W.O.W Carnival:

So I decided to try this WOW carnival that Becky is putting on. I have wanted to try this for a while but it seems like I always have something come up I am unable,or don't want, to take a picture first.

We have some friends coming over for Memorial Day weekend and they have never seen our house...so, I have lots of things on my list to get done Within One Week.

Phil just got done painting our guest room a really nice pale green. It was a horrible dark green that was on the ceiling as well!!! YUK!!!! The room was always dark and even when you turned on the light you could hardly tell it was on. I think Phil will get done with the trim tomorrow and then I can get it ready for our guests. I hope to have the room ready by next week when our company arrives.

This picture was taken with my phone so it does not show the color very well. Here is my before picture.

Thankful on Mother's Day!

I was in the doctors office for my 23 week visit and looking at my second baby on the Ultrasound. I told the doctor that I could not believe that I was over half way through my second pregnancy! We waited so long (9 years) for our first blessing and now I have a second one on the way.

The second thing I am thankful for... A few weeks ago we took Hannah to the doctor for a strange little noise that I could hear when I put my ear on her head. They told us that she would need to be sent to Wenatchee for an MRI/MRA of her brain.They said she might have an AV Malformation in her brian. They really could not tell us much more about an AVM then that. I made the mistake and looked it up online and could not relax for the next 3 weeks, until her appointment.

We took her down to Wenatchee on the 27th of April and that turned out to be a very long day for us and Hannah. She had to be put under for over 4 hours and they tried to get an IV over 17 times. After 7 hours, losing 1/3 of her hair for the IV to be put in her head, and lots of tears from Hannah and Mommy, we were on our way back home.

Thank the Lord everything looked fine on the MRI...we still don't know what that sound is but the doctor said that we should not worry about it because everything in her brain looked normal and healthy.

I really went through some trust issues with God. I spent a few nights crying and telling him that I really wanted to trust him in all of this but because of losing Flora it was really hard to cry out (again) and feel like this time my prayer would be answered. One night Hannah had a fever (totally unrelated) and Phil went to the store for meds. On his way back home he felt like the Lord told him that this whole thing was meant to encourage our faith and NOT to discourage it. The Lord is good and faithful and knew exactly what I needed as a mom to have peace and to trust Him.

This is a picture of Hannah in her little hospital gown before everything.


This is her after she woke up and her little face was all puffy.



By the next day Hannah was just fine and I am glad for her sake that she doesn't realize she is missing so much hair. I guess I will have to wait a little longer for those little pigtails. A small price to pay.

Our Second Miracle:

We are having another baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to wait until I went to the Doctor before I posted it on my blog. This morning we got to see his or her little heart beat...I am so thankful! I was suprised when I got pregnant with Hannah but hoped that it would not take another nine years for the second one. We found out about this baby a week or so before Hannah's first birthday!
Thank you, Jesus, for our second miricle!!!!

P.S. I am due on August 27th.

Hannah's First Birthday:

We had a big birthday bash for Hannah's first birthday! I didn't do an exact count but I know we had about 35-40 people over for Hannah's farm animal birthday. I was tired by the end of the day but we had a great time with friends and family. I think I spent about 5 hours working on her little pigs, sheep and cow cupcakes but they turned out really cute and cost a whole lot less than a Wal-Mart sheet cake.

Hannah loved having lots of new toys!!!!

She had much needed help opening her gifts from her little cousin, Luke.


Our friends got Hannah an ORU T-Shirt so she can be just like Daddy. (Phil's alma mater)




I think Hannah had a lot of fun eating her pig cupcake but she was not into it for long. I think maybe 3-5 minutes and she was done. I think she wanted to play with all the kids again. She loves kids!

Hannah proofing the house:

I have a black coffee table and it really needs some color but every time I have a runner on it Hannah, and every other child that comes to my house, take it off. She has also learned that if something is on it and out of her reach all she has to do is pull the runner and it magically comes right to her.

My solution...screws! I know that sounds ugly but you really can't even tell. I had Phil screw the runner down to the coffee table and it keeps the runner straight and you can't even tell. It just stays nice.



I folded the edges under and the screws are on the bottom so unless you know about it you can't even see the screws.

Hannah isn't sure what to do now?


I am so happy how that turned out that I am looking around my house for other things that I can screw down. :)

$avings at the pump:

I never thought that I would be so excited to fill my van with gas. I filled the tank for $35.00! That is about half of what it was about a month ago. I don't know how much longer it will keep going down but every time I go to town I look at the gas prices and I am thankful. I never thought I would be thankful for $2.29 a gallon!
I am sure you Suburban owners (Angie and Tiffany) are even happier than I am. :)

Hallelujah Carnival:

We really did have a fun Halloween this year! Phil and I have been going to the Agri-Plex (for the last 3 years)for the Hallelujah Carnival that one of our local churches puts on every year. We play music and the kids have tons of games to play and leave with lots of candy. This year we had over 100 volunteers and around 1600 kids come through that night! I think that is pretty cool numbers for such a small town.

The best part was having Hannah with us! Last year I was grieving for our little Flora and waiting for the arrival of Hannah. This year I had my little baby in my arms and, my heart has had over a year to heal and take some of the sting out of our loss. I think that it truly was a Hallelujah Carnival for me. I was able to look back and see what good things God has done for Phil and I this last year.

I know pictures of people singing isn't very fun so, maybe you can start humming one of your favorite worship songs as you look at the next few pictures. :)

Here is a picture of the whole "Band". Dan, Carl, Jeremy, Shiloh, Sherry and Brenda.







Hannah and her friends...Sherry and her daughter Ellie and son Cameron.

Hannah as a sunflower.