Ghosting

We have a tradition called Ghosting that our friends introduced us to when our boys were little. When you go ghosting you fill a jar with candy, cookies, treats, whatever you like. Along with the treats you have a poem that talks about how it's better to give than to receive etc. You then go to three friends house, after dark, put the candy and poem on the door step, ring the door bell and run away. The poem then asked you to do this for two more of your friends to keep the fun going. After you have been "ghosted" you leave the poem or ghost on your door to let others know you have already received your treats and that someone else would be a better choice so they can be included in the fun.

Thankful Thursday..... a very special patient

I have had the blessing of being an RN for the last twelve years. I have predominately specialized in neonatal intensive care (NICU), working with premature babies, along with working in women's health as well. In my nursing career there have been many families that have stood out to me ~ families I'll always remember ~ those that are near and dear to my heart. As I'm currently in school working on my family nurse practitioner degree, I've started teaching med surg nursing clinicals at a local college two days a week as this leaves me more time to study ~ once the students are ready for their women's health portion, I'll then start teaching in that area and stay in that department ~ definitely my comfort zone:)

*

Over the past three weeks several of my students have taken care of an amazing couple ~ we'll call them Fred and Thelma. This couple has been married for 62 years. They have four children ~ one, a son, is currently on life support at a local hospital. A daughter, who was having a bone scan today as she is a breast cancer survivor yet they are concerned in regard to some recent cysts that have appeared. Two grandchildren were just born with tumors in their eyes and are currently undergoing treatment in hopes of beating the disease and the list goes on.
*

Over the past few weeks I've watched Thelma love Fred unconditionally. I've witnessed her holding his wrinkled face in her hands, and speaking close to him so he can read her lips as his hearing isn't what it used to be. If his legs were cool she would pull the blanket back and rub them with her warm hands until he said they felt better. When he had a fever, she held ice packs on different parts of his body to help cool him. When the doctors told him he had cancer earlier this week and he only has one to two months to live and he curled up in a fetal position to die, I watched her become the best cheerleader I've ever seen in my entire life ~ did I mention she is 83 years old and will turn 84 in just a few days? I watched as Fred's eyes glistened when she is in the room and is telling him how much she loves him, not just with the words I love you, but all of her positive and upbeat comments that she tells him, and believes them with all of her being. I watched her pat him on the chest not once but 100 times telling him how we're all going to help him to get better, "just you wait and see". I also saw the look in her eyes when her son, along with the hospice nurse, suggested they go to their sons house to live as there is more room for a hospital bed and the care he will need. I watched as 62 years worth or memories flashed before her ~ I watched as she realized that when they came in the hospital they thought it was for pneumonia and after a few days they would be going back home ~ to their life, in their home. When she looked at him, she told him they would stay at their sons just long enough for him to get better and then they can come back to their home ~ the one they have shared together for 62 years.
*

You see, Thelma knows that Fred's days are numbered but she also believes that no matter what, you don't give up, you have to look at the glass not just half full but completely full until the very end. I have always thought of myself as a very optimistic person ~ if your given lemons you make lemonade and I can always find the silver lining in any cloud ~ sometimes you just have to look a little harder to find it, but it's there. However Thelma ~ she has taken the lesson of optimism and unconditional love to a level that truly takes my breath away.

*

As a nurse you always hope that you can be an encouragement to your patients ~ a patient should be given "holistic care" meaning we treat and look at them as an entire person, their mind, body and spirit ~ did I mention Thelma's strong Christian spirit ~ it's incredible! As an instructor, I hope I've taught my students at least a few of the fundamentals of nursing during their first quarter of clinicals. However, the past few weeks, I have to say that Thelma has taught me more about life, unconditional love, and what's truly important than any text book could possibly teach ~ and for this Thursday, I am eternally thankful...for Thelma.

Happy Fall Y' all

When we were at Johnny Appleseed Festival in September there was a lady selling the cutest fall decorations. We purchased one that has all of our names including Gabriella's. It's funny, Gabriella's name was up in the middle, until someone in the family decided since she would be the baby, she should be placed in birth order ~ I think we have a little guy in the family that is pretty excited to give up his baby status and change to the big brother role.

Today we have our first meeting with the social worker at Starb*cks. I have spoken to her on the phone and she sounds like a very nice person. We are anxious to meet with her and know that we are at least one step closer to Gabriella:)

*Update*

We had the privilege of meeting Alice, the social worker, and she was WONDERFUL!! She had some great ideas and gave us some incredible insight on different things in regard to when Gabriella comes home ~ bonding and what we may expect verses what reality may be at first, "time in's" verses "time out's" with a child adopted from an orphanage, helpful hints on incorporating her Chinese heritage into our families lives and other great ideas! Now, we get to start writing our autobiographies, get our physicals filled out (this means a trip to Ft Wayne and lunch at Casa's:), do more paper work, have additional meetings with a different social worker so she can meet the boys, see the house etc. I'll bet you can guess what I'll be doing tonight once the boys are in bed ~ paper work:)

A wonderful day spent with family and friends

We were so blessed to be able to spend the day with our friends who have moved to Colorado! We had a wonderful time sharing stories, hugs, and this time no tears as we know we will get to see them again in February:)

It was great to be able to have the kids all together. Dalton, Aly's brother had to stay back in Colorado to play in his high school football game. Nicholas and Aly use to spend countless hours playing together when we lived in Ft Wayne. Daniel and Jordan were quite eager to share their fireworks stories with Scott as they knew he would appreciate them:)

Three years ago Jennifer asked me to be Aly's God-mother ~ it was one of the most special times of my life. I have to say I am very proud of her!

