Sunday, February 13, 2011
Happy Valentines Day...
Happy Valentines Day from our family to you! Hope your day is filled with lots of love! Here are the pictures we used of the boys this year for the valentines we sent out to our families and a few friends! Enjoy!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Update...
Just a quick update. Things are good. Braydon continues to have one to two seizures a day WITHOUT meds!!! Outside of the 20-30 minutes a day we are dealing with seizures things are completely normal. The weather has kept us a home a bit more than we like to be but I guess it's a good change of pace. Deacon has been a little under the weather but just a simple cold. Jacoby is staying busy working and painting and singing. I've been doing the normal routine...school with Braydon, keeping up around the house, CBS and life group. Life is just good right now....simple and good.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The best friends...
This week I went to our "Girls Night" that we plan as often as possible. Busy family schedules usually only allow for one about every 8 weeks or so. It is in these time that I am reminded I may possibly have the sweetest, most beautiful, best friends in the world. I love these girls for so many reasons...for the moms they are to their beautiful children, for the wives they are to their blessed husbands, for the friend they are to me and the friend they make me want to be to them. I love them for all the things we have been through together...births of our children, deaths of loved ones, hard times in marriage, financial struggles, at jobs, with post-partum depression. I love them for all the fun we have together, for the fact that we can be together 6 hours and not even realize what time it is or how long we have been out. I love the fact that we have celebrated years worth of birthdays together. I love that we can sing in front of each other and we all know we are as bad a singer as the person next to us! I love that each of them encourage me to be a better wife, mom, friend, sister, daughter and christian. I thank God for these women in my life! {Those of you who didn't make it last night and aren't in these pictures, please know that this message is for you too! Cori, Carrie, Amy V.}
"Snow" much fun...
Of course the snow is always a big deal in Texas. Even bigger for Deacon because it's the first snow he's ever played in! Last year he was too little to care much about the snow. We had lots of fun this year. Braydon rode his 4 wheeler in the snow, we pulled the kids through it in Deacon's wagon behind the golf cart (we went a little redneck with that I know-but hey...it was fun!) No snowman this year. The boys didn't care too much about that. They mostly wanted to be on wheels of some sort flying through it. Enjoy the pics:
Bombarded with birthdays...
As if December and January weren't hectic enough with the holidays...we have celebrated around 10 birthdays over the last two months as well. Braydon's, my brother in law Shane's, my sister Courtney's, mine, my sister, Caseys, my neice Montana's, my neice Jacy's and three friends! Whew! We didn't make it to all the partys but we tried. Here are a few of the ones we have made it to:
Matthew's Surprise 16th:
Matthew is a friend of ours from church. He definetly had a memorable 16th birthday. His parents did one of the best jobs I've ever seen on a surprise party. Matthew arrived blindfolded at out church with his dad, where about 60 of his friends and family members were waiting. He had to walk a rope across the length of our church parking lot, where he finally felt something dangling on the rope. He was then silly-stringed by everyone silently waiting for him. Once he pulled off the blindfold, he saw that what was dangling from the rope was a set of keys and right in front of him was his first car! Cake and pizza inside the church while a slideshow of pictures of him played. It was perfect!!!! Good job Michael and Sarah!
Walking the rope...
Gotcha!!!
The car!!!
He's very thankful and a little emotional...
Chad Kopal holding Deacon and baby Bethany!
Montana's 3rd:
Can you tell these three are cousins?
Cousins: Deacon, Montana, Braydon and Myani
Shane's 40th/Rock 'n Roll Playdate:
We celebrated my brother-in-laws b-day at their house before he left to go back to Pennsylvania to work. The kids had fun playing with the "paper jamz" guitars they got for Christmas!
Matthew's Surprise 16th:
Matthew is a friend of ours from church. He definetly had a memorable 16th birthday. His parents did one of the best jobs I've ever seen on a surprise party. Matthew arrived blindfolded at out church with his dad, where about 60 of his friends and family members were waiting. He had to walk a rope across the length of our church parking lot, where he finally felt something dangling on the rope. He was then silly-stringed by everyone silently waiting for him. Once he pulled off the blindfold, he saw that what was dangling from the rope was a set of keys and right in front of him was his first car! Cake and pizza inside the church while a slideshow of pictures of him played. It was perfect!!!! Good job Michael and Sarah!
