From Our Family to Yours

Wishing you and your families the best this Christmas and through the new year!

Blessings,

The Fishers

Memories through Pictures

Hi everyone! Where do I even begin? My oh my it's been a long time since I've posted. I was looking back at some of our last posts and I think it's time to look back on all that has happened in the last couple months!

Our family isn't always busy but when there are 7 people in the family, it can be pretty hectic with all the different schedules that need to be maintained. School has been going very well for the 4 that attend a charter school and 'T' continues to grow and learn at home. Sports have been put on hold currently, until next month when Erin will start her season of indoor soccer. Christmas is coming up fast, and thankfully all the holiday shopping has been done. We also got plenty of snow that now covers the ground...so it will definitely be a white Christmas. :)

I thought I would go back and highlight on some of the key memories that took place this Fall. :)

MICHLYN

Michlyn finished her volleyball season in late October. It was her first year of being a captain on the varsity team and she will hold that role next year as well. She finished her season named "Defensive Player of the Year" and received all-conference honorable mention. She also was the person to have the highest amount of "digs" (volleyball term) and that 84!! Her best friend 'B' (pictured above) went to a new school this year and that has been a hard transition but they see each other as much as possible. She also celebrated her 17th birthday this year! To celebrate - Her, mom, and Erin all went out for pedicures, shopping, and dinner. :)

ERIN

Erin finished her soccer season in September and it was very successful for her! She made the most goals out of anyone on the team and that was 7! She was also named the team's "MVP" and received all-conference honorable mention. She loves soccer and continues to play it all year round except for the occasional 1-2 month break in between seasons. She excels in school and is especially good at math. Her best friend 'N' (bottom left picture) and her do everything together and they are so funny when they're together. She took her permit test a few months ago with 'N' and they both passed so they can both legally drive with a parent. Stay off the roads around here... :)

'J'

'J' is our shy and quiet one. He likes to observe things and watch from the side until he's comfortable and then he'll hop right in. He played soccer this summer and is so good at it. To think he's only been playing a few years blows my mind because he's got such great control and coordination. School has been a little tougher this year but he's been working hard and with mom's awesome studying help, he's been passing with flying colors. 'J' just turned 11 years old! He got a sweatshirt, sports bag, and new game that he really wanted. It was so fun to see his reaction when he opened them. :)

'S'

As I've mentioned before 'S' is our little comedian! He makes us laugh everyday and comes up with his own cute little jokes. He recently turned 8 years old! Wow that's crazy...I was only 9 when he was born so this birthday really made me feel "old". :) He had cupcakes and crazy ole' dad decided it would be fun to add a sparkler to his candles. He was born on Thanksgiving and we called him "our little turkey" so when he made a turkey hat at school, we had to get a picture of him wearing it. :) 

'T'

'T' continues to be homeschooled. She also goes to a co-op that my mom helps out with and twice a month attends a class called "LEAF Club" (Learning, Education, & Fun). Mom especially loves those days because it's a much needed break and quiet time for her. We were also able to attend our cousin/niece's wedding in October as a whole family! It was a great wedding and we were blessed to be there on the special day. 'T' continues to keep us on our toes but our life would not be the same without her. :)

Hope everyone stays safe during these busy holiday weeks and that you can find time to remember all that God has blessed you with! Remember the reason for the season :)

xoxo,

~Michlyn

Rewind | Time Flies

So it's been a really long time since anyone has posted here and I apologize. But life happens, and you get busy and blogging isn't one of those priorities anymore. I'll give you a big catch up post and possibly some pictures but we'll see. :)

The summer was crazy busy but very fun and memorable! LOTS of soccer, driving here and there, visiting family and friends, and just taking time to relax before school and more sports would start again. The weather seemed really funny this summer as winter decided to last until May. As of this week in early September, it's been HOT.

Michlyn's summer included a job as a nanny with Erin, driving her siblings around, hanging out with friends, reading some books, and relaxing before school starts. She found out some of her best friends were leaving the charter school we attend this summer, so going back to school has been extra hard this year. She is a Junior in high school this year and that's kind of scary and exciting at the same time. That means this year and only one after that until graduation comes. (let's not talk about it) She is playing volleyball again for school and is one of the captains on the varsity team. She is thoroughly enjoying it!

