Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Just a huge update. For those who haven't heard. Kyle lost his job last week, so we're job hunting. We're ok right now, financially and mentally, but niether of those will last forever. :) So pray for us. We're looking into some things and feel hopeful that miraculously this was a push in the right direction, but it's still hard. More updates to come.
This is just a test to see how easy it is to post pics from our new computer. It worked pretty good, but it's really hard to see the picture files, they're pretty small. We need to get on top of organizing our pics better. I'm terrified of this computer being stolen and losing all of them! Any advice or personal experience on a flickr account?Monday, April 21, 2008
Our Earth Day
We had a special day as a family and as a community on Saturday. We teamed up with Lily's school and the neighborhood around our house to clean up the 6th Ave Business District. We were assigned a 2 block radius and headed out wearing orange vests, gloves, (one size fit us all) and carrying garbage bags. The kids did so great for about the first 45 minutes. I guess it was a reasonable amount of time to expect of them, it was raining/hailing/snowing! Fussing about being wet, cold and tired, we rallied on and finshed our area and headed back to a neighborhood church for hot dogs and prizes ... I won a $20 gift card to a local record store!
After lunch and a visit from the Tacoma Fire Department, we headed out to be a part of the 6th ave shop hop. An event where you visit local business and receive stamps in your passport. It was really fun, we pretty much walked the whole ave, (I'm still sore!) and the kids had a blast getting stamps. We'll be eligible for prizes from that too, but we're still waiting to hear. We mostly just enjoyed talking with some business owners and seeing inside of some of the stores, we've never made it in to.
After lunch and a visit from the Tacoma Fire Department, we headed out to be a part of the 6th ave shop hop. An event where you visit local business and receive stamps in your passport. It was really fun, we pretty much walked the whole ave, (I'm still sore!) and the kids had a blast getting stamps. We'll be eligible for prizes from that too, but we're still waiting to hear. We mostly just enjoyed talking with some business owners and seeing inside of some of the stores, we've never made it in to.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Farmers Market
Yippie!!! The Tacoma farmers market is coming to our street! We are so excited and happy about this, what a fun new dimension to the neighborhood we already love so much!
Tacoma farmers markets: Dome District ends, new one for Sixth Avenue
KELLY KEARSLEY; kelly.kearsley@thenewstribune.com
Published: April 10th, 2008 08:48 AM Updated: April 10th, 2008 06:58 AM
A farmers market is scheduled to open in the Sixth Avenue area of Tacoma this summer. Meanwhile, the farmers market held Tuesday evenings near the Tacoma Dome won’t be happening this year.
Richard Hines, board president of Tacoma Farmers Markets, said Wednesday that the Dome District market wasn’t getting enough shoppers.
“There wasn’t the response from the commuters that we thought we’d have,” Hines said, referring to the potential for customers from the nearby bus and Sounder stations.
But he has a good feeling about the Sixth Avenue market, scheduled to open in July and expected to run on Tuesday afternoons.
The Tacoma Farmers Market, the group responsible for the Broadway Farmers Market on Thursdays in downtown Tacoma, has joined forces with the Proctor Farmers Market.
The partnership – the Federation of Tacoma Farmers Markets – aims to build a culture of farmers markets in the city and create new ones.
The Sixth Avenue market is its first project. The federation is still gathering information about what kind of farmers market the neighborhood might want.
Each market has a different feel.
For example, the Broadway market caters to people working in downtown Tacoma. It has more craft vendors and prepared foods.
The Proctor market, Hines said, was developed to focus more on local produce – the idea that people go to the Saturday market prepared to shop for fruits and vegetables for the week.
“We don’t know if the vendors will be the same,” Hines said. “We want to reach out and give an opportunity to existing vendors, but depending on what the neighborhood wants and supports it might be a different mix altogether.”
To that end, market organizers have planned a community meeting to discuss their plans for Sixth Avenue and gather input from residents.
It’s scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. April 28 at the Epworth LeSourd United Methodist Church at 710 S. Anderson Street.
John Loesch, Sixth Avenue Business District Association president, said local merchants are excited about the market.
That includes, Loesch, who, as the owner of the Sixth Avenue Neighborhood Market, could see the farmers market as competition.
