So earlier this week while reading my daily Bible reading, I got to pondering Heaven. Not the "what will Heaven be like" but thinking about all the souls in heaven. There are souls from so many different lifetimes. I wonder what it is like for someone from our lifetime and someone like Moses to interact. I mean our lives on earth, our Christian walk, our thought process, etc are so different. If I was in a room from someone that lives halfway around the world that is alive right now, we would be so different in probably almost every way. And that is someone living now. So what would it be like to interact with someone that lived thousands of years ago, in a very different place then the US? I mean can you imagine that?!

And then it got me thinking are we us in Heaven? I mean it seems kind of crazy to even think that we will be us in Heaven to me. I tend to think that our focus, our thought process, will be so changed from what it was here on earth. Our knowledge will most likely be so different, our thoughts will be soley on the eternal, not on the earthly. 

John and I were even talking about will we still be husband and wife in heaven, will we still have the relationships we have here on earth with others who go to heaven? I tend to think that while we might recognize each other as our spouse here on earth, the bond we had will not be the same. That's not to say that our relationships on earth don't matter, but in the eternality of Heaven I am not sure they matter like they do on earth.Like our thoughts will be so focused on God and worshipping Him, that all the human distractions will not be there anymore. 

Now I say this knowing I could be 100% wrong! And I say this absolutely loving my husband and my children and dreading the thought of not having them in my lives. I don't know what heaven will be like but I do know that it will be so much more amazing than I could ever imagine. There is a part of me that longs to be with my creator and king. I don't want to rush that time, but I look forward to Heaven and pray that when I get there, I get to see my precious babies I lost. I pray that even if we don't have the relationship I dream of, that God lets me hold them at least once when I get to Heaven. To be able to breathe in their scent and love on them just once. Just once will be enough for me. 

Splash Pad

This past week on John's days off we took the kids to the splash pad not once, but TWICE! Daddy decided after going last week that he would wear his suit and play with the kids. Mommy didn't want to get wet though and was enjoying reading a book and staying dry. Of course that was until JJ, Kennedy, and Livie decided they were cold and wanted Mommy to hold them.

The kids were all fighting over my lap. Livie was very upset that the others had the nerve to sit on my lap.

Daddy enjoyed playing with his Jet Plane.

 Kennedy was upset that Livie was taking up Mommy's lap.

 Livie thrilled that she ran off the other kids.

 Daddy playing with Alex.

 Everyone was tired of Ryan dumping water on them so he only could dump it on himself.

Cheesey smile!

Our last one

In the past, everytime I heard a women say this was her last baby or she was not having anymore, I always thought "I could never imagine getting to the point when I didn't want another baby." I then had one of John's cousins tell me that when you know it is your last, you just know it. And then a woman from church told me she was the same way, until she held her last daughter and just knew she was done. But I still had doubts.

But I have to admit, they were right. This is my last baby! Unless we have some miracle baby, this little one growing inside my womb will be my last bio baby. We might adopt sometime, not thinking about it but there is always the possibility that is something God will lay on our hearts. But this baby will be the last one that John and I create.

I knew this from the moment I found out I was pregnant. It was just this feeling like our family is complete with this one. I always thought that I would be sad if I ever knew a baby was my last. You know, if for some medical reason I couldn't have another or John refused to have anymore. Like every milestone, I would sadly say "this is the last time I will hold my newborn, this is the last time I will nurse a baby, this is our last first birthday" etc. But instead I feel peace and happiness.

I feel like I am ready to have this baby in January and start a new phase in our life: a non pregnancy phase, then a no diaper phase(I know it will be years down the road, but hey I look forward to that time), all our kids in school phase, etc.

Even though I know we are still young, I just feel like we are moving to a new place in our life and marriage. I love that! I can't wait to meet this new little one in January and have all 5(plus our angel in heaven) of our precious gifts to watch grow. This is one of those times I am so overcome with praise for God blessing us so abundantly!! My life is simply......BLESSED!!!

I will talk to my kids about sex!!

I read a news story today in which Miley Cyrus talded about how she feels parents should talk to their kid about how cool and magical sex is. How teens know about it because they see it on tv and that parents should be honest with their kids and tell them that you can connect with another person in a way you can't any other way.

You know what, she is right on that. Sex is magical, it is amazing, and you do connect in a way you can't any other way. It is a gift made from God Himself. But it is meant to be shared between a man and wife. Sex is holy and beautiful. It is meant to be special and enjoyable. God wants us to delight in the bodies of our spouse, find pleasure in the arms of our spouse.

