Jethro is 2!

We once again have a two year old in the house.

Sunday was Jethro's birthday.

This year was low-key. No large celebrations.

But, all the kids were here, plus a couple extra (girlfriends),

and we had a good afternoon of eating and visiting 

and cake and presents.

Although Jethro was not that interested in opening presents.

He was happy to play with his toy after it was open,

but if it hadn't been for helpful siblings, his presents would

still be wrapped.

He loves Lightning McQueen, so of course he had to have a cars cake.

Here's the birthday boy, rockin' his new Under Armour shirt.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!

He didn't get the whole, blowing out the candles idea. He just wanted to grab them. Daddy blew them out for him. =)

Playing with his new wheelies construction ramp...I think all the littles loved it.

Birthday parties are EXHAUSTING! =)

We are so thankful for 2 years with Jethro!

God has sustained him and caused him to flourish. 

He is doing so well right now, and if it weren't for his

scars, and the amount of sleep he needs, 

you wouldn't know that this baby was

DOA. 

A Week in Feminine Dress

So, I have at least one more post rattlin' around in my head on suffering, but this week, I'm going to be posting what I am wearing. :-) I have been a member of the forum over at Sense and Sensibility Patterns for several years. At least a couple times a year, we do a week in feminine dress or a WIFD. The point of it is to encourage the ladies to dress in a feminine manner no matter what we are doing, and to give new ideas and inspiration to those of us who regularly dress this way. I have done this a couple times before here on the blog, but it's been a while, so I thought it would be fun to do once again. Today is actually Day 2 of WIFD, but in normal fashion, I completely forgot about it yesterday, until after I was changed out of my church clothes...and I really wan't dressed very femininely after that. :-)

So, here is todays outfit:

I am wearing a thrifted Motherwear sundress. I don't normally wear dresses that are only knee length, but I have been having a terrible time finding maternity sundresses this year, let alone ones that are a length that I would normally wear. I love it though because of all the bright colors. The necklace came from Burlington Coat Factory, and the earrings are from WalMart. I'm just wearing flip flops on my feet.

Isn't he just the cutest? I couldn't resist having my picture taken with him...he's such a HAM! LOL Tomorrow he will be 17 mo. old. The Lord has truly been good to us. :-)

Today's plans involve going to town and picking up a few groceries. I'm also going to be getting some rock and hopefully a few plants to put down at Tucker's grave. I'll also pick up balloons for the children to release this evening, in memory of our dear Tucker. He would have been 7 today.

Happy birthday, dear Tucker!

Enjoy your birthday in Heaven ~

Play in peace my sweet boy.

Mama loves and misses you.

Jethro's 1st Birthday!

Wow, I have spent the last couple days in tears at various times. Tears of joy and thankfulness to my Father God for His wonderful faithfulness to us. I can't believe a year has gone by already.

We have a baby who is happy, adorable, content, adorable, engaging, adorable, playful, funny, and did I mention adorable? ;-) We have a beautiful house that is almost done, and we have been blessed with wonderful folks who were there when we needed them.

Yesterday, we had an open house to celebrate and at one point had over 80 people in our home! And, you could still move around. I think it's going to work well for family gatherings and hospitality. :-)

Here's a few pictures from the big day.

2d year MWSB students. They were here last year when Jethro was born. Although they didn't get to see him, they held a prayer vigil for him, and ministered to our family in a tremendous way. We were so thankful that they were able to celebrate this milestone with us.

The oldest and the youngest. A couple of handsome young men, I think. :-)

Just a little of the crowd of party goers.

Singing Happy Birthday. That would be a pepperochini in the baby's hand. He thought they were the bomb.

Me thinks the baby likes chocolate birthday cake! That would be a very Happy Birthday Boy!

Thank you, Lord for a wonderful year with this precious child! We give You praise for all that You have done!

Being Thankful in November

I am thankful everyday. :-) God is so very gracious to me and my precious family, I can't help but be thankful. However, there is a challenge going around on Facebook to be thankful for something everyday in November. Well, I'm here to up the anti! I challenge you to find the same number of things to be thankful for as it is the day. So, today is the 4th, find 4 things to be thankful for. By the end of the month, you should have a big ol' list!

One of the best ways I have found for staying out of depression or for avoiding pity parties is to look to my Father in thankfulness. It's hard to be down when you are counting your blessings.

So today, I am thankful for:

*Little boys with BIG stories!

*Garth Tyree who is 16 years old today

*Time spent with my Beloved this evening

*A warm, snug home on a chilly morning

So, what are you thankful for today?

Pictures from September

September has been a full and busy month! We have had 2 birthdays, multiple therapy and doctor appts., football games, company and mud football...oh, and we're building a house! :-P Here are some pictures to share what's been going on this month.



Logan, #33 playing football in Mullan. Our team 45'd Mullan! First win of the season.




