Addy Grace is 3!

This is dating back a little bit, but I really wanted to share the pictures from Addyson's third birthday.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day! we had our LOVELY cousins in town visiting, and little miss ADDY was such a doll all day long!

The day started with wagon rides from uncle Rob...all the kids were smiling from ear to ear and eager to have a turn.

all the kiddos-minus Toby...LOVE LOVE LOVE Addy's face in this one!

She was having the time of her life leading the wagon ride down the sidewalk

After the wagon rides we made our way to the park.  We were hoping to grab some donuts-that was what Addy wanted for her birthday breakfast-but with it being Memorial Day the bakery was closed :(  The kids didn't seem to mind though!  They were thrilled to have the playground to themselves :)

We have a bunch of monkeys on our hands...the monkey bars are a favorite for moth Gracie and Karys

Soon they were hungry though, so Rob ran home and got a bucket of cookies left over from the Tulip Festival night show.  Again, the kids excited and happy :)

Yes!  Cookies always bring smiles :)

Toby also was able to get in on the fun--this little man LOVES to swing and was even happier to be swinging with Daddy.

Leah was working hard to pump higher and higher!

Seems to be the trend to swing with your tongue sticking out

Taking a break from the underdogs...excited to be wearing sunshine yellow on a very sunny day :)

Addy was such a joy to watch!  You could tell she felt so special and really felt the attention she was getting on her birthday 

Gracie also added to the excitement of the day-she lost her second tooth!  If you look closely you can see her tooth in the bottom left corner of the picture in her fingers and the new formed hole in her mouth in the bottom right of her mouth in the picture.

The excitement was too much for the birthday girl :)  She fell asleep like this around 5:30pm while we were making cupcakes...man, oh man our little lady might miss cupcakes and presents!

And the cupcakes were so fun!  Rainbow colored cake with frosting and sprinkles

Good new was she woke up...and her timing was perfect!  She missed supper but was just in time for cupcakes and presents :)

Happy Birthday Addy Grace!

Big Blow!!!

Time for PRESENTS!!!

But not until we all eat our cupcakes :)

Addy got a few coloring books of her own...

A CD of silly songs...

But all she really wanted, the only thing on her list...

was three packs--one green, one blue and one red-of....

GUMMMMMM!!!!!

Three packs of her very own gum and some extra candy as well makes for one very happy girlie!!!

And she was not the only one who was all smiles :)

With cupcakes eaten, presents open...it was time for some good ole wrestling!!!!!

The days events were coming to a close, I think this looks like one happy birthday girl...what do you think?

I love this girlie!!!  She is our JOY and brings laughter to us daily!!!  She is so carefree and easy going, yet feisty and spunky...she tells us all the time, "I am tough!"  And that she is!  The Lord has gifted our little lady to be a fighter, yet be so joyful and tender hearted.  May you continue to grow in your knowledge of him and be covered in his grace and surrounded by his love and goodness!!!

Grandma Great

One of our highlights of late May was having Grandma Great come and visit us for the weekend!  She arrived on Friday evening and stayed until Sunday after church.  It was such a lovely time!  She watched the kiddos just play and hang out in their own space and element.  They were thrilled to show her their tricks on the trampoline, how they climb the tree in the front yard, and tell her all about the final days of school and their summer plans.

Grandma also had some special plans...she took the three girlies to the Pizza Ranch for lunch, just the ladies :)  The girls were so excited they got to ride in Grandma's car and showed Gma the ropes at the Ranch buffet.  That evening, Jill came to babysit and Rob and I went out for dinner with Grandma to Blue Mountain.  We had such a nice evening! It was so great just to sit and talk with her without any interruption.  She shared with us different parts of she and grandpa's relationship, how she so misses him :( and then went on to share with us about how she came to know the Lord and different parts of her upbringing.

One other thing Grandma shared with us is how she has been working to memorize scripture.  This was wonderful for me, inspiring...Grandma has such a heart for the Lord and truly seeks to live her life for him and honor him with her life.  She truly prays for our family...I am sure in ways and on levels we will never know and I am assuming with the size of the family, she has her work cut out for her.

