Category Archives: 2017

Happy Birthday, Silas!

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Silas’s first birthday here seemed to be everything he wanted. He loved the various celebrations with his grandparents and aunts and uncles. He requested a Ninjago cake. Ya’ll…it’s getting really hard to come up with different Ninjago cakes each time.  Thankfully, I haven’t had a boy ask for another one yet. We did a smash cake because, well, it’s his first birthday with us.  Honestly, we don’t believe he had birthday cakes often before us.  So, why not!

Breakfast request:  Krispy Kreme of course!
Lego for birthday and brothers to assist in the build.

Pie Face from Aunt Yaya!  Of course!

It was such a blessing to celebrate our Silas’s 10th birthday.  Oh, how I wish we could have been there through the other nine.  But God had a plan and we were not to come in until now!  So, we rejoice with the time we have with our newest son.

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A Whole Bunch of Characters

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While visiting the EC, Papa and Grandmere requested we try to get a whole family picture that Sunday after church.  They drove over for church and pictures and Aunt B lined up a photographer.

The photographer did a wonderful job.  It’s no easy feat getting nineteen kids and six adults lined up for pictures.

Alas, she succeeded!

The nineteen kids in question.  Okay, there were better pictures but this one.  Well, this is their personalities shining through and I couldn’t resist.  Look at Emmie and cousin A!  They were so adorable!

Grandmere and the granddaughters!  They may be small in number but they are mighty in spirit!

Papa and the grandsons!  Numbers and spirit exceedingly great!

We even managed to get a pretty good shot!  I love our little fam.

 

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To the Country

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Top priority this year was to go see the EC.  That’s short for Mark’s brother and his family.  The kids were blessed to spend time with them while we traveled back and forth to Ukraine and frankly, Mark and I were jealous.  We needed some niece and nephew time and good ol’ visiting with Mark’s brother and wife.

In January, we were off.  We spent three and half days with eighteen children and four adults under one roof.  Oh yes we did.  Our kids were a blast!  And Mark and I got in our much needed visiting time!

A and Emmie had so much fun with the babies. Of course, reading books was a favorite.  Josiah with cousin H. Games were a must.

Mark got a great panorama shot of family worship!

My niece G.  Our nieces are growing into some pretty amazing young ladies! Liam and Uncle B had a good round of Uno.

This year the EC asked for really nice swings for Christmas so they could read outside.  Mark and Uncle B installed them while we visited.  And of course we all had to test them out.

 

The EC have a great piece of property which includes goats, chickens, cows, cats and a dog.  While we were there, Uncle B came home from a vet call with a calf who didn’t look like it was going to make it.  The kids absolutely loved spending time on the farm and feeding the animals.  And, as of last report, we were informed the calf was doing good and thriving.

As you can imagine, leaving the farm is tough.  Really, leaving the cousins is tough.  They made a ton of memories and it’s such a blessing to see cousins that get along…even if they (along with a sibling) leave you stranded at the pond to find your own way home.  I continue to pray that they will all stay close as they grow up.

While we visited, we crashed a birthday party (with permission of the hosts) of some of their friends.  It was a great time meeting new people and watching a bonfire!


I could not have imagined a better visit.  We’re waiting ever so impatiently until we can see them all again!

 

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Happy New Year

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know it’s April.  But, at least I’m in 2017 now!

Our New Year was a little low key.  The day before we had a couple of random sickies which canceled our plans to hang out with our church family.  As a result, we were awake, refreshed and alert in church the next day.  Per Ukrainian tradition, the kids received small gifts and then we enjoyed fireworks with neighbors in the evening.

I finally got Clue!  Ya’ll, I have wanted the game Clue since I was a little girl.  This year, I watched the Black Friday sales and grabbed it up.  Mark wrapped it and put it under the tree for me!  Yes.  He did.

The world’s worst photo but we gave it what we could.  Our dear friends from across the street came over and watched Mark put on a show.  We do it early enough so the littles can get rest.  This was special for us because our neighbors moved away at the end of the month.  Still hard knowing that we can’t just skip across the street for a chat.

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A Blessing

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We found out in February that the Lord has blessed our family with a baby!  We’re continuing to pray that this baby will be a sticky one.  So far, so good.  I had an ultrasound last week and we saw a baby with a strong heartbeat.  Nausea and exhaustion have been my friends for the past several weeks which we are taking as good signs.

I debated on whether to post at all.  We have gone through two miscarriages in the past two years and lost three babies.  Knowing we had a missed miscarriage in 2015 (where we saw the heartbeat and then the baby later passed) in the midst of all of Emmie’s stuff, we chose to keep silent with the babies in November and December until it was “safe.”  It was so very hard mourning in silence.  Especially when it was our two babies.  I still haven’t been able to put into words a memorial like I did with our baby Isaac.

Recently, I’ve read several articles about how we hide miscarriages.  Try not to share pregnancy too early for fear the baby won’t ever be held…I’m not sure why we hide.  Why do we need to mourn in silence?  In the past two years, we’ve have three babies who are gone forever.  But, before they were gone, they were here.  They were a blessing and they were our gifts.

Just like our babies we said good-bye to too soon, this baby, is a blessing.  All babies are.  Something I shared when we found out we were pregnant with Emmie after our hardest miscarriage was this exact fact.

We’re cautiously optimistic with this baby.  Anything can happen.  Experience has taught us that.  But today, we choose to celebrate in our blessing.  In all of the exhaustion and nausea.  This baby is a blessing.  This baby is loved.  This baby is wanted.  Oh is this baby wanted.

 

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