Update on Ryan

Praise the Lord for answered prayer!
This morning Ryan was scheduled for a lung biopsy, but when they arrived they were told that the doctor was planning to try to biopsy one of the spots on his neck, a much less evasive surgery. 

He is sore tonight, but I believe this is for sure an answer to prayer!

Please keep praying.  Ryan has a doctor's appointment on Thursday morning to get the results from the biopsy and see what is next!

"I'm Free" and the Tin Caps

Maddie woke this morning in a great mood!  She's "free" today! (translated 3)

She snuggled Daddy for a few minutes before breakfast!

 Then we were off!  Let me explain a little.  Ronnie and Nathaniel had won tickets to the Tin Caps for today for the reading program through school.  When we realized that the game day was Maddie's birthday, we decided that we would take the whole family!  This was the first time Eli, Maddie and I got to go!

I was a little worried when we woke to thunder and rain this morning, but we bundled up and headed out!  It was suppose to be warm, so we prayed no rain and headed for Ft. Wayne.

We were not disappointed.  No rain until we got back to Ney and it turned out to be a warm, sunny beautiful day!

 The Mascot for the Tin Caps is Johnny Tin Cap.  Maddie loved him and tried every chance she could to yell and get his attention!  She was pretty happy to have her picture taken with him too!

 The one thing she kept telling people leading up to today was that she was going to the "tim caps and gonna get a hot dog".  So here she is...with her hot dog!  I mean really, does it get any better than a hot dog and a ball game on your birthday! (thankfully she is 3 and easily convinced by 3 boys that this was the greatest gift she could have gotten)!

 After the game, all the kids were invited down to run the bases.  Maddie wasn't sure at first, but when she say that Johnny was on 3rd base giving high fives, she was ready to get in line.

 Nathaniel was off first!

 Maddie was suppose to be next, but she froze.  Not wanting to go alone, her big brother stepped in to help her.  She and Eli went all the way from 1st to home, arm in arm.  It was priceless!  So proud of that little man to help his little sister and they made quite the cute little pair as they rounded.  They had all the  parents exclaiming how cute they were!

 Unfortunately, I didn't get Ronnie and only got the end of Nathaniel coming off the field. Eli and Maddie were just too cute.  They were lapped by their big brother and many others, but they held tightly to one another long past home base.

 They were both thrilled to stop and give Johnny a High Five and then continue on!

 All 4 kids enjoyed the day at the ball park!

 Yes, Maddie is the youngest and in surrounded by boys, but she is loved beyond belief by all those boys!  They love and protect and defend her to the end!  So thankful that the boys love their little sis.

 Oh yeah, and that big boy likes her a lot too!  As she rode on his shoulders for the 4 block hike to the van, she retold the story of Eli helping her around the bases, ending with "and Eli saved the day".

So, today we celebrated our little girl! 

Hard to believe she is three years old.  Growing so fast.  Changing so quickly. 

As I bathed her tonight, I asked her if she enjoyed her birthday.  She replayed the yellow cake, the presents, grandparents and the "tim caps".  It was a fun filled birthday!

Birthday Party

 Maddie enjoyed her Birthday party this year!  We had the festivities on Saturday because that is when Grandparents could be here!  Maddie was up bright and early waiting on Grandpa and Grandma Adkins!

 All three of the boys gave Maddie gifts.  They searched their own toys, books, and other items and filled boxes or bags of things they knew she would like.  It was very thoughtful and sweet to see them give gifts to their sister.

 Maddie was pretty excited about her new doll house. 

She is having lots of fun with it!

 Here she is with her new dress that Grandpa Adkins picked out.  Every birthday she gets a dress from Grandpa!  He did a great job again this year!  Her favorite color- YELLOW!

 Maddie didn't have too many requests for a cake.  She would like for it to be yellow, but other than that she was not giving much advice.  I'd say by her reaction the Snow White on top and the castles and crowns around the side worked for her!

 It took her a couple of tries, but she finally got all 3 blown out!

 Pap and Grandma Neff came for dinner and cake!

 There was lots of time this weekend to play!

 Grandpa and Grandma had to leave on Sunday, but if was a fun visit.

 Maddie looked beautiful and so grown up in her new yellow dress!

So the party was great!  More about the actual day to come.

Stay tuned!

Madison Anne

Madison Anne turns 3 today!

We had a fun Saturday celebrating with Grandparents (hopefully pictures will be coming) and have big plans for today (if the weather cooperates).

 But for now, my Princess is a BIG 3 year old!   It's hard to believe that can even be possible.  My little baby is growing up.  I love watching her grow and develop as much as I hate watching her grow and not be my baby anymore!

Madison Anne, I hope you have a wonderful first day being 3, but more importantly - I hope you continue to grow and develop into all God wants you to be!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! 
We love you so much!

