Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to every woman who is a mom and who has played the role as a mom. I wanted to write a short entry as I end my Mother's Day. It was special this year for various reasons, and one being that my three kids were all with me. This year my family and I traveled to Fargo, ND to be with my mom and dad, middle brother, my youngest brother and his family, and my sister-in-law's mom. We had a short (got up there at 1 a.m. on Friday), but very nice trip. My mom wanted to participate in the Fargo 5K Walk/Run so my sister-in-law, her mom, my mom and I did it. It was special to have us do this as my sister-in-law and I were able to be with our moms in this event. We were out in below 40 degree weather to experience this amazing gathering on Saturday. Gabriel does not always do well in crowds, but he did fine. The girls were amazed at the number of people and they likes the chocolate milk that we, the runners, got and then gave to them. My brother ran the half marathon so we cheered him on after we completed the 5K. It was a nice way to start the weekend. Then we hung out as a family and left early this afternoon to return home. The girls made me gifts and cards, which I always treasure, and we ended today by reading a chapter from "Little House in the Big Woods". As a woman and especially a mom, I am blessed everyday! Thank you to my husband, who loves me dearly and tries to show me how important I am to him and the kids. Thank you to my kids for loving me through snuggles and kisses, challenges, and precious moments. Finally THANK YOU to my mom, who raised my to be a strong woman, who encourages me to enjoy life, and who got me to drive to Fargo to be in the 5K with her. This mother's day will be cherished! I pray that all of you "MOMS" reading have had a wonderful day and that you know that God places Moms of all kinds in this world to do what we Moms do - love. May you know daily that you are special. Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrations...

First my sincerest apologies for the length of time that it has been since we have updated our family information. I was embarrassed today when I saw the last post. We are now posting about Mara's and Gabriel's birthdays. The months have flown by. To write a brief recap of the last few months. Life has been great and full of challenges. February was a blur with family events such as our nephew/cousin being baptized and celebrating Valentines day. March held challenges as Gabriel had a fever induces seizure at daycare and was sent to the hospital in an ambulance. Our daycare provider is amazing and did terrific through it. Gabriel has pneumonia at this time. We had planned to head to Alabama, but felt that staying home would be better as the trip was planned for the next week. We enjoyed a break from school and hung out with friends. We went to the Dells for the first time and had a wonderful experience. Easter was wonderful as we celebrated the gift of Jesus as a sacrifice for us as sinners. We spent this holiday at the home of Matt's parents with his family and had a nice time. Now to April, Mara had her birthday at the beginning of this month and she is growing up so fast. She went to the Mall of America with her Auntie Barb and cousin Hannah and loved it. We or I love celebrating birthdays so we had a few get-togethers with friends and family. A few of her birthday pictures are below. Then as the month of April continued, we prepared to celebrate Gabriel's birthday. He ended up in the hospital with pneumonia again and his oxygen level was low, but was out before his special day. At daycare Gabriel was given a special hat and was treated like a "king", which is normally is anyway, but it was extra special(can you tell that we love his daycare "mom") We hung out with some friends on the Friday before his birthday and he enjoyed watching the kids and listening to singing on the Karaoke machine. He loved opening presents and then playing with the paper and bags. Then we as a family spent his birthday at the zoo with my brother Kirk and his family and then we celebrated with the Schommer family on Sunday. We are so blessed with love from family and friends. We have been amazed at Gabriel's changes and his growth and it was so wonderful to celebrate his "first" birthday as a Schommer this past week. Life is great for all of us. Again so sorry that it has been so long. I hope to get better as the summer months approach. We pray that each of you are well and that your lives have many things to be thankful for in them. May you enjoy the end of this month and prepare for fun adventures in the months to come. Love from our home to you!

Celebrating Emma's Birthday

Life is great. We celebrated Emma's birthday on Wednesday and this weekend. She was good about sharing her special day with her siblings, which can be tough. Emma got a bike for her birthday and being that we live in the freezing cold with snow, we are letting her ride the bike inside until spring comes. Gabriel intensely watches her and giggles when she runs into things. It is fun for everyone. Mara was able to ice skate for a school activity, which she loved. Gabriel is moving his feet more and still moving on the floor so fast that I have improved my reaction time. We are thankful for the cold as we have stayed indoors and had family fun days and nights. Our biggest news that came this month is that we are able to head South to visit wonderful friends. Everyone is so excited! It is amazing how God places people in our lives through all of our adventures and then helps us keep the friendship. Praise the Lord! Hope that any readers, as I am doing a terrible job at posting, are well and our adoption friends are growing in all areas of your lives. Please pray for the Allums as their court date changed and they continue to wait for Nathan to come home.