Christmas Eve Program.

Everyone is invited to our Christmas Eve Program. A program your whole family can enjoy! Bell choirs, Singing, and Skits, are just a few of the treats that we have prepared for your enjoyment!!

"Christmas: A Promise Kept!"

When: December 24, 2013
Where: Family Fundamental Church 35256 Pine Ridge Road, Warroad, MN
Time: 7:00 pm
Snacks and Drinks to follow.

A Tribute to My darling Daughter.

    This was the tribute I wrote and read at Victoria's funeral. Only His grace allowed me to do it. We are overwhelmed with gratitude that we do not walk this road alone. For His glory alone, Bruce.

     
 Welcome To My World

A Tribute to Victoria Faith’s Life

Hi, my name is Victoria Faith, and I would like to tell you a little about what my world was like. My name was going to be Ruth, but once my momma and poppa found out how special I was, they changed it cause they were going to need lots of faith in order to live a victorious life.
My sister used to say that mommy goes to the hospital and a baby ‘ pops” out. Well, that’s how I was welcomed into this world. Mommy had to have a … g section, no cheap section, no, c section on account of my head being so big. There were lots of people wearing masks on when I came into this world, just standing over me and staring. I guess I wasn’t breathing. Then I saw my daddy for the 1st time. After a nurse stuck something up my nose and down my throat daddy said, look, she’s breathing. Well, they wrapped me up in a warm blankie and daddy took me over to my mommy. She was so happy to se me…she cried.
They left me in that blankie for 3 hrs cause I wasn’t supposed to live. A kind nurse finally decided that I needed to be cleaned up, and fed, boy was I hungry. Someone came in and took lots of pictures, I guess they knew how special I was.
Now my world is a little different then others. It had big words like: alobar holoprocencephaly, hydrocephaly, brain malformation, 3rd ventricle, macro cephalic, and another word called death. But I figured I just got here, and I didn’t want to leave yet. Finally I got to meet my grandpa and grandma and my borthers and sisters…boy, where did they all come from, all 9 of them. Thanks Mr Nick for bringing them that day. There was another word in my world that I was just learning about, and that was a word called love. Eveybody loved me so much. They didn’t care that I looked funny. Daddy said he had a hard time loving me at first, but that he had a wrestling match with God, and that God knocked him down with His love and filled his heart with love for me…I’m glad.  You see, he didn’t know how much of a blessing I would be. Please, whenever God sends you a blessing that doesn’t look like a blessing, just trust him and love us kids like that. You will never be sorry you did. I got carried around on a pillow at first, kinda like a princess.
Finally I got to go to a place called home, and got to ride in a car…that was fun. When we got there, mommy had to sleep in a chair for a month cause she was “recovering” whatever that means. Daddy and everyone else got up during the night to feed me cause I would get hungry. My world also had hospice, with a nice nurse called Shawnee, we all loved her, but after a while she didn’t come anymore…must of been something I did…like live.
Now my head kept getting bigger and hurting, so my world now had to include neurologists, neurosurgeons, and a cool thing called a shunt, that drained stuff out of my head to my tummy. It also included surgery, picu and Ronald McDonald homes (for pappa) . Whew…that felt better.
At home, I got held so much and that summer I got to go camping..why did God make mosquitos? They hurt. But I really liked campfires and hiking and seeing water falls in the woods.
After a while, I got to hold my own bottle and feed myself, and even learned how to roll over. I don’t know why everyone thought that was so great .
If only things could have gone on like this…but I got something called “affection” in my brain fluid. I got really sick and they took me to a big building called Gillette, in St Paul. Now my world had nurses, bells, needles, medicine, shunt revisions, tubes and buttons…mickey button. But my momma and pappa, they never left me. Momma slept by my side for 5 weeks while I was there….I was glad she did. More words like syringes, extensions, venting, complete formulas were added to my world. But hey, now I could eat and sleep at the same time…how cool is that. One time when I was sick, mamma actually put super tonic down my tube into my stomach…don’t know why they call it super, that’s for sure.
My world never included walking or talking. But who needs to walk when someone always carried you, and who needs to talk when love can be spoken without words. I loved cuddling, cause there were lots of people who needed to be cuddled. I would always look up when in someones arms, just to remind them to keep looking up to Jesus for help. Daddy and mommy say that my life was a great picture of how a christian should be. I couldn’t do anything by myself, and Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing.:” I am glad I could help people learn that lesson. Hope they don’t forget.
We went on lots of trips together, and one time our van broke down in a place called Christmas. Sorry grandpa Mitton we sure would have liked to have seen you celebrate turning 80. Is that a big #? We liked it so much there, we went back to camp there with uncle Steve and ant Kim (that’s how they say it in Canada.)
My world also included church,singing and kissing and even a wedding for my big brother….now he likes kissing too. Now in my world, I got sick again. Mommy said I stayed in those big building for almost 2 whole months while I lived here. Now I need more medicine for gastro something and acid reflux. I felt bad throwing up so much, but someone always cleaned me up and made me smell sweet and pretty. They must really love me. At night after work daddy would always sneak into my room to make sure I was alright…I miss that.
 Then my world started changing. I was getting real tired. I couldn’t keep my mouth closed and my arms stopped doing things, and I forgot how to swallow. Mommy was worried.
And then one day I heard a voice, one I had never heard before, but one that sounded familiar.  He said, ‘let the little children come unto me.“ Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The voice said. Victoria, your job on earth is done. Let me show you my world. So sweet Jesus took me out of my sister Rachel’s arms into his world. I would love to tell you about my new world. Its wonderful. If you don’t know how to get here, listen to my grandpa, he will tell you.
And one more thing, if you ever have a child like me, please bless them, and love them and take care of them, cause we really are blessings from God. I love you all and look forward to seeing you in my new world. Ps, Micah John says hi.

