In Christ Alone our Hope is Found

I have been blogging things in my head all week, but have had no time to get it down. On Wednesday, Ken and I hopped on the train early in the morning in Branford and took it to Toronto. We stayed over night and it was so great to get away on our own. I LOVE spending time just with Ken.  Just so you know.... If you join the Delta Hotel Club for FREE , you get early check in and late check out. We checked in at 11am and checked out at 5 pm the next day. That is TEN extra hours of room. SO COOL! It made our get away feel much longer! I could never live in Toronto, but I SO ENJOY  walking around there. I also really like the feel of the wind in the subway tunnel. I know that one is odd! I think it is so fun to watch people. The people are so strange. Although, I was thinking about all those thousands of people.... Each one is a soul.... So many lost people. The MOST exciting thing that happened this week is that my little sister Tori had a baby.   JACK ALEXANDER - August 26 - 4

A Poweraide bottle makes a good sippy cup when you lose the seal to Grace's cup. Kids throwing up in the tent in the middle of the night is as bad as it sounds. It wouldn't hurt to bring throw up bowls camping. I will appreciate my soft bed without sand in it for a long time. Josiah wishes he was a chipmunk. It feels good to have supplied "Chippy" with 6 months worth of peanuts. What a contribution! For years, I only imagined that bears would scare me. Well after having the opportunity to hear one close up... I know for sure that they scare me. Sleeping with all 5 kids in our tent was very special. Giving up some space and peace was worth it. Micah slept in our tent from the beginning with just the threat of bears. Josh joined the crew the night we heard our neighbours 2 doors down, banging on pots and yelling to scare away the bear. It's a good thing we have a huge tent. I never thought I would be happy to see a HUGE, LOUD, RUSSIAN speaking family p

Baseball is done for the year. I didn't get great pics this year of Nads and Micah. I am actually really disappointed at how these pictures turned out.  Here are a few I have from the last game. Some are fuzzy because I was standing so far away. My birthday is coming up.... HINT HINT! I guess, there is no use hinting since Ken doesn't read my blog! (o: I love it that the kids were on the same team. Next year that won't be the case. Micah will be too old.  On this team there were 7,8 and 9 year olds. First Natalie's..... Ladies first! (o: Just waiting for the pitching machine to get lined up. Ken often helped on the field coaching.  I love how she stands. I can just hear Ken and the boys, saying in the backyard, "Elbow up Nads!"  She can belt that ball. On the Friday night of the playoffs, she wacked a line drive over the 2nd baseman! (o: Girls are usually discounted on these boys' teams, especially since she is the youngest age on this team. It is so

Ken and I always find the end of things and special days that pass, difficult. (Mother's and Father's Day, birthdays, seasons, baseball etc.) We are thankful each time another one of those things come. It truly is a blessing from the hand of the Lord. But at the end of that day or season, we are so sad, wondering if we will experience a next time as a family of seven. I know we shouldn't live like that. We should simply be thankful for what we have received, instead of hurting for what may come. I know it intellectually, but right now it is so hard to get there. We are trusting and we know that He is faithful. But at times the what ifs are rather overwhelming. Our last few weeks have been a little rough. We are hurting. We already got Micah's next scan date. It is Oct 11. We weren't ready to hear it yet. Could you please keep us in your prayers?

Last weekend, the 3 big kids (Josh, Micah and Nads), Ken and I went to Toronto for 2 days. We parked at the Subway station on Kipling and took the Subway downtown. We stayed at a Holiday Inn on Bloor, near Spadina. It was a very clean hotel with great service, in a good location for us, plus at a very decent price. I said on my blog a few weeks ago, that Sunfest was multicultural... Yikes, forget I said that! Toronto is incredible. I think we may have been the minority on the subway. It was so neat. It was also Carabana that weekend and we saw some very strangely dressed people. I loved watching the kids catch my eyes and raise their eyebrows. It was bizarre! (o: This is the view from our room. The hotel didn't have a pool. But we had access to a big Jewish Center, just down the street. It had a great work out place and a fun pool for the kids. I LOVE THIS PICTURE! (o: I like this truck. It is such an old one, but had such personality. I loved seeing these guys running

This little lady is such a joy. There are so many times that she makes me smile when I walk by her, and I have to pick her up and squeeze her. When I put her hair in the little pig tails, she looks like a little doggie and it makes me laugh every time I turn the corner and see her.  I can tell here that I just did her hair because it's a little wet. It is still sticking out! Her hair is as big as her personality! She is always smiling and jabbering away. She already says,  "I love you" (AH WUV OO)  in her own little way. She is never quiet. To get a serious picture of her is rare. God knew we needed her. We are all so thankful for this little girl. What a gift she has been.

I first had to post this picture of Grace. She is getting so big and I love this one. I have to remember that I would put baby legs on with her shorts when we had the air on and it was so hot outside. Our floor is chilly to crawl on when the air is on. So I put baby legs and socks on, so we can just pull them off when she goes outside. (O: I wish she was wearing her brown and pink. It would have matched better! (o; But this still gives me the idea. Josiah is just starting to ride his bike. He is five and it is time. We had to force strongly encourage him to try it. Even after he knew he could do it, he would be scared. He likes to read books, not ride bikes. (o:  Both are good! I hadn't got a picture of it yet, so he said that he would do it ONE more time (picture a finger in the air as he said it), so I could take a picture and then he was done. I asked him if we could then sell his bike and he totally thought that was a good idea. I have never ever seen anything like this