Whooping Cough?!

We think, and hope, that the worst is past and we are on the upward end of a terrible cough. We aren't absolutely positive what it was, but it is highly possible and quite likely that what David, HollyBeth, Zachary, and Lisa all are getting over is indeed the whooping cough. Yuck! I didn't even have it, but I'm telling you that it's not fun stuff! Hopefully we have been as selfish as we intended and thus kept it to ourselves instead of sharing it with any of you, especially since even those of us who didn't have it could have been carriers and not even realized it. We might have been more careful, but we didn't even realize what it might be until it was far too late.

Anyway, that is the most recent news at the Mueller household. More updates to come - sooner or later, but preferably sooner!

Merry Christmas!

To: All our friends and family

From: The MuellerMICE

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Have a wonderful day celebrating the birth of our Lord, and the love that He showed us in His giving of Himself to and for us! May you be reminded of Him as your loved ones show their love for you, and may they see your love for them in the gifts and time that you share with them!

With love,
All the MuellerMICE

Baking Day

Uncle Alan came over and headed up the effort to make chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, rice crispy treats, and Grandma's fudge (for the Carter Christmas stockings). It is always fun to watch and listen as Mom and Uncle Alan (sister/brother) interact and she changes from being "my mother" to being "his sister" for just a little while. It's not just little kids that like to goof off and tease each other; some still do it even into their...shall we say, middle ages! :-)

Too bad you missed out on being a part of the Quality Control Team! :-)

Becca's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Becca!

I hope you've had a wonderful day! Praying that the Lord will bless you exceeding abundantly above all that you could ask or think, particularly in this coming year!

As far as a picture, I don't really seem to have any recent pictures of her, much less good ones. There are, however, some good ones of her and her family on their blog. If you've forgotten that address, just click here. (Also, you can always go to the link along the side that says Jared and Becca, underneath Family and Friends.)

Joe Is Home!

Valerie went and picked Joe up today, and they arrived back home 4:30ish. It is great to have our brother/son back once again! He will get to be home with us until the 10th of January - almost a whole month!

Welcome Home, Joe!

God's Amazing Artwork!

I don't know about you, but I don't think I had ever seen as beautiful artwork anywhere as I saw in one of our windows this morning! Many of us wondered if it was actually real, or if somebody put stickers on the outside of the window or something. The fact is, however, that it was very real. It was God's handiwork! He was reminding me that He controls even the tiniest, little things, even those things which would seem unimportant! God loves us and desires to have our full trust. He wants us to walk in Him, and He wants us to rest in Him. He wants to be our all. Will we let Him? Will we trust Him? Will we entrust our lives and ourselves to Him? He is worthy! He is trust-worthy! He is faithful!

Following are some of the pictures. (No, I won't bore you with all of them - I took almost a hundred, though only sixty-some turned out.) An interesting note - though there were windows right beside it and all along that side of the house, there was only one window that had this wonderful frosty display.

Frost in the window, and yes, it is the real thing!

Look at all the intricate design!

(I hope it works out so that you can see the pictures.)

An interesting angle shot here.

This is just to try and show how much space it covered - it wasn't just a couple little things here and there - it covered the whole bottom of the window and up either side probably most of a foot!

It is quite interesting to try and photograph anything on a window as the camera wants to take a picture through - as opposed to of - the window.

1/12/09 NOTE: We figured out why only this one window had the frost. There was actually some condensation in between the inside glass and the outside one. As this is not how it ought to be, we just had it fixed about a week or two ago. No more frost. :-( (Glad we saw it and got the pictures while we could!)

One Year!

Today is exactly one year since we moved into our new and current home! God has blessed us immensely, and we are forever grateful to Him!

It has been exciting to work on some of the different things to get it exactly how we'd like it. We still have many things yet to do with it, but we have made quite a bit of progress, and plan on continuing to do so.

One Month!

It has now been one month since Grandma and Granddad moved in and began residing with us! All is going well and we are glad to have them close.

