Chris & Emily

Winter Fun

2010-02-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent pictures. We are having so much fun with our little Erika. She is such a joy - and a very happy and content baby. She seems to get bigger every day and keeps outgrowing her clothes. She was 3 month old on 2/17! We can't believe how time is flying. We're trying to soak up every minute though. We are so grateful!

On 1/16, we had Erika's entrustment ceremony, which was beautifully arranged by her birth mother. It was a special event. There are pics from the day below.

Time in the bouncy seat

Hanging out with Mommy's Knitch (knitting group) friends - we are starting her off early

This is one of my favorites - Erika's sweet smile

These are pictures from the entrustment ceremony - this is our birth mother, Autumn.

2 months old on 1/17!

In her new outfit from cousin Jenny

Modeling the hat Mommy made for her (isn't she a heartbreaker??)

Sunday afternoon with Daddy

Erika's valentine - she sent this to all of her little friends

Having fun with Mommy

Smile! (we're still working on getting her to smile for the camera...)

3 months old on 2/17!

New Baby!

2009-12-26T15:29:00.001-08:00

It is very embarrassing that it has been over a year since I updated our blog! I guess it takes a new baby to get me back on track! (This will also serve as a Christmas letter to our loyal followers, since I was not able to send out a letter this year - only a picture.)

Yes, it is true - after many years of waiting to become parents, our little girl finally arrived! Erika Grace Drager was born on November 17th, 2009 at 8:44pm. She weighed 8 lbs 4oz and was 19 inches long. We are honored to have been chosen by her birth mother to become her parents. She is the most beautiful and wonderful little person we have have met. Our love grows for her every day - just looking at her makes our hearts ache with joy and love. Below is a picture taken in the hospital room just hours after she was born. The hospital staff gave us our own room, and we were able to provide all of her cares throughout our time there.

Here are some other fun pics from our first 5 weeks as a family of 3.

It was quite an amazing Thanksgiving & Christmas this year - much celebrating! We pray and ache for her birth mother, however, because we celebrate the very baby she grieves.

Well, the baby news is the biggest news for us, but I will list some of the highlights of 2009 as well.

- January - I (Emily) took a girls trip to Portland, OR for my friend Theresa's wedding. We also finished our home study for the adoption and officially entered the "waiting pool."

- March - Chris flew to CA to attend the Shepherd's Conference.

- April - Emily started mentoring process to become a metro trainer for the Metro Alliance for Healthy Families.

- June - Emily's brother Matt married Julie (beautiful wedding!)

- July - Chris' 20 year class reunion

- August - went to St. Louis, MO for the annual Shaklee convention; took annual Seifert family vacation to Bayfield, WI.

- October - Emily went with her knitting group (the Knitch) to a fall knitting getaway at the Paulsen Pondview Lodge (GORGEOUS - and very productive!); met our birth mother on 10/28

- November - our last weekend away for a while 13th-15th (to Two Harbors, MN) - little did we know Erika would be born just days after our return (she was 2 weeks early).

Chris also worked this summer at our church as a pastoral assistant and has had many opportunities to preach this year, as well. So, it was a full and exciting year. Thank you for your love and support for us throughout. We love you all!

Love,

Chris, Emily & Erika

End of Summer Re-Cap

2008-09-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, we are mourning the end of summer, as many are. Minnesota summers are far too short and winters far too long. So, July and August flew by - with many happenings.

In July, Chris went to Moscow, Idaho for a conference on teaching in the classical approach. The school year has started and has been extremely busy, but he is enjoying it.
The first weekend in August, Chris had softball tournaments (and did very well!). We even got to see Matt & Ali Cooper and their boys, who were in town during that time.
And Micah was a good spectator.The second weekend in August was spent in New Orleans for the Shaklee conference. We learned a lot at the conference - and saw a lot in the city. It was a bit of culture shock for us - the city lived up to its reputation, shall we say. But, we ate good food, heard great music, and admired beautiful architecture.We spent the third (and most relaxing) weekend on our annual Seifert family Bayfield trip. We all bunked together in a suite - and Micah kept us on our toes. We read, relaxed on the beach, watched the olympics together, walked, shopped, and played with the baby. He keeps getting cuter every day (I bought him the shirt you see him in below.) Oh, and Mom was on the trip too - she is the one taking the picture.

Chris started classes the last week in August. We spent Labor Day on the beach with the Dragers. AND THEN...Summer was over.

The most exciting news for us, though, is that Chris had his routine CT scans and check-up and was found to still be in remission! We are so grateful.

