Wow - what a whirlwind of a month! It has been so much fun and so exciting. We had graduation, graduation party, VBS, my niece and nephew for 11 days, and a thrilling and somewhat unexpected trip to California! Elizabeth, Ri and I just got back from California a few days ago. Things have been so crazy that I have not had time or energy to post.

California??? Yep.... totally unexpected. 5 years ago, we met a family who has since become some of our dearest friends. We spent 2 weeks in China, they came here for a week when we got home with Ri and then a week the next year and then this year.... Evan called me and shared with me that Christy was celebrating an important birthday. He had thought and thought of something special to get her but couldn't come up with just the right gift. Then he asked me if I would be willing to come out to California with Ri and Elizabeth. I was floored! To have a chance to visit the Masyrs was something i had not expected to be able to do for sometime. It isn't that I didn't want to go to California, I just knew that it would be a long time until we would be able to take a trip there. Once Evan found out my schedule, he booked flights for us to go. It was so much fun surprising Christy! The look on her face is something I will never forget. We didn't arrive until 11:30 California time. Her parents (who are incredible!) and Sam picked us up at the airport and drove us to their home. Christy had fallen asleep already. Evan had me knock on the door. He woke her up and told her she needed to answer the door; but she refused. She stood on the platform of their stairs and waited to find out who was knocking at her door at 11:30pm! Evan finally opened the door and I walked in. She was so surprised! After the initial shock wore off, we spent the next couple of hours visiting while the little ones played with Noah and Sam. It was incredible!! The next several days were filled with sight seeing and fellowshiping. How much fun we had! I miss them so much already.

Christy and Evan took us to Santa Barbara... in our home we know it as the home of the tv show, Psych. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! I could not get over the mountains on one side of me and a beautiful ocean on the other. The weather could not have been more perfect! We enjoyed every moment. The first 3 pictures are priceless to me. Faith and Elizabeth really got along well. It gives me chillds to think that they started life together. For 10 1/2 months, they were "sisters" in the orphanage. And now, thanks to the Masyrs, they have been able to see each other every year. It is a treasured gift.






True to Elizabeth's personality, she spent many moments shut down and not willing to take pictures or even respond. Don't get me wrong, she had many, many moments when she played hard with all of the kids; but when we were out and about, it was difficult to get her to respond. (notice her face in this one?)

It may have been that she was exhausted, or it may have simply been that she was with people she didn't know all that well.... or it may just be that she is plain rude. Whatever the reason, Evan, CHristy and Sam tried their best to get her to smile. In this picture, Evan had just announced that he was buying ice cream. He then preceded with a game to get her to smile.



One thing that really brought her out of her shell was playing in the water at the beach. She absolutely loved the waves hitting her. The giggles coming from the three younger ones were priceless. Sam and Noah were absolutely incredible with all of them. Both of my kids fell in love with them!






I have much more to post, but I am heading to bed. Emily just tried to download 700 pictures from Skyview. She was so excited to finally get them onto her computer. Somehow, in the download process, she lost 500 of them. She is devastated. And I am just as devastated! I am terrified that the card reader I gave her lost them. Those 500 pictures held some very, very precious pictures/memories for Em. She is handling it very well, but I can tell her spirit is broken. Please pray we find those pictures! I know it seems impossible, but I know that God can do anything. It may be very silly to others, but those pictures meant the world to Em. This past week was an emotional week for her, this weekend has been very hard because her dad and I said no to something that was very important to her, and now somehow those pictures are lost. I just want to cry.

