Dreams Do Come True!

Last night a dream came true for our sweet Sabrina!  She left on a mission trip to Haiti!!!  She has wanted to do this for years!!!  The timing has never been right.....until now!  She wanted to be able to pay for the trip herself....and she did!! A couple of years ago, she was going to Ukraine to teach English to young children.  She raised all the money she needed herself, by working long hard hours on a calf ranch.  She was responsible for feeding, giving shots, cleaning out the pens and dragging the dead ones out to a pile, she also had to nurse the sick ones back to health.  Most of the time the weather was freezing cold with a wind that blew her sideways!!  If it wasn't cold, the weather would be so hot that she would come home covered in sweat and hay.  Regardless of the weather, she always came home covered in cow poop and cow drool.  It was not a glamorous job, it was not a job for the faint of heart, it was not a typical job for a girl....but she did it and she did it well.

She raised the $2500+ that she needed for that trip.  And then a week before she was to leave, we found out that we were adopting our sweet Zachary and that he would be in the hospital in a different state for weeks while he had open heart surgery.  She offered to go with him to the hospital and stay with him as long as was there.  Her dream of going to Ukraine, all the money she had paid were gone the second she made that decision, but the relationship she created with her baby brother will last eternity.  The lullaby that she constantly sang him to him became the song that we all think of when we think of him.  Having him pass away at 3 months old made it crystal clear to her that she had made the right choice.  She will never regret the time she spent with him.

When this opportunity came around, she knew the time was right.  She just completed her training to become a CNA, so having a medical background will be an added bonus as she helps the children in Haiti.  Currently, she has a great job working for the state.  She works as a mentor for troubled teenage girls.  The life experiences she has had up to this point have all prepared her for this trip!

We are so excited for her.  She worked hard to collect 100 lbs of supplies to take with her.  Our church family has been so supportive as she has asked for donations.  She was blessed with more than she ever thought possible!

Last night as her Dad took her to the airport, they knew it was going to be a little stressful.  Her flight into Portland was a tight connection to catch her flight into NY. She was flying two different airlines who were not partners.  Her luggage would not be able to be checked all the way through as we were hoping.  She would have to get off the plane, go retrieve her luggage in baggage claim, get back to the counter and have it checked in for her next flight, get back into the security line and get back to her gate in less than 30 minutes.  If her plane was late getting in or her luggage took too long getting on the carousel for her to collect, she would have to leave her bags in Portland and just run to her gate to board.  She was stressed.  She cried.  She had worked hard to gather all the supplies.  Good people had donated so many supplies.  The clinic and orphanage in Haiti needed the supplies she was bringing.  Her dad suggested they say a prayer.  He specifically prayed for her plane to be 10 minutes early arriving and her next flight to be delayed by 20 minutes.  He hugged her.  He reassured her to have faith and sent her through security.

We didn't hear anything from her when she landed in Portland.  Finally at 3:20 this morning, when she landed in NY, she sent a text to say her plane was 10 minutes early arriving in Portland and her flight to NY was delayed 20 minutes and her luggage made it on the plane!  She had experienced a tender mercy from our Father in Heaven and reminder that He is in control.  He's got her back.  He wants her to succeed.  The children in Haiti need her supplies.  God is good.

This will be a life changing experience for her.  We are so thankful for her desire to serve others and share her love with them!  We can't wait to hear all about her journey!  We love you Sabrina!!!!

Heavy suitcases.....lighter on the way home!!  :)

 

Giving hugs to everyone!

Gonna miss this girl!

 

See you soon!

 

Busy, Busy!!!

We have been BUSY!!  Busy going back to school, busy with different activities, busy with church, busy with kiddos!!!  We wouldn't have it any other way, but it leaves little time for blogging. 

Miss Olivia is doing so well!  What a joy she is!  She is laughing and smiling all the time!  She loves feeling different  textures.  She is SO smart.  She knows that I wear the same earrings almost every day and when I pick her up to hold her, her hand immediately reaches to my ear to grab on.  If she's fast, she can pull the hoop earing right out of my ear!  Sometimes I can catch her hand before she does it, but either way it always makes me laugh!!  Her sweet little personality is so fun to watch blossom and grow!