Family Time and 4th of July

2008-07-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great time with Chris' brother Rob, his wife Kathy, and their 2 kids (Isa and Peter) when they were here the last week in June. The whole Drager family was together, and we crammed a lot into 4 days! Some highlights: girls had dinner and movie night and guys went to a Twins game; spent a fun day in Stillwater - we even took the trolley ride! I don't have any pics, but maybe Rob will email me some??? (hint, hint, Rob).

We had a pool party and saw fireworks after the St. Paul Saints game on the 4th of July. Here's a pic from the game.

The baby's getting big - and cuter every day. Abby brought him to the pool party.

Chris is working at Manor Concrete again this summer and gearing up to start teaching at the end of August. He's going to Idaho next week for a conference on the Classical teaching method. We're also very busy with preparations for our open house in our new church building (check out our new church website: http://www.twincitiesbiblechurch.com). Chris is on the church softball team again this year, so it's been fun to go to the games on Sunday nights.

Believe it or not, I have actually planted some pretty nice looking gardens in my front yard. I even remember to water them and manage to weed about once a week. I never thought it could happen to me...

New Baby!

2008-05-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

Baby Micah James Lee was born to Jake & Abby on 4/27/08. Abby was a champ - and Auntie Emmy was in the labor room! He was 7 lbs 11 oz and 22 inches long. He's so adorable and perfect. (Isn't he cute???) They are doing great, and we can't seem to get enough of the baby!

More news: Chris signed a contract for 2008/09 school year as a high school social studies teacher at Liberty Classical Academy in Maplewood. He will also be the soccer coach there. We are thrilled and very grateful for this job (social studies teacher positions are pretty hard to come by in this area).

Springtime!

2008-04-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd give a quick update, so here is some random info. We've had lovely weather the last couple of days - almost 70 degrees! Chris is finishing his student teaching and has been offered a permanent social studies teaching position for the fall - yeah! We have hired a plumber to help us with our "root infestation" problem - thankfully, we did not have a BACK-UP to inform us of our issue. Abby (my sister) will be having her baby very soon (she is due 4/30), so we are looking forward to that. We had our 3 little nieces overnight last weekend - we are not used to getting up early on Saturdays and checking every hour if anyone has to go potty! Last Sunday, we went to a bluegrass concert in Red Wing, organized by Dad. We are planning a weekend away to Duluth in May. Ok, that's all I can think of for now.

Caribbean Cruise

2008-03-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

I am late in posting this, but we cruised the Eastern Caribbean from February 3-10. It was an incentive trip through Shaklee, our home-based business, and we didn't pay a dime for it! It was quite luxurious. We even had a balcony room! And the food was unbelievable. Our ports of call were St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Princess Cays (Bahamas). We shopped, snorkled and hung out on the beach. Now, we are more anxious than ever for spring to arrive!

Chris has been QUITE busy... I told him that I have to make an appointment with him in order get to see him! He is student teaching until June and is very busy with ministry at church. Nothing much is new with me.

Christmas Vacation

2007-12-27T11:23:00.001-08:00

Christmas was busy but very fun! We did the usual family festivities. Chris is off until after New Years, and I just had a few days off. Below are pictures from the Seifert family Christmas morning.

Good News!

2007-12-06T15:43:00.001-08:00

Chris had a doctor's appointment this week to review his recent scans. Everything looks great! We always seem to get the bad news just before Christmas, so we are epecially thankful for this report!
Everything else is going well also. Chris is busy with school lately - only 6 more months until he's done! I've been getting ready for Christmas. Work for me has been particularly busy right now, making evenings shorter.

Nashville Vacation

2007-10-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

In August we went to Nashville for the annual Shaklee convention. We saw some great sites while we were there. We were amazed by the culture down there - very fun!

Here we are - Music City. With Jake and Ab, Jill and Andrea.

Nashville at night - with plenty of musicians lining the streets.

We also went to Bayfield with Emily's family in August (sorry, no pics - we forgot the camera). We decided to stay in a cabin across the street from the campground where the rest of the family stayed!

Fall has been busy for us. We hope you are well. We'd love to hear from you!

Summertime!