Erin enjoyed her summer with playing lots of soccer, seeing her friends, going to a One Direction concert, having a nanny job with Michlyn, and sleeping in. :) Erin started school as a sophomore this year! Crazy how another year has gone by already...She and her best friend 'N' do everything together. They are some of the funniest and  craziest best friends I know. They are the same age and have a lot of classes together at school, so school has been pretty fun for her so far. She is also playing soccer again for school and although their team isn't as experienced, she does a fantastic job and I don't think I could tell you how much she loves her sport. She took Driver's Ed this summer and plans on taking her drivers' permit test soon. 

'J' had a really fun summer too! He played soccer for the 4th summer and he improved so much! He even got suggested to tryout for the traveling team for next summer. :) He is our shy and quiet one...just tries to take everything in and it scares me how fast he's growing up. He started 5th grade this year. He, again, has a new teacher and was a little extra nervous on his first day, but he loves her. He's doing all his homework and already learning a lot! He has quite a few friends and usually always has a good day! 

'S' is our early riser and loves to play. So more often than not, this summer, he would be up early asking me if he could play on my iPod or I'd hear him in our living room at 6:00 am. It seems he has this un-ending supply of energy. :) He's our little comedian and is always making us laugh...I think him and Erin got most of the funny genes. He started 2nd grade this year! I can't believe it...I always say this but my brothers are getting so big and it's so great to see them grow up. He has the same teacher as last year and likes her a lot! He's best friends with the school Janitor because I always see him talking and giving high fives to 'S'. :) 

'T' is going to be home schooled again this year. It's the best decision for her and for our family as we continue to work on bonding and attachment. This summer, in July, was 'T's 3rd gotcha day. She has been in our family for 3 entire years. Although adoption was one of the hardest things we've ever done, we know that God put her in our family for a reason. He only knows when each step will get easier. Neither adoption or parenting is easy though and we're putting our faith in him to help us teach and help 'T' to grow and learn. 

I promise I'll be back sooner than later next time! Thanks to all our friends and family that read along on our family's journey. :)

xoxo,

~Michlyn

3 Years

It's been 3 years since we brought 'T' home! (last week) It's been 3 years since we've been on this crazy journey that God chose us for. Although it hasn't been easy, we've been so blessed to have friends, family, and strangers support us and pray for us.

Happy 3yr Gotcha Day 'T'!

Blessings,

~Michlyn

Back to Volleyball

Today was the day. Open gym for volleyball!

This year I am one of the captains on the varsity team & you have no idea how excited I am!

Just had a meeting last week with the other captains - scheduled captains practices, picked out team clothing, and chose the workouts so we can all get back in shape!

It's going to be a very fun season!

A sign that it's been too long since I touched a volleyball... A bruise & a few popped blood vessels. :)

Blessings,

~Michlyn

Soccer Girl

Erin is still playing soccer. Like a pro.

This year, it has been particularly fun to watch her play as her team continues to play hard, have fun, and show us what they got. She's been on this team with the same [incredible] coach for the last 3 years. They are awesome. A couple weekends ago they played in the championship and took 2nd place! (Although it was for a shoot out and not because the other team was better)

Keep it up Erin!

~Michlyn

She's Married!

Our big sister/oldest daughter got married last Saturday, June 15th. Now you're probably thinking "what?". Well she's not ours biologically, but it's always felt like she was in our family. Josi married Dan on a hot and beautiful day, out in a field on farm.

Their nephew introduced her before she walked down the aisle, and it was just the cutest thing!

They were so happy! I didn't see a smile come off either of their faces all night.

The barn looked amazing! The decorations were all hand made and just perfect. 

'T' was missing, because it would have been too overwhelming for her, but she was in great care.

The wedding was soooo beautiful! It was completely focused on our amazing God and how He created marriage and that keeping your relationship focused on Him will keep it strong. There were bible verses read, everyone sang two worship songs, and then vows were said, the rings were exchanged, and they shared their first kiss as a married couple.