Her Ocularist would like her to have surgery to expand the openings of her eyes.  Once that is done and healed, he would like to put in her artificial eyes.... the sooner, the better in his opinion!

It's so sweet to watch her face as different siblings pick her up and play with her.  She listens to see who it is, feels their hair (we always put her hand on our head and say our name so she can start identifying the difference between everyone!) 

She is very vocal and talks and coos constantly when she's awake!  She always has something to say!
 

Isaiah just loves this sweet girl!  Sorry she's blurry....

Thomas was watching Polar Express with Olivia snuggled up next to him!

Cute girl!

Love her!

 

Cute Sisters!!

 

 

 

Giving It Away!

This was a very different Christmas for our family!  This year we gave Christmas away!

As a family, we decided that we have been truly blessed and quite honestly didn't need anything.  Sure, we had kids that wanted a few things, but nothing that they couldn't live without.

This year we decided to give our children the gift of time.  We chose to spend more time together and less time running all over town, buying gifts for each other that we didn't actually need.  We also chose to use the money we would normally use for gifts and instead use that money to buy things for others.

Sunday evening we prepared a box full of all the trimmings of a Christmas dinner!  We sent a couple of boys out in the cold, dark night to 'ding dong ditch' a special family that we felt could use it!  They almost got caught, but thankfully in the end, were able to leave the box without blowing their cover!

This year we went on a magical train ride in the mountains that took us to Santa's Village.  While we don't put a lot of emphasis on 'Santa' in our home, it was enchanting for the youngest children to experience the whole wonder of it!  We also explained to them that Santa would not be filling their stockings with toys, that instead we had asked him to share those toys with others.  Santa brought them lots of yummy treats in their stockings instead!

Waiting to board the Santa Express!

Aww, sweet baby!

Hanging carrots for the reindeer!

Cute little Olivia, snug as a bug!

Cute cousin, Sierra!

 Chugging down the track!

 



Cousins and Aunt!!!  We are so blessed to have them come for Christmas every year!

Isaiah hanging more carrots!

Cute sisters, warming up by the fire!

And a few more carrots!!

She slept through the whole thing!!

A few kids were missing....they were busy getting a candy cane!

Someone wanted nothing to do with they guy with the beard!

Gorgeous Vanessa, braving the cold in the open car!

Mrs. Clause, visiting Isaiah!

Are we there yet???

On Christmas Eve, we took all 18 of us (we had cousins and an Aunt here too!) to the movie, Frozen!  What a perfectly, lovely movie!!!  Everyone absolutely loved it.....even the teenage boys!!!!

When we got home, we loaded 15 plates with homemade treats and cookies and took them to different family's from church.  We caroled at each stop and our kids got to see the look of pure joy as family after family opened their door to our singing and goodies!

On Christmas Eve, we continued our tradition of opening Christmas p.j.'s as well as their ornament!  Each child gets a new Christmas ornament from Scott and I every year.  But the highlight on Christmas Eve are their new jammies!

All the kids with cousins and Aunt!!

All of us!!

We awoke on Christmas morning to not a single gift under the tree.  But what we did enjoy were fresh baked cinnamon rolls and eating the treats out of our stockings!  We had a lazy morning and then began preparing our Christmas feast!  We were honored to share our dinner with a new family from church.  They had 3 young children and we all had a great time eating, laughing and telling stories. 

When they had returned to their home, we began the highlight of our day!  We had 20 bags full of hats, gloves, wool socks, hand warmers, jerky, granola bars, apples, oranges, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, homemade cookies, Christmas chocolates as well as a few other items!  We also had 8 heavy sweatshirts and jackets to give to those who really needed something more.  We loaded into two vehicles and made our way into Boise.  We were looking for those that may be in need of our bags.  We encountered a gentleman in a park, that was looking for a place to unroll his sleeping bag.  He was the first recipient.  We then made our way towards a local shelter.  Along the way, we found 4 more gentlemen that were thrilled to each receive a bag!  When we finally pulled into the shelter, we quickly realized the need was so great.  We made our way inside, passing out a few more bags outside as we went.

Getting ready to head out the door to deliver bags!!

