Birthday Party.....

We have 3 with birthdays in 10 days of eachother which makes for a great celebration. Will had 9 classmates. Then we were blessed with 48 friends and family. It was an awesome day that went by too quick.

Our sweet friend Alivia who recently home from Korea.

Lize is 4...

I can't believe Lize is 4. She's the child we didn't know we were missing. GOD called and we answered. We are overwhelmed with joy that GOD called. She is sweet, silly, BUSY, creative, joyfull, cute and curious. She has some of the funniest faces. She bubbles over pure joy and love. She loves being outside. She is NOT afraid of anything. Whenever she says "mommy wook" I get scared inside. We never know what she might have. She is sooo smart. She's this amazing lil sponge of information.

Lize loves food. She'll eat anything we give her (even if it tastes yucky). She loves Pizza and mac-n-cheese the best. She really likes cooked broccli and fruit. I praise GOD her birth mother chose life and HE chose us!
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Heaven...

We were on our way somewhere when Sofi said "I wove foofy socks" Lize says "me too". After a few moments Sofi says "do you tink there is foofy socks in heaven"....

Happy Birthday Will...

10 years ago, after 5 years of trying- a VERY hard pregnancy w/many complications- Our beautiful 8# 9 oz little boy was born. He is a wonderfully joyful child, who knows no stranger. The 2 men he was named after would be proud of the person he is evolving in to. He is "Willy" nilly. He floats through life with a possitive attitude, takes offense to nothing and LOVES JESUS. He enjoys talking to anyone and could care less if his clothes match.

He loves junk food-chips, candy, cookies. He likes pizza. He loves animals, he wants to be a big animal vet and drive a big truck. We are proud of who he is!

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy 5th Birthday to sweet Sofia. Our lives have been changed forever by you in it. I couldn't celebrate your birthday without thinking of the woman who brought you into this world. I pray she has peace only GOD can give. I am thankful she chose life! I am even more thankful GOD chose us to be your family!

Sofi is our sassy, silly, creative, strong willed, loving, compassionate, intense, beautiful little lady. She loves pizza, fruit, salad with "wanch". She loves Dora, thinks Zach is the greatest brother and Will is her personal play mate. She hates cats and that her sister loves Diego. She tells us often how happy she is Lize is her sister. She wants another sister named Eli. Her smile is AMAZING!

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Park fun...

Lize always takes climbing to the 10th degree. I can't turn my head for a second because she climbs FAST!

Sofi is pretty happy on land...

Christmas Vacation...

Although Christmas vacation is a while off, James just shared we get to go to Ft Myers Beach. Even though Ft Myers is NOT the place we wanna raise our kids, we love their beach. Not to mention Trish and her family. I get a whole week with my VERY best friend and her girls. We are renting a condo right on the beach. Yipeeee.

Strange happenings....

For the past 3+ years, Sofi was a real mama's girl. Since bringing Lize home, she was all about daddy. For the past few months a full transition has taken place. Lize is stuck to me like glue...
Sofi on the other hand is all about daddy now. She wants to go everywhere he goes, call him. It's really sweet to watch this transition.

Silver Birch Ranch

For 5 years now we have been blessed by being able to go to Silver Birch Ranch in Northern WI. It is always the highlight of our summer. The whole weekend is filled with worship, friends, horseback riding, hay rides, swimming, boating, tubing, archery / shooting, mini golf, food, camp-fires, testimony's. It is always amazing.....To make things even better-Will was baptized this weekend. He'd been asking for 2 years but he was finally able to articulate WHY...Our friend Neil who's a pastor & brought us to the camp 5 years ago was the one who was able to bless us with his baptism. A rare look at Zach w/Sofi on the hay ride.

Will, Sofi, Jules & Lize

Will tubing

After 2 days of coersion, Sofi finally rides the horse.

Will's favorite part.

Lize did not want to get off.

Teens...

Lize kept saying " this is the best day EVER"

Summer fun...

Summer was a ball and anything but boring. Birthday parties, Amusement parks, moving, friends....

There is nothing like watching your kids enjoy life & childhood!

Yes I made Zach go on here with his sisters.

!st rootbeer float for Will.

!st Pinata for ladies...

Our friend Nora who ALWAYS brightens the day....

Lize still remains the most joyful child I've ever met....

In her mama's arms

Although I don't have any new pictures yet- Alivia is her mama's arms. She is perfect (of course) Her foster family loved and adored her. They were full of information, pictures, gifts and love. I can't wait to meet her! They will be home Thurs night.

On her way.....

Jackie is on her way to get her little lady Alivia. She doesn't get her till Tues but she gets the weekend to take in the Korean culture. We can't wait to see pictures of their fist meeting.

HOOOORAY Balsigers!

After years of prayers, our friends the Balsigers are traveling to get their daughter Alivia from Korea. She will be well loved and welcomed by 4 brothers, lots of extended family, wonderferul church and large group of friends.

Please keep Jackie in your prayers as she travels with her mom to get her, Scott staying back w/4 boys, all their activties and his own business. PLEASE pray for her health and BONDING. Praise GOD another orphan will know CHRIST and never go to bed without a family.

Functional hearing????

Lizeis sooo flippin cute, sweet, energetic, inovative, creative, loving, motherly and spirited. GOD knew I would love these traits and foster them well. I prasie HIM for the gift of all my children but Lize took me extra work convincing everyone. Yesterday we visited Shriners for the audiology and ENT exam for Lize. Since her ear surgery in June she has done amazing although she has 2 major ear infections in the left. She has been speaking more clearly, more blended sounds and starting to use constanents at the beggining of words. The volume thing though seems to not change to dad's dismay.

In July I noticed some of the same behaviors I saw back in February. Her not turning to certain sounds on her left, hitting her self on the the left side of her head and the "whatd you said" phrase. I told myself-she's 3, it's learned behavior from before, stop overacting.........

Then yesterday the Audioligist and ENT had "that" look again. With a smile Dr. Curtis said we have functional hearing on the right. She has all ranges of function, can partipate in speech and will get "great" benifit BUT.....the left is a whole diff story. We know she had severe damage to the left eardrum and the bones are'nt able to vibrate like they should b/c of scar tissue. We also know sometimes surgery works but it didn't again. The tests say she hears everything on the left "muffled". He said she is an awesome compensator and will do well. He aggreed to try one more surgery in 3 months but then tht's it. We then have to concentrate on the "good" ear and decide on a hearing aide on the left or not. He also said if we wanted a 2nd opinion to not feel bad-he'd help any way he could.

HaHaHa.....

"Mommy, I nweed awergy medcine-my itchy eyes and nose are making my awergies sneeze."

Moving....

Although moving can be fun, exciting, awesome & scary--it can be hard for 14 year old teens who have been "friends" for 3 years. Zach has been great with all the changes, he never complains. I however remember very vividly being that age-madly in love with my now husband of 19 years. It is hard to sit by and watch them hurt. We are only 90 min north of where we were but for the non-driver...it's a million miles away.

p.s. moving went smooth, james loves his job and so far this seems like a GREAT place to live.

Wordless Wednesday.....