We had to have a "girl" moment as we were totally out numbered with all the guys.

To think this friendship started from being neighbors and asking to borrow a jar of R*gu is simply amazing!

We had a great time catching up and sharing memories at a wonderful restaurant in Hagerstown IN. The food was incredible and the company couldn't have been better!

It was a windy but beautiful fall day filled with the love of family and friends.

Up, Up & Away...

Curtis fufilled a life long dream and took a hot air balloon ride for his "forty-something" birthday!

Jordan and Nicholas, showing brotherly love to one another, and are all ready to send dad off on his balloon flight.

We're all aboard and ready for take off! They had to actually file a "flight plan" with the airport prior to take off.

Up, up and away!

Curtis called Teresa and the boys from the hot air balloon "giving us directions" as to where he was so we could continue to follow them...we decided it must be a "forty-something" moment.

It was a perfect evening!

"This was one of the most amazing, beautiful and peaceful experiences I've ever had"!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

As many of you know we have been blessed with three of the most incredible, fun loving, considerate, and on most days, well behaved sons. With each year since their birth, we have been amazed to see them grow into unique individuals with their own personalities, interest and talents. All three boys have accepted Christ and are growing in their Christian walk. We truly don't think God could have given us any greater blessings here on earth.

A few years ago God planted a seed in Teresa's heart about adopting a little girl from China. Our life took a few twist and turns and she thought maybe it was just a dream and put it aside. A couple of years ago Curtis came and asked her if this was still something she was interested in doing, as he felt God had been working in his heart in regard to adopting a little girl from China as well. After a lot of prayer and discussion we agreed this was something we felt called to do ~ however, Teresa needed to get more of her schooling behind her as she is pursing a degree as family nurse practitioner. We felt God had called us to do this ~ just not quite yet.

It is now two years later and we feel God is asking us to start the process to bring our daughter home from China. On October 1 we applied to a very well respected adoption agency and on October 8 we received notification that we were accepted into their China program. In the last two years China has drastically changed the requirements that families need to meet in order to adopt a child from their country ~ thankfully, we do meet all of the requirements.

I'm sure many of you are asking what the boys are thinking about all of this. Daniel smiled ear to ear and said "when can we go get her"? Jordan said "I want to go get her too, but if it happens to be during the state finals of basketball and we're in the championship, I won't be able to go". Nicholas said "I want to go too...do they have Kentucky Fr*ed Ch*cken or something I can eat over there"?

It is with great excitement, peace, joy and a little apprehension of the unknown that we are officially beginning the journey to bring Gabriella Grace home from China. The journey could be completed in as early as a year but may be as long as two years. We are requesting a little girl, under the age of two. As many of you know, Jordan was born with medical issues and would be considered special needs in the adoption world. As we can choose how minor or major of a special need we feel we can handle, and in China something as small as a birth mark qualifies as special needs, we have requested to adopt a little girl with some form of a very mild special need. We will post updates on the blog as to how things are going during our journey.

There will be lots of paper work, meetings, paper work, obtaining passports, paper work, educational classes on adopting, paper work, decorating a little girls room, paper work, a trip to China, paper work, having Gabriella Grace placed in our arms, paper work, a trip home from China, paper work and a completed family....together, sharing the times of our lives.

Wordless Wednesday

A Fun Filled Weekend

The neighbor girls were feeding the fish while the boys were trying to catch the fish...we decided they were too young to understand the laws of poaching just yet.

The Colts beat Houston ~ Go Colts!

Saturday was girls day out and we enjoyed lots of shopping at Riley Days

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for our large extended family and this picture only represents a few of them!

I'm also thankful for a wonderful hubby who supports me while I reach for my dreams.

I'm thankful for three incredible sons who have learned how to find the silver lining in any cloud.

I'm thankful for my sisters and for my girlfriends who are like sisters.

I'm thankful for a group of students who give 100% while they are learning to become the nurses of tomorrow.

Above all I'm thankful to God, who knows our hearts, our hopes and our dreams and walks with us each day and loves and accepts us for who we are.

Welcome

Welcome to our families blog! We're happy you are joining us:) We are hoping that our family and friends can keep up with what is happening in our day to day lives and watch the boys as they continue to grow. God has truly blessed us with three incredible young men and we couldn't be more proud! As the title of our blog states, we truly feel that it is what goes on each and every day that makes up the time of our lives. Pour a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and make yourself feel welcome, we're glad your here:)