Life Goes On....

I know it has been several months since my last post, there has been many changes in our lives.  The biggest of which is we have reconciled with our daughter Elizabeth and we now have a granddaughter from her!! 

Belle Elise Medina was born on August 8, weighing in at 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 1/2 inches.  We couldn't be prouder of our daughter and son-in-law!!

Our granddaughter is so beautiful!!  So much hair!! Now as I write this she is one month old and weighs 10 pounds!! We are preparing for her Christening on September 30th.  We have not seen her since she was 48 hours old and I can't wait to hold her again!!! Living 200 miles her it is hard to spoil her, but when I get the chance, I am going to hold her as much as I can and love on her and spoil her as much as I can for the two days we are with her. 

I have just loved all the pictures Beth and Derek have posted on Facebook.  I download all of them to my computer hard drive and my cellphone.  I have printed a few of them and show them off to my friends.  My friends think Belle is so beautiful and of course Grandma does not disagree!!  

Here are a couple of more photos of my beautiful girl:

I think from now on I might be better about updating this blog because I have more to write about!! God Bless!!!

Time to Update...

I know I have been very lax in posting but sometimes I just don't have anything to share.

Since my last post, Ben has turned 18 and will be graduating May 2011. James is now living with his girlfriend most of the time. She rented a place close to us and we love it. Brittany and James are so happy and are doing great in school. Beth and Derek came up for Labor Day and went with us to Garden of the Gods. We all had a great time hiking and talking. They are now considering moving to Colorado Springs or Aurora...that would be wonderful!

Our niece, Chelsea had her baby in May, Brooklyn Jade is beautiful!! (See picture above) Chelsea is trying finish cosmetology school and get on her feet. I am now doing daycare for Brooklyn to help out, it is fun. I enjoyed taking her 3 month old photos the other day.

Mom and Dad are doing good, playing golf and working around the house. Mom had cataract surgery a couple of months ago and is seeing so much better. She now only needs to wear glassed to read.

God Bless Everyone! Keep in touch!!

James and Ben

James found out last night that he made the President's List at College America. What a joy for me to have a son doing so well at college. He has a 4.0 GPA and perfect attendance. I am praying this will continue until graduation in May 2011. He is loving his classes and making some really good friends. Hopefully this summer, he will be certified to work in a Nursing or Assisted Living Home or will be certified to work as a Phlebotomist and working in a blood bank or something close. Way to go James!! Keep up the good work!!

Ben is doing much better since switching to online classes. He is currently working on English and History, with a B or better in each class. He is ahead of schedule for the current classes and should be moving on to the next two very soon. He has also been invited to apply at Johnson & Wales University for early enrollment for next year. This means he would be working on his first year college classes while finishing high school. Crossing our fingers and praying he will take this opportunity and do well. Way to go Ben!! Keep up the good work!!

God Bless Everyone and drop us a line sometime when you can.

To Catch You Up

I know it has been a while since I posted on here, so I need to catch you all up on things going on around the Zehr household.

As I posted before we have moved into our own home, a mobile home, but still a home. We began moving in on May 23 and finished unloading the truck on May 24. We are currently trying to make it all fit, get rid of it or store whatever won't fit and can't be sold at a yard sale. The weekend after the move in was spent putting up a shed at the back of the house to store Christmas decorations, things that we can't get rid of but don't have room for now, and things for the yard sale. In the process of getting the shed up, Mom and I were at Home Depot to pick up things, we ran into to a nice man who offered to help us load the supplies into Mom's car. During the process we learned he is an active duty Air Force Sargent who asked if we needed help putting up the shed. I gladly accepted his offer. The next day he came by and spent the entire weekend helping us get everything done. We have a beautiful shed for all the stuff we have overflowing the house at this time. This has helped with getting some room to walk around, it also allows us to unpack boxes one at a time and then bring in another one. The process of setting up the house has been slow, as of today we are still living with boxes and looking for stuff that we need.

