The Minich Family Blog: Every Family Has A Story...Welcome To Ours
Friday, September 20, 2019
The Right Paw of Fellowship
And then, Mr. Kitty decides to join! He often will come and lay on my bible, or sit near and offer the right paw of fellowship. :)
He is such a silly cat!
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Yay! I Have My Blog Back!
I have had trouble with some sort of malware issue blocking my access to the blog, but it is finally fixed! Yay!
I have so much to get out of my head and into writing! :)
I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by! Miss Erika is doing SO.MUCH.BETTER with her RA. She still has pain, but it isn't sapping her life away like it was late last year and earlier this year.
She has moved out on her own again, and is now a Senior in College AND works as a bank teller!
Sarah is doing well and taking a semester off of college, MAINLY, because they dropped her class.
She is working and writing, studying and is a great host for the college group and a girls group.
She is still dancing her heart out, and loves to sing and dance in the house. I love having her around.
Alli is such a good mommy. I'm really proud of how she has grown. Our little grandson, is quite adorable and full of smiles.
I don't hear from Anna very often. I'm sad about that.
It is been so fun watching the girls interact with college friends. Our family has expanded to a long list of young people who come over and hang out. I love them all. Some of them are child hood friends all grown up, some are college friends, some are room mates that come "home" for the weekend.
We took a recent trip to Albuquerque to visit Lilly and our son Chuck. Katie is living in Oregon now! We had so much fun on our little vacation! I think we sang our way from Wylie to Albuquerque and back! Our names are written on the tree on the mountain!
We were at the top overlooking the city. What a fantastic time!
I cannot believe that Lilly is in HIGH SCHOOL!
Life is definitely full and busy!
I definitely need to change our blog photo to update!
I have so much to get out of my head and into writing! :)
I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by! Miss Erika is doing SO.MUCH.BETTER with her RA. She still has pain, but it isn't sapping her life away like it was late last year and earlier this year.
She has moved out on her own again, and is now a Senior in College AND works as a bank teller!
Sarah is doing well and taking a semester off of college, MAINLY, because they dropped her class.
She is working and writing, studying and is a great host for the college group and a girls group.
She is still dancing her heart out, and loves to sing and dance in the house. I love having her around.
Alli is such a good mommy. I'm really proud of how she has grown. Our little grandson, is quite adorable and full of smiles.
I don't hear from Anna very often. I'm sad about that.
It is been so fun watching the girls interact with college friends. Our family has expanded to a long list of young people who come over and hang out. I love them all. Some of them are child hood friends all grown up, some are college friends, some are room mates that come "home" for the weekend.
We took a recent trip to Albuquerque to visit Lilly and our son Chuck. Katie is living in Oregon now! We had so much fun on our little vacation! I think we sang our way from Wylie to Albuquerque and back! Our names are written on the tree on the mountain!
We were at the top overlooking the city. What a fantastic time!
I cannot believe that Lilly is in HIGH SCHOOL!
Life is definitely full and busy!
Friday, February 15, 2019
2019! The First Post of the Year
Happy 2019! Happy Day after Valentine's Day!
This is my first post on this blog for the year. I cannot believe how time has flown by!
We had such a lovely holiday time together, and continued with our normal traditions. :)
Erika and Sarah are in college and doing well.
However, Erika has had a couple of health set backs.
She is being treated for arthritis. It is hard for her, as she is in pain, but what a tremendous fighter she is! She is going to school and working also! She is a Jr. in college.
Sarah is almost a Jr in college. She is working also, and is very excited about the possibility of her next college location. That is to be announced when she makes her decision. :)
My newest texting buddy is my grandson Sam. He likes to do face time, and when he comes home from school will call and ask me "what should we talk about?" Isn't that the sweetest thing?
Our little grand daughter Ilse is walking now!
Our youngest grandson just turned 1 year old and we are about to have another grandson in May!
I am amazed at how life has changed since we started this blog in 2007.
I am now busy working in the shoppe with Mike. We work pretty well together, and I love being able to get up early in the morning and read the Word with him.
I started a Women's prayer group on Wednesday nights and it is going well. What a blessing to meet weekly to pray with these precious ladies.
I am really proud of all of the kids and what they have accomplished. Our oldest is now 40 FORTY.... and today is Tim's birthday. Our youngest is 19 and she will be having a baby boy in May.
In transitioning from Full time home schooling mom to Full time wife and worker, I have been able to reflect on the seasons of my life. The Lord has been so good to me. Each season is full of blessing and pain, but ALL has been for my good. God does not allow us to go through these seasons without a blessing in disguise.
I have been in contact with several of my blogging friends, and all of us are in new seasons of life.
It seems that adoptions are not as prevalent as before, and many places are completely shut down.
There are areas in Ukraine shut down also since Russia has reclaimed land.
