Merry Christmas

Jesus humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary's finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier. Why? Because that's what love does. The gift of God...... The birth of Christ. This is Christmas..... This is love. - Max Lucado Blessings to all of you and have a Merry Christmas.

The Wedding

We had a wonderful time on our trip! The girls were awesome on the planes and were well behaved for the most part the whole time. The week went so fast, that I feel like we just left, but we packed a lot of adventure into the time we had. The first two days were busy with wedding things, but I was so happy for my sister Carrie and her husband Lee. The wedding took place at a resort, outside, over-looking a mountain, at sunset. It was a beautiful pink sunset and the weather was perfect. The food was awesome and the atmosphere felt like a fairy tale. My grandmas weren't able to travel, so they were greatly missed, but my aunt Lissa and Uncle Terry came in from Texas, so I was soooooo happy to see them. I hated my dress, sorry Carrie if you read this, but it wasn't her first choice, so I didn't include ANY photos of me at the wedding. (Just in case you are wondering) We did some hiking in the hills, did a lot of swimming, shopping, eating at yummy restaraunts, and traveled to Sedona for half a day of hiking and shopping and did the Grand Canyon in record time. Luckily I had already done the whole Arizona trip with my sister ten years ago, so I didn't feel bad about the bad weather at the Grand Canyon, but I felt bad for Aaron and the girls. The weather wasn't quite 40 and it was snowing!!! The clouds were so low, that we didn't have a very good view until we were leaving. We did not stay long - everyone was shivering. When we drove back through Sedona though, it was beautiful and the sunset was breath taking again. After traveling around the world, I can safely say, that there is no more beautiful a place at sunset, than Sedona! We had a couple of near drownings in the pool with Nat. One was funny, but the other was pretty serious. I didn't get to relax much on the trip with her. I always have to be surveying the surroundings looking for potential life-threatning situations. She must have gotten Bella to take her life jacket off while they were in the kiddie pool, because all of a sudden she jumped into the deep end of the big pool and forgot her life jacket wasn't on and Aaron had to jump in and save her. It took him a while to get to her and we were freaking out. I think she swallowed a gallon of water:( I can't wait until we can get to a time in her life, where she can be more responsible. She is scarry dangerous. Well, congratulations Carrie and Lee - I hope you have a wonderful marriage full of love and happiness!

Good-byes

It seems like every few month lately I am saying good-bye to another dear friend. I'm not talking about seasonal friends, but the kind of friends that you consider family - some of my closest friends. This is how it has been for the last couple of years or so. I don't think it has been by chance, that these have been the toughest couple of years in Aaron's and my life. God calls us over and over in the Bible, to come to him first during the trials in our lives. He wants us to cling to him for comfort, but often times the first thing we do when sorrow hits, is call our friends to hold us up - physically, spiritually and or emotionally. I know I have been very guilty of this. Sometimes we just need to feel God's love physically from our friends. Sometimes a hug feels like just what we need instead of opening up God's word. For me, one of these people is my friend Nikki. When Aaron and I were grieving, she came to my house and challenged me to listen to God's words, even when that was the last thing I wanted to hear. She is a true picture of Christ to me and a hand to hold when I hurt. She inspires me to be the best version of myself and I'm going to miss her painfully so. She is following, where God is leading and for that I am happy, but for those of us who will be left behind - we are sad. I guess the challenge for myself is that not only do I remember to go to God first, but that I learn how to suffer joyously through this grief in my life. I know that doesn't even seem possible, but I have hope, because if I have learned anything else from Ms. Nikki,it is to hope and my hope is in Jesus!

Our Big News

Well............... we have some pretty exciting things that will be happening for our family in the next six months or so and we wanted to share them with our friends. We have decided to persue adoption through foster care. We will not be doing foster care, but finding a sibling group to adopt through the foster care system. Yes, I did say sibling group. We would like very young children and we would also like to help keep a set of 2-3 children together. There isn't a need for adoptions of one-child families, but because it's a much more difficult a job trying to place a multi-child family, there are many children in the foster care system. This is something that has always pulled at my heart strings. Before Aaron and I were married, we talked about doing foster care, so this isn't anything new for us. It's just a big descion to finally start the adoption classes, which total 30 hours and get the paper work done, which will take six months. People have asked us what the girls think and they are thrilled. Bella wants me to tell you guys that she is super duper happy! She wants at least one baby boy. I told her, that if that happens, that baby most likely won't be an infant, but more like nine months to a year. We are looking for at least two boys under the age of five. I just ask that you all will pray for our family as we begin this new journey in our lives. Depending on what family we go with, the kids will have some set backs and some emotional issues to work through. It may be a lifetime of challenge, but we our up for the challenge and are excited to see what family God has chosen to become part of our own. Thanks, and God bless!

