Three years old

Today Gracie turned 3 years old. We spent the weekend cele-
brating. Yesterday, the whole family came for a party. Gracie enjoyed spending time with her cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles, opening her gifts and eating cake.

Today, we celebrated Gracie's life as a family. And, at this point, I have to say how grateful I am to God for giving me such a precious daughter. He has blessed her with such a happy, joyful spirit and it is wonderful being her mother.

When I was first diagnosed, she was only 7 months old. The rest of her first year was a rocky one with me spending much time in the hospital, many different faces caring for her and a very abrupt switch to feeding with a bottle. But through it all, she smiled and remained a happy baby. Even before my illness, she had severe acid reflux, but she never cried or complained about it. God knew how much I needed a child like that during the hard times He gave us and I praise God every day for that.

And she continues to fill our lives and family with joy. I am amazed daily that Grace has continued to stay such a happy and content child, always doing her best to bring smiles to those around her. I have often seen her tender ways with Joost when he is upset or sad about something. Jeff and I pray that we will have wisdom as we raise her and that she will be called by God to be joyful, not only because He has made her that way, but more so because of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Happy Birthday, Grace! We love you so much.

Some extra help

On Saturday, my dad and Jeff did some work on our front porch.



Thankfully, they had some extra hands to help out with the task. I'm not sure if the job could have been completed without the skill and expertise of Joost and Grace.

The beach, one more time

This past week, my parents spent their week in Rehoboth Beach and invited us to spend some of it with them. Jeff, due to his work schedule, could not join us, but the kids and I went down for a few days and had a ton of fun enjoying the beach one last time for the summer.

With the hurricane bringing in some unbeach like weather, we were able to enjoy some other activities like climbing a World War II watch tower at Cape Henlopen. I rarely fear heights (Ferris wheels excluded), but when it's my children up on a very high tower, I fear them a little. I think every mother's stomach might be able to relate. But, despite any nervous stomachs, we did see some lovely views from up at that height.

We did have some good days on the beach with lots of sand and water enjoyed by Joost and Grace. And every evening was perfectly cool enough for great board walk weather. It was great to be able to spend those days with Mom and Dad and we're thankful to them for sharing their rental house with us.

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Jeff celebrated his birthday this past weekend. His birthday always falls on Labor Day weekend, which means it's always very full and then we fill it with birthday fun, as well. It was, as you might guess, a packed out weekend. But, I set Sunday aside especially as "Jeff's day" and the kids and I tried to fill the afternoon with things that he would enjoy--including gifts, steak and hiking.

In regards to the hiking, we found a great NEW state park. Boyd Big Tree Conservation Area is a park that is only about 20 minutes away and has some wonderful hiking trails. We have made a family goal to hike all seven trails before the winter. One down, so far--it was a shorter one. It was a mile long and Joost was able to walk the entire trail!

I am so grateful for Jeff and that God has given him another year. Happy birthday, my dear husband!