thankful (21)

We are extremely thankful for the Mora family! Our kids have 

grown up together and we have been in a community group

together with them for the last five years. Their kids are so

precious and our girls love them to death! Grant and Rebekah

are amazing parents and friends and have been an example

for Nathan and I to look up to for all these years.

It it is so sad that we just had to say

good-bye to them:( 

They are moving to Arkansas to be closer to family which

we totally understand. They have not been around family

since they got married and yet have stayed so strong. 

We will truly miss them though. When we had to say good-bye

it was hard to look at them and their kids and know that it could

be awhile before we see them again. But,

this just gives us an excuse to travel and visit Arkansas one day!

We are so thankful for the memories that we have shared 

together and will be forever grateful for their family!

Natalee, Marissa and Corban at the county fair

Natalee (7) and Marissa (almost 7) at the county fair

These two were just babies when we met and it

is crazy now how big they are!

Lydia ( 5) and Annika (5) at the fair

Best of friends!

Julianna (3) and Ellia ( 2 turning 3 in Nov.)

These 2 together can be a handful:) They love each

other though:)

Miranda (13 months) and Alyssia (13 months) 

these two are only 4 days apart:)

Grant and Nathan at their going away party. All of these

years they have known him without a beard. And now in this

picture he has a full beard!....which will hopefully be gone in

a couple months:)

Christen and Rebekah at Olive Garden with all the ladies 

for one last time.This is like the one picture that I have

 of us by ourselves. Usually one or both of us was

 pregnant or holding a kid:) So, l like this picture!

We are eternally grateful for the Mora's and thankful

that they have lived here in Virginia for the past 9 years. 

We love you guys!

thankful (20)

Lydia Noelle

It is amazing how each child can be so different. 

All four of our girls have different personalities and 

their own look too. Each one is different in their

own way and I wouldn't change anything about them.

Lydia is one special girl! ( they are all special but in their

own way:)) She is mostly like her daddy in these ways...

~ likes to dance

~ likes to be the center of attention

~ likes to talk 

~ she has his body shape ( even a little indention

on her chest like he has)

~ likes to hunt and dress in camo

~ likes me to make the same things over 

and over for dinner instead of trying new things

~ likes to make people laugh

~ likes adventure

~ is good at sports and playing games

~ they both have the same smile:)

When Lydia was born, she was only 5.2 lbs...so tiny

but perfectly healthy. She was born at 36 weeks much

to our surprise!

Here is a short version of her birth story...

I was measuring small throughout my pregnancy with her.

At 36 weeks the doctor did an ultrasound and said,

"are you ready to have this baby tomorrow?"

My placenta was actually not working properly so

she would be better out of me then in me. The doctor 

gave me one day to prep then I went in the next morning

to be induced not knowing really what to expect. 

I was induced and started dilating more on my own and she

was born soon after lunch! Natalee was so proud of her!..and so were we:)

One thing about Lydia is that she loves to pose for pictures

and is so photogenic. She has never had a problem taking

pictures and actually loves it! I love this about her:)

Another thing about Lydia is that she absolutely loves
her birthday. She looks forward to it all year. She starts the
countdown to her birthday before Christmas. Her birthday
is February 22nd. She usually can't wait til Christmas cause
that means that her birthday is "2 months" after Christmas:)
She usually extends her birthday celebration to last
the whole week. She knows exactly how many
"parties" that she had last year (including school, family,
friends, sisters, etc.) She knows that in two days
it will be three months until her birthday:)
And I got all emotional thinking that she will be
turning 6. She is growing up way to fast.

Thankful for Lydia Noelle and her sweet personality!

thankful (19)

This week I have all the girls at home because of thanksgiving break.

It is nice not having to wake up and rush out the door and start our normal

school routine. It's even nicer when the girls use their imagination to play

with each other:) Today was a day where we didn't have plans to go anywhere...

so towards the end of the day all of the girls were running around the house 

trying to get all of their energy out. At times like this, Nathan feels a little

outnumbered with all of the emotion going on in our house:) They eventually

did settle down once they got to sleep. yes, one of those kinds of days.

But, I am still thankful for their imaginations..

Most of the day was spent playing "games," "house," "pets," "sisters"...

and each room being used as something different like a "doctor's office," a 

"park," a "school." I love seeing their little imaginations run wild. 

Next time, I will have to take pictures of all of this:)

It was a lot of clean up for them and me. 

But, I can say that I am very thankful for their imaginations!

thankful (18)

I am not very good at singing but I still love to sing in church. 

I love being able to freely worship the Lord. Sometimes it is hard to 

focus in church with all the distractions and kids pulling on your shirt, but

I am thankful for the times that I do get to focus in on worship.

I'm thankful though that worship is not just done in church.

I can worship the Lord in the car, in the shower, during the day when

taking care of and playing with the girls...anywhere really! 

I know that God longs for us to worship Him and I want to long

to worship him back. He deserves all the praise and glory! Even on the

hard days when it is difficult to sing a worship song....let my heart sing. 

All of my complaints and worries grow smaller when I do choose

to worship.

thankful (17)

The girls had a swim meet today and had their best meet yet. I was 

so proud of them and loved being able to cheer them on! 

They each had five different events to swim,

So, we were on the pool deck most of the afternoon watching them swim,

and by the end of the meet they were exhausted and so was I:)

After a warm shower and dinner, we enjoyed some hot chocolate. 

This made them so happy and me too. 

I love hot chocolate with marshmallows and its even better on a cold day.

They said that it was the "best day ever," as they were drinking their

hot chocolate. This is such a simple thing that brings them so 

much happiness. 

We have a lot of "best day evers" around here:) and I hope 

that we keep having many more:)

Thankful for the deliciousness of hot chocolate!

thankful (16)

I have many memories from the time that I lived in Argentina for a year.

I grew to be thankful for many things that I had in the United States 

when I was living in Argentina. One of the first things that I did when I arrived on 

campus was drink a glass of water. I was told right before I drank it

that I probably would not like the taste of it. I was so thirsty so I went ahead

and took a sip but then immediately spit it out. It did not even taste like water

to me. Drinking the water was one of the things that I could just not get used to

while living there. I was so thankful whenever someone came to visit

from the states and brought bottled water. 

When we moved to Smithfield the water tasted different to me and I 

have had to get used to it. I am used to it now but I still just love

the taste of the fresh spring water from a jug or a bottled water. I drink 

fresh water with every meal! 

Thankful for the opportunity to have fresh water here where we live!

thankful (15)

The dinner table is something that I am especially thankful for this month.

Nathan just started his job at the shipyard last month after working his 

job at UPS for over 9 years. His schedule did not allow him to eat dinner

with us most nights. It was usually me and the girls sitting around the table at

dinner time. It got harder and harder as the girls got older to keep doing this 

without him. When we moved to Smithfield two years ago it made it a

little easier for him to stop by for dinner sometimes when he was in the 

area...and I was thankful for those times. But even then it was rushed and

it was hard for him to get back in his truck to drive all the way

back to the building and maybe make it back before bedtime. 

The last month and a half at dinner time the girls start out with

 a prayer saying how thankful they are that daddy gets home at 4:15 now.

It is sooooo nice! We have been thoroughly enjoying our dinner time!

I'm so grateful that we get to start making family dinners important

now while they are young!