So what is happening in the Niemann household? 
Most of you know I had knee surgery yesterday after my skiing accident a week ago Sunday.  I'm getting along pretty well although everyone who told me the first couple of days after surgery are the hardest were not kidding...I'm just glad to have a great family who has taken good care of me. And to anyone who is wondering if I'm staying put and keeping my feet up, it's really not an option! Even when I want to get up and around, I'm ready to head back to John's easy chair after about 2 minutes.

John: Along with his new role of chief nursemaid, John is managing the completion of our home gym!  We are turning half of our garage into a really cool workout room...or in my case, a physical therapy room. It looks awesome and he's done a fantastic job making it all come together. The last week at Cargill has been fun as they celebrated their involvement in community service.  One of their cattle buyers was honored as volunteer of the year for Hands on Central California for his efforts with Habitat for Humanity, and today Cargill was honored at a United Way breakfast. They were given the Live United Circle of Excellence Award, and Cargill's campaign manager was the Outstanding Employee Campaign Manager award winner.

Peyton: This boy received high academic honors last week at school and continues to keep his test scores up every week.  In his baseball game last night he pitched and struck out five out of seven batters with a pitch count of only xx.  Since baseball is winding down, he opted to play on the Clovis East AAU basketball team this year.  He is really loving that - the coaches are great and this league has challenged his skills more than any other team/league he's played in. 

Trace: For the past few months Trace has struggled with his grades in school but has been working really hard with a tutor at school and extra work with us at home.  His teacher sent home a note yesterday that his grades are gradually coming up to high C's and B's -- way to go Trace!  The California STAR test is coming up and we are working hard to prepare for that.  He is also winding down baseball season and has enjoyed his team this spring.

Hillary: This girl continues to do well in school both academically and socially...:).  She is my sidekick on Tuesday and Thursday evenings when I teach classes at Fitness One.  She does her homework and then helps me clean up the studio, fold towels and stock the water fridge for the next day.  Last week she was my "demo girl" since after I injured my knee it was a bit difficult to show my classes the different moves!  I'm working on my verbal training skills but until I perfect those Hillary is my girl.
 
All the kids have continued their piano lessons with our fabulous teacher, Troy.  They all do well and don't complain about practicing...too much anyway!  Their spring recital is May 11.

God's Healing Touch

What a crazy experience I (Jen) had this week...one that turned into a true miracle in my life. 

On Monday I got up early as usual, read a chapter in my "Love to Pray" book for the class I am taking at church, did a P90X2 workout, showered, got the kids ready & to school, then headed to work at Fitness Together. I had a couple of trainings, some new client orientations and then spent some time organizing clients in the computer.  After sitting there happily typing away for a half hour or so, I noticed a little twinge in my right ankle - kind of like it needed to pop.  Over the next 10 minutes it started hurting a bit more intensely, and as I packed up my things to leave, it started getting really hot.  As I drove home it got worse and worse, to the point where I had to take off my shoe at a stop light, use my left foot to drive the last mile home.  By the time I pulled into the garage, I was in tears and could not even put it on the ground to walk.  I hopped around the kitchen attempting to make my lunch, and put an ice pack on it when I sat down to eat, hoping it would help.  I couldn't even take my sock off it hurt so badly!  Unfortunately, the ice didn't help at all and it kept swelling and getting hotter.  It was the strangest thing.  I prayed, "Lord, as quickly as this came on I know you can heal it"...I feel like I'm pretty tough and I was just beside myself with the pain!

I was able to get an appointment with my nurse practitioner (who also happens to be my ski buddy) for later that afternoon.  My sweet husband put everything on hold at work and rushed home to pick the kids up at school and take me up to the doctor where I literally hopped into the doctor's office.  After examining me the nurse was as confused as I was -- she called for an x-ray which ended up showing no break, sprain or any bone damage.  After further examination and  me "lighting up" as they put it when the doctor pressed on either side of my ankle, they determined it was a ligament strain.  They put me in a boot and said if it wasn't better by the next afternoon I would need to come in for a shot. 

After being in the boot for just a few minutes the ankle started feeling better.  When we got home I could actually walk around and fix dinner (I enjoyed the extra help and sympathy!).  By the time we went to bed it was feeling quite good and although it was still swollen and warm to the touch, I could even walk on it without the boot.  I started feeling almost guilty about how much better it was already feeling.