Instead, he plans to buy produce from the vendors and sell it at his store.
“The more varied business we bring to the area, the better off we are in drawing people to the area,” Loesch said. “Even having the grocery store, I think this is one of the best things to happen for the district in a lot of different ways.”
John Toler, an assistant manager at Walden Mortgage and another member of the business association, said the farmers market is also trying to work with nearby restaurants to encourage them to use its produce.
Details are still being worked on, but the market will likely be located on Pine Street, between Sixth Avenue and North Seventh Street, said Toler, who’s been coordinating the creation of the market on behalf of the business district.
The area’s other farmers markets are set to open soon.
The Proctor market is scheduled to open April 26, to be followed by the Broadway market May 15.
Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573
Tacoma farmers markets: Dome District ends, new one for Sixth Avenue
KELLY KEARSLEY; kelly.kearsley@thenewstribune.com
Published: April 10th, 2008 08:48 AM Updated: April 10th, 2008 06:58 AM
A farmers market is scheduled to open in the Sixth Avenue area of Tacoma this summer. Meanwhile, the farmers market held Tuesday evenings near the Tacoma Dome won’t be happening this year.
Richard Hines, board president of Tacoma Farmers Markets, said Wednesday that the Dome District market wasn’t getting enough shoppers.
“There wasn’t the response from the commuters that we thought we’d have,” Hines said, referring to the potential for customers from the nearby bus and Sounder stations.
But he has a good feeling about the Sixth Avenue market, scheduled to open in July and expected to run on Tuesday afternoons.
The Tacoma Farmers Market, the group responsible for the Broadway Farmers Market on Thursdays in downtown Tacoma, has joined forces with the Proctor Farmers Market.
The partnership – the Federation of Tacoma Farmers Markets – aims to build a culture of farmers markets in the city and create new ones.
The Sixth Avenue market is its first project. The federation is still gathering information about what kind of farmers market the neighborhood might want.
Each market has a different feel.
For example, the Broadway market caters to people working in downtown Tacoma. It has more craft vendors and prepared foods.
The Proctor market, Hines said, was developed to focus more on local produce – the idea that people go to the Saturday market prepared to shop for fruits and vegetables for the week.
“We don’t know if the vendors will be the same,” Hines said. “We want to reach out and give an opportunity to existing vendors, but depending on what the neighborhood wants and supports it might be a different mix altogether.”
To that end, market organizers have planned a community meeting to discuss their plans for Sixth Avenue and gather input from residents.
It’s scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. April 28 at the Epworth LeSourd United Methodist Church at 710 S. Anderson Street.
John Loesch, Sixth Avenue Business District Association president, said local merchants are excited about the market.
That includes, Loesch, who, as the owner of the Sixth Avenue Neighborhood Market, could see the farmers market as competition.
Instead, he plans to buy produce from the vendors and sell it at his store.
“The more varied business we bring to the area, the better off we are in drawing people to the area,” Loesch said. “Even having the grocery store, I think this is one of the best things to happen for the district in a lot of different ways.”
John Toler, an assistant manager at Walden Mortgage and another member of the business association, said the farmers market is also trying to work with nearby restaurants to encourage them to use its produce.
Details are still being worked on, but the market will likely be located on Pine Street, between Sixth Avenue and North Seventh Street, said Toler, who’s been coordinating the creation of the market on behalf of the business district.
The area’s other farmers markets are set to open soon.
The Proctor market is scheduled to open April 26, to be followed by the Broadway market May 15.
Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
we are family
well i'm not quite with it on pictures yet, but another thank you has been on my mind and i just wanted to share what a blessing we've been experiencing. while i was in the hospital, kyle surprised me with organizing a work party at our house to switch our bedroom with the kids. people came out of the woodwork and worked so hard to pack up our two rooms, paint, clean and haul everything up and down the stairs. (kyle and i had been planning to do all that work the weekend i got sick and it became even more crucial because i would have had such a hard time going up and down those stairs when i first came home - even still now!) people brought food, they fixed and reupholstered our dining room chairs, disassembled and reassembled our beds and tons and tons of other big and small projects! i have some pictures on my camara that give me ideas, but i know not everyone is on there. how do i even begin to say thank you? so if you're reading this, please know that i am so thankful for my huge extended family and i can't wait to get to see how i'm able to bless you back. i love you guys! i also want to say a huge thank you to my mother in law. everyday i look around and see the things that i know you orchestrated and i know you did. what would i do without you? how do i even begin to say thank you? i love you, you're the best!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Thank you, Thank you!
