Norah is HOME!

She's home, after 5 1/2 weeks in the hospital and still 4 weeks before her due date, Kristy and Graham brought Norah home on Wednesday afternoon. She is about 5 lbs and 3 oz by now and is eating well, and doing fine. She reached all her milestones and passed the necessary tests and so she was able to come home. Now Kristy and Graham are the sole care givers and can really start to feel like a Mommy and Daddy. They are doing fine and are happy to have Norah home and not have to run to the hospital all the time and be bound by that schedule. No doubt they will soon establish their own schedule at home. Norah is still tiny but we can see how much she has grown already.

Last night, Kerry and I went in and brought supper to Kristy and Graham and got to see her in her own space. Kristy and Graham were very relaxed and let us hold her and Kristy let me change and feed Norah when it was time. (sometimes she gets a bottle). It was a busy place there last night with Erik and Amber and the girls coming to visit as well as Shaun and Vicki and Graham's brother Matt. Hailey finally got her chance to see her first cousin and was quite pleased. Jayda wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about. Now that they are home, friends and family finally get a chance to come and meet this little sweetheart . Kristy and Graham will be sticking quite close to home yet for the next while and being pretty careful because she is still susceptible to infections and still needs to grow stronger and get lots of sleep.

We are very excited and happy that Norah is home and that she is doing so well. Thanks to all who have prayed and showed your love and concern for her and her mommy and daddy. We are praising God for this precious little bundle and giving thanks for how He has cared for her. We are also very thankful for the medical help and all those who cared for her in the hospital.

Jayda

We also had the privilege yesterday of celebrating another of our grand-daughters. It was baby dedication Sunday in church and we were blessed to be able to show our support publicly for Erik and Amber and Jayda and praying for them along with the church and also for six other families with small children. What a blessing to have a church family with so many little ones and a congragation that shows such love and caring for these young families. We are quite proud of our little Jayda and love her smiles and unique personality that is showing through even at this age. After church we had lunch with Amber's family at Bruce and Lill's house. It is also a really neat to be able to share grandchildren and be friends with them.

We took Hailey and Jayda for a ride on the tractor the other day, and while Hailey enjoyed it and remembered the fun she had had last year on the tractor with Daddy, Jayda wasn't so sure about the whole experience. Guess it will take her a little more time .

Holding Norah

After dealing with nasty colds for two weeks, Kerry and I finally got to go in and see Norah and Kristy and Graham again yesterday. We also delivered a dresser for their baby room that had been given them by Cal and Kim and that Vicki had painted. They are hoping the day that Norah gets to come home will be soon, maybe even this week if all goes well. She is feeding well and not having any episodes where her breathing stops and so now she has to pass the car seat test. We could see she had been growing and she is now about 4 lbs, 13 oz or so. She will get weighed again today. We got to the hospital for the 4:00 feeding and Kerry and Graham went in to get her ready, meaning to wake her up and change her diaper so that she is ready to eat. She got the first cuddle of the day from Daddy.

Kerry got his turn to hold her as well and he got to carry her over to the scale so she could be weighed before feeding . They weigh her before and after feeding so that they can tell how much she is getting. She still looks pretty tiny in Papa's hands .

After that it was Kristy's turn as she fed her. I got to change her diaper in between because she was fussing and Kristy wasn't sure if it was keeping her from eating. She fed well though and after that whole process, it was finally my turn to hold her and I got a good long cuddle with her. She snuggled right in and went to sleep, but compared to Jayda, she still feels pretty small and just a feather weight, but this Grammy was pretty pumped to get to hold her and show her some love. Just the first of many more opportunities once she comes home.

IT'S SPRING!

The snow is almost gone and outside my front door these cheery little crocuses are blooming. A sure sign of spring.

Out on the yard the equipment is getting worked on and loaded for seeding. Can it be that time already?

Sure enough, before the day is over the tractor moves out and onto the field and seeding is underway! Another sure sign of spring! The first field of wheat is being put into the ground and the farming season is begun.

NORAH MARIE FRIESEN

This is the reason we were anxious to head home. Norah Marie was born March 15, 2008 at the St Boniface hospital in Winnipeg to Kristy and Graham. She was born 9 1/2 weeks early and so we had some anxious moments when we heard that she was on the way. She weighed in at 3 lbs 13 oz, and was 16-17 inches long, and has been doing well since then although she is still in the NICU at St. B. Needless to say, some days I would have rather been home than on holiday far away, but she was being well taken care of and so were Kristy and Graham. We made daily calls home and Graham faithfully posted updates, pictures and videos on their blog so we could feel connected and we really appreciated that. However, we were anxious to see the kids and meet this little lady who had already stolen our hearts, and we hadn't even laid eyes on her and so, as soon as the plane landed and we had all our stuff, we headed off to the hospital. I thought I had prepared myself as to how small she would be, but she was tinier than I thought , but oh, so precious!