LVI

How well do you know your Roman Numerals?!

On Saturday, November 29th, Grandma and Granddad celebrated their wedding aniversary! They have now been married for...

LVI YEARS!

Interesting fact from their wedding: Grandma's veil caught on fire at the reception as she went to throw her bouquet. (For those who were concerned, she was perfectly fine and didn't even notice until the photographer saw it pulled her veil off.)

(If you can't figure it out, try humbling yourself enough to ask your child or younger sibling - they've likely covered it fairly recently in their math books.)

Grandma and Granddad Have Moved In!

You know that room we had specially made for Grandma and Granddad for when they needed to move in with us? Well, now it is officially in use! They used it a few times when they visited us over the past year, and it has been used as a guest room for several others at various times, but now it is fulfilling the purpose for which we designed it.

Welcome, Grandma and Granddad!

Good News Today - NO Surgery required

Hi All,

I went back to the Orthopedic doctor today and we confirmed that there is NO surgery required for my heel or ankle joints... he said he could if I really wanted it, but everything was falling within the acceptable tolerances....I obviously opted for NO surgery. So from this point forward it is just let the body do its healing and do what we can to protect it from any further injury. I am still in a soft cast for another two weeks while we continue to wait for swelling to go down and get back to "normal".

I did have a first the other night....we needed some supplies for David to continue on our projects (he has stepped up and been a great help). So off to Home Depot we went and I took advantage of one of those electric carts...beep beep, watch out for Dad....I must say I felt a little like a Grandpa cruising around the store...then I realized...I am a Grandpa. Oh well, I was thankful for the ride rather than using the crutches.

Time for more elevation and ice. Sandy has a bunch of pictures on her camera, I just haven't been able to download them here yet.

Take care,

Bill

Bill is out of commission for a while

Hi All,

It has been a rather eventful week. We are pretty much ready for Granddad and Grandma to move in on Nov. 8. Their room is ready, the ramp into the house is built and the room in the garage for Granddad is almost done. While Bill and David were finishing up mudding the drywall in the garage room on Tuesday night, Bill (that's me) did a dumb thing. I was standing backwards on the ladder mudding the ceiling joint and I slipped. The fall was about 5 feet straight down landing full force on my left heel. Thankfully I didn't hit anything else on the way down. Sandy was out doing some shopping...but was informed we needed to make a trip to the ER for some x-rays. I was pretty sure that the ankle was not broken, but not so sure about the heel. I was right, the heel has 5,6,7 breaks....they quit counting, let's just call it shattered. The ER doctors were surprised I didn't also break my hip or back, which is common with that type of fall. It is currently in a soft cast, I saw the orthopedic doctor on Thursday and he said so far no surgery but I need a CT scan on Saturday to check the joints and get some clearer pictures. Sandy has been taking pictures (external) so I may be able to post them later, it is a very pretty purple right now. Healing time is estimated to be 3 months (that's a long time)...so for now I have moved into the supervisor role and David is stepping up in the laborer role.

Thanks for praying....pray more for Sandy and the kids....I am not the best patient, I don't do well sitting around doing nothing...thankfully I have a laptop and wireless.

Sandy will be making the trip north next weekend to drive home with the girls since I have been advised not to fly due to potential blood clots.

Bill

Happy Anniversary!

Just poppin' in again to tell Mom and Dad to have a wonderful anniversary.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! May you enjoy a very blessed day, and may you have many more years of wonderful wedding anniversaries!

Thank you for the wonderful example you have set of a God-honoring marriage, among many other things!


~Heidi

It's Valerie's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Valerie! You're a very special sister and I thank the Lord for you!

This is the earliest picture that I have access to while I'm up here, but I thought I show it so that many could see how much she's grown up. :-)

Praise the Lord that she has also done much spiritual growing, and is continuing in that growth day by day. It is such a blessing for me to be able to have this special time to serve alongside of her and to watch her as she tries to share God's love and care with others.