Grandma is establishing a legacy...especially for the women of our family.  She has shown what it looks like to over come adversity, she never got to go to high school, yet she held a steady job and was very successful throughout her working career.  She has shown how when you seek the Lord, your ways and your heart can undergo change--change that molds our hearts to the Lord and makes us more like Him.  She has shown what it looks like to put the One who matters most on the front lines...in the drivers seat.  She has continued and in many ways established a legacy of love, faith, and family.

Thanks for coming, Grandma!  You are wonderful, precious, and treasured...we LOVE you!

The beginning of the end...

As I began to look at the blog, I felt overwhelmed with where to start in regards to updating!  So many things have happened in the past month and a half...so many "lasts" and final pages of the chapter of our lives that we have spent in Orange City.  There have been so many memories though and great things, so one of the things I am hoping to do is catch you up to speed and do a little recording of the things that we have been doing :)  

One of the most fun things for the kids, and really us as a family, has been living kiddie corner from the Hummel family.  Julie and I really got to know each other this past fall when the Hummel's moved into the neighborhood and we began to talk about doing some child sharing.  We were able to maximize our babysitter usage and in return Addy and Isaac really became the best of friends :)  Man, I do get choked up thinking about their friendship coming to a close.  If you ask Addy who her best friend is she would not hesitate or skip a beat to tell you that it is Isaac; however, she would go on to inform you that Isaac is actually her boyfriend.  And that she loves him.  And that she has kissed him!  (I think this was the result of some peer pressure from both of their older siblings ;)  they were talked to right away!).  

The rest of our kids from there have also grown closer, especially with school ending and having longer days to play together.  They yell at each other from across the street, call each other on the phone, knock on each others doors, all to set up whatever play date they can.  

We love the Hummel's and got as much time in with them as we could before we left!

Having the Hummel kiddos over for supper...french toast and eggs :)

One of the not so easy things that we had to do pretty early on was get rid of our furniture.  We had sold it all to a college girl who used to babysit for us and is living off camp next year.  Because she was from down by Lincoln and the timeframe of our travels and closing date, she ended up coming to pick up the furniture about 2 weeks before we moved out.

Having our furniture be moved was definitely one of those things that made our situation seem so much more real.  I think for Karys it was especially hard.  She loved our big over sized chair!  Watched TV in it, napped in it, cuddled in it....everything!  When they came to take the chair away she got her stack of books and she was not moving!  I finally had to lift her out of the chair so they could move it.  "No, Mommy!  Don't let them take my chair."  Oh, man...didn't really see that one coming

The girls watching the furniture be loaded up

Gracie watching front he front window

A pile of the furniture sitting out on the frown lawn

Showing the Hummel kiddos our empty kitchen

The girls (and their good friend, Mia) sitting at the kitchen table eating ice cream

The Schwann's man knew that it was our last day, so he brought us a going away gift!  SCHWANNS Confetti Cake ice cream :)  It was fantastic!

 One night after supper, Addy put on a pair of the girls soccer cleats, this leotard and tutu, and just took off running around and up and down the sidewalk.

 It was HILARIOUS!  All of you who know Addy know that she did it in true Addy form!

 With multiple facial expressions...

 The entire time!!!  And then...

As quickly as she came, she was back off and running again :)

One of our first going away presents has been HEADBANDS!!!  This was one thing that I really thought we would need in Haiti--not wanting to use hair product and wanting our hair up and off our necks and out of our faces.  

 Polka dots, flowers, and bright colors for everyone!

 Our dear friend Brittany made them for all of us!  She did a lovely job and we were so excited and so blessed to be the recipients of her beautiful handiwork.  We love her and her husband Dustin and are so blessed to walk with them, play Ticket to Ride with them (often) and to call them friends!!!

Our Summer Time Line...

