The McShane Family

Ramblings on a mile stone day.....

2011-08-15T10:30:00.003-06:00

Today marked a mile stone....Ethan started 6th grade today....Emily, 8th grade....2 kids in middle school.....wow, where has the time gone.....Emotions are running through my head this morning....Excitement, sadness, anticipation......and sad.....My babies are growing up, this window is getting smaller, time is getting shorter before things will change again......

Have we done everything we could do to get them to this point, have we taught them everything we could to be ready to face this phase of challenges, temptations, experiences, have we prepared them enough, have we prayed enough, have we poured in enough????? These are the questions I'm guessing every parent thinks and asks themselves on a day like today......Will there be a bully, will they get picked on? Will they have good friends, will they be a good friend? Will they feel accepted and loved???? Will they accept and love others? Did we do all we could to set them up for successes instead of failures?

All these things are racing through my mind.........I know I will never be a perfect parent, Some days I struggle to feel enough.......I want to be the best parent for my kids......have I done my best?

Well, the bottom line.....where I have to rest is......I pray I've done the best could.....now I have to trust God for the rest.....We dedicated our children to the Lord when they were babies.....we committed to care for them, train them, teach them, love them.....we've tried to do all those things.......I have to leave them in His Hands! He has the best ones!

So, I pray my kids have a great day at school....that they like their teachers, do their very best, get along with their classmates, make new friends, connect with some old friends......be a good friend to someone who looks lonely or sad......and most of all be the person God created them to be.......

I love my kids and want whats best for them......

Jesus, walk with Emily & Ethan today.....keep them safe and protected.....

I love you Emily & Ethan........

2 months

2011-05-24T23:02:00.001-06:00

New home

2011-03-14T01:32:00.002-06:00

So it is very late and I can't sleep....it has been this way for a long time.....

So our life is changing.....we are buying a town home.....we close on Friday the 18th.....I can't believe it.....I'm not sure I'm excited....I just don't know what I feel.....Some friends are coming over Monday morning to help pack some boxes.....

I know God has a plan and a purpose.....I'm trusting Him to provide for us, to work everything out.....All the concerns I have in my heart, I'm trying to give to Him....to turn them over.....to leave them in His hands.....some days are better then others, but I'm on the journey and doing my best...God is in control.....

I want to be excited, to be looking forward to the future and the journey we are about to embark on....it's scary....but I know it will be worth it....God has this! He is going to be in control!

So, in less then 2 weeks we will be living at a new address.....

"Cold" day

2011-02-01T12:27:00.004-07:00

Well, school was cancelled today....not because of snow, but because of cold....the high for today here in Centennial is like -2.....last I checked we were at -7.....it is hard to believe it is so cold, standing inside with the door closed....the sun is shining and it looks so sparkly.....open the door and you know that it is cold.....since cold like this is not good for asthma, we will be staying indoors....

Ethan knew before he left school, he said his teacher told him to go home, watch movies, TV and play video games.....of course the kids wanted to stay up late last night since they could sleep in....so we watched Madagascar 2 and hung out....slept in today.....

Emily was very happy to sleep in.....she is watching movies and hanging out.....she took a bad fall yesterday morning on the way to school, it was so slippery.....today her wrist is hurting just a bit....

Ethan has been playing in his room, watching movies and hanging out.....

I have been trying to work, hang out with the kids and get some laundry done.....Ted went to work, I think when he left this morning it was like -15 or something crazy.....he said the roads were pretty clear and didn't have trouble getting to work.....

So, we will continue to enjoy this "cold" day snuggled safe and warm in our house.....

Enjoy your day......

a little random....

2011-01-27T22:43:00.002-07:00

Wow, it has been a long time.......so much is happening.....more of that in a later post.....I really need to post some recent pics.....

Tonight I drove Emily & her friends to their cheer leading practice....she is on the Panther's team....it has been a blast! She has the best coach and team mates.....Her coach had nice words to say about em....she has been working so hard on her tumbling and making amazing progress! She is always happy and friendly to everyone.....it's nice when other people see the good things in your kids.....

So I finished reading "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman.....what an amazing book.....so open and honest about what they have been through in her life, the adoptions, the crazy life of having a husband on the road and the loss of their beautiful daughter Maria.....I love the way she shared, so transparent in her struggles of life, how to handle life when it doesn't go the way you plan....it's about choosing to seeing God at work, in every situation in our lives....not just the happy ones, but the painful, heartbreaking, really hard ones....It reminds me that I have a choice....to let God comfort, carry and change me on the journey, no matter how hard it is... so, if you haven't read it, I encourage you to.....