You're a very special young lady, Valerie, and a wonderful little big sister! :-)

~Heidi

My Daddy's Birthday...

Bonjour! ("Hello/Good Morning")

Just popping in to say "Happy Birthday" to my Daddy, and to give something new, little though it may seem, to those who check often and haven't seen anything fresh and hot off the press. Oh, and by the way, "Hello" to any and everybody from both Valerie and me!

Though we aren't at home to share it with him, we are celebrating my Daddy's birthday today.

This is a picture that I really, really like. It's quality is really not that great because of the fact that it was in motion, and there are obsticles in the way of the subject, but it shows rather plainly, in my Daddy's face, that he loves his children and finds great joy in pleasing them whenever it is possible. It is a wonderful picture of my Daddy with one of his seven little girls (or ten children, in case you're concerned that the boys got left out :-) ).

Have a wonderful birthday, Daddy!

~Heidi :-)

P.S. Feel free to leave comments and tell him "Happy Birthday" for yourselves. :-)

Contentment

Here's a sweet picture - Bill ("Papa") & Willie (named after "Papa" Mueller). They were relaxing together after a tiring day last month. Life doesn't get much better!

Added Ventures' First Big Adventure!

On Tuesday, July 30th, we added a gold Chevy Venture to our 'currently owned vehicles' list! Everybody seems to think it is pretty cool, including myself! Then, around a week later, we added another one (this one was red)!

Their first big adventure was to take the family up to Canada.

The red one went around 2,600 miles and crossed Canadian/American borders about 6 times.

The gold one went around 1,250 miles and crossed Canadian/American borders 5 times (the reason this one's numbers are smaller is because it is staying up north with Val and me).

Here is a picture of them on their first major trip.

This post was brought to you by request of one of our faithful readers. :-)

~Heidi

Handing it over........

Alright. Now anything that goes on at home I may hear about, but I won't likely have the fullest version of the story, nor will I have any pictures. So I hand it over to those at home, though I could occasionally add in my two bits worth. :-) Keep coming here for further updates on the goings on at the Mueller household.

If you would like to continue to follow the goings on of Valerie and myself and are not currently receiving e-mail updates from us, please leave a comment. In your comment, please leave your name and your e-mail address. We will not post comments including your e-mail address. I will be keeping up a protected blog which will be by invitation only (your invitation will be received via the e-mail address that you leave in your comment and you will be asked to create a username and password in order to view the blog) and Valerie will be sending out e-mail updates. If you only want one or the other, you can let us know that, but you probably want them both because, being that one of us is doing each, they will be different in both content and perspective.

~Heidi

Back Home Safe and Sound

Hi All,

Just a quick note to say we have returned to the good ole USA safe and sound minus our two temporary Canadians...Valerie and Heidi are settling in and preparing for their time ahead.

I guess I will need to find time to update and add pictures now that Heidi has other things to do.

That will need to wait a couple days...but let it be said that we had a very enjoyable vacation and everyone got to do some things they had never done before.

Bill

Thursday Afternoon~Isle Aux Coudres

You've probably never heard of this place, but we had a lot of fun there. It is an island, in case you weren't sure, so we had to take a ferry over to it. That was a first for everybody in the family, I believe. Then, once we got over there, we went to a place where there are all kinds of extra-ordinary bikes. We rented two of them and spent about two hours riding along the island coast. For some of us, two hours of biking isn't very long, but everybody (except Zach and Lisa, who couldn't reach the pedals) was quite worn out at the end of that time. It doesn't help that we were all sort of tired and worn out anyway and some of us had some rather sore muscles from climbing back up the stairs at Montmorency Falls two nights before. It was extremely enjoyable anyway and was certainly the first time any of us had done it and we likely will never be able to do it again - a chance of a lifetime!

No, the pictures of me driving are not posed, they're the real thing. I got to add to my list of vehicles I've driven. Let me see, riding lawn mowers, bumper cars, and fancy, on-road bikes! Someday, probably next year, I'll add a regular vehicle to that list!

