Christmas Week

We safely arrived in Michigan a week ago, just barely. Our flight was delayed out of LAX by two hours thus projecting that we would miss our connecting flight in Cleveland since our original layover time was only 55 minutes. The holiday backup due to weather was already evident with long lines of disgruntled passengers and delayed arrivals. The Lord was very gracious to our family because when we landed in Cleveland at the time our 2nd flight was to depart, we called the information line and found out that our flight was delayed due to incoming connecting passengers. We prayed that we were those passengers! We ran like an insane family through the terminal not even bothering to put Luca in the stroller. When we got to our gate it was indeed our family they were waiting for! If they had not held the plane for us we would have either had to have Munga & Gramma make a 6 hour drive to pick us up or wait until 7:30pm the following day to get our rescheduled flight out to Grand Rapids. We are thankful for the Lord's traveling mercies!

We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating with family. It was the first time in 5 years that we have celebrated Christmas Day with Jonathan's family. It was indeed a white Christmas. Samuel enjoyed shoveling snow with Munga, while Emma & Luca's snow tolerance was very short. Sled rides were taken up and down the covered streets but the weekend rains melted a lot of the snow thus detaining the hill sledding for the time being.


We went to a Griffins Hockey Game the day after Christmas and Samuel really enjoyed that. Luca and Emma found it fascinating for about the first period. Emma was very concerned about the players going into the penalty box for being "naughty" and wanted to see their angry faces. Samuel was insistent on cheering for the Red Wings. And Luca was happy to take 2 periods to devour a bag of popcorn.

Our departure is only 2 weeks away and the packing has begun in full force. Currently we have 5 bags packed and are hoping that our 10 bag limit will be sufficient, but we'll see if extra bags are needed soon enough. Thank you for your continued prayers for us as we wrap up our time stateside.

We found out 2 weeks ago that our house in Leini' got flooded. When our colleague, Brad, checked it out there was no standing water but a watermark of 7 inches in our garage was evident along with some moisture and dampness in our office. We are thankful the major items seem to be okay, but we'll find out more of the extent when we get home. They are just things of course and all things considered it could have been worse. Spring cleaning will come early this year it seems!

Fisher Family Reunion

Fisher Family Reunion 2008

Ben, Jennie, Cody & Noella

Noella has three siblings, and believe it or not this past week was the first time in 3 1/2 years that we all have been together. What an amazing Christmas present for us to reunite at Mom and Dad's house in California. Jennie and Miguel were married almost 2 years ago in the Dominican Republic, however, we were unable to attend their wedding. Therefore, this was our first chance to meet Miguel and of course our 7 month old nephew, Diego. They arrived on December 17th and although our cross-over time was very brief we are thankful that God gave us this added blessing at all. Between Miguel obtaining his Visa and us being detained for our return to Italy, we can see God's hand in working out this unexpected reunion.

Miguel, Jennie & Diego Morel
The Dominican Republic

Our time went by so quickly, but we had lots of fun celebrating Noella's 31st birthday, Mom & Dad's 35th Wedding Anniversary, Great Nana's 83rd birthday, an early Christmas and so much more.

Ben, Melissa and Maddie made a couple of trips up from Camarillo, CA to spend with everyone. They await the soon arrival of their son in February and we are so excited for them!

Cody is now living in the area and is counting down the days (98 to be exact) until he and Michelle are married. Michelle was greatly missed in this reunion. We are so excited to have her officially join the family on April 4, 2009. Unfortunately, we are not able to celebrate with them in person as a return trip for all of us is not feasible. But we trust God will grant us strength to endure another missed sibling wedding.

Here are some photos that captured our precious time together. We love and greatly miss our California family already!!

Papa & Nano couldn't have had a better Christmas present than for all their children and grandchildren to be home.

Great Campa with five of his Great Grandchildren.

Nano sewed Emma & Mamma coordinating aprons for our baking time together.

