Heavy Hearts

Wichita, Kansas
approximately 770 miles from Newcastle, Wyoming
approximately 1350 miles from Walnut, California

It seems we have always been apart from family but being in Wichita causes the farthest distance thus far. Most of the time we don't mind the separation... absence does make the heart grow fonder. But there are times when the miles between loved ones are just TOO far.

Like now...

We were both blessed as children to grow up around many cousins since we didn't have many siblings. Many lasting bonds were created and we still work to keep those relationships... thanks to technology, like the internet and facebook, it is easier and a lot of fun!

But sad news came last week.
One of Salyna's cousins in California passed away.
He was a young, smart, talented, handsome, and LOVED by many.
There are many hurting hearts now including the heart of his fiance.
He was to be married on the 11th.

Because of a great website full of ideas (pinterest), I was able to make a wonderful keepsake from their wedding invitation. It was going to be for their first Christmas. Instead it is now a precious gift from one grieving heart to another.

Here is the before pic

after

I simply cut their invitation into strips, curled them around a pen, and put them into this clear ornament.

Josh, we love you and you will forever be in our hearts.

Birthday Girl!

Look who's 1!

We did something kind of different this time...
we let her open presents when the other kids were busy downstairs :)

We didn't do any decorating so I thought she at least needed a princess party hat!

She hated it!

But did eventually just play with it.

She wasted NO time getting into the cake and she actually ate a lot of it.

She is not a baby anymore!

Other news: Salyna's surgery went really well. Recovery has been slow, which we expected.
Can't believe Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner!!

Surgery date change!

Surgery has been moved up to October 26th!!
We have an amazing group of friends who are stepping up and helping us with childcare, meals, grocery shopping, laundry, etc.
Although I am starting to get nervous, having 5 kiddos is distracting :)
But my heart is heavy...
October 25th will be the 3 yr anniversary of saying goodbye to my Momma.
If my family crosses your thoughts, please pray for us.

Surgery!

Yes, surgery!
Only it's Mommy's turn this time!
I will be having a total hysterectomy, estimated date is November 16th.
I have been terrible at posting recently even with all my camera excuses!
So, with so much going on in the next 6 wks I doubt there will be much of an increase in posting. I will promise one big post with LOTS of pics before surgery because the Little Princess turns 1 on Nov. 6th! And there is Halloween happening... and an early anniversary celebration... and whatever else happens to come up with this crazy family!

Catching Up

I lost my camera... about a month ago!
So we have some catching up to do!
*yet another stupid blogger disclaimer... for some reason some of the type wants to be a link. sorry*
On Sept. 4th our first baby turned 10 years old!

Our first celebration was a mother/daughter lunch at Red Robin with friends.

The second celebration was Sydni's "Minute to Win It" party.
If you have ever watched that game show then you know these
girls had a lot of fun!Face The CookieUsing only their face muscles to move the cookie from their forehead
to their mouth!A Bit Dicey
Stack 5 dice on a popsicle stick that is in their mouth

Junk In The Trunk

The object is to get the 8 ping pong balls out of the kleenex box
that they are wearing around their waists!
This was one of the funnest games!

Well, this wasn't a part of any of the games...
just girls being silly!!

10 candles!! So hard to believe!So here are some random pics of some random things
we've been up to.
Amelleah has been enjoying the cooler temps and
actually being able to play outside!
These pics are not that great in quality but
they are so cute anyway.

Lincoln LOVES pushing her in the swing...
he is laughing, not crying, in this pic.I was upset this one was so blurry...
they were looking at each other.. SO CUTE!Friends!
The Coons are now a family of 4.
We finally made it to Oklahoma on Labor Day to
meet baby Xaris!The boys had a blast playing outside.Miles earned his nickname, Uncle Boogie...
can you guess why?Yes, he picked her nose!
We also watched about an hour of an air show!And talked two other families into going to the drive in.
How many engineers does it take to tie down the tailgate??
2

And then they just took it down.... haha!"strike a pose"
good thing these boys aren't on facebook yet!