The week before we moved we were in Trinidad to watch our daughter graduate. It was a bittersweet weekend. We were excited for her but with the past problems it was not all happiness. She looked beautiful and is now engaged to be married to her love, Derek. That was a surprise of sorts, we had been saying we thought sometime within the year after graduation they would get engaged, but we didn't expect it at graduation. We are happy for them but a little concerned that she might be rushing things, she is putting off college for now to work and plan her wedding. I pray she will decide to go back to college even it is only for her Associates from Trinidad State Junior college.

Ben had surgery on his left hip to correct the same problem he had with the right one, on June 2nd. He is doing well with his recuperation other than one set back. Just before his two week check up, he slipped on the kitchen floor and landed on the left hip. We had to take him in to see his surgeon the next day. We got the good news, seems he may have popped an internal stitch and torn a muscle but no need to go back in to fix anything. He seems to be much better the last couple of days. He is looking forward to his four week checkup when he might be able to get to go swimming. I hope this will come about as he has been so cooped up so far and is so bored.

James has been working so hard at Elitch's. He must be doing so well cause he just began a 10 day schedule of no days off. He has been having a great time when he is not working, the benefits of working at an amusement park are good. He took Ben and Chance to spend the day at Elitch's a few days before Ben's surgery so that Ben would have some fun to think about while he was recuperating for 6 weeks. Then he went to a concert at the park after spending a day there with his girlfriend, they both said it was great.

David has been playing house husband for now. I am hoping he will get a part-time job soon as he is going crazy as well as driving me nuts. I started a job at a liquor store in Watkins, about 3 miles from home. I am working for a man that Michelle works with, she recommended me for the job. Thanks Sis!! So far it is OK, not exactly what I want for a career, but for now it helps with the bills and what VA Disability does not cover. I am still submitting applications in hopes of a job that will suit me more.

That's about all the news here for now. I will try to be more diligent about posting more often to keep everyone up to date. For now, God Bless Everyone!! Come visit when you can!

Moved and Unpacking

We have moved to our "new" home in Aurora. We bought a 1994 Liberty Single wide mobile home that was previously a rental. Yes we have a few things to repair and it has not been cared for in the best manner. Needless to say this has eaten up the remainder of our backpay from the VA. We will try to start saving for a few other things such as a swamp cooler. For now, we have gotten the storage shed up and just about finished the roof, James will get up there tomorrow to put the ridge shingles on for us. Then we need to caulk it in spots and prime the new wood that the company did not prime. Eventually the house and the shed will be painted the same color as this is a requirement of the park we live in. Much discussion will go into choosing a color.

Right now it feels good to be sleeping in our own bed and having much more room to move around without tripping over each other. We are tripping over boxes but I think I have come up with a plan to stop this. I have asked David and the boys to put all the boxes in the shed for the time being, then I will go thru each box one at a time and put things away in the house. This way we can clean the rooms first as they got really tracked up with mud and dirt from the move. The mud came from all the rain we received while moving over Memorial Day weekend, we layed towels down and asked everyone to wipe their feet but you still get it tracked over the new carpet.

Things are slowly getting back to normal for the four of us, seems strange to say that but with Beth living in Trinidad and planning a wedding, I need to get used to it. James is working very hard not only at home but at Elitch's, an amusement park for those of you who do not know. I have not been able to work at this time due to all the moving chaos and the fact we have no phone. Ben is preparing for the surgery on his left hip, Tuesday, June 2nd at noon, I will keep you all posted on his status. David is going to start looking for a job very soon, again, he and I both have a lead on one about 3 miles from here for a friend of my sister, Michelle. Everyone please cross your fingers and toes and say some prayers for this job to work out for us both.

God Bless you all!!