Cousins: Emma (4 yrs), Maddie (19 mos), Diego (7 mos), Samuel (5 yrs) and Luca (2 yrs)

Disneyland

This past Thursday Papa & Nano treated us all to a trip to Disneyland along with Uncle Ben, Aunt Meli, Maddie & Uncle Cody. The kids had been counting down the days to Disneyland since the day we arrived in California and once again a paper chain was needed to keep their excitement in check. We left home at 7:30AM and made the 3 hour drive down to Anaheim. Our plan was to go as along as everyone could hold up taking in to special consideration Aunt Meli who is 32 weeks pregnant. The kids had an absolute blast and it was so fun to see their first Disneyland experience through their eyes. It was a gorgeous day topping out just above 80 degrees. We attempted to get on as many rides as possible which included: the rockets, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Autopia, Submarine, train, carousal, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Tour, Space Mountain, and a few other rides in addition to watching the Christmas parade down Main Street USA and the fireworks show.

The kids held up well. Luca did not do well in the lines at all! He was pulling with all his might against his Monkey leash and was nearly impossible to keep happy waiting in lines. So needless to say we didn't attempt any lines that had longer than a 30 minute wait. Once he was on a ride he was completely content but then he wanted to race to the next thing as soon as it was over. If only we could siphon his energy to spread his abundance of energy.

Aboard the yellow submarine to see Nemo & friends

Cousin Maddie

The kids' first choice of rides was the rockets

Luca trying to hurl himself over the gate to get on the ride

Christmas-Disney style

View from Tomorrow Land

The castle was prettier than it looks in this picture

Luca obtained his Autopia driver's license

Samuel's most favorite ride was Space Mountain. When he got off he was shouting "I'm SO happy, I'm SO happy!!" Emma's favorite ride was Star Tours and if she can shout on a ride it's all the more fun for her. Not sure what Luca liked best but I'm sure it was Buzz Lightyear as he choice a Buzz hat for his souvenir.

After leaving the park we made a stop at In-n-Out Burger at 10:30PM for dinner and then we officially ended our day when arriving home at 1AM. What a wonderful day it was to spend with family and to have this experience together. Thank you Papa & Nano for this special treat--we love you!

From California

Forgive us for being absent from the blogging world as of late. (Noella caught a bad intestinal/stomach flu after Thanksgiving that lasted for a week and thus we have been pretty busy trying to make up for some lost time) I will do my best to give you a summary of the past few weeks along with pictures for those who are interested.

We did arrive safely in California nearly three weeks ago. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and it was the first time celebrating with them since we have been married. The first week here was pretty low key; visiting Noella's grandparents and trying to catch up on some must needed rest after our previous eventful weeks. Samuel is doing great and bounced right back to his normal self within a week of being released from the hospital. Jonathan is doing great as well and seems to have passed his kidney stone about a week ago. Apart from Noella & her dad catching a bad case of gastroenteritis everyone has been healthy.

We had the wonderful blessing of seeing our Italian friends: Raffaele & Manuela Spitale and their two precious children on two occasions. They drove up to see us the weekend after Thanksgiving and then we drove down to see them at their home today in Sylmar. They arrived in California almost two months ago and can now simpathize with our lives, emotions, language learning and stresses that come along with a cross-cultural move. What a joy to see them again! We are going to miss them greatly when we return to the field as they were our closest friends and neighbors in Italy. Thank goodness for Skype and MagicJack so we can keep in touch often, right Manu?! Raffaele is currently studying the language and hopes to pass his language exam so that he can begin seminary at Master's in January.

Jonathan has been preaching every Sunday and also has been able to teach in the prison several times through my dad's prison ministry. He has enjoyed these opportunities to preach and teach God's word (in English). It has been a joy to reconnect with our supporting churches once more here in California.

Jonathan & I had to reshcedule our overnight getaway since I had the flu, but we were able to squeeze it in this past week. We headed north to Avila Beach on Tuesday and had an incredible time together. We walked along the beach catching lots of magnificent shots of the sunset, dining out, relaxing, exploring Pismo Beach & San Luis Obispo--all without the kids which made our 24 hours away feel so much longer than that. The weather was great--nearly 80 degrees! You gotta love California winters! On our way home we stopped by Nana's (Noella's grandma) house and took her out for Chinese food. It was an amazing time of refreshment for us both and we are so glad we were able to do this one last time before heading overseas.