So I do feel that parents should talk to their children about it, but not for the same reason she has. I want my kids to know that there is joy in sex, enjoyment in sex, that it is a gift that God created for them to share WITH THEIR SPOUSE.

As I write this I want to you to know that this post is not motivated by anger or some righteous attitude, it is with a heart that truly grieves for all those who miss out on the fullness of this gift. For the young woman who deep down is seeking love through the act of giving her body to someone. To the young man feels that it is just a right of passage to sleep with as many women as possible. For those who fancy themselves in love and give away their heart to have it crushed.

I want the heart and morals of this nation to change. For young people to look at their purity as a gift instead of a shame. To look at the young man or woman they are dating as someone worth waiting for. To treat themselves with the respect they should.

I know that with 4 kids of my own, chances are they wont all wait until they are married to give their purity to someone, heck maybe none of them will. I didn't even wait. But I will tell you that I will pray that they wait. That I will pray when they are joined as man and wife with the spouse God created for them, that they will be unknown to anyone previously.

I WILL talk to my kid about the magic of sex. And encourage them to wait for their wedding night and not because I don't want illegitimate grandchildren or my kids to catch anything, but because I want my kids to discover the enjoyment of the joining of a man and woman with their spouse. With the one they were joined with before the eyes of God.

And I will finish this post with this tidbit of info for you. They have done studies of the brain and found that every time a person has sex with a new partner, their brain connectors(not sure what this is called) in the part of the brain that forms lasting marital type relationships connects and then when they have another partner, this connection is severed and reconnected. This happens with every partner, meaning if they have 5 partners, their connectors are connected and severed 5 times, 10 partners, 10 times, etc. They have found with every reconnection and every severed connection, the strength of the connection is lessened. After multiple connections this connector is unable to stay connected with the strength of the first connection, meaning their ability to form a connection with a person and keep that connection is weakened. With every sexual partner, a person's ability to form a lasting connection with someone and retain it is demonised.

The Home Experience

I truly like my mother in law. I know not many women can say that, but my mother in law has some great qualities, for the most part, she gives her opinion on something we are doing and if she knows I don't like it, she keeps her mouth quiet; she gives her support, even if she doesn't necessarily agree; and she never has tried to get between me and John, not once. She always tells me that she learned from the best because she had a great mother in law.

Anyway I say this all to share something that I found funny. My mother in law keeps her house really nice. Always has since I have known her. Clothes are always washed, folded and put right away, floors vacuumed, beds made, etc. You could go to her house anyday, at anytime of the day and it will be nice.

My house on the other hand is not like that, EVER. If you pop in, you will see a very "lived in house." My house isn't filthy, nasty, etc., but laundry is always needing washed, folded and put away, clutter, toys down, etc. Don't expect a clean house at this Schimek's house.

So for Mother's Day my mother-in-law bought me this book:

When I opened it I wondered what this book would be about, so I started reading it. Right away I could tell that it was a good thing I wasn't one to offended to easily. If most women got a book from their mother in law about keeping a better house, they would be insulted and start getting huffy. I on the other hand just laughed and thought "if she wanted to help me with keeping a cleaner house, she should have stuffed a maid in the bag instead of this book." I know my mother in law meant no nasty things by giving me this book. And it is acutally a good read.

 I have to say it is a good book so far and it has encouraged me to try to be a better housekeeper. One of the chapters talks about having an "also" attitude. The chapter is about how often our attitude is "I have had a long day, I deserve to rest," or "it is not my job to do that, I am not going to do it" and how we should replace it with an attitude of "also" meaning, I am going to wash the dishes and sweep the floor ALSO, I am going to fold the clothes, and put them away ALSO. Of going a step further than we normally do.

It talks about how a home should be a place of rest and peace, which is true, but often with clutter and unclean rooms surrounding us, we don't feel that our house is our place of refuge. Now I do agree for the most part. I would like my house to be cleaner, but it really isnt' the top thing on my list.

So I am going to finish the book and try to implimate some of the tips, but lets face it, my house will probably never be a show house, that you could pop into at any hour and not find stuff out of place. And I am ok with that!!

Memories

What's does it take for a moment in your life to be a forever memory? I was thinking about this today after talking with Ryan. There are some memories I have of my childhood that might to others be no big deal, to them it might not be worth remembering. So what does it take to file away a moment into your brain for the rest of your life.

