Parties and Random Acts of Kindness

 Elli's kindergarten class at the Christmas party vbfore break.  Santa visited them and he remembered seeing Elli last year when she was at the preschool.  Elli was quite impressed:)

 Love her smile!

 She wanted to go shopping with me to get our family ornament.  We went to the Dayton Mall, got our ornament and went to Chik-fil-A.  Elli saw a little boy and ran to give him her new toy from her kids meal.  I told her it was sweet, but another lady saw her do it, came to our table, and said, "That was a very sweet thing you just did.  Here is a gift card ($10) so you can come back and enjoy lunch with your mommy again."  I told Elli was not that common to have two such kind people, herself included, in one day.  Then, we played with dogs where we both fell in love with this little yorkie:)

 The next day, Sat, Dec. 17, Ava had a Pinkalicious birthday party to celebrate turning 5.

 All the girls getting ready for cake!

Ava blowing out the candles with a little help from her mommy, Sally:)
What  fun couple of days.

Lance's Graduation from Fighter Weapons Training School, Las Vegas, NV

 Lance took us on base to see his school classrooms and to get a look at the planes.

 The crew eating at "A Hole in the Wall" Italian restaurant:)  The Holsopples joined as well.

 "Paris"

 We drove out to the Hoover Dam while there and stopped for a view of Lake Mead.

 The dam was incredible.  We took a tour and were amazed at the feat accomplished by the men who worked and gave their lives for this dam.

 The family before the graduation dinner and ceremony held at the Flamingo.

 Lance's squadron and their wives after the ceremony.  Lance got the top academic award.

 Liam was a hoot.  Such a cute little guy.

 Brent, Larry and I drove out to Red Rock Canyon for some sight seeing.  It was beautiful seeing all the colors in the rocks.

On Sunday night, Brent and I went to see Mystere at Treasure Island.  It was AMAZING!
Overall it was a good trip and I am glad we got to see Lance graduate.  However, I am in no hurry to get back to Vegas.  Not really my "cup of tea" with the night life and casinos.  Thankful to come home to my sweet family:)

Dec 15th, A Day to Remember

Ellianna has been asking questions about God lately that have been amazing.  On the morning of Dec 15th, on the way to school, we were listening to the Christmas song, Manger Throne, by Third Day.  Elli told me she thought there was something wrong with the song.  She said, "Mommy, it says Jesus came down, but we know God is in heaven, so which one is it?  Did Jesus come down or is He God?"  I was excited to help Elli understand by things she already knew.  So I asked her, "Elli how many persons are in God?"  She replied with three, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I then helped her see the role of each.  The Father is in heaven and remains there.  The Son had to come to earth as a man in order to make it clear to us that we need a savior from our sins and in order to be the sacrifice needed to take those sins away.   The Spirit then gives us the power to be more like Christ, helping us know right from wrong.  That satisfied her question and then she replied with, "Mommy, I don't think the spirit has given me all my powers yet because I cannot fly."  (let me interject that I love her 5 year oldness too:)  She came to the conclusion that it must come later when she is in heaven.  She then said, "Mommy, I believe Jesus is God and that He saved me from my sins. I have asked Him to forgive me and I know I am going to heaven.  So, that makes me a missionary."  "With tears in my eyes, I told her that a lot of people would call her a Christian, but that being a Christian makes her a missionary because she is supposed to tell others about Jesus and what He has done.  Later that evening she told me she could feel the power of the spirit telling her to ask Brent to forgive her for not obeying.  A few days later she told her friends and family that she was a Christian now because she believes in Jesus.  What a wonderful day for me as Elli's mom to experience her realization of who God is.  My prayer for her has always been that she will never know of a time when she didn't know about Jesus.  Now, she will know of a time when He became real to her as well.  Praise God for a great gift.

Happy 61st, Mom

 Grandma holding Gloria who slept through all the excitement!

 Gonga and Gloria.

 Gonga with all 4 grandkids.

 Time for presents.

 Elli told her the cake was on fire!

 Blowing out the candles.

Happy birthday, Mom.  We love you and are glad to celebrate with you each year.

Happy 4th Birthday, Caroline

 "Strawberry Shortcake says give Brent a hug."

 Elli hugging Caroline while Sven prayed for her.

 The sweet birthday girl with her very adorable cake, made wonderfully by Paula, once again!

 Blowing out her candles.

All the little strawberry shortcakes:)

First Snow, Nov 29th

We were getting ready to head upstairs for bedtime and Elli got so excited when she saw the snow.  So, we let her run outside in her ballet tutu, with a little jacket to eat it and spin around a few times.  Such fun to see her excitement.