This blog is getting way too long so I'll save a post about our trip to Disneyland for a later time.

Sunset at Pismo Beach

The moon peeking through a Mellaluca tree

California Palms at dusk

Avila Beach by night

We enjoyed dining at the Custom House twice in Avila while overlooking the ocean

Avila is a quaint little beach town and off the beaten path. Such a great place...we'll be going back on our next furlough for sure!

Avila beach landscapes

We stayed at the La Fonda Hotel that had a 19th century Mexican village atmosphere both inside & out.

Our room

We may not have snow, but the fires were enjoyed around the Christmas atmosphere as Jonathan treated me to an early birthday celebration.

I'm NOT kidding.

Today we visited our "second home" (the ER) once again. I'm totally serious. That would make this the 6th visit on our furlough. Kind of scary, and you may wonder if ever there will be a good run for our family physically. We wonder the same thing. We pretty much had to laugh at the occasion...if we do anything else at this point it would be disastrous for sure. Jonathan woke up during the night with acute pain in his lower abdomen and right side of his lower back. He tried to carry on his morning by exercising and delaying in telling his wife of his concern. A late morning call to his physician then led to him advising Jonathan to get it checked out at the ER. So off we headed, skipping lunch and leaving the kids in the care of Munga. After Jonathan described his pain to the ER Doc he immediately diagnosed "kidney stones". It was kind of a relief to hear that, kind of not. Jonathan had a CT scan which did not reveal kidney stones in the kidney but there was a small mass in the ureter which most likely is a stone. He also had blood in his urine which is another indicator that this is what we are dealing with. Kidney stones do run in his family unfortunately. Pain meds were prescribed and we hope the passing of the stone will not be too painful if it has not already passed. They gave him some IV meds while there and he is worse off now because of those. He's not in pain, but he reacts so strongly to drugs that now we have a lump of a guy devoid of energy. I suppose all things considered there could be worse things to deal with, however we would prefer no new issues all together. We are still a "go" for our departure on Monday and ask that you pray for a quiet and uneventful weekend.

Welcome Home Samuel

Samuel was discharged yesterday around noon after having a peaceful nights sleep. I told the Dr. that either I was so exhausted I did not hear the alarms going off during the night or that there were none for a change. There were no further episodes of SVT which gives us further confidence in the success of the ablation. Samuel did not have much energy yesterday and exhibited a lot of weakness, most likely due to the let down of the week and to his lack of good nourishment as it has taken him a while to regain his appetite after his cold/virus. He curled up on the recliner and slept for 3 hours so you know he was exhausted. We all got naps in so that was most helpful. The site where they entered his artery in his groin area is pretty sore and we are told that we need to keep him from running for a week. The doctor smiled at us and said "good luck with that one!" But other than making sure the two sites (groin & neck) heal up there is no further follow-up needed. What a praise!

Emma and Grandma planned a "Welcome Home" party for Samuel. They ordered him a Wall-E cake and got his favorite ice cream too (Deer Traxx). Luca had a very hard day as I think he had his limit of abnormalities. Each child dealt with this past week in a different manner but we hope attitudes and emotions can be tamed down a bit as the days progress.

We are now trying to regain our footing and prepare for our departure to California on Monday. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers as always!

Samuel Update

Praise the Lord with us in the successful outcome of Samuel’s ablation this afternoon! Samuel did remarkably well leading up to the procedure; full of smiles, goofiness and no fear at all. The doctor thought it was so cute how fascinated he was by the Cath Lab and how he really liked their blankets. Samuel was promptly wheeled into the Cath Lab at 2:00pm and we received word at 4:00pm that all went very well.

About 5:00pm we were able to go see Samuel in the Cath Lab so he could hear our voices as he was coming to. The intensivist who was keeping Samuel sedated said his job was very “boring” since Samuel responded so well to the sedation and his blood pressure and vitals remained at an optimal status the entire time. This was something that may not have been the case if he underwent this procedure last Friday with a fever. The electrophysiologist said that was an important factor since his hands were full trying to locate the problem and perform the ablation, which was in an unusual and challenging location. The procedure thus took longer but we praise the Lord for the elimination of the problem.

