Thankful Thursday!

The many faces of Claire...

This Thankful Thursday I am thankful for the 10 months that we have had with Claire. Ten months ago today we met her for the first time. It has been an amazing journey. We are often told how lucky Claire is to be in our family but we think it is the other way around; we are the lucky ones to have her in our family. I am so thankful that God chose us to be her family. I just love this little girl to pieces! I love her funny sense of humor, her adorable laugh, her sweet kisses, her crocodile tears, and her feisty temper! Her name could have been JOY because she brings joy to everyone around her. I love how each Sunday at church she has a group of "seasoned citizens" that she has attached to. She searches each one out and when she sees one she will run to them and throw her arms around them. Claire is just further proof that love doesn't have a language barrier! She loves and loves big!

Please pray for Teddi..

Would you please pray for Teddi? My friend, Tina, just called and told me they are at the hospital. They are waiting for Teddi to have surgery. Teddi broke her arm right at the elbow and needs to have surgery tonight. Please lift them up in your prayers. Big things are happening at their house this weekend. Teddi's big sister is getting married on Saturday! Please pray for a successful surgery and for a speedy recovery for the beautiful flower girl! You can leave words of encouragement on Tina's blog, One Blessed Nest. I know Tina would really appreciate it!

Claire and Teddi

Would you also lift up, Gary's mom, Evalyn. She is in the hospital with pneumonia. Gary's sister, Marcia, just got out of the hospital on Friday and then his mom went in on Monday.

Thankful Thursday (prayer request at bottom of post)

Wow, thankful Thursday is starting to sneak up on me. Are these weeks going by faster than ever before or is it just me? This Thursday, I am thankful for...

~laughter~I love to laugh and I love, love, love the sound of my children's laughter! I've always thought that life it too stressful to take it so seriously so take time to laugh this Thursday.

~Marcia~Drum roll please! She is going home tomorrow after being in the hospital since February!!!!! She is also going home without a tracheotomy, without oxygen, and without a breathing machine. Isn't God awesome? I know that God is still in the miracle business He has shown me that much with Marcia. Thanks for praying!

~Thanksgiving dinner~Yes, I said Thanksgiving dinner. A few weeks ago we had a Thanksgiving dinner with our dear friends from church, Barb and Larry. We had all of the traditional thanksgiving fixings. We all love thanksgiving dinner so why only have it once a year?

~ringing telephones~Not because people are calling us but because Claire heard the phone ringing for the first time this week and she told us that it was ringing! She is responding to more and more sounds all of the time. It is so much fun to see the expression on her face change when she is hearing a new sound.

~15 more days of school~I am ready for the break and I know that my kids are ready for it too! Next year, I will be homeschooling so it will be a year of adventure and change. I'm really nervous about it but excited as well.

Now it is your turn to tell me what are you thankful for?


Prayer request:
Last weekend, my Aunt Doris and Uncle Larry were involved in a head-on collision near Hutchinson, Kansas. My Uncle has a broken sternum and broken ribs and has been released from the hospital. My Aunt is still in the hospital in Wichita with broken ribs and an injured liver. Plus, now her lungs are starting to fill up with fluid so they will be putting in a chest tube to help drain the fluid. My Aunt has a rare lung condition anyway so would you please pray that she does not develop pneumonia? Also, my Uncle's mother didn't survive the accident. Please pray for my Uncle as he is recovering and as he is dealing with the loss of his mother. The driver of the other car is okay. He suffered a broken nose. He is only 19 and the accident was his fault but he wasn't drinking or being reckless, it was just an unfortunate accident. My Aunt and Uncle do not want charges to be filed on the young man but the police are still investigating. Please pray for the young man. He is struggling with the fact that people were hurt and someone died. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

Mother's Day in Pictures...

Today was my first Mother's Day as a mother of four! Last year, we had just found out about Claire and I could only long for the day that I could hold her and bring her home. Well, this year was a wonderful celebration of being a mom to all of my great kids. I love them all. Thank you, Gary, Brianna, Nicholas, Hunter and Claire for making my day so special!

