Thank you!

I need to interrupt our little hiatus to tell my blogging friends a great big

THANK YOU!!

A year ago on Wednesday started our traumatic events leading up to the birth of our beautiful McKenzie. As you know, things did not start out well. You can see here where Reese knew we were headed into some tough times. I started to tell you a little about what was going on here and another update here. You guys have walked this road with us. You have been there through the many updates, the frantic birth, the surgeries and all the praise reports along the way.



Here we are a year later and we are enjoying every moment with McKenzie. She has been a fighter since the day you she decided to be born - six weeks early! I am so thankful for all she has accomplished and how far she has come. My sister is a star mom and takes care of McKenzie's every need. God has certainly answered prayers with regards to McKenzie. He has shown who is in control and that He will guide us.



So, thank you! I can't tell you how much our family has appreciated your prayers and support. I really want you to know that it has meant alot to me.



Here is our girl now. She has glasses now, although rarely wears them as she just pulls them off. She is such a happy girl and laughs and talks all the time. She is slightly behind other kids her age, but not by much. She really is doing so well!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled hiatus! Enjoy the rest of summer...school is right around the corner :(

~On Hiatus~

Have a lovely summer!

&

It's Hard To Be A Parent (Revisited)

As you can tell, I seem to have issues right now with posting. It's not that I don't want too, it's that I just can't think up anything great to say. Reese and I have had a couple of different blogs over the years and one of them has been saved so I decided to look over there and you know what, on that blog, it was mostly Reese as well. I must frequently have writer's block. As you can tell from my different posts, writing and grammar are definitely not my strong points.

I did find this post though. Reading this helps me remember why we blog. If I had not written it down, I would have forgotten this precious moment with my son. It was written the end of March, 2007.

Last night I sat on the bathroom floor with my soon to be 9 year old son, Mark, and watched as the tears poured down his face. He was crying because he can't remember his cousin anymore. James passed away when he was 19 months old due to a genetic disease called Menkes. Mark was 7 at the time. He says he just wishes he could remember something, but he can't. That's so hard. Mark adored James and spent so much time with him..but, he just can't remember.

He's finally asking questions...tough ones. Ones that I ask and have no answers for. We talked about all the wonderful lessons we learned and how we would not have ever learned those lessons if it weren't for James. We learned that every person, no matter what the disability, deserved love and acceptance. They have amazing personalities that shine through their eyes and their limited movements. We learned unconditional love. But, then you have to ask..why James..why did we have to learn those lessons at the sacrifice of James? Tough questions for an 9 year old, tough questions for a mom still muddling through some of those same issues.

It's hard being a parent. It's hard to watch your child suffer and question life issues. At the same time, it's wonderful to watch them learn about life and to find stability in a God that loves and saves them. One of the best lessons we learned is that God will not take away all of our tough times, but he will definitely walk through them with us. He sees the big picture. James is already with Him, and we will be eventually. Maybe in the end, that is all that matters.

There are also amazing fun times, times that I am thankful for and still wouldn't change but, again, not an easy thing to understand.Mark is a wonderful child. He's extremely sensitive and loving. I just have to keep praying that he will keep talking and expressing himself, that he won't bottle any of his feelings up. What a blessing it is to be his mom!

Recently I read somewhere that every trial we go through prepares us for what is going to happen next in life. I really don't think we would have felt ready for McKenzie if it hadn't been for James. There would have been a "trial" period of figuring out how to deal with a child with disabilities, one who looks different and may not be "normal". McKenzie was loved and accepted instantly. We already know the benefit of loving completely a child that may not be "normal". We didn't have to think about it or weigh the risks. We learned alot through James and are learning through McKenzie now. He paved the way for her into our family. He did so much in his little life and I'm thankful for every moment spent with him, every lesson learned, every angry grunt he gave me and most of all, I'm glad God chose us. Despite the pain, I'm glad I was his aunt and I'm equally glad to be McKenzie's.

The Michelin Baby

Heather's husband Dan is always uploading funny pictures to his Facebook page. This one I had to repost because it made me laugh out loud!