The next morning it was still a little swollen but I could totally walk on it and not feel any pain.  I had to be at Cargill most of the day and it was a bit embarrassing when all the people who knew John had left on my behalf the day before came up to ask me with great concern how my foot was.  There I was, walking around like nothing had happened!  My nurse friend couldn't believe it when I text her how good it was feeling and that I felt confident we could keep our ski date on Thursday.  Is that not crazy?

Later that night this thought came to me: Why was I so surprised that my foot was healed when that's exactly what I prayed for?  And why was I claiming to everyone how crazy it was that I felt so much better instead of sharing how God had answered my prayer to heal it quickly?  Why do I pray for things and then not expect the answer to be granted?

It truly was a strange experience that triggered a huge ruckus in our family, caused my nurse friend and our doctor to stay late and disrupted John's day at work.  And in the end, my first thought was not to praise God for healing but to just wonder at how in the world it was back to normal!  I am so thankful for grace and how God gently reminded me of His role as Healer.  Later in the week as people continued to ask how the ankle was getting along, shared instead how it wasn't really that odd I was back to normal so quickly since I had prayed for a quick healing and God opted to show up in that way for me.  What a blessing it was for me and for our family it was a short-lived injury. 

And yes, I did go skiing on Thursday and had a fantastic day with my friends Phil, Karen and Suzanne.  We even skiied the bumps -- a lot!  A blessing of a day.

Jen

Finally A New Post!

Well it's a new year and with that comes a new commitment to the Niemann Family Blog.  There's always plenty to share...that's for sure.

Our latest family news is the addition of a puppy to the mix. She's a yellow lab born on November 5, and we named her Aspen. She's a cutie and so far our "mature" black lab, Dallas, is tolerating her quite nicely.  It's been awhile since we've had a puppy - she's sure cute but I am really glad to have Dallas around to babysit her!  It helps that she has a playmate.  The kids absolutely love her, and John is quite taken with her as well. 

We have also acquired another black lab - a 15-month old trained hunting dog.  It was my Christmas gift to John and his name is Yankee.  At this point we are simply "trying him out" to see if he fits with the family and how he does duck hunting.  So far thumbs are up on all counts.  So we seriously have a lot of 4-legged animals around here right now...you can't forget Cabela, the stray cat we obtained as a kitty in May...:)

Second Week of School/Activities

The second week of school was another good one with the biggest news being in Hillary's grade.  Her teacher, Mrs. Clark, was going to teach a combined 1st/2nd grade class, however, after getting everyone settled in the first week and accommodating new students and some redistricting, she was moved to another class with Mrs. Murray.  As it turns out we love Mrs. Murray and think it is going to be a great move for Hillary.  The only complaint of the week was that homework began being assigned!

We also had Back-to-School night and although John was out of town, I was able to make it to all three of the kids' classrooms and find a little more out about how the classes are run.  I am so happy with all three of their teachers and was very excited to learn that T-K's Academic Performance Index (API) scores, as determined by the CA Department of Education, was 890!  The state's achievement target is 800, and all the Title I schools (which includes T-K) far outpaced schools around the state with similar student demographics, in some cases logging API scores over or close to 900.  This is an increase of 29 points in one year and very excited for the school.

Peyton is playing football for T-K this year and on Wednesday of last week he was given a game jersey with a "1" on it...the number of the Quarterback!  To say he's excited would be an understatement...he's always wanted to play quarterback, and with this being his first year to play any sort of organized football, he was thrilled.  He's so

Trace decided to run cross country for T-K and he was also excited to get his track uniform this week.  We hope to hit some shoe sales tomorrow to stock up on running and football shoes!

We've also been playing a little golf lately.  Peyton and I went out and played 9 holes a couple of weeks ago, and he also has been out with a friend of his to play a couple of times.  Trace and I had a golf day this past Saturday and had a great morning of 9 holes.  We live just a few minutes from a great little 9-hold par 3 course which is very handy to even go and hit a few buckets of balls in the evenings.

First Week of School!