Very random pic...
I was talking with a friend one day and Lincoln kept asking for
chocolate milk... I keep trying to put him off...
Then he came into the living room looking like thisA cup of chocolate with very little (if any) milk!
That's my boy!!

So school has been going well for all three kids.
Lincoln and Amelleah have been going to a mom's day out program at our church one day a week, which has been great for all of the doctor appointments Salyna has been going to lately.
(that will be another post)
We've had to break out the nebulizer early this year... Amelleah has been having a rough time from what appears to be allergies and chest congestion. The doctor is concerned that she may have asthma. Her leg scar is still doing great. She will be walking VERY soon!

Anniversaries

Webster's definition of Anniversary: the annual recurrence of a date marking a notable event.
Obviously not all anniversaries are happy ones, like September 11.
I can remember the day very clearly (and that is saying a lot considering what my life has involved the last 10 yrs). One week before, on September 4th, my first baby FINALLY arrived. After what seemed like DAYS of labor, I had finally held my daughter. So on the morning of the 11th, I was trying to sleep. Miles had left for work, then called me, and WOKE me up! He told me to not watch TV, but to put a tape in the VCR (yes, I just typed "VCR") and record CNN. Of course I had to turn the TV on.... and immediately after figuring out what was going on and hearing that a plane was missing that was bound for California (where we were living), I RAN down the hallway to my daughter's room. I woke a sleeping baby just so I could hold her and I didn't put her down all day! I just held her and cried with news repeating over and over. I talked to Miles on the phone several times that day, begging him to come home from work.
It is amazing how the people of our country had seemed to be changed by that day, yet all these years later, the more it seems that no one has changed at all. Reminds of the Israelites.
A lot has changed in our lives, this blog is a testimony to that.
We just celebrate Sydni's 10th Birthday ( pictures to come I promise!). It is hard for me not to think about the "children of 9/11". Whether they were only kids when it happened and now adults, or even those babies who were still in their Mommy's belly and are now almost 10 years old.
A lot has changed in their lives.
I pray for them.
I pray for their Moms who lost their Dads and for Moms who lost their babies that day.
I pray for anyone affected by it.
I pray for our nation.
I pray for the people of our nation to see their desperate need for Jesus!
I always pray for the brokenhearted but especially today and tomorrow, I pray for the 9/11 brokenhearted.

Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Healed!

Just a little blurp and a pic...

Forty-three days after surgery, Amelleah's leg is FINALLY healed!
Praise the Lord!
I know this isn't the best quality but you can definitely tell that it is healed.
We'll be treating it with vitamin e to hopefully help with the scarring.

School and other stuff

Here is Sydni... the Kennedy 4th Grader!

Davis the 3rd Grader

And last, but certainly not least... Andrew the Kindergartener!

Andrew was not interested in sharing the spotlight... HAHA!

This next pose was Sydni's idea after Andrew's little pouting pose...
I liked it!! (even though she was NOT sad about school, she was ready to go back)

Andrew posing in front of the Kindergarten door.

Waiting outside of the school... Andrew was not willing to pose for anymore pictures!

Fun seeing school friends again!
Andrew at his desk.
Notice all the boxes in the background...
their school is moving to a BRAND NEW school building in a couple of weeks.
The new school has been built nearly on top of the old one.
They have had no playground since the end of last year!
But everyone is excited to get moved!
Following the teacher's directions to "color a picture of yourself".

Davis in his classroom! (He got Sydni's 3rd grade teacher!)

Sydni's comment when she saw me coming in to take a picture...
"Seriously Mom!"
So we've survived 3 days of school! Mom has enjoyed it :)
Wichita has an air show every other year and we went to it 2 yrs ago.
However, this year we parked across the street in an old/closed down restaurant parking lot.
Andrew especially loves the airplanes. It was a cool, lower 80 degree evening with shade!
Amelleah's leg continues to heal very well!!
She has been doing great! Crawling everywhere, standing up on anything, and
thinking about walking!
Just a cute pic!!It has been cute to watch Lincoln and Amelleah play during the day without the other kids here. When the older kids are home Lincoln tends to want to be with them. But since school started he has been entertaining his little sister! I hope to get some better pics this week!