America The Beautiful

This is one of my favorite songs sung by Ray Charles. Happy Birthday America!

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Birthday America! We are a country of immigrants, but we are united by our desire to live Freely, Worship Freely, and Work Hard. I pray that we have many more birthdays to come.

I Miss Dad

I was looking at a "Look at this " post titled "Erika America".... I went back to see what it was, and in the comments, was our dad's comment. It was a proud comment about Erika being his grand daughter AND being beautiful. :)

It made me cry. I miss dad so much. But it is so cool to have these comments preserved here on the blog that I can share with the girls later on.

Dad died last November, but lives on in our memories and on this blog.

A New Resource

I just found a great resource for Adoptive parents. I read "The Connected Child" a few years ago, and was just made aware of a website called "Empowered to Connect".
There are unlimited resources on this site such as webinars, studies, bible studies, and more! WONDERFUL!

Anna's Week

While we were at Camp, Anna had her own week planned out. She didn't get pictures of everything, but she did get some good ones!

Anna visited her good friend Mary Grace, and her good friend Hannah. They were able to go swimming, and walk the dogs on the golf course. She also played a vocabulary game she told me all about at lunch today. :)

She went Ice Skating with Daddy, and reported that he did not fall ONE TIME! :) I was able to talk with her and daddy nearly every day, and she had a good day each day we were gone. :) I was so proud of her. She cleaned the house right before we got home, and welcomed us proudly with loads of stories of her week.

Way to go Anna!!!!!!

Here are some highlights of Anna's Week at "Camp Minich"!

More About Camp

These are some pictures from Erika's Camera. These are people that are important to her. Scott Simmonds is the director of Peaceable Kingdom. He is one of the nicest, most charismatic people I have ever met. And he deeply cares for each and every child that visits Peaceable Kingdom. He also reminded me to keep both feet on the ground at all times! No running! He didn't want a repeat of family camp when I broke my foot. :)

This is Brittany, Erika's best friend. They met at camp 3 years ago, and talk to each other almost every day on the phone. They also send endless emails to each other. :)

Derrick is one of many sweet counselors who loves to interact with the kids.


Wanda is a prosthetist at Scottish Rite Hospital, and the organizer for Camp Out on a Limb. She works tirelessly to make camp FUN! She is with her husband Bruce, who also came to camp and was a favorite of Erika.

Abagail is the activities director and oversees camp operation, making sure we stay on schedule. She is a really special lady.

And last but NOT LEAST, is Shannon. Shannon is very special. She has spent her last 3 summers at Peaceable Kingdom sharing her talents with the kids. She is one of the funniest people I have every met. She is sincere in her care for the kids, and the last I saw her, she was so sad, as this is her last year to be a camp counselor. :( I know she will never forget her experiences at Camp and it will shape her life forever.

Mr. Robert

This is Robert. We met Robert 5 years ago when Sarah came into our lives. He is the guy who actually MAKES the girl's legs.
He is a "behind the scenes" sort of guy at the hospital, hidden back in a little workshop. But he knows each kid whose legs he makes and makes a point to come out and see them when they visit.

Now at CAMP.... it is a TOTALLY different story. Robert is the endless Taxi driver for all the kids, and Cabin Counselor for the boys. He is an amputee himself, but that doesn't stop him from being the guy everybody jumps on. He is a mammoth of a man, with a very tender heart. He LOVES the kids, and he LOVES camp.

This year, he made sure to arrange for a host of pranks against all those sweet, innocent, little girls. :P The best one was the Silly string attack in the middle of nowhere. The boys were hidden when he drove by and then stopped! Of course he had a load of little girls on his taxi, and by the time the screams ended, they were all covered in a volley Silly String. :)

Erika and Sarah both said, "I LOVE Robert!" So I think after a week of being tickled, poked, jumped on, prodded, kidded,
and the famous line of "I'm not ready yet, just one more minute!", while he patiently waited outside the girl's cabin....., I couldn't think of a better person to post about.

Thanks for all the hard work Robert!

Camp Out on a Limb

Here are the girls making Marshmallow guns. After all the guns were made, there was a war between the boys and the girls.
Erika was the last girl standing. :)


The kids are diving around the campus on golf carts. Robert, the driver, is the same fellow who makes the girl's legs at the hospital.

This is Erika going up the zip line. She came down the same way. Maybe next year! :)

Sarah climbed up the rock wall!


Contemplating the Zip Line!


I can't believe I didn't get Sarah going down! It was hilarious. She jumped and then screamed her way down that line! LOL
Here she is on her way up. :)

Dancing At Camp

A big part of camp is group dancing. I didn't get the best of video, but it was really fun watching the kids dance and to see the camp counselors getting them to loosen up! :)

The Swing

We attended Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children last week. It was an amazing experience. There are numerous camps that take place throughout the summer. The one we attend is called, "Out on a Limb Camp". It is specifically for children with multiple limb loss or limb difference. Erika has attended four years in a row. This year was Sarah's first year to attend camp.
They both had a wonderful time, and so did I. :)

I love seeing all the moms and dads and workers that make camp so very special. The next few posts will be pictures from camp and some video of various activities.
The first big activity was the Swing.
This swing is higher than it looks! The kids love it. It takes a whole lot of dedicated workers to get each child up a ladder and into the swing.


