Thankfullness - Day 8

Today I am thankful for the smiles I could see and the giggles I could hear.

Thankfulness - Day 6

Today I am thankful for my washing machine and my Pumpkin Pie Yankee candle. They have both helped to keep me sane today. What did the ladies do before the invention of the washing machine? ? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't throw away perfectly good (although very soiled) clothing. . . like I would have TODAY with out my washing machine!! Maybe I'll be able to give the washing machine and the candle a break tomorrow. Hopefully! !

Thankfullness - Day 5

I am thankful for rainy days so I can cuddle up with a cup of hot chocolate, a good book, and my favorite 5 year old.

Thankfulness- Day 4

Today I am thankful that as a family we can go to a church and worship our God without persecution. I am thankful for the true preaching from scriptures. Today we were blessed to witness the public confession of three young people in our church. I pray that our girls too, will one day make this confession, and that they will be able to have communion with the saints and worship in a church under the true preaching of Christ.

Thankfullness-Day 3

The quote says "iron sharpens iron". Last night I was blessed to have my iron sharpened by some amazing women of strength. Ladies leadership was the best yet. It is so great to get together with groups of women on a Friday night that want to improve themselves. We heard talks from 5 amazing ladies on how to improve and grow in our faith, our friendships, our marriages, and ourselves. It is so encouraging to know that all of us that were there last night are working towards the same goals and we can confide in each other on our toughest days, and celebrate with each other on our best days. I am so thankful for these leading ladies that have the desire to not only keep improving themselves, but to have the heart to share with us how we can do the same.

Thankfullness Day 2

We have been blessed with a BEAUTIFUL fall here in Michigan. We have had many, many sunny days and warmer temperatures. There has been some rain and chilly temps too of course. But for the most part it has been beautiful out. I love the change in seasons and would have a really hard time leaving Michigan for that reason. I love watching the leaves turn from their yellowy green to a bright orange and then to scarlet red. I love to walk outside and feel the crispness in the air. To smell the dying leaves all around. The noises too, begin to change. Instead of the high pitched tweets from the birds that awake us in the morning we begin to hear the honks of the geese and the shots from guns that slice the morning air.

I am always reminded of God's creation even more it seems during the fall (and spring). It's amazing to think that God thought out EVERYTHING before the beginning of time. He planned how the leaves would change, how the birds would fly, when the animals would hibernate and so much more. So many things I think of as "that's just how it is" have all been carefully planned according to God's sovereign plans. I am truly thankful we did not have to make these plans.

(pictures to come....)

Jeff

I have finally found a few minutes to type out a post I've been wanting to type. Throughout the month of November I'm going to try to post everyday something I/we are thankful for. Earlier this summer I read a book about finding joy in everything. One of the things required of us to have true joy is to be thankful IN all things. There have been many a days since then that I have had to 'search' for something to give thanks for and I have often been humbled by the attitude of my heart on those days. It is on those 'humbled' days that I have also found myself the most joyful after getting my heart right before God. I thought it would be a good lesson for the girls (and myself) to take the time everyday to think about all that God has blessed us with and to give thanks for that. We will be writing them down and putting them in a jar to review at the end of the month.

So for today. . . I am blessed beyond measure with the husband God has provided for and placed in my life. Jeff celebrated his 33rd birthday Tuesday. As we were getting things ready for his birthday I had some time to reflect on how we got from our first date to his 33rd birthday (by the way..... he robbed the cradle :) ) Jeff has one of the biggest, most caring hearts of anybody I know. Does that mean that he loves everybody he meets? Nope. But for the people that have been gotten to know him, he will truly do anything to help them. Most of you know Jeff and I have a business outside of his job at Wilbur Ellis. In that business I get to see how big Jeff's heart is. He meets sooo many new people and is immediately able to build a relationship with them. And once they get to know each other, Jeff will pour his time into them to help them work through difficulties they are having in their lives and accomplish goals they have set. He is so good at encouraging others. I think it's because he is such a 'good finder'. He is the one that is looking for the good in others and focusing on that instead of their flaws. I'm so thankful for this since my flaws are many!! We have a stack of cards at home that attest to all the people that Jeff has helped in one way or another. I love watching him when he's encouraging other's. He has a very patient way of teaching that I do not always understand. It is very evident his passion is in helping others.

