Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you and yours.  We hope that 2016 will be a year of great opportunities and blessings. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't too sad to see 2015 go; it was a challenging year. We did have a lot of great events in 2015 like Delaney's high school graduation and Lauren and Lindsey's CBD oil clinical trial among others and for those we are grateful.  In my mind, the year will always be remembered as the year Mom went to Heaven.  We will be coming up on a year since her passing in just over two months.  Some days it feels like yesterday... Thankful she is no longer suffering but, miss her more than words can say.

So I haven't updated since August 31st.  I'm kind of a slacker...but, it's been crazy busy.  I started working from home in July for the Iowa Public Health Association  as a contracted Administrative Assistant.  I have really enjoyed it although the hours are very limited.  In October, I accepted an additional part-time position for another non-profit called Heartland Youth Choir.  I am the Director of Business and work 20 hours per week.  I am able to work while the kids are in school and can also work some from home.  It's been a blessing to have the flexibility we need.  If you have children who love to sing and you live in central Iowa, you should check us out at www.joinhyc.org.  I work with two other fabulous women and have really enjoyed my time there so far.  Needless to say, it's been a transition for our whole family but, we are adjusting well and I like earning a paycheck and getting out of the house.

The girls are doing well.  They are both now on cannabis oil.  I still cannot say much about our clinical trial but, I can tell you that #cannabisismedicine.  What you see below are two girls who are seeing clearer than they ever have before.  Minds that are flourishing and wheels that are turning. Is it giving us total seizure freedom, NO.  Is it giving us a better quality of life, YES.  Does this light my fire to fight even harder for others to have this legal right to access, ABSOLUTELY!  2016 is going to be a pivotal year both at the state and federal level for medical cannabis.  It's time to stop the madness and belief that cannabis has no medicinal value.  Legislators can no longer use that as a valid excuse.  The science is there and so are the success stories.   Please join us in our fight for legal access to medical cannabis!  The state legislative session starts up again on January 11th.  If you haven't reached out to your legislators, please do so.  A simple email asking for their support of medical cannabis is sufficient.  If you have a story to share, please do so. On the federal level, please reach out to our federal legislators and do the same.  You can also sign a petition for Senator Grassley here:  Grassley Petition.  He is holding up a very important piece of legislation and needs to allow for it to proceed.

Please also continue to pray for our girls.  We will soon start weaning one of their seizure meds and that is always a scary time.  Their bodies have become addicted to the harsh pharmaceutical drugs and we always worry about increased seizures as their bodies adjust.  We are very hopeful that someday we will be rid of the pharmaceuticals that are not helping control our girls' seizures.

In other news, Delaney finished her first semester of college and is looking forward to starting her next semester in a couple of weeks.  She joined a sorority and has been keeping busy with that and working part-time.  She really likes college and has made some great friendships.  We are glad to see her so happy.  Mason is not looking forward to his second semester of his sophomore year.  He would like to fast forward to graduation and be done with school.  He turned 16 in September and got his driver's license.  He is also working and enjoys the paycheck. Stella is still bringing a lot of joy to our family.  She cracks us up with her silliness.  She is pretty demanding of attention and when she feels she isn't getting enough, she makes sure you are aware.  I often work on the computer with a 40 pound dog on my lap...

Matt and I were able to sneak off to Las Vegas with some good friends in November.  It was great to get away for a few days.  We had a blast!  We zip lined down Fremont Street, a first for all of us.  It was a cool experience.  We are thankful for great friends and the opportunities to enjoy some much needed R&R.

We are looking forward to great things in 2016.  Spending time with family and friends and treasuring our time together.  Focusing on moments in life that really matter and not getting wrapped up in superficial "things."  In the end when all is said and done, it won't matter what we have in our lives but who we have.  We are thankful for all who have followed our journey over the years and continue with us on this wild ride.  The journey continues...stay tuned.

Kim