Sarah went on the swing first. She has never done it before.


Erika went all the way! Way to go Erika!

WE'RE BACK!

Too tired to say anything else, except we're glad to be home and we had a WONDERFUL time!

Big Week Ahead!

Erika, Sarah and I are leaving for Camp on Monday. Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children is an awesome place for kids to go.
Anna has her own week planned out with daddy and different friends. She is just as excited about her week as we are about ours. :)

See you next week!

HE PASSED!!!!!!!

Our son Marcus PASSED all 4 parts of the CPA exam on the first try!!!!! Marcus we are SOOOO PROUD of you!
I knew he could do it. What a blessing to have that behind him. I know Ivy is sooo relieved that he is now an official CPA!

What a blessing. Thank you Lord for the blessings of your dear children. May all they do be God honoring.

Way to go MARCUS!!!!! WHOOOO-HOOOOO~!

Guess Who's Enjoying the Sewing Machine!

We will never lack for pillow cases anymore! She sewed each of us our own pillowcases. :)

Happy For Joy

You may remember our friend Joy. I wrote a blog post titled "Sad for Joy" about 2 weeks ago. She was going to have to move away and didn't want to go.

Well, a MIRACLE took place! She told her family that she was happy where she was, and wanted to stay with her friends and with Mr. Phil, whom she loves.

They had a meeting with the nursing home also, and everybody agreed that Miss Joy can stay! She is so very, very happy!

Suddenly, all those pre addressed and stamped note cards no longer seem like a good idea. LOL

We are thrilled that she can stay and so is Mr. Phil....

Then, today, he talked about moving in with us when he is better. I told him, I didn't think it would be fair for him to move in with us and leave her behind at the nursing home after she stayed here for HIM! She said, "Yeah, you should stay!" And he said, Ok, I guess I will! LOL

Whew.... that was a big load off of my mind, because I know he wanted them to both move in with us, and there is no way we could manage all that.

So, I dropped off Sonic Cokes for them to sip, and I dropped off his notebook to keep mail and receipts in. He is well enough now to manage some of those things himself. He seemed excited to see some mail, even if it is all AARP junk mail and old bills. :)

I talked to them a little bit about the area. Neither of them were aware of how nice a location they are in. 2 blocks from them is a nice down town strip full of small shoppes and coffee stops....a few quaint restaurants, all within walking distance.
He is allowed to check himself in and out, and we are telling him now, once you get yourself walking again, just look where you could stroll!
He seemed excited at the idea of sipping coffee and playing checkers. :)

What a nice end to a potentially tragic situation.

What a nice ending to a very sad time!

It Was A Wise Thing To Do.... I Think :)

I gave my sewing machine to Erika, with the understanding that she share with us, if we want to use it at some point in our lives. :)

She made a pillow case for Daddy, and was working on another project today. I had a sewing table that Mike gave me when we married. I think she will use it more than I have. :) She has a talent for all things handiwork.... I don't. For her it is a pleasure and joy.... for me, a frustration....

So it seemed like the right thing to do. :)

Maybe she can teach ME something soon. :)

Love you Erika deary. :)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's in our lives! We love each and every one of you.

I cannot believe we are celebrating Father's Day without our Dad Ed. :(
My father died when I was 30, and it was always nice to have OUR Dad.... and now
we have no dad. :(

In reality, we do though... We have our heavenly Father, our Lord, our God. He is our father.
The Scripture says we can call out to him, crying Abba Father! (daddy)
We are adopted in Christ Jesus to be sons.
There is comfort in Christ.

Happy Father's Day, especially to Mike. You are such an important part in the lives of your children.
Erika made Dad a Spider Man Pillow Case.


We found this cool coffee mug at Scottish Rite Hospital Gift shoppe.




For Father's Day we enjoyed a Chinese Buffet with several other families from our church. What a blessing to see all the dads helping their kids get food, and making sure they had prayed before lunch. :)

Mike's request for Father's Day was to eat Chinese food and then work on the boat.
The picture is him in the boat. :)


Love from All of us!

Birthday part 2: The LAKE

Erika requested her birthday cake at the lake with a BBQ. So that is what we did.
We picked up the grand girls and headed to the lake. Daddy came when he got off of work and we had a wonderful dinner and cheese cake for desert.

We stayed until sunset. :) It was a beautiful day.

Erika is 12~~~~!!!!!! WOW

TWELVE???? How did it happen so fast???
But here she is, all grown up. :)


We get joy out of making our day long and lasting. :) Erika asked for hard clues this year. So I obliged. :) Here she is looking in various places for yet another clue to where her gift is hidden. :)

We hid a clue in the beans and a clue in the bible....

There was a clue with daddy, and other clues I can't even remember. Goat feed seems to come to mind. :)

The Exciting Elevens!

For one special day each year, everybody is the same age. We have had the Lucky Sevens, The Crazy Eights, The Nifty Nines, The Terrific Tens, and this year, The Exciting 11's.