First Day of School

How can this be that summer is over already? I truly miss my kids when school starts and it is always difficult to accept that they are getting so big. I have my baby starting Junior High this year. I can remember that day in my own life like yesterday. Then Lydia is starting 5th grade. I started teaching 5th grade when I was 23 and it is crazy that my second child is now that old. I remember thinking how old the parents were when I was teaching, yet NOW I do not feel that old at all:) Then Anna is in 4th grade and Rebekah is in 2nd. When I was having Nehemiah a cousin of mine told me that, " The days are long, but the seasons are short. " I grasp that more than ever now.

A Girl and Her Horse

This is Smore and Lydia. Lydia's heart is fed by being with horses. When she was little she always dreamed of horses, not about being a princess, but about being on a horse and riding into the sunset. A family at the school our kids go to have an amazing horse farm appropriately names, "Heavenly Ranch" and they were kind enough to let her start riding before the age they usually accept riders. While we were in Ethiopia the first love of her life, Razen, died suddenly. The owner of the farm knew Lydia needed to get on a horse soon and fall in love again. We are not able to afford lessons right now, but she was able to go to two lessons before school. All I can say is that Lydia is smitten again. My girl is so content when it comes to being with horses-- she is in her element and her soul is being fed. I am thankful that she has found a passion in her life already and knows she needs to do something with horses when she grows up. She is even talking about helping orphans and foster children this way. It will be so fun to see how God uses this in her. Today her trainer said she really does have a natural ability. The horse almost threw her off today as he was spooked pretty seriously. She held on and directed the horse back around. The momma in me wanted to take her off the horse and never put her back on:) But she did GREAT and even the other riders around were amazed that such a young girl could handle such a situation. I guess it is called, " She has a good seat" when something like that happens. I admired her courage and desire to continue on with her lesson. I am so thankful for this family and the way the trainer has helped me understand this is a love in Lydia that will not go away and we need to continue to feed her:) It is so strange to see your child growing into this person with her own character that you know is from God. I sit in amazement as I am such a broken mom and yet God is still pouring out His love on my children despite my shortcomings. GO LYDIA!!!

Brothers For Life

Fourteen Years of Fireworks and Anniversaries:)

This past weekend Aser and I got away, just the two of us, for three nights! Yep-- that is one of our longest times away ever. So much has happened this year that it was great to have time to talk and eat and just hang out with no worries about time. We also walked and walked sometimes up until midnight just soaking in the time. I just love my time with us and remembering, living and dreaming about the future... the time flew,and had the most wonderful fireworks display I have ever seen following this picnic on the grass. All of the kids did great and LOVED being with grandma for that long. She is amazing and had special things planned each day. However, it has been hard on Malachi having us back as he is very attached to my mom after being with her for a whole month. He says "mamama" for grandma and will call her and look for her throughout the day. It does break my heart, but at the same time in is wonderful he is so loved by her and so attached and I know it time he will fall into the comfort of this whole family.

Uplifting News!

Good news finally! Kary,my baby brother by 13 months, had surgery this morning to let him use his stomach again. His tumor is twice the size of normal pancrease tumors and had closed up his stomach and he has been unable to eat or drink for almost three weeks now. He has had a patch of nutrients being fed to him, but he weighs less than I do now and is 6'3--ouch!!! Today the doctor said he saw no signs of cancer in any other organs and this tumor is shrinking. When he flies back to Tulsa after coming home later this week, they may be able to remove the tumor completely, Of course this is what we want so badly for him because then there is the chance of beating this horrid cancer. My brother is so strong and God is with him in ways that are so clear. Being in the Bible Belt of America right now people will come out of the woodwork and approach him to pray over him. They don't even ask what is wrong, but want to pray. This has been very powerful for my brother and his wife. There have been many answers to prayer along the way, but it is such a hard road with Kary being sick most days. This weekend there was fear that they would have to postpone the surgery as he was fighting infections and low blood counts, but they came back up and so things like this remind us that God is in control.

Can I just say that I HATE cancer?.... After losing my dad cancer became such a reality. Then in the past three weeks I have had two more friend's husbands diagnosed with cancer as well. It seems so much of my prayers are about cancer healing these days.

I have so much to post later about the kids with pictures-- will do it soon I promise!

My Anna--Wonderful, Funny, Smart, and so so Loving and Caring

Anna turned 9 on Friday! I just can't believe how big she is getting. She brings so much fun and laughter to our family. She has such a solid sense of wisdom and discretion. She was baptized this year at her request... She loves God with her Full Being. She truly challenges me with her questions and faith. I am still amazed that God has let me be her mom. Here is a song she made a dance to celebrate her day:)

Laughing to Fit In:)

Malachi is so funny and is always laughing when the kids laugh. We tried to catch it on tape, but it does not show how funny he can be. He is precious and so happy. He loves to laugh and laugh! He tries very hard to be one of the big kids!

Little Legs Finding Their Strength

July 10th, 1968 -- Oh Yeah! That Makes ME 40!

My family has made me feel more special than I have deserved. I will share more later as tomorrow we are off to look at over 10 lighthouses. I just love lighthouses!( we will be covering about 800 miles in two days) So this is a big treat for me! I also got to go with my one and only guy to my favorite breakfast joint and have raspberry crepes at the Original Pancake House-- that was wonderful! Then my mom took me to The Chart House-- I have not been there since I was suffering from prego sickness with Nehemiah ( yeah that would have been in my 20's). My mom had even arranged for my name and birthday to be printed on my menu:) and then I had two hours to shop by myself with a giftcard I have had about 7 months so that was fun. My mom had us all over for dinner and so this video was from her house. I had more cards, hugs and sweet words from my kids and hubby than I can count. My mom can't believe she is old enough to have a daughter who is 40 now. After being so sick and wondering if I would be here I can say I am truly jumping up and down to be 40 and be SO ALIVE:) Yeah, I have to overlook skin that is starting to do the aging thing and veins that are popping out on legs that used to be smooth...but this has helped me see the bigger picture in so many ways.

Lighthouses here we come!!!

Thought for Today

I loved a quote our pastor read today from Wells...

"Prayer is rebellion against the status quo!"

My brother is receiving two kinds of chemo and one type of radiation right now in a port they put in. They are addressing this as aggresively as possible since he is young and has a lot of lean muscle still. They usually would not give so much at once, but this is the best hope for him. He is blessed to be young and strong still. They hope this will either make the tumor disappear, or shrink and then they will give peroidic treatments until there is a cure. This pancreatic cancer is no small can of beans-- One blessing he has found is that he is not in pain as he sees with other pancreatic patients. Most of them are in distress most of the time and he is relatively pain free, but the treatments do have their impact. Thank you for caring and praying!

I will post new pictures of all of my babes soon... I am enjoying them so much this summer.