Now, I'm reading "In a Pit with a Lion On A Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson....another great book....reminding me to be courageous.....to chase lions....I want to be more courageous.....so I'm reading and working on trusting more and asking God to be miraculous in our lives.....some days aren't easy.....but I keep moving forward, choosing to trust, and to hold His hand....

I've struggled with some frustrations lately....I'm trying to let them go.....they aren't really important, definitely not worth letting affect my day....but that is also easier said then done....but I'm trying.....Sleep has not come easy the past few months.....more nights then I can say I'm still awake after midnight.....I need more rest.....it's hard to be patient and nice when you haven't had enough sleep.....

I love my husband, love my kids and I'm excited for what God has next......

School is almost out! How will you celebrate the end of the school year?

2010-05-20T13:37:00.004-06:00

On the last day of school we will be going to get ice cream. We have done this every year since Emily started kindergarten. We usually go with friends, sometimes that changes every year.....

This year, after ice cream, we will be heading to our Niece's graduation party. That will be a lot of fun! We are very proud of Kayla-Ashley and all she has accomplished!

That is what we do on the last day of school.....

Click here to view other Women of Faith Wednesday entires.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T18:19:00.005-07:00

Today is Thanksgiving, we have had a lot of fun....The kids and I are in Springfield, CO at our friends, Paul & Lori's house. It snowed! It has been so beautiful! The boys played basketball, Wii, watched a movie, and played checkers. The girls read books, watched a movie, played Wii had a tea party and went out in the snow.....Lori & I have cooked an watched the kids. What a fun day. Ted couldn't get off work, so he was at home.....that was sad. But, we have had fun.....

We hope all have had a wonderful day and taken a moment to be thankful...

Basketball begins

2008-11-17T20:19:00.004-07:00

Ethan helping Coach Albee lead stretches

Ethan going for a shot

The team (his friend Gabe is there in the front with the black ball)

Hi there,

Tonight was Ethan's first basketball team practice. It was very fun, his coach is very nice. His name is Coach Albee. His friend Gabe is also playing on the team.....

Fall leaves!

2008-11-16T16:59:00.003-07:00

Today Ted & the kids raked up the leaves and then vacuumed them up, they each got a turn using the vacuum.....They were filthy by the end, it's off to the shower for them, but they had a blast......

First snow / November 2008

2008-11-16T16:51:00.002-07:00

Fiona checking out the snow

It finally snowed here! It was so fun. I wish there would have been time for the kids to have played, but there wasn't......

Halloween fun

2008-11-01T21:09:00.004-06:00

Well, our Carnival is over.....It was awesome! this year we held our carnival at Swansea Elementary and provided a fun carnival for free to the neighborhood....I think about 400+ people attended. We had games, cotton candy, popcorn, candy tubes and large jumpers! It was a blast.

Ethan dressed up as a Storm trooper (from Star Wars) and Emily was "Major Cutie"

They went out with their cousins to trick or treat for a while and then headed to the carnival.....

So, the mom is exhausted, but it was worth it!

hike at Lair O the Bear

2008-09-23T22:18:00.003-06:00

We went on a hike on Labor Day (Sorry, this should have been posted earlier) with our friends the Grundens. we headed up the mountains to Lair O' the Bear. we have never been there, it was great. A nice trail, beautiful scenery and good friends, what more could you ask for.....

Asthma

2008-09-18T11:42:00.003-06:00

Ethan had a bout with his asthma this week. He ended up on steroids, but the good news is it has been a year and a half since he was on them....That is amazing! We have never gone that long between.

He is feeling so much better and we both got a good nights sleep last night. Amazing what sleep will do for you!

He will be on additional meds for the next 5-7 days. He is already feeling better and wanted to go back to school today.....of course mom said no, he is still coughing to much.

I am grateful that he usually responds so well to the meds and they begin to help him so quickly!

so, I am home with him today, working and trying to enjoy some down time!

Cute pictures

2008-09-16T21:54:00.003-06:00

I took this picture a few weeks ago, it was picture day at school and I decided to take one myself before I sent them off to school.....I am so glad that they still like each other and will hug one another.....They are so cute, if I do say so myself.

mini golf

2008-08-28T23:54:00.002-06:00

Before school started we decided to take the kids to Colorado Journey and play Mini golf. We laughed and had a great time!