2007-07-23T14:02:00.001-07:00

Well, I've received several constructive comments that I must update our blog, so here I finally am. This summer has been busy but very nice. Since Chris has the summer off with teaching, he has been able to work at his old company - Manor Concrete. I was a little concerned about how he would do with the heavy work and longs hours, but he's doing great! He has some aches and pains here and there, but it's been a very long time since he's had a pain flare-up. He will have a check up before the summer is done, but going by how he feels, it seems things will be fine. He also played softball on a church league this spring/summer (pictures are above). I'm working starting up my own wellness consulting business and keeping busy with that. We worked on some minor landscaping in the front of the house a few weeks ago, so we'll see what color my thumb is! (I'm hoping for green - but I'm not doing too well with my inside plants!)

We are going to Nashville in a couple of weeks for a conference, then our annual Bayfield trip with my family is in mid-August. This year, I "suggested" to Chris that we get a cabin near the campsite where the family is camping - rather than camp ourselves. I'm pretty sure I put my time in with camping and don't seem to be very excited about doing it in the near future. So, we are staying across the street from the campsite... (Maybe my family as happy as I am about that one.) Our 5 year anniversary is this week (the 26th). We plan to go out for dinner, and then we get to pick out our own gifts this year! Very romantic, I know... (don't blame this on Chris - it was my idea.)

Well, that's the news for now. I'll post some more pictures after our trips in August.

Florida Vacation

2007-03-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

We left snowy Minnesota on March 8th and headed for Naples, FL. We stayed in a friend's beautiful condo on the Gulf beach.

We watched gorgeous sunsets (this is the view from the living room!)

and saw lots of alligators.

We sent time at the beach and got to see the Twins play 3 games in Ft. Meyers. It was very relaxing and so much fun. We also were able to visit with friends Mike and Jamie Bartlett down there - and drove over to see the Fremonts who were vacationing in Florida at the same time (Jason had baseball spring training). It was wonderful!

Back to Normal

2007-01-23T14:49:00.000-08:00

Things have returned to normal. Chris had the stent removed and has been feeling great again. We had a nice week off between Christmas and New Year's. We are now looking forward to our Florida vacation coming up in March!

Recovery and Vacation

2006-12-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! We had a very nice one, even though Chris is still recovering. His surgery was on the 20th, and the doctor told us that it went as well as they could have hoped. The stent is in until January 9th, so that is causing most of the discomfort now. He has to take some pain meds, and he has a lifting restriction for 3 weeks (so it is good that he is on vacation right now). We both have this week off, so it has been nice having time to relax. But, all in all, he seems to be doing quite well - especially the past 2 days. We spent time with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

procedure scheduled

2006-12-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

Well, Chris' prcedure has been scheduled for 12/20. Since it is a bit more involved than they originally thought (a temporary stent will be placed in his ureter), he will need to spend a night or 2 in the hospital afterward.

Thanksgiving and more results...

2006-11-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving day with my family, hosted a brunch here on Friday morning, and celebrated Thanksgiving with Chris' family on Sunday. The weather was gorgeous, and we got to spend some time outside. Steve helped Chris get the tree down in the front yard on Friday, which was so nice of him. I'm not much of a help when it comes to those things...I went shopping! Actually, I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done - and wrapped! The house is almost all decorated as well. This the earliest I've ever been ready.
Chris had his 2nd biopsy this morning. They did preliminary testing on the sample and found it was positive, so we will go ahead with the treatment. It will probably be done on his Christmas break. They are going to do a cryo-ablation (freezing) to destroy the tumor - since it is so small. His pain is not too bad, but he's in bed for the day, I think. This is a bump in the road, but it's not a catastrophe. We knew when he was treated the last time that they may have left some live tumor there in the interest of preserving healthy structures in that area. God has been good to give us peace, and we are so grateful that Chris' pain is very minimal the last 2-3 months. Also, his doctor is great and has been so good to us - and so thorough. Again, thanks for the thoughts and prayers! We'll keep you updated with the latest.

Results

2006-11-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got the call from Chris' doctor about the biopsy results. There were no tumor cells found in the sample. However, the doctor feels that it may have not been thorough enough (there is a very small nodule that is sort of "hiding" that needs to be biopsied as well). The good news, though, is that if it is found to contain live tumor cells, it is much smaller than we originally thought. The treatment would be very minimal. The bad news is Chris has to go through the test again. Keep praying!

Halloween and other news

2006-11-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny

(We had our annual costume party at Jake and Abby's this year.)

Last week, I was in Duluth for a conference on Thursday and Friday. I hurried home to make it to Chris' biopsy appointment at 3pm. It took twice as long as expected, as they had trouble getting a big enough sample (a good thing, right???). Anyway, we don't have any results yet. I think it usually takes 10-14 days. We'll let you know when we hear. As for pain, it has been surprisingly minimal. He hasn't had to take much pain medication at all. Thanks for your prayers!