The doctor did not see any SVT while trying to induce an episode after the ablation so he is very confident there will be no further problems. In Dr. Woelfel’s words he said: “I am glad this was not my first case and I’m really glad it was me who performed the ablation.” (His colleague was willing although hesitant to perform the procedure on Friday in his place). We can clearly see how God has worked through every detail of this trial for us. Samuel and Dr. Woelfel both needed to be in optimum health for this successful procedure so we praise the Lord for His watch care over the situation, even if it was a longer weekend for us.

The hardest part of the day (besides the 3 hours in the waiting room) was keeping Samuel’s leg completely straight and still for 6 hours post op. For the first hour it took 4 of us to keep Samuel still as he was coming out of his sedated state and was very mad at us for holding his leg down. Once he became more lucid and distracted (by playing PlayStation with Dada) our task became easier. A quick eco showed that his heart looks good but he’ll remain under ICU observation with the anticipation of being released tomorrow morning sometime.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers for Samuel! He certainly has been at peace this entire time and a wonderful patient…7 days and 6 nights confined to a bed for an active 5 year old boy is not an easy task, but he has done so without much complaint. We are so grateful that we will be united as a family tomorrow!

Wildfires

We have felt a bit detached from the world beyond these hospital walls the past few days. However, there is one catastrophe that is hitting very close to home (quite literally). The wildfires that have hit Montecito (Santa Barbara), Sylmar and beyond need your prayers as well. The homes lost and displacement of so many is a tragedy and the end and control over the fires is not yet in sight. All of Noella's family is safe and clear from the heart of the fires.

We ask you to pray for our friends/neighbors that moved from Leini' (Italy) to Sylmar just two weeks ago. Raffaele, Manuela and their little children, Naomi & Simeone have been evacuated from their home. So far their home is safe and their needs are being met. Not speaking the language, no doubt they are having quite the culture shock on top of this disaster. We plan to see them on our CA visit. Please keep them along with so many others who have lost their homes in your thoughts and prayers. Pray that the churches and believers will rise to the occasion to demonstrate the love of Jesus in practical and meaningful ways that will bring honor to Him.

Samuel Update

Our hearts have been so encouraged and blessed by so many of you over the past five days. Thank you to those who have e-mailed, called, visited Samuel, brought us food, offered assistance for anything we might need and most of all to everyone who has been praying for us! God is so very good to us and we have much to be thankful for as we see God’s hand working so evidently each day.

Saturday was Samuel’s best day by far. He was fever free all day and was very perky. He woke up after a long night of light sleeping and immediately said he needed to stand up and get out of bed. He sat in the rocking chair for most of the day playing PlayStation, watching movies and reading books. He hasn’t complained too much about leaving, thankfully, since he has three more days to go yet. Friday night his SVT episodes started at 10:30pm and ended at 4:30am. For the most part he slept right through them but the frequency was between 10-20 minutes apart and enduring at the most for 2 minutes. So with the alarms sounding and nurses running in each time it was a long night for Noella. He only had a couple of episodes during the day yesterday. The doctor fully removed Samuel from medication at 10pm Saturday night so that there is time for his system to clear itself of the meds in order to make sure he can locate and ablate the problem on Monday. Therefore, we anticipate there to be more SVT episodes leading up to the ablation but are told not be concerned unless Samuel cannot convert on his own in a reasonable time. Munga (grandpa) spent the night last night with Samuel and we are thankful Samuel had a good night of sleep waking up at 8:30am!

Points of Praise & Prayer:

· Pray Samuel will be able to convert on his own for any SVT episodes that occur.

· Pray for Dr. Woefle who will be performing the procedure on Monday at 2:00PM and that

God would guide his hands in locating the problem quickly with a successfully outcome.

· Pray for patience, peace and understanding as we will explain to Samuel tomorrow morning what is going to happen.

· Praise Samuel’s fever is gone and that he is in good spirits.

