Adventures, encouragement, opinions, photos, random stories, money-saving tips, and occasional unsolicited advice from our home to yours, with prayers that you will be blessed and God will be glorified.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Happy Birthday, Danny!
Danny, you're a sweet, cool kid. You love life and people. You're happy and kind and confident. You love talking on the phone to anyone who will answer. You love electronics and learning and playing games. You love singing and music and anything that has anything to do with "How to Train Your Dragon." You hoped that we would name your youngest sibling "Hiccup."
You are sweet and affectionate and your eyes light up as you share your excitement with the world. You're kind to strangers and you make friends easily.
You're adventurous and fearless, always up for trying new things. You easily express gratitude and appreciation.
And we love you. God knew what He was doing when He placed you in our family, and we are genuinely thankful that He gave you to us. We hope and pray that as you grow in wisdom and maturity, you will find your peace and confidence in His goodness and His love for you.
Just remember: we're on your side. Happy, happy 8th birthday, sweet Danny!
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Happy 9th Birthday, Mikey!
*
*Yes, this one is late, too, but hopefully we're back on track now!*
You're such a fun kid, Mikey. You're out there. You're bold. You're confident. You can talk more than the rest of your family put together, and in the extreme scenario that no one is listening, talking to yourself is not out of the question.
You're rough and tumble. You're spontaneous and sometimes
impetuous. You're constantly thinking and constantly doing and sometimes that
creates and sometimes that... well.... destroys. But you're growing and learning
and maturing and every day, we can see more and more of the man that you are
becoming. And that is good and exciting!
You are kind. You are thoughtful. You are affectionate. You are
sweet to your mother, and that means a lot, Mikey. That means a lot.
You have great dimples. Great dimples. Seriously -- when you're
excited, your eyes light up, your dimples pop in, and you brighten the room.
It's both endearing and terrifying. But that's a conversation for another day.
We love hearing your thoughts. We love that you share your heart
with us. We love knowing how you process deep, deep realities. We love how you
feed knowledge with TRUTH and you love mercy and grace and forgiveness.
Happy, happy birthday, dear Mikey! We love you!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
You're Ten!!
*Another belated post. Sorry, Folks!*

I looked at Daddy recently and said about you, "She's growing up. We're going to have to figure out very soon what drug is needed to stop that." But then I had to admit, "But actually, I really like how she's growing up... so far, her growing up has been really neat to watch!"
It's true. We really like who you are, Sweet Girl. And who you are is just getting lovelier and lovelier all the time.

You are sweet, and you are mischievous and the twinkling in your eyes as you harass your dad brings joy to us all... even your dad.

