It Is A Wonder They Survive!

Andrew was off of school today because of Presidents Day. I am in the midst of planning a big retreat that is coming up this weeked at our church. I was having a hard time keeping them busy so I could have a little bit of time to work on some of the details. The kids asked if they could work on a "project" that involved painting. I decided that the mess would be worth having them be occupied for a chunk of time by something other than the tv. So I told them that as long as they put their painting shirts on that it was fine with me. So they got everything all put together to do their "project" (still don't know what it was). After about 20 minutes, I was out in the kitchen picking up and they both come in and Kelli is holding a cup of water cloudy with the paint left behind from rinsing brushes. Andrew has a silly grin on his face as Kelli exclaims "Mom, we used my water glass to wash our brushes! And guess what? The water still just tastes like water even with the paint in it! Andrew drank some and so I did too!" =) Gotta love the curiosity! They both were forced to drink 2 large glasses of paint free water!

My LIttle Artist

Kelli has just started drawing people. She came out the other day with this drawing and said, "Mom, isnt this a great picture of me and daddy!" Since these are the very first people that she has drawn, I was pretty impressed! Thought you would get a kick out of it!

Daily Adventures

My kids have all been "blessed" with respiratory, well lets call them weaknesses. They have allergies to animals, but also have coughs that seem to be aggrivated by the slightest change in their environment. Especially in the fall and winter they seem to always be "barking". One of the things that sometimes helps them is a nebulizer treatment of Albuterol. They always look so pathetic when they do this...so weak and frail. I snapped a few pics of Kelli a week or so ago...breaks your heart, doesn't it?!

Andrew is the worst, but thankfully this winter hasn't been too bad with him. He has been managed with just a few runs of steroids. He is also so proud of himself because he graduated from the liquid to pills~ You should have seen me trying to teach him how to do it! Well, actually I failed at teaching him and crushed them and put them in his applesauce. One lesson with Brian and he had it down pat! =) Here he is just snuggled in to bed waiting for Kelli to be done with her treatment. I love it when he snuggles with this bear. My grandma Mutti gave it to him when he was 11 months old. It was the first time she meet him, and sadly it was the last time she saw him. She unexpectedly passed away a few months later. I know Andrew would have loved her!
I introduced Emily to the big bath the other day. She was getting way to active for the infant bathtub. I also let Andrew and Kelli get in with her too! It was quite an adventure! She loved it thought!

Now she has reached sibling overload!!

A few more

Here is another collection of video clips that I found when I was cleaning up the computer! Fun to walk down memory lane! They grow so quickly!

Precious Times

One of my favorite times with the kids is putting them to bed. Once they are done with bottles and don't eat to fall asleep I start a routine with them of singing a couple of songs and praying with them after they are tucked in to bed. I was cleaning up my computer the other day, backing up all my photos and I came across these video clips. Kelli was 2 1/2 and Andrew was almost 5 when I did these. Kelli had loved to sing Jesus Loves Me and she was really dramatic when she got to the chorus. It was impossible not to laugh! That is what I was hoping to catch...Remember to scroll down to the bottom of this page to pause the music on the player! There is no picture on the video, just sound. I didn't want them to know I was taping so I just put the camera on the bed next to us and kept the lights off.

Would You Please Pray

My sweet friend Elise who now lives inLusaka Zambia with her husband Luke and their 3 kids. They will be welcoming baby #4 on Wednesday February 20th at 2pm their time (6am our time). She has a wonderful obgyn and a pediatrician that is also their pastor! They are delivering in a private hospital. So they will have nurses to care for them. At the public hospital your friends and family have to come take care of you. This will be Elise's 4th c-section. Please pray for a safe delivery, a sterile delivery room, a healthy baby, and no complications. Also, there are two anesthesiologists, and only one does epidurals for c-sections. w=Would you pray that she gets this snesthesiologist do she does not have to be put to sleep and "miss" the delivery. Elise's mom sent me a few pics and I thought I would share them with you! I met Elise when I was her nurse when she had Emma, her 2nd baby, on my birthday! I was also able to be her nurse when she had Payton. It has been very hard to not be able to support this precious friend through her pregnancy and now not to be there as she delivers! Thankfully we are able to support her in prayer and I am so grateful that her mother is able to be there to help the family! I am also very thankful that we have means of communication to quickly get all the details shortly after the delivery! I will be sure and keep you posted! And Thank you for all your prayers!

An Update from Marks friend Micah!! God is so good!

