Author: desk

An eventful year, 2018 has brought many changes to our lives. We moved into our new house on January 1st and began our first home-owning experience. My great grandfather was once asked how long he owned his house. He replied “That house owned me for 50 years!” Our house has owned us for one year now and between painting all the walls and ceilings, refinishing the wood floor, replacing the furnace, and moving ductwork, Mike (and sometimes Debbie) have been busy.

Though it is work, we enjoy the spacious fenced in backyard where we can grill and have parties. We enjoy the compact size of the interior, which makes cleaning and talking to each other from other rooms quite convenient. The kitchen and dining room layout is perfect for hosting lunch or dinner for friends and family, which we love doing frequently.

In early February, we set out to find some sun. Leaving cold, cloudy Potsdam behind we decided to fly to the beach in Texas. It was neither warm nor sunny, but at least it wasn’t snowing. We enjoyed riding fat bikes, collecting seashells, and seeing new sights. We were also able to make a day trip from our beach rental to San Antonio to visit family, friends, and, of course, the Alamo.

A month later we were off again – this time bound for Utah. A whirlwind trip with massive travel hiccups, we were still able to get to Moab and meet up with Mike’s college friends. Hiking and biking, seeing cool geological features, and taking some cool night photos were the highlights of our trip. This time we were able to find both warmth and sunshine before heading back to the snowy north.

Monthly visits to Watertown to see Debbie’s midwife/doctor filled the winter and spring. Now that traveling was more uncomfortable for Debbie’s growing belly, we took shorter car trips to Lake Placid, Burlington, Sackets Harbor, and Westtown to see Debbie’s parents. Also, four baby showers were thrown for baby Simon. 

For our first anniversary, we spent the weekend in Ottawa being tourists.

This summer we replaced the Audi wagon with a newer, safer BMW wagon. We both miss the car that first made Debbie think Michael was the coolest guy in the world and that she should date him, but we know it is for the better.

We are blessed to have family and friends come visit us frequently. In January, Debbie’s aunt and uncle came for a few days, and we enjoyed multiple visits from Debbie’s parents and Michael’s dad throughout the year. We loved having Debbie’s grandma, aunt, and cousin for a day this fall so they could see where we live.

Debbie was lucky enough to be able to work full time at LC Drives until a week before Simon was born. Designing and building fixtures for their motor assembly line, she has learned much since starting there three years ago. After a three month maternity leave, she was able to go back part-time and work from home to be with Simon.

Michael continues to thrive at his job at Clarkson, where he single-handedly runs the internet.

When we aren’t out on adventure, we love to spend time with our friends and family in the area.

Mike and Debbie love their church community.  Mike runs the sound system at church once a month, and prior to Simon’s arrival, Debbie set out coffee and refreshments and watched kids in the nursery.

On June 10th, Simon Reynolds made his appearance. Since then, our lives have changed dramatically as we are constantly learning and changing. We are thankful to all be healthy and safe.

So far Simon has enjoyed hiking, taking walks, Clarkson hockey games, and short trips to Burlington, Brant Lake, and Westtown.

This December we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus, in this Christmas time. We are thankful that through all the years and trips and seasons He is with us.  Wishing you all the joy of the holidays!

The Knaebels

Your birth was kind of a miracle. I know: all births are miracles, but yours showed so clearly the hand of God that it was more than the usual miracle of life.

I was sick all day Saturday. Nauseous and couldn’t eat. Lethargic and tired. I thought I had food poisoning. But when that didn’t go away by the end of the day, I knew something was up. Even though it was a week early, we decided to pack our hospital bags, just in case.

I started feeling pain around 10pm. I didn’t think much of it but around midnight I decided to start timing when I felt it. Exactly 5 minutes apart. For an hour. These are probably contractions and I’m probably in labor.

I texted my doula and she said we should head to Watertown. So we packed up the car and got on our way at 1AM Sunday morning.

I kept timing the contractions, however, and by the time we got 10 minutes down the road they were one minute apart. Unsure if we would make it to Watertown or not, we decided to head back to our hometown hospital and have them check me to see if I’d make it to Watertown.

When we got there, they said they would check me. I got put in a room and they hooked me up to a machine. I immediately had a low blood pressure episode because I hadn’t eaten the day before, so they stuck and IV in me and gave me fluids.

