One proud boy.

Isaiah loves, loves, loves stacking.  He loves to stack blocks and his favourite things to stack....cans from mommy's cupboard. 

Last night I found him doing this. 

 The smile and clapping hands show how proud he was of himself.  And mommy and daddy are pretty proud of him as well.

This most likely won't be the most dangerous thing he will ever do but it does scare me because oh boy would it hurt if a can landed on his toes.

Window of Celebration.

Selah was very sick on her birthday.  It was so sad.  She had been running a fever for four days by Saturday (10th) and just wasn't getting any better.  We had been to the dr. but at that point they said it was simply viral.


As a family we tried our best to make it a happy birthday for our four year old.  Daddy made pancakes in the shape of an "S" and "4" but only one bite would be eaten.

 PopO. flew in from California that afternoon and brought quite a few presents to be added to the ones sent from Gramma and others.  But they just sat on the table.

 Mommy baked ice cream cone cupcakes.  They, too, just sat there.

 Then, finally, around 6 p.m. Selah seemed to have a burst of energy.  Not knowing how long it would last, I had the family stop what they were doing and we all gathered around the table to sing to the birthday girl, have her blow out her candles, and open presents. (She didn't have any clothes on due to the high fever.)

 Thirty minutes later our precious Selah was back to not feeling well.  The next day she looked like this. 

So glad we were able to enjoy the small window of celebration. And very thankful that the Monday before her birthday and before she got sick that we had taken the family up to Apple Holler so Selah could ride a pony.  That was her birthday wish.  And from the picture you could see that she did have a happy birthday.

My kiddos keep growing.

Each dr. check-up I enjoy finding out the stats of my kids height and weight.  It amazes me how much our little ones grow in such a short amount of time.

Isaiah is 15 months old now.  Here is how he compares to his sisters at that age.

15 month stats
Sofia   20 lbs 6 oz.    30.75 in.
Selah  20 lbs 7 oz.    30.5 in.
Isaiah 25 lbs 4 oz.     33 in.

Selah just turned four years old.  Here is how she compares to Sofia at four.

4 year old stats
Sofia  31 lbs.  40 in.
Selah 31 lbs.  39.5 in.

The birthday gift of prayer.

Today we celebrate Selah's fourth birthday.  We are amazed at how much she has grown this year not only physically but emotionally (goodbye terrible threes!) and socially.  Even her understanding of spiritual matters is beginning to deepen.  


We would love all of our family and friends to join us for cake and ice cream but it's not possible.  So, as we do each year, join us in praying for Selah.  


Pray....

• Selah will continue in good health and grow developmentally.
• Selah's relationship with Sofia and Isaiah will deepen.
• Selah’s love for singing will always be a sweet sound in our Savior’s ear.
• Selah will continue to be curious, and that someday her curiosity will be satisfied by knowing Jesus.
• Selah, whom God put on this earth for His enjoyment, will bring glory to God by enjoying Him.

Effects and Attachments

This is my brother, Kirk, with his little boy Ezekiel.  Ezekiel has been in NICU for 16 days.  Praise God his body is healing and in due time my brother and his wife, Tamra, will be taking Ezekiel home.


No doubt this has been a very difficult time for our family.  However, our family has seen and experienced hardships physically, emotionally, and spiritually over the years and we can confidently say that God is good, God is our rock and God is love.  He has been faithful to provide, he has been faithful to encourage, and he has been faithful to heal.  And because of the many things HE has done, we give him the glory and honor he deserves.  We also look to him in this trying time knowing once again that He is our strength.  And that is exactly what the name Ezekiel means, "God's strength."


I want to share a couple things that Kirk has shared in his updates.

Effects
As I wash my hands to see Ezekiel so I don't spread any bacteria, it is like asking Jesus to cleanse me of my sins so I don't effect my wife, kids, family friends and community.  Jesus cleanses our sins white as snow.  Cast our transgressions as far as the east is from the west.


Attachments
Ezekiel has been attached to needle lines, monitors, and a vent going into his mouth and into his lungs to help him breathe.  Because of this I am not able to hold him.  Isn't this true of our heavenly Father?  He wants to hold us but we have too many attachments to this world.  It's time to pray for healing.  Healing of our sin.

I pray these words encourage and challenge you as they have done for me.

IT happened!!!!

Yes, it happened.  Something most every family experiences at least once in their lifetime.  I had been waiting for this day.  Actually I thought we might have escaped it being that the girls are now six and half and almost four.  But what was I thinking?


The other night I was washing dishes.  Selah comes running down the stairs with a HUGE smile on her face and very proudly says to me:

"Mommy, Sofia cut my hair!"

This mommy had a million and one thoughts running through her head but I actually managed to be calm and say,

"I see.  But Selah, this really isn't a good thing."

Selah looks at me with disbelief then you could see reality cross her face.

"Oh."

Sofia then comes running down the stairs, 

"She made me do it.  She made me do it."

For the next few minutes I had some great dialogue with my girls about knowing and understanding right from wrong, owning up to doing wrong, accepting responsibility, seeking forgiveness and accepting forgiveness. 


As for Selah's haircut?  It isn't very noticeable.  The right side is about two inches shorter when you pull both side hairs straight but you can't tell so much because of her curls.