It's just been a little over a week since I last blogged; yet it seems like a month. A lot has happened in that short amount of time. The kids have all finished school. The summer has arrived. Erin graduated on June 6th. We enjoyed a wonderful ceremony of which Erin was one of the speakers. Because she is lass president, she had to give a speech and present the class gift to the superintendent of the schools. She did an excellent job. She also was the first to recieve her diploma (since she was class president) and she got to lead everyone in transferring their tassels from right to left. We are very proud of her. We had our family and Jaoob over for dinner. After that, we headed to Rachels graduation party and spent the rest of the evening there. Sam and Erin started their lifeguard positions on Monday and have worked nearly every day since. Jacob began summer school (he is taking summer gym so that he can free up a period and take more courses during the school year). Mark and I spent the week preparing for the graduation party. My in-laws and my dad spent the day/evening helping set up tables and tents for the party. My sister in-law... the most amazing Aunt any kid could ever dream of having... came and spent the day cleaning and helping with the food. Uncle Paul, the most amazing Uncle a kid could have, came early loaded down with ice and pop and immediately pitched in. It was fun having everyone around to help. We were blessed with the weather. The rain held off until 9:00 pm (when most of the guest were levaing or had already left. Our last guest left at 1:00 am. A VERY dear, dear friend stayed until 11:00 cleaning up all the dishes and putting away the food. Saturday morning, Mark and I woke up and instantly began the huge clean up task. My parents came over and pitched in. We spent the entire morning trying to beat the rain while waiting for tents to dry from the downpour of rain the night before. It was a tricky thing, but we knew that we were suppose to have a lot of rain the next few days and we needed to return the tents we borrowed. We worked hard to get it all accomplished. The moment we folded the last tent and put it in its bag, it started to rain. We had every intention of attending a wedding that day, but by the time we were done, we would have had to leave immediately. Both Mark and I could barely think straight from exhausttion. Elizabeth had had enough of my lack of attention and she and Ri were so wiped out that it was not possible to even think of leaving them or even taking them somewhere. They had had a week worth of staying up until well past 10:00 (often 11:00). Friday night, Elizabeth fell asleep on my shoulders, crying because she was so tired yet I wasn't able to put her in bed at that moment. It was after 11:00 before she was able to be laid down. Needless to say, she is really having a rough time. So, we hated to miss the wedding, but felt we really had no option. Today, we began preparations for our church VBS and will be involved with that nearly all day, every day, until Friday. Erin, Sam, JAcob, Ri and Elizabeth went to the airport and picked up my neice and nephew. They will be with us for the next 11 days. We are very excited about having them. They live in Florida and we only get to see them once or twice a year. While they were at the airport, Mark and I visited Emily. Yay! It was incredible to see her. She looks and sounds great. It is amazing!! She is more on fire for God then I have ever seen her and I dare say... then I have ever dreamed for her. It is thrilling to see.

I can't wait to hear about her summer. We were only able to spend an hour with her, but we weren't complaining. It was a precious hour. She is so excited... and exhauted! The things she is doing is so far out of the norm and I dare say.. out of her comfort zone. It is very, very cool to listen to her.

They had a mock camp this weekend. There were a group of 100 campers who volunteers to come in for a training for the counselors. THey have their first "real" week of kids tomorrow. Emily is so excited for them to come. Anyway, Em shared with us that she led a little girl to Christ. It was the so exciting for her. It was a God thing in how it happened; which is the coolest way for it to happen! To listen to her share the story is incredible.

She also shared with us many of the adventures and fun they are having. She says that every counselor is their with a passion to serve Christ. They have sacrificed their summer and are truly on fire for the Lord. She says she has never been around people like this group. And the director of the camp, according to my daughter, is amazing and on fire for God as well. He has taught her so much about serving Christ.

a glance into Erin's room. It will be a sad day when I begin to paint over all that is written on her walls. They are filled with notes from friends.


Sam is officially done with school. Jacob may be done, though I am waiting to hear back form the school about his science. Erin is officially done with high school altogether! Elizabetha and Ri begin kindergarten camp on June 14th-18th. Jacob begins summer gym on June 10th. Graduation is Sunday. Graduation party is JUne 11th. My neice and nephew fly in to stay with us for 11 days on June 13th. VBS is June 14-18 (of which I am head of drama).... and so my life does not slow down... it just changes focus.

I took Emily some things she had forgotten yesterday. I ended up waking her up. I felt horrible about that. I just wanted to nudge her and tell her I had brought her stuff; hoping that if she didn't want it all, I could take it back for her. I found out that the counselors had been taken on an adventure the night before. Emily had been up 29 hours and was exhuasted. I told her to go right back to sleep. I thought I had succeeded, but 10 minutes later, I saw her walking towards us. I begged her to go back to sleep, but she really wanted to see Elizabeth and Ri and Jacob. So we kept our visit very short. She is loving every bit of the training. It is long and hard and she is exhaustd... but she is very, very happy. I am so thrilled! SHe was nervous. I think she still is a bit nervous, but at least I can see how happy she is being there. I believe God has some mighty plans! I am watching them on a webcam that the camp has set up. It is 10:54 at night and they ar still going at it. It looks like they are praying right now. I can't believe they are still at it. Em says that they get up at 7:00 and go full swing until 1:00am. After hearing her story of their adventure... I believe it!