Dom and Andrea's wedding

2006-10-30T05:17:00.000-08:00

Yet another wedding! It was beautiful - and very fun.

Mini-vacation

2006-10-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

We spent Wed, Thurs, and Friday of last week in Bayfield. We stayed in a cozy cottage that overlooked the lake. The weather was pretty nasty, but we had great time anyway. We got a chance to relax, read, and spend time together. We had a very enjoyable time.

Fall Update

2006-10-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

I think it's time for an update. The very cold weather is telling us that summer is quite over. This past weekend we spent some time "winterizing" the house - trying to save some money on heat this winter! The first weekend in October, our friends, The Stefanski's were here for a visit (all the way from Arizona). We had such a nice time with them.
Chris has been enjoying his job and feeling quite well lately. He had not been sleeping well because of the pain, but he's doing much better now. He went to see his radiation oncologist yesterday to review the scans that he had done about a week ago. They noted that the one spot in his back that they were watching (that previous to this had been shrinking) has grown a bit. They want to do a needle biopsy and it has been scheduled for 11/3. There is a chance that it could be scar tissue, but the likelihood is that it is tumor tissue. If this is the case, they will do Cyberknife radiation again. Since it is very small, he will need just 3 treatment days. It's discouraging, but we knew that there was possibly live tumor there (since they were conservative in treating that spot due to the desire to not injure some healthy structures in that area) and kept watching it. This summer was very hard on Chris - stressful with the job search and the fact that he never seemed to be able to get any sleep with all the pain. I think his body needs a little more TLC to stay healthy! Please pray about this if you think of us. This is not shattering but rather concerning. Thank you for all of your love and concern for us.

Wedding in Chicago

2006-09-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Chris' friend Jim from high school got married in Chicago so we drove down for the occassion. Chris' Dad and Mom and brother and sister-in-law also were there. We all had a really good time. Here is a family photo from the event.

Steph's wedding

2006-08-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Steph (Fremont) and Ryan were married on August 19th and it was beautiful! It was also great to see Matt and Ali and little Noah. We are off to another wedding this weekend in Chicago (Jim Weiberg's).

Vacation and new job!

2006-08-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a great time in Bayfield last weekend with my family (just with Mom and Dad and Jake and Abby - Matt was filming a fishing movie). We camped right on the beach. We rented tandems on Madeline Island, spent time in Bayfield, and ate lots of smoked fish!
Another piece of news: Chris got a permanent job! He will be working as an education assistant in the construction program at district 916. He starts next Friday.

House Pictures

2006-07-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked to see pictures of our house. Here they are.

4th Anniversary

2006-07-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated our 4th anniversary! We had a day trip and a great dinner together at the French Meadow Cafe in Minneapolis.

Update

2006-07-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Emily and I are doing well. Em is still working as a public health nurse for Washington County and loves her work. She is so gifted at working with first time mothers in at-risk situations and the Lord has used her to be a blessing to the girls with whom she works as well as her co-workers.

At the beginning of this year, I went inactive as a real estate agent and began substitute teaching full time in some Twin Cities school districts. I also began taking classes toward a Master of Arts in Teaching (Social Studies/History). My long-term plan is to teach high school history during the school year and do real estate during the busy summer months. This is a bit of an adjustment from my plans for a Phd, but family and health considerations have caused me to adjust my sights.

My health continues to be good. I still go in for check-ups every three months. The last one was better than the previous so things are moving in a healthy direction. We are still watching one area in my back, but it has continued to get smaller each time, so I am in effect (however, not completely) in remission. Praise the Lord for His continued grace. I still have quite a bit of trouble with back pain and am working with a pain clinic, but as a whole, the Lord has been very gracious and I am feeling quite well considering my previous diagnosis.

Emily and I are enjoying the progress we are making on our little Bungalow. We are doing various outside projects such as planting bushes and painting the exterior; and our inside projects include changing light fixtures, taking down a wall in the basement, and insulating the porch. Our dog Copper just sits and watches. I haven’t been able to teach him how to hold a hammer or a paint brush yet.

We would love to hear from you all.

With Love in Christ,

Chris (for Chris and Emily)

2006-06-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

Rather than sending out mass emails, we decided a blog would be a better idea. There is not as much medical news to share lately, though everything is going well with Chris. His appointments are generally uneventful. He has been working with a pain specialist to help solve some of the pain issues.
Otherwise, we continue to work on the house and enjoy the summer.