We love you Josi & Dan! We were so happy to share your special day with you!

Happy ever after!

~Michlyn

P.S. Josi was our babysitter until I ('M') was old enough to watch my siblings. We've always called her our big sister or daughter. :) She's been such a great & Godly role model for us.

Adoption: Behind the Scenes

'T' is now 7yrs old and has been home for almost 3 years. Wow time flies. Just thought I'd give you a little "behind the scenes look" on my perspective of our adoption experience so far.

The first thing people see is a beautiful, spunky, & innocent little girl that is part of our family. If meeting someone for the first time, they ask her a lot of questions and just say how cute she is. The thing is...they don't know.

They don't know how hard our daily life can actually be.
They don't know how much trauma and hurt she's gone through.
They don't know how different everything was before.


Adoption is a miracle. It brings kids home from all over the world. And everyone who brings a child(ren) home always have different situations. Some are good, some are not so great, and others are rough.

Ours has been rough. Because behind that little girl with crazy curly hair, and a smile that could trick even the wisest person...Is a daughter of our King who is broken. Completely and utterly shattered into thousands of pieces.

The pieces of trust, love, connection, joy, security, and hope are missing. They were missing before we even laid our eyes on that very first picture of her. She doesn't have these problems because she was adopted, but because she was abandoned. In some way, shape, or form. That's why these pieces are missing.

And as I see the tantrums, tears, and hurt through her...I see more than just my broken sister. I see how she sees herself. I see how she thinks she should be treated. It's the hardest thing I've experienced.

Mostly I just want to cry at the hardship of it all and sometimes I want to laugh at the craziness God put into our lives.

The patience my parents have. The wisdom of therapists, friends, & prayer warriors. The protection and grace of our Savior.

It's all just a gigantic huge mess. Sometimes a bad mess. Sometimes a good mess.

When people don't understand our situation and chat and smile with my sister. I just want to scream. Because she barely does that with us. We should be the ones giving her the love, patience, and lessons of life and get a smile. But that's rare. And I just want to tell that person how they don't understand. How incredibly hard we try to make progress and teach her every. single. day.

1 yr. 2 yrs. 3 yrs.... Those walls around her heart have been falling a lot slower than we ever expected. Everything isn't hard of course. She's grown so much and learned quite a bit. But when survival kicks in from past memories or something triggers...we start sliding down instead of climbing up. And each step is going to be work & worth it.

This is exactly how we live without pretending. We show her the best we can and hope & pray that things will get better. I don't know who will truly understand this, but I hope it makes you think a little differently if anything at all.

I just needed to say this. And Jesus is faithful.

~Michlyn

P.S. I'm doing a series on my personal blog called "Live without Pretending". I've done a couple more posts and will continue for the next week or two. To see the list you can click here and scroll down. Thanks!

School's Out!!

Last Thursday marked the end of our 2012-2013 school year! It was a fun day full of pizza parties, field trips, movies, and games! :)

Just for fun we took some after pictures to compare to the ones we took on the first day of school.

School's out, let's scream & shout! (that was a high school musical line by the way)

~Michlyn

Happy May Day

The weather has been beautiful, and I of course have been outside taking pictures of PROOF that Spring finally has arrived. It's May 1st and there's another winter storm warning, so let's just hope that these beautiful days and clear skies will stay! :)



How have you been enjoying the weather?

~Michlyn

On Technology, Spring, & School

Well hello there strangers...it's been quite a while!

I don't remember the last time it's taken me this long to blog. So I'm here to give you a little update.

In the last 2 months our computer has crashed 3 times, and our internet has also gone out for a few days.

Our technology life wasn't really helping with the blogging anyway. :)

Spring really is coming believe it or not. Snow is almost melted, temperatures are in the 50's, and we're even seeing the sun a little longer than normal.




We are in the last 2 months of school. Crazy how time flies when you're having fun. Yes, school is usually fun for the 4 of us. :)

Michlyn - Finishing up her sophomore year in high school. Has made some great memories, including driving the other 3 siblings to school almost everyday. She's enjoyed volleyball, watching the guy's basketball games, getting to TA (teacher's assistant) for the kingergarten teacher, and work extra hard to keep her grades up this year.