Sunday night, before Emily went to camp, she and a friend discovered a baby deer being attacked by Shu. Emily rescued the deer. We tried to get it to go away, but it followed the kids everywhere (this was at 1l:00 at night. Eventually, it walked away. But the next morning, it was back. This time, it guzzled down a bottle. It comes and goes and eats a bottle anytime we see it. Shu is playing with it, but in her play, she is ripping its neck and shoulders. We are having to try to keep Shu from attacking it. We have tried to pen it, but we get torn and think it is best to let it run free..... but then we worry about Shu. We have called the Division of Natural Wildlife but they have not responded to our call. So in the meantime, we are attempting to nurse the deer back to health.

We have had some crazy weather lately. Lots of rain. TOnight, there was a tornado warning. Evidentally the doppler picked up a funnel cloud in our county. The sirens were going off. But we saw nothing. Last night, though, on the way home from working out, Mark, Erin and I saw a very strange cloud. It was a very cool sight. I had my camera right beside me, so I took a few pictures. The cloud was not rotating... but it definitely had the appearance of a tornado.

Well, Emily is off to camp. What a joy it was to drop her off and listen to what is in store for her these next 2 weeks. The camp director shared with us that the kids (counselors) had 272 hours of training ahead of them... in just 14 days! OK... Jacob and I did the math. If that is completely true, then she is faced with 19.42 hours a day for the next 2 weeks. So I am guessing (or maybe more accuarately..hoping) that 272 hours isn't exactly right.

I am not sure what kind of training that other camps give their counselors... but I am confident that these counselors will be the best trained counselors I have ever come across! Having experienced the orientation for parents and counselors on Monday and listening to what is in store for Emily (training wise).... if I had a child who could go to camp this year; Skyview would be it! THe training is so packed that Emily can not even get off for Erin's graduation. That makes me very, very sad. But the day that ERin graduates is the day that she will be getting training in CPR. It is a shame becaues she has already been certified in CPR, only that was before we got Ri. I am confident she has to be recertified. :( It breaks my heart for both of the girls. Emily can't stand the thought of missing ERin's graduation. Emily didn't ask about being able to make it to Erin's graduation party, but she is pretty confident that she will not be able to go. After hearing all that is going on, I am pretty confident she won't be able to either. I can't wait to see what God has in store for Em!! I can't imagine a better training or experience to prepare Emily for serving the Lord or for helping her figure out what God's plan is for her.

One part of camp is a wilderness camp. It takes kids into Canada. Erin had signed up for it 2 years ago, but was unable to go. She had been so excited for it. Emily thought is sounded very cool and would love to be one of the counselors chosen for it. She grabbed her passport and was looking at it on the way to camp. It never dawned on me that it could have expired (forgot that she was a child when she had initially got her passport)! SHe noticed the expiration date. It is quite possible that Em will not be chosen for that camp (and she is fine with that), but if she is, then we have to have her passport ready to go. The camp is in 5 or 6 weeks which means that I am in CRUNCH time to get a passport. The problem is that she is unable to leave camp training and in order to submit an application, she has to be there with me. Oh well... God is in control. There is a good chance she won't go on the trip and if she does, God will work out all the details!

Please DO pray for the counselors! And pray for the campers who will be attending. I use to have a very tender heart towards Skyview, but after the experiences that Erin, Sam and Jacob had had, my heart had grown a little colder. BUT... in the past couple of years, I have seen it change.. and after Monday.. my heart has become very tender towards this camp again. God is working through the hands of the servants at Skyview!

As for Elizabeth, she had a good night last night. She is still miserable at times, but I think we are finally over the hump. I have no idea if the scab has come off. I think we are still in the "danger" zone for bleeding to occur - so I would love prayer for that as well.

Erin finished her high school career yesterday! We are so proud of her and whom she has become in the Lord. We are thankful for her accomplishments and her goals for her future. Sam has finals tomorrow and Friday and then he will be done. Jacob is finishing up; hopefully today.