School Has Begun And One More Birthday

I can't believe that it has been less than two weeks ago that Bella started first grade. It feels like a month ago at least. Bella is my good sleeper and I've always enjoyed her allowing me to sleep in, but now that she has to go to school all day, it's pretty rough on her. I have to wake her up everyday - I was hoping that her internal clock would click in by now. She's getting faster everyday, but she's still walking around the house like a zombie and still has circles under her eyes. She's one of those kids who needs a full night's sleep to not be emotional, so I'm dealing with a lot of melt downs. It's hard on us to get used to our easy going kid acting like someone else. She's also making new friends, so it's interesting to watch some of her mannerisms morph into someone else. She loves her teacher and gets to see her kindergarten pals on the playground, so I think that's her favorite part of her day. Today is her birthday and she just turned six. She was our lunch time baby. She came into the world at exactly 12:00. This is the most significant day of my life, because this is the day that turned us into parents. It's a very profound day for me because of the difficult road we had to take to get her. No matter what happens in the rest of my life, I will never be more thankful than the day that Bella was born. She had a Curious George birthday party on Saturday and the kids had a blast. They were so cute! Tonight we are heading to the circus and the kids can barely contain themselves. They have been bouncing off the walls with excitement. Natalie and I are going to get Bella from school and take her to lunch for her big day. It's really rough being away from her all day now. I don't think I'll ever get comfortable with that. I miss her so much! Last week, Natalie Jane kept asking me to go pick Bell up because she missed her too much:( "We need to go get her!", she kept saying. This time alone with me has been really great for her though and she's doing great. She's behaving herself and hardly ever tells me no! I never thought I would see this day. I have to keep her busy, because she's used to Bella entertaining her, but she's actually letting me teach her sometimes, so I am excited to see what she is capable of. We are thinking of doing gymnastics preschool two days a week starting next week. It has lots of openings, so we are still thinking this over. She would love it! I hope everyone who has kids has survived the start of another school year!

Another End to Another Summer

Well, Aaron came back from Washington, was home for a bit, and them is gone to Colorado this week. He will be home this weekend again. The girls did really well this time and the time went quickly since this was the busiest summer we have ever had! Thank you to all my friends who took the girls for me, so I could have a break - you saved my sanity! I also made sure I got plenty of babysitters all summer long, which helped as well. Aaron's cousins are in high school and needed work, so we made sure we kept them in business. Us girls went to the beach, park, did crafts, colored, helped Bella with school work, read lots of stories, watched lots of movies, played on our swing set and learned how to grow a garden. We have our first orange tomatoes this week!:) We were very excited about that one. Even though Natalie is still very busy, I don't think we had any disasters like the last three summers, so that made things easier as well. Aaron is excited about some projects his boss has for him with the Army reserves. The colonel is also a pastor and wants Aaron to start planning some service projects (missions trips) around the world for his college students. They all have to have at least one multi-cultural experience before they graduate. The gorvernment wouldn't be funding the trips, so the kids would have to raise the money themselves. It's good to see the goverment coming up with ideas to make the world a better place instead of only wanting to take over third-world countries! Aaron is really excited about the possibilites! We as a family have big news too, and no it does not include me being pregnant. We will share our news when we have talked with our families about it first. Bella starts first grade in a couple of weeks and we have been buys getting her ready to start this new journey. I feel so blessed to be a mom and experience all these exciting moments with my girls - being a mom rocks! Have a great rest of the summer everyone!

