Happy Mom's Day!

The girls in 1987:)

Snow fun!

Scott and I went snowshoeing on Sunday. We pulled Sabrina along in a sled. It was fantastic to get out on such a beautiful day. Hopefully, we will be able to go again this weekend. We all enjoyed it very much!

Celebrating Jesus' Birth

Our first celebration was Sabrina's Christmas Concert. Is wonderful that she attends a Christian school so her Christmas program celebrates the true meaning of Christmas and not some random sparkle holiday!

We celebrated Christmas eve with a service at our church, Prairie Lakes. Then we had a meal at our home. My whole family was there. After the relatives went home we opened our gifts to each other. Christmas morning we went to my parents house for yummy food and presents. I didn't do a great job taking pictures, but here are a couple.

Seven stockings this year!

Jake and cousin Emilee!

Thanksgiving 2014

This is the book I am using for my devotions right now. Thank you, Al! It is a fantastic way to redirect my thoughts and feelings to remember our many praises. We are so thankful for Noelle's partial healing. We are thankful for an addition to our family;) More on that later. We are thankful for resources and family and so many things.

Our new addition is an almost 17 year old, named Hassan (far left). It is a bit of a long story, but he almost literally showed up on our doorstep. Which is what I told God it would take for us to have five children! God truly has a sense of humor. Hassan was born in Liberia. If you have read my blog forever, you might know that we originally intended to adopt from Liberia. Again with the sense of humor. Hassan is a dedicated student, a soccer player, great with Sabrina, grateful and helpful. We are in the process of finalizing legal guardianship.

At school, Sabrina had two occasions to dress up and celebrate Thanksgiving. I neglected to get a picture of Pilgram Sabrina, but so love this little Native American Sabrina!

Just a few leaves...

We love Halloween!

Yes, I know as a Christian there can be some issues with this holiday. And I will admit I wasn't sure about allowing my seven year old to be a zombie; I was outvoted. But carving pumpkins and dressing up is so much fun!

Noelle, Sabrina and Aubrey were all Zombie soccer players. Now I just need to throw away all this candy!!

September pics

I had minor finger surgery on the 24th to remove a cyst that keeps growing back. I still have the stitches actually. Everything went well as soon as I stopped taking the pain pills:/

Noelle and her friend, Aubrey, at the UNI homecoming. This was the day after Noelle had her wisdom teeth removed. Strong girl, as usual!

Every September we have a local fair called Cattle Congress. When I was younger it was actually 10 days, I believe. It is now just a long weekend. Friday is always Kids Day and all the public schools cancel. The schools pretend it is for "professional development". Sabrina was able to go with her class for a special Iowa State Extension program. But on the weekend the whole family went. Well, everyone but Jake:)

Sentimental

Many years ago my Grandma (who is now 100!) gave me some family spoons that she had framed. I found them as I was sorting and had them re-framed. I LOVE the way they turned out!

With Sabrina going back to school today and the other kids out on their own I am excited to have time to reinvent myself. One of the things I plan to do is go room by room and sort, repair and improve. I have always loved to decorate and do house stuff so I am excited.

Quick Visit

In July we had the pleasure of seeing Scott's sister, Rachel, and her family for a quick visit. Here are some photos from that visit.

Apparently we took no pictures of our beautiful niece, Holly. Sorry, Holly!

Family Vacation

August 11-14th we had a vacation with my family in southern Iowa at the Honey Creek Resort on Lake Rathbun. My mom and dad, sister Karen and her family and my sister Kat and her family were there. We were just about to load up the car when Jake came down with the flu. Unbelievable. So we went ahead intending to come back and get him the next day. He ended up feeling icky most of the time we were gone so he missed out and we missed him:(

We had lots of yummy food, kayaking, boating, inner-tubing, wave runners, family sand volleyball games, golf, indoor waterpark and a bonfire. I did a really bad job with the camera but I have a few shots from Noelle and Scott's phones. Have I mentioned that I still have a "dumb" phone?

:)

After getting her hair "softened" by Noelle. She loves it! Though it is not as easy to comb as I had hoped. Getting it trimmed tomorrow and hoping that will help.

The girls did each other's makeup one day:)

Blessed!

Feeling so blessed to day! Hated being away from the rest of my family, but my little girl treated me like a queen!

Presents from Lush, of course!

I beautiful scarf that says thank you in many languages.

The yummiest smelling hand lotion, with proceeds going to Ethiopia!

Then she gave me a wonderful pedicure:) And I reciprocated. We used all the fun spa things that Teri and Char sent to us. (Thanks again ladies.) By the way, in a pinch you can do a foot soak in a dutch oven. Probably best for sizes 9 and under.

We decided to do a late lunch/early supper. We went to a fantastic restaurant with a huge menu! Scottsdale Station. We first went when Scott and Sabrina were here. We still had the brunch menu so I got the Crab Benedict, with an included glass of champagne. Noelle was so excited to have the Filet she had had previously. Unfortunately there were some issues but the manager comped her meal so that was amazing. Then they have bite sized desserts so we shared cheesecake, lemon tart and carrot cake!

Next up, a trip to World Market. We had never been there but we will definitely be going back! Apparently they have one in Des Moines. So much fun!

Apparently Noelle thinks she will be baking in her apartment in the fall. She wanted to buy everything in the store, so we will definitely be shopping there again later in the summer.

Table runner for my dining room table. Maybe it will distract people from the hole in my wall. (From fixing the leaking pipe. I think they are actually repairing it this week.)

So truly a great day! Love my babies!

Happy Mother's Day!

It's true! Thanks mom for all you have done all these years and for all you continue to do! (Especially how you have taken care of my family while I have been in Arizona!) I LOVE YOU!

Fountain Hills

Saturday morning we decided to check out the "world famous" fountain in Fountain Hills. It is actually very impressive. Sabrina and Scott fed the ducks. We forgot Noelle's wheelchair so we didn't get to walk around much. This weekend was very pain filled for her.

Saturday afternoon Scott and Sabrina flew back to Iowa:( It was really rough. Sabrina broke down at the airport. Then I sobbed my way to my car. Pretty sure people thought I was crazy. While the two of us cried, Scott said maybe they could come visit again. Miss my Boo-boo.