Once inside, a gentleman in charge suggested we take our bags over to the family side.  My heart dropped.  I hadn't even considered that their would be families in there.....as we walked past the tables of people, eating their dinner, all eyes were on our group of 18.  I'm sure we were quite a sight.  As we entered the room, we were swarmed by children.  Immediately, tears began to form as I realized I would not be able to give each of these beautiful children their own bag.  I blinked them back and listened as Scott shared a little bit about what we were doing and what we had for them.  He then said we wanted to share a Christmas carol with them before we left.  There was no way I was going to be able to sing but we belted out, We Wish You A Merry Christmas for them! 

One little girl took a bag and could hardly hold it!  It was almost the same size as her!  Another little girl dug into her bag and pulled out a candy cane!  Another one found a chocolate!  Their were smiles and giggles all around us!

I heard a mother whisper, "Take these socks to your daddy!" to a little boy.  We passed out the jackets and heard quiet "thank you's". 

As we slowly made our way out of the shelter, our children got a good look at the life these people live.  Their hearts were touched.  There was a quiet reverence as we made our way to the car.  As  we passed by the men and women outside, we heard shouts of, "Merry Christmas" and "God bless you!"  As we yelled it back, my heart was truly full for all of the blessings we enjoy in our life.

After arriving back home, we paused for a few minutes to discuss what everyone felt.  We were truly humbled, to say the least.  It was decided that next year our focus would definitely be on the children.  For them, this was just another day, nothing special, no traditions, no stockings bulging with goodies, no one caring, and no one reminding them that the Son of God was born in a manger and that He loves them and knows them by name......our children had no idea that there were children who were homeless!  Now when I ask them to clean out their clothes/toys to share with those who don't have what they have, they will be able to think back to the children they saw today in their scraggly clothing and un-brushed hair and realize I'm not asking a lot.

Our children were not completely bought into the whole idea of giving their Christmas away at first, but I can honestly tell you that after spending this past week together and especially after today, they are 100% on board!!  As I tucked them into bed tonight, I thanked them for their willingness to give Christmas away.  They each said they were glad they did it and no one had any regrets!

And that my friends, is what Christmas was all about this year for our family! We hope that this Christmas brought you everything you wished for!  We hope you were surrounded by loved ones,

May this New Year bring peace and happiness to you and those you love!

Christmas Play!

Our congregation at church has been working for the past couple of months, preparing to present a beautiful play called, Savior Of The World.  It was an hour production of the birth of Christ that they presented to the community, of the birth of our Savior.  Several of our children were in the play and had such a wonderful experience as they went to rehearsals and learned their parts!  Last week they performed two shows.  I was able to get a picture of the girls that were involved but the boys took their costumes off too fast plus there was no way they were going to let me take a picture of them in their make up!  They were a shepherd, Roman Soldier and a Temple boy.

They all did such an amazing job!  It was a pleasure to watch them all perform!!!

So beautiful.  Great job girls!

Baby Doll

Last week while I was shopping at the store, I picked up a baby doll for Olivia.  It was just the perfect size and softness.....I loved it! When we got home from the store, I introduced them to each other!  It was magical!  She listened as I explained what it was and helped her feel all the parts.  Then I just let her experience her baby doll by herself.....here are a few pictures!!

Discovering!

Hanging on tight!

Baby doll's hand touched her lip....it caught her off guard and then she laughed!

Tuckered out!  Fell asleep after playing!!

 

 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!!!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is matching Christmas dresses for little girls!  This year is no exception!!  Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday, just before we left for church!!!

3 Pretty Girls!

Haha, Jazz was just SO happy!!!

With Miss Olivia!!

I set her down to take a picture and I was telling her how pretty she looked in her Christmas dress!  She was all ears listening to me!

I think that was her saying, "I'm done with all these pictures!!!"

An Angel!

 

 

 

 



6 Months!

On Monday, a certain little Princess turned 6 months old!  How can that even be possible????  What a joy she is!  How blessed we are to have her in our family!  She is growing and learning new things and teaching us what life is really about.  We love her so much.

Pretty in Pink!

Love her sweater for Fall!

Rocking her giraffe hat!

And sporting the ever popular bib!!!  She is drooling like crazy and we're all anxiously awaiting to see when she is going to pop some teeth through!! 

 

 

We have been busy with Doctor's appointments and Early Intervention services and we are so thankful for all the support we receive!  Happy 6 months Olivia!!!!