Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family.  We celebrated with Brad's parents on the actual day and then with my mom and family on the day after.  We ate way too much turkey and pie...as always, right?  The kids really enjoyed all the festivities, they especially liked playing Thanksgiving BINGO (nothing fancy, just with Thanksgiving pictures instead of numbers) at Nana and Grampapa's.  Mia especially liked playing cards with my side of the family, it might be in her blood to play cards.  Just fun family games, no betting. 

We also ended up taking some family pictures, here are a few from our photo shoot. 

LA Check Ups

Mia and I were in LA last week for her annual echo on her heart.  It looks fabulous. It is hard to believe that 6 years ago we were getting ready for heart surgery over Thanksgiving week.  I remember that day vividly.  Waiting in the waiting room, getting updates and then a final positive report.

I love that her cardiologist tells us every time that we should just think of Mia as having a normal heart.  She's doing that well, which is so awesome!  Praise God! 

We've had quite a journey over the past few years and we are so grateful for God's healing power in her little life.  She is quite the testimony to our God.  We are just so grateful for how far He has taken her.  Thank you to all who continue to pray and have faithfully prayed for her! 

Tomorrow we are off to LA again for an annual visit with the orthopaedist.  Mia has some mild scoliosis that they continue to monitor, along with her hips.  Her ball and sockets have never completely come into a tight position because of her muscle weakness.  But all of these things are minor and we just continue to watch them with annual check ups. 

Pumpkins, part 2!

We finished the pumpkins tonight.  The kids and I braved Walmart to get some candles.  Note to self, don't go to Walmart the day before or the day of a holiday...it was a nightmare.  But we got back home safe and the kids were so excited to see their pumpkins lit. 

Calvin's pumpkin is on the far left, a traditional jack o' lantern face.  Mia's is in the middle...any guesses?  Of course, a fox for the fox lover.  And Asher's is on the right...what they call a silly face.  Daddy gets the credit, he carved 90% of the pumpkins, the kids just told him what they wanted.  I did a few minor details on the fox face.  Aren't they fun!

Pumpkins!

Last week we went to the pumpkin patch as a family.  We had a great time picking out pumpkins and enjoying the pumpkin patch.  And then tonight we finally carved our pumpkins.  Asher and Calvin thought the insides of the pumpkin were gross, and Mia felt like it was stringy and slimy, but she jumped into cleaning out her pumpkin whole heartedly.  She was a real trooper.  I will try to get some pictures of the finished project up, but we didn't get a chance tonight. 

Happy 7th Birthday Mia!

Happy Happy Birthday SweetPea!

Mommy and Daddy can't believe that you are 7 today!  My how time has flown by these past seven years.  I still can vividly remember the day you were born.  Being so anxious to finally meet you and hearing that first cry after you were born.  1:03 pm.  5 pounds 4 ounces.  So petite and tiny, you know you still are petite and tiny, but you have the biggest heart that a little girl can have.  You are always sharing and always helping others with a smile on your face. 

This year you grew another 2 inches!  Either that or your pants got shorter.  You also gained some weight this year, you are now hovering around 36 pounds.  That elusive 40 pounds is just around the corner...

You graduated out of physical therapy this year and now only have a couple of other therapies.  You continue to ride horses at MARE and this year you've been riding the horse Lady quite a bit. 

On top of all of that, you now do school at home!  And you love it.  You are a great learner and it's so neat watching you learn daily new skills.  You are adding and subtracting, telling time, writing sentences and your favorite subject is science.  Right now you are learning all about trees and the different seasons. 

Calvin also likes to do school with you at home.  He is your best friend.  This year we put your beds in the same room and you two love it.  In fact, you keep asking us for bunk beds.  One of these days we will do that and we might even put Asher in there with you all too! 

Asher is mostly your little bother, but you are learning that he is just a toddler and he has a lot of learning to do.  I've watched you give him a lot more grace these days and show him more love.  He is going to be so lucky to have such a nice big sister like you!

We love you sweetpea!  God has blessed us with a beautiful little girl.  We look forward to what God has for your year 7!

All our love,
Mommy and Daddy, Calvin & Asher