Micah

My Precious Micah,

It is hard for me to look at you and not remember the moment you were born.  The scare we had when the "red button" was pushed and our room was flooded with all medical personal.  Then the shock of discovering how big you were.  Then in the quiet of our first night together, the realization of how much I am loved by God.  For I could not imagine loving anything or anyone as much as I loved you in that moment and knowing that God loves each one of us with even more love left me breathless.  It was a holy moment that I will never forget and although you were just a few short hours old, God was already using you in a mighty way.

It is kind of scary knowing that my time with you is running short.  You are well on your way to adulthood.  Watching you turn into a young man has been such a gift.  Even at the young age of 11, you carry an aura of responsibility.  You have such an intense desire to do right and not wrong.  Your level of honesty and willingness to always tell the truth no matter the cost is humbling.  Your ever increasing yearning to make good and Godly choices is a joy to watch unfold.  Hold tight to those qualities Micah, this world will do everything to rip those virtues from you, to make you compromise on what is right.  God will bless your determination to follow after Him.

I love hearing your thoughts and questions about faith and God.  I love the way you are increasing in your desire to know more about Him.  Many of your questions I have had to turn to others to help gain understanding and wisdom.  Your questions make me want to grow more in understanding of this amazingly wonderful God we serve.

When people tell me how much you look like your Daddy, I think to myself they have no idea how much like your Daddy you really are.   God has placed in you the same strength he placed in your Daddy, a strength not seen in many men these days.  Micah, that is a gift, it is a blessing that God has placed on you.  God will show you how to use that strength to bless others and always remember, that there isn't anything stronger than a man on his knees praying to to One who created the planets and set them into motion.

You have an amazing memory, Daddy and I wonder how on earth you remember so many things from a very young age.  You have used that amazing memory to write scripture upon your heart.   There are moments when we are working together on memorizing scripture that leaves me slightly jealous.  You have an innate talent for placing words into your mind that you can recall very quickly.  Keep hiding scripture in your heart, Micah, for no one can take that away from you.

You are my very social-people-pleasing boy who is very quickly turning into a young man.  Micah, Daddy and I are so proud of who you are and who you are growing up to be.  You have qualities and characteristics that are uniquely yours and that complete our family in a way that no one else could.  As we enter into these next years, years of growth and change for you, I pray that God will continue to walk alongside of you, guiding you.  That you will continue to ask those tough questions, the searching questions, the insightful questions.  That you will stay true to that strong moral compass that God placed in you.  I pray you will give Daddy and I grace, as we try to help navigate you from boyhood into manhood.  This is unchartered territory for us and we will make mistakes and someday, your brother and sister will thank you for taking the brunt of our mistakes.

Micah, the verse I have chosen for you is a verse that was spoken over me earlier this week by a very good friend.  It is a verse that I want you to hide away in your heart so that you can draw from it as you continue down life's journey.

Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where ever you go.  Joshua 1:9

You are and always will be a blessing to all who know you.  You have the characteristics of a great and mighty leader, use those for the glory of God.  Always remember, strength is not found in possessions, money, and things of this world, it is found only in Christ.

Micah, I love you so much my growing son, I give all thanks and praise to God for placing you in my life.

Love,
Mommy

Our Daily Visitor

I remember the first day he showed up.  Romeo was very interested in him and I thought it cute how he was trying to catch a glimpse into our lovely home.

Romeo seemed quite taken with the little guy.

Kevin has been leaving him bread out on our deck and over the past few days he has come to be a regular beggar at our door.  He has gotten so used to us that he will take his bread right out of our hands.  Then he scampers with it through our backyard and out to the trees, there is usually another squirrel waiting for him up in one of the trees.

This morning I gave him only a half of piece of bread.  He ran off with it and was back within 5 minutes waiting for his other half.  I had to laugh, the little mooch wasn't happy with only a half piece!  Well, he is just going to have to wait till tomorrow, I am running out of the "butt" ends of the loaf!

Here is the picture I took this morning.  Isn't he cute?  I am wondering how long it is going to take Jilli to name him....

Blessings!!

Ty's Party

Here are a few pictures from Tyler's Birthday Party.  Just a warning, I didn't haul out my big camera for these pics, so they are a little lacking because of the poor lighting...

Ty wanted the United States of America flag on his cake...my growing patriot!
Candles are glowing...

Blowing them out!

Tyler opening up a gift.

I am feeling kind of sad that I got a picture of my niece Lorelei eating her cake and my nephew Aiden being cute, but some how I missed my other nephew Curly Head (aka Donal), he must of been bouncing somewhere else....that kid bounces where ever he goes.