Quotes That Have Spoken To Me Lately

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

~George Bernard Shaw

It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.

~Frederic D. Huntington, in Forum magazine, 1890

Pictures From My London Trip Yesterday

People all over the world will do anything for some cash, as this blue man deftly demonstrates. This is only one of many examples of people playing instruments for money. There was a hand-less man in the Tube station, strumming his guitar with a pick strapped to the end of his stub. Isn't there any other way for a one-handed man to make some dough?

This bloke became a dog for money. It must have been insanely hot under that blanket.

Kristine poses by the artful graffiti. This was under a footbridge, where a small skate park was. It actually looked pretty cool!

My friend Javare, posing with me in front of the London Eye. This is right by The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. A short walk away is Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square.


Happy Independence Day! Hope you all have a safe and fun weekend.

A Ramble

I've been falling down on my job. I was supposed to post on Wednesday but after work I headed to Portland to take a photography class with a friend. I didn't get home til 11:30 at night. I had every intention of doing a post, but when I got home I found out the kids had let the laptop die and I just didn't feel like messing with it. Terrible excuse, I know. Other than that, things have just been typical summer crazy.

I've decided to just ramble tonight. I'm super excited for the 4th. Normally I really don't care, I'm not a big fireworks person but this year I've talked my whole family into going to a town nearby that has a good fireworks show. I can't wait to watch my nieces (ages 3 and 4) get their first real taste of fireworks. I'm sure they will be in awe. What about you guys? Do you have any plans? Do you have any 4th of July traditions?

McKenzie is all healed from her surgeries, and looks great. I can't get enough of this smile, and she freely gives them out!

We are starting to gear up for our camping trips. I can't wait! I am taking the kids camping on July 10th and Dan will join us on the 11th and we will stay until the 13th. We love to camp and it's such a great way for our family to reconnect. Dan works completely opposite schedules from the kids and I and even though we do get to see each other we don't spend good quality time together. Then we will be home for a couple of weeks and leave August 2nd for the beach. This will be the first time that we try camping at the beach but we've heard of a great place to go and I can't wait to give it a try.

I hope you all have an amazing fourth!! Have fun with your families!!

My Ever-Evolving Hair

Getting a hair cut and color can be awfully anticlimactic. I think and plan and think and plan, looking forward to that one hour where everything changes. And then, slowly the bleach is painted in and the rinsing happens and the cutting moves along at its slow and steady pace. After a hour-and-a-half, I look in the mirror and it's done; no fireworks, no rumbling announcements, just a quiet transition from one idea of myself to another. The only time it's a big event is when it doesn't turn out right, and then the event tends to be after the cut/color: the tears, the wailing, the hiding under the covers till I fall into a fitful, nightmare plagued sleep. (An exaggeration? Maybe!)

Since I was in Oregon and Heather helped me turn my black hair into a shocking orange mess with the assistance of bleach in a box covered with lies (black to platinum blonde in 90 minutes? Nope!), I've contemplated going back to my original blonde hair. When I asked my hairstylist Pauline about it, she said I couldn't take it from the current red ("ginger" it's called here) to light blonde successfully. She suggested "heavy highlights" for a couple of visits this summer, eventually switching over completely to blonde. The deed was done this morning.


What do you get when you mix blonde and red? Orange! But it's ok, I still like it. It's kind of funky, which is fine with me. I'm ok with processes.

Please keep in mind that it's been very hot here, about 90 degrees. That might not seem hot to you, but it's not normal here and without air conditioning and with a high humidity level it's miserable. I look like it's miserably hot!

Food For Thought: Why You Are Where You Are

Have you thought about why you are where you are? Unless you're living in direct disobedience to a specific call of The Lord, you haven't just randomly dropped down by accident in a town/city/base/state/country. You've been planted there by God's divine wisdom. The people you come into contact with aren't there by accident either, and neither are they in your path by coincidence. You were born for such a time as this.

For some of us, that's comforting only in the way that we know there is a larger purpose and plan behind the trials we are facing; for others of us that means we need to look hard and long at how we are spending the time God has allotted us where we are. Are you waking up every morning looking for the why in your "chance" meetings and dealings with people? Might there be more to it that what you have been willing to see up till this point?