Well the Niemann's started school on Monday, August 22 and all three kids had a good first week. Their school is Temperance-Kutner, or T-K for short. Peyton's teacher is Mrs. Vang, and being in the 6th grade this year he's the "Big Man on Campus" since the school is K-6. 4th-grader Trace landed in Mrs. Dupras' class, which is a combined 4th-5th grade class. He was pretty excited because Mrs. Dupras was Peyton's teacher last year, and Trace took a liking to her then (it doesn't hurt that she's pretty!). Hillary had a fantastic first grade teacher last year, Mrs. Clark, and as it turns out we were pleasantly surprised that she is also teaching a combined class of 1st-2nd graders! So Hillary will have the same teacher again which couldn't be better for her.

The best part of the week as voted unanimously by the kids was having "no homework"! I'm afraid that will change this week but it was nice while it lasted. We are set on school supplies, new routines and of course having new backpacks is always a bonus.

The boys started sports practice this week. Peyton is playing football for T-K and Trace is on the cross-country team since he can't start football until 5th grade. They will both have sports practice every day after school except for Wednesdays, and their games/meets will be at the same locations on Friday afternoons at 2:30. Peyton is quite excited about finally playing football since he's looked forward to it since he was - oh, say 2 years old.

We also started piano lessons back up last week. Last year our piano teacher, Troy, came to our house to teach the kids, but this year we are taking lessons at the Valley Music Center of Fresno where Troy is the school director. It's a fantastic facility, and all three kids all take on Wednesday afternoons when they have early release. They will get to have recitals there, and they also offer keyboard, jazz and other classes that mom will be signing up for too!

We topped off the first week of school with a fishing trip to Hunting Lake on Saturday. It was a beautiful day - we didn't catch a lot of fish but according to Hillary the fun was all about learning to cast by yourself! We saw a lot of great scenery on our hikes, and it was amazing to think that on December 31 we were skiing in the same area in fresh powder and 4 degrees! All just over an hour from home...it was a great day.

Our Stay-cation

Thanks to our good friends the Caudle's who came to see us for their summer vacation, we also got to spend a few days enjoying the sights of California, some of which we had not yet gotten to experience. Here are some of the highlights...

Day One - After a tour of the Cargill Beef Plant we played a few rounds of putt-putt golf and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool.

Day Two - We headed to Sequoia! Some of the sights we saw that day included the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world (by volume). It was awesome! We climbed through the trunk of a hollow tree, drove through the Tunnel Log, hiked 400 steps up Moro Rock to see a stunning view of the high sierra & canyons and stopped to hike along a stream and take some pictures in the late afternoon. We topped off the day with supper at the Bravo Cheese Factory on the way home. What a great day.

After a day of recovery from our Sequoia excursion at the pool, we headed south to Woodlake where our good friends the Henderson's live. They hosted us on a float trip down the St. John's River -- views ranged from mountains to valleys to pastures of cattle and a clear, blue sky. A cookout of steaks ended the very fun day.

The next day was church, more "recovery" at the pool and packing to head to the coast! We left the following morning for Avila Beach where we soaked up some sun and the kids (and John!)braved the cold waters and went boogey-boarding. After the beach we stopped at the Tolosa Winery, had supper at Splash Cafe and crashed for the night in San Luis Obispo. The next day we visited Morro Bay, drove up highway 1 and saw the elephant seals at San Simeon. Another VERY fun day!

First Post on Blog!

Well, the Niemann's have decided to join the Blogger world! For a number of years I have kept journals for each of the kids but over the past year I have not kept them up as often as I would like. A friend suggested I start a family blog so I can quickly update what is happening with our family so we are going to give it a shot.

We have had a fantastic summer full of softball, baseball, swimming and seeing the sights of California. We have one more week of summer before school starts...Peyton is 11 and will be in 6th grade, Trace is 9 and will be in 4th grade and Hillary is 7 and will be in second grade. They attend Temperance-Kutner elementary school in the Clovis USD, and this is the last year they will all be at the same school.

John is the general manager of the Cargill beef plant here in Fresno, a job he has really enjoyed. He's also been able to involve the plant in a number of community service projects, including building houses for Habitat for Humanity and a number of park clean-up projects.

Over the past year I have been studying to become a personal training and just recently received my official certification from the ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association). I am starting a fitness blog as well to go along with my new endeavor and I am very excited about helping people become healthier!

Jen