Bell's Palsey, What Bell's Palsey?

We're housesitting a couple's house this week. We've housesat for them before. It's pretty nice having this space to ourselves for a bit.
Anyway, for those who have been praying for me this last month over my Bell's Palsey, Thank you! My face is 90% better and the pain in my neck and face is very subtle. I go to the doctor on Thursday for a checkup. I know my doctor will be pleased. So, thanks for your prayers.
Nick got a promotion at his job last week, and had we not been waiting to hear from Youth For Christ about the grant for the Abstinence program we would have been more excited. Nick accepted the promotion anyway, because we felt that even though we were waiting on something else this was a way God would provide for our family now. He is just not excited about all the important paperwork that has to be done right in this position as an arranger at the funeral home. But it has a pay raise and after 3 months we'll all be covered with insurance. So that's awesome.
We got back from Eureka on Sunday. Nick surprised me with a trip to the coast for my birthday. We have some friends who just recently moved there and since one of them works at the Red Lion hotel, we got hooked up with an amazing room at a great price. We went to the Ferndale ( where "The Majestic" was filmed), and the beach, which technically was Zech's 2nd time at the beach... it was his first time actually seeing the ocean in the daytime. He loved it. Nick and I have always loved the beach. Anyway, it was great spending time with our friends and just getting away. Right before we left Eureka we went to the zoo. Zech loved to see all the different animals (he calls them ammimals). We all got a little souviner from the coast though...a cold! Oh, well it was still a blast. And we'll get over being sick. It was still relaxing.

Two Blogs in One Month

There was a part of the trip I wanted to put in the last blog, but I got so focused on Disneyland that I didn't mention it before. It seemes fitting to add it today because it is Grandparent's Day... We got a chance to visit my grandma (my mom's mom) in Thousand Oaks. It was great to see her, especially with Zech there. I loved seeing them together. She doesn't get a chance to travel often because she found she has lung cancer and is currently going through chemotherapy, it drains her. I could tell Grandma Kay enjoyed the visit. And Zech didn't hold back the entertainment. He was as bouncy and loud as he is at home (picture Tigger on 20 energy drinks... maybe not that wired). Anyway,I know grandma wanted to bottle some of that energy, we all did.
My uncle (my mom's brother) was telling us how he came home from work and found my grandma had shaved her head, not uncommon for someone undergoing chemo, but he goes "Mom, what are you doing?! You just finished the part of your treatment that causes your hair to fall out yesterday! Your hair was going to start growing back!" Oh well, I say we'll call it a bold fashion statement. We love you Grandma!
P.S. Yes, you are not imagining things, the dates are not tampered with. This is another blog update in the same month. Yahoo!

Marathons and Magic Kingdoms

We got back from our Disney trip a few days ago. We meaning, my folks, sister, son and myself. Nick had to work which he says "You go and I'll stay here to pay for the trip!"
Anyway, we had a blast. The main reason we went down to So Cal is my dad was running a half marathon (13.5 miles) it started in the Disney park went through Anaheim Statium and back to the park. Pretty impressive. He made it to the end averaging 14 minutes a mile. And he was still able to walk around Disneyland the next day. Wow, we are all so proud of him.
A month before we left for our trip it was a project of mine to stretch Zech as tall as we could to get him to 40 inches. The majority of fast rides stated you had to be 40 inches or taller to ride. At the time he was 38 inches without shoes. So I thought insoles, thick soled shoes and a spiky hair style would do the job...
Our first day we went to California Adventure and our first ride we thought we'd try California Experience. We get up to the line to see Zech's height, here's where we find if all our hard work and lengthning pays off... NOT HAPPENING. A fraction of an inch off.
So Zech and I found something better...
We couldn't get him on the big rides so we spent a lot of time in A Bug's Life park (geared for the little tykes) and saw a lot of shows. Zech and Dad left the park early. Dad needed to rest for the marathon the next day and Zech fell asleep before they made it out of the park. So my mom, sister and I went to Disneyland side of the park and did some of the rides I wouldn't be able to do with Zech
(40 inch rule and all).

The next day was Labor Day and the race... Yeahhh Dad!

The following day the whole fam went to Disneyland and that was where alot of the rides that we went on as kids happened. Zech got his picture taken with Tigger, my mom's favorite character. That was awesome for my mom I'm sure.
We had a blast. He found his favorite ride though, the Jungle Cruise. That's how we started the day and that's how we ended the day. And you would have thought my son would have been knocked out by all the days fun... no he was wired till like midnight. Next year should be even better. The next height requirement is 46 inches... maybe?!

oops!

I tried to post the birthday pictures 3 times and it would not do it, so I thought it took a few hours to download or something (I don't know Nick did all the prior pictures) Anyway that is my excuse. But I figured it out and it had to be the computer I was using. No really, it was.

Finally Pictures...

So two months have gone by and I said I would have pictures of Zech's party back in June... I lied, but I have them now. Enjoy!!!

P.S. Be praying for our family, Nick has had two deaths in the family recently, his Uncle (mom side) who lived in Eureka, and his Grandpa (dad side), just in the last couple weeks. Tough stuff. More news to come.