Summer

Well Aaron has been gone for three weeks now and I am glad to report that things are going pretty smoothly. At this time last year I could have written a book on all the crazy things Natalie had done, but life with a three-year old Natalie is much easier:) I can actually post some sweet things this time instead of frustrating death-defying tricks she has been infamous for in the past summers. This week she climbed up in the chair with me and leaned into my face and said "Mommy, you are so beautiful." I of course praised her for her uncharacteristic thoughtfulness and then Bella comes running (to not be out-done) and says "Mommy, you aren't just beautiful, you are gorgeous!" I had to laugh that they were competing for my attention in such a unique way;) This past week I designed a big stained glass window for the girls' bathroom in popsicles and ice cream cones and then I made individual rainbow colored Popsicles and strung them on Christmas lights and hung them around the top of the wall and they were so encouraging. Natalie told me what a good job she thought I did and kept praising me on how pretty it was! It's just so crazy that she's thinking outside of herself and being so appreciative like that all of a sudden. We have been staying so busy this summer that sometimes I feel like there are not enough hours in the day. It is making the time go by quicker and I really appreciate that. We went to the beach today and it was such an awesome day! Thursdays I have a standing lunch date with someone I hold very dear and I eagerly await those special times to get a break from motherhood. The girls love swimming lessons and although they are not gifted swimmers, they are getting stronger and stronger every time they are in the water. Aaron is enjoying what he is doing in Washington and that makes me happy as well. Please pray for my sister - she had to put her beloved puppy to sleep yesterday. He was almost 14 and he was her baby. We love pets in our family with too much of ourselves sometimes. It's so hard to see them go. Also please pray for my dear friend Beth who lost her mom this month. It's so hard to watch people you love grieve and know that there is nothing you can do to make it better. I hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

Sick Sick Sick

Well, the flu just went through our home and it was not fun!  It's been so long since I had the flu, that I forgot how horrible it is to feel sick.  Natalie started it in the beginning of the week and threw up while she was bouncing around laughing and continued to laugh afterwards, so I didn't think it was a bug.  Then Bella got it the second to the last day of school.  I got it two days later and it was bad.  Being a sometimes over-whelmed mom, I've often wished for getting sick, so I could lay in bed all day and sleep, but never again.  Besides feeling like death so the sleep was unable to come, I had to listen to Aaron stressed, freaking out about everything Natalie did.  It is comical to me now as I remember how badly she kept her daddy hopping, but it was a little crazy at the time.  I keep saying how much easier Natalie has gotten since toddlerhood and how there are fewer disasters and dangerous incidents, but after listening to Aaron on Saturday I realized that what has happened, is that I have just learned that I have to be one step ahead of her at all times.  It has become second nature, so I don't even think about it, but for Aaron who works so much, he has not learned to adapt to the triple D as I have come to acknowledge her in my head.(Disasterous, dangerous, and disobedient)  So, first thing in the morning Nat is fighting with Aaron to sit on the potty.  She is potty trainned now, but refuses to go potty first thing in the morning and we try to avoid accidents the best we can, but she hates to sit for us first thing in the morning. So...... she was screaming forever about that and then was complaining about breakfast and then I hear Aaron screaming later and he barges into the bedroom with a chunck of Natalie's hair and a pair of scissors and very kindly;) let me know that MY daughter had cut her hair off. We didn't put the scissors away after the craft he was doing with Bella. He continued to have a day where she refused to get dressed, made messes, got into trouble and drove him certifiably insane. At the end of the weekend he was soooo exhausted and he announced to the family that he needed a vacation to rest from his weekend. I have to say, that although, I would never wish that kind of weekend on anyone, especially my husband, it did give me some sence of gratitude. He now knows what I deal with on a regular basis and I feel appreciated:)

Funny Little People

So the other day I was playing dolls with Bella and she wanted to play the doctor, so she gets out her doctor kit and inspects her baby doll and in her doctor voice, tells me, "After giving your baby a thorough inspection, I can say that there is nothing wrong with her, it's an obvious case on hypochondria. She thinks she's sick, but there's clearly nothing wrong with her." I sat in stunned silence, before I died laughing. I asked her how she knew what hypochondria was and she explained to me that they talked about it in one of her kid's movies. Well, I guess she pays closer attention to cartoons than I thought! Natalie's little funny is calling her swim suit her suit case. No matter how many times I try to correct her, she still calls it her suit case. Yesterday I walked into the kitchen and she was sitting at the table with the phone in her hand and it was making that lovely noise when it's been off the hook too long and she tells me that she tried to call Grammy and Pop, but no one was answering (with a very grumpy face). The weather has been so warm this week and we tried to turn the air conditioning on last night and it was broken! I hope it can be fixed and not for an arm and a leg. We moved the set of bunk beds we don't use to the downstairs bed room for the girls to sleep, since it's so much cooler there. We were taking down those darn bunk beds in probably 90 degree temps and hauling them down two flights of stairs. I don't think the kids were asleep until after 11:00. I guess we are going to try getting them to sleep in the same bedroom this summer. I don't know how that will go - Natt was up and down for quite a while. The kids are playing in their kiddie pool right now and staying cool before Bella goes to school and it's so quiet in here. She only has a couple of weeks left and kindergarten will be over. Will all of her grades go this quickly? These last two years have come and gone and I can barely believe it.

