A Beautiful Family

These are some pictures I took while the Hoerl kids were in town ... what a gorgeous family!!!  

A Visit for the 4th

 Mike and Heather Hoerl and kids came in for a long weekend over the 4th of July!  Wow!  What a wonderful time we had with this family!  They have four children ranging from 11 to 2!  Scott and I were literally fascinated as we watched them parent these four kids!  And they do it with such patience and grace that it was convicting!!  We spent Saturday morning having hot donuts at Krispy Kreme.  How can any morning go wrong that way .. let's sugar-up 7 kids for the day!    
 Then, we went over to Apex for their town's old-fashion 4th of July street party!  It was awesome!  They had blow-ups for the kids, free Chik-fil-A sandwiches, snow cones, games and more.  Emma and the rest of the gang all put on tattoos for the weekend!  It was so much fun and I think everyone had a good time!  In the late afternoon while the little one's napped, the guys let the girls head over to Southpointe Mall for some shopping!  
 Heather picked up some exciting things for a special birthday.  And believe it or not, we all made it to church on time on Sunday!  The kids loved the fireworks we did in the driveway.  Erica, Emma and Maddie made a special cake for dessert Sunday afternoon.  And we sadly watched them go on Monday.  Maddie and Emma started to cry which in turn, this made me cry.  When they drove away, Spencer and I both were misty.  Spencer is my one in the family that really is affected most when people leave.  

I am amazed at how much all these kids have grown.  Mike remembers chasing Erica when she was 2 years old and the rest, we have all had together and watched them grow, except for Kyle who was born in Georgia.  But Scott and I were talking this past week and you cherish the friendships that pick up exactly where you left off.  It doesn't matter how much time has gone between talking or seeing one another.  When you can pick right up and share life, those are the friendships that last through the seasons of life.  And we can't wait to see them, hopefully, in the fall!!!  

Go CUBS!

The boys finished out their baseball season in June after our trip north.  They missed 3 games while we were gone.  This was their last game.  And well, it was memorable for sure.  Do you ever have one of those moments where your kids are so mad at you and you honestly just made a mistake?  

The part where I thought their game was at 7:15pm is where it went bad.  We pulled into the parking lot at 7:00pm and their team was on the field, in the middle of the game.  It was then that I realized their game was obviously at 6pm and we missed the whole thing.  Yes, yes, I won the mother of the year award.  So when the game wrapped up, 2 minutes later I might add, they had their team celebration to which Spencer wanted no part of.  He was mad, rightfully so, and refused to party.  Jack wasn't interested until he saw the juice boxes, cupcakes and Klondike bars and he was suddenly over missing the game and running and sweating.  He was perfectly fine, of course!  

Spencer is just like Scott, and well, the rest of us for that matter.  When you have a picture, the last thing you want is your picture shattered.  And if that happens, well, you need some time to work it out.  Well, the neat part in this was the purposes of God.  The team after them was short five players.  So our coach asked the other coach if our boys could lend a hand and help their team since they were short.  So not only did the boys get their ice cream bars and cupcakes, they did get to serve someone else and take the focus off themselves.  I continue to see God do things like this with the kids.  As they have grown in the last year, they have had to grow and be stretched farther than I would have imagined in their personalities and preferences.  They were able to walk onto a team they had never met and pick up and play ball with them and support that team.  And when it was over, they were able to walk away and you could see how serving someone else made them find value in an evening that had gone bad.  Sometimes our pictures are so small compared to the pictures God has for us.  We just have to learn to stay open and that was the lesson for the night for all of us ........

Meet Piper!!

M
 You know you also feel old when your first cousin whom you grew up with playing dolls and chasing boys is a grandma!  Karen's daughter, Whitney, had her first baby!  This is Piper and I had the privilege of taking some pictures of her while in for a visit.  It was quite a photo shoot!  This was my first one with a little infant and let me say, it is one for the records!  

What these pictures do not tell you is the first 30 minutes she was awake and wide awake!  So no, I could not get the sleeping baby on a red chair that I wanted.  Nor could I get the curled up naked baby asleep on the little stool on her belly.  Piper was not sleepy and she is all arms and legs and not interested in curling up!  So we changed headbands (the headbands are a must for a bald baby and the bigger the flower, the better says Whitney) and decided to get a few of her laying in the field on a soft cream colored blanket after Whitney finished giving her a bottle.  Not only are we waiting for Piper to eat and chill, we are also being eaten alive by bugs and sweating in the humidity from the rain we had earlier, oh, and wet from the tall grass.  But we had a mission and by golly, we weren't finished!  

So Piper finished eating and we settled her on the blanket.  I began taking more pictures, really good ones, and then she glazed over.  Yes, what I mean is, she had "the look."  The happy expressions baby get when they are about to unload their lunch and feel very happy.  Next thing we know, we are not only sweating and sticky and wet, we are now those three plus trying to hold up a baby in the air and wipe her down from dirtying everywhere, including on the beautiful blanket.  UNBELIEVABLE.  And one time was not enough I might add.  Fortunately, Whitney had packed plenty and we worked right past this little fiasco and went right back to taking pictures.  In the end, it was hysterical and we all had a good laugh!  