I am so thankful for our children who are here.
If you are interested in adoption, I would definitely look into the foster care system. There are children here who need parents. One of our girls was adopted from the foster care system.
If you are not wanting to adopt yourself, but are interested in how to help, please consider helping a family financially and especially through prayer.
Don't forget that bringing a child home either by birth or adoption changes the complete dynamic of a family and they NEED to have us there to hold them up in prayer, send them cards, ask how they are doing, drop by a meal, offer to do laundry etc. Adjustment takes time.
Moving forward in this year, we might start our support group back up. We had stopped for a while because our Alli needed our full time attention.
She was our priority.
I pray that you all have a wonderful 2019! Moving full steam ahead! :)
This is my first post on this blog for the year. I cannot believe how time has flown by!
We had such a lovely holiday time together, and continued with our normal traditions. :)
Erika and Sarah are in college and doing well.
However, Erika has had a couple of health set backs.
She is being treated for arthritis. It is hard for her, as she is in pain, but what a tremendous fighter she is! She is going to school and working also! She is a Jr. in college.
Sarah is almost a Jr in college. She is working also, and is very excited about the possibility of her next college location. That is to be announced when she makes her decision. :)
My newest texting buddy is my grandson Sam. He likes to do face time, and when he comes home from school will call and ask me "what should we talk about?" Isn't that the sweetest thing?
Our little grand daughter Ilse is walking now!
Our youngest grandson just turned 1 year old and we are about to have another grandson in May!
I am amazed at how life has changed since we started this blog in 2007.
I am now busy working in the shoppe with Mike. We work pretty well together, and I love being able to get up early in the morning and read the Word with him.
I started a Women's prayer group on Wednesday nights and it is going well. What a blessing to meet weekly to pray with these precious ladies.
I am really proud of all of the kids and what they have accomplished. Our oldest is now 40 FORTY.... and today is Tim's birthday. Our youngest is 19 and she will be having a baby boy in May.
In transitioning from Full time home schooling mom to Full time wife and worker, I have been able to reflect on the seasons of my life. The Lord has been so good to me. Each season is full of blessing and pain, but ALL has been for my good. God does not allow us to go through these seasons without a blessing in disguise.
I have been in contact with several of my blogging friends, and all of us are in new seasons of life.
It seems that adoptions are not as prevalent as before, and many places are completely shut down.
There are areas in Ukraine shut down also since Russia has reclaimed land.
I am so thankful for our children who are here.
If you are interested in adoption, I would definitely look into the foster care system. There are children here who need parents. One of our girls was adopted from the foster care system.
If you are not wanting to adopt yourself, but are interested in how to help, please consider helping a family financially and especially through prayer.
Don't forget that bringing a child home either by birth or adoption changes the complete dynamic of a family and they NEED to have us there to hold them up in prayer, send them cards, ask how they are doing, drop by a meal, offer to do laundry etc. Adjustment takes time.
Moving forward in this year, we might start our support group back up. We had stopped for a while because our Alli needed our full time attention.
She was our priority.
I pray that you all have a wonderful 2019! Moving full steam ahead! :)
Monday, November 19, 2018
An Update
Life has been so busy!!! We are all doing well and pray that you are too. :)
Erika is a JUNIOR in college, majoring in psychology. Sarah is a sophomore in college and has a million things she'd like to major in, but I do believe she has settled on a degree in hospitality, which would include things like event planning. Anna (Stevie) lives away from home and has a little baby boy who is adorable. Her boyfriend was in a terrible accident, but is doing well, considering he was not expected to live. Alli is expecting a baby in May. She is very happy about becoming a mother.
She too lives away from home.
All of our little girlies have grown up.
Our grand children are growing too!!!
Katie is now 22 and Lilly Bean is 14! She plays the saxophone in band and can sing really well.
We have several grand sons who are 12, 11, 11, 11, 9,8,5 and 9 months.....
Littler grand girls are now 7,6 and 3. Time to update our photo!!!
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and fellowshipping with family and friends.
May the Lord bless you during this Holiday Season.... pictures to come!
Erika is a JUNIOR in college, majoring in psychology. Sarah is a sophomore in college and has a million things she'd like to major in, but I do believe she has settled on a degree in hospitality, which would include things like event planning. Anna (Stevie) lives away from home and has a little baby boy who is adorable. Her boyfriend was in a terrible accident, but is doing well, considering he was not expected to live. Alli is expecting a baby in May. She is very happy about becoming a mother.
She too lives away from home.
All of our little girlies have grown up.
Our grand children are growing too!!!
Katie is now 22 and Lilly Bean is 14! She plays the saxophone in band and can sing really well.
We have several grand sons who are 12, 11, 11, 11, 9,8,5 and 9 months.....