My Sweet Girls

Thank you to all our friends and family who have been lifting us up in prayer! WE are really doing better and I appreciate all the cards, flowers, tree and prayers:) We have the best friends ever! Through this last loss we experienced, Aaron and I have experienced a new love for our girls that has been quite profound. As a result, Natalie Jane and I have a much better relationship. We have always butted heads, but I think she can feel that things are different in our house and she has been so sweet to me and less naughty:) She is staying dry most days now, which is a huge relief to me. I won't call her potty trained yet, but we are on our way. She turned three this past week and had her little friends over for a Dora party. She was so excited to have Karlie and Lillian and Isabelle over. We had another beautiful spring week here and it was awesome to have the house filled with the giggles and laughter of five little girls. Bella is still doing wonderfully in kindergarten and loves it. She is getting so tall and sometimes when I look at her with those long legs she's getting, I am just so blown away at how quick it's all going. Yesterday I woke up all by myself and wondered where the girls were. I heard voices upstairs, so I went to check on them and found them both cuddled up in Natt's bed and Bella was reading away to her baby sister! It was such a sweet sight, let alone finding out your daughter can read a book like the one she was reading. Sometimes I just want to stop time and keep them this age forever. So many hugs and so many I love yous - I keep telling them to remember this in 10 years!

My birthday

This is for all my friends who have not heard yet - so I don't have to tell everyone individually over and over again. We spent the early hours of my birthday in the Emergency room. I was pregnant, but lost our baby in what would have been our tenth week. It was a pretty horrible experience. Please pray for us.

February 2010

Well, February is almost over and I am so thankful! When February is finished, I am able to really get excited about the spring. I know we have some more snow fall expected for next month, but the coldest snowiest times of the season are behind me, at least in my mind:) We had an uneventful winter and I am pretty thankful for that. It went faster than last year, so that is awesome as well. We all seem to be doing well and the girls are happy. I'm still knocking my head against the wall with the potty training ordeal, but she's staying dry most days, but she just doesn't let me know when she has to go, so I have to be aware every hour! She's very stubborn, because last summer she was telling me when she had to go, but nine months later, she won't do that at all. Aaron has to be gone for a month this summer, so I am praying that we will have success by then. She is still a character and her latest funny is that she tells me "I'm going to Hollywood". I have no idea where she got that one, but she thinks it's very funny. Bella just finished her winter break and I loved having her home to love on. I missed her as I put her on the bus today. She's such my little buddy. We didn't do much over the break, but that was nice too. It's so neat to hear the girls playing make-believe together on their own. I love the way their little minds work. I lost my dear Aunt Marilyn yesterday and we are all grieving her death. She died in her sleep, probably of a heart attack, but she's a believer, so she is basking in God's glory right now. I am both excited for her and sad for our family. She was a character and we will miss her so much. Pray for her husband, who has no one else in his life to support him. I am sure he is very lonely. God bless you all - I hope you are happy, healthy, safe and warm. Love you!

A New Year

We had a wonderful Christmas season and I can't believe it is already January! We had six Christmas', but I know some people have more than that. It was so nice spending time with our family, but we also missed the ones we couldn't be with too. We actually made it through the holidays without any sickness. I think that it's a record! We usally go home to visit my family and get everyone else sick too:) The girls really had a great visit from Santa this year. Bella was so funny - the first thing she did on Christmas morning was go and check if Santa ate all the cookies and took the carrots for the reindeer:) She waited to see what Santa brought her - I was shocked. Her reaction to what she got was priceless. She wanted a robo kitty and a unicorn and she got both, so she was extatic. Natalie went along for the ride, but didn't really ask for anything. Aaron and I spent the Christmas break working on my new stained glass workshop. We are both pretty excited on how it turned out. Bella started school again today after her break and was excited to go back. I love that she really likes her teacher. Natalie loved that she had me to herself again. She wanted to play "mato" - that's playdoh to most people. She was so excited to open her new Christmas present with all new doh and cutting supplies. I don't think I have ever seen her that excited about a toy. She makes me laugh every day (inbetween all the naughtiness;). I am excited to see what 2010 will bring. 2009 was a year I don't want to remember too well, but through it all, I got a much closer realationship with Christ and a stronger hunger for God's word. I wonder what things he has to show me this year! I hope his lessons aren't too painful;)