That is about it...

Tyler

My Dearest Tyler,

This past year has been an amazing year of growth for you.  The discovery of your dyslexia, has opened doors for you that we couldn't figure out how to open.  To have a small understanding into the way your mind works has been such a gift to me.  You have made such huge strides in working with your dyslexia these past few months, to say I am proud of your hard work doesn't even begin to tell you how I feel.

God created you with a mind that works differently than most people and because of that, it is a rare and special gift.  You do have to work harder at reading and writing, but son, you figure things out that most of us would give up on.  Your mind works so quickly that while the rest of us are still on step 1, you completed step 1-10.  I am even more sure today than I was a year ago, that God has big plans for you because of this very special gift he gave you.

You have a compassionate spirit, a gentle and caring heart.  You are the one who tells me several times a week that you think I am beautiful, you stop and give me a kiss and tell me you love me.  Someday your wife will adore you for these little acts of love.  You also have a very spirited personality, that most of the time leaves me laughing.  Although I don't often let you see me cracking up at your latest antics (because then you would get carried away), your quick whit is one of my most treasured traits about you.

Ty, this world can be very gray, but you take that gray world and color it in so many vibrant colors. You color outside the lines, you don't conform, you make your own path.  When you are told you can't, you march right ahead and change that can't into a can.  That is such a blessing because we live in a world of people that can't think for themselves anymore and you CAN.

Not only do you have physical strength you have an inner strength that will continue grow and get stronger.  People will not only be drawn to you by your handsome face, they will be drawn to you because they can see you are different, you are special.

You are a son of the Most High God,  you were chosen to live forever with your Heavenly Father. His handiwork is stamped all over you, my beautiful son.  I am truly blessed to be your Mom.  God has used you to teach me so much about Him.  God has used you to stretched me and pushed me into places that I never thought I would or could go.

When I think about a word that would describe you there are so many I could choose.  I have mentioned many words already that describe you.  But to choose one is rather easy for me.  It is the word "GIFT".  You are such a gift to us,  you complete our family in a way that no one else could.  You bring life and excitement, you bring joy, and yes, you sometimes bring frustration.  But you are  our gift from God and not one day goes by that we don't thank God for the gift of Tyler.

Tyler, may God bless you in this next year.  May He stretch you and grow you.  May He continue to show you how special you are to Him.  May you continue to work hard at the things that don't come easy and soar through the many things that do come easy.  You are a gift, you are a treasure, you are our very special Ty-Ty.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  James 1:17

Love,

Mommy

Sophia and Sofie

Over the past week and a half a lot has been happening over here.  Much of it I will be sharing with you over the next few weeks.  But I wanted to take a quick minute to give some praise to God and also to ask for some prayer.

The Praise:
February 5, is a special day to begin with.  It is the birthday of our beautiful little nephew Aiden and it is also the birthday our other "nephew", our best friend's son, Eli.  Now the day also has a new very special birthday added to it.

I remember very specifically last June when my Sister-In-Law, Melissa, told me that they were waiting to hear if her sister was pregnant.  I had already been praying for her sister and brother-in-law as their desire was to have a baby.  Their baby story is not my story to tell, it is filled with ups and downs, but I can tell you that they were blessed with a baby girl named Sophia on February 5th.  This little girl who weighed in at 5.4lbs was born about a month early, but they were planning on an early arrival.  She came home on Sunday and is (last I heard) doing very well.  I am afraid she is going to be one spoiled little girl! It is my desire to be able to meet this very special little girl in July, but until then, I keep bugging her Aunt to keep sending me pictures!

The Prayer:
There is  another very special little girl who at this very moment is still safe inside her mother.  But her story isn't going to end with coming home a few days after she is born.  She is my cousins little girl and her name is Sofie.  It was discovered a few months ago that this little girl has a very special condition.  Well, actually a few very special conditions that work together to cause a very big problem.  This problem is very rare, so rare that although my cousin lives on the East Coast, they flew out last week to California to stay there until Sofie is born.  The doctor who created the surgery to save Sofie's life is there.  My cousin Kevin and his wife Liz are now in California for the next month.  After Sofie's birth she will have to have a heart catheterization on day 1 or 2.  She will be in NICU for at least two weeks.  If she is stable enough she will be allowed to fly home.  But she will have to return to California for heart surgery when she is 3-6mos of age.  We are praying the doctor can fix everything in one surgery, it all depends on how severe her problems are.  Sofie will be required to have heart surgery every 5 years as her body grows.