The Big "3" !

Zech turned 3 years old on Sunday.(Father's Day) We celebrated his birthday on Saturday at my parent's house up in Shingletown. We had a Superman party. This was Zech's first party with friends his age. He kept saying, "All my friends are here, I am so happy". We had a bounce house and the kids loved it. It really helped them get their wiggles out. The party started at 11 am, so parents could get their kids home for a nap afterward and maybe the kids would fall asleep during the ride. I didn't think about the construction that was happening on HWY 44. I don't know if any of you have been on 44 lately, but right after the woop de do's (the roller coaster part of 44) they pretty much ripped out the entire road and there is about a 20-30 minute waiting period before the workers lead you to the other side of all the construction just before the Dersch intersection. So anyway all that to say I did not take that into account when placing the party in Shingletown. But it didn't keep people from coming... most of them were on time. And we were able to tell people about a detour home.
We had such a good time, the weather was perfect, which meant the weather in Redding had to be pretty hot.
Anywho, this last year we have seen Zech grow so much, physically and mentally. I watched Zech's 2 year birthday party and he said maybe 3 words other than that it was all grunts and pointing. Compare it to this year, you can have a pretty decent conversation with him and he is potty trained. Amazing! Next year will be even more interesting. PICTURES TO FOLLOW...
P.S. As you can tell we only have time to do one update a month and we'll try to make it count. Love Ya

Welcome to the Exciting World of Dead People!

Yeah I said it. Nick has a new job. Starting May 14th Nick will be working at a funeral home (McDonald's Chapel downtown). That's not the crazy part... we're pretty excited about it. We get two types of reactions from people when we tell them the news... the first one is "Oh, really? Why? Isn't that creepy?" the second being "Oh how cool! I can see Nick doing that"( I don't know exactly how to take that one, but okay!)We see it as an amazing opportunity to minister to those in a much needed time. It never entered my head that this would be a scary job or majorly depressing job, although I know there will be those days.
Nick mentioned the other day that I probably won't be able to take Zech by his work place to visit, like we do at Safeway. No climbing on caskets for Zech. (Was that wrong?) You have to have some humor going into it. The lady who hired Nick said that if he needed to take a day off for personal or ministry sake he could because the person is still going to be dead tomorrow.
I think it's going to work out.

Not our home, but we'll take it!

Nick and I are house sitting for some friends. Can I say that it is wierd being in such a quiet house (beside their two weiner dogs that bark every now and then for no reason at all)? Just a little reminder, we've been living in a trailer on my parent's property and then down to Nick's parent's property for about 5 months. So it has been pretty nice having a space to ourselves, even though it will only be two nights. We'll take it!
Other news... last weekend we took Zech to the emergency room. I went to wake him up and when he roled over he could not open his eyes. They were swollen shut. Well that freaked me out and him as well. So we found out it was just allergies... really bad allergies. They said to just give him allergy medicine. Well you'd think that would be enough but I had some hesitation about giving him antihistamines because Nick can't take them. My hesitation was correct. Zech's reaction was the same as Nick's was at that age. Over emotional and down right mean, which is not like him at all. So I have to make a decision, deal with a child who's eye's are bloodshot and swollen and runny nose or a child I want to have in a continual choke hold. We'll see.
Anyway that's it for now.
Redding Christian Fellowship's Easter musical is this Thursday and Friday. Nick is playing drums and I'm in the choir. Hope to see you there!

soupa ball

just a reminder...in between eating, drinking, analyzing various thematic elements of commercials & decyfering their cryptic cultural message...worship Jesus with your heart, soul, mind, & strength.

the end is nigh!

so last night i am sitting on the couch/bed in the living room/den/guest bedroom & saw on the news that hillary clinton has officially entered herself as a candidate for the democratic nomination for president in 2008. this may be a good time to mention my disdain for women in politics. no this is not based on any misogynistic attitudes or chauvinist biases, i just think that God's best plans for the lives of believers is also how things would work best in society. since God desires that women should not be in authority over a man & that men should love & protect women i think government would function much more effectively if women were removed from their positions & men were removed of there predispostions. so i am officially announcing that if hillary clinton is elected president of the United States me & my wife & child will be making preparations to move out of the country. we are not sure where yet but, by my calculations, if clinton is elected president America will be a socialist nation within 2 years. am i being dramatic? am i blowing this all out of proportion? can i be serious? consider this my "i told you so" for 2008. heil hillary! get used to that one.
if you who know me...you are laughing or not taking me seriously.
if you don't know me...you may have already reported me to blogger & the proper authorities.
either way...have a nice day.

we're back?

it's not like we went anywhere, but we have been incommunicado for a while. "attention safeway shoppers, nick welch will be back crushing your eggs before you know it." that's right, i couldn't hack unemployment so i broke down & got a job. i'm kind of excited...kind of annoyed...kind of confused. but God usually doesn't mess up, actually i don't think it's ever happened. well, i have to go. look for the "real" post tonight. welch...out!

i FELIZ NAVIDAD !

here are some memorable moments from the mapes-welch christmas eve extravaganza. enjoy.

