Ryan Lance here.  Thought an update was way overdue, so I decided to write, so you can know what is going on with our family.

I am happy to report that Karen's mental health situation has drastically improved.  She is back to being a wife and a mother, the woman I had loved prior to her downward spiral.  She has bi-polar disorder, and if she is not on her medications or seeing her counselor, she is constantly depressed (often to the point of tears) and does not want to do anything but lie in bed.

It got to the point that I felt I had married the Grinch instead of a human woman.  It was very bad.  Not only did Karen suffer: so did our children, P.J. (six) and Felicia (11).  They missed the old mom they knew and loved.

I had tried to get her into counseling, but she refused to budge.  I ultimately had to have her placed into a mental institution, so they could get her back on track; it took a while, but it eventually helped, and now Karen is doing much, much better.

Seems hard to imagine that it's been one year since my wife got sick with the bi-polar; now that it is behind us (thank God), we have learned to move on with our lives.  I am back to working full time, and the children are busy with school or sports activities.  Seems that when I am not working, our family is always on the go.

In fact, now that the holidays are with us once again, Karen wants to throw herself into the celebration.  We've already started our Christmas shopping, and we are both quickly getting into the holiday spirit.  Our children are excited (especially our youngest) because it won't be long before Santa Claus comes to bring him gifts.  He saw Santa at the mall this past weekend, and he was so giddy with joy as he sat upon the Jolly Old Elf's lap and read him his Christmas list!

You can bet that Kar took lots of pictures of our smiling little baby boy!  They are already up on our page at Facebook, for all of our friends to see!

Well, I gotta get ready and go to work, so I will write in here again.  Take care and keep the prayers for Karen coming; they have made a huge difference in our life!  Thanks in advance!

~Ryan Lance.