P.S. Samuel lost his First Tooth yesterday. The Tooth Fairy even found him in the hospital. Here is a picture of the proud little guy with the sign he wrote: Samuel ‘s Tof [tooth]

Samuel’s ablation procedure was postponed for today. The surgeon came down with the flu. The first time he has had to call in sick in 17 years! Considering all the factors we are dealing with at the moment we know it is God’s providential timing. Samuel is continuing to battle a fever and it would be best to get that under control prior to having the procedure done. Since he has had a fever for 3 days the doctors are going to give him a precautionary treatment of antibiotics to make sure he is free of infection by Monday.

Last night Samuel slept well but was having frequent episodes of tachycardia that would correct themselves after 30 seconds or so. He was moved back in to ICU today and will remain here until Tuesday. He is back on his IV medication to try to keep these episodes under control. His ablation is now rescheduled for Monday at 2:00pm

Here is how you can pray:

-Pray that Samuel's fever will go away completely

-Pray for us as we are alternating good and bad days (depending on whose night it was to sleep at the hospital)

-Pray for Emma and Luca. They are having a particularly hard time having Samuel and their parents gone.

-Pray for Jonathan's parents, Tim & Lora. They are a tremendous support to us running between the hospital and taking over primary care for the two little ones over the past few days. We are all very tired and ask that you pray for strength and health for all as we are battling colds on different levels.

-Pray for our testimony and witness to the doctors and nurses and that Christ would be glorified in our lives and through this situation.

Thank you for all of your prayers on our behalf and for your emails. We have yet to read them all, but please know that they are serving as a huge encouragement to us during this time.

Hospitalization of Samuel

Samuel is in need of your prayers. Yesterday he was admitted to the Pediatric ICU at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. We received Samuel's heart monitor in the mail on Tuesday and low and behold he actually had an episode on Wednesday. So thanks to those of you who were praying for a clear and definitive answer to our prayers about resolving this before leaving the states if it was anything to be concerned about. Although an unpleasant experience for us all, we are thankful for God's timing and protection of Samuel. Here is the story thus far...

Samuel's episode came in full force yesterday as he entered super ventricular tachycardia (SVT) once again. It started around 1:20pm, and so we were able to record the episode with the monitor and send it to the doctor. However the episode continued on. After some waiting to hear back from the cardiologist, we called back when Samuel's tachycardia had continued for an hour and a half. They told us to take him to the ER. We took him in around 3:30. At that point, he was starting to get weak and had to be taken by wheelchair into the hospital. They proceeded to run some tests and tried various means including some strong medication to reset his heart and bring him out of the tachycardia. At this point his heart rate had been between 260-270 BPM for over two hours. We started to become really concerned when it seemed as though the ER staff seemed at a loss as to what to do next. They were able to get his heart to slow down for a few seconds, but then it would jump back up to the high rate. It's never good to hear from the doctor: "This is very strange. We're usually able to get people out of the tachycardia by this point." They ended up calling in the cardiologist and made the decision to have Samuel admitted.

So they moved him to intensive care and put him on some different medication which, as I understand it, is pretty strong stuff. It took a while but after 3 doses his heart finally slowed down, about six hours after his heart had gone into the tachycardia. We were very thankful that the ICU staff was able to get his heart reset.

Samuel was weaned off the IV meds this afternoon and is now taking oral medication to suppress any further episodes and keep his heart at a normal rate. In discussing our unique circumstances and time frame in wanting to get back to Italy our cardiologist is advising that we have the extra electrical pathway in Samuel’s heart ablated. The cardiologist believes he will continue to have these episodes without any intervention.

Samuel was just transferred out of ICU and will continue to be monitored. He is scheduled for his ablation at 2:30pm tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. He has been battling a fever yesterday and today along with a very dry but persistent cough. He currently is feeling much better and having kept his dinner down is looking much perkier. The team of doctors and electro-cardiologist will evaluate him tomorrow morning to make sure his cold symptoms will not pose a hindrance to the procedure. If all goes well, he could be released tomorrow night.

Thank you for praying, and thank you for taking the time to read this post. We will keep you updated as we can. Pray for a good night of rest for Samuel (okay, and the parents as well), continued strength and a peace and calmness for us all as Samuel goes through the procedure tomorrow.

