Counting Blessings

I was heading to help in Brady's kindergarten classroom last Friday when I heard the horrific news out of Connecticut...it literally took my breath away & felt so surreal walking into his classroom & looking at all the sweet, smiling faces completely unaware & so excited to build their gingerbread houses.  Innocence protected & intact, thank God.  They are 6 yr olds but in so many ways they are still babies...still searching for their Elves in the morning & anticipating Santa's arrival. Jeff & I spent the weekend loving our kids, hugging our kids & counting our blessings.  Having Faith those little angels are in Heaven with the Lord but hearts breaking for their loved ones.

Here's something I saw on FB that really touched me:

twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38

when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.

their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.

they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

they were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.

they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.

"where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.

"this is heaven." declared a small boy. "we're spending Christmas at God's house."

when what to their wondering eyes did appear,

but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.

then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

and in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring

those children all flew into the arms of their King

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,

one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

and as if He could read all the questions she had

He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad."

then He looked down on earth, the world far below

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe

then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,

"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!"

"may this country be delivered from the hands of fools"

"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"

then He and the children stood up without a sound.

"come now my children, let me show you around."

excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.

all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

and i heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,

"in the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Written by Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, PA

Blake's Birth Day!

Lez & Bryce had their beautiful baby girl at 3 am on December 8th and named her Blake Anne Harrison.  She weighed only 5 lbs 14 oz and has a beautiful head of dark hair!  She is absolutely perfect & so gorgeous.  Lez was a little stud and is doing great--she is such a good mommy!!  Jeff & I had said earlier that we would try to see them when they were still in the hospital when the baby was born so when we got the good news that Saturday morning we all cleaned up & hopped in the car to come & meet this special little girl!  We are so lucky to have 2 nieces now and so glad that they live close!  Here are some pictures from the special day~

The kids peeking at Blake through the windows of the nursery

Making cards for Lez & Blake

There is something so special about seeing a baby that you love while they are still in the hospital in the first few hours of their life...such little miracles!

Proud Grammy!!

Proud Big Sis!

I think Brady could have held her all day--he will be a good babysitter someday! :)

I love this picture of Jeff--he was so happy & excited for his sister

She had a pretty good hold on her cousin although it doesn't really look like it here!

Mommy & Me time!

Our Sweet Boy Turns 6!

Just a quick picture after a very special day for our little guy.  Jeff & I have no idea where the 6 years have gone but we do know that he is one incredible little boy whose thoughtfulness, kind heart, infectious smile & smart mind never cease to amaze us.  We love you so much, Brady!!

Our family tradition of breakfast in bed!

Cousin Love

We had a chance to watch Jane for an evening while Lez & Bryce had a night away at the Rainbow Ranch where they got married!  It was such a fun night for the kiddos~it had been way too long since they had played so it was all FUN!

A little Halloween crafts

Jane still loves to pick up Liv--good thing she will have a baby sister soon to play "mommy" with! :)

The girls got their finger nails painted for the Bobcat game the next day!

Tailgating together the next day

I just love these...such cute kids!

Livvy "Reading"

This is honestly one of my favorite things to watch-Livvy loves to pretend to read & I happened to catch her the other morning reading Cat in the Hat...pretty cute! 

I shut it down when she started reading about "mama's nightgown comed off"...wasn't quite sure where she was going with that! :)

Hay Maze!

We took the kiddos to the Hay Maze last Saturday & it was so much fun!  Brady & Liv had gone with my folks the evening before while Jeff & I had a date night so we thought they might have an advantage & be able to cruise right through!  Not so much but we did see lots of friends while we were making our way & the weather was gorgeous!  I just love the fall!

One of my new faves!!

Liv rode part of the way on Jeff's shoulders so it looked like she was a giant!

The Morasko family was there & the boys had fun in the corn box!

The Johnsons were also there so that was fun to hang with them & do the reverse bungee at the same time!

Brady & Nana had done the bungee the night before so he was an old pro!!

Livvy was finally able to do it this year!  She just made the 30 lb cutoff--she's getting bigger!!

Maddy & Taylor both did it too--Mads even did a backflip!!!  The look of pure joy on her face was so precious

Jenny & I even got into the picture mode!