Family Day

I woke up at 4am this morning and sat down to work on the blog.  But then I decided I would try to get out of that habit and get to it later in the day.  Who am I kidding?  There's just no time during the day! :)  So here I am, late at night...trying to end the day.

We've been so busy lately and there's been a lot of stress.  We decided we needed a family day with nothing but fun!  So we headed to out to play...

First stop, Chuck E. Cheese!  We haven't been here as a family since Sarah and Abby were little!  Most of the children have never been.  But when Sarah and I went with one of our wish kids awhile back, I was pretty impressed with how it's changed.  And the children had a great time!

 Wallace wasn't too sure about going when he found out it was all video games.  He said, "But we need something to DOOOOO..."  He ended up liking it, though!

 Andrew had so much fun!  He probably drove with Chuck E. a dozen times! (Which means I have a dozen of those little pencil drawing pictures!)

This was a fun simulator of roller coasters.  Titus wasn't too sure what he thought of it!

Next stop, 11 Below Ice Cream Roll.  The girls had seen this on YouTube from street vendors in NY.  I have to admit, it was really neat!  And tasted AMAZING!!!

Last, we headed over to Ted's Cafe, one of our favorites (well, some of us anyway)!

It was a much-needed day of relaxation and fun.  It was nice to break away.

Next week: something a little more personal...

Super Sydnee

We recently celebrated Sydnee's 19th birthday.

Sydnee is so much like her father in many ways.  She is absolutely a jokester, although not a lot of people get to see it.

She can get quite silly with Sarah...

And she has a lot of fun with Abby...

She can get pretty goofy with Sherrod...

And a little silliness with the girls...

She can get the boys riled up like no other...

She is the ice cream maker deluxe!  Not really a cake person, for her birthday she made her own ice cream and Abby made a chocolate shell for it to go in.

 The traditional birthday prayer...

Such a sweet and precious girl...

Sydnee is generally quiet and reserved.  She's pretty introverted, but we get to see the super fun, boisterous, and outgoing side of her.  Not many people really get to see that.  She loves a good prank and having a good time, but she is fiercely protective of those she loves.  Sydnee is so comfortable in the home, taking care of all the details and making things run efficiently.

I had fun looking back over old pictures tonight.  Here are 19 of my favorites:

So little and super cute, but she was always into something and quite a mess!

Growing into a beautiful young girl, both inside and out!

Always looking for fun (or trouble😜) or creating her own...

Active and joyful in all things...

Quite ornery and a little bit crazy...

Sydnee makes all of us smile!  I'm so thankful for this precious lady.  I often wonder what God has in store for her life.  Always a science girl, she is interested in marine biology.  I wonder if that will tie in to her future? 😀

Isaac

Sarah and I recently had the opportunity to spend the day playing with one of our wish children and his mother.  We had SO MUCH FUN!!!!

We had such a great time with Isaac!  And he had a blast playing on all the games!  If there was a 2-player option, he was insistent that Sarah play with him (which she loved)!

This game was so funny!  Sarah kept turning her car around and driving it backwards! 😂 She said it was harder than driving a real car!

This game was hilarious!  You had to shoot at all the insects flying at you...you know how Sarah loved that!  At one point there were thousands of large spiders coming at them and I commented how great it would be to have a fake spider to throw on Sarah.  Everyone knows how much she hates insects, especially spiders!  She said it's a good thing I didn't...she might hurt Isaac trying to get out of that thing! 😆

It's nice to be small so you can fit in the PlayPlace! 😍

What a joy!  Isaac is a super fun and sweet boy!  We are hopeful that we will be able to send him off to DisneyWorld soon...

Just for fun, here's a great picture of Isaac and Velvet from when we took her up to his house (back when it was warm!!!!):

Bringing in Another Year

Well, it's been a fun, chaotic, crazy week!  We brought in the new year with games, fun food, and presents!

 We do a silly gift exchange, Ornery Ockers Odditorium (Triple O), where you open or steal a gift.  It's a lot of fun...and a bit strange!

 We started a new game this year with Saran Wrap.  I wrapped a bunch of small gifts in Saran Wrap and someone got to try to unwrap it while the next person rolled dice.  When the person rolled doubles, the turn was over.  This is a great game that we laughed a lot at!

 And our dear young friend, Roelf Kars, from Canada, came to visit.  He fit right in with all the chaos, as he is also from a large family.  Although they might be a bit more reserved than we are...😜 Anyway, I don't think we scared him completely away!

 I just had to get a picture of him with Michael!  He is super good-natured and has a great sense of humor.  When I was concerned if he would fit in a twin bed and I asked him how tall he is, he said he is 5'19"! 😂😂😂

We immensely enjoyed his conversation and hearing his thoughts on so many things. I appreciated his insight, openness, and candor. One thing I realized while he was here is that we only really learn and grow and have anything of value through openness. I commented on how proud I was of him, to be able to open up and be vulnerable and really put himself out there. His reply was something to the effect of...To have a true and real relationship, you must be vulnerable and open. You have to expose yourself to the possibility of hurt.  Anything else is mearly acquaintance.  And it's the "real" relationships that are fulfilling, rewarding, and God-honoring.  Although we didn't actually discuss the blog directly, his thoughts actually helped me decide what I'm going to do with it.  I'll post about that later, when I have more time.  We are still hosting little visitors and while it is a lot of fun, we also have 9 children under 9 so it's super busy as well!

I know I've said it before but I am often so, so encouraged by young adults. I wonder what my life would look like if I had been so mature and God-honoring at a young age.  It wasn't too very long ago that my standard response over relationship issues was to simply walk away... 😓