Trip to the museum

2008-08-28T23:42:00.002-06:00

Emily, Ethan, Cedric, Julia & Gabe

Hi there,

This trip actually was before school started, but I never got the pictures posted. We spent the day at the museum with our friends and had a blast! We were with Deana and Julia, Terry, Gabe & Cedric. It was fun. The boys found a computer that was set up to where they could chose the size and speed of an astroid and send it hurtling towards earth to see what would happen. Why is it that boys want total catastrophe? It was pretty funny......

first day of school

2008-08-26T22:45:00.004-06:00

Emily & Ethan at the school

Emily in her class

Ethan & his teacher, Mrs. Fahlstedt

Ethan at his desk

Well, on August 19th Emily & Ethan went back to school. They were very excited to get back to school and see their friends. They both like their teachers and seem to be adjusting really well. Emily is in 5th grade and Ethan is in 3rd grade.

We are getting back to some normal routines, getting up for school and this week homework started, we are reading every night (we had gotten out of the every night habit) and back to 8:30 bedtimes.....

Lost teeth

2008-08-10T23:30:00.001-06:00

Well, in the last week Emily has lost 2 teeth. She worked hard to get them out......Here are the pics. The second one was more painful then the first.

Swimming

2008-07-24T21:32:00.003-06:00

Emily & Ethan just finished the 2008 swim season with the Holly Park Sharks. It was Emily's 4th season to swim and Ethan's 3rd. They both qualified for Championships, Ethan in freestyle & backstroke and Emily in butterfly. They both did well this year and have had a lot of fun!

Birthday girl

2008-07-24T21:16:00.003-06:00

Well, this post is late, Emily turned 10 this month. It is hard to believe that she is 10 already. It seems like yesterday when she was born....It was a very special day, Ted's parents were here for her birthday and she loved that!

Silly girl!

Best friends! Emily & Julia

hair cut

2008-06-27T20:28:00.004-06:00

Well, Emily has been growing her hair long enough to be able to cut it and have the hair sent to Locks of Love where they make wigs for kids who have lost their hair. Today she decided it was long enough. So we went to Lollilocks, and they measured it, and cut it. They cut off 12" of her hair and then styled it.

It really looks cute on her, it is such a big girl cut......

I am so proud of her, this is the second time she has sent her hair off to Locks of Love......

She has now sent off 22" of her hair........

Swim Meet

2008-06-21T20:56:00.004-06:00

Well, summer is here. We have had the third swim meet of the season. Here are some pictures of the kids at the swim meets.......

Ethan

Emily & Julia

Ethan & Wyatt

Emily diving

Ethan after his relay

It was hot today, but we have a lot of fun!

Oregon coast

2008-06-15T23:08:00.006-06:00

Sea lions at Simpsons Reef

Emily on the Oregon Dunes

Ethan on the Oregon Dunes

the 4 of us at Sunset Beach

Ted, Emily & Ethan climbing rocks at Sunset Beach at the tidepools

Emily & Ethan on a dead tree at Sunset Beach where we explored tide pools

All of us in front of the Umqpua Lighthouse

holding a sea star we found at the tidepools

These sea anemonias were lime green!

Well, our vacation is about to come to a close.....We have had a lot of fun on the Oregon coast. We have spent the past week in North Bend / Coos Bay Oregon. We have seen lighthouses, walked on beaches, collected sea shells and drift wood, we have explored tidepools and looked at sea lions....We have slept in, relaxed and just hung out! We have enjoyed spending the week with my mom & step dad and step sister......It has been a fun week.

Please help us Pray

2008-05-29T22:03:00.004-06:00

Please pray for Jordan and his unit who are serving in Iraq. Jordan is married to my very special friend, Jessika. I have known Jessika and her family since she was 6 months old. We have been friends since we all went to the same church in Southern CA and now we all live in Colorado.

Below is a picture of friends from our church. Jacob is a friend of Ethan's, he will be 8 years old in June. Jacob was diagnosed with leukemia, Acute Lymphomic Leukemia (I think that is it) 2 weeks ago. This is a picture taken when Jacob was in the hospital. He is home now and doing good. Jake has had 2 weeks of chemo and is tolerating it well. Please pray for him during his treatment that he will have little or no side effects.
Thank you for praying for these special people.