Walking the rope...
Gotcha!!!
The car!!!
He's very thankful and a little emotional...
Chad Kopal holding Deacon and baby Bethany!
Montana's 3rd:
Can you tell these three are cousins?
Cousins: Deacon, Montana, Braydon and Myani
Shane's 40th/Rock 'n Roll Playdate:
We celebrated my brother-in-laws b-day at their house before he left to go back to Pennsylvania to work. The kids had fun playing with the "paper jamz" guitars they got for Christmas!
Christmas catch-up...
I'm just now getting all my Christmas photos uploaded. It's a big job when there are 485 of them! Here are a few of the memories made this past Christmas with our family:
Christmas with my dad's family...the Massey's:
My baby cousin Chelby and her son Eli
Eli and me! He is so sweet!
Grandma with her kids
Grandma with her grandkids: Dusty, Chelby, me, Shane and my sister Cristie
Grandma with her great-grandkids
"The Littles"
Deacon sneaks cake when he thinks no one is looking!
Christmas with my mom's side of the family: The Tottens/Cassadys
Payton...
Where's Deacon???
Somebody LOVES Christmas candy!
Me and my mom with my nephew Bentley!! His first Christmas-he slept pretty much all the way through it! LOL.
Christmas with my father-figure-in-law's side of the family. These are our children's adoptive grandparents: The Vaughns/Godbolts
The girls: Kaia and Kadence
Kaia, Deacon, Kadence and Aiden
Papa Deacon with some of the grandkids
Christmas with my dad's family...the Massey's:
My baby cousin Chelby and her son Eli
Eli and me! He is so sweet!
Grandma with her kids
Grandma with her grandkids: Dusty, Chelby, me, Shane and my sister Cristie
Grandma with her great-grandkids
"The Littles"
Deacon sneaks cake when he thinks no one is looking!
Christmas with my mom's side of the family: The Tottens/Cassadys
Payton...
Where's Deacon???
Somebody LOVES Christmas candy!
Me and my mom with my nephew Bentley!! His first Christmas-he slept pretty much all the way through it! LOL.
Christmas with my father-figure-in-law's side of the family. These are our children's adoptive grandparents: The Vaughns/Godbolts
The girls: Kaia and Kadence
Kaia, Deacon, Kadence and Aiden
Papa Deacon with some of the grandkids
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas...it's all about the gifts!!
***12/28/10 UPDATE-Braydon had a seizure at 5 am this morning. Keep praying!!! We are believeing God to be healing him completely!!!
Christmas is so many things to so many. To some it's all about family. For others its all about gift exchange and finding that perfect present for someone special in their lives. For some it's about having a wonderful meal in the presence of all your loved ones. For most of my friends and family and for myself, it's all about the birth of our Savior. There has never been a greater gift than the one without the bow and name tag. There has never been a more silent night than the night our Saviour was born; not typically our description of our first night home with baby. There has never been a brighter light, than the one that shone on that dark night. Isn't he birth of our savior amazing? I'm so thankful for the gift of Jesus on that first Christmas. Until this year, no other gift has mattered. While fun and appreciated, the other gifts just aren't important. This year, it looks like we got a special gift. And while Santa makes things magical, GOD goes a step further....MIRACULOUS!!!
On January the 1st of 2010, Braydon had his first seizure. He has had between 1 and 10 seizures a day for 358 consecutive days. On Christmas morning, he had the longest seizure we had ever seen. It would go from being mild to intense and back to mild again. This lasted for 45 minutes. While we physically supported Braydon (to keep him from falling) as he walked around the house aimlessly and talked in incomplete sentences because he was incapable of getting a complete thought out, Jacoby and I took turns being weak and strong. One minute confused with tears in our eyes and doubt in our minds and the next minute encouraging the other through the very same feelings. Little did we know, GOD had a special gift for us that day. This would be the last seizure we would see Braydon have for the next 72 hours and hopefully forever. Braydon hasn't had a seizure since Christmas day. He has not been ONE DAY without a seizure since this all began. We pray that tomorrow is day 3. Please pray for that with us!!! Thousands of Christmases later, He is still in the gift-giving business with the most wonderful presents! It's all about the gifts He gives. Thank you Lord!