Dates.

We are missing our little Victoria so very much...but even when we are feeling pain...we do rejoice that she is experiencing amazing LIFE. Here are the times for remembering our little treasure: Wednesday, December 11th from 5-7 pm Visitation at Helgeson's in Warroad Thursday, December 12th at 10:30 am Funeral @ Family Fundamental Church 35256 Pine Ridge Rd, Warroad

Forgotten Birthdays:)!!!

Reliable
Understanding
Enthusiastic
Body-Builder
Eager to seek the Scriptures
Noble

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed, by the renewing of your mind. That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

 Reuben, we are so glad that you are home, once more, with us!! Unfortunately, we got no pictures on Reuben's birthday; however, we still had a nice day. We're just thankful he was at home for us to celebrate with him. For the last two years he has been gone in Taiwan on his birthday!

Psalm 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! ~Here Reuben is copying out the book of Proverbs~

Since Reuben loves hot drinks in large quantities, especially tea, Mom got him this awesome massive cup:)

Musical
Alert
Repentant
Initiative (*uses*)
Encourager

Something that Marie, and really all of us, enjoy, is filling Christmas shoe boxes. The little girls did jobs for Mom, Dad, and their older siblings to earn money for a little girl shoe box.

 Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! On the night before Marie's b-day, she, and some other people, played Settler's of Catan.

Dirt...a good choice for a quick, easy, delicious birthday dessert:)

Another birthday game going in full blast...Monopoly Empire: our family's favorite of all the Monopoly games ever made!!

^{Psalm 118:24} This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Friends and cousins!!

As a treat, Reuben brought Marie out for lunch! She loved it:)

 ~But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.~1 Peter 3:18 ~ Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.~2 Timothy 2:15

May you all remember that our lives are but a vapor. We pass on and are forgotten; May we do on this earth what really matters: Loving God and loving others!! If you have a memory, verse, or something to bless the birthday people with, that would be great. I will leave you with this quote:
 

Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop,
Within a yard of hell.”~C.T. Studd~

Catch up post!!!!

Harvesting...The Lord hath dealt very bountifully with us(as he has every year:) Some of our favorite things that we have harvested are 1. apple sauce 2. picking blueberries 3. peach pie filling 4. carrots and 5. rhubarb jam

The Corn Maze...Our entire family has been blessed by the Krahn family, and their willingness to give time, money and energy in making the Country Corn Maze the best maze around!!

Sisters!!

Victoria...before she got this little bout of sickness!!

Our jalapenos, green peppers and thai peppers yielded abundantly this year. So, as you can see, we strung them on strings to dry. Warning~do not cut tie peppers without gloves...you will experience pain in the fingertips for some time to come~believe me, Mother discovered this the hard way!!

Hospital stay...So glad that Mom, Matthew, and Victoria are home:)

Esther...In case that you cannot notice from this picture, Esther lost her first tooth. Yay!!!

Bright Lights Confernce...Mom, Rachel, JoAnna, Marie, and Emily, took a quick trip to St. Cloud to attend the Bright Lights Confernce. They had a wonderful time...they would like to say a big thank you to all the work that the Mally family, and the Bright Lights staff put into the confernce.

