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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...But it's not Christmas!

These are pictures of our snow. The drifts were as high as Luke in places. We also went to a sledding hill at our neighbors and this picture is him coming down at full speed ahead. The bottom picture is of Shelbie with our newest little adopted cousin Hallie Grace. Babies are so sweet!! We loved the snow yesterday and Luke was out there literally sun-up to sun-down. Tim had our dogs put on a harness and pull him up and down the driveway. That was in the ice-spitting blizzarding conditions. I don't think he feels the cold. In fact, at times he would blurt out "I'm hot!" Hope you all are enjoying what I hope is our last snow. I am ready for spring flowers, jackets, rainstorms, gardens, and nice weather. I want to drink coffee on our deck.

Courtney's Pearly Whites...

This past week Courtney got her braces off!! Just look at those straight and gorgeous teeth. I think Courtney likes the silky feel of her teeth and is very pleased with her mouth-GLAD IT'S OVER!

Spring Break Happenings

It has been a long time since I posted. Spring Break was more like Spring work here. We sorted, boxed up, threw out, hauled off, ... get the picture. I am excited though as I dreaded cleaning our garage out. It is done and Tim's man cave is well under way. There is a sign on the door that says "Men". He got it at an antique mall before Luke. I guess when you live in a house of women you need reassurance. hehehehe

Luke continues to amaze us. Probably the most sensitive thing he has said so far concerns a baby that died to cancer in early February named Cora. As I was reading their blog, I was crying and Luke wanted to know what was wrong. I told him about this baby and that her mamma was so sad and wanted to hold her baby. He said, "I will pray and ask my mamma in heaven to hold her baby for her." That made me cry more!! But just to see his heart and how he understands being sad. He is talking a lot about Haiti. We are writing down what he says so that some day he will know we love the land he is from and don't want him to forget it. He tells us what Gabriella would cook for him. Tim lays in bed and night and they all tell stories and so he will fill us in on how he got a scar or who he played with. It is amazing that he has over 5 years of memories in his brain. We also are talking about his parents a lot and how they must have loved snuggling him as a baby and kissing his adorable cheeks.

In case I have not posted, LUKE CAN STILL EAT AN ELEPHANT!! Those of you with boys, oh um, am I learning about the volume of food they can put away. He has really grown and gained over 10 pounds, grown 3 inches and 2 shoe sizes. All the clothes he got when he came to the States are now too small.

Laci Jo is thriving as well. We love to watch her enjoy her new brother. It is like he was made to fit right into the family. The twinlets love to swim and so we are starting to go to the Rec center in Newton and so this past week he shed his life jacket. Luke is so teachable and that is a great characteristic when you have no fear!

Shelbie is counting down the days to Graduation. Yes, she is growing up! She has been accepted into Eric Fisher Academy of Hair and will start in July. Her plans are to use this to be a stay at home mom when the time comes and have a business there. Marriage-then I will be a basket case. hehehe

Courtney is riding, riding , riding. I am so amazed at how much knowledge she has in the horse arena. She is getting excited for some local shows. Last Sat. her horse fell and hit his head. Needed stitches and so the vet offered to let her come and spend a day. He teased her that she needs to learn what to cry over. He told her this was not a big deal. In his vet humor he said when the horse comes in a trailer and his leg in the truck, then she could cry. Dabar is her horse that shows how God runs the show and not anyone else. He has a bad foot that should have him a cripple but he goes to shows and amazes us with his powerful and majestic strides. Dabar means "God's spoken word". Courtney wants to use his perceived lameness as a testament to what God wants, God gets!

No word on Josie but we are standing fast on God's will and will trust Him and not the Haitian government. Last word was that we were too old and had been married too long. I guess we could just start all over but this time I want Hawaii for my honeymoon! The Haitian life expectancy is about 45 years so they may think we are going to kick off in a few years. We just continue to trust.


Have a great week!

Life goes on...

I have experienced something in the last 24 hours that I don't think I could have ever been prepared for...the stark reality that our kids grow up. Last night Shelbie's team lost their game on a last second shot and it hit me that her basketball season is over-FOREVER!! I don't mean to sound like doom and gloom but I can't describe how I feel that she is really growing up. I keep pinching myself and think I will wake up from a dream. That is how fast life has flown. For those of you reading this with little ones who drain you, make you tired, disobey you, make you laugh, pour water on the floor... enjoy every moment for it will be gone in the twinkling of an eye. I know in my heart this is how it is supposed to be and for her health and ability to mature in to an adult, I am thankful but it still tugs at both Tim and my hearts at how fast the time went from baby to almost adult. Her maturity amazes me and her desire to follow Christ awesome, but it still went WAY TO FAST FOR THIS MOMMA'S HEART!!! Last night after she came home from the game, she allowed me to snuggle her in our bed. Memories flooded my heart at how blessed we have been to be a part of her life. Shelbie Rene' I love you sooo much! But as the saying goes, "Life does go on..."

We are ready for Spring

Hi! I decided yesterday after a very COLLLDDD bike ride that we are ready for Spring. The kids are always bundling to go outside and so I look forward to no coughs, no heavy coats, no snow boots...Things continue to go amazing here at our house. Luke and Laci love each other and it is great to see how God made him to be a perfect fit for us even though he is of a different genetic factor!

I started taking a Human Lactation class for Graduate credit and am praying about starting school in the Fall to complet my Nurse Practitioner stuff. I feel compelled to do it but then I think oh yuck. The career opportunities with that degree would be endless as well as the Missions' opportunities. I think I might want to do it now or never.

Shelbie has decided to go to Eric Fisher Academy for her first phase of college. She has enough saved to avoid school loans and then could return to school with money to pay by working. She is so awesome at listening to God's voice. Wish I could say the same for me at her age!!