Goodbye THS and Trinidad

Graduation is done! May 17, 2009 we watched our daughter walk across the floor to receive her diploma from Trinidad High. It was a bittersweet moment for both of us. We were thrilled to see her complete her high school education but it means the end of her youth. There are several other factors that go along with this milestone. Most of you know about the problems we have been having with Elizabeth in the past year, many of which have been compounded with our move back to Aurora 6 months ago and her 18th birthday in January. She continues to tell us, not in specific words, but with innuendos, that we are not wanted in her life, yet when something big happens she comes running to us first. This is such a hard thing to deal with, I want to take her in my arms when things happen and just hold her but she pushes me away. So I have come to the conclusion that I must stay away, take the news at a distance and wish her all the best. I was able to hug her and tell her congratulations on her graduation and I told her I love her but the reception from her was very cold. Take it and move on..I told myself. The news of her engagement was a shock to a point but was also expected at sometime within this year of graduation. So I took it with shock the night before graduation when they came to our hotel to tell us, wishing them nothing but happiness which is what every parent wants for their child. The next day I was over my shock enough to go to her party and wish them both the best and to welcome Derek into the family. Going to take some time to get used to saying son-in-law and at least for now I can say she is not pregnant. She does have a job lined up and will begin working soon, I even know and respect her boss, so I am proud of her for doing this as much as I am proud of her for graduating.

We will be saying our final goodbyes to Trinidad this next weekend when we take a moving truck down to retrieve our household goods which have been storage there since the move to Aurora. We have been approved for and will close on a 16x80 ft single wide mobile home in eastern Aurora this week. Though David still does not have a job and I only have my part-time job, we did get a partial increase from the VA which is enough to live on. The mobile home is pre-owned and in good shape, not our dream home but is much better than continuing to live in my parents 5th wheel. We are going to live in this place for at least a year to see if our credit scores improve to purchase something more like what we want. For now, it is 3 bedrooms - one for each of the boys, 2 baths and more square footage than we have had in quite a while. The best part is the laundry room that is so large we can put our freezer in there along with the washer and dryer and still have room to move comfortably. I will take some photos this week when we do our walk through and post them soon.

Thank you everyone who reads this blog and keeps us in your prayers. We will continue to pray for all of you. God Bless everyone!!

Ben Surgery Number 2

Ben is recovering very well from the first surgery. He will be going back to school next week when Spring Break is over.

His surgery on the left hip is scheduled of June 2nd. This will hopefully allow him enough time to recuperate in time to march in the marching season at Hinkley and possibly time to be ready to play soccer. Playing soccer is a bit doubtful as the doctor needs to see how well he recovers from this operation, but Lacrosse in the spring is a go.

Will keep you all posted on things go as they come up, until then, May God Bless you all each and everyday.

Right Hip done...

Ben had the surgery to correct the problem with his right hip on March 3 as scheduled. He was released from the hospital on March 4. It is now post op day 2 (March 5) and he seems to be doing well. He is having some pain, it didn't help that the pharmacy neglected to give me his pain meds when I picked up his prescription yesterday. They only gave me the refills for his inhalers and stomach meds, no pain meds for the first night home. Luckily, I have tylenol with codiene for my migraines. I called the doctor on call and asked if it would be okay to give him one since the meds he should have had were still at the pharmacy. Luckily, the doctor on call was the surgeon who assisted Ben's primary doctor and had written the prescriptions so I didn't have to give an entire history just for a few pills.

Today, Ben feels he may have overdone it with physical therapy yesterday and is taking it a bit easier today. He is sleeping and using the CPM (Constant Passive Motion) machine to keep his joints and muscles from stiffing up. The machine gently moves the leg from straight to 90 degrees bent for as long as Ben feels comfortable with it. He says he loves this machine because it keeps his knee from hurting being in one position so much. He still is not able to sit in a regular chair for longer than a few minutes. He must recline so that his body is not at the 90 degree angle most of us are supposed to sit at.

