awwwhhh

imagine how this made my day when my eyes fell upon it...

Jeff's Mac yearbook 1994-1995.

awwwhhh...just gotta love him...

thankful

when you have a super talented nephew and daughter, this happens! 
love my new chalkboard!!

perfect timing for this season of gratitude, and grateful i am!   
the blessings are so numerous, the daily graces are constantly overflowing, especially obvious when i stop long enough to see them (funny how that works!).  i'm working more on that...God is so good, all of the time, and i'm so thankful to be a child of His~ that i'm always held, protected, carried, forgiven, loved unconditionally, delighted in...amazing!!
Happy season of Thanksgiving!

Yonas

it's Yonas!  remember all those times i've written about him before?  both on the original blog, and this one, since AJ journeyed home. 

we've stayed connected through a wonderful man named Eyob who, even though heavily involved in ministry himself, has helped facilitate this for us over the years...

so, recently i've been able to connect a bit more with Yonas~ one of social media's perks i guess~ continents and oceans may separate us but crazy apps called Facebook and Messenger have helped to close the gaps.  so, here we are, connecting again...such a gigantic joy to see his face every now and again.  we've also learned that Yonas is still in contact with many of the other children we met back in 2010, both when we traveled with Joelle and Hannah, and on the second trip when it was just Jeff and I and AJ...precious kids who were in the neighbourhood of the guesthouse we were staying in. 

as it turns out, this group of joyful, spunky and athletic kids banded together and remained a united force, even still, in 2017...Yonas has sent me current pictures of four sweet kids we fell in love with there during soccer scrambles and silly games and camera silliness.  they are all growing up~ looking well and happy and healthy and simply beautiful too.  

back to Yonas~ please consider praying for him if you think of it.  he has some training as an electrician from a trade school, but has been unable to find work in that area of study.  he's been trying for about a year...recently he's considering more education to obtain training in a field where there are employment opportunities.  of course, he's so limited in his options based on finances alone.  so, Eyob is working with Yonas to come up with a new plan...Yonas is 18 years old now.   would be so great if he could eventually find full-time work and become totally self-sufficient as a young adult.  that would be an amazing step for him, and achievable i believe!  

boys and their cakes

 my boys are cake lovin' boys....must take after yours truly, even though that's not technically possible...

Gotcha Day # 11....so thankful.  Hudson is a giant bundle of life~ fun and silly and crazy.

my childhood cake pictures are nothing like these.  social media and selfies and phones and ipads have made these kids the opposite of camera shy~ and on the bright side (cuz goodness knows i'm always trying to find the technology bright side), these are much more fun to look at! 

somehow AJ is now in double digits.  i'm also officially old.  the kids ages span ten to twenty...tryin' to take that in~ how even??  AJ requested a repeat on the Kit Kat cake from a few years back...i was so glad he did, honestly.  didn't require me to stretch my creativity this year and it was also pretty yummy...

summer wrap up

this goes against all my inner "type A" love of sequence and order, but after sorting through summer pics i found a few random ones that i noted hadn't made it here.  pics that i want in my family life journal that accurately captures more events of this past summer.  so, i apologize for the throwback to July and August, but i must do it to be certain i'll have these memories locked up forever!  can't rely on this mama's recollection like i used to~ and for that, i blame the children. because i can.

Jeffrey got a skateboard, and the resulting excursions were a highlight of mine!  we enjoyed weekend cruises through Sarnia's most beautiful spots...kids on boards as well, or scooters or rollerblades...it was so fun and refreshing!

my beauty at the beach with just me.  rare but nice...

more bike jumps, on a day when Adam was free... 

Hannah kicking it at the city pool....man it blessed my heart to see her teaching her little swim students this summer.  really a gift to watch.  i was there with my three taking lessons at the same time...that's her on the left helping the little girl jump into the deeper water.  she spent her summer there, teaching and guarding and soaking up the sun.  she loved it!  one of her students loved her swim teacher so much she told her mom she wished Hannah could be her Kindergarten teacher as well! :)

making a pool noodle train back to the shallow end...

beach fun...

another Lego creation, this time a summer cottage! a joint effort and sense of accomplishment...

                 pheww...all caught up!  i can sleep tonight!                         

slingshot anyone??

 "why yes, i think i will!" said Adam and Joelle...

Adam and Joelle's Slingshot experience

my adrenaline-pumping, thrill-seeking two who didn't hesitate when given the opportunity to try this "pay extra" ride at Canada's Wonderland...might have been the shock of being offered the chance by their father who was willing to cough up the extra bills to make it happen.  (Jeff was thankful only two wanted to! :)) they said "yes" and didn't seem to waver while they waited, which alone was impressive to me!  but then the ride....c-r-a-z-y!!!! i'm certain the video doesn't do justice to the sheer height they were shot upward, but still, you'll get the idea.

consensus~ they loved it!  it was awesome!  so glad they did it!

wrung out

i remember as a little girl learning how to properly wash dishes and wipe down counters.  i remember the very specific way my parents taught me to wring out a wet cloth.  not just with a one-handed squeeze, but a two handed, proper wring out with hands twisting in opposite directions until the cloth was left void of any extra water...the dishcloth was simply damp, and a really great tool for counter clean up and crumb gathering...

lately, i've been thinking about the process of being "squeezed dry" by life...and admittedly, my heart is feeling a little wrung out.  just being honest.  i'm not alone, i know that...i've spoken to other moms and grandmas who echo these feelings.  especially in the season we approach of fall~ a season of change, as our kids settle back into a school routine and we have quiet time again to process the warm wildness of summer~ its happenings and memories.  

honestly, i wouldn't have it any other way.  a sign of a full life...from saying goodbye to our oldest, entering year two of a university program she loves, and seeing her settle in and maximize the opportunities around her~ it's a pretty contagiously fun and happy existence she leads...all while celebrating the birthdays of five of my six dear kids, contemplating what the new year ahead holds for each of them, to letting go of a precious baby boy we have all come to adore in this home.  all eight of us showered "D" in crazy amounts of love, and he soaked it up, every last snuggle.  Jeff called him "candle wax" for the way he seemed to mold into the arms and body of whoever held him...i truly gave him everything i had, all while preparing my heart for the inevitable goodbye, and i watched each of our kids and dear husband do the same.  they loved without restraint, and it blessed my heart to see that.  they get it....still, off he went as we knew he would, taking a small piece of our hearts with him... i long to know that he is okay and that his future is secure and love-filled, and i have no answers....i may never know...that's the tough part.  we pray, we hope, we trust knowing that God loves him more than i/we ever could...

so, all that to say, feeling like my heart has been wrung out is surely to be expected!  i want to continue to feel deeply through this one life I've been given~ with all of its ups and downs and highs and lows. i'll use these quieter days of September to refresh my spirit a bit, to seek the face of Jesus more and to wait on God for what lies ahead...

through it all...it is well