Jeff is also the best dad in the world!! I know that society these days makes jokes of the dads that sit around and watch tv all night, or go out with the guys every week, or play in 3 different leagues a week, or sit back and allow their wives to do all the discipline with the kids. The jokes they crack make it seem that these activities are okay and 'normal' to do. Thankfully God has given Jeff the desire to not just father his children, but to be a dad to them too!! Jeff loves playing with the girls. And while they are playing they are learning soooo much. Jeff is really good at teaching them little lessons, but I think the most valuable thing he is teaching them he doesn't even know. He's teaching them what to look for in a husband. As they grow older they will see the way he treats his wife and look for that in their mates. They will also have a wealth of memories of all the things their dad played with them and look for a mate that will treat their children the same. One of my favorite things to do is sit back and watch the memories Jeff is making with his girls and thank God for making him such an amazing dad.

Jeff is also an amazing husband. Oh we've had our ups and downs over the past almost, 8 years. Some very, very trying times. Looking back, I can see that God used those struggles to strengthen us and our marriage (another reason to be thankful IN all things). While I enjoyed the 'newness' (not the word I'm looking for)of our first years of marriage I would not like to go back there. I know we have grown so much since then and love Jeff more today then 8 years ago even though there may be more baggage now.

Everyday I thank God for placing Jeff in my life and that I won't take him for granted, but that I can be the best wife that I can for him.

(picture to come......)

Year two...and counting

Dad here again. First time in whats felt like a year or so since Ive done this. Nicki asked that I write one for Melanie's birthday, so after a little bit of wincing and negotiation, I thought it might not be such a bad idea.

I went up to Melanie's bed, gave her a kiss goodnight, and.....well, that was it! I came downstairs. I didn't have to go to the parking garage to find where I lost my car, and didn't have to drive home and wonder the whole way home about the health of our baby girl. Didn't have to remove the 'healthy' sticker from my shirt or the orange wristband that labeled me as a dad, and didn't need to worry where to put that white rectangle parking pass so I would remember to take all 30 of them out when I cleaned the car out.

I reflected for a few minutes there about how this little fart (we call her Miss Mellers, or trouble, or various other adjectives that refer to her very strong willed personality) two short years ago surprised us with her special, very nerve racking birth. As I kissed her, for a moment, I reflected on the monitors, the breathing machines, the surgeries, the rooms, the uncertainty, the tears, the smiles, the alarms, the phone calls, the doctors and nurses, the "box" she lived in, the families we got to know, and the unbelievable strength that God brought to us during that time.

As I reflect now, I think about the families who's children didn't survive. There are families that left that hospital completely different than we did, and now, as I reflect, I think about how much having this little fighter in our house is such a true blessing. As parents, we go through the typical rolling of the eyes, the frustration of children not listening, the fighting with siblings, the talking back, and the interruptions during all of our conversations. And for now, all those selfish thoughts went away as I reflect. Some of those parents would beg for the opportunity to 'deal with' the typical parenting complaints that we have, and I never gave it a thought since leaving that hospital til now. Not much explanation, just flat out selfishness on my part. I'd like to say that since I just thought of it, I'll do better. But, just as a small child says 'I'll be good, I'll remember", Jeff and my sinful nature will forget this as early as tomorrow...or maybe even tonight if one of them wakes up crying.

I think about all the memories that this young two year old has given us, and praise God for allowing us to go through those long 76 days in that hospital. I pray it is something that we never forget. I also pray that we take none of our children for granted. Yes Miss Melanie is two, and yes, very much still a fighter. We laugh a lot just looking at her personality and how it didn't change even in the slightest since she has been born. Maybe, she'll be our little fighter forever, and she'll remind us through that strong will, that God has richly blessed us with the birth of that 3rd daughter.

And looking at her now, God in His sovereign will, has chosen to have no lasting effects on Melanie, other than maybe her inability to cry or laugh really hard (We wonder if that is because of the tubes she had down in her throat for so long). This, however, doesn't bother us too bad, especially when she cries. I find myself chuckling at times when she gets really mad and her cries aren't any louder than her talk.

But now, all I can think is this:
Melanie....you are two, and someday, maybe you'll know what stress you put on your parents when you decided to come out 14 weeks premature. Someday you'll understand how amazing the lung surgery that the doctors 'tried' was. Someday, you'll understand how that heart surgery was so scary for mom and dad. Someday, you'll know how so many people checked this very website, often several times a day, to get an update on a baby they had never met. And someday, maybe, you'll sit in awe in front of a computer, just like your daddy is, and marvel at how powerful a God we serve. It was only through His grace that you are with us today. And daddy, will try to not take for granted all the blessings that you and your sisters have brought to your mom and my life. I pray that God will continue to keep you in the palm of His hand from now to eternity, just as He did those first handful of scary days of your life. Mom and Dad pray that you too, don't take your life for granted, just as we shouldn't do so with our own. God places each and every one of us on this earth to praise Him in what we say and do, in whatever calling He gives to us. You are a beautiful child and HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY!!