I think for the most part it is the feelings that you experienced with that moment. It isn't always a good feeling, sometimes a moment is forever burned into your mind because of the feeling of fear, sadness, or hurt.

So this has me questioning what are some memories that I have from my childhood. I have many good and bad, some that bring a smile to my face and others that still make me feel like that little hurt child. Sometimes I feel like for me the bad memories from when I was younger seem so much more vivid than the good. Which is funny because as I get older I sometimes have a hard time remembering fights John and I had or something that happened to hurt me. It will take someone mentioning something to even make me remember those adult bad moments. Weird right?!

So I started thinking of memories from childhood that make me smile.

• I remember walking out in the rain at our old house and enjoying the fresh smell.
• I remember playing outside with my brother and sister on the patios. Our house had a back patio, front patio, and side patio and they were all connect by sidewalks and I can remember us pretending the sidewalks were secret passage ways in a castle and we would escape from the dungeon.
• I remember walking up and down the street from my grandma's and our house and talking to myself about things. This has always been a way I worked through things. Little did I know God was listening the whole time.
• I remember the cabin my grandpa built us. It was the most perfect little log cabin with 2 windows and we would play house in it. One chilly day, I took my little kitty in there along with a thermos of hot tea and pretended that I lived inthe woods all my myself. I had a rocking chair in there and my kitty and I stayed cuddled up in a blanket all warm. My brother and sister and I would also use this as a jail and lock each other in it. lol
• I remember pulling out all my barbies in my grandma's living room and playing all afternoon while her and grandpa watched the soaps and napped. We would take up the whole living room, we had so many barbies
• I remember using my grandparent's dining room as my personal sewing station. Grandpa used to tease me he was running a sweat shop. lol
• I remember buying a 6 pack and a pound with my dad when he would get us for visits once and a while and we would sit in the part and eat it before going to Grandmas.

I wonder what memories John and I are leaving with our kids. When they look back at their childhood, will they have lots of fond memories of us being happy, or will they have to rack their brains to search for a good memory of us. I think our kids will have good memories for the most parts. Bad memories will be remembered too I am sure. But I hope that when my kids tell their kids about their childhood they tell their kids about how every so often we would have family night and get a papa murphy's pizza and get a movie and turn out all the lights and enjoy being a family. Or that sometimes we go grab subways and go to the park for a picnic. Or how we enjoy laughing and lots of hugs. How mommy will cry over sad movies and they make fun of me. How mommy and daddy hug and kiss all the time and the kids tell us how gross we are. That we have love, lots of love and not a day goes by without hearing I love you said in this house. Those are the memories I hope my kids remember.

7 years ago

Seven years ago today, I was 38 weeks pregnant expecting our oldest son Alex. I was so excited about the upcoming birth of our little baby boy, I just couldn't wait. I had taken castor oil at 2 in the afternoon, hoping that it would start labor. Little did I know that within 24 hours our little miracle would enter the world.

Looking back I am amazed at all that I have experience in the 7 years since becoming a mother for the first time. I have successfully breastfeed 4 babies for at least 15 months each. I have changed more diapers that I car to remember, I have recieved so many hugs and kisses, wiped tears from my babies eyes, kissed booboos, cleaned up vomit, smelled the sweet scent of a sleeping child's head, experienced first days of school, shared in the joy of birthdays, the sadness of a child's broken heart for a loss toy, so many joys and tears since becoming a mother.

All I can say is that I praise God for the precious gifts of my children that He has entrusted us with. He has blessed us more than I could ever imagined. He has given us 4 amazing children of our own, 1 precious angel in heaven, and 1 endearing foster child. I never imagined that 14 years ago when John and I started "going out" that we would be so blessed after 9 1/2 years of marriage.

I'm Not Enough!!! Yeah!!!

One of my biggest fears as a parent has always been, what if I somehow royaly screw up my kids. I mean to the point where they are sitting in a counselor's office years down the road telling them how they can not be productive adults who love the Lord because I didn't buy them a transformer every paycheck, etc. Now I am just being silly over the reason, but we all know that we carry around pains from our childhood that can still haunt us if we choose to let them. No matter how great the parent, they are bound to do something that leaves their child with some sort of pain, whether big or small. No parent is perfect.

But I also know that God is greater than my biggest shortfall! His grace is sufficient to cover every hurt or pain that my actions might cause my children. Praise God for that!!! I am by no means perfect, I try to do my best. To live a life that is honoring to God, but I still mess up, fall into sin, just like everyone else. I have yelled at my kids, lost my temper, and been cranky more times than I would care to share. But praise the Lord, that the God that I serve is big enough to show me the wrong in my actions and to heal my childrens' hearts.