Mom and her favorite boys!

Gary and his Daddy's girls!

I just love how she is squeezing my neck and signing I love you!

Oh, how I love these kids! I must say they are the cutest kids around as well!

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for...

~My new niece born to my brother and his wife in Nebraska. Little Riana Joy has joined the family and we are thrilled. Can't wait to meet her!

~We have our van back!! After 2 weeks in the repair shop and $4100 in repairs, it is as good as new! Again, I really don't recommend deer hunting with your family vehicle!

~We have car insurance (see above!). :)

~The hawks are back in our backyard. Every year around this time we have a couple of hawks that hang out in our yard. It is fascinating to watch them. They are a magnificent bird. I took these pictures last year. The hawks are even bigger this year. I haven't been able to capture their picture yet this year.


~We are all still healthy with all of the Swine flu scare that surrounds us. My kiddos schools remained open but the schools surrounding us have been closed for a week and a half. Just a little side note, on Tuesday I had to go to the base clinic and as I walked in they have someone at the door with a mask and gloves on. This person precedes to ask me if I have come for the flu and all I can think is "No, I really don't want the flu but thanks for asking". I realized he was asking if I thought I had the flu but it came across to me as "we are having a free give away at the clinic so if you came to the clinic for the flu you are in luck!" I don't know why my brain translates things like that sometimes! It must be the weird sense of humor I inherited!

Catching up..

Wow, where has the year gone already? I can't believe that it is May. We move again in 2 short months! Aagghhh! We have moved so many times before that we should be used to the chaos that goes along with it. However, you tend to block it out once you are settled until it is time to move again. With this move we are really trying to simplify and get rid of a lot of things. Which means going through each room of the house and deciding what stays and what goes, what will we donate, what will we try to sell, etc. We try to do this on the weekends since during the week it is too crazy with school and work schedules. We haven't gotten a lot done yet but I'm confident it will get done before the packers come!

I thought today I would catch up on some pictures from April that I haven't taken the time to post yet.

The first picture is of Brianna at the Regional Honor Band Concert. Area schools had Honor Band tryouts and the top students were selected to participate in the Honor Band. They spent one day with the kids from all the different schools learning the songs and then that night they put on a concert. We were so proud of Brianna, she was the 3rd chair for the flutes in the concert band! We took this picture from the balcony before the concert started. She is in pink in the front row!


The next pictures are from my birthday. I was surprised with a cake and a pink boa. I thought we were going to our "adopted" parent's house to play cards and fellowship but when I walked in they had a cake and were singing to me. How sweet is that? Boy, am I going to miss them when we move. Yes, the cake says Go Big Red, I am a big football fan and they know that about me (and no the candles don't indicate how old I am!).


These were taken after the kids and Gary had given me my birthday presents. We waited a day after my birthday because Brianna was gone the day of my birthday at a youth retreat. We had just gotten home from evening AWANA. They got me some beautiful jewelry from James Avery. I love it!!!


These pictures are of our Easter basket fun. We did Easter baskets before we hit the road to Nebraska. We left Good Friday for Nebraska and didn't know when we would be home so we gave the kids their baskets early. We did an Easter egg hunt when we got home but I didn't get any pictures of that. We love to give the kids gifts but the most important gift we can give them is an understanding of Easter and why we celebrate it.
Here, Claire is checking out her new pink basketball. This girl loves basketball. I have got to post video of her dribbling the basketball. I am amazed at her ability at 3 years old!

Hunter was so excited for some more LEGOS!

Nicholas wanted LEGOS too and he had it built in record time!

Brianna got HSM 3 on video and new jammies. Sounds like the makings for a movie night!
These last pictures are from Nebraska. Claire got to color Easter eggs for the first time at Grandma's house. She loved it! She showed such concentration! She also loved eating them later. Have I told you that we have an egg eater? She will eat them here or there, she will eat them anywhere!




Well, this post became much longer than I intended. I guess that is what happens when I don't post in awhile! I'll try to keep up to date better but with the upcoming move, end of school, etc, etc. no promises!