On a side note, I found out yesterday, Piper was admitted to the hospital for high fever and they were concerned about staff infection.  Praise the Lord when we heard she has a urinary tract infection instead and is being released to go home today.  It was a scary 24 hours waiting on lab results but relieved, especially when she is still so tiny.  Little babies bring so much joy .....

Fun Pictures from the Party!

 Here are a few more pictures from Shane's graduation party!  This is Shane, with his girlfriend, Rachel.  They have been dating for almost one year.  She is a senior this year and following right behind.  
 We thought it might rain but it actually never did!  It turned out to be breezy and comfortable the whole afternoon.  This is my dad with his nephew, Randy.  Erica had the opportunity to spend the night with his daughter, Natalie.  That was such a blessing for Erica!  This is Erica and Natalie.  Natalie is 15 years old and very petite!  She is just like her grandma, my aunt Delphia!  They were all very petite and so cute!  Erica and Natalie acted like they have known each other forever and had such a great time!!


 I particularly love the one of Erica and Logan laughing.  Please don't miss Shane's monster face between them!!  Logan had not planned on being at the graduation.  He is also growing up and had a special soccer camp he needed to attend.  But in the end, he changed his mind last minute and really wanted to be there.  I was so glad to have a chance to see him as well!!  Good times .. good times!

A Graduation Party

 We also celebrated Shane's graduation with a party at the park!  We had fun visiting with him and extended cousins.  I have not seen some of them in over 10 years or more!  I also got some pictures of my mom and dad with their grandchildren and my brother with his family.  Michael does not say very much.  He has always been fairly quiet in general so it was hard to tell what he was thinking all weekend.  But you could see it in his eyes when he looked at Shane that he was extremely proud as a Dad.  I expected Susan to cry at the graduation but we were both so busy with our cameras that I think she forgot at that moment!  I know I did!!  I just wanted to capture the right picture and stop time!


I had to also put this picture of Shane on.  I believe he is four years old and in preschool.  He hasn't changed all that much!  Ok, he's changed some .... I don't think he would wear purple now!  

You Know You're Old When .....

 He's done!  I am amazed, truly amazed, at how fast time really flies!  This is unbelievable to think the little guy I remember at 1 and 2 years old and changing his diaper is graduated from high school and beginning his new season of life!  I feel SO OLD!!  It was so fun to be a part of the festivities for his weekend and enjoy watching him interact in his new world.  He lives in Pennsylvania and has so many exciting new things going for him.  He has two jobs and a beautiful girlfriend.  And he has changed so much in the last year!  He truly has grown up and grown into his confidence as a young man.  I could not have been more proud of him as an aunt!  

It also made me realize how fast this time does go.  I look at Erica and think I have five more years to develop and pour into her life.  I feel the need to set attainable goals and push her more into responsibilities and self-sufficiency!  It was funny though.  I had a conversation with a friend and we discussed self-sufficiency and what the world has taught us as it relates to that. We really do walk around at times with the desire that we are our own god and in charge of our destiny!  Our challenge and question to one another was how do we teach our children to be self-sufficient in their responsibilities but relying on the Lord and seeking His will?  I think we all fall into creatures of self-sufficiency and pride with the attitude of "I can do all things" but leaving out the part of "through Christ who strengthens me."  That is my challenge this next year and the years to come.  As I teach Erica to do her own laundry, which was my gift to her last month, and gave her the task of packing for her trips from now on, another gift to myself - I mean her (wink), I also want to give her the tools and pray she will have the desire to rely on Jesus Christ alone.  To me, this is the bigger task at hand.  I pray she will have a teachable spirit since I know I did not have this at almost 14!  

In any case, our children do grow up and it was a fresh reminder to me as Shane stood in all blue and walked the stage at 18 years of age!  It has been a joy to watch him grow up and I can't wait to see what God has planned for his life next!

Trip to West Virginia

This is Piper!  She is about 3 weeks old in this picture and an abosolute doll!  
    This is Ali and she was going to celebrate her second birthday!
I love this picture.  She has the prettiest eyes and looks just like her dad!  
In June, we traveled to West Virginia and Pennsylvania for my nephew, Shane.  It worked out well as we visited each spot and had the chance to see family.  It has been a while since my kids have visited and all three of them have grown a bit in the last 2-3 years!  They finally got to meet their cousin, Ali, and also their new baby cousin, Piper.  We had such a nice evening with both of them.  Ali was particularly hysterical and her age contributes!  I forget how funny they are.  But Ali took a liking to Jack.  Who doesn't, right?  Jack just loves little kids.  He has such a tender heart around them and he spent time sitting with her and making her laugh and just watching her.  I was told she is usually shy at first but for some reason, kids just take to kids.  She immediately took to all three of mine and they just had a neat time together!