Accountability...

Well my dear sister/accountability partner/blog stalker Kara, has done her job and informed me how much of a slacker I am on my blog. So here we go...

The newest addition to our brood, Kenny, is doing awesome. He's working his butt off catching up at school and making everyone very proud of him! He is on track to move up to his Sophomore year without any bumps in the unforseen road! He started out the semester 3 months behind, and in only 2 months has done FIVE months of coursework, which his principal has informed me is significantly more than any of the other students they have! We are so proud of him and he is just such an amazing kid!

Our little Madi Moo starts Kindergarten in August, which her mommy is NOT taking well. It has gone by much too fast. Just the other day I was taking her for checkups because of her bilirubin levels when she was one week old...now next week I am registering her for school. I really can't want it... But she's amazing! She's so smart, so sweet, and she is such a people person. I love watching her with her friends at church and Gymnastics. Such a sweet baby girl! Speaking of gymnastics, her first meet is May 21st. She is so excited about it! They have been working on a routine and she has it DOWN! She's so proud to show off her "tricks" to everyone, I hope everyone makes it! She still remembers her big cousin's first recital and how special that was for her, so I know she has her hopes up. I hope it goes exactly how she wants it to!

Derek and I are just busy loving our household! I am still in school way too much way too often and Derek is being an amazing blessing to all of us. He can play Mr Mom, Dad, employee and best friend to me with what seems to be no effort on his part, but we all know is such an amazing feat! All 3 of us are so blessed to have him as our leader of our household and God has given us so much just by giving us him!!! This is the week before finals for me so of course I caught some kind of cold, and JUST got over E-coli. I think from now on I will start antibiotics, anti-virals and steroids the week before finals every semester. I'm sick of being sick!!!!!!!!!

Okay Mrs. Anderson, lovely Kara, my stalker/nemesis/idol, do I pass???

Spilling the Proverbial Beans!!!

Well, apparently I failed at informing everyone of our news! So here we are... (drum roll inserted here)...we have my cousin Kenny living with us now! He needed a better environment, and we offered to provide it. He has been living with us just over a week and has fit right into our little family. So our family of 3 became a family of 4 overnight and we could not be happier! As far as the legalities, we have temporary guardianship of Kenny until further notice, which we hope is later than sooner. I am taking him to register for school today. Kenny seems to be happy in our home, and he and Madi are best buddies! Of course Debbie (Kenny's momma) is very much involved in the entire process, but I think everything has worked out extremely easily! He is such a good kid, and is so very respectful, he truly is a joy to have in our home! So everyone please keep praying for our family, God has been so good to allow for all of this to happen, and so easily at that! We can't fathom the blessing he is going to pour out now! Such an amazing God we have!!!!!!!

Kara made me do it!!!

Well, with the influence of my little sister, Kara, I am probably going to become a blog addict again. I have been so jealous of hers and Jared's blog that I decided to copy cat and follow suit! Hopefully I will actually keep up with it this time! I miss pages like Xanga where I could blog/journal my heart out and people would fain interest i my thoughts!

As an update: Madi did have her tonsils and adenoids out, as well as tubes put in her ears. She did amazing! She was such a trooper and within just a few days didn't need pain medication anymore. We are so blessed to have such an amazing little girl!

Since then, in January Dr. Jaffe took our family and our best friends the Avants, to Maui for a week. It was such an amazing trip and we had so much fun! While there, Madi's ear started bleeding from the canal and after a long journey through all of that, a blood clot finally ruptured last week and she is finally healing from that! She did seem to lose some of her hearing on that side but Dr. Cadenhead feels it should resolve in time and everything be back to normal! Again God has blessed us beyond our worth!