Dear Friends, Brothers and Sisters,
It has been amazing to see how many people have been praying for Mark, Sarah and the Hilde family. Today someone walked up to me at Rush Hospital (where I work) and told me that they have been praying forMark... thank you for passing the previous email on to so many people. It is beautiful to see the body of Christ coming together to lift up our precious friends, and it is even greater to see how God has answered those prayers.

I am happy to share with you that yesterday Mark Hilde walked without assistance for the first time... Mark and Sarah walked down the hall and back together...holding hands. What a beautiful image of God's hand on our brother's life. The Hilde's want to thank everyone for their prayers and also share with them, that Mark has continued to progress faster than the doctors have anticipated.He is currently in route as I type this email fromWisconsin to Illinois. He will be in one of the best Rehabilitation centers in the country, that so happens to be located in Wheaton IL. Marianjoy rehabilitation Hospital. The website is: http://www.marianjoy.org/ Mark and Sarah have been so blessed by the emails and phone calls they have received from so many. Sarah told me yesterday that she has already received four different offers of places to stay in Wheaton while Mark is in Rehab. Thank you so much!!The Hilde's have been blessed by everyone's kind words, love and prayers. They have asked if tomorrow could be a day for just family to visit Mark and then he will be ready for visitors on Thursday afternoon.With Marks need for both Rehab and rest it would be best if those who desire to visit could email, call or text Sarah before coming to Marianjoy. Other updates, are that Mark has continued to feel more stable and as mentioned above his balance and ability to walk have greatly improved.Currently he still feels tingly sensations and pins and needles in different parts of his body, and his left arm still has very minimal movement.Please pray for Mark as he is being driven by Sarah and her father Matt Myre back to IL. It is currently snowing, but I spoke with them while they were driving and the roads are clear. Please pray for the staff of Marionjoy that will be working with Mark starting tomorrow and that God would continue to bless Mark with healing and progression of movement and strength.Mark wants everyone to know that he is so grateful for the prayers and support of each of you. Sarah has said that she is amazed at how much energy and peace she has felt during these past days. It is a blessing to see how God is filling both of them with His presence and perspective. Last night after asking how Sarah's heart was feeling she replied, "Mark's optimism and positive spirit keeps me encouraged and looking forward."I don't think... that is the USUAL response from the wife of a man that had severe fractures and damage to his C-4 and C-5 vertebrae three days before.Please pass this info onto other friends and family. God has truly blessed the Hilde family, and these next weeks will be an important and difficult time. We need to continue to keep them in our prayers.

Please Pray

This is a sweet couple from our church. Mark was in a snowboarding accident on Friday. Below is a detailed account of the events of the accident and what has happened since. I know many of you are praying for him already! The letter below was written by one of Marks friends...I will update as I hear! Thanks so much for your prayers!

Dear Friends and Family of
Mark and Sarah Hilde,

Many of you have been praying for Mark in these past days, and others have heard a few brief details of what has happened. Mark and Sarah have asked me to write up the details of the past days so that everyone can have a clear picture of what has happened and also for us to know how to best pray for our beloved friends. Truly the Lord has powerfully protected this family through the trauma and fears in the past days. Please forward this onto others who’s email address I have missed.

Two days ago on Friday February 8th Mark planned and organized a trip to Cascade, a ski and snowboard mountain in Wisconsin. The trip was for a small group of Edward Jones financial professionals. Mark had rallied together several co-workers and friends including his father in law Matt Myer to take a three-hour trip north and spend Friday on the slopes.

Mark and his group arrived to Cascade around 9am and they had a wonderful morning. The snow was great and everyone was grateful that Mark had single handedly planned and organized the trip. At 11:45 Mark told some of the guys that he was going to go meet up with Matt and Roger who had stopped to get something to eat. Mark decided to ride through the terrain park (the part of the ski run where large jumps have been built). Mark took his first jump and like always flew through the air causing many recreational skiers and snowboards to stop as he elegantly glided and perfectly landed. Without hesitation Mark approached the second jump, however this jump threw Mark off balance and caused him to rotate backwards. He landed directly on his upper back. Meanwhile, after a three and half hour drive from down town Chicago I had parked and gotten out of my car at the exact minute Mark fell. While walking up to the lift I saw a gathering of people in the terrain park. Matt Myre and I found each other and ran up the slope to get to Mark.

When we got to him the paramedics had just put a c-collar around his neck and we helped get him on the backboard and on the gurney. From the first instant I saw Mark he was talking about his precious son Joshua and his beautiful wife Sarah. His very first words were not of worry or fear for himself, but of desire to take care of his family. Initially after Mark’s fall, he could not move his legs. By the time we got him to the bottom of the run and into the ambulance Mark could move his right arm and right leg; however he had almost complete loss of movement of his left arm and leg. He was able to slightly move his left fingers and toes.

