We made it!!

We are on vacation!!! Officially :) We haven't had a true vacation in over 6 years. We have done lots and lots of day trips but nothing extended or very far from home.

My kids have never played in the ocean. They've never walked along the shore and spied hermit crabs or collected seashells or buried each other in the sand. They've never strolled the boardwalk with sticky salt water taffy stuck to their fingers and faces. They've never built a sandcastle or felt small while staring out at a never ending expanse of blue and waves.

When I was a little girl I got to experience all that and so much more. My Grandma took me on wonderful vacations. Vacations that made memories to last a lifetime and helped shape who I am today. I got to visit many many sites that played a pivotal role in the founding of our Nation. Vacations that started my love affair with history!!

I want to give my kids these same things. So after 12 hours in our cramped up CRV...we are here!!

The trip was mostly uneventful and went surprisingly fast!! The kids did fantastic! No fighting and nagging at all. They didn't ask that age old question, "are we there yet?", until we had been on the road for 10 hours. We played games and sang songs and talked and laughed out loud!!

We did almost get hit head on in West Virginia!! That was pretty scary. Coming through the mountains was awe inspiring!!! At a Virginia rest stop we were almost robbed. We made a few critical mistakes there but we are safe and sound and learned from them. Isaac was a nervous wreck for the next 3 hours but I think he has forgotten about it today.

Check back...I will be posting pictures of all of our adventures!!

Yellow Cars

Asher dreams of yellow cars.

I know this because Isaac hears him

talking in his sleep.

In his dreams he takes all of us for a ride

in his very fast yellow car.

Dear Isaac

Dear Isaac,

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since you were born. It seems like yesterday that I held you in my arms for the very first time. You were perfect. And I'm not just biased...all the Dr.s and nurses agreed. You even scored 2 perfect 10's on your APGAR's. From what I understand that NEVER happens!!

Our journey together didn't start in that delivery room though. It started long before that. You see I had hoped and prayed for a baby long before you came to be. I begged God to give me the gift of motherhood and He just didn't seem to hear me. I had enormous faith but that faith didn't stop the utter despair that I felt each month when I realized that I wasn't pregnant. It seemed that everyone around me was expecting a baby....except me.

Eventually I went to a special Dr. to see what was wrong. I underwent lots and lots of tests and started taking special medicine. I even had to get lots of shots. Now you know I was desperate if I was willing to endure ALL of that!! After several months I still wasn't pregnant.

In the midst of all of this I was being discipled. We came to the lesson on Baptism and my discipler basically said I must get baptized or she would cease the lessons. Well I definitely didn't want to stop being discipled! My relationship with the Lord was growing by leaps and bounds!! But baptism itself was very scary to me. I would have to get up in front of our whole big church and I would be vulnerable. I was afraid that people would think I was silly and would wonder why I wasn't baptized a long time ago. It was completely irrational but...well...we all know I'm not always rational!! And we all know that I am very sensitive to what I think other people think of me!! In the end I submitted to what God's Word called me to do. I called the church and set up my initial meeting for Baptism counseling. That call was my biggest step of faith up until that point.

The infertilty treatments were getting harder and harder on me each month. Daddy and I talked it over and decided that we would try one more month. Talk about adding stress on top of stress!! But I knew it was the right decision.

The big day of my Baptism came and it was nothing like I expected. When it was all over I felt triumphant!! My relationship with God felt more concrete. I really felt adopted by Him at that point. Fully His child. I was on cloud nine!

About 2 weeks later I was having quiet time alone with God. I was pouring over the scriptures in Psalms when it hit me. I was trying to make my will God's will. Maybe it wasn't in His plans for me to birth my own babies. Maybe He had something else in mind for my life. When I asked Jesus into my heart part of my decision included living my life for God's will...not my own will. Right then and there I turned the whole matter over to God! I cried and sobbed at what could be the end of my dream but in the end I said "Let Your will be my will Lord Jesus".

I woke up the next morning like a brand new person. The stresses of the past year were no longer on my shoulders but my Father was carrying them for me!! What a relief!! When I got to work that day even my co-workers recognized the change. Right around lunch time, on a whim, I decided to take a pregnancy test. Good thing I worked in a pharmacy right? I expected nothing but the usual negative result from that test. To be honest I'm not even sure why I took a test that day. Imagine my surprise when it turned up positive!!

I called Daddy and the Dr.s office right away. The very next morning I got to see you on an ultrasound machine. Even though you were just a blip on the screen at that point I knew right away you were a boy. On the way home from the appointment Daddy and I decided that if you were indeed a boy we would name you Isaac. It was just so fitting!! What could be better than a promised child who's name means God's laughter?

