life...

 This sweet little guy has so many precious expressions...

Is he yummy or what???

 There are two of Levi's 5 teeth peeking out... he is busy working on number 6 as well... 

This sweet precious boy and what we have experienced in the past 3+ years gives us a different perspective on life... and I am so thankful for it...

The challenges that I feel we are facing right now appear to be big and difficult to face at times...

And then I remember what the Lord has brought us through... Have my son die, having the baby we hoped to adopt die just 8 mos. later, fertility struggles, an a miscarriage all in a matter of 18 mos. has changed our perspective on things... I am so thankful for that part of the equation...Praise God for His strong arms to carry us through the tragedies and sorrow of this life...

And Praise God for giving us a new perspective... new eyes to see this life and our circumstances through...

We truly feel, we have one life to live, it may be over 5 years from now, 50 years from now, or tomorrow, only the Lord knows... but we do not want to waste the moments of these days holding onto the hurt that seems to come our way... we just want to love God and all of His people... and those who aren't yet His people.  That is the most important thing to us in this life... and that includes ministering to our children.  I know Greg sometimes can't believe that for his job, he gets to be in ministry...

I need to keep surrendering my plans, my will, my heart to His ways... I know His ways are always best... but that doesn't mean they come easy always... But there is sooooo much to be thankful for right now...

A few updates from our week...
Louis got his braces off this week... and man does his smile look good... I will try to post a picture sometime soon. 

Louis and Caleb had their first basket ball games this week... The school at our church was short on players and they asked the boys to play on the school team.  They are really enjoying it and catching on quickly since this is their first season to play... They won tonight in overtime, and it was a fun nail biter.  I have never seen Louis be that aggressive before...G and I kind of looked at each other and laughed... he is just not that way at home ever... it was kind of good to see...:)

The Christmas tree if up and done... I had a sweet moment tonight with Levi in my arms just gazing at the lights... He was totally enamored by it... His expression priceless... He is such a gift to all of us... I don't think I can fully explain the immense joy he brings to our family!

Hopie has started with the tantrums... our first child to do that... She can be so amazingly sweet, and spicy at the same time... It makes for some pretty exciting days:) I am still tying to figure out if there is anything that adds to the likelihood of her having one... besides the fact that she gets mad when she doesn't get her way:)  She is two... Three is just around the corner in a couple of months... yay!:)

We are so excited that Greg's parent's and hopefully his sister and daughters will be able to come our way over Christmas break for a few days...


We are so excited that Levi's donor mom is getting married at the end of this month.  We are praising God that He has brought a great Godly man into her life... and love again...

God is so good!