Bleiler Family

The Real Latest On Jessica Howard

() — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:28:53 GMT

Hey Guys,

So it's been about 3 years since my father passed away, and it's been hard but things are getting better. I appreciate all the comments guys on my dad guys. This wjole experience has made me mature in ways i thought i never could.

But the latest on me is I'm a soon to be 8th grader at Madison Jr. High School. I'm a level 8 Gymnast and sooo excited for competition season. My dad inspired me to pursue my dreams so that's what I'm doing. I hope to make 2016 Olympics=) I've decided to not do Cheerleading and just focus on my dream of Gymnastics. In November i will be 14, and less than a full year after that I'll be driving=)

Losing my dad took a lot of determination to get myself back up again and keep going. I can only wish that my dad could see how far I've come in Gymnastics and life in person. People always told me he was watching over me and he would still always be there for me in a different way, but stuff likethat is what got me throught all the hard days.

So i hope all is well for everyone and all goes well =) Live well love much and laugh often.

With love,
Jessica Paige Howard
Daughter of Brian Lee Howard

Fun in the city...

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:23:18 GMT

[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/5yrs_old_part1/thumb_Photo_051509_005.jpeg[/img]Holden finished preschool this spring. It was a tough journey but he's really excited about officially being a big kid now. I was able to attend his end-of-the-year picnic at the Schuman Park. We had a morning full of games and playground fun. The parks department even came down to give the kids a tour of the Frisco steam engine on display at the park.

[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/5yrs_old_part1/thumb_DSC00032.jpeg[/img]It seems like we've been taking a lot of weekend day trips lately. Visiting the Petra Rock Gym in Springfield has been fun and relatively inexpensive. Jen has crossed over to the dark side and started climbing too. We've helped the gym staff out at two birthday parties now and received free passes in exchange for our assistance. It's a nice gym but a poor business model. I have no idea how the place makes a profit.

Since our last post, we attended the "USO Day at the Zoo". Holden's friend Jaimison came with us. The pair had a great time. The USO continues to improve this event every year and they've really done an outstanding job. They do such a wonderful job supporting service members and their families. Their efforts are even more impressive when you consider they aren't funded by the government...

[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/5yrs_old_part1/thumb_P1010843.jpeg[/img]

Another exciting trip was visiting our friend Lucas Robison. He was in St Louis for a wedding and we were able to spend the day with him, Michelle and his family. It was great to finally meet Michelle and his sister's family. Hopefully we'll have to get out to Seattle for a visit. We met them at the City Museum which continues to amaze me. They recently opened the roof to the public with a new ferris wheel ten stories above the city. We had lunch in the Laclede's Landing and visited the Arch after. Jen, Holden and I all were able to take the tram to the top of the arch for the first time. The views were amazing and Jen was relieved that you couldn't feel the arch moving back and forth like she feared...
[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10000/thumb_shawn_and_holden_at_the_arch.jpeg[/img]

Forever and a day

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:07:36 GMT

Yes, it has been forever since we've written anything and I have no good excuse. I have to say that one of the conveniences of having a camera phone is that you can take pictures whenever you want but it is not so convenient to get pictures off of my camera and on to the site. I typically feel as though I must have pictures to accompany any posts and since it's annoying to get them off of my phone I don't write. If anybody is reading this, please know that I will attempt to write something even if I don't have pictures to share

Anyway, Holden has been trying lots of new things lately. Shawn thought this spring would be a good time for Holden to try rock climbing so we went to Petra rock gym in Springfield to give it a whirl. Holden loved it and he did really good for his first time. It's also a great confidence builder for him since it's something he can do and none of the other kids on our street have ever done. We ordered him a harness too but the rock gym has been having some staff and credit issues so we don't actually have it yet and it's been about 6 or so weeks now. However, as an apology, the owner gave us a harness he had in stock and a chalk bag and when Holden's harness comes in we get to keep both of them. The chalk bag was nice because Holden loves chalking up his hands to make sure they are dry for his climb - it's quite cute. I have gotten "certified" to belay now too (that's the person who stands at the bottom and holds the rope to stop you from falling). Shawn has already done it but now I can belay for him. I haven't tried climbing yet though, I still have to work up the courage to try it out.