When he begins classes here at home next week, he will be sitting in a reclining wheelchair for the two hour session each day. He will also use the wheelchair when he returns to school in a few weeks since he will still be on crutches and limited on how much weight he can place on the leg. We have discussed this in great length, we all feel it is much safer for him to return to school in the chair since the floors are tile, there are over 1500 students in the halls for passing periods and too many chances for him to get knocked down.

The last few days have been such a blur, I had to check my computer today to know what day of the week it was. We were in Trinidad over the weekend to say our goodbyes to a very dear young man. Christian was only 9 years old when he passed away in February but this child knew that the Lord was with him. The family had such a loving and uplifting service for him, I don't think I have ever been to a more powerful service. I will never forget Christian and the love and smiles he brought to this world.

Will keep all of you posted when the next surgery for Ben is scheduled. Until there is more to report on anything going on in our lives...May God Bless each and everyone!!

Not Much Happening Lately

I realized I have not posted anything to my blog in a few weeks. There has not been much happening with our family. Ben continues to have increasing pain in his legs and hips, so he's on more Tylenol for now. The surgery to correct the problem with his hips is still scheduled for March 3 only now it will be at 11:30 am not 7:30 am. He will have the MRI of his back and his hips on February 26th, this will take several hours as they also want to do a complete bone scan. They are looking for any other problems in the hips and for a stress fracture to the back that the hip problem may have caused. If they find a stress fracture in the back then we will be seeing Neurosurgeon to determine what they will have to do to fix this.

My job hunt is temporarily on hold so that I can care for Ben. David is still looking but still nothing good to report. James is also looking for a job until this summer when he will be taking a few classes at Aurora Community College and then back to full-time in the fall. We visited with Elizabeth last week and she is doing very well. She is talking to us again but on her own terms. She has a cell phone but will not give us the number for now. We either leave a message at school for her to call us or one with Derek's Dad. We only call when there is something really important like her brother's surgery. She seems happy and our conversations are much more calm, I really like this, although I really miss talking to her everyday or seeing her.

Mom is doing well, she will be having another MRI this week to check the status of the Chiari malformation, then she will see the Neurosurgeon again for an update on what they must do. We continue to pray that surgery will not be necessary. Dad is still waiting on the doctors to determine when he must have surgery on his knee, he has had problems for years, but nothing serious. The rest of the family, Michelle and her kids, Jenni and family, and Tanya & Emma seem to be doing well also. We don't see them much but more than we ever did while living in Trinidad.

God Bless Everyone and drop us a line sometime at zehrfamily@msn.com.

Job Search Update #3

I guess God has decided that the job for David in Westminster is not where he should be. David went for the interview, waited the hour and a half for them to call, no call. Oh well, on to the next.

I got a lead on a job here in Aurora near the house. I am going to check it out this morning about 8:30. Crossing my fingers and saying some prayers this is the one for me. My niece Katie works at the same place and she is the one who recommended I apply. It is a good company, have had a couple of other family and past family members work there.

May God Bless you all!!

Job Search Update #2

David and I went to a Job Fair yesterday and handed out several resumes. Today, David got a call from one of them for an interview. He would be working for the Dolby Institute as a recruiter. He will be meeting them tomorrow at 2pm, so everyone please cross your fingers and say a few prayers for him. Although the job would be in Westminster, about 30 mins from here, we do not care, we will move to where he can find a job.

Keep you posted, until then God Bless Everyone!

Job Search Update

Got an email regarding the job with the Secretary of State's office, says I am 14 out of all the candidates for three positions. I could move up, but, they say that is not likely. I will remain on the list for any other positions that might come up, just have to keep my application active. I plan on doing just that and watching the State site for any other job openings anywhere else.

In the meantime, I will continue to browse the newspapers and internet for anything I think I can qualify for. Also trying to keep David on the prowl for jobs, he's submitted several applications for jobs at the Veteran's Administration, so keeping our fingers crossed and praying that one of them will come thru.

As always, God Bless Everyone!!