Erin - Finishing up her first year of high school has a freshman. She's probably the most social out of all of the kids. Has enjoyed soccer all year round for the first time, cheering on our school's basketball and baseball teams, often hanging out with her friends, and thinks math is easy.

 



Jace - Finishing up his year as a 4th grader. He has worked soo hard this year on big projects, presentations, his reading, and excelling in math. Mom got to come help at a Valentine's party that his grade was throwing for elderly people and he had a blast at that. He's definitely athletic and enjoyed the basketball and soon baseball clinics that the high school boys help with.

Scout - Finishing up his year as a 1st grader. Our comedian as always has made us laugh so hard we're crying. He's very active at school and likes to tell us things about his day. His brother is his biggest fan, and will often wave to his big sisters when they are eating lunch at school. He's done pretty good at learning new things in math, and is reading! Although sometimes we wonder if he's just memorizing the books instead of reading. :)

Tareh - She continues to stay at home with mom as her referree, teacher, and of course mother. A couple times throughout the school year my parents have thought about putting her in school, but know that it is best to work on attachment and bonding at home. She does her fair share of stories (aka fibs) that would probably not help anyone in the long run. So she will continue to be at home.

Thanks for reading! One of us will blog sooner rather than later.
~Michlyn

Hello February

That was quick... 1 whole month of the new year already tucked away.

A few happenings from January:

I (Michlyn) got my license! :)

Erin & I went to our school's Snowdaze Dance. It was a lot of fun! :)

J won 2nd place with his friend 'A' at school's "Invention Convention". 

He invented the iLego Case for an iPod Touch. :)

Happy February!

~Michlyn

good medicine :)

"He will yet fill your mouth with LAUGHTER and your lips with shouts of joy."

Job 8:21



Christmas Season 2012

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas season! Ours was very busy and we're trying to get back into our normal routine. Me, Erin, J, and S have been on Christmas break ever since Thursday and went back last Wednesday. It went by way too fast. We were spoiled this year and can I just say we have the Best. Parents. Ever?!

Here's a look into our Christmas.

On Christmas Eve we go over to my grandparents house and celebrate with my dad's side of the family. 

Christmas Day {morning} we celebrate as a family. 

All 5 of us LOVED our gifts...boys were jumping with excitement and well the girls...tend to just smile and scream inside. :) 

Wishing you all a fantastic New Year! 2013 will be a great year! 

~Michlyn

on the other side!

Transitions are hard for T.

Holidays are really hard for T.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It shows in her inabilities...

to look at the camera

 find a natural smile

 or enjoy much of the "festivities" at all

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her deficits make it difficullt, almost impossible to understand [most] expectations

or healthily perceive the happening around her.

The gatherings, gift giving, card getting, festive music, ALL contributed to

 REALLY BIG ANXIETY!!!

Despite our intentional parenting and decision making

T was in SURVIVAL mode much more than not :(

Her stress manifests in

verbal outbursts

the inability to obey

unkindness

feeling injustices of all kinds

tantrums

etc

** But we survived, and relished some moments of joyful memory making!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T's sisters and brothers headed back to school today,

and as expected it been a tough day :(

Even going back to a normal schedule is a transition... and causes some "fall out"

But I'm ready for a more predictable routine again,

to make steps forward in our attachment [therapy] once more.

I'm under NO illusions, however, we'll just slide back into a desired "mode".

It no doubt comes with much determination & intentional parenting, lots of patience & flexibility too!

Hey, we made it to the other side of Christmas... Phew!!!

And it's a NEW YEAR ... 2013 is going to be GREAT... if even just in perspective!!!

Happy New Year Friends!!!

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances..." I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Happy New Year!

Ok, so the 2 of you who actually still stop by and read this blog have requested an update :)

And to "you" I say thank you ... for your encouragement & support on this journey we call LIFE!

Happy New Year!

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**This post is intended to just be a filler, while I prepare a real update ... I'm thinking a "Post-Christmas" musing ... To be continued :)