I'm also proud to announce that Holden has learned to ride a two wheeled bicycle and no longer uses training wheels! He basically taught himself when he and I went and visited my parents in Indiana 3 weeks ago. My mom had a tiny bike without pedals and since it was small and there were no pedals in his way, he was able to find his balance pretty easily. He wasn't really afraid of falling since the bike was so small and he couldn't really hurt himself if he did fall. Anyway, he was doing really good with this little bike so we went across the street to the Amish neighbor's house and borrowed their little girl's bike so he could actually try pedaling. I held on to the back of the bike so he could get on and set up the pedals and then he just took off. No running after him or keeping him upright or anything. It was really amazing and he was even turning and going in circles while staying upright too. All of this happened in one afternoon. I never thought "teaching" him to ride a bike could have been so easy. There are a couple of pictures in the photo gallery of Holden learning to ride a bike at my parents house if you want to check them out. When he's older, I'm sure he'll love the fact that these first bike riding pictures are of him on a pink bike

Alright Justin, I'm ready for you to tease me about finally writing...

Day trip to Meramec State Park

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:06:35 GMT

[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/meramec_sp/thumb_Photo_010209_012.jpg[/img]
We decided to spend this unusually warm January day hiking at Meramec State Park.

First we stopped at an outfitter in Sullivan to get Jen a decent pair of boots and we got to the park a little after lunch. It was our first trip to Meramec and it has numerous hiking trails and beautiful camping and picnic facilities constructed in the 30's by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Geologic features are easy to see in the park including sinkholes, caves, losing streams and bluffs. Holden has been very hyper the last couple of days and we were determined to walk the energy out of him. We let him clear the path of all limbs that might pose a tripping hazard. It kept him moving along the trail dutifully throwing sticks off the trail.
[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/meramec_sp/thumb_Photo_010209_006.jpg[/img]
We wrapped up the day with a trip to Bruno's for a dinner and a pint...

City Museum and the Wii

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:34:07 GMT

[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10000/thumb_city_museum___rebar_suspended_tunnel.jpg[/img]Holden and I went to City Museum yesterday. It was an unseasonably warm day for December and we decided to take advantage of it. Holden's favorite part was running in the half pipe. He ran for a solid twenty minutes and was just dripping in sweat at the end... It wasn't too busy in the morning but by lunch the place was packed. Luckily it warmed up enough by then to enjoy the outside activities. Holden loved finding his way up to the airplanes. The picture below is a stock photo but I wanted to show the way up. We finished the trip with lunch at Burger King...Holden likes their mac n' cheese and shakes.
[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10000/citymuseum_airplane_stock_image.jpg[/img]

In the afternoon, we stopped over to visit with Ron, Stephanie, Alex and Abby. They recently got a Wii and they invited over to try it out. Jen liked the Wii Fit... Holden loved running in Wii Sports (Mariokart was too much of a challenge). I did surprisingly well at the bowling but not at keeping my distance from the TV screen. Nothing was damaged but I'm sure I made Ron a bit nervous. It was a real fun time. Maybe next Christmas we'll get one....

Christmas Vacation

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:30:43 GMT

Christmas this year has been a time for Jen and I to relax and recharge and it has been exciting for Holden. Holden had a Christmas recital at school and his class had a birthday party for baby Jesus. We actually put lights up outside this year and hung a wreath. Previously, we were never in town for Christmas so we never borthered really doing much. Holden and his friends helped make and decorate spritz cookies (my favorite) and they all took some home to set out for Santa. Our little artificial tree even seemed too small for the amount of Christmas spirit in the house this year.

[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/dec08upload/thumb_P1010511.jpg[/img]
Holden was really good this year and he worked hard on his letter to Santa because we told him that Santa wanted it to be written by him. It was a great motivator for him to work on his handwriting. Christmas day was exciting; I woke up at five and had to wait a full hour and a half for Holden to get up (seriously it was torture). Holden was relieved to discover Santa only ate the cookies he left on a plate and not the ones in the kitchen that he intended to eat. Half way through openning the presents, we took a break so Holden could play and we could make breakfast. After round two of presents, we spent the rest of the day together, Jen and I cooking and Holden playing. I cooked a turkey and made a crockpot of Gluhwien to enjoy for the day. Jen made Great Grandma Bleiler's cranberry sauce, which was a perfect compliment to Grandma Jean's applesauce. It was a great dinner with enough leftovers to last the remainder of our vacation.