So happy, happy birthday, loved daughter. We hope you have a year as beautiful as you are, and we hope at the end of it, you know even more the depth of love you have at your disposal!
Monday, August 25, 2014
Happy Belated 4th Birthday, Elijah!!
*Note: It's been a bit of a crazy month or two around these parts, and due to family scheduling aspects, we didn't celebrate Elijah's birthday until about a week after his actual birthday. He didn't care as he's not yet to the point of checking out the calendar and counting down days or anything, and his older siblings were great about not making a big deal about the delay, too. We really wanted to get his post up and running before his big sister's birthday (which was celebrated late as well) -- but that didn't quite happen.*
Happy, happy birthday, Sweet Elijah!! Last year, for your third birthday, I recounted about half of your plots that changed many of my hairs to a bright white shiny color. You being two was an eye-opening year for me as I realized that "raising" three boys before you did NOT prepare me for the boy who is you!
But you being three years old has shown me a much different picture of the boy who is you than even you being two years old could. And as you turn FOUR, I get the joy of reflecting on my "Wijah" as the three-year-old that you have spent the last year being.
You're funny. You're gracious. You're loving. You give such sweet, unasked for hugs and kisses and "i WUV yous." Your eyes light up as your baby brother dives in to shower you with cuddles, and you love all of us so generously, extravagantly and energetically. Joy shines through your eyes -- well, just about any emotion you are feeling shines through your eyes!
You're confident and easy-going. You've filled the role of best friend and playmate to Sammy well over this past year... the two of you are nearly inseparable. Together, you love anything Star Wars and/or Lego and your whole body bounces with enthusiasm at every turn. (As I was typing this, you just came up to me to bestow on me some imaginary gift. I wasn't fully able to determine what this gift was supposed to be, but you did make it clear that both I and Jeremiah received the red one, not the green one.)
You also have a reputation for your regular rejection of pants.
And despite your sweetness, there is still an occasional air of inventive mischief to you. Though this doesn't stop my heart, in dread of what could have been, as often as it used to.
We love you, Elijah. You are a gift from God and a joy to our hearts. We are so thankful that He saw fit to add you to our family, and we look forward to seeing the man that He is creating you to be! Have a very happy year being FOUR!!
Happy, happy birthday!!
Friday, July 4, 2014
Monday, June 16, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Happy 5th Birthday, Sammy!!
Long gone are the days that we jokingly referred to you as "Swiper" and instead, we have a sweet, affectionate, talkative, friendly young fellow who LOVES anything Star Wars. When you're not talking about droid armies and Jedi fighting tricks, you can be found pontificating on the mystery of the Trinity or just cuddling with your parents and telling us frequently, "I don't just like you, I LOOOOVE you!"
You've developed such a sweet tender heart, expressed so much more articulately this past year. I've often overheard you talking to your dad about how much you love your mom or find her to be beautiful... you melt my heart, son! You also are quick to share the delights of friendship, often talking about how much you enjoy your friends.
We love you, Sammy, and we thank God that He saw fit to add you to our family. You are a joy and a gift and we hope that your awe and amazement at the concept that God Himself would offer us the position of child and friend only grows and flourishes over time.
Happy, happy birthday, Sammy!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Happy Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!!
It's been a really good year. You are such a joy of a baby, so happy and sweet. You light up a room and make everyone feel special. Each person around you just knows they are your favorite. All your siblings are united in their adoration of you, and it's easy to get a volunteer to play with you just about any time of the day!
We are so thankful for you, Jeremiah Joseph. You were born after a hard pregnancy that followed a hard, dark year of loss and grief. I remember Daddy expressing surprise that you were healthy and thriving considering how difficult things had been. I remember just being incredibly grateful that you were alive. Certainly many, many prayers were answered kindly and generously with your birth -- most consistently the prayers of your big sisters who prayed almost daily for you long before you were even conceived.
And thrive you do well! You live and laugh and love fully. You sing, you dance, you wave your arms in the air to music as if you are conducting a full orchestra. You love to be sung to... sweetly relaxing into each bedtime's rendition of "Rock-a-bye Baby." You blow kisses. And you are a tease!! You love to act like you are going to give your big sister a kiss, then at the last second, turn your head away. And you love to look mischievously into my eyes and babble, "Dadadada!" in response to my encouragements to say "Mama!"
Happy happy birthday, Sweet JJ!!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
2013 Family Photos
Our friend Jennie took these photos in December. They turned out great! Thanks again, Jennie!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Happy Sixth Birthday, Selah!!
You've grown in your talents, and you and Eliana have really bonded in your creativity, especially as the two of you have worked together to make games, decorations, and other projects. It's been sweet to see how the two of you have really started to enjoy each other's company this year, and part of this has been due to you each growing in maturity in the way you relate to others. We thank God for this answered prayer, and we eagerly look forward to seeing what other plans God has for you.
This past year you have started school, started ballet, started riding a two-wheeled bike...
But you still take the time to stop. And cuddle. And love.
Rest in Him, Sweet Girl. Trust Him and His goodness. Grow in His love. He'll take good care of you.
Happy, happy birthday, Baby Girl. May this next year bring more of God's goodness in your life.
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