2008 Christmas Letter!~

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Thanksgiving and such...

Well, I figured it had been a while since we've posted an update or anything. Like most of you, we have been very busy celebrating and getting ready for the holidays! Over Thanksgiving, we were able to go to visit Jeremy's family in Milwaukee for a long weekend. During this time, we celebrated thanksgiving, Christmas and our beautiful niece Emily's 1st birthday!~ Needless to say, it was a packed weekend. :) It was wonderful for us to spend time with family and talk, play games, etc. Unfortunately, I had a serious relapse of my chronic fatigue and it left me in bed for over 24 hours. Thankfully, I have since made improvements. I am learning more and more what my limitations are and sometimes I certainly push myself more than the illness will allow... and that's when i "crash". Overall, it was a lovely time.
Since then we have been working, enjoying actually having time with one another due to the Volleyball season being over for Jeremy and visiting a few more churches. We have narrowed it down to two churches...one in Anoka and one in Elk River. We want to attend each one a few more times before we make our decision but I do believe the doctrine is sound and the preaching good at either one.
My Designs by Kate business has obviously slowed down quite a bit as a result of me not having an indoor studio currently. However, without pursuing any sessions, I have had two people contact me and just completed one session today in Plymouth and will be doing a sports session later this month. I was also privileged to speak in several Economics classes about Entrepreneurship and enjoyed that experience greatly!
I wanted to say another thank you to everyone who prayed for us during the theft situation. Things are finally pretty much all wrapped up regarding the money being refunded, etc. There are no leads as to catching the suspects but I have forgiven and am trying to regain a general sense of security. The whole circumstance was one I wouldn't wish anyone to go through but know that it is unfortunately fairly common.
In all, we are starting to adjust to our new jobs, home, and city... and looking forward to a few days off during Christmas and New Years to spend with family. I'll post a few pics of the weekend at the wenzel's over thanksgiving! More to come later....

Love in Christ and Happy Holidays,

J & K

Owen in his sweater that I bought him for $2 at Target b/c it was hilarious. He wore it for all of about 3 hours. :) Now it's a chew toy.



Jeremy w/ Emily: (this pictures makes my heart melt!)

Is she not adorable? :)

Bathtime!

Emily opening gifts:

Emily and Kate:

Siblings: :)

the girls!

The whole gang...

Update on the Theft

Hello friends! It has been one week since the theft occurred and things are MUCH better. Since Friday, I really started to sense the peace of the Lord and He gave me perspective and endurance. Thank you for your prayers because I certainly felt them! :)
Today we finally got access to our checking account again and we are still waiting for new credit cards to come. I really didn't realize how much we depend on money to survive...I mean, I couldn't do ANYTHING without my cards or access to any money... we are so in need of those resources to get through our day-to-day lives and it is something that is humbling and forced me to rely more on God.
The police are not acting too quickly to solve this case but there may be some footage of the women as they attempted to use my card at Holiday and Exxon Gas Stations in the area. Please do continue to pray for protection against identity theft and for continued peace.

Thanks again and know that we love you!!!

What Happened....

I wanted to first thank all of you for your prayers and kind e-mails! Many of you asked exactly how this happened so I wanted to let you know...
Yesterday, I was working my job as Office Manager at that Chiropractic and Massage Center in Elk River and 4 woman walked in. This was at the exact same time that I had 3 patients signing in and 2 patients trying to check out and the phones were ringing. I had never seen these woman before but they seemed to be 3 daughters and a mom. They asked about 15 questions regarding our clinic and insurance. Apparently, one of them snuck around to the backroom where we keep our purses, etc. Although there were 1 or 2 other purses, mine was the only one that was looked through and my license, credit cards, $50 cash and debit card were stolen. Thankfully, one of our patients noticed this woman walk out of the back office and informed me as soon as they had left. By the time I checked my purse, they were gone. Immediately, I called the banks and credit card companies but within 10 minutes they had already spent $1,000 from my checking account on a laptop at Office Max which in about 4 blocks away. There we no camera's and no one saw what they were driving although many of us were able to give a description.
So in a few minutes I am leaving to go back to the Police Station to pick up my filed report, to the DMV to get a new License and to the banks to get new accounts and cards opened.
I feel very violated, scared and mad. I looked at these woman in the eyes and helped answer what I thought were their sincere question and concerns. I gave them my undivided attention and showed care. I feel fearful b/c they have my license and so Identity Theft is a real possibility. They have my address, date of birth, full name and much more. Please pray for things here on out to go smoothly. Please pray for me to experience peace and to not be afraid.