Isaac you have taught me so many lessons through the past ten years. You have taught me that I don't always need a full nights sleep to survive the next day!! You have taught me not to sweat the small stuff. You have taught me appreciate bugs. You have taught me to never give up. You have taught me to laugh out loud. You have taught me that tomorrow is a new day. This list could go on and on!! But the most important thing you have taught me was to have Faith in God's will for my life. One of my biggest prayers for you is that you will learn this lesson early. You have a very strong will and always want things to go your way. But I'm here to tell you that God's way is better. If things had gone my way instead of God's way....then I wouldn't have you today. God's timing is always best!! And you were most definitely worth the wait!! I believe very strongly that you were a gift to me. A gift for turning my will over to Him and trusting Him with my heart.

One more thing...I know that you sometimes struggle with wondering where you fit in this life. Wondering if you are fully wanted and loved. I'm not sure if it's your age or hereditary as I must admit that I sometimes still struggle with these same thoughts and feelings. But Isaac please never forget your story. The story of how you came to be. I wish you could feel for a brief moment the feelings that I felt as I was getting ready to introduce you to all the people we love. I was holding you in my arms and I knew that there was a waiting room full of family just waiting to get a glimpse of your face. As we rounded the corner my heart swelled up to completely overflowing with pride. I couldn't wait to let the world see the beautiful gift God had given me. And Isaac I have felt that way every single moment since. I am so proud of the boy you have become. My heart overflows with love for you...even on our worst days!!

Since Isaac hit the big milestone double digits and because I didn't get everything I wanted to say in this one post in....look for a dear Isaac II real soon.

Sunday at the zoo

We spent SUnday afternoon at the zoo. We decided to just hang out in one area so all these photo's are from the North American section.
Asher clearly loved the train ride

Isaac being his goofy self!

Maia being her sweet self.

A little too close?

Maia is obviously thrilled and Isaac is scared. Can't you tell?

Hmmmm...good to know this shirt isn't as flattering as I thought it was. Crawling through a tunnel in the tree.

The entrance to the super cool house.

Asher bidding you adieu.

Last Day!!

I think I was more excited for the last day of school this year than the kids were!! I have been counting down the days since Christmas break.




Here is Isaac's classroom.









Isaac winning his end of year award!! If you listen closely in the video you can hear me say "that's Isaac" before the teacher even says who the award is for. The other mom then laughs and says how funny it is we can pick out our own kids traits. Hint...you will need to go to the left hand side bar to the music player and pause it. That way you can actually hear the video!! Isaac's award was "Most Inquisitive" earned for his many many many questions!!!! With Isaac one question always leads to another. And he always looks at you like he doesn't quite believe your answer!! That last tidbit was added by me...not his teacher.







Isaac with his teacher Mrs.B



Isaac and his friend Hanad hamming it up. If you look at Isaac's shirt closely you can see that he had his friends sign their names on it. He actually wore his Dover shirt to school that day. He called home in the morning to ask me if it was okay if his friends signed the Dover shirt. I said no because a) I knew he would regret it later and b) I thought it would be weird for all of his friends from his new school to sign his shirt from his old school. So Asher and I quickly brought a new shirt to the school that kids could sign. At the party Ian let the cat out of the bag that the Dover shirt did have a few signatures on it before someone thought to call home and ask if it was okay!!




Isaac recieved the highest scores he could possibly get on his report card and he was very excited to learn that he made the news team for next year. The kids that were interested in being on the news team had to fill out some papers and do a small essay on why they thought the team was important. Apparently Isaac's answers were good because he was one of the few picked!! Of course this totally puts a wrench in my plans for next year!



Maia's end of year celebration had me in tears!! I wish I would of thought to take video before her actual award so I could show you all the cute songs they performed. But I did get the award!!

Not sure why the video is sideways but I can't get it to turn the proper way. sorry. Maia's teacher wrote a specific poem for each child in her classroom and presented them with their awards at their celebration. Maia's poem reads

The important thing about

Maia is that she always gives 100%

in everything she does, and she

is always willing to lend a helping hand.

It is true that she has a laugh that

can be heard a mile away.

She has a smile that lights up her

face, and she has a warm heart too.

But, the important thing about

Maia is that she always gives 100%

in everything she does, and she

is always willing to lend a help hand.

Mrs S. reading a book about how everyone is important. Notice the duckis in the background. Maia's class helped raise money to feed the baby ducks. They waited patiently for the baby ducks to hatch and then watched them grow.


Singing and dancing in the courtyard with our friends.

Claire and Alyssa
Maia and Natalie

Maia said her teacher has been crying all week because she will miss this class so much. She even planned a picnic for the end of June for all her students because she can't make it through the Summer without seeing them!

Maia has had a fantastic year of growth! she is loved by all in her class except maybe Yahir!! He has tormented my girl from the start!! Maia received the top possible scores she could have and most importantly did HER very best!! We are so proud of her!!

At the end of the night I took the kids to Toys R Us and bought Animal Crossing for our Wii. Then I let them stay up until midnight playing. And I may or may not have made my own character and set up my own house!! We will definitely be having fun with this game.

Summer can't be ALL fun though so we headed to Half Price books where I picked up some workbooks for the kids. We will be learning about History and President's and the States. Plus we will be reading lots and lots. I'll probably be sneaky and throw in some language arts and math as well :)