So I finally am getting myself to the computer to just start all the thank yous I want to get out there. It's nearly been a month since I've really felt like myself and it is a surreal feeling. I wanted to just post some of the emails that my sister in law sent out as updates if anyone wants to hear more of the details, one email is from our church family, Soma and one is from Katie and the rest are from Karly. Hopefully they'll make sense in the order they're in. Maybe the only piece missing is that on Sunday the 25th I had to go into emergency surgery where they removed one ovary, one fallopian tube and my appendix. All of this really came out of nowhere, it was a shock to me to become so sick so suddenly, but I am thankful to God for healing me and taking care of me through all this. I am also so thankful for the amazing ppeople in my life who cared for me and for my family and for my house. There is so much more to post that I can't wait to get out there. So here are the emails.
2/24
Hi family,I have good news about Jamie. She doing better today: Her heart rate has come down a lot and she’s able to maintain a good blood pressure without the medication helping her. They figured out what bacteria is causing the infection so they are treating her with all the right antibiotics. They are letting her have tiny sips of water so she’s the most excited about that J One thing we can keep praying for though, is her breathing is difficult because of all the fluid they had to give her yesterday and because of the infection. Please pray that God would protect her lungs and keep her strong so she that she won’t require a breathing machine for support. She basically needs to ride out this time while her body and the antibiotics fight the infection. The fact that she’s already doing better today is a really good sign. Please pray that she won’t have to have surgery for the abcess and that it will heal with the antibiotics alone. And pray for her rest, ICU’s are noisy places where it’s hard to get even an hour of uninterrupted sleep.
That being said, Mom said that it meant soooo much to her that people came and saw her yesterday so I would encourage you to visit her if you like. You won’t be able to stay long but I know it will cheer her up. She’s at Tacoma General real close to their house. Oh, and don’t bring flowers b/c they don’t let you have them in the room.
Okay, I’ll send another email when I get another report!
2/25
Soma Family,We wanted to make you aware of a situation with the Klevjers that needs your immediate prayers.Jamie Klevjer went in to emergency surgery late Sunday night in to earlier Monday morning due to sepsis (infection) in the body. Currently she is still running a high fever due to the infection and has been intubated because her body stopped breathing on its own.We are asking that you please withhold from trying to contact Kyle at this time. He and the kids are being cared for by some of our Soma family and all of their immediate needs are being provided. He has expressed his gratitude and how beautifully overwhelmed he has been from how much they have been loved by the Soma family in this time.Here is what you CAN be doing for them:
Pray for Jamie that she would recover from the infection, the fever to subside and that her body would begin to breathe on its own
Pray for Kyle in this time of anxiousness and fear for his wife's health and safety
Pray for the doctors and nurses that they would be given the insight and wisdom as to how best care for Jamie
Pray!
After mid-day tomorrow you are more than welcome to visit Jamie at Tacoma General hospital. You first need to call the ICU Nurses Station ahead of time to find out when they are accepting visitors... please do not just show up.Also, Jayne Vanderstelt is arranging getting ready made freezer meals stocked for them by this Thursday (when Jamie is hopefully expected to return home). If you are interested in providing a meal for the family, please contact Jayne as soon as possible at 253-203-5937.You may also contact Jayne for any questions you may have
2/26
Thank you all so much for your prayers, I know they are being heard.
Over the night Jamie’s fever began to come down and her heart rate and blood pressure remained stable. This morning they did an X-ray and the doctors decided she was ready to be taken off the ventilator…YAY! So when I was in the middle of talking with Kyle he had to get off the phone b/c they were ready to pull the tube. She had been very anxious and miserable with that in and I’m sure she will be feeling much better with that out.
