Fia and Kwame's Photo Session

On Sunday we had the pleasure of getting Fia and Kwame's pictures taken professionally by a photographer that I met through working at Possums Boutique; her name is Christina Koon and she was fantastic! We want to have a whole family session too, but Greta had just had her surgery and didn't want photos taken, plus I just didn't have enough time to figure out what 7 people were going to wear-two was hard enough! Well, all of the kids ended up coming with us to Scenic Beach and they were such great helpers. They did even have some cameos in a few of the pictures with their unbrushed hair, dirty clothes, and messy faces (honestly!) HA! I think Christina managed to cover them with balloons though, so it didn't show too much grime-lol! Anyway, here is the link if you are interested in seeing Fia and Kwame in their first photo shoot. Oh, and they were wardrobed by Possums Boutique-(wink, wink)!

http://www.christinakoonphotography.com/ : then go to slideshows, then click on Fia and Kwame

Goodbye to my Uncle Scott

My Uncle Scott just passed away this morning. He has been fighting with cancer for a year and a half now. There were so many times that we thought it was the end and so many times that we thought he was in the clear. I can't believe how emotional this roller coaster has been; and that is only for me, his niece. I can't even imagine the strength my Aunt Lynne and cousins Becky and Daniel have had to have through this. One thing I do know though is that their faith through this all has been constant and amazing! Through this Scott and Lynne's eyes have been focused on Christ alone. They have had so many people praying for them and caring for them every step of the way. They have had their amazing church(Santa Cruz Bible Church) and work family(Mt. Hermon Bible Camp) there for them on a day to day basis helping with the home, the kids, the food, etc.; truly being God's hands and feet.

I loved my Uncle Scott! He was very special in my heart and I felt like we had a special bond. (probably everyone did, right?) When I was younger he was going to Seminary at North Park when we lived in Libertyville, IL and he would come and hang out on some weekends. I remember having fun goofing off with him and following him around. He was also just a few years older than my brother Brad, so I kind of looked at him as a older (much older as I would say to he and Brad-wink,wink) cousin. I know so many people are hurting today and besides Scott's immediate family, I know it will be hard for my Grandma, my dad, and Brad, as they were all close. I know yesterday was such a hard day for Scott and I am so happy that he isn't hurting any longer and is without pain. He is now whole, healthy, and with our Heavenly Father, and for that I rejoice!!! The reality is that it is sad for those of us left behind and I miss him already, but after a few seconds my sadness gets overwhelmed by the peace I feel for him. Scott was an avid bike rider and actually just got a signed shirt from Lance Armstrong a month or too ago when he was touring in CA. I know that Scott desperately wanted to get back to riding, so I hope that today he is now riding through the hills in heaven!

If you are interested in his story at all, this is their family blog. Up until just about a month or two ago, Scott was doing all the writing himself before he went into ICU. The ironic part is that he got better enough and was planning on going home this week until he got sick again and stuck back into ICU. All the preparations were made for him to be home again. I was so looking forward to reading his blog and catching his great sense of humor through this all.

If you are so inclined, please keep Scott's family and friends in your prayers today and this week as preparations are made and they are experiencing their loss. Becky and Daniel are just in high school and life if going to be drastically different for the three of them now.

Lots of Family and pictures to prove it!

It was sure fun to have lots of family in town this last month to meet and play with the kids (and us)! We got to have Inger, Tyler and Elin up from CA, Mark and Kathy out from Chicago, Mary and Maynard out from MN, and Sarah, Brooks and Ida en route from New Zealand to MN, where they are moving. The kids loved their special time with all their family so much! Baby Ida and Elin were rock stars to them all, so there were plenty of 'it's my turn to hold her now!" with both of them. Elin was too quick for most to hold onto, but Ida was still pretty immobile, so whether she liked it or not, she usually had a cousin or two in her face. Daron and I would also fight over her! Ahhh....the sweetness of babies!

