What's Cooking?

I do not normally blog about food given that cooking and taking pictures of my cooking are not my gift, but it seems to be gifts God has given Kali and Ayla.

Kali and Ayla love to cook, bake and be creative with food. And Ayla is picking up on the photography, she loves to take pictures and she is quietly and closely watching our photographer friends and their work.

It started a couple of years ago when the girls started their own family restaurant. They set up a little outside sitting area and made menu's. As they seated the family under the trees they began taking orders. With their little aprons on they would run back and forth to the house and bring us our order. They never failed to bring the bill at the end.

Then the real cooking began. We made Ratatouille. Once we found a complicated recipe and did the shopping we began the 3 hour process of making it. It took a long time but the girls were so engaged and they really began to love cooking.

At ages 10 and 9, Kali and Ayla have become really adept at working in the kitchen. They often make their own lunches. Some of their favorites are cooking eggs with onions, mushrooms and rosemary, or frying a tortilla covered with onions, mushrooms and garlic powder with a bit of Parmesan cheese melted on top.

(I know your getting hungry, but at least I am not making you cry:)

The other day around dinner time Kali and Ayla asked if they could cook dinner!

I, of course, said yes.

For dinner they, with no help from mom, made crepes and set the table with all of the goodies we love to fill them with.

This last year they have mastered sugar cookies. Yeah for mom!
They have made sugar cookies from scratch with a friend and a couple of weeks ago Kali made them herself. If you have ever made sugar cookies from scratch you know it is a big job.

They have also helped make one of our favorite desserts,a raspberry danish, for me on Mother's Day.


This year for Christmas we gave them American Girl cooking books. These are full of great history and recipes and cooking tips related to the time era of the American girls.

Since then they have created numerous desserts. Mixing chocolate and peanut butter, making dog chow, creating a chocolate marshmallow delicacy. It seems the mixtures and creativity never ends. They even made us the most amazing chocolate milkshakes. They have made chocolate chip cookies and their own recipe of raspberry sherbet. Some of Kali's other favorites are her homemade salsa and her pizza roll ups.

Recently, they have become very interested in baking and decorating cakes. They have been learning from aunt Jamie about cake making. They have learned all about fondant and have had some great opportunities to make some wonderful things.

Their new favorite hobby, along with cousin Sadie, is to design cakes. We have a huge file filled with cake designs that they have come up with.



Kali with the cake she decorated. She made the flowers out of fondant and she did the flowers on her own.

Ayla with the cake she decorated. The decorations were also made by Ayla with fondant.

So, just a little tip, keep your eyes open for a future restaurant and or bakery I can assure you, you will be in for a treat. They have a plan, a name, a logo and a passion that won't stop!

It is fun and exciting to see what God may be doing.

Yeah, cry again! It seems to be my theme. Sorry!

"I can't walk"

At almost age 5 Gavin is really starting to notice the world around him and has figured out he is not like other kids. He can't walk.

It really started to become apparent a few months ago when the kids were playing the Wii. The girls were making Gavin his own Mii, and his cousin said, in her really excited voice, "Gavin on the Wii you can walk." At the time, Gavin didn't seem phased, but that night in his sleep he started yelling, "I can't walk, I can't walk". Oh, how I cried.

Many times out of the blue, he would say, "I can't walk". Sometimes, I would say, "no you can't walk, but you are a great driver and you get to drive your cool bike all over". This didn't seem to make him very happy and a while later he said out of the blue, "my mom said I can't walk". Stab right to the heart. I think he was beginning to think it was my fault.

At an appointment the other day Gavin was being very fidgety and seemed frustrated, I asked him what he was doing and he said he wanted to get big. I had been praying for an opportunity to talk to him a little more and I felt this was it. I said, "why, so you can walk?" He said "yeah". I told him "remember we need to help your legs get straighter and do exercises to help your legs get strong then we will see if you can walk, but we don't know yet". He was so mad at me and he stuck his tongue out and said "No". I said, "Gavin does it make you mad that you can't walk?" He said "yeah". "Gavin it makes mommy sad that you can't walk and if you can walk someday I will be very happy!" "No, mommy you will cry," he said. I told him "no Gavin, Mommy would be very happy if you could walk". He didn't say anything else and he hasn't mentioned it all week. I don't know if that is what he needed to hear or if I just missed it all together and he doesn't want to talk about it, but he seems to be much less frustrated and I think he just needed to know that it is OK to be sad about it.