we oughtta be in pictures!

so rachael's MOPS group hosted a family picture day thing. i love pictures of my family but i hate taking pictures. it's such a fake environment for smiling, which i'm not that good at anyway. but we did get some good pictures. so enjoy.

i'm sorry, i only play in the key of B sharp.

well with only minutes to go until the performance starts I am frenetically going over all of the worst case drummer scenarios in my head. maybe i should stop here & fill you all in on the fact that i am playing drums in RCF's christmas musical. it is pretty cool but kind of intimidating considering the fact that i am the only musician in the 20 member orchestra who cannot read music. it's kind of like a dyslexic in a spelling bee. anyway, here are my nightmare scenarios. scenario #1-i lose control of a stick sending it into the crowd. scenario #2-i hit myself in the eye during an overdramatic drum fill. scenario #3-i somehow manage to do everything right only to rip a huge fart during the dramatic pause scenario #4-somehow, in a tremendous display of incompetency combine a little bit of 1,2,3, & 4. no matter what, it should be fun!

check these out

life is a highway!

or so a one-hit oneder once said. "no it's wonder.' 'i know it looks like oneder!'" speaking of oneida, tomorrow is thanksgiving. yep the giving of thanks will begin in just a little under 2 hours. you know what else starts in just under two hours?...hmmm...tomorrow. i (nick) love cake. not the band, they're good too but specifically i mean the baked good. well enough hijinks. i just got a call two days ago from rosemary (the mother of hailee who i transported down to oakland) anyway, hailee is doing better & we look forward to staying in touch with them. that is definitely something to be thankful for. have a good one!

God is good even when we're busy

Nick is usually the updater, but this week he's been working like crazy. And we feel completely awful because we've been neglecting our friends in the process. Not to be over dramatic or anything, it's just that we really haven't had time to settle ourselves anywhere. Between the trailer and Nick's folks house we kind of feel like we haven't been able to take anything out of our suitcases. Don't get me wrong, it certainly is an adventure and I'm thankful to God for this time in our lives(no, really, I am!) ~Phil.4:6, right?!~ God's timing is perfect.
Please pray for Nick right now. He's in Oakland on a transport. This transport has proven to be a hard one. Anytime children and illness are involved it's never easy. This one involves a two and a half year old girl, named Hailee, who has an immune disorder. Which has really touched Nick, seeing as we have a 2 1/2 year old child ourselves. How easily this could be our little one. When they got to their appointment down in Oakland, they found out Hailee's liver was not doing well and had her admitted to the ER immediately. That wasn't the main issue, the mother, Rosemary, brought her 9 year old down too, and when her sister was admitted, she was not allowed to be in the room over night. Rosemary had a problem. She had no place to take her 9 year old. Finally, she found that the Ronald McDonald House had room for her 9 year old, but she couldn't keep her there by herself. Now she has to leave Hailee at the hospital by herself. That is so tough. It makes our situation not that much of a situation, ya know?
Please pray for Rosemary, Hailee, and the 9 year girl (Nick didn't give me her name). It makes our situation not that much of a situation. Anyway, we'll try harder to keep in touch with everyone. Don't give up on us!

Snow Day!

So here's an update for ya... us country bumpkins got snow. While we were sleeping, a nice blanket of wet, white, beautiful snow topped our trailer and pretty much anything else not covered by huge trees or tarps. I (Rachael) think we need to get Zech some snow boots now. (Tennis shoes aren't going to cut it!) Especially since he runs straight towards the slushy puddles and jumps into them (I guess I need to get over it, he is a little boy). Nick went fishing near McCloud today with a few friends, two of which are professional fishing guides. Nick did just as good as they did -- zero fish. He actually stayed pretty warm, until he realized the hard way... his waders had a huge hole in the crotchel region. Oops! All in all, a good day for everyone.

it's official...we're hillbillies!

sorry. no "lost" post this week. we have been way too busy. "with what?", you might ask. well we have moved out of one place, moved into a trailer in shingletown, started a new part-time job, had a garage sale, you get the idea. most importantly though, is this: 2 days ago zech caught his first fish. no joke. he said, "dad, i fish." to which i responded, "ok, i'll show you how." after 3 or 4 times casting while holding his hands in mine & letting the fly drift 25 feet or so i let him do it by himself. he casted perfectly & let the fly drift just like a pro. then, when the fish struck he jerked back on the rod & set the hook himself. all i did was keep the rod tip up & help him reel it in. it was a 9 inch rainbow caught on a beadhead pheasant tail nymph #14. i don't mind telling you that catching fish with zech that day nearly brought me to tears & at this rate he will be outfishing me by his 3rd birthday. but then again outfishing me really isn't that tough.

p.s. our phone is not up & running yet, but should be by the end of the week.

the great pumpkin

here are some pictures of the welch side of the family at nash's. mama, papa, us, aunt shannon & uriah. it was lots of fun & they even had a camel, well, technically it was a dromedary but who's keeping track? we tried to get zech to take a pony ride but he wasn't having it. so we had a pony ride observation, definitely not as much fun as an actual pony ride. overall it was awesome & always a good photo op.