Please Pray

Would you join me in praying tomorrow, Monday morning, for Ron's brother, Ryan?  He has a lung biopsy scheduled for tomorrow morning.  Please pray for the doctors and nurses who will take care of him.  There are some possible issues, but the doctor doing the procedure is "good at what he does", according to my sister-in-law. 

Please also pray that they would be able to get enough from the biopsy to know what is going on.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Praise the Lord!

I got the pictures to work, at least for now.  It wasn't the easiest, but at least I can hopefully get some pictures of last week and Maddie's festivities this weekend!

Last weekend we met my parents at my Grandma Donna's.  She is in a nursing home now and doesn't remember me, but her face lights up when she see the kids!  I love taking them to see her, just to see her get so excited!

Below Dad and the boys are drawing in her room.

Maddie doesn't look happy below, but she really was.  She, Eli and my mom were playing Uno with Grandma!  They seemed to all enjoy it!

Grandma was so excited to be surrounded my the kids! 

 I am glad for opportunities for them to see their Great-Grandma!

I was a little nervous about this next picture.  If you have seem Eli lately, you know he's not little, but Grandma and he both enjoyed their tickle session!

4 Generations!

Before we left we had to check out the fish in the lobby.  This has become a tradition - "to see Grandma's fish!"

We had a good visit and promised to come back again soon!

Frustration

I'm beyond the point of frustrated.  I have been trying to get pictures on my computer for a week now.  My computer is old, I have known that for some time, but I have been downloading pictures onto an old laptop that my sister left and then was able to email them to my computer to put them on the blog.  Probably sounds confusing and is probably more complicated in my mind than it really should be, but the reality is that it's not working anymore and I can't get the pictures.

This is extremely frustrating.  I had some good pictures of our visit to see my Grandma Donna last week.

And even more frustrating because we are celebrating Maddie's birthday today!  Grandparents are going to be here and we have lots of plans on her real birthday (Monday the 30th) - and I want to post pictures of my little girl's big day!

So if you think about it, pray for me crazy computer and my lack of computer skills.  I really want to make this work!

Animals

Last week we went to visit a new addition to a local farm.  This little guy was fun to watch!  The kids enjoyed him right away, although they were a little timid.

Eli got brave first and was excited to get to touch the calf.

 He claimed his tongue was "sticky".

 Finally Ronnie got brave - then there was no pulling him away.

 We were ready to leave, but I think he could have stayed all day!

Nathaniel and Maddie were into the Labrador pup that was nearby (didn't get a picture, but he was adorable too).  Ron and I have said many times we wish we were at a place where we could get the kids a dog.  We need some property and room to run and a dog, or at least it would be nice!

We enjoyed our short trip to the farm!

Visit to the Dentist

Last week we took the kids to the dentist! 

This is a normal thing, however it was the first time for this little lady! 

She turns 3 next week and it was time to get them checked!  I thought I remembered (from Eli) that they would just allow her to sit in the chair and count her teeth - nothing too big.

However, she did get a cleaning.  She gripped my arm pretty tightly and tears were coming down her cheeks, but she kept her mouth opened  and did wonderfully!

I had a picture of Maddie and Nathaniel in the waiting room reading magazines.  Nathaniel with a Sports Illustrated and Maddie with something covered in pictures of actresses, but the picture is no where to be found! 



Two Birthdays

We went on Thursday to help my Granny and Gramps (dad's parents) celebrate their birthdays.  Their birthdays were actually on Wednesday and Friday of this past week and so we celebrated them both on Thursday.  My Dad brought dinner and Maddie and I made a cake (pink with sprinkles).

 The kids love visiting their Great-Grandparents! 



The kids had lots of fun being read to, playing, and just being with grandparents!



Eli was pretty excited by the blood pressure cuff.  He really wanted to check his after everyone else did, and was a little disappointed when it kept reading "error".  Could have something to do with the fact that they had to wrap it around his arm several times to get it to hold on!

Error reading!

We had a fun time celebrating with you Granny and Gramps  - we hope you did too!

He will quiet you

I don't often read in the book of Zephaniah, but his morning my devotions took me to chapter 3 of Zephaniah, specifically verse 17.

"The Lord your God is with you he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing."

He delights in me! He quiets me!

Picture it like a newborn. The mother or father will nestle that little one down in their arms and softly sway and rock them to sleep. Then quietly walk to the crib and gently lay them down as they sing of Jesus love for them.

Jesus does that with us, no matter what age. He quietly wraps us up in His arms. Gently rocks us and assures us that he delights in us. He quiets us with His love and rejoices over us! He delights in us!

Jesus wrap your arms around me today. Comfort me in your arms. Quiet my thoughts and my mind so that I can be still and know You. Rejoice over me with singing. Fill me with your presence!

He longs to do this with each one of His children!

This reminds me of Sunday when Ron had a baptism. This little one didn't want to leave Ron's arms. She was comforted by Him. That's what our Heavenly Father desires for us. He wants us to be in the safety of His arms. Allowing Him to tackle our biggest fears and struggles.

The picture quality is not great, but you get the idea!