Ri still has a very poor cough. He is amazingly tough though! This is definitely the only sickness that I have seen him really have to deal with. I have to say that this young man is tougher then anyone I know. Us adults are babies compared to him. He has the strength of a lion! (or at least the heart of one)

Jacob's middle name was given to him in rememberance of Mark's grandfather, Oliver. Our neice, Lydia, was given Mark's grandmothers name as her middle name, Elsie. We took this picture when we visited the cemetary during our trip to the hills.




Today is filled with lots of activity. Erin and Sam march in the parade. It's Erin's last activity with the band. I wish I could be there, but Elizabeth just isn't doing great today. She has caught a pretty good cold which is playing tricks on our night time sleep. She is pretty miserable at night. The coughing is very painful and wakes her up which reminds her of the pain in her throat...which causes for a long night. We have had 3 rough nights. Today is day 6. The discharge papers say that the pain will worsen up to the 7th day. The bleeding that may occur will occur between the 7-10 day. So I am asking for prayer during this time. She is taking medicine to control the bleeding but I have ended up missing 1 dose and being late for 2. God is in control, though... not the medicine. I have to keep reminding myself of that. All in all, Elizabeth has done incredible! I am truly thankful. I will be glad when we have reached the 10th day mark.

As for other things going on today.... I lose my little (well.. not so little) girl again today. She is off for camp where she is going to be a counselor all summer. I am so excited for her. She is a bundle of nerves. It cracks me up. She is the sweetest, most welcoming person I know. She can talk to anyone and make them feel special... but deep down, she is a wreck at the thought of meeting new people. It is TOTALLY out of her comfort zone. She is going into camp not knowing anyone. It is definitely something that can make the strongest "social bird" a little uneasy. To further her fears, she is so afraid of failing any of the girls. She has taken this responsibility very seriously. She knows that much of a kids experience is effected by their relationship with their counselor. I was able to have a couple of hours with her (shopping for camp) yesterday. We spent a lot of time reminiscing about her experience at Skyview and about Erin's, Sam's and Jacob's experiences. She has that in the back of her mind and I am pretty confident that is why she feels so much pressure. She doesn't want a child to walk away from camp not having been touched by God through her hands. She doesn't want a child never wanting to come back because of something she has done. It has been 5 years since Jacob attended Skyview. The very thought of going there makes him uncomfortable... all because of his experience with one counselor. Erin, on the other hand, had a very poor counselor as well... but she is very tough and is able to adjust and adapt despite some circumstances. As a parent, I looked at both kids and evaluated it. With Jacob, I was crushed because I knew that I would never have an opportunity to send him back again. I knew that his experience was burned into his mind and effected him. I also knew that God would heal that and would give us other opportunities... just probably not Skyview. With Erin, as a parent I was crushed for different reasons. I had hoped to see Erin grow and develop in the Lord. I had visions of her coming home changed and on fire for the Lord. I had watched Emily come home so excited and changed. I knew that her counselor (s) had each invested their life into Emily's. They had taken opportunities to talk about the Lord and the messages she had heard. And they were FUN. With Erin, her counselor seemed to dislike kids. Everything seemed like a chore for her. And Erin came home, having loved camp, but having been impacted very little spiritually. So for Emily... who is going away to work with kids all summer... the responsibility is weighing heavy on her shoulders.

And so I ask all of you who know and love the Lord... will you pray for her? Will you pray that she is so enveloped with the presence of the Lord that she becomes His hands and his voice to all the kids that she comes in contact with? Will you pray that He will work through her in the lives of these kids. There will be kids of all backgrounds coming. Kids who are from Christian homes who know and love the Lord. Kids from Christian homes who could care a less about the Lord. Kids who have professed to be saved, but truly aren't. Kids who are saved. Kids who are saved but not walking with the Lord. Kids making horrible choices, kids on the fence about Christ, kids who are hurting and kids who are loving every aspect of life. There will be strong willed kids, insecure kids, "know-it-all" kids, spoiled kids, less fortunate kids, clingy kids, kids who keep a distance, kids who are impossible to break their wall down, and kids who know all the right things to say. Do you get my point? She is facing so many different circumstances and situations. She needs wisdom for each and every child. The only way she can gain that wisdom is through Christ. In James, the bible says this: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. I think this is one of my all-time favorite verses in the bible! So pray for my little girl as she begins to serve the Lord. And, if you wouldn't mind, pray that God speaks to her about her future. She is not sure where He is leading her. She is hoping to draw near to Him as she serves Him and hopefully find some affirmation in her future.

