Christmas Letter Update

Hi, all. It's Katie here. I just wanted to thank all of you for your tremendous love, prayers, and support. Below is a Christmas letter update I sent out to friends and family and wanted to include all of you who have been praying for me.
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Hello Dearest Friends and Family,

Wow! What a year! I’ll have to say I’m glad to have it over with, but there were so many great things that happened. We began the year with the news of our upcoming child that was due in July. What fun news to share with the girls. At the time of the announcement Tayler was 6 and Aubree 4. When the news was first announced to the girls, Aubree immediately asked, “Can I hold the baby standing up?” That is so her! I actually seemed to be healthier this pregnancy than for the girls. Those of you who know me well know that I spend most of my pregnancies with my head in the toilet.

It was good that I felt better this pregnancy because we headed to Disney World in February! What a vacation! I’ll never forget it and I hope the girls don’t either. We stayed at a Disney Resort, and hit Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom all multiple times. I believe the girls rode every roller coaster they were allowed to ride. Some of the roller coasters have a 40” requirement. Since Aubree is 39” I had her wear shoes with a 1.5” thick heal. It worked to get her on all but once. There were a few roller coasters only Dave and Tayler were allowed to go on together, the Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Epcot, Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, and Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom. To hear more about our amazing trip, see photos, and get recommendations for your own trip to Disney World, check out our blog at burstingblooms.blogspot.com.

Something else that kept us busy last winter was taekwondo. Both the girls took classes here in Ankeny. (There are cute pictures of this on the blog as well). They both enjoyed these winter outings, broke boards, and advanced in belt levels. They also took basketball last winter but have decided to bypass it this year. We currently have too much going on to push them into it! After being at school all week, Tayler likes her Saturday mornings at home. This is hard for her dad and me to understand. J

This last summer Aubree played softball. Tayler took the year off. We spent Saturday mornings in May and June watching Aubree. Tayler and I, and sometimes Tayler and Grandma Sue, would play catch for thirty minutes to try and see how many we could catch in a row. Tayler’s record is over 100 in a row!

A yearly highlight for us is always Okoboji. My Grandma Janice takes the entire family each year. This year the youngest was only three days old---our own little Sawyer Jackson, born July 8th. Aubree made her first Okoboji trip at only 10 days and now Sawyer tops her at 3 days old! As you can tell, Okoboji is a family priority. I actually came home from the hospital on Wednesday and Dave and the girls took off for Okoboji on Friday morning. I started crying as soon as they went out the door and had to call Dave to turn around and come back and get us! Sawyer and I stayed in the room most of the vacation, but I’m so glad I went. I still got to spend time with the family and take the girls to the amusement park. I can still say I’ve never missed a summer!

Within a couple days of returning home, the remainder of the year took a gigantic nose dive. I began having horrible headaches a week after Sawyer was born. I’ve always struggled with headaches, but this was much worse. On Thursday evening, July 17th, Dave took me to the emergency room. While in the emergency room I slipped into a coma after which the Dr. ordered another CT scan that revealed massive brain bleeding. They immediately called in a neurologist who agreed that she needed to do immediate brain surgery to relieve the pressure growing in my head. The surgery involved removing a piece of my skull to allow the bleeding and pressure to escape. The really scary thing was that no medical professionals thought the surgery would keep me alive and if it did I would probably never wake out of the coma. Well, the good news is I came through the surgery and as far as I can tell, I’m not in a coma anymore.

This is where I would like to pause and thank God for healing me. The surgeons working with me all thought I wouldn’t make it, but God brought me through. The previous year I had been studying a lot about God’s desire for his supernatural intervention in our lives. One thing Dave and I have come to believe is God’s promises for healing. A few verses that have been committed to memory are:

Psalm 103:1-5 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!(1)
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits(2)
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,(3)
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,(4)
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.(5)

The faith and belief for a miracle was put on Dave since I was in a coma. The elders of Two Rivers Church, as well as countless others, prayed over me and for me for God’s miraculous intervention believing that it would happen. God acted on my behalf, in the name of Jesus Christ, and healed me. As I improved throughout the day the nurses were ecstatic and excitedly informed my family and friends of my progress. They told them, “This shouldn’t be happening.” Praise God! I have no doubt that without his intervention I would not be here today.