So all of this is really good news and I know God is working in Jamie’s body to heal her. She’s not totally out of the woods because they did see some infection in her uterus that needs to heal as well as the infection in her blood. So please continue to pray for that. The amazing thing is that the doctors are now saying that Jamie is getting better quicker than they had expected. So praise God for that!
Thanks, everyone, for your encouraging emails and prayers! I’m so blessed to have such wonderful, loving friends!
2/27
Hi everyone,
The latest on Jamie is that she was taken off the ventilator yesterday and moved out of ICU. Both are good signs that she is improving. Now what she could really use is some good rest. Her pain medication is making her have nightmares that keep her from sleeping and she has a difficult time getting comfortable, as you can imagine. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors to be able to get her on medication that will manage her pain (which is still significant) and not have such strong side effects. Please continue to pray for Kyle and the kids, as well.
I'll be sure to send out more updates as I get them.
Much love, Katie
2/27
Thanks Kate for sending that out.
I talked to Kyle this morning and he said she’s doing okay. She’s still pretty groggy and sleep deprived. The physical therapist was in this morning to work with her to try and build her strength up again. The doctors are saying she will hopefully be able to go home on Saturday or Sunday. But it couldn’t hurt to pray for sooner! And one last thing. Before they were saying that she would probably have to go home with an IV and continue to receive IV antibiotics but now they don’t think that will be necessary. Let’s all pray that she won’t have to. That will be one less thing to deal with and pay for!
Thanks family for all your prayers!
2/28
Hey friends and family!
Jamie is making progress and actually was able to get out of bed today for a shower! YAY! So that helps a lot, needless to say J She slept a little better last night and today got moved back to a private room.
Things to pray for are that she will be able to get her NG tube (a tube that is in her stomach) taken out so she can begin eating. Once she can keep food down, then they can wean her off of the IV pain medicine and switch her to an oral pain pill. Both of these steps need to happen before she’ll be ready to go home.
Keep up the prayers everyone!
3/3
Jamie is going home today!!! Yay! Kyle sent me a text message this morning with the good news…Thank you all for your prayers and support through this difficult time! We have the MOST amazing family, I get overwhelmed when I think about it! Mom, Derek, Ross and company got the kids’ room moved upstairs and Jamie and Kyle’s room moved downstairs and it’s all set up for her to come home. That will be sooo much better for her not to have to climb those steep stairs while she’s still recovering.
Please continue to pray for her recovery to progress quickly and without complications. I imagine it will take a while before she’s fully back to herself again. Their church has stocked their freezer already with dinners so that is just fabulous! Can you feel the love? J
I don’t know of any other needs at this time, but if I hear of anything I will pass it along. Thank you all for your inquiries into how you can help them. They truly feel blessed and loved by you all.
So praise God! Jamies is going home!!!!
2/24
Hi family,I have good news about Jamie. She doing better today: Her heart rate has come down a lot and she’s able to maintain a good blood pressure without the medication helping her. They figured out what bacteria is causing the infection so they are treating her with all the right antibiotics. They are letting her have tiny sips of water so she’s the most excited about that J One thing we can keep praying for though, is her breathing is difficult because of all the fluid they had to give her yesterday and because of the infection. Please pray that God would protect her lungs and keep her strong so she that she won’t require a breathing machine for support. She basically needs to ride out this time while her body and the antibiotics fight the infection. The fact that she’s already doing better today is a really good sign. Please pray that she won’t have to have surgery for the abcess and that it will heal with the antibiotics alone. And pray for her rest, ICU’s are noisy places where it’s hard to get even an hour of uninterrupted sleep.
That being said, Mom said that it meant soooo much to her that people came and saw her yesterday so I would encourage you to visit her if you like. You won’t be able to stay long but I know it will cheer her up. She’s at Tacoma General real close to their house. Oh, and don’t bring flowers b/c they don’t let you have them in the room.
Okay, I’ll send another email when I get another report!