The doctor came in. He looked familiar and thought we did too. M just shrugged. He told us that because the baby took a hit when my blood pressure dropped that I was probably going to need to have a c-section that night and told the nurse to put another IV in me. When I gave pushback, he got mad and left.

I told the nurse I wanted to do things as naturally as possible and asked if we could wait to see if the baby comes back to normal vital signs after few minutes and the fluid I’m getting in my body works. She said yes and said she would go talk to the doctor.

By that time they considered us officially admitted to CPH and we decided to stay. Our nurse Kallie was excellent and ended up staying 4 hours past her shift just to see you born.

You were born at 10:11 AM that morning. 7 lb, 11 oz of pure miracle and joy.

Looking back, we can see how everything worked together. If we hadn’t turned around in Canton I may have had a low blood sugar somewhere between Potsdam and Watertown where we couldn’t have gotten help. If we hadn’t been admitted to CPH, our doula wouldn’t have been able to come help me. I’m not sure I could’ve done it without her. And in the end we are two minutes from home instead of two hours.

^{28 “}And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28 NIV

As the new year rang in I found myself on a plane somewhere over the Pacific headed to China. I’d always wanted to go to China (for the Chinese food, obviously) and I was finally going for work. But I wasn’t as excited as I wanted to be: two days before the man I love had asked me to marry him and now I was 7000 miles away from him.

Thirteen hours after getting stuck in a tiny seat between two large men, I landed in China. I didn’t have time to be sad, though: the next two weeks held nonstop adventure, work, and plenty of Chinese food.

February, March, and April were a flurry of wedding preparations. I’m forever grateful for our community and friends who stepped in and volunteered their time and energy to help me do something I’d never done before and I hope to never do again. Wedding planning is not my thing.

I’ve never been so aware of the blessing that family and friends add to our lives. Their generosity and creativity blessed us both so greatly. And now I had an even bigger family, whom I have grown to love too.

April 29th went off without (and with)  a hitch. We then set off on two weeks of adventure that included all the best forms of transportation: plane, car, boat, bike, and train. Snowy mountains, hot desserts, and sunny beaches welcomed our stressed and tired selves.

I’d never been farther west than Ohio (except if you count China) so seeing Colorado, California, and the Hawaiian islands was the greatest fun. Riding in a sleeper car for 23 hours, driving (yes, I drove it) a train, riding our rental convertible through the Sierra Nevada mountains in a blizzard, seeing San Francisco, and experiencing the sunrise from a Hawaiian volcano were the highlights of the trip.

The adventure of married life had begun. It’s fun being married to your best friend: you get to go camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, eat sushi, and travel together any time you want.

 

My circle had already expanded to include my husband’s wonderful family, but it became more of a reality when his sister moved back into the area in the summer, allowing me to be an aunt to three adorable children. I was again an aunt in August when my brother and his wife had his first, a baby girl.

In October we had the joyful news that we were to have our own little one. How appropriate that he/she is due on Father’s Day, 2018. Again, I was reminded of how God places people around us to support us in things that we ourselves know nothing about. Babies are that thing. Luckily my body seems to know what to do without me telling it. (Although I’d happily tell it to stop being queasy, tired, and sore if it asked me).

On December 13 we closed on the most adorable house in Potsdam (if you see it, you’ll agree). Being a homeowner is going to be a whole new adventure. I’m not really worried, though, because M can fix anything: cars, leaky pipes, electrical outlets,  and anything else I break.

World traveler, wife, aunt, homeowner, soon-to-be mom… 2017 held many changes for my life. Some difficult, some easy and joyful. But as I reflect as the year comes to a close, I’m more grateful than anything else. God is good and He always provides, protects, and loves more than we could ever think or imagine.

You may be thinking “Nice story, Deb, but what does this have to do with me? Why am I even reading this?” Well, you might be nosy. Or just curious (congrats on making it almost all the way through this, by the way). Or you may want to join me in celebrating what God can do in a life in a year.

So often I look at my present situation and wonder how the problems I  face will be solved. They seem insurmountable. But look back to a year ago. I didn’t think anyone would ever marry me, I didn’t think I’d get to “see the world”, and I never thought I’d be a mom or own a home.

I never dreamed all of the adventures, joys, and love that could be found in a single year. This isn’t one of those “I had a rough year but I came out ok” posts. This is actually to say: rejoice with me, for God is good.  And even though I know this, I need to remind myself of it daily to combat the daily difficulties. I hope that today as you remember your year, you are reminded of it too.