Marie with one of her small group leaders.

JoAnna with one of her small group leaders.

Rachel, and Lauri K. Rachel was thrilled to be a small groups leader!!  She would totally love to do this again in the future:)

Marie and Grace M. The Skits, Music Classes, and Snacks were wonderful!! Learned about honoring parents, about being strong in the Lord in their youth, and the importance of God's Word.

 Matthew, Caleb, and I( Elizabeth) went to a conference in Illinois;called Ignite Truth. We could talk your ear off(at least I could) about the things that we learned on our trip. Some of the main stuff that the Lord taught us are 1) We all are living a story: Are we letting Jesus write our story, or are we trying to dictate to Jesus what to say!! 2) We are still living in Bible times; Revelation is yet to be told!! 3) Is our testimony of Jesus strong enough so that an unbeliever would act on what we say: as in the story of Naaman and the Israelite maid. 4) Prayer really does work. We were able to hear some awesome stories of answered prayer...God is so good!!

The youth hunt hunters...Yes I'm too old too hunt for the youth hunt, I was the privileged person who got to go and sit with Caleb!! It actually was fun:) the only thing that got cold were our fingers!! We are praying that the boys will be able to kill a deer tomorrow. Already tried today, but didn't get anything!! Happy Hunting...Don't forget to thank God for whatever you get!!

Home at last...actually quite awhile ago:):)!!

Victoria, Mom and Matthew rolled home on Monday, September 30th at roughly, 8:30ish.
We are very grateful to have them back. Though Victoria was at the hospital for six days, they never really figured out what was the matter. They figured out that it was not a clogged shunt, that  her liver was fine, that  her pancreas was good. Though she is home, she is not 100%!!   She  is having a hard time digesting her food. And has been quite gassy. She is also in some pain...one symptom of her pain is the clenching of her hands. We found out that her fingernails are sharp!! Victoria scratched the edge of her finger, and now has a slight infection in it. Thankfully, we got it rather quickly, and are able to treat it with Epsom salts. Hopefully it will heal quickly!!  We have been giving her warm baths, rubbing her back with deep tissue oil\olive oil, and using the hot water bottle:)...overall, to anyone else it would be called royal treatment!!! So, if you think of it, would you pray that Victoria would not be too gassy, that she would not be in pain, and that her infection, which is really quite small right now, would not spread and would heal quickly. Our whole family is overwhelmed of how everyone has prayed for us. Thanks so much, we really appreciate it!!! Sorry for the lack of pictures. Our camera's screen is broken; We can still take photos, only problem, we can't see what we are shooting:):) Anyway,we are blessed to have our little treasure to minister to. Constantly, we keep in remembrance the words of Jesus, "insomuch that ye do it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye do it unto me"!!
Romans 8:28-29

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

²⁹ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

 It's a very familiar passage, is it not? Yet, do we really comprehend it? Would we whine when things don't go our way, if we really believed that God has given us the situations we are in? Just think, God loves us so much, that He, in his great mercy, sends us trials,(yes, and joys!!), all so that we get more and more conformed to Jesus' image. What is Jesus like?

Philippians 2:5-8

⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Hebrews 12:2

 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is so much more that Jesus is: here are some references for you that are out there that would like to discover more about what Jesus is like. Is. 53,  Mt.1:21, Mt 4:1-11, Mt 5,6,7, Mr. 6:34, Mr. 14:32-36, Lu 22:63-24:53,Jn. 15,16,17, 11 Co. 5:21,Heb.4:14-15

May you be encouraged in your spirit as you read and think about Jesus.

Never forget that whatever you are going through, Jesus has already been there. Trust in His all sufficient power to carry you through!!

An unplanned visit to Gillette

This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago at the Country Corn Maze.  Victoria liked the walk through the cornfield with the rustling of the leaves and the mix of light and shadow.

Victoria has been having some symptoms which looked like her shunt was malfunctioning.  These symptoms were not continuous, but they were dragging on and not going away, so on Tuesday, we made the trip down to Gillette.  We learned that the shunt is not clogged, like we thought might be the case.  However, when the neurosurgeon tapped it, she found that she had some back flow, which would cause similar symptoms to a clogged shunt, as the result would be that the her CSF could not drain as it ought.  An x-ray revealed that the end of the drainage tube for the shunt had lodged between the stomach and the diaphragm...and the image also showed extra air in the stomach.  They conjectured that this was causing the drain to pinch and force what would come down back up.  When a drainage tube is put in, it is much longer than it needs to be and coils down in the stomach cavity area.  As a child grows, the tubing just unrolls, so that it does not get too short.  As the tubing has unrolled, it has ended up where they saw it on the x-ray...but it still has the potential to move.  Also, they think it can work right now, when the pressure is off from the extra air pushing on it.