These pictures are taken when she was about 3 weeks old, and in a different pod in the NICU. She is doing well and has passed her birth weight and is now over 4 lbs. She still has a ways to go before she can come home and certain milestones to reach, but each day is one day closer to that time.

So far, Grammy Jo hasn't been able to hold her and is waiting for that day with eager anticipation. Kristy and Graham would love to be able to take her home and be her sole caretakers and feel like a real family. This is not quite what any of us had anticipated but we know that God is in charge. Thank you to all of you who are praying for them, please continue. We thank God daily for this new little grand-daughter and pray she will grow strong, and learn how to eat on her own, and reach those neccesary milestones, so that she can come home.

Almost time to go home

After Larry and Sylvia headed home we were on our own, with no place to go. We thought about leaving the valley and checking out other areas, but the weather forcast sounded too cool outside of the valley, so we opted to stay. We found ourselves a room at the Vagabond Inn and settled in to enjoye our last four days. While the room was definitely not condo sized,it was quite adequate and we enjoyed our stay . We had a gorgeous view of the mountains just outside the door and we found some really pretty places to walk on our morning and evening walks. We were pretty lazy most of the time and spent quite a lot of time soaking up the sun poolside, enough to last us till warmer weather back home. The weather was perfect Palm Springs weather, calm, hot and lots of blue sky overhead.


Mornings we enjoyed our breakfast poolside just as the sun was starting to shine in and warm things up. Much as we enjoyed our time, we were also anxious to get home and meet our newest granddaughter.

Mountain Climb

The last couple of years we have gotten into more hiking when we are out in Palm Springs. This year we decided to climb the mountain that has the trail starting at the end of Ramon. We decided to go early in the morning and we made sure we had a good supply of water with us. We started just as the sun was coming up and the temperature was just right for the climb. It was a good climb and a challenge in places but the views were worth the effort and we had an enjoyable couple of hours of exercise. We climbed up for about one and a half hours and got to some pretty high elevations. We reached the sign that said if we wanted to go furthur we needed to be well prepared and experienced as people had died on the trail. That was at about 1700 ft or so and we decided that we 'd better turn back. In some ways going down was easier, but we sure used different muscles. I also really enjoyed the variety of flowers we saw growing on the mountain, some were large and bright while others were so tiny they would be easy to miss. Kerry saw a snake and a lizard, but seeing as how he was walking ahead of me, they were gone by the time I got close, so I just have to take his word for it. Once we got back down it we were pretty hungry as we did this all before breakfast. We decided that maybe next time we would have to take our breakfast along and eat it at the top .

This is a collage of views from our hike up the mountain. At the top we could see the whole length of the valley from the windmills at one end, and the whole of Palm Springs spread out below, to the golf course at the south end of the valley. Gorgeous, though pictures don't really show it very well.

Golf

One of the things we usually do out in Palm Springs is golf. This year was no exception and we got in a couple of rounds with Larry and Sylvia. Kerry golfed a couple of more times than I. Sometimes I think I should rather stick to things that I can do better , Like quilting or being a grandma, but the scenery is usually great and the company good and so I keep trying at least a couple of rounds per year. If it wasn't for those occasional great shots, it might be easier to give it up. One of the courses we golfed this year was Oak Quarry. The pictures below are all taken there. It was built in a quarry and had interesting holes and scenery. The day started out cool but warmed up nicely and we enjoyed our time there.

Time with Larry + Sylvia

One of the traditions that we have started is spending time with Larry and Sylvia, and it is always a good time too. We spent a week with them at the condo on Sunrise East , and as always , it was beautiful. We also enjoy eating "out" together and the top picture shows us enjoying a meal on the patio at Mimi's.

These next three pictures are of the pool area at Sunrise East and the view of the mountains that we always enjoy out the window there. We had great weather while we were in P.S. and we enjoyed soaking up some sunshine at the pool.

More of Palm Springs

One of the prettiest places we know in Palm Springs is not really in Palm Springs but in La Quinta and we call it Aunt Mary's Garden. We enjoyed a lovely morning there with Rudy and Jo and had coffee and enjoyed the lovely flowers and scenery. In the second picture we are enjoying a morning coffee at the Indian Canyons Golf course in Palm Springs.

We really enjoyed our time in California with Rudy and Jo and had fun showing them some of the places that we enjoy. Hopefully we can spend more time together there in the future and continue the tradition of our parents.

R&R

So as some you know, after a brief 10 days at home to try to catch up with the large stack of mail, bussiness needs, and enjoying getting reaquainted with the familyand friends we jumped on a airplane and headed to Palm Springs, CA. Getting there in the evening(10:20P.M.) it was great to have Rudy and the other Jo pick us up. We got to spend time for the next few days hanging out with them and enjoying PS together. We did some eating,golfing, eating,walking, eating ,playingcards, go out for coffee,
and pool time and just enjoying the prettiest place on earth that i know of.