One of my main purposes for this letter is to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. We truly love you! Since the beginning of the accident, so many people contacted Dave to see what they could do. In case you aren’t aware, I will throw out a few examples. I won’t mention names because I don’t want to leave anyone out. I had a relative that sent a huge treasure chest of dress up jewelry for the girls. I had a friend who dropped off the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted to my hospital room. A still unknown individual dropped off brand new backpacks for the girls packed with their school supplies. (I would love to know who you are! Please, please tell.:) Different friends took the girls swimming, to the Science Center, to the Fair, and to the zoo. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Summer is a time of year a mother desperately wants to do these things for her kids, and I was unable. They were hurting so much with their mom in the hospital and my dear family and friends stepped in to love them. After school started two other friends became responsible to make sure the girls made it safely to and from school each day. We had family move in for months to take over primary care of my children, including my brand new baby! Most of us know how much work new babies are. We love you all!

Thank you for helping my family care for the kids. This allowed so much more time for Dave and my mom to be with me at the hospital. How thoughtful of you! Thank you so much for making that possible. We needed it so badly, and the kids needed it as well. We are eternally grateful to you. God bless you!

Another incredible blessing has been the meals. We have had supper brought every other night since I went in the hospital in July all the way to the middle of December. Thank you ladies of Two Rivers Church for organizing all of this. Also Coldwell Banker and the Board of Realtors distributed huge segments of these dinners. I knew my co-workers at Coldwell Banker would step up to take care of my family, but I was completely taken aback by all that was given by the real estate community. Tons of agents from other offices, as well as my own, brought us meals and covered my open houses and my brother Kyle’s so he could be with me. I am so thankful to work with the Realtors I do. What an awesome bunch! You are such a loving group of people! Thank you!

We have also received countless gift cards to help with the extra financial burden. These have arrived out of the blue and have been so appreciated. Thank you so much for your generosity in this area as well. My desire was to send out individual cards thanking everyone. I apologize I have been unable to get that done. Please know we are so extremely grateful for your generosity!

I’d like to thank the hospital workers who lovingly cared for me day after day, the hospital and outpatient therapists who encouraged me along, and the friends and family who would spend the night in the hospital with me. I spent two months in the hospital but not one night alone. My mother took up residence at the hospital after I went in. Thank you all who gave her a rest. She rarely needed to spend the night because there was always someone there to watch over me. Thank you so much for giving up your time with your family to watch over me and remove that burden from my family. Thank you to my countless visitors who came to check up on me because they care. I will forever be grateful.

There are so many people to be grateful to for so much. If I didn’t mention specifically what you did for me, I am sorry. It does mean so much to me, but I did have a brain aneurism. I can’t remember it all. J I wanted to save this final thank you for the end. Thank you my dear friends and family for all your prayers in the name of Jesus! They have brought me to where I am and will continue to bring healing to me. I know when people get better it’s easy to stop praying because new issues arise. I’d like to let you know that I still covet your prayers. The convoluted arteries in the neck that caused this to happen are improving but they are still dissected. Please pray that those straighten out and become normal. Also, my vision in one eye is still blurry. I believe God will completely heal me. Please join me in believing prayer. Thank you!

In conclusion, my family is doing well. I am so thankful for each one of them. I think a near death experience causes you to appreciate loved ones so much more! Davey is enjoying the band and speaking at Two Rivers, hunting, his job at Life Brokers, and his family. Tayler is loving school this year and is great at everything she tries. Art is her favorite subject. She is extremely tender hearted toward everyone and everything. Aubree is enjoying her first year of all day school, kindergarten. She is young for her grade but doing so well. Her teacher had nothing but good things to say at conferences and she looks forward to school each day. She is also currently involved in gymnastics. She does great and they keep moving her up. Sawyer is now almost six months old. What a joy! His smile lights up the room. I suppose it helps that he is now sleeping through the night. I am finally done with therapy and headed back to work. I’m so excited to get back to life as I remember it. I really miss selling real estate.

May God bless you all our dear friends and family! We will be praying God’s blessings upon you this year. If there is ever anything we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. We love you all and would love to show you love as you have showed us. Have a great 2009!