Christmas Boxes off to our Missionaries!

Boxes are out! Yippy Super Excited.

 Just got back from a wonderful week in Destin, Florida. Destiny on the Bay. Gorgeous beaches. Amazing company. 5 days of hands on Emotional Polarity Technique training.

 May look like our house was far from the beach but it was just one block to the sand. White, fine, clean, glorious sand.

Just one of my new EPT friends. Sweet sweet Sandra. 

So grateful I have an amazing husband that believes in me and supports me in following my interests & continuing my education.

Letters are here!

I have to say... .right now it seems I live for letters. Letters from my kids! Today Andrew's came and there was only a brief paragraph. I was like, "Are you kidding me!!!! Are you kidding me?" I was in the middle of helping out a sister in our Ward, so I stewed for sometime until I was later surprised to find two more email this afternoon. Boy was he ever going to be in hot water with me. :) Aww.... Sure wish BYU Jerusalem had the same writing policies as the missionaries do. She is in Turkey this week. I'm sure she is having thethime of her life, but I will be very happy when she is back in Israel and at the center & has access to computers.  I miss my Brealynn!

PS. I am adding a subscribe button to each of the boys blogs. I was trying to cut down on emails, but it is not working the way i wanted it to. IF just their updates subscribe directly on their blogs. Thanks!

Finally, We Hear from Andrew!

We could not figure out why we had heard  from Bryan but not Andrew. Mystery solved. Yeah!

We invite you to join us!

Our absolute favorite weekend of Fall! Log on to www.lds.org and feel the Spirit in the words of a modern day living prophet! What council would The Lord have us head during these turbulent days in our country & our world. 

We thank the of God for a prophet to lead us in these latter days!

Letter From Elder J.B. Jacobson

I was expecting letters today from the twins, but only one from Bryan came. I was so excited to get it... I laughed and cried as I read it out loud to an empty house. Click to Read!

The Daniel Report

Okay, so most of you know that three years ago our Daniel was diagnosed with what the doctors believed was Crohn's Disease. Ugh! One of the worse days of my life. They told us there was no cure. Gave us a jug of Steroids for the gut inflammation, scared us into rounds of a low grade chemo while we watch Daniel get sicker and sicker.
Long long story.... After months & months of research, trial & error, reading reading reading and networking with a multitude of others, Eight months ago through an online "Crohns Mom" friend we were introduced to a doctor in St. Louis that did not believe he could not be cured.
Today we got the best news ever. For the first time in 3 years Daniels labs are ALL NORMAL!!!!! 8 months ago he was in the 0% on the growth charts, he is now well within the 50%! 8 months ago he weighed 97# (and that was with me pumping him full of super mega shakes every day to no avail.) Today 130! AND 5'1", NOW 5'5"! But best of all, he has had 0 pain these past 8 months.
Is this trial over? I just know this. Our story is a miles long and we have learned so very much and it has taken us down roads we never knew existed. We poured out our hearts and pleaded for guidance, trusted the Lord and went to our own River Jordans so to speak. It was not in the popular, high tech, tested that we found our answers. I am grateful for modern medicine to an extent. I know there is a time and place. (Like the middle of the night ER visits when his pain was so severe that even morphine would not cut it.)
But a small part of what I have learned is that in all things we must be willing to follow the Spirit. Not be afraid to stand up when your "gut" tells you otherwise, EVEN when it goes against seemingly whole medical communities. The mode & cure will not be the same for everyone.
I am just so grateful for all we have learned, the many many prayers and the huge support from our families & close friends who listened and cried with us & who prayed for our family.  Thank you.

Going Green... well sort of!

The house has seemed pretty quiet this past week. But spirits are high and we are all well.

This past week I've discovered and introduced my family to "Green Smoothies" I mean REALLY green smoothies! I've tried to make them for several years, just throwing in a little of this and that and.... well... quite frankly,  YUCK!  After the twins left I was determined to concentrate on my own health and feeling really good again. These last few years seemed to zap my health. So I've been following this recipe. Jon & I drink a quart  a day, and Aubrey & Daniel drink a pint. This recipe makes two very full quarts.

