Favorite Foto Friday!!!

I haven't done a FFF for a long time so here are a few favorites of Brielle this spring.

Mother's Day

I love Mother's Day! Brielle had a wonderful Mother's Day tea at her preschool. They sang a beautiful song, served us treats and made us precious gifts. On Mother's Day the kids made me breakfast in bed...a favorite tradition. We spent the rest of the day with my mom. I am so thankful for having such a wonderful mom.

Beautiful Hike and Ski

The guys had a fabulous day of skiing at Crystal Mountain. (Mt. Rainier in the background) Tons of fresh snow and sunshine. They LOVE to ski and especially in these conditions.

We hiked 4 miles to Rattlesnake Ridge (I don't like the name, but at least I didn't see any snakes!) Brielle did great as it was 2 miles UP...1,200 ft. elevation gain. It was warm and beautiful. Drew climbed down into this rock which was at the top of the hike. Riley LOVES to hike. She pulled us up the mountain!

Happy Easter!!!

Riley on Easter THIS year...

Riley on Easter LAST year...

We had a nice Easter starting with Easter service at church and an egg 'pick up'. At home we decorated eggs and had an egg hunt of our own where the eggs were much harder to find.

Blake's garden is bright with spring color.

We had an egg hunt at our home-90 eggs!!! It was windy and cold so Brielle got bundled up.

Happy Family Day Brielle!!

On March 22 we celebrated Brielle's 4th Family Day! I can't believe it was already 4 years ago that I brought Brielle home from Guatemala. What a joyous day that was!! Many friends and family welcomed Brielle home at the airport with signs, balloons, flowers, hugs and smiles.

It was so very precious to have all 4 of my kids together!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a happy baby!!! She makes us all smile.

We celebrated Family Day this year by enjoying our 'new' hot tub!!! Our hot tub has been broken for years and our neighbor gave us hers for free! Brielle LOVES swimming in it.

BUBBLES!!!!

Riley LOVES jumping for bubbles! She will leap, jump and chase bubbles for as long as we are willing to blow them. Riley is the same way with blowing leaves and flower petals. She is just crazy on a windy day because there are so many things for her to chase in the wind.

Another sad anniversary

March 11, 2003--Blake was 1- 1/2 years old. He had some developmental delays, but he was doing so many fabulous things like feeding himself, saying words, laughing and walking with the help of our hands. We were hopeful Blake would just continue to improve on his own time. But on this day 7 years ago Blake had a very, very long seizure
that lasted over an hour. It was just a nightmare. It started at Daniel's school, he continued in the ambulance and at Children's hospital. I remember just begging God to stop his seizure. It was so terrifying and horrible. Yet, the worst was yet to come. From that point on Blake never learned anything new. He only slowly lost all of the wonderful abilities he had learned. How heartbreaking it is to watch your precious child lose his sweet words, beautiful smile and eventually his ability to nurse and eat yummy foods.

Today I grieve. I grieve for the Blake that was before March 11, 2003 and I also grieve for the Blake after that day as well. My heart is heavy and so very sad for the loss of such a precious boy with the most amazing bright smile.