Thank you dear friends and family.

Kate

Owen!

We have a new addition to our family... Owen. He is our adorable puppy! He is just about 3 months old and is half yellow lab and half australian shepherd! We have had him for over 2 weeks now and he is just adorable! Puppies are LOTS of work but there are great rewards too! Here are a few pics of our little Owen. :)

Our First House!!!

Well, I am finally posting pictures of our house!! Yay! :) We are truly so blessed that the Lord provided this home. Although foreclosures are sad- for us it was amazing! We were able to purchase a new construction foreclosed home for much less than it is worth! Lord willing, we will be in this home for a long time! Every time I drive up the driveway, I thank God for this undeserved and very much appreciated house!



The Front Door and Stairway to upstairs:

Living Room and Backyard View...

Living Room and part of Kitchen Windows...

Kitchen...

Our Bedroom!!! (this is my favorite room!)





Office/Library: Huge Basement to finish...currently our workout room...




There you go! There are more rooms but i didn't want to bore you with the mud room and bathrooms! :)

We are completely blessed. We want to honor God with this house every way we can.

October Update!

Hello friends! How are you? Are you enjoying the beautiful fall leaves as much as I am? God's glory is really shown through His creation and fall truly exemplifies it! I have been completely slacking in my "blog duties". I think it's OK b/c I'm not sure anyone noticed. ;) I have been super busy working my job as an Office Manager, working on the Designs by Kate business and going to Jeremy's Volleyball games. We also have had friends visit, Jeremy's parents were here last weekend and my mom comes this weekend! Needless to say, its been pretty crazy. As far as my job goes- I like it sometimes but the hours are really not great. I work afternoons and into the evenings so I usually don't get home until 7 or 8 at night. Regarding Designs by Kate, I have had one Senior Portrait session and have a Children's session tomorrow afternoon. It has been wonderful so far! I really have a passion for photography and then doing various art designs with the portraits. It is fun to enjoy what you are doing and to be your own boss!! I could definitely get used to that! Here are a couple pictures from my first Senior Portrait Session...

She hasn't seen them yet but I will deliver the proofs and ordering packet Sunday night and hope that her and her family love them! I have a lot to learn but I am excited to do so! Other than that, Jeremy has been working 12+ hour days at school teaching and coaching. It is certainly an exhausting job but I think he enjoys it for the most part. We are both looking forward to seeing one another more after the Volleyball season is over. The girls had a great win last week and I have enjoyed being a part of their lives as well. Tomorrow night Jeremy and I are going to the Homecoming Football game. The girl above, of whom I took the Senior Portraits for, is the Homecoming Queen and the captain of the VB team so that is exciting!

In other news, we could still use some definite prayer about finding a church home. We still have not found one that we just love and feels like the right fit so we will keep looking. We both appreciate our beloved church in La Crosse even more now.

Lastly, I thought I'd give a brief health update since it has been awhile and a few people have asked. It has been a year since the brain tumor scare and since I was off of work on bed-rest for three months. I have improved significantly, although am not my normal self and still require an immense amount of sleep. I have to keep reminding myself to slow down because when I have a good day I do too much and then wear myself out. But, praise the LORD I am at about 75% of my normal capacity. I was at about 30% a year ago so I really cannot complain. God has indeed been faithful. I have renewed hope that we can have children and that I can live a pretty normal life. I will probably always require a lot of sleep but if I can function ok, then I am content. Please know that I do need your CONTINUED prayers regarding my health and that it is those prayers that helped both Jeremy and myself get through the last year.

Well, I should get going but stay tuned b/c I will be posting pictures of our house VERY soon! :)

God Bless,
Kate (and Jeremy)