I have been thinking about this subject very much in the past 6 weeks. As you know, my cousin Ryan has come to live with us and what a journey God is taking us on! It has been a trying, great, hectic, crazy, terrifying, confusing, joyous, amazing path that we have gone on through these past 6 weeks. We are in a situation that I always thought someday I would like to try(being foster parents) but never imagined it at this time in our lives or with one of my family members.

And in this situation is the child at the center, Ryan. He is an amazing young man, who God loves more than he knows. The second he was concieved in his mother's womb, God placed a call on his life, a purpose that Ryan has yet to discover. I have seen the pain and scars that have been inflicted on his young heart. Whether on purpose or unintentionally, the life he knew before coming to live with us has had an impact on his life. He has many things to overcome, many ways that he needs to grow in, and we hope to help him with these. And then my fear creeps up. What if I am not enough to do all that needs to be done in his life?!

Well I am not! Nope, me, Mandi Schimek, am not enough to heal his heart, mature him in ways he needs matured, and show him the love God has for him. Don't I feel great now, knowing I am not enough.

Actually I feel freed!! I am NOT enough!! Yeah!! This is not a yoke I have to carry! You know why? My Lord and Savior is enough! He is able to carry this yoke for me. I can come to him with all my insecurities in this situations, my fears, my prayers, my dreams for Ryan and our family, and lay them at His feet. He will cover all the places I can not, He will give me strenght when I am weak, He will give me all that I need to meet the needs of our 4 children and Ryan.

I thank God that I don't have to be Super Woman to do this! That I can be a woman who is imperfect, inadequate, and sometimes downright stubborn and by God's grace and mercy, we will not only make it through this situation just barely getting by, but my God will make this a situation where we come out stronger, as a family, as a couple, as parents, as people, as children of God. This will not only work, this will be amazing!! I serve a God that goes beyond the beyond! He doesn't just work something out, He is a God of miracles who pours blessings and mercy over us!

Courageous

Sunday my in-laws went to Gothenburg to see the movie "Courageous." They came back and said we needed to go see it and offered to watch the kids for us. So tonight we went up. It was nice because their theater is a small-town theater and is WAY cheaper for tickets and concessions. Of course it isn't as nice as North Platte's but it has a totally different feeling to it. It was like stepping back in time.

Anyway the movie was amazing. Not because it was full of actions and had a good plot line(which it did, but that wasn't the best part) It was awesome because it opened your eyes to the responsibility that comes with being a parent and a follower of Christ. When we have a baby often we don't think about what God has called us to by giving us this blessing. I thought I did, but this just opened my eyes to the reality of what we should be doing, and what we will need to focus on in the years to come.

This movie especially hit home with the fact they talk about kids without fathers, and how research is showing that this is harming kids more than we ever thought. Here we have a precious child of God, placed into our home who has been left by his mother, and the man he believes to be his father is not and has stated to the courts he never acted as a father to him. Just makes me so sad.

I praise God for using such an amazing movie as a way to open parents' eyes to the call that has been placed on their lives.

Can't Wait!

Tuesday we are going to get new family pictures. I love getting family pictures. I don't even send them out everytime(although I always have intentions too, I often get sidetracked and find them months later and think OPPS!) I just feel so blessed by God with my family and love having the pictures to show how our family is changing from year to year.

This year we are going with a pink and black theme, black shirts for the guys and pink for the girls. We are going to go downtown by the Fox theater and have an "urban shoot" as Sheri calls it. I can't wait to see how they turn out. Praying all the kids are good and not fussy.

What a crazy couple of weeks!!

Well it has been quite a while since I last posted. It has been a crazy past couple of weeks. We have spent our last few weeks of summer trying to get ready for school. Since our other education members have been out of town or working, I helped when I could with teachers' inservice week, we had a work day at the school and got some projects and cleaning done. I am so excited for the 2011-2012 school year of Platte Valley Christian Academy!!

Then this week in the midst of everything, my sister had broke her foot so I helped her out some this week. Then Friday in the afternoon while John was at work, I recieved a phone call asking if we could take in my 10 year old cousin for a while. We don't know how long it will be for. So he came that afternoon and we had to rearrange rooms so he could have his own room. Praise God we have the room!