2/25
Soma Family,We wanted to make you aware of a situation with the Klevjers that needs your immediate prayers.Jamie Klevjer went in to emergency surgery late Sunday night in to earlier Monday morning due to sepsis (infection) in the body. Currently she is still running a high fever due to the infection and has been intubated because her body stopped breathing on its own.We are asking that you please withhold from trying to contact Kyle at this time. He and the kids are being cared for by some of our Soma family and all of their immediate needs are being provided. He has expressed his gratitude and how beautifully overwhelmed he has been from how much they have been loved by the Soma family in this time.Here is what you CAN be doing for them:
Pray for Jamie that she would recover from the infection, the fever to subside and that her body would begin to breathe on its own
Pray for Kyle in this time of anxiousness and fear for his wife's health and safety
Pray for the doctors and nurses that they would be given the insight and wisdom as to how best care for Jamie
Pray!
After mid-day tomorrow you are more than welcome to visit Jamie at Tacoma General hospital. You first need to call the ICU Nurses Station ahead of time to find out when they are accepting visitors... please do not just show up.Also, Jayne Vanderstelt is arranging getting ready made freezer meals stocked for them by this Thursday (when Jamie is hopefully expected to return home). If you are interested in providing a meal for the family, please contact Jayne as soon as possible at 253-203-5937.You may also contact Jayne for any questions you may have
2/26
Thank you all so much for your prayers, I know they are being heard.
Over the night Jamie’s fever began to come down and her heart rate and blood pressure remained stable. This morning they did an X-ray and the doctors decided she was ready to be taken off the ventilator…YAY! So when I was in the middle of talking with Kyle he had to get off the phone b/c they were ready to pull the tube. She had been very anxious and miserable with that in and I’m sure she will be feeling much better with that out.
So all of this is really good news and I know God is working in Jamie’s body to heal her. She’s not totally out of the woods because they did see some infection in her uterus that needs to heal as well as the infection in her blood. So please continue to pray for that. The amazing thing is that the doctors are now saying that Jamie is getting better quicker than they had expected. So praise God for that!
Thanks, everyone, for your encouraging emails and prayers! I’m so blessed to have such wonderful, loving friends!
2/27
Hi everyone,
The latest on Jamie is that she was taken off the ventilator yesterday and moved out of ICU. Both are good signs that she is improving. Now what she could really use is some good rest. Her pain medication is making her have nightmares that keep her from sleeping and she has a difficult time getting comfortable, as you can imagine. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors to be able to get her on medication that will manage her pain (which is still significant) and not have such strong side effects. Please continue to pray for Kyle and the kids, as well.
I'll be sure to send out more updates as I get them.
Much love, Katie
2/27
Thanks Kate for sending that out.
I talked to Kyle this morning and he said she’s doing okay. She’s still pretty groggy and sleep deprived. The physical therapist was in this morning to work with her to try and build her strength up again. The doctors are saying she will hopefully be able to go home on Saturday or Sunday. But it couldn’t hurt to pray for sooner! And one last thing. Before they were saying that she would probably have to go home with an IV and continue to receive IV antibiotics but now they don’t think that will be necessary. Let’s all pray that she won’t have to. That will be one less thing to deal with and pay for!
Thanks family for all your prayers!
2/28
Hey friends and family!
Jamie is making progress and actually was able to get out of bed today for a shower! YAY! So that helps a lot, needless to say J She slept a little better last night and today got moved back to a private room.
Things to pray for are that she will be able to get her NG tube (a tube that is in her stomach) taken out so she can begin eating. Once she can keep food down, then they can wean her off of the IV pain medicine and switch her to an oral pain pill. Both of these steps need to happen before she’ll be ready to go home.
Keep up the prayers everyone!
3/3
Jamie is going home today!!! Yay! Kyle sent me a text message this morning with the good news…Thank you all for your prayers and support through this difficult time! We have the MOST amazing family, I get overwhelmed when I think about it! Mom, Derek, Ross and company got the kids’ room moved upstairs and Jamie and Kyle’s room moved downstairs and it’s all set up for her to come home. That will be sooo much better for her not to have to climb those steep stairs while she’s still recovering.
Please continue to pray for her recovery to progress quickly and without complications. I imagine it will take a while before she’s fully back to herself again. Their church has stocked their freezer already with dinners so that is just fabulous! Can you feel the love? J
I don’t know of any other needs at this time, but if I hear of anything I will pass it along. Thank you all for your inquiries into how you can help them. They truly feel blessed and loved by you all.
So praise God! Jamies is going home!!!!
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