I realized this morning that the summer is gone...almost every day is planned out and we are probably going to be booking our tickets to Haiti later today!!!  EEK!  I thought that for many of you it would be beneficial to lay out what our summer looks like--we would love to spend as much time as we can with people where we are at!!!  I am so relational, and I am coming to discover that there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything and have hours of quality time :(  But if you are passionate about packing-I would love to hang out with you in the next 2 weeks!  ;)

So yes!  Here is a glimpse of our summer as of right now....

June 16-July 1  We will be around OC.  PACKING and getting all of our loose ends tied up :)

July 1-July 15  We will be at Enemy Swim Lake in NE SoDak, enjoying time with my family and our friends

July 15-20 Rob will be heading to Bethel for his last intensive!!!  YAY!  The kiddos and i will stay at the lake this week...

July 20-Aug 3 This time is a little undecided...We hope to be loading the container that will take down donations to COTP as well as a lot of our belongings.  This will be staged in Orange City so we will be there during some of that time as well.  We also hope to meet up with dear Cali friends during this time.

Aug4-5  MS 150 BABY!!!  Doing the century this year on the first day and Mom and Rob are riding the tandem together this year!!!  SOOOOO excited for this!

Aug6-10 My family at Enemy Swim

Aug 10  Farewell gathering in Lennox

Aug 11  Head to Pella--Farewell gathering in central Iowa

Aug 11-at least the 19th we will be down in Central Iowa with Rob's family

Aug 28--Leave for HAITI!!!!!!!


Wow, there are not many days in there that are not accounted for!  Make sure you let us know when it works to spend time with you and if you are ever in the same place at a certain time as us!  We would love to see you :)

Specific Prayers...

House would sell TODAY!
I get all packed by July 1
Transition and protection for the kiddos with all of the movement and then all of a sudden a plane trip to Haiti
For our "Bucket List"  That we would do all the things on it that the kiddos want to do to provide them with closure
For all of the "See you later" moments...(I like to call them that instead of goodbye  ;)

Humbled...undeserving...GRATEFUL

I don't even know what to title this post, but I have written it 3x over in my head throughout the day so I definitely wanted to get my thoughts down and just share them with you...

I don't even know what got me thinking along this line...I think it is when I was talking with Rob's aunt earlier today and she made the statement, "I know that the Lord is going to provide you kids with everything you need financially.  Whether He uses me to do that is His decision..."

HIS decision...

I started to think back through all of the different times in my life I remember having to ask ppl for money.  There were the ever popular times of selling things, raising money for the MS150, and the different mission trips I have been on.  My thoughts stayed with those trips.  Every time I have raised support God has blown my socks off by the amount that ppl have given as well as who has chosen to give.  I think we have these preconceived notions about who has money, who is in support of what the mission is, who is in favor of raising support and we assume that we have it all figured out who is going to give to us...who will support us...well, as I was reflecting today I realized that each trip I have taken and each time I have raised support I have been blown away by the amount of support that has come in as well as the places it has come from!

**I went to Honduras in college on an SSP and up until the week before the trip I was short money.  That week I got a message from my home church saying they still wanted to donate to my trip and wanted to give whatever remaining balance I had left.

**As I raised money for a medical mission trip to Haiti in 2010, I was so humbled by the amount of money that came in.  I had enough for my entire trip, offering money to disperse once we were on the ground, as well as enough to buy over 50 soccer balls with the gospel on them in Creole!

And now, as we are immersed in the part of our journey that calls us to ask those around us to partner with us in going to Haiti I can hardly think of the gifts I have seen come in without tearing up.  I have never felt SO HUMBLED in my entire life!

It is hard...Rob and I have never been so dependent on other people--moreover, the movement of the Holy Spirit in other people's hearts!  I feel so undeserving...we were both taught to be hard workers, independent thinkers, go-getters...and while we are doing that, we are completely at the mercy of the Lord's rawest provision for our financial needs.