Then today we had Kennedy's birthday party. Her birthday was last Monday but we decided to have the party today. We had a Tangled theme and she loved it. When she walked into the dining room and saw everything, she goes "Mommy, this is sooooo beautiful!" She was so thrilled with all her presents and her presents.

So now we are a family of 7(at least for a while), and school starts this week for Alex and JJ. And now with Ryan staying here, Tuesdays starts a a daily schedule including taking 3 kids to 2 different schools and trying to make sure everyone is on time and trying to figure out the year's schedules since PVCA and the public schools have different days off, end of quarters, and such. Going to have to figure this all out so it works.

I really didn't have a clue

When I made the decision to marry John over 9 years ago, I didn't have any idea what it really meant. I was young, 17 turning 18 later that month. I was very much in love, but in some ways it was a kinda immature love. We had a strong love, but it was still a love of 2 young people who were still new to be adults. Now some people probably thought that that meant we wouldn't last, that we were just too young to know what real love was. But they were wrong.

We were very much in love. I knew when I said yes to John that I was marrying my very best friend, but I have to admit I didn't realize what marrying my best friend meant. Our love is a deep love that is built on a mutual respect and deep LIKING of one another. I think one of the key points of any good marriage is that you need to LIKE you spouse, truly enjoy spending time with them.

Over the years John and I have gone through some hard times, financial issues, personal issues, lose of a baby, etc and through the power of the Lord, those times have made us stronger. Can I say that everyday of our marriage I enjoyed. Oh HECK NO!! There are some days I look at John and think "Boy would I like to through some hot grease on you."(quote from a movie but it totally works here) Not everyday have we gotten along. We have had some real problems to work through and when we got married I never imaged that we would face those problems. But all those times have made the love I have for him deeper. He is my lover, my best friend, my confindant, my #1 under God.

John, thank you very much for being my man! As we are preparing to celebrate our 14th anniversary since we got together(I was 13 and he was 15 when we started dating) I want you to know that marrying you was one of the greatest decisions of my life. You are an amazing husband, friend, father, and man of God. I couldn't image making this journey without you. Thank you for being my other half and giving me 5 beautiful babies. I love you!!

My Big Bro!!

I have been extremely blessed to have a brother who is more then a brother, he is truly one of my best friends. He is 20 months older than me, but in school he was a year ahead of me. And we actually graduated the same year, I recieved my diploma before he did.(A comes before C, haha) And that might have bothered most brothers, they might have viewed it as annoying their their little sister was sitting beside them during graduation and sharing a party, but not my brother. We had a blast joking during graduation.

In fact my brother and I are still really close. He just so happens to be John's best friend, so when he comes to visit, all the family is happy, I get to see my brother, John gets his video game buddy, and the kids get their cool uncle to play with. John and I actually met through Casey, they used to play football together.

Casey is an amazing man. He is funny, sensitive, and has a huge heart. I pray that someday the Lord will bring the right woman into my brother's life, a woman who builds him up, loves him despite his flaws(yes, even he has some), and create a strong marriage and family with him.

My brother is always up for goofing around. Here is him wearing his sweater for our "ugly sweater party" with the youth kids.

And here is a picture of Livie, Casey, and me(not my favorite of me, but I love it anyway because I don't get many pictures of us together) My prayer for my brother is that he would start to see himself as God sees him, as someone beautiful and precious, someone he created with a purpose that only he can do. To realize that he is not only worth something, but he is invaluable to the kingdom of God and that he would no longer get his sense of value(or sometime lack of value) of himself from other's views.

I love you Casey and am so proud of the man you are and the man I know God has for you to be.

Our quick trip to Beaver Crossing

Monday around lunch time my mother-in-law called me and asked if I wanted to go to John's sister's for a couple days. So by 6 o'clock we had all 4 kids packed and buckled into the expediation and were on our way to Beaver Crossing to help freeze corn. Now I know some women would think that a 3 hours trip with their mother-in-law and a couple of days with both their mother-in-law and their sister-in-law would be horrible, but I actually like my in-laws. I enjoy hanging out John's family. John always jokes that his family likes me better than him. lol

Anyway here is some pictures of our visit. Here is Pat, my mil, my nephew Cana, and Livie. Livie loved baby Cana, you can see how he felt about her. Kari, trying to tempt us with her bowl of corn.

Only a SMALL portion of the corn we froze.

Doesn't this look like fun?!

Livie and Cana

My oldest, beautiful niece, Gracie. I love this girl, she is beautiful, smart, and funny. She is growing up into an awesome young lady! Did I mention that I am her favorite aunt?!JJ and HIS cousin Phinehas. The had such a blast playing with a castle and space ship together.