Obviously, much prayer is needed for a safe delivery and for the skilled hands and mind of the doctor who will be working on Sofie over the next six months.  Prayer is also needed for Kevin and Liz who are having to deal emotionally with the physical issues that plague their daughter.  Please pray that Kevin and (especially) Liz will remain in good health as they await the birth of their daughter.  Pray for them financially, as I am sure you can all understand will get quite costly now and in the years to come.  But where my heart stops to rest is on Sofie's big sisters who are staying with their Aunt back on the East Coast.  Two little girls who's parents are far away from them and no matter how much you try to explain, they just can't fully comprehend all that is happening and why.

So that about sums it up... Two very special blessings from God, that have been and will continue to be wrapped up in prayer.  I will keep you updated on Sofie's journey as best I can over the next few weeks, I know Kevin and Liz covet all the prayer that is being said on behalf of their family.  Their faith is strong, but as you can imagine, it is being tested right now.

OK, hope to be back a little later today with a post for my Ty-Ty!

White Fluff Keeps On Comin'

Well, it started snowing and hasn't stopped.  We have had a few breaks, like right now it's not snowing, but it's supposed to start back up later tonight and tomorrow and Monday into Tuesday for several more inches.

I quick snapped a few pictures to prove it really did snow here...

We are getting closer to having enough snow to make our Sled Run.  As I was driving the boys to a friends house today, they commented on the fact that they have "The Best Daddy Ever" because he makes them the Sled Run and Snow Forts.  They said that Daddy even told them that if we had a really big snow storm he would stay home from work and play with them in the snow all day.  **smile** Yup their Daddy is pretty special!

I can't sign off without mentioning it was Ty's Birthday two days ago and although I haven't blogged about it, I plan to soon.  I have it written in my heart and just need to get it typed out, but my schedule hasn't really allotted much time for me to cry it all out on the blog. Busy, Busy, around here, will have to share more about that later too.

Blessings!!

Is This Michigan and Is It Winter??

I can not believe the weather we are having this winter.  Nor can I believe what we did last night!

OK, so last night I had some ladies over, the last few leaving around 10pm.  I went upstairs to kiss my kids good-night and I couldn't believe how hot it was up there.  Their cheeks were all flushed, Tyler was asking for summer jammies, Jilli only wanted a sheet on her.  We had opened all their windows but because of torrential downpours, some had to be closed minutes after opening.  Kev and I were sitting on the couch talking when he decided to check our thermostat.  It was 74 degrees!  Usually by that time of night our house is down to 62 (we like it cold when we sleep).  So Kev did the only logical thing there was to do.  He turned the air on.  Yup, that's right... we turned the air on in January!

I know I don't speak for my husband but..... IT'S WINTER...SNOW ALREADY!!

Shooting Break

Taking a quick break from my UP posts to show you my sharp shooter son. It was cold but sunny today, so Micah took the opportunity to continue working on his skills. And let me tell you, he might give his Uncle a run for his money someday really soon! I see a shooting competition in the near future!

Blessings!!

Golden Pathways and Eternal Life

One of my favorite roads up in the UP is W Lakeshore Dr. (also known as Iroquois Rd. & Lake Superior Shoreline Rd.).  A gorgeous road that winds itself down the shoreline of Lake Superior.

There are a few overviews that are fun to swing through.  It's so funny, because when I was a girl, and our family traveled I remember rolling my eyes every time we had to stop at an overview.  Just wishing we could keep driving to get where ever we were going to, and now I love to stop and drink in all the views.

One of our stops we took some pictures of the kids together.  You will note that one of my children is missing from the pictures.  Tyler had picked up where I left off as a child with eye rolls and do we really have to stop questions.  I knew that the next location we were trying to make it to, I wanted a family picture.  So we made a deal, no picture of Tyler here, if he would do a nice picture with the family at the next stop.

The next stop was a lookout that We had never been too before.  My parents have, but they were not with us, so we had to discover our own way there.  We were not finding the right road, so I finally told Paul to stop and I would hop out and ask someone how to get to the lookout.  There was a man and women by an old cottage moving some items into the house.  I jumped out of the truck and asked them if they knew of the place we were trying to find and if they did, could they please point us in the right direction.  The man, a little weary of my presence quickly moved into the house.  The old women said that she knew where we wanted to go and we had to... "go back from whence you came."  No lie, she seriously said that to me.  After I got back in the truck and told Paul, Toni, and Kevin what she said we all laughed and laughed and laughed.  None of us will ever forget the wise words spoken by the old women, they will forever be memorialized in our hearts, to be brought back out and used when necessary.

