Hello Again!

It has been a VERY long time since I have posted and so much has changed. Our daughter is almost 2, our boys are 13 and 9. They are all growing so fast and we are a busy crew! Tarike has blended in with our family beautifully and is adored by all, especially her brothers. Tyler and Tarike have an amazing bond and he has been wonderful with keeping everything under control whenever I need to leave the house for errands, appointments, whatever. He is very mature and responsible. Evan has been active with football, taking our dog through obedience school, and getting ready for snowmobile racing. Connor is 9 going on 13 - he wants to be involved in and try everything. Jack is very active and eager to please - he is very much a perfectionist like someone else I know.... Matt and I, well we are just trying to keep up with everyone and are constantly juggling our hopes that they have as many wonderful experiences as possible and keeping them safe and not allowing them to grow up too fast in this crazy world!!

You CAN make a difference!!

I am posting some photos of some beautiful children! They are all children who are lacking in food, clean water, education, and especially hope. You can provide this and so much more. I continue to learn more and more about the organization called World Vision and believe that they are changing so many lives. The pictures that you see are children who you can help and who can benefit your lives in ways that you could not imagine. I invite you to contact me about any of the pictures that you see that touch your heart. Please leave a comment and I will give you my e-mail address and/or phone number. Sweet Maria from Guatamala has been with me twice and so needs a smile on her precious face! I would love to talk to you about child sponsorship without any pressure. My website is http://connect.worldvision.org/person/katied. If you cannot sponsor a child at this time, please consider praying for these children that they can be matched with someone who will care for them and give them the necessities and hope that they need! Thank you!!

Tarike had her first experience in the snow today and loved it!!! She is so adventurous! It took a little while for her to figure out how to walk in her snow gear but once she figured it out, she didn't want to come back inside. The boys had such a great time watching her experience the snow and trying to get her to watch them jumping in the snow! Not to mention the tremendous amount of snowmobile riding that took place! It was a great day!! Speaking of snowmobiles, Tarike also had her first snowmobile ride today - yikes! It was hard to figure out what she thought at first but then she wouldn't get off. After her first ride, everytime a snowmobile came within view she would head off toward it looking for another! Hopefully, I will get the pictures and videos uploaded to share this experience. What a fun day!!

Christmas is coming!

It has been quite some time since I have posted and we have been pretty busy as we await Christmas, which is fast approaching! Rather than boring anyone with our day to day details, I decided to post a number of photos to see what we have been up to and how much Tarike is growing (not surprising when you look at the food pictures!!). As a quick summary, Tarike eats often and a lot (quite often what goes in her mouth is not food - she likes to carry her stuffed animals in her mouth as well), our Christmas tree
search was a wonderful success, we had a great time at the water park for a cousin's birthday, and Tarike turned one, learned that Santa is not yet her favorite person, and believes that she is ready for her driver's license!! All in all, it is rarely a dull moment around here and that is (usually) just the way we like it!! Have a wonderful Christmas!!! God bless!

Fantastic Fall!

I'm finding that it is getting more and more difficult to post on this blog! I have a few minutes now while Tarike is sleeping, I thought I would post some pictures from Halloween, and other fall activities. We had a great time at the apple orchard last month with some good friends. It was the first time I had been to an apple orchard without freezing. It was a gorgeous day! I love field trips!! (probably more than the kids)

We were also able to spend Halloween with friends from our former neighborhood. It is so much fun to reconnect. I wish we could move everyone here with us! Hopefully, the won't get tired of us visiting!

We have had such a wonderful fall. I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the amazing leaves this year. We were out a lot and our home is surrounded by fiery maple trees. We are continually amazed with the beauty all around us! I am sad to see winter taking over because the beautiful leaves are gone and I know that the snow is coming. This attitude, however, is not shared by the rest of my family. The boys are asking me if I would please pray for snow, even if I don't really want it! It is a good thing that I have my children to help me enjoy every season! It is always good to see life through others lives to help appreciate the blessings we have been given!

A life dedicated to the Lord!

Tarike was baptized this weekend! It was wonderful and beautiful! I think Tarike just wanted to play in the water, but she did a great job. Our pastor said some very thoughtful words and after the service, we had a wonderful day spent with much of our family and a few close friends. We have certainly been blessed!

I have included photos of the baptism and a photo of my baby girl who, it is becoming more and more clear, has very little chance of being very "girly". Maybe she will let us get her a pink dirt bike!