I didn't want to know for a while what people were giving.  this is just the blunt honest truth...I didn't trust my flesh to not pass judgement on amounts ppl were giving or who was giving and who wasn't.  Rob encouraged me to be aware though...Obviously to be able to profusely thank those who God has ordained to support us, but also to be able to GLORIFY the Lord and proclaim my GRATITUDE to HIM for His provision!!!

Just to give you an example...

I have been stressing about being able to pay for things as we prepare to go to Haiti.  I want to have money to be able to stock up on things to bring with: toiletries, storage containers, etc. and I haven't fully understood our finances but I have been stressing about not raising enough support and having to have the support money first go to other things like room and board--thus leaving clean hair and a lower priority on the totem pole (debatable in my opinion!).

Well, tonight when we got back from a weekend away I was going through the mail and opened a small notecard.  In the card was a check for a substantial amount of money written directly to Rob and I.  Written directly from the hearts of the giver without knowing the heart of the recipient.  My dear friend had written in the card, "We have talked with friends of ours who have experience with raising support, and we felt led to send our money directly to you to use freely for those expenses you will have with transitioning."

I hadn't prayed about my worry at all...I just worried...argued with Rob about it...worried some more and stressed...

And GOD PROVIDED for me...

EXACTLY what I worried and exactly what I wanted--not sure if I even needed it ;)

I have full confidence that He will provide our every need and beyond!

I am SOOO humbled...so undeserving...so grateful...

My lot is secure...I am provided for...I am held...

Kindergarten Zoo Trip

Every year the kindergarten class goes to the zoo as an end of the year field trip.  I go to to go with Gracie's class last year-I was extremely preggo-and ended up going straight to the hospital afterwards and discovered I had dilated from 3cm to 5cm while at the zoo :/ (Toby wasn't born til about 2 weeks later).

Well this year, I thought I would do the same with Karys.  Just call in and volunteer and plan on going to the zoo.  Well, that was not the case.  The response that came informed me that they already had enough chaperones and wouldn't need my help.  This is when the rush of tears came.  I haven't friend in weeks, maybe even months and I was now crying over the zoo trip!  What?!?!

It is still hard to pinpoint exactly the motions that pushed me over the edge....
*This would be her "last" field trip for who knows how long and I wouldn't be able to go
*I went with Gracie...how would she understand that I wouldn't be able to go with her
*The reality of moving....setting in like a meteor...

After being being consumed by the thought of not going and enduring Karys' pretty upset response, I stopped at a stop sign while driving and just cried out to God (you can make those abnormally long stops in Orange City and not worry about heavy traffic :)

"God, if this is something I need to let go of I need you to take it from me b/c I can't seem to put it down."

And that is EXACTLY what he did!  I had a peace...it wasn't instant but it sure was quick.  I knew and I trusted that if I was supposed to pursue this further he would make it known to me.  And THANKFULLY I claimed His peace and promises b/c there were challenging moments.  Gracie's field trip was also full, I was fine...a few other mom's didn't get to go either, I was still fine...until...

The week of the field trip Karys was looking super sad at breakfast one morning.  This is not a common things for her--she is definitely my morning girl.  "Mom, I am not going to the zoo this week."

Oh, man. God equip me for this one....

She went on to explain how she was really upset I wasn't coming to the zoo and was not in any way interested in going if I didn't go.  Many of you do know that KJ is my more expressive, or shall we say dramatic, child :)  So I was having a hard time knowing what to do.  Was God prompting me to pursue the situation, or just bringing me along side her through a learning time.

Without giving any false hope I just told her that sometimes God plans are different than ours and that things don't always work out how we would need them to.  My dear friend Sara was going on the trip and as I told Karys that she did become more ok with the idea.   After prayer though and seeking advice I did go in and discuss the situation with her teacher.  It was a GREAT conversation and I am so grateful for the teachers the girls had this year.  From our convo it was decided that i could meet the class for lunch and some playtime at the park.  Perfect solution!

I had such a great time and got to spend some great time with Karys and her friends!

 


We had such a GREAT time! Karys has just grown up so much this past year and I really value my time and talks with this little girl...I learn something from her carefree, loving spirit  almost every time!