The Quebec flag.This flag is becoming quite the familiar sight nowadays!
The cool bikes!My original group. (We switched groups and seatings multiple times throughout the trip.) The other group before they left.


We stopped for a somewhat posed picture with the Saint Lawrence River in the background before we turned around to head back to the bike place.
Kimberly did get to try it as well, but she and Dad both agree she's not quite ready to be on the roads just yet.David and HB got to try their hands at driving too - but only in the parking lot.

~Heidi

Thusday Morning

Thursday morning many of the others slept in a bit, while Dad, Mom, Val, and I went out grocery shopping. By the time we got back, we weren't sure that we had that much room in our cupboards, but it ended up fitting just right.

~Heidi

Wednesday Evening Service

Joe gave the challenge from Psalm 81:10 and Jean Philippe translated it into French for those who showed up (it ended up being just him and his mother - who speaks only French - that made it out that night). They did pretty well. It was a good experience for both of them. :-)

No pictures - Sorry.



~Heidi

Monday-Wednesday~Working at the church

On Monday, the ladies helped do the regular cleaning around the church (vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, etc.), the men worked on the apartment, and the children enjoyed being with other kids their age and had lots of play time.

Here I am vacuuming, obviously. :-)

On Tuesday, the men and children continued what they had been doing on Monday, while the ladies put up a few bookshelves and loaded them. (No, we did not organize them in that time. That is something that Pastor Teachout will need to do if he wants to ever know what he has and where it's at. These books were actually all given to him when his uncle had to move and couldn't take his library with him.)

On Wednesday, the Teachouts left for some meetings they had in Maine. The ladies went out shopping for kitchen stuff (minus the food) and anything else we may have forgotten for Valerie and me and our apartment (and we got a mini view of Quebec city on, or rather out, of the way :-) ). While we were away, the guys got to "dig in" on re-organizing the basement from the workroom it had been to an open area where the kids can play and it can be used for classes and whatever else it may be needed for.

Some "before and after" pictures.

The main section of the basement, the workroom.

BeforeAfter

The church kitchen and temporary laundry room.

Before

After

This was where we laid out our breakfast options at the beginning of our stay, but it really is to be the schoolroom.

Before
And After


Oh, and here is a picture of all the kitchen stuff we got, all unpackaged and ready to be washed. No, we are not that messy - like ever - only when we get a bunch of new stuff that needs cleaning and we have to stop to get ready for the Wednesday evening service!

~Heidi

Tuesday Evening~Montmorency Falls

Tuesday evening, Pastor Teachout and the kids took our family to see the Montmorency Falls. These falls are actually about 90 ft taller than the Niagara Falls, but they are not as wide across, which is why they're not as well known, I'd assume. They were just beautiful, and you can get even closer to them than we did to the Niagara Falls. There is a bridge that you can walk right over top and there are lots of stairs going down really close to the base of the falls. Daddy, Zach, and Lisa went down a little bit of the way, but Joe, myself, Kim, David, and HB went almost as far down as you could go (there was a little bit more, but there was about 6 inches of water covering it). We put our wonderful Maid of the Mist souvenir ponchos back on and we still got drenched. The walk back up, however, was not nearly so nice as the walk down. It is a long way back up those stairs! It was quite a chilly night and Pastor Teachout got us all some hot chocolate, for which we were all very grateful.

Here are some photos!

You can sort of see the bridge that goes right over top.Here are some of the sights you can see looking down on it from the bridge.

One side, looking down the bigger drop of the falls.The other side, looking at the smaller drop of the falls.
I was just amazed at the difference between the almost glassy water and then, all of the sudden, it becomes this foam!




This is a picture of the stairs that we went down. We went from the pavilion/gazebo thing (toward the top of the picture) all the way down to that bigger flat spot at the very bottom and center of this picture.This was taken on our way back up.

~Heidi