Justus heading to the Easter Egg Hunt with Sarah and Ida

Not much sweeter than your 6 yr. old reading to a baby cousin...

The love was reciprocal

Notice how Ida is happy here and then her uncle went and stole her away from me....

At least she forgave him later! (and so did I -LOL!)

The kids table at Easter

Can you find the missing egg?

Fun times with Kathy, Mark, Grandma and Grandpa J!

More fun with Grandpa and Grandma H. with Elin and Tyler- Who needs the traditional stroller? You can fit more in a wheelbarrow and Kwame much prefers this!

Isn't this the cutest scrunched face ever?

Greta is doing great!

Sorry I never gave an update regarding Greta's surgery, but she is doing just great! Greta is such a trooper with things like this and she really impressed me once again. It was her mom that broke down once they took her out for anesthesia and for the surgery. The doctor asked her if she needed one of us to come back with her (they preferred going without a parent, but we could if it would make Greta feel better). She said, no, she would be fine and they walked out with her (cue the breakdown by her mom). I realized fully that it was very minor but it was still a surgery where she was under, there was an IV, breathing tube of some sort, stitches, forms to sign 'just in case', so it just hit me. The doctor came back within the hour and said that everything went well and they took off the questionable growth on her cheek and sent it to pathology. He said he was glad they took it off but at this point it did not look cancerous. We should get results in about 10 days. In the meantime, she has a scar of only about a centimeter on her cheek but we won't see it until the steristrip falls off. We will head back over to Children's at the end of the month for a post op visit.

Children's Hospital is such an amazing place and I was so impressed with how the staff actually talked to Greta and asked her if she had any questions before us. They are very kid friendly and she felt very relaxed with them. It is pretty sobering being there though. This hospital sees it all and they are a good teaching hospital, so many times during the day you are reminded that so many people are hurting and going through very tough issues with their children. It was humbling.

Minor Surgery and Dark Circles

I wanted to post something new tonight, but my eyes keep closing as I try and upload pics of our time with Sarah, Brooks and baby Ida. TIRED is my new look and hopefully I can start a fashion trend with dark circles under my eyes, because that is the look I am blessed with these days.

On a quick side note: please keep Greta in your prayers and we go in for a minor surgery on her cheek on Friday. She has a mole/cyst on her cheek that the doctors at Children's are going to put her under to remove. They will then check it's status, but hopefully all will be just fine. If it didn't itch and puss from time to time(too much info I know), they said they would let it be and see what happens, but instead they will take it off and the scar will be larger they said than the mole a little bit. Please pray for her to continue to have peace(especially after with the scar) and for the doctors to make wise decisions throughout our time there. Right now Greta is pretty matter of fact about it and I think half way nervous and also a little excited after her friend, Chloe, told her that the hospital is A-Okay after being there herself last month over night(and for a much bigger deal than this). I also think I am seeing things and I don't know if it is just me, but the mole seems to be getting smaller now. I just don't want them to have to go through all of this if it is going to just go away. Please pray that what should be done is done!

Palm Sunday & Dedication!

We had the great privilege of dedicating Fia and Kwame at our church on Palm Sunday. We had wanted to do it soon after we got home with the kids and after throwing it together; we were so blessed to have a lot of family there! Thanks to both my parents and Daron's for coming, Grandma Gwen, Aunt Jan, Uncle Erik & his girlfriend Britta, Aunt Kathy & Uncle Mark, Uncle Brad& Aunt Ingrid(Kaia and Lola too), and Inger 's family (Joel we missed you)! We were so honored to join with our church and dedicate our children to God; thanking God for the privilege for raising Fia and Kwame and being trusted to do so. We are so blessed!! Our church is so important to us; the people are amazing. So, besides asking the Godparents, Erik, Kathy, & Mark, to pray for our kids and be there for them, spiritually and otherwise, it was also so meaningful to ask our church to take part in this very special moment for us. Thanks to Uncle Erik for singing his song, "Waiting for Your Word, " and a big thanks to Tom Woltjer for taking pictures that Sunday at church; they are a keepsake!!