Love Dad

Illuminations: Activities

Illuminations: Activities

Perfect Fall Day

We have had some BEAUTIFUL fall weather these past couple weeks. I have a feeling it has come to an end, but we sure enjoyed it while we could. Wednesday was our last day of temps in the 70's with full sun. The Westra household soaked up every minute possible (outside of doing school for a bit in the morning) ;) It was a perfect day for playing in the leaves. I've never raked leaves as dry as these. It was tons of fun which was a good thing cause we raked a TON of leaves, and then re-raked them, raked them again, and then again. The kids could hardly wait till they were piled up to jump into again. There were LOTS of crumbled leaves left on the ground once we took away the piles. Proof of the fun we had during the day. Jeff surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers....purple ones at that. They are gorgeous!! When he got home from work we hauled the leaves to the pasture. The girls thought this was great since they got to ride in the wheel barrow. Melanie however didn't like riding, she LOVED picking the leaves up (usually one-by-one) and putting them into the wheel barrow or trash can. Picking up is one of her favorite things to do. I now know if she's being trouble in the house just send her outside with a pile of leaves and a bucket and she'll be occupied for hours. Too bad all the leaves blew away this weekend. Once the leaves were off the lawn we went out for a quick supper and then to the park to enjoy the last minutes of daylight (and the first 15min of darkness). The kids had a blast playing rough with Dad, mom had a blast watching everyone laugh and not having to cook, and I'm pretty sure Dad had fun playing with his girly's!! So many precious memories.

Our picture computer cannot connect to the internet so I had to post the pictures through a video. I added a song so you may want to scroll to the bottom of the blog and pause the music or just mute your computer to watch without any sound.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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A Most Precious Visit

Grandpa and Grandma Hoksbergen were able to come to Michigan and visit for a weekend before continuing on their way for a color tour out east. We had SOOOO much fun with them while they were here and only wish they could have stayed longer. We all went out for supper and ice cream Friday night and then back to the hotel to swim.
Miya and Jayden then got to stay overnight in Great G n G's hotel. This was such a special treat for them. A night in a hotel (one of their favorite things to do) and time alone with Great Grandma and Grandpa. I guess they woke up and had two breakfasts with swimming in between. I'm sure that was Grandpa and Grandmas' idea:0)
Jeff and I patiently waited at home with Melanie for them to come back so we could go fruit picking.....we'll they didn't come home till around 2. They ended up visiting an aunt in a nursing home and then spoiling the girls with Burger King. After a quick nap it was off to one of Jeff's customers to pick some raspberries and blackberries. It was good time picking and in between the spouts of rain we enjoyed some blueberry doughnuts and coffee to warm up. It turned out to be a beautiful evening once the rain stopped.





Then it was off to Crane's to pick a few apples. Being the first weekend to pick Honey Crisp, it was BUSY. So we quickly loaded up and ventured to Fenn Valley for a little wine tasting. Since we were in the fruit picking mode, I thought maybe we could pick some grapes. NOT the right kind of grapes to pick for eating....just for wine making. The wine sure tasted good though!! After an afternoon of fruit picking it was time for supper. And what to do you do after supper on a beautiful Saturday evening? ? You head to the beach of course!! We trekked out to oval beach to look at the view, and then the girls wanted to get out and run on the beach. Why not add some sand to the mud that's already in the clothes and van? It was a beautiful night on the beach (just a little chilly).


Once Melanie warmed up to Great Grandpa and Grandma, she had to be by "Papa's" side the rest of the weekend. She had to hold his hand while walking, sit by him at meals, and he was the only one who could carry her if the need be. She enjoyed playing with Great Grandma too, but Grandpa could never be far else she'd cry for him.
Sunday was much more relaxing. Melanie thought she had to sit by 'papa' during church. She actually did very well and sat on his lap throughout he whole service, she even took a little nap cuddled up in Great Grandpa's arms. After evening church we headed to the hotel for a little snack and to say goodbye. My secret pal left a basket of fall goodies that were just perfect for that night (thank you to my wonderful secret pal). It was much more delicious then the crackers and soup I had packed along. After visiting for awhile it was time to say goodbye. It's always sad to say goodbye, but we are so thankful they are able to come visit and treasure the memories they are making with us and the girls. We love you both! wish this picutre wasn't so dark :(