Victoria fasted yesterday from 4:00am  until they started some IV fluids around 5:00pm.  They gave her fluids throughout the night.  They also kept her g-tube open overnight and until about 10:00 the next morning, allowing air to escape.  This morning, they started her on pedialite to see if she would be able to tolerate her food again.  They started at 30 ml/hr, and reduced the IV rate to 15 ml/hr.  She tolerated this well, so after a couple of hours, they upped the g-tube feeds to 45 and stopped the IV fluids.  So far she has been doing well.  Tonight, they plan to give her 1/2 formula and 1/2 pedialite and see if she will do well with that.  Next would be back to trying her normal feeding schedule.  If she continues to progress well, they will assume that the problem was the tube.  If not, then more detailed imaging would be the next step.

Please keep us in your prayers! You can pray that Victoria will continue to tolerate her food, and that pressure will be relieved from the extra CSF,  (Cerebral Spinal Fluid), that we'll have wisdom ,and that the One who lives within us will shine through us here.  We know that God always has a reason for all that He allows...and we want to be thankful in the twists and turns of life and to honor His name.  Thanks so much for your prayers.

"I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in Him will I trust." Ps. 91:2  "I will bless the LORD at all times:  His praise shall continually be in my mouth. " Ps. 34:1  "The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea than the mighty waves of the sea." Ps. 93:4  "Thy mercy, O LORD is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds." Ps. 36:5

Otter Lake Vacation...a little over due:)

I don't have all these pictures in order according to the date we did everything...oh well!

 The rock behind Mom, Victoria, Esther, and Matthew is sandstone. There were lots of neat formations!

The best part of our vacation was reacquainting ourselves with Dad's brother and his family. Most of us have not seen them for six to seven years!!

 Rachel, Sarah, and Anastaisa.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: Matthew 7:24

I think the falls in the background are the Tannery Falls.

 One day was just spent in seeing the numerous falls surrounding Munising, taking pictures, and exploring in and around the falls.

No...this was not a typical breakfast out camping:) Just a little treat prepared for us by our wonderful Mom!!

Lake Superior this year was very very cold. The bravest of us only stayed in for thirty minutes.

 Isaiah 42:3 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

We still found lots to do despite the cold water:)

  Alex is the one almost all the way buried, Matthew, Marie, Timothy, Esther, JoAnna, and Anastaia are the ones that had all the fun burying Alex:)

There was a really fun trail connecting the beach and Miners Castle.

 When Mom looked at the trail on the map it looked very short...well, it ended up to be much longer than we thought:)

Brothers for ever!

Victoria did so well camping!! I think she liked all of the fresh air.

A Mitton reunion is not complete without a rousing game of blackout!!

Though Otter Lake was terrible to swim in, it was awesome to go boating on!!

 Here Matthew is learning how to row. There were kayaks, canoes, rowboats, and paddle boats. Since one boat only cost $10 a day, we took advantage of them quite often.

The whole crew minus Mom and Reuben.

Otter Lake

Coming back from lakeside devotions.

Miners Castle!!

The campground also had  outdoor games available for free, which we also enjoyed.

Exploring a rocky overhang.

More campground.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 - He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Sisters:)
Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Pictured Rocks Cruise Boat. No we didn't go on the boat, but from our vantage point on Miner's Castle we could see the Pictured Rocks...gorgeous display of God's creativity:)
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Zechariah 9:17a - For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!

On our last day in Munising, we explored and found a playground...one our whole family enjoyed, from Esther, right up to Dad!

Pretty amazing for a playground( this is only about half of the playground:)

On Sunday we traveled only half way home, and stayed in a motel in Ashland. One thing that is really fun to do with a slightly larger family is to take walks!

This underpass was made in honor of a person with a handicap...I can't quite remember what the person did...anyway, it certainly made it easier to navigate around Ashland.

Our last stop before home!! The last  of the whaleback boats..."The SS Meteor!" Too bad our camera died shortly after we started the tour. We all really enjoyed the tour, it was very informative!! So there you have it, our very fun, though somewhat long, vacation!!  (that is...a whole week!  :) )I Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat , or drink , or whatsoever ye do , do all to the glory of God.