Doctors, Downhills, and Dedication

This week signaled the end of my vacation and the start of a new year of work for me, as I gave up the warmth and comfort of my bed at 6am and got ready to head back to the office! This was also the week that the first significant snow falls of the season made their way through Cleveland! So imagine my surprise when I arrived home on Thursday expecting to use my snowblower to clear my driveway of the 4 inches of snow that accumulated during the day and discovered that Liesel's parents and Nathan shoveled the driveway and sidewalks for me!! For them, it was a first, and they enjoyed it!

On Friday, Liesel took Nathan and Joshua to the doctor, because Nathan complained of "an owie in the back of my mouth" and Josh had been exceptionally fussy and gassy lately. It turned out that Nathan had a case of strep throat and Joshua was discovered to be lactose-intolerant! The poor boy was indirectly getting a good dose of dairy from Liesel's diet, and this was causing him distress because the dairy proteins couldn't be digested! So the doctor put Joshua on a Lactose-free formula. Within 24 hours, we could already see a remarkable difference in little Joshua, as he seemed more contented and generally happier with life!

A 9 inch thick blanket of snow greeted us as we woke up on Saturday morning! It was absolutely stunning and exciting!!! Exciting, because I finally had a chance to make use of my snowblower! So at 8:30am, the snowblower started first time, and I headed down my driveway, carving a significant path through the white powder! I am pleased to say that my snowblower has lived up to my expectations and I cleared my driveway and sidewalks in a fraction of the time it used to take me! In fact, I got to use it again later that afternoon, and once more on Sunday! In total we had about 12 inches of snow, which is definitely something that the average resident of Botswana would never see! Liesel's dad had great fun walking around taking photos of the white landscape with his new camera! In fact, the today's photos are courtesy of Norman Schaefer (c).

Later that afternoon, I took Nathan and Gabi sledding at a local playground with Norman being the official observer. Nathan went down the hill with me and his grandmother, and we all had a fantastic time! This was another first for Gabi, and from the smiles and giggles, I know she loved every second of it! I did not realize how much hard work sledding actually is, as what goes down, must go back up the hill! Hiking back up the hill, in 12 inch deep snow, while hauling a 40 pound child on his sled is no walk in the park!

That evening, Liesel and I headed out on a rare date night, and we ended up at a local coffee shop, where we ordered hot chocolate, and sat next to a fireplace, with our feet up and just talked! It was great, and definitely needs to be repeated!

Our highlight for the weekend was Joshua's dedication. We decided to have Joshua dedicated while Norman and Gabi were with us. Jim, our pastor, performed the ceremony for us, and it was lovely. Nathan joined us on the stage as we pledged to raise Joshua in a godly fashion and in a godly household. Below is a video clip of the dedication, also taken by Norman. Don't worry, as the video dows turn the right side up after a few seconds!


After a superb lunch cooked by Gabi, Nathan wanted to head back to the sledding hill, so the 4 of us returned to the park, leaving Liesel and Joshua to have a nap at home! Many more calories were burnt that afternoon, but they were quickly regained when we went to the Talmage's house for coffee, home made chocolate chip cookies and American Cheesecake Factory cheesecake!!!