Ordination of Jonathan E. KIeis

We had the great joy and honor of having Jonathan ordained this past weekend by our home church, Grace Baptist in Cedarville. We were so blessed and challenged at the ordination service held on Sunday night. What an amazing privilege and responsibility to be set apart in such a way as Jonathan has devoted his life to ministry and to the preaching of God's Word. Pastor Craig delivered a wonderful charge to the congregation of looking for those men set apart for ministry and Chris Miller challenged Jonathan directly with a simple and unforgettable message of focusing on "life AND doctrine" from I Timothy 4:16.

Many other special people such as Pastor Rohm and Brian Nester also shared a part in the service. There was a reception following in which we were able to greet several out of town visitors that came to celebrate with us and then to say "goodbye" to those from our church family. Yes, the long and difficult process of saying "goodbye" to people has now begun for us and there are 2 months yet to go. We thank all of you who were able to share in this special night with us and for those who were there in spirit and praying for a night of blessing and great honor given to God. Your prayers were answered! Thank you especially to the office staff: Jeff Brock, Beth Stiles, and Deb Halsmith and others for making this night come together behind the scenes. We covet your prayers for wisdom, humility, devotion to truth, faithfulness in preaching the gospel and living a life that corresponds with God's truth without hypocrisy.

Pastor Craig delivered a welcome & charge to the congregation

Jonathan gave his testimony

Chris Miller gave a charge to Jonathan

The laying on of hands in prayer followed by a great big proud hug from dad

It's official...Rev. Jonathan Edward Kleis

Samuel Update

This is a late in coming but with the weekend travels and preparations I did not have time to post this last Friday. Samuel's pediatrician did not see him for a follow-up visit but instead immediately referred him along to a pediatric cardiologist. One office could not schedule him until January 5th so we checked with another office on Friday morning and they just had a cancellation come in for that same morning so we were able to get him in. What an answer to prayer especially considering our limited time frame left here in the states. Samuel once again had an EKG done and everything was normal, no heart murmur could be heard so that was another good thing. The doctor really can't determine what is going on until we can catch an episode and record the rhythm on a heart monitor or EKG. He can obviously make some educated guesses, one of which he said that he has an electrical pathway that is shorting and causing the arrythmia or more technically Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). SVT generally begins and ends quickly. Many people experience short periods of SVT and have no symptoms. However, SVT becomes a problem when it occurs frequently or lasts for long periods of time and produces symptoms. Samuel's episode lasted at least 45 minutes which is long but thankfully he did not have other symptoms in relation to breathing, pain, etc. We now have a heart monitor for the next 30 days in the event that he has another episode. Our prayer is that this would be a one time event for him and thus our need for concern would not be great as we return to Italy. Or we pray that he will have an episode while we have the monitor so that steps of treatment and analysis can be made prior to heading back overseas. We fully trust God in His timing, will and control over this situation. Thanks for praying!

Birthday Party

So here are the photos from Emma's birthday celebration. It was so great for Emma to spend her first birthday in the States (apart from her actual birthday four years ago) with her grandparents, Great grandparents and Great Aunt Mary. Emma had a long day having been awaken by Samuel at 5:20am. She was pretty tired by the evening having had school today as well. People kept asking her how old she was today and she would respond "I don't know." She SO knows! She must just get a little shy when she is the center of attention. She received clothes, frog travel neck pillow, more stuffed frogs, frog PJs and last Saturday she went to Build-a-Bear to build a Turtle with her great grandma and Aunt Mary. I'll have to post a picture sometime of "Turtle-Turtle" dressed in camo clothes. She did not want a girl turtle at all! What can we say? We had intended to let Emma pierce her ears for her birthday as well. She SO wanted her ears pierced two months ago and so we told her she could get her ears pierced if she stopped biting her nails. That was incentive enough for her and she quit biting her nails, so we took her to the mall over the weekend but she got cold feet and now doesn't think that putting holes in her ears is such a good idea.

As you will see, I made a frog cake that looks like "Big Frog". I had fun experimenting with fondant for the first time too. The frog was a pound cake and the pond was chocolate cake. It took 2 days to make and as always with lots and lots of hours of love poured in to it. It was so rewarding to just hear Emma say: It's Beautiful, Mamma!!!