We've been trying to keep active during our winter vacation at home. Holden got a chance to trying shooting a bow at Beaver Creek Conservation Area. He had a good time but the draw weight on the bow was a bit too much for him so we got him an 18lb children's bow to practice with for his birthday.
[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/dec08upload/thumb_P1010544.jpg[/img]

We followed archery with an afternoon of roller skating at the Zone (local skating rink and play zone.) Holden's friend, Alex, invited us to join them for the afternoon to play and skate. Holden really started to get the hang of using his Fisher Price skates by the end of the day and I learned that skating uses a entirely different group of muscles... I was so sore that night. Lots of fun though.

We also were able to head up to Runge Nature Center in Jefferson City for an afternoon of hiking. It was Holden and Jen's first time there and the weather was unseasonably warm, around 60. Everyone had a good time. Holden was able to participate in a treasure hunt with the Naturalist at the center. We hiked one of the many trails there and visited the Naturescape garden. We wrapped up the day with a trip to Chipotle for lunch.

[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/RungeNatureCenter/thumb_P1010647.jpg[/img]

Not too much else planned for the week with the exception of New Year's Eve and our anniversary. We'll be spending New Year's with our friends, Nate and Lori and their daughter Haley and we'll be celebrating our anniversary a bit differently. We're all going to watch the Saint Louis Blues play the Columbus Blue Jackets. It wasn't really the plan but the game schedule happened to fall that way. It will be Holden and Jen's first game. Hopefully the Blues will put on a good show!

Just for good measure, I've included my recipe for Gluhwein... Enjoy!

Gluhwein
2 - 750 ml bottles of red wine
2/3c - sugar
2 - orange rind strips
1/2c - orange juice
2 - lemon rind strips
6 - whole cloves
1t - coriander seeds
2 - cinnamon sticks

1) Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Stir over a low heat without boiling, until sugar is dissolved.
2) Stir mixture until it begins to simmer. DO NOT BOIL.
3) Simmer uncovered for approximately 20 minutes. Strain and serve.

* I've also made this in the crockpot allowing the batch to be held warm for a long period. The key is to not let it boil.

Thanksgiving in Indiana

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:22:28 GMT

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Indiana. For me, it was a nice quiet and relaxing trip...It was great hanging out with Phil, even if he can't hang when it comes to eating wings. Jen amazed me with her ability to pull off an all-night "Black Friday" shopping spree. Holden had a great time visiting with Grammy and Grandpa, taking care of the animals and playing with Kaiden.
[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/dec08upload/thumb_Photo_112808_001.jpg[/img]

An Election and a family visit...

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:13:01 GMT

First I need to apologize as some of these entries are long over due...I've been a bit of a slacker this winter when it comes to writing. Everyone in the house was suffering from election fatigue by November 4th and a break was in order.
My parents were able to come down to Rolla to visit following the election. It was a great visit. Grandma Bleiler spent lots of quality time with Holden and my Dad was a great help to me with finishing the shed I had been working on. The shed turned out great. I only wish I had been able to finish the shed before they got down to visit but I never would have been able to pull it off without him. Thanks Mom and Dad!

[img]http://www.bleilerfamily.com/modules/coppermine/albums/Holden/4yrs_old_part2/thumb_P1010491.jpg[/img]

Halloween 2008

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:19:50 GMT

This past Sunday, we took Holden and his friend Haley to the local pumpkin/tree farm so we could pick out our pumpkins this year. I believe this is the third year in a row that we have gone and I think it will be our last. The woman "guarding" the entrance was definetaly a witch and was rather nasty towards me when I questioned their pricing. See, last year when we went, we were each charged like $2 to take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and if you wanted to do some of their other activities such as: the haunted house or the tractor pulled cow train then you paid $4. Well, this year it was a flat $4 to do everything but you weren't given the choice to just do the hay ride. So, Shawn and I each had to pay $4 even though we were too big for the other activities. I think that is kind of crappy and when I questioned the woman she was really rude and short with me. Their selection of pumpkins sucked this year too so I'd just rather not go back. We got two pumpkins though: one for Shawn and one for Holden.