Spend a moment at the foot of the throne of the Most High. Be humbled by His plan and the call He ordained for you before the dawn of time. Then stand up, walk out and be the light you were called to be.

A Valuable Lesson

Dad has no clue how to dress Barbie.


This was definitely a "had to be there" moment. McKenna tied on Barbie's shirt way too tight and I couldn't undo it. She was sure her dad could and I warned her there was no way he would know how to take care of it. He sure took care of it his own way, he ripped it off and busted the straps. McKenna was almost in tears when she realized he had broke her Barbie shirt. Next thing you know she is telling him to put it back on her, so he ties it in a knot around her neck and there you have it. You can't really tell but it's kind of a halter type shirt and Dan just tied the the straps around her neck without putting the shirt all the way on, so it's just dangling around her neck. McKenna was NOT happy, not even a little bit.

The Fashion Show In My Back Yard

Is this the future trend among the young people?! It's highly favored among my youngest boys, as modeled here by Zac.

Mark's Thoughts

Today was my day to post. Reese and I are really trying to commit to keeping up with the blog because it is important to us. I had a really hard day at work. Things are just crazy. I asked my boss to figure out how to clone me so there could be an "at home" Heather and an "at work" Heather. I hate trying to find the balance and get it all done.

Here it is 9:30 p.m. and I had no idea what I was going to post about until Mark came in the room. He's such a funny kid. I had no intention of posting about Michael Jackson or his death. I have my own thoughts on it and it really doesn't matter what I think but one thing I didn't realize is how confusing Michael Jackson could be for our children. I mean, they didn't watch him "evolve".

Dan was watching part of MTV's tribute to MJ when Mark walks in and says "oh, is this about the boy Michael Jackson or the girl Michael Jackson?" Dan and I had no clue what he could be talking about so we tell him there is no girl MJ. He then says "What do you mean? He was once a black boy and turned into a white girl." Now, that's confusing, and looking at his pics I can see where Mark got that assumption.

They also showed MJ singing with Slash from Guns N Roses and Mark says "Hey, that's the guy from Guitar Hero" Dan told him that he was much more popular than Guitar Hero and Mark said "Why, because he has a funny hat, big hair and you can't see his face?" Uh, yeah Mark, that's why!

Truthfully, that conversation made me feel a little old. There is no way that Mark can understand at his age why MJ or Slash are popular because they are so different from the artists of today. It's kind of like when my mom had me listen to The Beatles and artists of her time. At 11, I just didn't get it...and, none were nearly as confusing as MJ.

I hope this doesn't come across disrespectful, because it's not my intent. Just a glimpse into my 11 year old's head.

The Summer Reese Wears Dresses

There was a time in the not-so-distant past that the thought of wearing something that the majority of the population deemed ugly would have sent me into a panic. Not any more. With my 30's came a new-found confidence. Very little actually intimidates me as far as clothing is concerned. (Unless it's seriously immodest- I don't like to go there.)

I've wanted to find some dresses for the summer time; something flowing and airy, not too short (it gets awfully windy here), and low cost. I've dubbed this summer "The Summer That Reese Wears Dresses" but only had two that looked like they belonged outside a church. Today at the BX I decided to have a quick browse to try to expand my selection.

Since I've started a weird patchwork burn/suntan pattern on my shoulders and back, I decided to look for something strapless. Viola!


Sean's comment? "You're not going out in that are you?!"

Kristine's comments? "No comment." (Then she commented.) "You look like you're going to a luau." And: "I'm sitting here in the van. There's no way I'm going to be seen with you in that!."

Actually, as soon as I slipped it over my head in the fitting room I heard my friend Linda say (in her distinctive African-British accent), "I don't like it." She's very honest that way. She doesn't like the color of my hair either. But she loves me.

As for me:

• Red hair? Bring it on!
• Pigtails? Bring it on!
• Wildly unpopular dress that drags the ground and is in a crazy design? Bring it on!