So Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for. I thank my Savior for what He did for me. I'm thankful for a life of little regret. I'm thankful for my husband who is my soul mate, a man that I could never have dreamed of being so blessed to be married to and call the father of my children. I'm thankful for my children. Three little blessings from Heaven. I'm thankful for my extended family: my dad and step-mom, who are so thoughtful. And though we don't see them as much as we wish because they don't live close, they spoil us with thoughtful care packages and phone calls. I'm thankful for Tripp's parents who spoil us as well. They lavish their grandkids with attention. And I'm thankful for even more extended family in my biological father and his wife, who we've yet to meet, but it feels like we've known them for years.

Thank you Lord, for more blessings and things to be thankful for than I can even comprehend. I pray for a constant attitude of thankfulness, like the apostle Paul when he said, while in prison, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" in Phillipians 4:4.

Sunshine and Roses

Emily loves for us to sing her the song "You Are My Sunshine". She loves us to sing to her period! She really likes music. Often when any kind of a song comes on she'll start waving her arms around in her signature dance move (which I've posted in the past). Here are some pictures of her in our front yard (with our new pretty grass that Tripp recently reseeded!). Emily is wearing her "European" outfit that Nan and Papa brought back from their Mediterranean cruise last summer.

He Did It AGAIN!!

Last night at church, my number showed up on the box in the sanctuary. One of my kids needed me. I went out in the foyer and was ushered to Casey's classroom. There he sat with his teacher, crying, while she held a bloody napkin to his chin. Crap. I pulled the napkin away and immediately knew that it needed stitches - AGAIN. It was October 13th when he split his chin open on the slide in our backyard and he had to get 5 stitches. [Just as a side note - that was a "fun" experience. We arrived at the pediatric ER where there were at least 20 sick kids coughing all over the place and we waited (outside, so as to avoid the germs) FOREVER. When all was said and done, we were there about 5 hours] This time we headed to the new pediatric urgent care that recently opened up by our house. Not a single patient was there when we arrived. They were actually excited to see us, and his doctor said this was most exciting thing she'd been able to do all day. And Casey was such a trooper - once again. He amazes me. He layed so still and didn't cry. We were out of there in less than 2 hours. [For those of you in the northwest part of Phoenix, I highly reccomend Phoenix Children's Hospital Urgent Care Center at 51st Ave/the 101.] This is the 3rd time he's gotten stitches in 6 months, so he's getting pretty good at it. This time, his poor chin needed 9 stitches. That makes for a grand total of 18 stitches and all on his face! We will officially nickname him one of two names: "Scar" or "Stitch". Which do you like better? Or do you have a better suggestion? And one last thing - a while back, I bought Casey a bookmark that says his name and what it means with a Bible verse underneath it. Can you guess what Casey means? BRAVE. I think that's pretty appropriate, based on how well he handles his injuries. Oh, and if anyone can fashion a helmet for Casey's chin, I'd be willing to consider that...