We also got to see a chicken being killed and cleaned while we were there, which was very entertaining to the boys. Alex and Uri were given the feet and got a big kick out of scaring Gracie and Mikaiah with them.

After listening to a conversation between a mom and her child today, it got me thinking that sometimes if we are not careful, parents encourage undesirable attitude or behaviors in our children. Often we think we are helping but really we are not.

It is easy to try and explain away a child that throws a fit everytime they have to share a toy with another child. So we use the "their just not used to sharing" excuse, or "that is their favorite toy."

Or when your child is picky and doesn't like to eat anything but plain noodles and bread, it is easy just to make them that for every meal, instead of fighting with them over expanding their pallet.

Or when your child is rough and fights with other kids all the time, it is easy to just say "well that's a boy for you."

Or if your child always has a meltdown in public and is a terror in stores it is easier just to stay home.

Or you kid is always getting into trouble at school, and instead of allowing the teacher to handle it, you go into the classroom and try and dismiss your child's actions and "come to the rescue. Yet again."

And believe me I am speaking from experience. I have 2 boys and 2 little girls, who have tried and tested me over and over. And sometimes it is just easier to act like it is ok, and not face it. Because who wants to admit to themselves, or worst yet, other moms that our kids are not perfect angels 24-7.

And these seem like such little things when they are 4 or 5, but the problem is that if you don't get a handle on it early on, you will end up with a 15 year old that can not control their temper, who still doesn't share, and who expects to be cater too because they don't like this or that.

Life is not fair. It can be cruel and nasty and if we don't raise our children to realize that it is how you handle life that makes the difference, then no one else will. Nobody is going to come to your child's rescue when they are an adult. We need to raise our kids to handle disappointment, to sometimes do things they dislike, and to be in control of their own actions. Praying that the Lord will give me wisdom and guidance on raising my kids, because without God's help, I can't do it alone!

More Pictures

Friday we had a picnic with John's aunts and uncle and a bunch of cousins. Afterwards we walked over and let the kids all ride the rides. Here are some pictures from that. I have to say that I think my husband is the best looking man! He is such a sweet, sensitive, wonderful man. I can't imagine my life without him! We have been together 14 years in October and married for 9 years.

My friend Laura invited us over for the 4th of July. The kids had a bunch of fun. I think John enjoyed being able to light off some fireworks and blowing up some things. Too bad my brother didn't come down because then they would have had a ton of fun having a roman candle war like they normally do.

Here are some pictures of the kids from tonight.

"Don't bug me I am eating my cookie"

Some pictures of our fun week

Wanted to share some pictures from this week from my new camera that my totally amazing husband bought me for my birthday.
Here is my birthday cake my sister bought me and surprised me with at my grandma's. Here is a picture of my brother, Livie, and me. Casey and I are very close and I can say that he is truly one of my best friends. Plus he happens to be one of John's best friends, so we enjoy having him come visit. John and I met through Casey.

Here is a picture of my sister Ashley, Livie, and me. Ashley and I are about as different as you can get, but we get along great and I love the big jerk. lol. Just kidding. But really people are surprised to find out we are sisters, because we are so different. But she is an amazing sister, especially since she bought me a super yummy birthday cake. This is John's Aunt Jackie and Kennedy. Jackie married John's uncle Jack(isn't that cute, Jack and Jackie) after meeting on E Harmony. They met, fell in love, and got married a few years ago when they were both in their 70's. Jackie lives in Kentucky, and so they would live part of the time here and part of the time there. Jack was so happy after meeting Jackie. Seriously was the only time I saw him truly happy since becoming part of the family. Jack passed away about 2 years ago, but Jackie has continued to come back to visit every summer. We love this woman!

Jackie made us pose for a picture of my "sweet family." I love this man standing beside me and praise God for bringing us together and blessing us with 4 beautiful children!

John surprised Livie and I with a strawberry cheesecake blizzard cake from DQ for our birthdays. We are still going to have Livie a birthday party but this was for both of us.

Alex and Uri, the crazy cousins. Uri is actually 4 months older than Alex and at one time was bigger than Alex if you can believe that.

JJ, Phinehas, Uri, Alex, Elijah, and baby Cana. All the boy cousins enjoying the day at Island Oasis

Mikaiah, Kennedy, Makayla(John's uncle's granddaughter) and Gracie, all the girl cousins except Livie