Random March Pics and Stitches

Here are some pictures that I just found from March that deemed worthy of sharing for some reason or another.

Kwame all bundled up in the snow.....I mean really, could this be any more different from a typical outfit in Ghana or what? I don't think the evenings ever got lower than mid 70's when I was there.

March was also the birthday month of my neice, Kaia. She had her bday party at a pizza spot near them that is fabulous and the kids all had a blast. Fia obviously loved playing with the dough and teasing her uncles by putting the dough over her eyes.

Below are pictures of when we introduced Fia and Kwame to our church. The one picture is of Kwame and his buddy, Anders. They were cleaning up the nursery and really being big helpers. It was so cute. The other picture is when all the kids come up before Kids Church and Daron prays for them and/or gives a mini lesson.

Okay, I have more pictures coming soon. We have had lots of fun times lately with family and friends visiting, but I can only get my mind wrapped around a few pictures at a time these days, so this will have to hold you over.

On another note, our family has been to the ER twice in the last week. Before last Monday, I never knew where exactly one should go for stitches, but now I do. Last week after I put the kids to bed and Daron was at a meeting, I brought the garbage out(something I should have left for my better half) and forgot that there was broken glass in the bag. Well, I stuffed two more bags on top of the one with glass and cut right into my hand. After taking one look at it, I debated who to call first: Daron to come home or someone to come and watch the kids while we went to the ER for stitches. It all worked out, but four hours later, we were home and I had my three stitches that are just an annoying reminder of what I already know: NEVER TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE! ;) just kidding!

A few nights later, my sister and brother in law got into town. It was already after eight, but we ate dinner late so the kids could see them and hang out before bed. After all, it was spring break. While the adults were finishing up dinner, we heard a cry and they said there was blood. Kwame ran into our hutch and there was a big gash on his head. We just finished talking about our ER trip earlier in the week and we knew we had to do it again! We were smart and did not mention to Kwame that we were going to see the doctor. That would have freaked him out since after his immunizations a few weeks back he still says daily at one point, "Mommy, no go to doctor today." This time I used a new word, hospital, and we kept doctor out of the vocabulary. Only two and a half hours later, we came home with Kwame and two STAPLES in his head. Never heard of that before, but I guess that is common when it is on the scalp. I was very proud of him; he did just great and was super tough. It was kind of humorous and embarrassing that there was some of the same staff on that night as earlier in the week! Oh well, hopefully that is that last ER visit for a long time.

Great friends!

Last week we had some great friends of ours, the Mills, come up for a visit from OR. Most of the time we have been able to visit with them in the last 9 years we have either only brought our toddlers along on the visits or gone without any children, so our big kids don't really know each other that well. This time all seven of our kids got to play together and Matt and Kir got to meet the two youngest Jags. It is so great to be with friends that you feel so comfortable with and both spouses enjoy each other's company(at least Daron and I did)! I did wish that the weather was a little warmer and that we could have been outside more, but summer is almost here and hopefully we can road trip down to them soon too. This time we walked down to the bakery, played up at the park, made them run errands with us to pick up kids or go to swim lessons, had some Swedish pancakes, and we were so excited that my parents could watch the kids one night so that we could go for dinner with just the adults! Thanks Matt and Kir for the fantastic dinner that you took us out to!! Thanks mom and dad for making it happen!! Walker, Gage, Fia, Ella, and Kwame (the older kids were at school) climbing down by the waterfront

Isn't he a cutie? Maybe arranged marriages will come back 'in'.

Fia chose the sad face cookie instead of the smiley faced one; the yellow smiley ones were always my favorite growing up(and they still are!)
Fia is definitely a flirt and loved playing with Matt. He also won Kwame over by letting him play video games on his iPhone

Walker-he is hilarious! Daron taped some of his expressions so we can remember this funny dude!

Gage and Kwame

The Reverends

The Pastor's Wives