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!