Nonnie's Spring Visit

Matt's Grandma was here from Arizona for a Spring visit, but the weather was more WIntery Blizzard than Spring. It was wonderful having Nonnie here, and we tried to see her as much as possible for various dinners and gatherings. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of Nonnie with Matt or the kids. I did take some pictures of Nonnie with Matt's cousin Abby's baby, Sam. They are too great not to share.

Tagg's Art Show Contribution

Tagg was one of many student's who had art work choosen to be displayed at the Hastings Public School Art Show. Tagg seemed reluctant to attend the reception for the artists, but we managed to get through the humiliation.

Saylor's Sturh Museum Field Trip

Saylor's class went to the Sturh museum and traveled back in time to the 1800's. They lived in a small home and cooked lunch on a woodfire stove, complete with clean-up in soapy buckets of water. It was amazing to hear the stories of how much work went into just surviving during that time period. We learned how practical the pioneers were with conserving food and supplies, truly fascinating day.

Independence Day

The kids are growing up and gaining more independence. They are at an amazing age, enjoying more things and finding their senses of humor. Yesterday was the first day the two of them rode their bikes to school and home. While I think the overall experience was somewhat disappointing for Tagg, Saylor loved the freedom.

March 2011

It was Tagg's turn to get braces, and once again, it was a family project.
He did great!

NIH

As most of you know, my immune system does not function at full capacity and can cause a variety of interesting issues. While I have been fairly healthy over the last 14 years of living with CVID, in the past year I have struggled with GI problems that have lead me to some significant weight loss. As I began approaching my fabulous physicians, there was a general consensus that GI problems were just part of the natural progression of CVID. My best-friend in Montana, Colleen, found a research study at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda MD that is looking at GI abnormalities in people with CVID. This study is with the most knowledgable experts in the field of CVID, so Colleen and I traveled to Bethesda for the initial screening process.
Colleen was able to get tickets for a White House tour through her congressman, Ben Nelson denied me as I didn't ask 4 months in advance. We were really excited, even though the tour started at 7:30am and we had to pay for a taxi because the metros don't run that early on Saturday, we were convinced we would be at least seeing the first dog, Bo. Sadly, the tour was very disappointing, we were only allowed to see a few select rooms that were roped off and it was self-guided tour. It was frustrating to go to a lot of effort for such a ridiculous tour. But, on Monday when we finished at the NIH we went back to the White House to see Michelle's garden and we saw BO! Look closely at the pictures to see the adult person with BO..

Catching up

In February, Sarah and her family came to celebrate Jude's 2nd birthday. We had a cape themed birthday party, everyone decorated cupcakes and opened gifts. It is fun to watch the kids interact with one another and enjoy being together. We feel so grateful that Sarah and Chris are willing to drive the 6 1/2 hours to get to Hastings.

Giving it a try!

I am trying to add some video footage from our trip, if this works watch out!

Christmas on a Sailboat

We wanted to try a new vacation location this Christmas and choose a sailing adventure. We flew to Belize City and then had to fly on q 14 passenger plane to get to Placencia to get on the sailboat. We really didnt know what to expect, we had a captain and a cook going with us and hoped that they knew what they were doing. The sailboat was a catamaran with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The routine was nice and quiet, after a great breakfast we would sail to a snorkeling destination, hang out and have lunch, snorkel and rest. Then we would sail to our place of mooring for the night, snorkel and swim and have a great meal. It was totally secluded and we saw small islands with wither no people or just a handful. We snorkeled with amazing fish, turtles, stingrays, and a nurse shark. The stars at night we unbelievable.

Thanksgiving Travelers

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Hastings and the Albertson's traveled from all over the United States to be part of the fun. Dad and Donal drove from New Mexico, taking the extra long and scenic route. Luke and Alex flew into Lincoln from Alabama and Sarah and Chris drove the 6 1/2 hours with their 2 kids. We had so much fun being together and not doing much of anything.








Thanksgiving Day, Cathy generously did ALL the cooking and had the meal prepared and waiting at her house!

A decade of a daughter

Saylor turned 10 on November 22, she has turned into a young lady! She requested a dinner of pancakes and bacon and Matt worked very hard on a special ice cream cake with the wonder woman symbol on top. She had her party the previous weekend with a few friends, the pink skull cake, so the night of her birthday was much quieter.