Sunday, April 26, 2009

And we're back in the game!!!

So, we returned to Germany this week!! We are SO excited to be back with Aaron!! My best friend Charvel was brave enough to be my travel buddy and come back with me to help out on the plane with the boys! Not going to lie, it was a little rough! Joshua was fantastic and slept pretty much the whole time, but Jacob was a whole other story! Either way, we made it home! It's great to be here! I still have yet to unpack all of our bags and all of our boxes we sent home but I'll work on that when Charvel leaves Tuesday!! It's just nice to be home with my husband!! And Jacob is really loving having his daddy and Joshua latched right on and thinks Aaron is just hilarious! It's so fun! Since Charvel's been here we've been to a few fun places and done some exploring despite my big boot and struggling foot, so I'll post a few fun pictures from that!! Oh, it's good to be home! Now, to find some friends.....
Love you all!
Aaron and Joshua at a restaurant in Zell-Mosel.

Joshua and I at the Schnitzel place in Zell-Mosel. This is shortly after I got puked on. He is hiding the puke running down my shirt. Awesome. 
Joshua's first trip to the park down the street from our house! That's Jacob in the background going up the stairs!
The signs our landlords granddaughters made for us! They are so cute!
The whole familt together again! And Joshua's first trip to Cochem! 
Cubby and Daddy being silly heads!!
Me and Charvel by a fountain in Cochem!!
This is to document Joshua's first traveling tourist trip in Germany! He and Cubby by a fountain in Cochem! Thay stroller is all kinds of fun on the cobblestone streets!!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Time!

I love Easter. It's always such an awesome time of blessing. It's the day our Lord is risen. It's the day those who gave something up are rewarded after 40 days of sacrifice. It's a time when kids get to dress up and search for eggs and get baskets full of fun things. It's a time to sit around a table with people we love and have a delicious feast. It's a time of immense thankfulness for the lives we are given. And of course, I love the pastels :)!

Anyway, this Easter, more than most, I was super thankful for the blessings I've been given, even in a season of difficulty. It's no secret to anyone that the last year hasn't exactly been a pretty one for me, or my family for that matter. Just in the last month I've had foot surgery, a procedure to fix my heart, my mom broke her ankle, my grandma had a supplemental knee surgery to her knee replacement and my 5 year old niece was diagnosed with epilepsy. Not exactly a fun month, to say the least. But in the midst of it, I am blessed. I have two beautiful boys and a husband who loves me. I have a home waiting for me in Germany. I have a family who loves me and would help me in any circumstance, even when they themselves are struggling. I have beautiful and amazing friends who fight the good fight along side me, no matter the cost. And I have a loving and merciful savior, who even in the tough stuff, guards and protects my heart so that I may have a peace that passes all understanding. How can I NOT be thankful?

On top of that, I've realized the last week or so the VAST amount of people who are missing out on the good news of Christ and how much Satan and his minions are stirring up the truth of Christ in our world. For example, my church in Texas sent out an Easter mailing to invite people to church for Easter Sunday. It was meant to target the masses. The unchurched. It was meant to hit real life. It read "Does God give a ....?" Fill in the blank yourself. It's real life. This made front page news in Abilene and outraged so many. Believers and non. If this simple mailer to invite people to church, and to show them real life and connect with people who would otherwise never connect to the church is such an outrage, how are we ever supposed to share Christ? It made me realize how much we truly are sheep amongst wolves and how much Satan is doing to play Christians against Christians.

Then I was so disheartened on facebook to see so many people calling Easter "zombie Jesus" day and how they thought it was corrupting the world. If they only knew.... Anyway, I guess the point of all that is to say that I am so thankful for my merciful God, and yet my heart breaks for those who do not know. My prayer is for all to know the grace and mercy of Jesus and for all to be showered with his immense blessings. There is no greater gift...

On that note, here are some pictures of the boys from today! Happy Easter, beautiful friends! I am thankful for each of you!
Jacob crashed out after Easter activities.
Mommy and Joshua. 
Joshua playing in his little man outfit!
Jacob, Eliyah and Brookson before the Easter egg hunt. Also before Brookson fell down the window well. Yes, this is my family.
That's my happy boy! He loves playing with mommy!
With my boys!
Daddy and Jacob on Easter!
Cubby opening his Easter basket!
Joshua laughing!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

What a personality!

So the last two weeks or so, Joshua has REALLY started coming into his own personality and laughing and playing a lot! He loves his toys and he loves to imitate mommy and all his friends, especially when they stick their tongues out at him! He also like it when you get his nose. It's fantastic. Between him and Jacob, we're in for some serious laughs and smiles. I was scared for all these boys, but what fun they all are! I thought I'd post a few of his personality pictures from the last few days! I hope this makes everyone's day...or at least makes you smile, even just a little bit!!
Love you all!





Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Finally, A Blog!!

So, for a long time I have wanted to start blogging to help people keep up with life, and it wasn't until just this week I was convicted about how horribly I do long distance on keeping people updated about life! On that note, here we go!!
So, here are the main events from the last year in a nutshell:

May 08: Move to Germany
June 08:Move into a house, Find out we're expecting!!
July 08: Major Car Accident, Kayla can't walk
August 08: Kayla still can't walk
September 08: Find out some major medical things, prepare to send Kayla and Jacob to US for 6 months to get medical care and have new baby
October 08: Find out baby #2 is a boy! Kayla and Jacob head to the states
November 08: Find out Kayla's breathing problems are related to a hole in her heart, Kayla and Cubby head to Texas for Thanksgiving to see old friends, Aaron goes to friends for Thanksgiving in Germany (what, we have friends?!)
December 08: Jacob has birthday party! He's three now!
January 09: Pregnancy starting to make Kayla very sick, anticipation grows to have Joshua come and Aaron in the states for a bit
February 09: Aaron comes to states and Joshua arrives! Cubby is very happy to be a big brother! Sadly, this is also the month Aaron goes back to Germany!
March 09: Kayla gets heart procedure and finds a second hole in her heart, Kayla has major foot surgery to correct complications from car accident injuries. Kayla, the boys and Aaron start preparing for family returning to Germany!


And that brings us to this month! I'm getting my heart fixed on Friday the 10th, Joshua is growing like a weed, laughing and smiling and starting to be aware of toys, and Jacob can't stop talking about our return to Germany! Aaron has been cleaning the house like a mad man and on April 21st we'll be leaving the states to continue our adventure overseas!! Hopefully I'll be disciplined and keep this updated and post a lot of pictures! I'll add a few from the last few months

My boys!

Jacob being a ninja for Halloween!

Mommy w/ flowers Cubby brought me after my foot surgery

Playing w/ PhotoBooth while Aaron was stateside

Joshua Michael 2/17/09 9:35pm 21" 7lb 7 oz