Meme - tag

2008-05-12T22:19:00.003-06:00

Another Meme.....six random things about me

Rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Share six random things about you.
3. Tag 5 people (or whatever you can).

1. I don't like snakes

2. I sang in the 5th & 6th grade choir when I was only in 3rd grade

3. I lived in Illinois till I was 12 years old and then moved to Southern CA

4. I lived with my grandmother in San Bernardino for part of my 7th grade school year, while my parents

and brothers lived in Long Beach

5. The first time I went on a water skiing trip I got such a bad sunburn, a fireman / paramedic on our trip

said I had at least 2nd degree burns (I peeled 3 times)

6. I love my job!

I tag:

Amy

Danica

Rachael

Tagged

2008-05-12T22:14:00.004-06:00

I have been tagged by my friend Amy. The tag is: Meme - Six Word Memoir

1. Write the title to your own memoir using 6 words.
2. Post it on your blog.
3. Link to the person that tagged you.
4. Tag five more blogs.

Loved her family and loved People!

Tag:

Busy day! Field day / Swim team / Band concert

2008-05-12T21:54:00.002-06:00

Today, May 12th was Field day at the school for the 3rd - 5th graders. What a great day weather wise it was. It was in the 70's and the sun was shining......The kids had a lot of fun participating in hurdels, an obstacle course, 50 yard dash, Fort Knox, Fun Run, Frisbee golf and others.

It was a pretty long day, after field day, the kids had their first day of Swim team. The weather had changed and a storm started to blow in, so they didn't get in the water. It was good to see old friends and our great coaches. After that we left to go back to the school for the Band concert. The kids did a really good job. It was really nice..

Ethan's birthday party (sorry it is out of order)

2008-05-12T21:35:00.002-06:00

We had a house full of boys for a Wii playing sleep over. The boys played Wii for hours, they were so good at taking turns, encouraging each other and playing fair. It was really awesome to see. They had pizza, chips and cupcakes. Finally it was time for bed and we got the boys all settled down and ready to sleep. They did pretty good and went to sleep.

I think everyone had a good time.

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T21:18:00.000-06:00

Well, we had such a beautiful day on Mother's Day. The weather was amazing! We went to church, the kids went on a bike ride with our friends the Grunden's and then we barbequed with them for dinner. What a wonderful day it was!

I hope that all my amazing friends who are moms had a great day!

4th grade concert / dance / Famous Person

2008-05-12T21:08:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from Emily's dance class, the 4th grade concert (they sang and played their recorders) and Emily was Mother Cabrini at the 4th grade Famous Person presentations from April.....

She had a very busy month!

More CA vacation pics

2008-05-12T20:59:00.001-06:00

Auntie Jo's puppy - PinkertonWhale watching boat
Sea Lions we saw while whale watching
Eating lunch to celebrate Ted's birthday
Auntie Jo, Emily & Ethan at the Redondo Beach peir

Way to long!

2008-05-12T20:45:00.000-06:00

Ok, it has been way to long since I have posted to my blog and boy have we been busy.

The last week of March, we went to California and saw some of my family. It was such a fun trip! We drove to Southern CA and then we hit the ground running. We went to the Cabrillo Beach Aquarium and learned about grunnion, then at 10pm we went out to the beach to see the grunnion run. They come up on the beach, during a full moon and lay their eggs, it is really cool. We went to some amazing tide pools in San Pedro. We drove over Portuguese bend. We went to Pointe Vincente to go whale watching and have a picnic. We went to the movies to see Horton Hears a Who. We went to the Griffith Park Observatory and looked through the telescopes and saw Mars and Saturn. We went on a whale watching boat (unfortunately we didn't see any whales, but we had a blast!). Then it was time to go home. We had a BLAST! The kids learned a lot of things and had so much fun doing it.

Weekend

2008-02-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

I had a great weekend, I had the privilege of being a host for The Revolve Tour. It is the teen girl version of Women of Faith. What an amazing weekend it was. I had a blast!

While I was there I got to meet Natalie Grant, KJ 52, Hawk Nelson, Ayiesha Woods, Brie Reed and Chad Eastam and a host of other amazing people. These people spent a lot of energy opening up their hearts, and lives and sharing their stories with these teenage girls. They shared their struggles and heartaches and pain and most important they shared the hope they received through Christ and how He worked through each situation for their good. Each one has an amazing story to share and I am sure that every girl heard something that ministered to them through the stories. God was there and it was an amazing weekend!