There is a song I used to sing (well I guess we still do every once in a while) with Braydon. It's called "Trust and Obey". The words were given to us through his home school curriculum in the bible study section. I made up the tune myself. Those of you who have witnessed my musical ability are laughing your butts off right now. Those of you who haven't just assume I sing and know music REALLY well. ;-) Here goes: "Trust and obey, trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey! (repeat)"
These words have never rang more true than today. Two weeks ago I left a hospital in downtown Houston after being in the presence of one of the most sought after Epileptologist in the country, in one of the best epilepsy centers around. After days of testing, poking, prodding, etc. we left knowing little more of what we knew before and with very little hope (by medical standards) of getting past these seizures. I left their knowing that what they thought was best for my son, I just couldn't do because I had no peace about it. And believe me the looks on the faces of the medical professionals when I told them that made me feel so much better about it all. ;-) But I came home to a husband who believed with me that God just wanted us to wait on Him and fully trust Him with this for a while instead of putting all our hope in medical intervention. So this is what we did and I've never felt so good about a decision. THIS IS TRUST!
For some time now, several months anyhow, there has been an area of disobedience in my life. At this point, the details are between God and me, but when He lets me know to share it with others I will. It's something I knew God wanted changed and it was up to me to do it. For what ever reasons, I fought it...took my time doing it...did it once and then undid it. Why do we go to such greats lengths to hang on to things we know aren't right for us? Whatever they are...toxic friendships/relationships, time-wasters, habits that make us feel better (i.e. shopping, eating, gambling), resentment, unforgiveness, anger...I could go on but I won't. Why do we hang on to these things when God clearly tells us to LET THEM GO! The good news is...on Christmas Eve I let it go, fully, without regret, while asking for forgiveness and allowing God to fill that space that I knew would be there once I let it go...fill it with Him, with His love, with His word, with His work. THIS IS OBEYING!
"Trust and obey, trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey!
The song rings true! I'm not saying these seizures happened due to not trusting or disobedience in any way. I'm not even implying that God couldn't do what he needed to do at any time due to distrust or disobedience. I believe God can perform miracles and produce healing any time He gets ready. But I also know His timing is perfect. He knows when I see Him working in our lives that I will shout it on a rooftop and I won't shut up about it. He likes that about me. He wants to make sure I see the big picture! ;-)
Please be in prayer with us that tomorrow is day 3 of no seizures. That he truly did have his very last seizure on Christmas day. Will keep you all updated. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!
Christmas is so many things to so many. To some it's all about family. For others its all about gift exchange and finding that perfect present for someone special in their lives. For some it's about having a wonderful meal in the presence of all your loved ones. For most of my friends and family and for myself, it's all about the birth of our Savior. There has never been a greater gift than the one without the bow and name tag. There has never been a more silent night than the night our Saviour was born; not typically our description of our first night home with baby. There has never been a brighter light, than the one that shone on that dark night. Isn't he birth of our savior amazing? I'm so thankful for the gift of Jesus on that first Christmas. Until this year, no other gift has mattered. While fun and appreciated, the other gifts just aren't important. This year, it looks like we got a special gift. And while Santa makes things magical, GOD goes a step further....MIRACULOUS!!!
On January the 1st of 2010, Braydon had his first seizure. He has had between 1 and 10 seizures a day for 358 consecutive days. On Christmas morning, he had the longest seizure we had ever seen. It would go from being mild to intense and back to mild again. This lasted for 45 minutes. While we physically supported Braydon (to keep him from falling) as he walked around the house aimlessly and talked in incomplete sentences because he was incapable of getting a complete thought out, Jacoby and I took turns being weak and strong. One minute confused with tears in our eyes and doubt in our minds and the next minute encouraging the other through the very same feelings. Little did we know, GOD had a special gift for us that day. This would be the last seizure we would see Braydon have for the next 72 hours and hopefully forever. Braydon hasn't had a seizure since Christmas day. He has not been ONE DAY without a seizure since this all began. We pray that tomorrow is day 3. Please pray for that with us!!! Thousands of Christmases later, He is still in the gift-giving business with the most wonderful presents! It's all about the gifts He gives. Thank you Lord!
