Holidays 2020

Anniversary Trip

We celebrated our anniversary in June and Marc wanted to get away for a week.  Our older children are all busy with work and the two oldest were taking summer classes this year.  Our foster baby is extremely demanding because of feeding issues, so we didn't think it was wise to leave a busy two year old at home.

It ended up being perfect!  Our place was right on the beach and had plenty of room for Matthias to go to bed at night and allow us to stay  up late.  We watched a lot of HGTV! :) 

It was so relaxing.  We walked the beach, hung out at the beautiful pool, ate dinner on the water multiple times at different restaurants. 

We rented bikes for the day and rode all over the island.  Matthias slept through part of it in his little seat.

Life has been so busy and so hard lately that it was a much needed get away!  Our fostering journey has been a tough one this past year, and then things with my dad have been hard this spring.  We had just moved him to be close to other relatives last fall, but through a series of events we had no choice but to bring him back.  After a tremendous amount of stress... this was perfect!

I love this man so much!

Girls' Trip May 2020

 We started the tradition of a girls only trip eight years ago!  This year with the quarantine we didn't know if it would happen or not, but things started lifting a bit in May and we took off for the beach!

It was so nice to do something normal!  We had a fabulous condo right on the beach with plenty of room to spread out and relax.  It had a full kitchen and a washer and dryer!  That is a big deal to this mama! :)  

 We cooked yummy food, watched brainless movies, spent hours at the beach, slept late and did a little bit of shopping!

Mostly it was just sweet to get away and spend some time with my girls.

                                        (oh these hats,,,, they made me laugh,,,, but they did protect our skin!)

This spring has been very stressful for everyone, but ours was extra stressful because of my dad's health.  He declined during quarantine (I'm convinced he was depressed!), and got so bad that he fell and broke his hip.  There has been a lot that has gone on around this situation and it has been a nightmare for my family.  Things that I never dreamed,,, nor should I have even had to go through. 

It has brought my family even closer together though.  I know the Lord works through all circumstances and this one doesn't take Him by surprise... but it sure did blindside me.

I am incredibly thankful for my family and some close friends that have been with us through all of it.

                                      "See, I am doing a new thing!
                                   Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
                                   I am making a way in the wilderness
                                                and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

A new thing.... sometimes God causes changes in your life that are GOOD.  The circumstances around it might not have been, but when you get to the other side you look at things differently.  Some things... situations,,,, or even people need to be removed.  I am so thankful for Godly people that have given me the boldness to walk through this journey. The "blinders" are removed and you see things for what they are.

 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3

This spring is not one I wish to go through again, but the Lord is faithful!  He has walked with me through all of it.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid"  John 14:27

Well, that is all for today.  I am so behind posting on here.  I am  weary with social media these days.  I miss writing on here, and hopefully can move away from time spent on SM and get back to blogging.

~Until next time,,,,

Dusting off the blog...

Gosh... life has been happening.  I will sometimes think about writing on here, but the words just haven't come.  I really like blogging so much better than social media... I love going back and reading old posts.  Maybe I will get back on here and be more consistent! :)  

April 14th brought this little angel's 2nd birthday!  How is it that "Baby L" (as some of you "old readers" probably remember him being called) is already two!?!   He has brought  more joy to our home than I ever dreamed!  When we started our fostering journey... I had ideas in my mind of what it would "look" like.  Never did I dare to dream we would get a beautiful baby boy!  He has taught us SO much.… he has blessed us way more than we could ever bless him!

April 17th was the anniversary of the day we got the call asking if we could go pick up a baby from the hospital.  I had no idea if it was a boy or girl.... what race he was... no details of the story except that his mother had tested positive for meth.  Oh the emotions that I felt that day.  Sadness.... excitement....fear.... so many unknowns.  His story is one that I won't tell all of the details.  It is his story to tell one day.... if he chooses.  I do hope one day he will choose to share it.  It is one of so many twists and turns... so many times that God protected him!  He truly is a miracle!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We still have our foster placement that we got back in September.  She is another little miracle and blessing! She has come an incredibly long way since fall! I will write more about her later.

We have had a beautiful spring.... in spite of the crazy pandemic that has rocked the world... we have enjoyed lots of outside time!  Praying things settle down soon.  I have lots of thoughts on what all is going on.  Maybe another day. :)  I am headed to bed.

~ Good night

Winter days...

 It has been a long, dreary, hard winter.  Not so much because we have had harsh cold days,,,, it has just been extremely wet and dreary.

I recently ordered some non-toxic candles from Antique Candle Co.  (I scored free shipping and bought everything off of the clearance sale!)  I love the warm glow on these dreary days!

I took all of our Valentine decorations down and hated how dreary things looked.  It is still too early/wintery for spring things, but I did pull out a few Easter decorations!  I left the really springy things in the attic until March!

The cool bench is a church bench that our family sat on every Sunday in one of our old churches.  They recently built a new church and asked if we wanted it!

Our foster placement is still here,,,, and we are praying hard that she won't be going anywhere!  It has been physically and emotionally hard!  She has come such a long way though and we are grateful!  I will blog more about that on another day.  It is a school day.... and I need to get busy!

~Until next time.....

Happy Birthday, Macheus!

Oh, the joy this little boy has brought to our family!  When Myles was born I sort of thought he was the "caboose".  Then when I miscarried a couple of years later I was fairly certain that was it.  So thankful that the Lord blessed us with this boy!

He is such a kind boy.  He loves people BIG!  When we opened up our home to foster children he welcomed them with open arms.  He has made the BEST big brother to our two little nuggets!  He just asked me the other day, "When is court gonna decide on our baby?"  He prayed so faithfully for Matthias to be our forever baby, and now he is praying again!

Madeline asked him what kind of a cake he wanted.  He told her,  "A chocolate cake, white icing, and chocolate balls."  So she made exactly what he wanted!  She is such a sweet big sister!

On his actual birthday our entire family took off for a day of fun at Stone Mountain.

We had a picnic at the grist mill with lots of homemade food!  The kids played by the water, and then we hiked the mountain!

We all made it fairly fast considering we were six little kids!

Macheus told me halfway up the mountain that it was a terrible idea. :)

Matthew wore Matthias in a hiking backpack and beat us all up the mountain! #beast

We had many yucky, rainy days the week before, so we were very thankful for a beautiful day!

                                                      My sweet Myles....

We spent a couple of hours on this cool playground before we loaded up to head home.

My "biggest girl" with her "biggest girl"! :)

                                          Taking a rest on top of the mountain.

             Because you need a dramatic shot on top of the mountain! haha...

Such a beautiful spot.  I had picnics here with my family growing up.  We have had MANY picnics here with our children over the years!

                                             
Love her... and those two sweet baby girls!

                                                       He made it!

                         Once upon a time Marc thought we'd only have girls!

                                            My biggest and littlest boys!

My four girls.... even the tiniest sweet little girl!

So thankful that the Lord blessed us with our sweet Macheus Trust!

 ^"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." James 1:17