One of the highlights for me was meeting Sandi Patty. I have admired her for a long time. I feel she has an amazing talent, God has used her in incredible ways, she has an amazing voice! It was such an honor to meet her!

I hope to be able to attend next year and serve again. I enjoyed myself so much!

123 Meme

2008-02-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my friend Tanya "tagged" me.

So here is what I am supposed to do:

The rules are... "simple".

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No Cheating!
Find Page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.

so, I looked around and at first glance found no books. On my coffee table I found a book of Ethan's, a sports book but alas there was only 117 pages, so I went to my laptop bag and found the book I am trying to read called: "Rising from the Ashes Rethinking Church"

So, page 123 sentences 6,7 &8 are:

I think it's really important, that if we're going to say that what unites us is our common prayer, then we have to be faithful to the authorized text. I don't think we can have it both ways. One of the things we've said is we allow a wide spectrum of thoughts because we've not a confessional church.

So, I guess I have to "tag" someone else......

Rachael Shelton

Danica Justice

I am not sure who else reads my family blog, so I guess that is all I will put...

Happy Birthday Ethan!

2008-02-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

Ethan turned 8 today. It's so hard to believe that he is 8 already. It just seems like yesterday he was a baby learning to walk......

We had a pretty fun day. We started with church, then he went to his best friend Kaden's house for a few hours and then home for a "Super Bowl/Birthday party" with friends.

Here are a few pictures of him.........

Christmas Day

2008-01-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, we had such a fun day. We woke up to beautiful snow falling. It continued to snow all day long. I think we ended up with 8".

We started out the morning with opening our stockings, it was fun. Even Shadow & Fiona had something in their stockings.

Before we opened our gifts we called my Aunt & Uncle, as a kid one of the memories that sticks out is Uncle Dick reading the Christmas story before we opened presents. We couldn't be together so we did the next best thing, we called and put them on speaker phone. Uncle Dick read the Christmas story from Luke while we all cuddled together and listened. It meant so much to me to share this childhood memory of mine with my kids.

Next we passed out packages and began to open. Emily & Ethan were so excited, they had so much fun and were so appreciative of every gift they received. They both got new Bibles and devotion books and they loved their Bibles. The Heelies were a big hit to! They loved the telescope too! (now if we would have a clear night that wasn't freezing to go check out the stars). Ethan noticed that there weren't any gifts from mom and dad, Ted pulled out some more presents from the closet and they opened a few more. They were so excited when they discovered their new game system!

We had a wonderful lunch of Prime Rib, corn casarolle, layered salad, crescent rolls. It was yummy!

We spent the rest of the day playing games and laughing! It was awesome!

Ted's brother and his family were supposed to come over, but felt the roads weren't safe so they stayed home.

Our very good friends Paul, Lori, Ryan & Jordyn drove up from Springfield, CO and made it safe. We spent the rest of the evening laughing, playing & talking!

What a great day we had!

Here are some pictures from our fun day!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

What a fun week we have had!

On Christmas Eve we had 2 services at church and then went to friends house to eat dinner, play games and laugh! We had so much fun! The pictures above were taken on christmas Eve at our friends house.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2007-12-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I love Christmas, I love to put up lights, the tree and all my decorations. I really love snowmen. I have a lot of them around the house. The kids started to count and when they got to about 60, decided that they would stop. They hadn't counted any ornaments. We had so much fun decorating the tree. I unpacked the ornaments and the kids put them on the tree.

It was so much fun to unpack our ornaments. Every year we get new ornaments, this year we bought a flute and a guitar (those are the instruments Emily & Ethan have started to play).

As I put out different decorations, I was reminded of memories, from when I was a little girl, of my very special Grammie, things that she made and had in her apartment, and things that we have gotten since we were married and had children.

The weather cooperated and Ted was able to get the lights on the house up and the other yard decorations.

I love to watch White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street and The Santa Clause. I have watched each of them already.

I have way to much shopping to do still, but I am trying to rest and enjoy the season.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T00:10:00.001-07:00

Well, today has been a little tough for me. It was 2 years ago today that my grammie passed away. She was 88 1/2 years old and one of the most amazing women I have ever met. I can not remember my grammie ever complaining, I never heard her say, why me, it's not fair or anything like that. She had a lot she could have said it's not fair about. She buried 2 husbands, was alone for about 41 years. She lived a good life, loved her family without reservation or strings and gave to everyone she met. She always had a kind word and a smile.

