Author: Helen

Summer is leaving and Fall is coming!  I however neglected to record all of our happenings and I tried to figure out the best way to hang on to the memories so here it is.  Our Summer in pictures 🙂

Birthdays are wonderful!  What makes them wonderful for me is knowing that God is not done with me yet on this earth.  He has a purpose and a plan for me and I am to work on it and to fulfill it.  I am thrilled about next year and what it entails.  I have my list of things I want to accomplish and am quite excited about it!  God has been good and Gracious.  He has blessed me beyond measure!  My family made it extra special and there is no other way I would rather spend it than with family!  Thank you to every single person that has gone above and beyond to make this day special!  I love you all immensely!!!

I figured it was about time to share our latest joy, we are having our THIRD miracle!  It feels unusual to even imagine it but we are beyond thrilled to welcome this precious life into our family in the beginning of December.  Yes!  Another, almost Winter baby 😉  Only God knows, maybe it will come in November 😉  This time around it has not been as much of a “walk in the park”, I have definitely felt sick for the first 14 weeks and that has not been fun, but I feel like we have turned the page and things are going a little better.  We had our first appointment at 10 weeks and the heart beat was 152 beats.  The plan is to definitely  find out the gender but have to wait until the end of July.  Most of the family are guessing it’s a boy, but only God knows and we will be thrilled either way 🙂  We pray for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby!

Pismo beach, one of those spots that you find yourself dreaming about when you are having a gloomy day.  To sit by the ocean and to just be, to feel God’s presence as you listen to the waves crash and breath the most amazing air.  It has been a while since we have been able to get away but thank God he granted us that opportunity. It was neat to see Bella brave up with the waves but Joshua become quite the opposite and was more happy still wearing his shoes and sitting in the chair instead of running around.  It took him a while to warm up to the idea and actually remove his shoes, but he still struggles to get close to the water, which I completely understand for someone so little, the waves must look massive as they do for me 😉  We had  a hick up this time as our precious daughter got sick with a stomach flu, but a day in bed and all was better the next day!  The vacation was absolutely wonderful and we can’t wait to go back sometime hopefully within the next two years.

Easter always makes it to the top of the list of my favorite holidays.  What’s not to be excited about?  Christ is Risen!!!  I am beyond thrilled that our babies know who their Savior is and that they have an eternal life to look forward to.  A celebration would not be the same without family so we had a privilege to host this year and it was wonderful!

What fun opportunity we had!  We got to visit a lovely farm full of grapevines, lemon and orange trees.  There were definitely things like dirt, dust, heat and bees that made it feel very real and a bit uneasy for our little ones, but overall everyone was left very satisfied 🙂

We are back in ballet for a little while. Bella has been enjoying it but I can’t say that her heart is set on it. This is a different school where they actually have to make up days missed, so definitely a change for us from what we have been doing before 🙂 I love her instructors and she seems to be learning quite a bit. We will try this for a few more weeks, which will total up to 8 classes and then will move on to tennis. Daddy is looking forward to teaching tennis to his girl 🙂

Our little munchkin’s birthday party was a blast this year! It was fun, interactive, colorful, delicious and relaxing. I am not sure how long I can pull off throwing both of their parties in one, but I am certainly glad they didn’t mind this year 🙂 When I started compiling my ideas, the thought was to have a ballerina theme for Bella and a Planes theme for Joshy, as both requested different cakes. I thought I would perhaps combine them in some way and bake them two separate cakes… As the time kept approaching, I came across an idea of an Art Party and in one instance, I was all over it 🙂 I loved the bright colors and of course, creating a fun cake was beyond exciting for me. One of my highlights was that both kids participated in decorations making and were thrilled to watch it all come together. Definitely a memorable day! Blessed beyond measure.

So, we had a rough start to our new year, but are very grateful for our health. Yes, it was extremely difficult for me to see my son in pain and his forearm bent like a bow, but God is bigger and He gave me strength to overcome it and stay strong. All this happened in the evening as I was grocery shopping solo and Barry was cooking dinner for the kiddos. I got a phone call as I was putting groceries in the car. All Barry said was, “Joshy broke his arm, we are going to ER, what do I bring” I remember a flood of thoughts and emotions took over and all I could do was scream “just take him to the hospital right now”! I hung up and started crying but at the same time just felt angry that it happened to my baby boy. I was glad I had a 10 minute drive from the store to the ER, where I prayed and had to get a grip of my feelings, only to have Barry bring Joshy with his arm so bent that I have never seen anything like that before. I broke down again, but had to talk to myself again and be strong for my sweet babies. The wait was 40 minutes during which they put his arm in a special cart board thing with ice. He fell asleep and was waken up by going to take x-rays and to get a splint. Joshua did amazing! He was strong and did not want to take any medicine. Barry and I could not believe it, they straightened his arm without any drugs, by golly kid, you are a rock! We left ER 3 hours later and had a rough night but the next day, our child was back to normal and played as if nothing ever happened. A few days later we got a cast and of course it was orange as its Joshy’s favorite color 🙂 We all feel grateful to have things back to normal and for God’s healing powers!

It’s officially 2015! How fun is that number? I don’t know why, but I sure am excited about this year! There are so many things I am looking forward to, God has been absolutely wonderful and gracious to us and our families. And what better way to ring in the New Year if not with your family! Thank you O and Lilya for hosting such a beautiful dinner and time! May God bless you in your new home and may you grow closer to Him daily.