I just want to say, "Gavin it stinks that you can't walk and I would give anything to make it so, but ..........what else do I say? I love you the way you are, you are so special, you can drive a cool wheelchair". Right now it is hard to look past the fact that no matter how everyone includes him and no matter what we do to give him independence, the fact is he can't walk and run. He hasn't said it yet, but someday he will be saying I can't use my hands. He can't pick things up. He can't use a spoon to feed himself without some complicated gadget. Yeah, it stinks! It stinks! It stinks! and I need to give him the freedom to grieve over that fact, but I will not allow him to stay there. He is a trooper and he will find the good in it all. He will do like he does most of the time and he will live life to the fullest without concern about what he can't do and he will move forward doing what he can.

Please pray for us as we will be starting counseling next week. We are hoping to learn how we can help him deal with all of the life issues he will be facing. Finding ways to help him deal with his grief of not being able to walk and not being able to do a lot of things he will want to do, but to help him find joy in being who God made him to be.

Scheel's Summer Camp

After waiting for 1 whole year, off to Cocolalla Bible Camp they were supposed to go....

but Ayla's 102.2 fever meant they got to stay home.
(Kaly chose to stay home with Ayla, even after Ayla told her she could go. It was really a special time to see them more concerned about the other, than themselves. )

We knew hearts would be breaking, so Jeromy and I devised a plan, CAMP AT HOME.

The cousins were also plagued with the sickness, so we figured no harm in letting them hang out together.

So after a long shopping trip collecting supplies for the week, the fun began......

The winning team in water games dumped the bucket on Dean Scheel's head!

Campfire and Bible study time in the evenings, the kids seemed to really enjoy this time. Kaly really soaks it up. I love to hear their insight into spiritual things.

A morning at the lake for some swim time, but they played more in the sand.

A quick stop into Hello Cupcake for ice cream.

It was a short camp, we all fizzled out by Tuesday but finished off the night with an ice cream party with the grandparents.

More than I can handle?

Recently on Facebook a friend of mine shared a tidbit of how she was facing a lot, but she was holding onto the statement that God would not give us more than we can handle.

Later, another friend of mine posted that the verse she was referring to was about God not giving us more temptation than we can handle, but yes He often gives us more life than we can handle. He does this so we learn to trust in Him.

I have been pondering this all week and I have found THE VERSE that we often point to when we want to reassure ourselves that we can handle life. It is 1 Corinthians 10: 13, and it says: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." So, Yes, it is about temptation not about life circumstances.

I have come to the conclusion that we cannot handle life. We truly need to be on our knees allowing God to handle it for us.

I found a great blog post by Keith Plummer on his blog The Christian Mind that brought up this point. "If Paul really intended to make a general statement about God never giving Christians more than they could handle, then we'd have a hard time explaining his own testimony in 2 Corinthians 1:8.9:"

"For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself...But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead."

God does give us more than we can handle, anything can be more than we can handle with out Him. It is in those times that we are beyond ourselves that we can really see the power of God.

What are we facing today that is too much to bear?

Let's give it to God; let's allow Him to carry it for us.

Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita

*Yesterday was awareness day for AMC and we all wore blue.

*Gavin is an AMC kid and has a very classic case.

*Arthrogryposis occurs in about 1 in 3000 live births.

*Some kids have Arthrogryposis combined with another birth defect such as spinal muscular atrophy.

*Though the cause of Arthrogryposis is unknown it is thought that it can be caused by a virus or high fever. We do not know the cause of Gavin's, but we think it may have had to do with a seizure that his birth mom had around 12 weeks of pregnancy. We did genetic testing but thankfully nothing showed up.

*Gavin is affected from head to toe. From birth till he reaches eternity. And I am sorry for him, but thankful for us. We would not have gotten Gavin if he were born "normal". He most likely would have stayed with his birth mom. What would we do without Gavin?

*Gavin was born by emergency C due to meconium in the amniotic fluid as well as a decreased heart rate. He had to have chest compressions to get his heart beating fast enough and then he was life flighted to Sacred Heart. At birth he had a broken femur probably due to the stiffness of his legs and the contractions of labor.