There is a song I used to sing (well I guess we still do every once in a while) with Braydon. It's called "Trust and Obey". The words were given to us through his home school curriculum in the bible study section. I made up the tune myself. Those of you who have witnessed my musical ability are laughing your butts off right now. Those of you who haven't just assume I sing and know music REALLY well. ;-) Here goes: "Trust and obey, trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey! (repeat)"
These words have never rang more true than today. Two weeks ago I left a hospital in downtown Houston after being in the presence of one of the most sought after Epileptologist in the country, in one of the best epilepsy centers around. After days of testing, poking, prodding, etc. we left knowing little more of what we knew before and with very little hope (by medical standards) of getting past these seizures. I left their knowing that what they thought was best for my son, I just couldn't do because I had no peace about it. And believe me the looks on the faces of the medical professionals when I told them that made me feel so much better about it all. ;-) But I came home to a husband who believed with me that God just wanted us to wait on Him and fully trust Him with this for a while instead of putting all our hope in medical intervention. So this is what we did and I've never felt so good about a decision. THIS IS TRUST!
For some time now, several months anyhow, there has been an area of disobedience in my life. At this point, the details are between God and me, but when He lets me know to share it with others I will. It's something I knew God wanted changed and it was up to me to do it. For what ever reasons, I fought it...took my time doing it...did it once and then undid it. Why do we go to such greats lengths to hang on to things we know aren't right for us? Whatever they are...toxic friendships/relationships, time-wasters, habits that make us feel better (i.e. shopping, eating, gambling), resentment, unforgiveness, anger...I could go on but I won't. Why do we hang on to these things when God clearly tells us to LET THEM GO! The good news is...on Christmas Eve I let it go, fully, without regret, while asking for forgiveness and allowing God to fill that space that I knew would be there once I let it go...fill it with Him, with His love, with His word, with His work. THIS IS OBEYING!
"Trust and obey, trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey!
The song rings true! I'm not saying these seizures happened due to not trusting or disobedience in any way. I'm not even implying that God couldn't do what he needed to do at any time due to distrust or disobedience. I believe God can perform miracles and produce healing any time He gets ready. But I also know His timing is perfect. He knows when I see Him working in our lives that I will shout it on a rooftop and I won't shut up about it. He likes that about me. He wants to make sure I see the big picture! ;-)
Please be in prayer with us that tomorrow is day 3 of no seizures. That he truly did have his very last seizure on Christmas day. Will keep you all updated. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Christmas fun...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
This weekend we had so much Christmas fun...pictures with Santa, mailing a letter to Santa, and we went to Santaland in Lindale (2.5 million lights that are ONLY worth the THREE HOUR WAIT IN LINE because my kids loved them. I personally vote to NEVER go back...we made the memory once!). But these are the things I pray my kids and Jacoby and I will remember for always. Lots of fun and cute pictures!
We have a picture with Jacoby in it too but it's the one we ordered so it's not ready yet...we grabbed a few with our own camera also. Santa's helper understood my urgency to get them on my blog before next week!
Mailing a letter to Santa FIRST thing on Saturday morning...seriously before 9 am!!!
Running out to the mailbox with the letter he wrote in pajamas and cowboy boots. Who dresses this kid?
Smile at Mommy I need a good picture for my scrapbook!
Flag up! Ugh, we should have combed your hair first...
At Santaland:
Next on the agenda: "The Nativity Story" live on Monday night and North Pole of East Texas on Tuesday night!!! Whooohooo. More pics soon!
This weekend we had so much Christmas fun...pictures with Santa, mailing a letter to Santa, and we went to Santaland in Lindale (2.5 million lights that are ONLY worth the THREE HOUR WAIT IN LINE because my kids loved them. I personally vote to NEVER go back...we made the memory once!). But these are the things I pray my kids and Jacoby and I will remember for always. Lots of fun and cute pictures!
We have a picture with Jacoby in it too but it's the one we ordered so it's not ready yet...we grabbed a few with our own camera also. Santa's helper understood my urgency to get them on my blog before next week!
Mailing a letter to Santa FIRST thing on Saturday morning...seriously before 9 am!!!
Running out to the mailbox with the letter he wrote in pajamas and cowboy boots. Who dresses this kid?
Smile at Mommy I need a good picture for my scrapbook!
Flag up! Ugh, we should have combed your hair first...
At Santaland:
Next on the agenda: "The Nativity Story" live on Monday night and North Pole of East Texas on Tuesday night!!! Whooohooo. More pics soon!
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