Littler grand girls are now 7,6 and 3. Time to update our photo!!!
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and fellowshipping with family and friends.
May the Lord bless you during this Holiday Season.... pictures to come!
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
"Life Is Pain"
"anybody who tells you something different is selling something".
Well, I bet you can guess what THIS post is going to be about!
LIFE!!!
Life is ongoing for our little family just as it is for yours! We have been busy living it!
We are also busy recovering from some VERY painful experiences that have happened. There are just 4 of us left at home as all girls are adults and off living life! Each of them knows they are loved and cherished. Each of them are unique and special in their own ways.
And then there is me..... When I started this blog back in 2007, I was full of excitement and hope, fear and trepidation all rolled into one as we explored our experiences together. There was so MUCH to learn about adoption, language aquisition, parenting kids from hard places, being a grand mother, (Ya Ya for me). I wanted to capture childhood joy, and the experiences to save a memoir for our girls. Long before blogging, there were things written down in journals, but they aren't the same. And I wasn't as faithful to write things down about the guys. Blogging has helped me with parenting children who have come from very hard places by writing about our experiences. They are dated and when something comes up, I can go back the year before and see if we are repeating something.
But one of the things about blogging is that it is important to be honest and not paint a false picture.
I have strived to do that.
The thing about life is that it is messy. There isn't this perfect life that is all wrapped up in a neat little package at the end of each blog post, or each day. The daily act of loving another human being can be full of joy and full of sorrow.
The last 4 years have had wonderful times and more sorrow than I ever dreamed possible. I am reminded that our dear Savior was a "man of sorrow, acquainted with grief." HE bore OUR shame and took upon Himself our wickedness, our sin and carried it for us. AND he carries OUR burdens, if we let Him.
I have a tendency to give my burdens to the Lord, and then sometimes take them back, and realize that I REALLY DO need to give them completely over to God. It is so freeing!
As a mom you want to love all of your children well, listen to them well, understand them well, and sometimes we fail, especially when we are in the midst of working through our own grief and trauma.
Some of our children are better at expressing themselves than others. Some will come to us and talk, talk, talk, and then others of our children are quiet. They have a harder time expressing pain and sorrow or even expressing that you have not listened well.
AND I NEED TO BE SENSITIVE AND REMEMBER THAT! A quiet spirit doesn't mean there isn't something going on internally.
Each of our children will suffer grief from difficulties in life. We need to take that time to LISTEN and not try to FIX; Listen and not assume and then, pray. Pray for wisdom for your precious children. Pray for wisdom for yourself. And when you FAIL, which we all do, ask for forgiveness for not taking the time, or for being too self focused.
Remember also, that we are but dust, flawed and imperfect in every way. Yet GOD loves us with an unconditional love, and moves in our hearts to conform us to HIS image.... one part at a time.
We are in a place of two of our girls living at home and going to college, exploring relationships and experiencing LIFE as young adults.
They tell us we are old... but we have a secret.... :) We LIKE planting flowers and fixing things up. :)
I sat down the other night to talk with one of our girls and she disclosed that she didn't feel that I had been listening well to her. She didn't want to burden me with her thoughts, as she felt I was already burdened enough.
That was crushing to my heart. As we were talking, which was a GOOD and much needed talk, I told her how sorry I was that I had NOT been listening to her like she needed me to.
She needs SLOW, methodical time. She cannot be rushed. And she had felt rushed and looked over.
Interestingly, I had a similar conversation with one of my sons a couple of years ago, when he said, "You don't ask how we are doing anymore." "We want you to ask us how we are too! " This was during a very difficult time, and he was right. I was too sad to look up, and I was too self focused, missing out on the joys that were ongoing; I guess I'm a slow learner.
We are ALL healing, and this is another step in that direction. Mom, Dad and Me books are back out and in use. I don't want to miss an opportunity, and some things are just so very hard to talk about face to face.
Precious girls. Precious boys. ALL of them grown up!
Joy is so much more joyful because of overcoming the pain. We wouldn't know how blessed we truly are if we didn't experience the other side.
Stay tuned....
Well, I bet you can guess what THIS post is going to be about!
LIFE!!!
Life is ongoing for our little family just as it is for yours! We have been busy living it!
We are also busy recovering from some VERY painful experiences that have happened. There are just 4 of us left at home as all girls are adults and off living life! Each of them knows they are loved and cherished. Each of them are unique and special in their own ways.
And then there is me..... When I started this blog back in 2007, I was full of excitement and hope, fear and trepidation all rolled into one as we explored our experiences together. There was so MUCH to learn about adoption, language aquisition, parenting kids from hard places, being a grand mother, (Ya Ya for me). I wanted to capture childhood joy, and the experiences to save a memoir for our girls. Long before blogging, there were things written down in journals, but they aren't the same. And I wasn't as faithful to write things down about the guys. Blogging has helped me with parenting children who have come from very hard places by writing about our experiences. They are dated and when something comes up, I can go back the year before and see if we are repeating something.
