Hope

Many of you know we have a baby girl in heaven...

At 20 weeks gesitional, our angel baby was diagnosed with a birth defect, incompatible with life.

The time between Laura's diagnosis and her birth was a precious gift from God.

We grieved the "life" we pictured with our fourth child in it, here on earth.

We began planning for a celebration of her life, albeit too short.

And though it was our deepest desire to carry our sweet baby full term, it was not to be.

Laura was a mover & a shaker... One of my most active babes... Another gift from her Creator.

But one Sunday morning in May, I was unable to get her to dance like she did.

Later that day, we were informed Laura Grace's heart had stopped.

She was safe in the arms of Jesus before I held her mine.

After 17 hours of labor, our tiny & beautiful baby girl was born sleeping.

Perfect in the eyes of God and ours!

Laura Grace, though she never took a breath, will live forever in our hearts & minds.

Amidst all the sorrow, pain & grieve of losing our baby girl,

we had HOPE, still do!

We rejoice knowing we'll see & hold our tiny daughter/sister again.

Our Laura Grace has never known the hurt or sadness this world sometimes brings,

just LOVE & JOY, in the presence of her Father in heaven.

Dear Sweet Laura Grace,

Happy 8th Birthay ... There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about you.

As God's angels sing happy birthday to you in heaven, we celebrate you and the family we've become due to the honor of being your family, here on earth!

I love you baby girl and dream of a day in heaven,

with your arms wrapped around my neck, hearing you say, "Hi Mommy!"

Together forever with our Savior & King! 

Momma loves & misses you, Sweetie!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; ... your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA GRACE!!!!

Turning 6!

We had a small and simple celebration for 'T's 6th birthday! It's her second birthday home. The more quiet family celebration was a perfect way to acknowledge the blessing of T. in all our lives...

We are honored to be your family T. And look forward to many more years to celebrate the person God has created you to be. Happy 6th Birthday Sweetie!!!!!!

{Better late than Never} Can't believe he's 9!

Our 'J' turned 9 just over a week ago! I honestly can't believe it... It's always on my brothers birthdays that I can't believe they're a year older. (Must be a big sister thing) I was only 6 years old, and announced that my mom was having another baby! That 'baby' is now 9 years old! We had a blast watching him open his presents, hear about his fun day at school, and help him celebrate his special day!

'J' you are such a blessing to us! You are smart, and keep life interesting! Can't imagine not having you as my little brother! Hope you felt extra special on your birthday!

~Michlyn

6

Thanksgiving snuck up on me fast this year, and I hadn't found time to post until now.

We continue to be busy - still finding time for the important things people in our lives! :)

Thursday, November 24th wasn't just Thanksgiving this year but the birth day of our little 'S'

6 years ago, he arrived into the world on Thanksgiving day,

 purple and much quieter than anticipated but Oh so beautiful!

a special little boy right from the start

and we are still so thankful for our little thanksgiving blessing!

From day one of T's arrival into our family, S has embraced his little "twin" with an open heart!

[Halloween 2006]

Daddy was the first to start calling him our "Little Turkey" ...

and his silliness & zest for life has him living up to the given nickname

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So last Thursday, we celebrated S's 6th birthday

Where does the time go.?*!

 S. Daniel has a way of putting a smile on our faces daily...

he tells the cutest jokes - most of the time funny because they don't make complete sense :D

And says some of the sweetest things

 S loves lego's, playing guys [action figures], and anything Starwars

all with his very best friend & big brother J

The two of them are often inseperable

[He surprised me and seemed to love the 28 person chrous that sung to him at Gma &Gpa's home :)

Happy happy Birthday!

We all love you little guy!

Love,

Momma, Dad, M, E, J, & T

wORDLESS wEDNESDAY!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is our mom's birthday!! We celebrated her, and hopefully made her feel extra special today! She's an amazing, caring, loving, teaching, and faithful woman of God. She's an inspiration to all of us, and we all love her to the moon and back! :)

(My grandma posted this on facebook this morning) Wasn't she cute?!

She's a momma to us all, and we love her so much! Thanks for all you do mom!

~Michlyn and your crew

15 years...

15 years ago...

 On November 7th

At 4:11am

 a beautiful baby girl arrived into the world

8# 

blue eyes

fuzzzy brown hair

more precious than words

It was love at first sight

xoxo

And I became a Momma!!!

Michlyn 1 year old

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So much changes in 15 years

Michlyn became a big sister x5 ... and is wonderful at it!

She went from 21" baby girl

to a 5'4" beautiful young woman

Inside & out

Michlyn Kate

is not only beautiful but

compassionate

giving

Lover of Jesus

a friend to all

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And then somethings never change...

Just like the day she was born

she's strong-willed & stubborn

[not sure where she gets that from???;)]

a bringer of Joy!

And I will never stop loving being her Momma xo

Happy 15th Birthday Sweetheart!!!!

May you continue to seek God's plans for your unique & beautiful life!

; ) Lucky Duck,

Love ~Your Momma

Birthday Pictures!

Here are some pictures from 'T's Birthday Party! We had a lot of family and friends there to celebrate 'T' turning 5! Thank you to everyone for making 'T' feel extra special!

~Michlyn

Time Flies...

Happy December!

It amazes me how fast time goes by these days. Some say it has to do with me getting older...and I guess I might agree with that :-)

We celebrated Thanksgiving with family on Thursday. Everyone on DJ's side of the family was a counted for except one niece whose in the Air Force...We are praying for you Rachel. Hope to see you at Christmas!

My parents were in Arizona for the Holiday, but we gathered together on Sunday when they returned to celebrate mom's birthday....Happy Birthday Mom! My sister and family weren't able to make it Sunday though, because she wasn't feeling good. Hope you feel well soon Kate - Love ya!

On the "adoption" front...we have completed our first round of paper work! And to our surprise it wasn't as bad as we thought it might be. In fact, DJ actually ended up enjoying his "self study" (the autobiography portion of the paper work.) He liked looking at "life" more in depth. I was very impressed by his very thoughtful answers...he still has a way of making my heart flutter:-)

I had a harder time with the self study portion of our paper work...I have a way of over analysing things, so I found myself caught up sometimes on how it sounded verses what I was trying to say....??? Anyways, we finished up and sent it in...We are now scheduled to meet with our SW again next Wednesday. This is our second meeting of an upcoming 3-4 more meetings together. Wednesday's meeting should give us much more detail on Ethiopian adoption specifically and get us started on our dossier. Yeah!

We also celebrated the first of many birthday's last month...Our oldest daughter turned 12-and it seems like only yesterday she was born! And our baby turned 3....he loved all the attention he got on his special day only half the time! We love you both!

The last month has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for us...celebrating the many birthdays that come along this time of the year and now Christmas is sneaking up on us very fast...It can leave us feeling somewhat depleted and wondering how God is going to see the miracle of adoption through for our family...??? I am constantly praying for direction and confidence and courage to not give up, but stay encouraged for the journey ahead. It isn't always easy though-convincing yourself or one another that we can do this and we are crazy but not totally insane...! (Oh, hush...I heard that!) But Please keep our family in your prayers.

DJ and I had our annual Shopping date Friday. We love just getting out, being together, people watching, and getting a really good deal or two! And it was a blast! I think we are done!

I have started rambling....thinking too hard about being "real" without boring you to death with too many details. (Just for you, Kate;) )

We'll let you know how Wednesday goes and whats next. And again we appreciate your prayers for our family.

God's Blessings!