2017

Doing what I can...

Merry Christmas in Heaven.

Christmas this year.

Gonna take a break from here.  Wishing you and your family a happy, blessed and joy-filled Holiday.

Angie

I'm ok....

Several of you who read this have reached out to me in the last couple of days asking if everything is okay.  For those who have reached out we are grateful.  It means a lot that you a) still read this given how terrible I've been lately at updating it and b) that you'd take the time to check in.  It means a lot.

The truth is, things aren't okay.  The truth is the last 10 days have been hell.  Pretty much hell on earth.  On December 8, Jarrett and I were given news that brought us to our knees and has taken the air from within us.  As much as I try to be as honest and pour my heart out on here, I just can't bring myself to share this news.  I think its because if I openly share then I'll really have to admit its real and not a terrible nightmare I want to wake up from. 

Maybe someday in the future I'll be able to talk about it.  Maybe I'll find the courage to open my heart, but not right now.  My heart is broken.  Our hearts are crushed.  Our sadness is too hard to verbalize. 

I'm sorry I can't open up right now, I appreciate your concern, your care, and your understanding as we go through the coming days.

 

changed

courage

The pathway of thorns...

When life seems to knock you down and force you to  walk barefoot through a pathway of thorns....

Getting out of bed is pure torture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So many reasons to give thanks this Thanksgiving... this crew is at the top of our list.

Our handsome 12 year old Gabriel.

And our caring, loving heart at his core, 10 year old Michael.

Our spunky, sassy and oh so loving 5 year old Isabelle.

And our getting-bigger bundle of joy, 1 year old Madelyn.



Guess I better not forget this guy... he's pretty incredible himself.  So thankful for ALL he does for me and our family.

Hard to believe we've been together almost 22 years in January! (YIKES, we're not that old yet are we?")

Wishing you and your family a very happy and blessed Holiday Season!

Until next time,
Angie

Cross Country and Baseball...

This fall Gabriel participated in Cross Country through his school and both he and Michael played club baseball on the Warriors team.  It was really busy but also A LOT of fun.  We sure love watching the boys play and to see how much they improved this fall was even more impressive.  Here are some photos from the season.

The group of guys taking off.

Gabriel coming around the bend to finish strong.

It was only 105 this day when we ran (SO HOT), and his first home meet.  He did great!

Some of his biggest cheerleaders!

 This next meet was the Twilight Invitational where there were hundreds of runners with teams from all over the state and even a few other states.  Only the top runners got to go and Gabriel as a 6th grader was invited to participate.  Jarrett and I never took cross country so we didn't know what to expect.  Turns out it was HUGE, out in Casa Grande and in the middle of the desert.  It was fun and as you'll see the Aprende team did great!  The boys team WON!

Gabriel's somewhere in there in a green shirt!

They're off!

Seriously a sea of runners!

He's right there.... that yellow shirt on the far right end of the picture!

And as soon as they are off, they seemed to be coming back!

Here is was finishing with his fastest time of the season!

Such a fun evening and yes he's now taller than me!

Picture of the girls and boys team from his school who competed in this twilight meet.

And a picture of him holding the team trophy from the meet!  Such a great experience for his first year!

And from baseball...

Practice started in July and just wrapped up a few weeks ago, it was a fun (and LONG) season)!

Gabriel played catcher, pitcher and lots and lots of shortstop!

Michael played right field, being the youngest player on the team, most boys were 12, he's only 10.  Thankfully the coach let them play on the same team to help save us some running.  It was GREAT!

One of the tournaments they played in. 

Madelyn was kind of over it after the first 20 games.  Thankfully Dad kept her entertained a lot of the time!

Mighty Michael, number 99 up to bat!

Watch out for those balls!

Love to watch them play!

Another game dad helped entertain Madelyn!

Michael scores!

When the weather finally cools below 100 and you're sitting at the game with these kind of views, I often find myself thinking, "This is what life is all about."  I would rather watch these kids play with all their heart and effort than any MLB team.  This, in my opinion is what life is all about.

Gabriel at bat!

Gabriel pitching

And this is one of Gabriel's favorite highlights of the season!  I'll let you watch for yourself. 

It's been a fun season and now we look forward to a bit of a break until Spring ball.  Oh it sounds nice to have some down time too!

Until next time,

Angie

World Prematurity Day

This past week on November 17, was World Prematurity Day, and while not a day goes by that we don't think about Noah, its days like that when we miss him even more. 

The night before World Prematurity Day Michael had the school assignment to write a poem about something in his life that didn't go as planned and how he felt about it.  I had no idea what he was writing about and as I made dinner he appeared at the counter and said, "Mom can I read you my poem?"  I said sure and went onto listed to a poem that melted my heart, and took me a few moments to process that these words came from a 10 year old. Its clear he spoke directly from his heart. 

After reading it I told him how beautiful it was and asked him to write me a copy.  He did and it is something I"m going to tuck away to keep forever. 

Losing Noah was something that impacted each and everyone of our family members.  We all still grieve his loss, we all search for rainbows and smile when we see them and we all still feel his loss each and everyday.

We are thankful for the moments we were able to share.

To all the babies born too early, for those who were able to stay, and to those who gained their angel wings... we think of you all and your families on World Prematurity Day... actually everyday.

Until next time,
Angie