catching up, yet again...

holy cow! i think i actually forgot i have a blog to update!!
since i wrote last, i've had a new grandbaby! his name is caleb mark hansen, and he is adorable! he was born by emergency c-section (sound familiar??) six weeks early on february 27th. amanda went into pre-eclampsia again, but this time the doctor wasn't going to let her go as long as she did with braeden. it was really scary because caleb was born so early, but he did great! he was only in the nicu for two and a half weeks! and now, he is so big!! he gained weight really fast and if braeden isn't careful, caleb will outgrow him quickly! they are ten months apart and are going to be awesome to watch grow up. amanda is doing really well too. we were all blessed during this adventure.
over the winter/spring, we all were very sick with the flu. we had hospital visits and tamiflu and all other kinds of meds. like one of the e.r. docs said, we had the "flu" flu, not just what people say when their tummy is upset. we thought we were all going to die, it was that bad. but, we survived and are all plugging along now.
i spent some time in the hospital in march with a non-functioning thyroid, and according to the doctors i should have been dead or at least in a coma. it was pretty scary and i am still feeling some effects of it as my thyroid blood levels still aren't normal yet. my thyroid gland finally gave up the ghost and is not functioning at all anymore. feeling better now, but still not back to normal.
well, it's the end of the school year and alex will be graduating on june 3rd. i can't believe it. it doesn't seem so long ago when he was born in germany and we were trying to come home to the states. now he's getting ready to go to college! crazy how time flies. evan is going to be a senior next year and that seems impossible also. not sure how all this happened! emily is doing great out in idaho at school. she'll be home the end of july and may be going back up there in january if she doesn't decide to go somewhere else; we'll have to wait and see. she is having fun and has been able to stay with the same roommates since she started school. they are going to be lifelong friends. adam is working at jim's restaurant until something opens up at the pioneer baking factory. they've told him he's in the next group that will be hired so he's excited about that. he may also be going to college once the job gets settled.
tom is doing okay; he lost his job in march and is still trying to find another. military retirement and unemployment are all that is keeping us going right now; we'd be in a financial mess without those, and blessings from the Lord. hopefully things will work out and we won't have to worry too much longer!
we're looking forward to summer and maybe heading towards the coast since it will be the first summer in recent history that i won't be having surgery! i can't put off the knee replacement in my other leg for long, but not this summer--i want to have some fun!