But one of the things about blogging is that it is important to be honest and not paint a false picture.
I have strived to do that.
The thing about life is that it is messy. There isn't this perfect life that is all wrapped up in a neat little package at the end of each blog post, or each day. The daily act of loving another human being can be full of joy and full of sorrow.
The last 4 years have had wonderful times and more sorrow than I ever dreamed possible. I am reminded that our dear Savior was a "man of sorrow, acquainted with grief." HE bore OUR shame and took upon Himself our wickedness, our sin and carried it for us. AND he carries OUR burdens, if we let Him.
I have a tendency to give my burdens to the Lord, and then sometimes take them back, and realize that I REALLY DO need to give them completely over to God. It is so freeing!
As a mom you want to love all of your children well, listen to them well, understand them well, and sometimes we fail, especially when we are in the midst of working through our own grief and trauma.
Some of our children are better at expressing themselves than others. Some will come to us and talk, talk, talk, and then others of our children are quiet. They have a harder time expressing pain and sorrow or even expressing that you have not listened well.
AND I NEED TO BE SENSITIVE AND REMEMBER THAT! A quiet spirit doesn't mean there isn't something going on internally.
Each of our children will suffer grief from difficulties in life. We need to take that time to LISTEN and not try to FIX; Listen and not assume and then, pray. Pray for wisdom for your precious children. Pray for wisdom for yourself. And when you FAIL, which we all do, ask for forgiveness for not taking the time, or for being too self focused.
Remember also, that we are but dust, flawed and imperfect in every way. Yet GOD loves us with an unconditional love, and moves in our hearts to conform us to HIS image.... one part at a time.
We are in a place of two of our girls living at home and going to college, exploring relationships and experiencing LIFE as young adults.
They tell us we are old... but we have a secret.... :) We LIKE planting flowers and fixing things up. :)
I sat down the other night to talk with one of our girls and she disclosed that she didn't feel that I had been listening well to her. She didn't want to burden me with her thoughts, as she felt I was already burdened enough.
That was crushing to my heart. As we were talking, which was a GOOD and much needed talk, I told her how sorry I was that I had NOT been listening to her like she needed me to.
She needs SLOW, methodical time. She cannot be rushed. And she had felt rushed and looked over.
Interestingly, I had a similar conversation with one of my sons a couple of years ago, when he said, "You don't ask how we are doing anymore." "We want you to ask us how we are too! " This was during a very difficult time, and he was right. I was too sad to look up, and I was too self focused, missing out on the joys that were ongoing; I guess I'm a slow learner.
We are ALL healing, and this is another step in that direction. Mom, Dad and Me books are back out and in use. I don't want to miss an opportunity, and some things are just so very hard to talk about face to face.
Precious girls. Precious boys. ALL of them grown up!
Joy is so much more joyful because of overcoming the pain. We wouldn't know how blessed we truly are if we didn't experience the other side.
Stay tuned....
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Twelve Years with Erika
Can you believe it has been 12 years since we brought Erika home? I can't! That little nearly 8 year old girl who was so tiny, so brave, so ready to have a family, has turned into a lovely, beautiful young woman. She has blossomed soooo much!
She has continued to bring us joy and is working hard at life. She still loves photography, is attending college as a psychology major, drives, and is as witty as ever.
Here are a few pictures from our early adoption days:
The earliest photo we have of these two.
The steps to her orphanage.
taking a walk
Lining up
Her very first french fry.
giving a gift and getting a kiss!
Ready to leave
Saying good bye
back to Kyiv
On the airplane
The reunion
Finally home and Dabba left 3 bunnies!
And more recently:
She has continued to bring us joy and is working hard at life. She still loves photography, is attending college as a psychology major, drives, and is as witty as ever.
Here are a few pictures from our early adoption days:
The earliest photo we have of these two.
The steps to her orphanage.
taking a walk
Lining up
Her very first french fry.
giving a gift and getting a kiss!
Saying good bye
back to Kyiv
On the airplane
The reunion
Finally home and Dabba left 3 bunnies!
And more recently:
UPCOMING EVENTS
Sarah will be going to Haiti this summer and working with our sister church. When she comes back, she will be volunteering at the camp both she and Erika used to attend as campers. She is also planning to volunteer at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
In the fall, both She and Erika plan to go to Ukraine. She didn't go last year and was apprehensive about Erika going. But now that Erika has gone and come back safely, she is going to go with her sister this year. :)
Erika is busy working and will also be volunteering at camp.
These are the two girlies left at home. :)
Me, I'll be busy writing, and working with our face book support groups. I'm also working at the shoppe with Mike.
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