Glasses

The last couple of weeks we have had many, many, MANY appointments. Dr.s, therapists, opthamologists, and dentists, OH MY!! Miya had her first cavities filled and her first root canal (or whatever it's called on baby teeth, poly-something). She also got her first pair of glasses!! She LOVES them and so far is taking very good care of them. She asks to clean them all the time. Her first night, she put them in their case and then tucked them away with the cleaner and rag into the bag from the eye dr. The bag then went neatly on the counter in the bathroom. This morning I hardly got a "hello" from her before she ran to the bathroom to put her glasses on!! So thankful she enjoys wearing them. Hopefully her attitude towards her glasses will stay this way. She gets to wear her glasses all day - every day and since they really don't make her vision better I thought she might not want to wear them. So far so good! I think it helps that one of her friends from church gets to wear glasses too.

Allegan Fair

Last week was the Allegan Fair. Usually the girls and I are able to check out the Ottawa Fair and Hudsonville Fair early in the year. This year we were unable to go to either so the Allegan fair was our first fair this year. The girls behaved very well this year. . . I think. Those that saw us up and down, up and down at the show on Saturday may not have thought the same :0) They are definitely getting easier to entertain as they get older. Miya and Jayden were content playing behind the stands. When they got sick of that we would take them for a walk to the petting barn. Melanie was still a little difficult this year. Just like the other two, at her age, she likes to climb up and down the stairs. We'll like we've mentioned before, her balance isn't the best yet and she took a number of spills. We even got a "phhhhheeewwww" from the crowd as they all turned to look where that huge clunking/falling noise came from. . . . a couple of times. No blood, so all was good. We had lots of fun walking around petting the different animals. Melanie has gotten quite a bit better saying her animal noises. Maybe next year Miya will be able to walk a pig in the pee-wee show. Gonna take some practice come next summer. We'll have to see what next year brings.

Summer Vacation

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Just realized I'm REALLY behind in blogging. The last full week of August we were able to take a vacation with our family. It was SOOO relaxing and sooo much fun to hang out with just the 5 us every day. We vacationed at Barlow Lake, one of our favorites. We had visitors through out the week. But most days went like this. Jeff would wake up between 6 and 6:30 (CRAZY), make coffee and head out for a couple hours of fishing. He would get back between 8 and 9 and make us girls a BIG breakfast (the second breakfast for the girls since they couldn't wait that long to eat). Then Jeff would play rough with the girls for awhile. We'd go for walks/bike rides, go fishing, play games, or just hang out. Then it would be lunch time with more playing after. Then family 'rest' time. To Jayden and Melanie this means a NAP!! For Miya this means a lone time in a bed with lots and lots of books to look at (about 45min worth). For mom this meant a book, a lawn chair, and maybe a 15 min nap. For dad this meant another couple hours of fishing on the boat. After rest time we'd have snacks (lots of them) and play some more before deciding if we were going to grill or go out for supper. As a family we do not eat-out very often. Our vacations in the past are the same, lots of cooking. This vacation, for some reason, involved lots of suppers out. I LOVED it. It was a true vacation from cooking. Best part was I never asked, Jeff would just decide mom got the night off and we were going out for supper. Probably another reason this vacation was so relaxing.

Miya and Jayden are definantly able to "do" more on vacation now that they are older. They enjoy swimming, fishing, playing games, and playing in the loft and on the stairs(goofballs). Melanie was a little more of stinker. She had to be watched like a HAWK!! She would walk right up to the edge of the dock and try to touch the water. Great that she likes the water, but not so great since her balance isn't so good yet. She also liked sticking her head through the spindles of the stairs and attempting to go down the stairs walking forward. This girl is TROUBLE!!

Anyways, we were blesed to be able to spend a whole week together as a family. We loved not having to 'go' anywhere or keep a schedule. We made lots of memories....just didn't get to record them all in pictures since our camera went for a swim. Next time Jeff asks me if taking the camera near the water is a good idea, I will probably listen to the hidden meaning and leave it on-shore!!

We had a big adjustment Monday morning when Dad had to go back to work. The girls kept asking to play with him. They also kept asking for snacks and a 'big' breakfast. I had to adjust to a smaller living space and tripping over toys in the kitchen again. We loved our vacation and hope to go back next year.