As for graduation... it is next Sunday! Wow.. we will be the proud parents of 2 kids who have graduated from high school (not to mention we are the proud parents of 4 who have not). I am feeling very old! I am so excited for Erin. She has such a wonderful future ahead of her. She is starting training this week for soccer. She recieved a very rigourous training program in the mail from the coach. She also needs to sign up for classes. We are in the midst of trying to plan her graduation party. I need to really focus! I am so busy trying to get her book completed. I have had many set backs with it... but I think I am finally in the final stages (though probably far more hours then I wish to think about!). If I can get Elizabeth under control, I can start to focus on the party and book a little more.

Well, I have to go. Have a blessed day!

We are finally home. Not that we were there a long time, but for tonsils it was a long time. Most tonsilectomies are done outpatient. I was thankful for being in the hospital. Last night she woke up around midnight coughing and in a LOT Of pain. I think she was an hour over due for pain meds. She started crying a lot and finally decided that she wanted me to take her for a walk. I got her up and out of bed and she just cried and cried. She started coughing because hte crying was working things up. Then she threw up all over me. Unfortunately, it was intensely painful and she somehow started choking on it. She couldn't get air at first, which freaked me out. It happened just as the nurse had come in because she heard Elizabeth crying. I was thankful she was there. Instantly, another nurse came by our sides. Elizabeth was able to get air (much relief for me!). Then she cried more (probably because of pain and fear). In the midst of that, she threw up again. Then she started crying hard saying "mommy, I'm scared". It tore me apart. We knew we needed to get some pain meds in her, but she would have NOTHING to do with it. She was terrified to swallow. She was also terrified of coughing. She would start to cry and I would remind her that she would end up throwing up again. That really got her to stop screaming and crying. At one point, she started sobbing quietly with tears coming down her face. She told me that she had to cough and she was scared. It took us a good hour before we could get her to even attempt to swallow. Then we oculd get the pain meds in. WE had to wait a good 1/2 hour longer til we could get the bleeding medicine in her. Finally, 3 hours later, she fell back to sleep and slept well (until woke up by the doctor with a very intense flashlight on his head ... shining in her eyes ... saying ... wake up Elizabeth and open up). It was not a great awakening. She cried and open her mouth as wide as she could (not wide enough). He shined the flashlight on his head (several times in her eyes) and stuck a tongue depressor in her mouth and forces her to open wider. Soon after the forced awakening, she fell back to sleep only to be woke up 10 minutes later to get medicine shoved down. But... after all that, she ended up having a good morning. We were given the ok to leave as long as her bloodwork came back ok (it did) and she drank 8 ounces of liquid (which took her 5 hours to do!!!).

So.. we are home. She is doing well. I just gave her tylenol with codeine in order to help her sleep easier and her bleeding meds. Pray they do not make her sick! I will update more tomorrow. I am tired.

We are at Childrens Hospital right now. Elizabeth had surgery at 9:00 this morning. It was completed within 30 minutes (we were told to expect an hour). She did great. The doctor was very pleased. He took her adenoids as well stating that they were causing 60-70% of the obstruction. She is now resting in her room, but is very uncomfortable. They gave her morphine during surgery, so I have a feeling that it may be a "not so fun" next few days.

There is something so precious in the way that God works. Tonight, Emily took Ri and Jacob to Mamaw's because Elizabeth's surgery is at 9:00 in the morning. We have to be there at 6:15, so we decided it would be easier on Ri if we took him to Mamaw's now rather then wake him up at 5:00am. Sam was studying in his room, Erin was visiting Jacob, so it was just Mark, Elizabeth and I. We were just about to settle down when our pastor showed up at our door. What a precious man of God! The trip from our house to his is not a small one. He made it just so he could encourage us and pray with us. It was a BLESSING! I have been so hesitant despite how much I keep feeling like I have left this surgery in God's hand. It was precious of God to send His servant to remind us of verses and of God's love. We had a very sweet time of fellowship and a sweet, tender prayer time.

God is certainly holding our little girl in His hands. She knows it is tomorrow and she knows all that I can prepare her for. I don't hold back much simply because I don't ever want her to not trust me. She knows they will administer the IV when we get there. She knows I will be with her until it is time for surgery. I told her that I will be right outside the door.... then she got pretty upset. She questioned me as to why I wouldn't be in the room with her the WHOLE time. She does not want me to leave at any point. I told her I will be with her as long as I can and I will be with her as soon as she wakes up. I also told her that her throat will hurt a lot but that she will have special medicine to help her.

