One year later...

So, as I stated when I started this little blog, I am terrible at keeping up with it.  Life gets busy and messy and when I have a little time it is usually at night when all I want to do is hang out with that amazing husband of mine. On the other hand though, every time I sit down to type up a little post, my heart is always full of thanks and I feel overjoyed that this life is mine, that these two amazing kids are mine, and that my best friend is who I wake up next to every single day.

This year seems to have been a particularly tough one quite frankly. In April, my grandmother, (Nan) passed away very unexpectedly. Then this August, my grandfather passed away and again it was rather unexpected. In addition to the loss of two lives so precious to me, there was sorting, selling, boxing and donating.  As all my friends know... I can form a sentimental attachment to anything so my dear sweet husband had a whole new garage full of things that I needed more time to let go of or sort through to keep.

A few days after my babies birthdays and on the way home from my grandfather's funeral, we found out that my mother-in-law has advance pancreatic cancer. It still makes my heart race and my stomach flip saying it, just like the first time I heard it. Once again, it came from no where with no real signs or symptoms and it was such a harsh blow to be dealt for all of the family.  I do not really want to dwell on it/my emotions about it but here is what I have to say. The first week, I cried and didn't stop crying unless I was sleeping. I would look at Kenlee and Emerson's faces an mourn what I knew they would miss out on. They are so fortunate to have two very different grandmothers who love them so completely and exactly the same. All I could do is feel sorry for my children and my precious husband, his family and of course Kathy. I thought oh my goodness, every day from here on out is going to be just... sad for lack of a better word. (I might should state here that we live like two streets away from my in-laws and see them very very very often. We are very close in both distance and relationship) Here is what I KNOW happened. We had this amazing army of friends and family who went work praying for us, for her, and sending out the message for others to pray.  There are literally people across the globe praying for her and the peace that came over my husband and I could ONLY come from God. Now, I can honestly say I just cherish the days. I know they will end, I am not in denial, but I can laugh and enjoy the memories we are making. My mother-in-law is and always has been graceful, composed and such a model of patience. I love her for many reasons and am SO thankful that I met her eight years ago. I am so glad we got married young and had babies and that she knows them both.  I love the example she has set in being an amazing wife, mom and grandmother. Most of all, and very cliche` but true, I am so so thankful for the little boy she raised up to be the man of my dreams. I am beyond blessed that because of her, I have had the joy of becoming a wife and mommy raising my own little loves. We are so confident in our God and the plans he has in store.

It is well with my soul, even when it is not well with my heart.

On a brighter note, we celebrated our seventh anniversary! That of course means it was time for wedding dress pictures again. If you missed my previous post about this, you can check it out
here.

This year, there was no getting a picture of everyone both smiling and looking so here is what we ended up with.

 Kenlee always wants to know when it is her turn. This year we left it out a few days and she dragged it all over the house doing whatever she would normally do from all her many art projects to movies snuggled on the couch. Finally I could take no more because it seems to take up half our square footage so we packed it up until next year.

*Coming soon* A peak into a very special trip we were able to take with both sets of grandparents.