*Gavin's head was flat on one side and had a huge bump on the other. This later required a helmet to help it to grow into a rounder shape.

*Gavin's left leg was folded with his foot touching his body and his knee pointing out to the side. His right leg was turned backward so that the front of the knee touched the bed when he laid on his back, with his foot sticking up in the air. He had clubbed feet, and was so stiff that he wasn't dressed until we got ready to leave the hospital. He has had serial casting, 3 surgeries and splints to help his legs and feet to be in a better position for sitting and standing.


*Right from the start Gavin could drink a bottle, but his jaw is affected and this caused him to be unable to keep a pacifier in his mouth. He has had some difficulty in eating because he gets easily tired and he eats slowly.

*Gavin had an undecended testical that later ended up causing an incarcerated hernia. This led to an ER visit and surgery. He continues to deal with severe constipation and at almost 5 we have yet to even get close to being potty trained.

*Gavin has a bifurcated uvula, which caused many ear infections. He would have a ruptured ear drum before I knew there was a problem. He got ear tubes and has been fine since.


*Gavin has endured a lot of pain and medical treatments. He has at times been fearful of any person looking at him because he was so used to getting touched and stretched and measured.

*Gavin gets frustrated and demanding, he gets difficult and has gone through biting and head butting. He has been so naughty at therapy I have wanted to never go back because of being so embarrassed.

BUT................


*Gavin is amazing, Gavin is charming, Gavin is adored by so many because he is a smart and determined boy. Gavin has fun with his sisters and friends. Gavin helps take care of his little brother. Gavin makes us laugh. Gavin has inspired sooooooo many people to not take the little things for granted. Gavin has brought out the best in people, in other kids. They see his needs and want to help. Gavin has girlfriends both young and old. Gavin wants to be on the worship team "someday" and Gavin Loves MONSTER TRUCKS.

*Many groups today are doing everything they can to make sure every baby born is "healthy". Well, it isn't possible unless some of them aren't born. That could have been Gavin's fate.

*I am so thankful to Gavin's birth mom for giving him to us. She gave him willingly, though she was young in mind, she wanted the best for him. And I am thankful to God. He gave him to us knowing the rest of our story, and He wants the best for us. I am thankful for all of you, our friends and family. You have been our support and you have helped make it possible for Gavin to participate in so many things.

Thoughts on Thursday

So here it goes, I am stealing someone else's idea and doing Thoughts on Thursday. I have too many thoughts to get it all into one post any other way.

The trip Jeromy and I went on was really a lot of fun. We did get some great pics of all of the wonderful sights; it was just more fun to post the silly ones. We were gone for a whole week. No kids and some free time to see the sights. The kids had a wonderful time with grandpas and grandmas and aunts, uncles and cousins. The girls got spoiled by gma Becky and gpa Mark, they went to a fancy dinner, got ice cream, new outfits, went out for hot chocolate and watched movies. Then the rest of the week they all got to play with their cousins, make forts, eat ice cream, make a really cool Father's Day cake and went down to Bayview to see some submarines.

While we were on our trip we found out Jeremy’s uncle Tim passed away. This was really a shock to all of us and very sad. Tim had heart trouble and had just had surgery. It seems he must have passed away a day or so after he got home. Mark and Becky have been working all week to pack up his things and set things in order. His memorial will be July 17th. Please keep Mark and Becky in your prayers.

So, Eli doesn’t sleep until after 11pm and then it is hard to wake him up in the morning. Overall I don’t think he is getting enough sleep. This affects everything and though he is generally content, he is not making any new progress that we can see. I have done some research and I am considering trying to get him into a sleep study. Some people with brain injuries do not produce enough Melatonin. I am hoping and praying that something simple like this could make a difference in his daily activities.

We finished school just before the trip and wow, it feels so good to be done. We immediately pulled the school stuff out of the bedroom and we are off to a good start on making it look more like a bedroom than a disaster zone. Goal: by next fall have the schoolroom in the new house set up.

Speaking of the new house, well we have stairs now. The progress is slow, but someday it will be done. The bigger Eli gets the more I realize how nice it will be to have a wheelchair/ hoyer lift accessible home. God knows our needs and I know it will be done in His time.

Thursday is almost over so I better call it quits before this becomes Thoughts on Friday. That just doesn't work.