A pretty Amazing Story

Brent and I were married July 1, 2000.  It was a great summer to get married:)  I was very surprised though to think that there was no way I could possibly go back to teaching in the fall and still manage to be a good wife.  I made it work, I think, but was also a little surprised that I felt like I was ready to be a mommy fairly soon after getting married.  Brent helped pacify that need with Fergi, our Maltese that passed away this fall at age 10. That only worked for a little while and we began the journey of trying to get pregnant.  We were both surprised when it didn't happen.
After a little over two years, several infertility measures and finally surgery, we were told on May 19, 2005 after surgery, that due to damage from endometriosis, my tubes were not functional, and we would not conceive a child on our own.  We decided to pray for wisdom on whether we should pursue adoption or in-vitro fertilization.  I got a new job that summer, teaching 3rd grade in Cedarcliff Schools, and I got really sick about 2 weeks into teaching.  After losing about 12 pounds, I decided I needed to see a doctor.  Brent suggested a pregnancy test first.  I couldn't hardly stand to even buy one after years of negative answers, but I decided to try it once more.
To our surprise, we got a positive test!!!!!  Our due date with our sweet little girl was exactly one year after my surgery date, May 19, 2006!  We had our sweet, healthy Ellianna Laona Grace (her name means "God has answered me") 3 1/2 weeks early on April 25th, 2006.  What  blessing she is and continues to be to our family.
When Elli was 14 months old, we got another surprise, a second positive pregnancy test.  Complications began right away with this second pregnancy, but no cause was found.  Sadly, at 20 weeks, my water broke and sweet Michael Brown Ferguson was born on Oct 13th, 2007, 2 days later, too small to live.  I have never grieved more.  This is the hardest thing God has asked of me thus far on my journey.
Only 6 months later, we were surprised with another positive test.  We lost this baby by miscarriage at 6 weeks.  At this point, you are probably wondering where the amazing comes in?  One amazing thing that has been ongoing since Elli began praying on her own, is that we have watched her pray for us and many others to have a baby.  We have been able to teach her that sometimes God answers with what we have asked and sometimes he answers differently, but we keep praying. We have seen God develop a caring and compassionate spirit in our little girl as she mentions others in her prayers.  I think that is amazing.
Finally though, after three years, in Sept, Brent and I decided to meet with an infertility specialist.  We got a reference from a new doctor.  This doctor however was unavailable so we ended up meeting with someone else.  We had one meeting that lasted about an hour and a half, going though our history, and then made a time schedule for some tests to be done.  I tried to schedule the dates of the tests in the office that day, but the nurse told me to wait until my next cycle, then call.
Guess what?  I was not able to call.  God has interjected a different plan into the picture.  He has chosen to do things a little different from our plans for tests and has just decided to put a baby in my tummy, as Elli says.  We are amazed at His timing and plan.  We are amazed that He has chosen to let us experience this little life.  We are amazed that He chose to do it in His own way.  We are amazed that our little girl knew this would happen.  We are amazed.

My only Thanksgiving Picture

I took my camera down to Aunt Cindy's house in hopes of taking lots of pictures this Thanksgiving.  However, I only took this one picture of Elli playing pony with Jenny and Grandma.  We had a great time with 28 family members:)

Pre and Post Thanksgiving Activities

 Elli and Brent before the tree decorating.

 I was getting all the ornaments out of their boxes and Elli was hanging them:)

 Can you tell who decorated this tree?

 Elli did almost everything for making the puppy chow.  She is getting good at measuring too.

 With such a warm Saturday (60s) Brent hung the lights outside.  Of course, Elli was his helper.

Such a sweet picture of Elli and Seth putting the ornaments on the big tree!  Mostly Seth would point to where he wanted it to go, but he hung one or two all by himself:)  Fun times with these two!

It's a Feast

 Parents, grandparents, and kindergartners all enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast at Elli's school this morning.

 Our sweet girl chowing down.

Brent was able to come over for a bit.  Elli was SOOOOO excited when he got there.  What a special morning with our girl

Nov 18, 2011 Wesley and Luka turn 1!!!!

 Wesley got a finger in his cake a little early:)

 He just started chowing down!

 Luka was a little more relaxed about the tasting.

 They had so many presents.  Such fun presents.  Wesley got a ball popper from us and Luka a drum.  Hours of noisy fun in their future. hehehe

 Fun times on their new riding toys too.

 So cute to see them sitting in their big boy chairs with bottles.  Love these boys so much.

 They were getting ready for naps but refused to fall asleep.  We were trying to get pictures but they were just not up for smiling:)

 So done with being made to sit still.  Elli was posing quite happily though!

This looks like so much fun doesn't it?  Elli enjoyed their toys as well, and loved making a train with the chairs.  Such a fun imagination.
What a great day of celebrating.

Surprise visit

We went to Chuck's at Cedarville for lunch.  Brent met us and so did Liz:)  While there, we also got a surprise visit from the Chik-fil-a Santa cow!  Elli wasn't afraid of the cow dressed like Santa though she still runs from him when we see him any other time:)  What a great day for lunch!

Gloria Colleen Schoettmer, Nov 9, 2011

 Just a few hours after she was born, I was able to go see her in the hospital  Due to my cough though, I couldn't get too close.

 Heather, Gary and Gloria came home on Sat.  This is Gloria sleeping peacefully in Leah's arms.

 Aunt Leah wasn't sick:)

 One week old and out for her first trip, aside from the doctor's office.  They came to mom and dad's for dinner.  Brent, Elli and I met them there.

 Sweet girl getting all bundled up:)

 Elli's first chance to hold her newest cousin.  Such a sweet picture of both of them.

I was finally able to hold her and spend some time with her.  What a precious baby girl.