After two ambulance rides and five hours of taking and waiting for MRI, X-ray, and CT scans Mark was brought to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He received excellent care from several doctors, nurses, and medical staff. It was determined from the imaging that two vertebrae in Mark’s neck (C-4 and C-5) were severely fractured. The trauma surgeon described the C-4 injury as a burst fracture from high pinpoint compression pressure that caused the vertebrae to shatter into multiple pieces. C-5 was not as severely fractured, but was in multiple pieces.

After several tear filled cell phone conversations with family in both Illinois and Minnesota, Sarah and Joshua, and members of the Myer family arrived at the UW emergency room. After hours of prayer, the best medicine Mark received was when he first saw his 10-month-old son Joshua around 6:00pm. Below are a few pictures:
Mark went into surgery with a specialized neurosurgical team around 8pm. He underwent a long and extensive procedure with until 2:30am. During the procedure they completely removed all the broken fragments of his C-4 vertebrae and placed a titanium hardware replacement as well as a bone graft (cadaver bone) and two small plates connecting the C-3 and C-5 vertebrae.

The surgeons were careful to not make any promises of Mark’s path to recovery or potential mobility after surgery, yet the family remained hopeful and prayerful. On Saturday morning, after coming out from surgery and a few hours of resting Mark was able to move his left leg more than the night before.

The surgeons were very surprised by Mark’s progression and on Saturday Mark was able to stand and bear his own weight with minimal assistance. By the grace of the Lord and his provision through exceptional medical care Mark was able to walk three separate times before the end of the night. With a little help of some valium Mark was able to sleep for six hours last night and continued to progress today.

Today Mark had significantly increased dexterity in his right arm and was able to sit up and eat. Today Mark walked multiple times and has been told that he should be able to return to Illinois by this Wednesday (Feb 13th) and perhaps by Tuesday.

Mark and Sarah want everyone to know that they are so grateful for the support and love that they have received from family and friends. Brian and Amy stayed in Madison all weekend and both of their families have surrounded them with prayer and love. They are so grateful for their pastors and friends who have driven up from DeKalb to serve and support them.

Mark and his family would appreciate prayer for Mark's full functional recovery, for decreased pain, freedom from infection or complications, and that he would have the STRENGTH to carry out a the process of rehabilitation in the next weeks. Today Mark was able to move his left index and middle finger, which was an improvement and big praise. Please pray for his increased mobility in his left arm and increased strength in his left leg.

Please pray for Sarah as well, who has been by Mark’s side through long days and nights. Sarah was feeding Mark his first meals on Saturday and has been mediating most of the phone calls and dialogue between Mark and the rest of the world while continually serving her husband. Please pray for their day tomorrow (Monday 2/11). Monday will be a significant day because the rehab specialists that have not been present over the weekend will see Mark and help to make an assessment of when he will be returning to Illinois and what his rehab program will look like. Details of Mark’s recovery cannot be determined until the first weeks of Rehab have taken place. Mark has been told he will have 2 to 6 weeks of inpatient intensive Rehab, which will take place closer to home near Dekalb Illinois, most likely in Wheaton.

We praise God for his incredible protection of Mark’s spinal cord despite the severe trauma and damage to the bones of his spine. Mark and Sarah have said multiple times how grateful they are for the support, prayers and love of each of you and they want you all to know that they love you deeply.

“By Faith in the name of Jesus,
this man whom you see and know
was made strong. It is Jesus’ name
and the faith that comes through
him that has given this COMPLETE
healing to him, as you can all see.”ACTS 3:16

Emily's Favorite Video's

Scroll down to the bottom of this page before you play the video and pause the music....Some of you may have to click twice on the play button

Family Snow Day

We got alot of snow on Thursday night, I think around 9 inches. School was cancelled on Friday and Saturday we took Emily to Grandma and Papa Mauchs and took the older two sledding. Andrew had a blast, Kelli not so much! In her defense it is a huge sledding hill and because school was out the day before I think it was really packed down and LOADS of bumps! After Brian and Andrew had their fill we took a long walk in the woods! Quite a work out! Brian started out by pulling both kids in the sled, then made them walk and then pulled just Kelli. Then he climbed a hill to see what was on the other side and then he fell coming down so I then pulled Kelli the rest of the way! We were tuckered out by the time we got back!! The last pictures on this post are of a snow fort Brian made for the kids on Friday! It is incredible! Our dear neighbor plowed our driveway (which is about 100 feet long) since our snowblower is broken. This created a huge mound of snow that was perfect for building the snow fort! You get into it through a tunnel!