Kathleen's 10th birthday. We had some friends over for a tea. :-) It was an enjoyable afternoon.



Progress on the house. Trusses are up, sheeting is on...now for the dormers and interior.

Andie (from Iowa), Josiah and Ezra. Andie was the *BIG* excitement for our month. :-D

Garth running an amazing touchdown! His first of the night against rival Wallace. He also got an inception which he ran for a touchdown.

Jethro (now 7 months!) enjoying a day outside...while his siblings played mud football.

Will (on his 20th birthday) and Andie. In case you can't tell, they have been playing mud football. :-)

Levi and Jade. Yep, they were playing in the mud too. :-)

This is Ruth. She's a sweetie (and muddy!). She's Garth's girl.

Jethro is doing well. He had a cardiologist appt last week, and we don't have to go back until November! That was very exciting news...although I don't know what I'm going to do with all my extra time now! ;-) We are going in every week anyway for physical therapy and feeding and growth clinic. He also has a therapist that comes to the house, but he is far enough behind that we are taking advantage of both. He is growing like a bad weed, weighing in at over 16lbs. Not overly big for a Dole baby, but for a heart baby, he's growing great! I can't tell you how encouraging it is to me to go to the therapists, or doctor, or to talk with his nutritionist and have them be so happy about his progress. God has been and continues to be so very gracious to Jethro and to us.

Football is going well. The middle school team (Mike's coaching again this year) is undefeated so far, and the high school team is 2-2. Both of their losses have been less than 1 touchdown, so, while disappointing, we are encouraged that they are playing well, and continuing to push through the end of the game. The loss this last Friday came after both Garth and their lead running back were injured. The team continued to rally and play hard, but they couldn't keep the lead. I should also share that both of their wins have been 45s (mercy rule ~ for those that don't know, in 8 man football, when one team is ahead by 45 points, the game ends).

The girls are keeping busy with school work and being the water girls for the middle school football team. The little boys...well, they are just busy! :-D

Dedication

"For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord."
1 Sam. 1:27-28

Wednesday was Levi's 18th birthday. I can't believe he's 18!! So, we decided that we would have everyone come up to the hospital and have a birthday party in the family waiting room outside the NICU and to have Jethro dedicated as well. It is important to us that however long the Lord has granted Jethro to live, that his life glorify the Lord, and so the reason to dedicate this dear child.

Our dear friends, Brian, Julianne, and John Primer came up (it was Julianne's birthday as well), and our pastor and his wife, Dave and Debby. Before we got around to going in to dedicate Jethro, another pastor friend and his wife showed up to visit, Randy and Marie. So, when we went in, we had about 20 people ~ including Grammie and Levi's boss, Jerry (who also happens to be a good family friend).

What a precious time we had, 3 pastors praying over our precious, fragile son...that we would have the opportunity to raise him up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, that the Lord would reach down and touch his body and heal him, that we would walk through His will in a way that glorifies Him. They anointed him with oil, and then Mike and Will also prayed. It was definitely a "holy goosebump" time together.

And then there was the paparazzi. Somebody, who will remain nameless (Daddy!), gave Josiah the camera. So, while the men are praying, and the children are crying, Josiah (almost 4) is busy clicking away (click/flash, click/flash, click/flash, click/flash), taking pictures...mostly of everyone's feet. However, like any good paparazzi that goes out and wastes rolls of film, he did get some clear, usable pictures. And provided some levity to the day.

Earlier in the day, my dear friends, Tiff and Dae, had showed up with tea ~ complete with china and a table cloth. Dan and Jan had stopped by to visit as well, so Jan, Tiff, Dae, and I had all sat down and had tea and visited. What a lovely bunch of women that God has surrounded me with! They know what TLC is all about!

Bob is 7!

Bob turned 7 last week, and to celebrate, we went to Manito Park and had tea in the rose garden. We invited a couple of the girls' friends and had a wonderful, fun, girls day. :-) That's right, no boys ~ not even Ezra!

The girls had so much fun running and chasing and singing. The mamas had an enjoyable time visiting. :-)

We were thrilled to find that they have added a picnic table in one of the lower corners of the rose garden. I had planned on using the quilt to sit on, but since there was a table, we used it for our cloth!

We had chocolate chip scones, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, grapes, and coffee/chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Per Bob's request, we had Evening In Missoula herbal tea.

After we got the tea all cleaned up, we walked through the rose garden, and then the perennial garden, and finally the formal garden.

The formal garden is lovely with it's semetrical plantings, the large Davenport fountain in the center and the gazebo at the far end. The girls were totally enthralled with the fountain! We had to stay through 3 cycles of the fountain.

Being country girls, they couldn't help but play in the water! One of the girls even stuck her feet in ~ which horrified her mama :-), but I want to do that everytime we go there! The only thing that stops me is being a grown-up. ;-)