Her first acting gig

Samantha and Jacob participated in VBS at my In-laws church this past week. Each day consisted of a drama which represented a bible story for that night's lesson. Samantha was asked by her Grandma (who was in charge of the VBS) to act in one of the stories. She was the servant girl who told Naaman about the Prophet Elisha and encouraged him to visit Elisha to be cured of his leporsy. She is terrific at memorizing lines and was so excited to get this gig! She performed Wed. night and again at the church's two Sunday services. When she woke up Thurs morning she proudly annouced that she wanted to be on stage every day. I was so impressed with her composure on stage at only 6 yrs old and I definitely think drama club is in her future. I took pictures as best I could...they are a bit blurry because I didn't want to use my flash. She is blossoming right before our eyes.

I took a "head shot" photo before heading over to the church...those eyes are stunning!

Thinking up her future Oscar acceptance speech..."I'd like to thank my mother for always..."

Praying to God for Naaman and how she, a servant girl can help.

For my friends who are hurting so deeply...you are loved and covered in prayer!

This life leaves us asking more questions than we will ever have answers for. When we loose a loved one in 'normal' circumstances it is hard for the ones left behind, but when there the loss is taken at ones own hand the pain is immeasurable. There are no words...the comforting words to those left to support seem cliche and at time pointless. We want to do anything we can to take their pain, make it go away if even for a moment. We want to have the magic answers they are looking for to bring some sort of sense to their actions, but there are no answers. So we pray...we pray constantly for them. We pray for the peace and comfort of God to wrap around them in those deep, dark moments. We pray that God would use His people to respond when He wants. We pray for Satan to not plant seeds of doubt and bitterness and we pray they will have rest when it is right. As I began getting ready for the funeral of Jason Borrmann this morning I could help but pray that God would shine His intense glory during the worship and memorial services today. I wish I could say I knew him, but I didn't. I know those left behind and my heart hurts. What I do know is he lived a life here on earth was spent using his special gift of song to glorify his LORD. Like King David, Jason used song and worship to offer himself to the King...now, he is part of the greatest Living Choir. Find comfort in these words my friends...we are praying!

When clouds veil sun,

and diaster comes

Oh my soul, Oh my soul

When waters rise,

and hope takes flight

Oh my soul, Oh my soul

Oh my soul.

Ever faithful, Ever true

You I know

You never let go, You never let go

You never let go, oh

You never let go

When clouds brought rain,

and diaster came

Oh my soul, Oh my soul

When waters rose

and hope had flown

Oh my soul, Oh my soul

Oh my soul ,

overflow

Oh what love, oh what love

Oh my soul

fills with hope

Perfect love that never lets go, oh

Oh what love

Oh what love

Oh what love

Oh what love

In joy and pain

sun and rain,

You're the same

YOU NEVER LET GO

Much, much love for you in the hours, days, weeks, and months to follow. We are here if you need anything!!!

Dbacks beat up the Yankees...woohoo!

We are turning yet another little one into a baseball fanatic! We went to the Dback VS. Yankees game last night and had a blast together...just the the 3 of us! The energy in the stadium was amazing. So many fans...both in red and yankee stripes. We killed them with a 10-4 win! They should know better than to come to AZ and expect to win. Leeah had a blast at her first game too. She would squeal and clap her hands when the crowd did. She was happy as pie being the center of our attention and we truely enjoyed the one on one time with her. I think her smile tells us all we need to know...she in on her way to being a BIG fan!

Father's Day in the Self House

Shane finished his B-25 Mitchell after a year in the works and Fathers Day was pegged for it's inageral flight. It was blazing hot out but not our spirits. He was like a kid jumping up and down with anticipation. There were a few bumps in the road with his wheels and them not being straight but after a few tweeks he was able to fly his baby. The joy in his face...it is something special to see him work so hard on a project and then finally reach his goal of flying the plane. We also went swimming in the dark for the first time this season and the kids enjoyed everything about this day. Shane is an amazing father and God conitues to grow him into an even better one. I never imagined how awesome our little family could be!

Jacob and Samantha

These two are driving me crazy this summer...some moments are good crazy and others, well you know! They are both bright and energetic kids and I think the down time we have had during this summer may be more difficult than either of us expected. However they have truely enjoyed the public library's reading program. Both of them have completed the 24 books required and are axiously awaiting the next trip to claim their prize. Swimming again is the summer favorite and they are both amazing swimmers. It is hard to believe that both of them will be turning 9 and 7 at the end of the summer, We will ave a 3rd and 1st grader in August...I cannot believe it! We are so proud of their hearts as both of them have embraced their foster siblings wholey and look forward to the big adoption day. We could never have dreamed how much each of them would fill our lives with joy...blessings that make our hearts overflow.

Love you my sweet children!

June 14, 1997

We are celebrating 13 amazing years of wedded bliss...sometimes I can't hardly believe how fast time is flying by. This day was filled with so much hope about what our future would hold and boy has God been busy. We never imagined on this day 13yrs ago that we would be buying our first house before our first anniversary, have 2 amazing kids before we were 30 and never in our wildest dreams realize just what special plans our Lord had for us in creating our family. We couldn't be more blessed and humbled as we look forward to completing our first adoption and hope in His plans for our other two babes.

Oh and these were waiting for me when I got home yesterday...love them this morning as they are opening up. Loving my husband!!!! Here's to an quiet house all weekend, pedicures and coffee together and a grown up dinner at Flemmings!

Relaxation...what does that mean to a mom of 5?

So I had a therapy appointment last week and we talked about things I do to relax...I said I get a massage once a month, the occassional pedicure and my nails down every other week to which she responded, "Ok, so that is for your body, what about your mind?" My mind...what mom has time to clear her mind and relax? I broke out into a hysterical laughter, was she really serious? She is a mom, she has to know that a clear mind for a mom is a rare and almost unheard of thing. Even when I do thing to "clear my mind" so to speak I am still thinking about things I need to get down, errands I have in my week and places the kids need to be on which night of the week. (Thank goodness I don't work outside the home, not sure there is any room left in the brain for doing a job!) Anyway, like any good therapy session I can't get this thought out of my mind. I have been perplexed about this idea and infact not even sure what relaxing my mind looks like for me, I seriously have never really been able to do it. BUT I do see why I need to. I have felt the pain of conviction over this issue. I have not had a whole lot of 'brain" time with God these past few months. Sure, I study, I read the Word, I even pray fairly regularly, but my mind can so easily be derailed and I move on. My focus has lacked a serious amount of commitment lately. Ouch, that hurt my heart a little bit. I would love to be able to clear my mind of all the things I feel like I need  to get done but how? So tonight I am taking a baby step. I am leaving to go read a book, do a little shopping and grab a meal all by myself and see if I can simply forget about home, kids, and responsibility. Ok, so I may not really be able to turn my brain off tonight, but I am going to try and I it is not in my nature to go out by myself, I am after all a extravert, I desire to be with people, but I am with little people all day long...so here I go...out on my own! (Acutally, I am really looking forward to it!) I won't be taking kids in and out of the car, listening to whining and he said/she said, I am going to spend some time alone with God and listen to Him instead of doing all the talking and list making for Him.

How do you clear your mind?