When I needed someone to pray, she was the first person I called. I knew that she prayed for our family at least twice per day. If I needed to talk I would call her, she always new just what to say and I always felt better by the time we were done talking.

My kids loved her, they thought she was a very special lady! Emily is still writing poems about her.

One of my favorite memories, one day when Ted & I were at her apartment (we were just married then) we were getting ready to leave and she looked at Ted and said "by Joe" we looked at her and she got the funniest look on her face and we all started to laugh. It became a big joke between us and after that whenever she would call, she would ask about "Joe." It was our inside joke.

I miss grammie so much! I miss our talks, I miss her hugs & smiles and I miss her prayers!

I have so much to be thankful for,

~ my husband

~ my amazing kids

~ my family

~ our home

~ our church

~ a beautiful state to live in

~ friends

We spent the past week at our friends, Paul & Lori, they live in Springfield, CO. We helped them move from one house into a new one. It was a lot of work, but we had so much fun! We spent Thanksgiving with them. We had so much amazing food! We had to drive home after dinner (in the afternoon), that was sad, but it was good to be home too.....

Here are some pictures of the kids

2007-11-07T18:08:00.001-07:00

Well, the leaves are almost gone off the trees. There are leaves all over the yard. Before Ted and the kids raked them all up I took them out for a few pictures.

Time is just flying by!

Halloween

2007-11-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well this year Halloween was very different for our family. Normally we are at the church participating in the Carnival of Light. Emily & Ethan have never been trick or treating. This year the church decided to try something different and sponser Neighborhood Block Parties. Our friends and life group leaders hosted one in their culdesac. We had a jumper and games, hot chocolate, hot apple cider and cookies and candy and candy and candy. Did I mention we had candy?

Emily went out trick or treating with some of the kids from our life group. They had a great time. Ethan decided he wanted to stay at the house with the jump castle and games. They had a really good time, in spite of the cold temperatures.

Here are some pictures.

Emily & Ethan in his first costume

Jordyn in her dalmation costume

Ethan the storm trooper

Emily & Jordyn

It's been a while

2007-10-10T22:26:00.000-06:00

Wow, it has been a while since I posted any news. Of course there isn't much news to report. School started for Emily & Ethan in the middle of August and life has been racing by ever since.

The kids love their teachers, and have some wonderful friends in their classes. They seem to be happy, adjusting to the amount of homework that 4th grade and 2nd grade bring. Mom and dad are trying to adjust to the amount of homework that comes too. Our evenings are very different these days. Study time, reading time, dinner, baths and all to quickly it is bed time!

Our house is a little louder these days. Emily started playing the flute at school, she loves it! She is actually playing a few songs now. Ethan started taking guitar lessons with a very nice man from church. He loves it! He loves to play the guitar.

Emily has been writing songs these days. She has always loved to write stories, but has started writing songs now. She is having fun!

Last weekend we drove up to the mountains to see the changing leaves, we had so much fun. We drove up Hwy. 285 to Guenella Pass and went across to Georgetown. What a fun drive that was. Parts of the road are not paved, so it was very bumpy at times, the kids thought it was a blast! They loved the bumps! We found a stream with a bridge, a beautiful waterfull and lots of leaves! It was a lot of fun!

California

2007-07-28T15:08:00.000-06:00

Hi there,

We are in California spending time with my Aunt and Uncle. Auntie Jo is doing well, they are calling her the walking miracle. We are so thankful! God has done amazing things for her and we are grateful! Everyday we Thank God for the progress she is making.

The weather is nice, last night we went to the beach / cliff area and took some pictures. it is so beautiful here. We are getting ready to go to the park and play for a while. It is so nice to just relax and hang out.

Happy Father's Day

2007-06-19T21:59:00.000-06:00

It has been a pretty scarey week. Sunday night my aunt had a severe arrithmya and they had to shock her to get her back into sinus rythm. She was improving and getting stronger, but today she began to have some difficulty breathing. So they took her for a CT scan and they found out she has a spot of pnuemonia in one lung so they have postponed heart surgery until next Monday. How she got pnuemonia when she has been on antibiotics for 14 days is beyond me. Hopefully they will be able to do surgery on Monday so that we can get her on the road to recovery! I will be flying next week to CA to help my aunt & uncle when she comes home from the hospital.