So.... please pray that all goes well; with no complications and very little pain or blood. I would also love for prayer for her not to have any major set backs emotionally. If the pain is intolerable for a few days, the set backs could be horrible. But.. as I was reminded tonight, God is in control. The same God that created the ehavens and the earth is the God that has promised that He will be there with us and that his loving hand will be holding us and giving us all that we need.

Well. I started a post last week when Elizabeth had her pin removed. I shared the details, but never actually finished the story. So... it is now 6 days later and I still haven't finished. To make a long story short - the pin is out. It was a 2 second ordeal. Elizabeth was very brave. She didn't cry until he pulled out the instrument (something that looked like pliars). She cried hard until is was removed. They say there is no pain, but Elizabeth would argue that. She said it hurt for a few minutes, but settled down. It was very painful to the touch for the first couple of days. After about 3 days, the skin peeled off of the tip; revealing fresh pink skin. Her finger looks great! It is shaped a little different where the stitches were but I am thinking it is more a scar look then an abnormality. She is down to just a normal bandage (well.... a princess and the frog bandage).

As for other news. Em is home and I am thoroughly enjoying her being around again. She has been very helpful and has made sure to spend time with everyone in the family. She heads to camp on May 31st for 2 weeks of training before beginning the summer chaos. Jacob is nearly done with school. Sam is enjoying having his license (a little too much - he hasn't quite settled into our rules yet).

Both Sam and Erin were awarded academic letters last week. It was Sam's first and Erin's third. Erin also was given a certificate/bond as the student chosen by our School Board for going into education Last night, she was awarded a scholarship through the community foundation and then given 2 more awards. One was the Marines Distinguished Athlete Award and the other was the Ohio High School Athletic Association Archie Griffen Sportsmanship Award. Sam just went through an election process for class officers. His group developed a very cool marketing campaign. They called themselves the BLT's and used images of Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches on their ad's throughout the school as well as took some very cool pictures of the group. BLT's stands for Ben, Lyndsey, Travis and Sam. He was elected as the class treasurer. He is very excited. We are very proud of both of their accomplishments.

Pictures are courtesy of Emily. I can't seem to download any of my pictures for now. I have lost all means of downloading. Once I get that replaced, Iwill be posting more pics.
















There is one thing I have noticed that just doesn't seem to change... time slips away far quicker then I want it too! I can't seem to get the things done that I need to get done these days. It is a little frustrating, but I guess that is part life; especially with 6 kids. Emily came home Friday. It is wonderful to have her home. I can hardly believe that she has already completed one year of college. Erin graduates in just 3 weeks. Boy am I feeling old! I am in the midst of planning graduation details right now. I haven't begun her book or her movie... so I am a little overwhelmed. I guess I am a little wrong; Jacob began her movie yesterday. I assigned it as part of his artwork for school. He is doing a GREAT job on it so far. He spent hours just coming up with the first 17 seconds! It is a pretty time consuming thing. I have worked on several different announcements. Unfortunately, I had not asked Erin until after the fact. She really wants to make it herself. I have given her until tonight to complete it. Otherwise, the 5 or 6 different ones I desiged are being used! We will be participating in 2 open houses. The first is one that we organized at our church. There are 16 graduates this year! That blows me away! Because there are several of our members who try hard to make it to every senior's graduation party, we decided that we would organize one open house. That is May 23rd. Then, after looking at our schedule.... well, more accurately, Erin's schedule. We came up with June 11th being just about the only day possible for her graduation party/open house (unless, of course, we wait until July... and she is not too keen on that idea). Graduation is Sunday, June 6th. Elizabeth gets her tonsils out on May 25th. I figure that life is going to be a bit overwhelming for a few weeks! :)

We had a wonderful weekend. I was woken to the sweet voice of my son, Jacob on Sunday morning. He had insisted on getting up early and making me breakfast. He was a wreck all night because he was afraid he would not get up and do it. Bless his heart. He is so tender, sensitive, sweet..... and he loves his mom!!!~ Yay! He came in, carrying a tray filled with a delicious breakfast and special coffee. He spent hours making me a very precious card. I will treasure it forever. He is 14, yet willing to do anything for me. I am so blessed.