Put 2 1/2 cups filtered water in the BlendTec Total Blender.

Optionally, add:

½ tsp. stevia (herbal sweetener) or ¼ cup raw, organic agave nectar (low glycemic index)

¼ whole lemon, including peel (anti-skin cancer, high in flavanoids)

2-3 Tbsp. fresh, refrigerated flax oil (omega-3 rich oil)

Gradually add greens until, briefly pureed, the mixture comes up the 5-cup line (or less if you are “converting”):

¾ to 1 lb. raw, washed greens, added up to 5 ½ cup line:

spinach, chard, kale, collards

Puree greens mixture for 90 seconds until very smooth.

Gradually add fruit until the container is very full, blend 90 seconds or until smooth:

1-2 bananas

1-2 cups frozen mixed berries

any other fruit to taste: pears, peaches, apples, oranges, apricots, cantaloupe, mango, pineapple

YUM! After my first I've been hooked. A few detoxing symptoms, but wow... ENERGY! 

...and wrote their 1st Emails!

Nothing could make this mama any happier!

They Arrived Safely!

After an all-night flight from Atlanta to Sao Paulo, they are safely in the hands of the Brazilian MTC President & his wife.

"Dear Parents,
We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time. We promise to take good care of your missionary.

They now have companions and are settled into their rooms.  They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.  The branch presidents and their wives, will soon give them a second greeting.  These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.

The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs.  He is assisted by his able wife. We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple.  This will be either Wednesday or Friday, depending on individual assignments.

Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others.  We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “ There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".

Please accept our love,

President Ralph Degn and Sister Mary Ann Degn"

A surprise message from a fellow traveler

I just received a message from the person that sat next to Andrew on his flight to Atlanta today. His mission has truly begun! 

"I was very impressed by Andrew. He seems quite mature for his age. I was amazed by his commitment and also the sacrifice he and his family were going to do for the next two years. Best of luck to him. - Tanvir"

Way to be son! 

The Airport - Saying goodbye.

The Twins gave excellent talks yesterday. Though they were not "Farewell" talks, it sort of was for it was their last Sunday in our Ward.  Jon's on the High Council, So, the boys have had opportunities to speak in several other Wards in our Stake over the past month. This coming Sunday we will be hosting a farewell open house. The boys fly a week from today or tomorrow. We are not certain. We do know that their Visas have been "Submitted" "Processed"  "Approved"  "Ready for Receipt" according to the online Visa website, but we have not heard anything from SLC yet as to which MTC they will be reporting to. So, we'll see. This will be an exciting week. Grandma & Grandpa are flying in on Thursday and will spend the weekend here in San Antonio with us. 

MISSIONARY FAREWELL OPEN HOUSE

SUNDAY Evening from 5-7pm @ Jacobson Home 

Purpose:

1- To send our boys off feeling loved by their new home ward family. 

2- a chance to get to know many from our new Ward better.

You may recall that I was, a few years ago, way into this thing they call "blogging". Well, then "life" happened. No, actually Facebook happened and I stopped blogging. But now with BreaLynn in Jerusalem, the Twins leaving to serve two year missions to Brazil, I've decided to create our central "Family Gathering Place" right here.

On this page you will be able to keep up with what we here at home are up to. Then by clicking BreaLynn, Andrew or Bryan's photo on the right, you will be able to follow their adventures abroad.

BreaLynn is already in Jerusalem and posting on her own blog for you. I will be posting all the boys weekly letters & photos for family & close friends wishing to follow their adventures.

If our life ever felt like a roller coaster ride at an amusement park it does right now for sure. Weeeeeee.........


At the bottom of the page is a link if you would like to be notified by email when a blog is updated.

                                       ..... so jump on board! We would love to have you along for the ride.