I hope this verse can bless you this week they way it has been blessing me.

See the sovereign Lord comes with power. . . He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Isaiah 40:10,11

Legacy

This weekend we celebrated my Grandma Wangen's 75th birthday. My whole family was there minus two cousins along with lots of friends. It was such a nice time, and what a well deserved celebration for a extraordinary women. She is the most accepting, fair, person I know. She is the calmest, easy going Grandma I've ever met.  And never, ever say you are bored around her because she will quickly put you to work. I learned that early in life.  I'm so thankful for her and the legacy of family and faith she has passed on to us. 

As part of the celebration my cousin Cassie put together this great slide show DVD. It was so fun to watch and when we looked at all those old pictures the thought that kept coming to my mind was family. It sound like such a cliche' but it is a legacy of family you can just feel and that words really don't do justice. Thank you Grandma for everything you've taught me and for just being you. I love you!

2nd time's a charm

I have been on a mission since before Christmas to find the perfect day to go sledding. Afterall, we have all of this snow we might as well use it. It's just been too cold. But today when I stepped outside after work, the streets were melting and the sun was shining and yes. . . yes today was the day. Well like all good intentioned mothers I set out to gather my kids after school and tell them of the exciting plans I had for them, and after all we would have to hurry because daylight was wasting. I got everyone home and Lydia was already playing outside with a friend so she was easy. T is ALWAYS ready to go outside, so she's running around saying "boo"(boots) "boo" and then there was Jonah. For some reason the kid didn't want to go and really was throwing a total fit. I didn't understand it so after some tears and confrontation I left him and Aaron home and ventured over the park with the 3 girls ( had our neighbor girl with too.)

It was perfect. The hill was little enough for T to go down by herself, and the big girls could walk up themselves. There was no wind! It was 25 degrees ABOVE zero and the sun was starting to go down in the west and painting the sky all of these brilliaint shades of orange and purple and pink, and eventually Jonah changed his mind and came over with Aaron. We sledded for an hour until it was dark! I loved it. . .we all loved it. The only thing that would have made it more perfect is if I would have had my camera there to capture the moment. This one will have to stay photographed in my mind and you will have to settle for pictures taken about two weeks ago when we tried to go sledding but after 3 or 4 times down the hill we decided it was just too cold .

My sweet boy is 7!!!

Here's my sweet boy Jonah playing his new favorite game (besides his Wii) Guess Who. We had a great birthday weekend. We celebrated with friends at the bowling alley on Saturday and then had a family party on Sunday. Jonah has started the wonderful tradition of "cooking with sticks"
for his birthday (having a fondue). Here are a few fun pictures from his birthday. I love you sweet Jonah and I am so glad that out of all the kids in the world I get to be your mommy!

What's on my mind. . .

If you think of it please pray for T's adoption. We heard before Christmas that they were hoping to have a court date in February to be done with the legal risk portion. That's really all we know. The legal risk portion of this is now starting to feel very long. I had been doing very well, God has protected us in all of this and I am grateful. We haven't let us bother us. Last week, it hit me a little bit one night and well. . . now, it is time for her to be ours forever.

Please join us in praying for a smooth court date very soon and then a smooth finalization process early this spring. Thank you again to all of you for your words of prayer and encouragement. Our family feels them. Sweet T is a joyful addition to our family and we really can't imagine what life was like before her.

Dancing and hair dos

Today was just one of the those days I God said, relax Valerie and have some fun. That is what Sunday's are about anyway right. Well, I didn't relax too much but really took the chance to just enjoy the 3 blessings God put in my life called my kids. Many times I get so caught up in what "needs" to be done and get checked off the list I forget to enjoy those around me. Well today we enjoyed! We danced in the kitchen, played new games we got for Christmas, read some books and I did T's hair. It is soooo cool. Whenever I try something new with her hair, I feel like it's new adventure ( i know i don't get out much), but this time I really liked the way it turned out. It is such a sense of accomplishment, I just love it. And sweet T was so patient, for a 1 year old anyway. In case you're wondering, she is saying "Cheeeeeze" in this picture. It's her new latest thing as soon as the camera comes out.



Dancing to a little "Chicken Fried". It's such a fun song. And I'm not really into drinking beer on Friday nights, but we like the song anyway.



OK I love this picture EXCEPT for the blurriness ( is that a word?) I just got a new camera and I'm a little frustrated, b/c lots of my pictures seem to come out blurry. I've played with the different settings, I just can't get it to work. So if any of you photograpy gurus out there have any advice for me I'd greatly appreciate it.


Happy Sunday!

a few of my favorites

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Christmas. We did our usual tour around the state. A couple days at one Grandma's and a couple days at the others.














This is my sweet hubby and my Grandma. She's looked the same for as long as I can
remember. It's like she never ages!



This is the infamous "couch picture" Every Christmas all of the cousins would be lined up on the couch and we'd take pictures. So when we got together with my cousins, I thought we needed to do the same.












This is what too much Chrismas does to you! YIKES!

Sweet "T" and her cousin Leighton.

Lydia and my Grandma Winter, the kids call her Grandma Addie. She is such a special lady.
The 3 Muskateers under the tree. It was very fun to watch them bond and get to know each other even better over this Christmas season. Wow, do I love those kids.
Try taking a picture of a 1 year old lately. You have to be really fast because they're always on the move, espcially this one. We took about 6 pictures to get her with us.
Lydie and Grandpa Steve coloring.