For two years now Derek and I have been praying for God to show us how to serve, and whether or not we are supposed to be moving forward in extending our family. This whole time we had thought he wasn't answering us. We wanted a yes or a no, and we were getting neither. But sometimes, that IS the answer, and the answer is no. Every time we started to move forward with adoption he said not to, and to look into fostering. So we did. But every time a door opened for fostering, God closed it again and then we were just wondering what we had done wrong, or if we had been listening to God closely enough. But as all Christians come to find, when God closes a door he opens a different one, and usually the second door is much bigger. He does everything for a reason, and he has done it again. We had no idea God was going to put an opportunity directly in our lap. Derek and I had been praying separately, and maybe even for separate things, but this passed weekend we got the exact same answer at the exact same time. So now we are moving forward with what God wants us to do, and will have all the details for everyone this weekend! God is so good, and he has blessed us so abundantly over the years, so with overwhelming love and a heart for Christ we move forward in everything we have been praying for!!!

So Much To Do...

Well, between gaining a beautiful sister in law at the first of this month, and Madison having surgery last week, things they are a changing! Jared married beautiful Kara a few weeks ago and we were a big part of that whole celebration! They are coming up on their ONE MONTH anniversary and I wonder if they are in the rose-colored glasses honeymoon phase still. Maybe they will even CELEBRATE their one month anniversary. I think I'll ask them!

Friday Madi had her tonsils out, her adenoids out, and tubes put in her ears. It was a rough few days but she has been a total champ. I think the rough part was really just the parents being so on edge. She has done great! As of today she is pretty much back to normal and everything is going along smoothly! We are so blessed and so thankful that God has been so close to us during all of this!

A couple of weeks ago my brother Shaun accepted Jesus Christ into his heart! I can't be more proud than I am right now of him! I pray everyday that he grows closer to God on every turn and every moment of his life! I know only God can do the things that Shaun desires for himself and I can't wait to see how God changes him, as well as what he will do through Shaun, for Cassie, TyTy, Jessabelly and Alexander! SO EXCITED!

Ciao for now!

Appreciating what we have...

We went to the funeral of a dear friend's father today...we didn't really know Lou other than stories, and a formal hello and goodbye at shared events. He lost a long battle with cancer last Monday. It's times like this that people throw in phrases like "we were all better having known him..." and you generally just accept them and move on. In Lou's case, this was all so true! In listening to the multiple stories and memories that were given at the celebration of life, every single person proved time and time again what a selfless, giving person Lou was. He gave his life to Christ many years ago, and was one of the few genuine people that walked the walk and talked the talk. I wish I had known him, apparently it really was our loss, not his. I hope that we live our lives so that our stories are just as good, just as TRUE as Lou's stories were. He will be missed, and I pray that his family will be able to move on in knowing and believing God's promises that Lou is with his father in Heaven, in the room prepared just for him! Thanks for allowing us to be a part of this celebration of life!!! Goodnight!

First blogging...

Well, we are going to give this "blogging" thing a try. This seems to be an easy way to put out family pictures and updates for our fam, so we will see if I actually keep it up! Today, Derek is 27 years old, working for a very successful Oculoplastic Surgeon in Dallas and is loving "most" of it! His boss spoils him like crazy and they have become great friends along the way! Alicia works for a Dermatologist in Denton, TX and we consider them our second family! We are both so blessed to have employers like we do! Sometimes it is so surreal that God gives us all of the things he does! Alicia has recently gone back to school for a Science degree (Biology major, chemistry minor) and struggles to juggle a 40-hour work week, classes at UNT, full-time mommy and wife...but it seems to piece itself together on a regular basis...by no hand of ours, it's definitely an "only God" thing! And our greatest gift, our precious Madi. Our little angel is 3 years old right now but will be 4 way too soon! She has this gift to brighten up our days with such little effort on her part! She is just one of those kids that you can't help but smile when you are around! She really does brighten up a room simply by walking in! She is our treasure, our joy, and a wonderful gift from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Our family has a home church again, finally! We go to GracePointe in Denton, TX and again, this is such a wonderful blessing in our lives! We have found a church family and are eager for every Sunday when we get to worship our savior with our newfound family and learn more about God! We have a beautiful home in Corinth, TX and our hobbies include...well, really just each other! We can't wait to fill you in on our next installments to our hazy, crazy lives! Thanks for reading!