My mom's arm is recovering well, they removed her stitches yesterday and she is feeling better.

Emily & Ethan are good. We had another swim meet last Saturday and they did awesome! They both earned speeding tickets for improving their times on different races. They can't wait to spend their speeding ticket "money" at the snack bar this Saturday. I didn't have my camera at the swim meet, but took some on my friend Deana's camera, I will post some when I get them.

We did have a nice day with Ted on Father's Day, here is a picture of the three of them. They are growing so fast, it seems like yesterday we were celebrating Father's Day for the first time and Emily was only 11 months old. Now she is almost 9 years old and Ethan is 7. How time flies!
We took some time on Father's Day to talk about what we value about Ted, it was nice to share those thoughts and how important he is to us.

(yes that is a beard on Ted and yes it is very grey)

Well, that's all for now!

First swim meet

2007-06-11T20:11:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday, June 9th, was Emily & Ethan's first swim meet. They are a part of the Holly Park Sharks. They were so excited for their meet. We were at the pool at 6:30am and we were done about 2:30pm. It was a long day! The weather was nice for the meet, in the mid 80's.

The kids did really well. I snapped this picture at the pool while we watched the other kids swim.

Emily swimming backstroke

Emily swam, a freestyle relay (they came in first place) a medly relay (she swam back stroke (her best stroke) and they came in first place, she swam25 meter freestyle and tied for 4th place; a 25 meter Butterfly and came in 2nd place, and a 25 meter Breast stroke, she was Disqualified for that one (she didn't do the stroke exactly right, she is still learning this one).

Ethan swam a 25 meter freestyle and a 25 meter backstroke. He is still working on his, he improved his time on his backstroke by 10 seconds! He did really good.

We got lots of sun at the meet, not to much burn, just a little pink. Ethan actually has a tan line, I don't think he has ever had one before.

Today Lori & Jordyn arrived to spend the week at our house. Paul & Ryan are at Youth Camp, at camp Cedar Ridge (near Delta, CO). Emily is very happy to have Jordyn here. Jordyn is excited to take a bath at Aunt Kathy's house. (She only has a shower at her house).

Well, that is all for now.

What a week

2007-06-08T10:56:00.000-06:00

Well, what a week it has been around here. On Monday my Aunt was taken by ambulance to the hospital. She has a blood infection and a leaky heart valve. They are trying to get the infection cleared up so that they can either repair or replace the leaky valve. She is in great spirits. The kids sent her some email messages and we took pictures to send to her. Uncle Dick printed them and she has them at the hospital with her.

On thursday my mom flew to Stephensville, Texas to attend a family reunion with on of Bob's cousins. This morning she called to let me know that she was in the hospital. She had been taken by ambulance late last night, she had fallen out of bed and broke her arm. She will be having surgery today, Friday between noon - 1pm to put a pin in her arm.

What a week it has been!

I know that God is faithful and He has both of these special women in my life in His hands! But, it sure stinks to live far away and not be able to be near either of them.

I will update later.

Welcome

2007-06-07T23:22:00.000-06:00

Hi there,

I thought it might be fun to start a blog. That way I can post happenings in our family and pictures for all our family & friends to keep up on our busy lives! The kids had me take a picture of them to send to Auntie Jo yesterday, this is a recent one of them. They are growing fast! It is hard to believe that Emily will be 9 in a month!

It is the start of summer, the kids have been out of school for about 2 weeks now. We have started swim team and baseball.

Last Saturday was Emily & her best friend Julia's dance recital. The recital was wonderful! Every dance was so fun to watch. Emily did a great job and had a lot of fun! Here is a picture of Emily & Julia after the recital was over.

Emily was in 2 dances, the first dance was a tap dance to the song, Shuffle off to Buffalo. Her second dance was ballet to Hard Knock Life from Annie. That is what the bandana was from. Both dances were very cute.

Emily attended a volleyball camp this week at Littleton High School with Julia & Jessica. The girls had a great time!

This week Ethan started Baseball. He is on the Cub's. He got his hat and t-shirt this week. I haven't gotten any pictures yet. I will add them soon.

The kids have been swimming too. They have their first swim meet this Saturday, we have to be at the pool at 6:30am. It is an early day! They are both looking forward to the meet.

Not much new for Ted or I, just busy running the kids from place to place! That is enough right now!

Well, we will write more soon.