On Thursday, we finally had a chance to carve the pumpkins. It was funny because I had to stop at the pharmacy that day and the pharm assistant asked Holden if he had carved a pumpkin yet and he said No, his dad was going to cheat and use a drill to carve it - busted! Shawn had actually found some elaberate carving plans the day before and was going to use this new tool of his to make these designs and it would just be "so easy." It took him all night just to do Holden's "flame face" pumpkin and by the time he was done with that he was sick of carving so just put a big old goofy smiley face on his.

Friday, Holden had his Halloween party at his preschool. Parents were invited to send treats with their kids to share with the class. I found these plastic rats and bats at the store and I bought some orange ribbon and tied a little pack of candy corn to the back of each bat and rat. They were so cute and I was rather proud of myself for being pseudo-crafty. I felt like it could have been a project from that food show "semi-homemade" and I even took a couple pictures as proof. Earlier that week his class had painted "pumpkin" paper bags and the teachers filled the bags with shreded paper to plump them up and put a couple treats inside too. They made a little pumpkin patch outside and the kids had story time outside and then they all got to walk through the pumpkin patch to find the pumpkin with their name on it.

I picked up Holden after school and he immediately wanted to start digging into the few pieces of candy that he had gotten from school. Shawn came home soon after so they got their costumes on and headed out. Oh, I forgot to mention what Holden was this year. Holden was a police officer and Shawn dressed up as his prisoner. Shawn got one of those white coverall suits that you see people wearing while painting and stuff and he spray painted it orange so it looked like a prison uniform. Holden's costume came with these plastic handcuffs so Shawn was cuffed all night long and led around by Holden. It was cute and others found it funny too. People even gave Holden extra treats for him to give to his "prisoner." They had a good time and Holden seemed to get a lot of candy for only going on two streets. Oh well, he's really good about sharing and doesn't seem to notice when he has less candy in the morning then what he had left the night before

I put two Halloween pictures up in the photo gallery, but I don't know how to resize them so the rest will be put up Sunday evening after Shawn gets home from drill.

Thom Lang...

shawn.bleiler@gmail.com (shawn) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:32:11 GMT

My (Jen's) uncle Thom was taken off life support yesterday at 1:50 pm PST and passed away at 2:40pm PST from non-hodgkins lymphoma. He is survived by his wife, Jane, and his four siblings: George, Don, Nancy, and Jean (my mom).

It all happened rather quickly. In mid August, Thom was having vertigo problems, went to his doctor, and was diagnosed with just an inner ear infection and was given antibiotics to clear it up. When it didn't clear up after 2 weeks, he went back to the doctor and they did a CAT scan and an MRI and saw a that his blood vessals were being pushed up against his brain but they still weren't sure what it was so specialists were called in. On September 2nd he admitted himself into the Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. They found a tumor on his brain and decided to remove it through surgery. It was a smallish tumor but was apparently in a bad place. The surgery was performed and they were able to remove most of the tumor but after surgery he was having problems talking and breathing so they put him on a respirator. He had to go back in for surgery later because the tubes weren't draining properly and they decided to keep him under sedation afterwards. On September 6th they decided to start weaning him off the sedative but everytime they did so his blood pressure shot back up so they put him back under to get his blood pressure under control. This past Tuesday they did an EEG and discovered that his brain activity was slowing but it wasn't until Thursday that they diagnosed the tumor as non-hodgkins lymphoma. That day his left lung collapsed and he developed pneumonia. The doctor said that the treatment he would need for the cancer would be really hard on his body and, in his condition, would probably kill him. On Friday, the decision was made to just make him comfortable and remove life support; he died one hour later.

All of this was very surprising because none of us really knew anything was wrong until he went into the hospital on September 2nd and at that time was still walking on his own (with a cane because of the dizziness) and ten days later he was gone. I'm still stunned and don't know what much else to say. Thom will be greatly missed by family and friends.