Courtney is gearing up for her riding season. This past week we had a one horse escape and eat a lot of grain (this is BAD!!) and then the next day another decided to play Houdini and he took a little run around our new place to check it out. She enjoyed Equifest this past weekend with her bud Stana and family.

Our "twinlets" are wonderful. Luke is very creative and I want to post the village the kids made over the past few weeks. I was informed by Laci that a large tornado destroyed the village this past week. I think that can be interpreted as two pairs of boots stomping and yelling... Laci said it looked like Greensburg.

I pray the New Year is blessing you and that you are enjoying your families. We welcome all visitors to see our new house. We love it out here and look forward to starting our remodeling projects(not really)heheeh
Ronda

Greetings from Box land!!

Do you realize how much junk we all have? Ok maybe some junk and some good stuff. But I realized how much unneeded junk I have. Soooooo, as I unbox and sort I will be cleaning out my collection of unneeded and cluttering items. I have been doing this with my heart as well and God has been good to reveal to me some areas that I have lots of cobwebs in and areas that I need to totally surrender. So as I clean my outside world my inner woman is getting a bit of a makeover too!!

We are in our new place and really love the set up. The outside is awesome!! The kids have a long drive to ride bikes and a huge sandpile that they have created a village to play with rivers, bridges, homes, trees, and all sorts of things. If you have not read the book Roxaboxen I would check it out because this is kind of like a Roxaboxen. This book is one of Tim and I's favorite stories. Tim has a great garage that has heating and AC and is finished out. It will become his "Man Cave" as our friend Kurt calls it. He has an entertainment center, a couch, and I think he will be doing some garage saling to outfit this den. hehehe We have a wrap around porch with a deck and have had a few outdoor picnics on our nicer days. Courtney has an awesome barn and is able to ride inside on icy/cold/snowy days which is a blessing for her and great for the horses so they can always be exercised. Our house is an old 1912 farmhouse. The former owners had spent the money on siding, windows and new heating/air so all the costly upgrades are done. We have four bedrooms but only one bath and this is KILLING us!! We do have an outhouse and I know Tim and I both have used it when the other is occupied. We look forward(well, not really) to fixing it up and making it have our "touch". I often take for granted how blessed I am that Tim can essentially take any thing I want and create it for me. I told him I am wanting to pick up some extra shifts so I can start working on some of our dreams. You all are welcome anytime just call first as we are on the run a lot with the girls' sports.

Update on Luke! What can I say about this amazing guy. He has gained about 10 pounds, grown over 2 inches and gone from a 1 to a 3 shoe. He knows a lot of English and never speaks Kreyol. Shelbie is taking an online Kreyol class and will say words to him and says he doesn't know. Sometimes I believe him and other times I think this is a smoke screen for I will act like I don't know them you can't send me back. We notice that he is very secure here yet will say things to make sure he is like, "do you want me to go back to Gabriella?" Over the move he told us that his Mom died and asked us if we knew it. We were pretty speechless and Tim told him that his mom had died to so for awhile we had to talk about cancer, etc... It was odd as when we asked him if he knew how she died, he told us she was old. We had to laugh as we don't know her age but I can't imagine she was too old.

Two things that are prominent in Luke's life right now are speech class and trying to wrap his mind around our social system. The whole married thing intrigues him. He will ask me or Tim of any person we talk to if we kiss them, are getting married or are we going home with them. We try to avoid the word married. It is quite comical. Shelbie and Courtney are constantly asked if they are married to whoever is with us or we know. It is funny. We are working on language skills and phonetic sounds with Luke. He sees a speech teacher and is working on certain words. His ability to speak is at about 5 years old which isn't bad for only living here for 3 months. But he is difficult to understand. It is amazing how we understand it all like you would your 2 year old. But for others he is virtually impossible. It will improve with time and getting his hearing tested is another step we will take.

At Christmas we celebrated Luke's #6 and so on Christmas eve we gave him his gifts and he said 'But it is not my birthday it is Jesus's birthday" Quite a bit of perspective for someone his age. We will never forget that statement as we needed to hear it in the midst of frantic moving.

Probably the most exciting for us though is that Luke accepted Christ on Jan 8th. He is totally enthralled with the whole cross story and is worried about the crown of thorns so he was drilling Courtney one day and then asked her to help him pray. Pretty exciting for our whole family. We are enamored by how we feel God has a tremendous plan for his life as he seems to really love Bible stories, music and asking what a Jesus heart would do. That comes in really handy during defiant times as we can say, "Jesus would not want us to be unkind to our sister" He seems to really respond to that. Ok maybe we abuse it at times but hey it works!! eheheh

Laci is still adjusting but loves having a brother. They play great together. I am so glad God put a sibling in her life to well let's just say DETHRONE the PRINCESS!! She definitely needed some refinining that only someone your size can provide. So that is a blessing. I have to laugh at some of the things they are selfish about. Oh I need more blanket. You got more food. I wanted that cup. You are in my space. But for the most part she is so giving and tender with him. That is definitely part of her personality is tenderness for others. My mom had some veins removed and I really played up being careful and not jumping on her(they run to her to get her all to themselves first and then pile on her) Laci just hugged and asked if she hurt then said, "Grandma I am so sorry". It is nice to see a side like that in your kiddos.

The older girls are doing great. Both are basketball studs and we are loving watching them play. Shelbie is praying about where God is leading her after graduation and so that is exciting to hear her talk of how God is speaking to her.

Sorry this is long but I have been wanting to post our thoughts. Have a great snowy day. I love days like this when we just have to stay home. Hooooraaayyyyy!!!!