out to the entire family. Brett is holding up, but can use all the support and prayers he can get. We then went to see Duane and the rest of the boys Bari, Brad, and Brendon. I got a chance to chat with Duane briefly that night, but it was apparent his health was not good. We then headed over to Hillman to stay with uncle Jere Timm and Logan. We made a few trips back in to Alpena to see Duane and the boys. Olivia played shy for a bit, but by the end of the trip was rough housing so much with my cousins. I think it was good to have her around and get their minds off some of the issues surrounding their lives. We also enjoyed a nice visit with aunt Julie and uncle Pat. We made it home safely and I had to start back to work. It has been an adjustment getting back to work, but we have been managing. I came home from work after my second day back to learn that Duane had passed away. I was so thankful that I had made the trip up to see him. He was the uncle who took me on a trip to Cozumel. Andy missed me so much and told me while I was gone that he decided he wanted to marry me. Andy, Olivia and I headed back up on Thursday the 10th for the visitations and funeral, which was held that Saturday. We are back home again and have finally gotten Christmas put away at our house and are trying to get back in a normal routine. Andy is so busy with coaching swimming, officiating HS swim meets, and his construction work. We are set for a cruise in early April to the Caribbean and all are looking forward to it. Olivia is coming too, because I couldn't enjoy myself away from my little pumpkin that long. We have all our passports ready! If anyone would like to join us the more the merrier! Well, that's been our life this past month or so. We hope everyone had a blessed holiday and a great New Year. Hopefully 2008 brings you only joy and miracles! I'll post some pictures from Christmas soon!