With the directions from the old women, we found the path that was needed to get us to our next location.  It is a road that two cars can pass only at specific locations, but it is a glorious drive up the rolling golden mount.  I feel sorry for Paul as he was the one driving and couldn't spend his time enjoying the splendor of the the trees.

And this is the view that greeted us....

Spectacle Lake with Lake Superior in the distance...

My handsome husband taking a closer look...

Our family picture (Tyler came through on our deal)...

Jilli's never ending quest to find the most beautiful leaves...

And then, what do our eyes discover, but an old cemetery.  Most of you know my love of cemeteries.  The history that you are looking at.  The pain and heartache that just pulls at you.  The tears of loved ones that once watered the soft green grass.  I could have walked these quiet lawns for hours reading the names of people long since forgotten.

As I slowly strolled among the old headstones, it becomes very obvious that at one point many of these people had family that brought little tokens to their graves.  And then my heartache turned into the sadness of knowing that many of these people and their families were lost to the hope of Life Eternal.  Their beliefs lie in worldly offerings to spirits, and misconceptions of an afterlife.  Had I been alone, I would probably have sat down under an old tree, and wrestled with the ever present question "why me?"  Why was I chosen for this blessed life I live.  Why did God bless me with the gift of faith?  And why so many who have heard, don't believe or believe in worldly lies?

My heart hurts for those that have yet to find there way to a Savior that doesn't require trinkets and offerings.  He just requires that we put our faith in Him.  So often we rely on ourselves and our own understanding.  It takes work and practice to lay aside our worldly wisdom and trust in His eternal wisdom.  We just see a speck, He sees the whole pictures.

Right now the kids are working on memorizing the 23rd Psalm.  I learned the King James version as a child, so I am relearning it along with them.  "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside's quiet waters, He restores my soul."

Such beautiful words to remind us that he guides us and takes care of us...

He restores us, even when we are tired and broken...

The grave is just a place to lay our earthly bodies, and because of the cross, we have gift of eternal life.

Amen.

Train Car and Iroquois Point

As I was going through the pictures and choosing what I was going to share, I was amazed at how much we packed into one day.  I was going to share day 2 with you today, but unless I want to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest blog, I am going to have to split this up into a couple different posts.

Day 2, the first planned stop of the day was Iroquois Point Lighthouse.  I have blogged about this beautiful lighthouse before, but I have to say that it's one of my favorite lighthouse just because I love the look of it.  I think its because of the red roof against the white walls and the stone "fence".

But before we got to this little gem, we passed this old train car that was just sitting on a corner.  It was very lonesome, and was calling my husbands name.  Kevin and I love old things, especially things that have a forgotten story.  So when this old train car came into view my adventurous husband and I decided we should get a closer look.  Paul was driving their truck with Toni, Kevin, and I inside (the kids were all with the grandparents in separate vehicles...oh yeah, we planned that *smile*).

As we drove into this dirt driveway (caravan of cars following) we noticed a little sign that said... NO TRESPASSING.  Since the sign was hanging on a fence and not on the train car we felt it ok, for a quick picture to forever memorialize this old forgotten piece of history.

Kev jumped out of the truck, while I stayed in the the truck to take the picture (in case of a possible quick get-a-way).  He climbed up and posed for this picture.

And then a moment after this was taken, my camera captured this... with Kevin yelling "Go, Go, Go!"

Tires spun, dirt was flung and we took off at lightning speed with our caravan following quickly behind.  It was a clean get-a-way.  But those few seconds of heart pounding excitement were exhilarating.

Well, we made it safely to the lighthouse with continual checks in the review mirror, making sure we were not being followed.

We went through the little museum in the old living quarters of the lighthouse and then walked around back to climb the tower.  This is the view... isn't it just beautiful??

The colors were just perfect, Jilli kept running on the boardwalk picking up all the leaves and yelling at me to come see all the beautiful leaves that were scattered along the way.

While we were there, two freighters pass by.

I captured this picture of a Daddy who loves his very special son.

And since he was still smiling after the hug from his Daddy, I got this one.

I wanted a family picture with us at the lighthouse.  Kev's Dad was willing to shoot it for us, but apparently my oldest didn't want his picture taken, because every one taken he looks like this...

I discovered his pouty face so we tried it again and got this one...

Well, that is where I am going to end.  I think this post covered about an hour and a half of our day.  And the "Young" Dad's looked like this already....

Blessings!!