First Day of Kindergarten

Tuesday was the first day of Kindergarten at the Westra house. Miya went to bed super excited and woke up super excited. The girls could hardly sit through breakfast. As soon as they finished eating they ran to the school room for a bible story. They had a long wait as they needed to get dressed, do their hair, and play a bit while mom set everything up. When we finished our plans for the morning I told the girls they could go play until lunch time. They kept asking me every 5 min if we could do more school, when I said no, they would ask if we could eat lunch. They loved it.

I have to say Tuesday was one of my favorite days EVER. It was so much fun having all this time with the girls when I didn't feel like I needed to be making a meal, or doing laundry, or cleaning, or whatever else needs to be done. This time is blocked out to do school! Yes, I slipped out to switch the clothes from washer to dryer and to change a poopy diaper, but aside from that it was our own time together. My favorite part of teaching 4th grade was the actual "teaching". I loved watching the eyes of the kiddos when they caught on to something or when you could see the determination in their face as they tried their best at something that was particularly hard for them. I know it's only day 1 of school, but I have already seen this with Miya (Jayden too) and I LOVED every minute of it. I'm so thankful that we are able to teach Miya at home this year and look forward to spending so many precious hours with our girls! I know every day won't be as easy as yesterday, but I also know this is a perfect fit for our family right now.

Goose Egg Continues

The feeling of terrible mom continues yet another day. I don't remember where exactly I left off with Melanie's falling incident this weekend. She acted fine on Saturday, a little sleepy, but still naughty. Sunday morning she cried around 5am, and like any other good mom....I let her cry. When I got her out of the bed at 8 it was very evident from the smell that she had gotten sick. So she stayed home from church and took a morning nap and an afternoon nap. She acted ok, just sleepy. Monday she was great. Her normal little pain in the pa-tooty. Today (Tuesday), we went to Big Rapids to help a friend set up her 1st grade classroom (if you call three children 5 and under 'help'). The day was uneventful, Melanie was a little bit of stinker, but also seemed tired again. We left with all intentions of Mel napping on the way home. She had a different idea. She thought crying for a long time and then throwing up at the half-way point would be really fun. Being the 'great' mother again, it took me a good 15 min to figure out what that smell was. I thought it was one of Mel's super nasty diapers but that just didn't seem right. Then I started looking at the vehicles we were traveling with on the road thinking we were following a rendering truck or something of the sort. Finally realized Melanie had puked at which point I had to do a couple sympathy dry heaves out the window. A good mom would pull-over and clean her up, put on the extra outfit folded in the diaper bag, right? Not this mommy. We notched up the cruise two more mph and busted for home with the windows down. After all, we ONLY had another 30min or so and she wasn't crying anymore.

As I was pulling Melanie out of the bath, I started wondering if these puking incidents were related to her fall from Friday. She didn't act like she was sick so I called Dr. G even though the goal was to go a WHOLE 6 months without seeing him. FAILED!! They wanted to see her just to make sure. Dr. G checked her out and just wasn't comfortable sending her home for the night. He wanted a head CT to make sure there wasn't something going on inside that tiny little head of hers. We are so thankful for a Dr. that treats our kids just like he would his own. We love Dr. G and his staff~maybe that's why we can't stay out of their office. Anyways, due to insurance and timing issues we had the joy of getting her head CT through the ER. Yuppers, Melanie got to be checked over AGAIN before they ordered her CT. By this time it was around 7 and the poor thing had her last meal at 11:30. She was not the happiest kid. I forgot to mention I had used the last diaper at the Dr.s office and didn't pack a bottle (Dr. G gave us some diapers just in case they were needed, but didn't want her to eat in case she had to be sedated). My sister came to take Miya and Jayden home for some supper and my dad stayed to help entertain Mel (Jeff was 45min from Chicago).

The event of the CT scan went okay. Melanie's cry is getting louder and she may have nightmares of a man with a large rubber glove. She acted like any hungry, 18month old would act. We then waited an hour for the results (through a shift change I think). God has once again blessed our family with health. They said Melanie looked just fine. Nothing in her head came back abnormal....NOTHING, which also means that little area of white matter on the movement part of her brain when she was born was not found!!! Dr. G didn't think anything would be found, but wanted to cover the bases. So glad he did, now we'll be able to sleep in peace tonight, thanking God for his mercies.

Melanie finally ate supper at 8:30, she wasn't too hungry since Papa was able to find her a bag of cookies in a vending machine. She did enjoy the chocolate malt Aunt Wendi made though. By the way, she now weighs 22lbs and 8oz's.Yaayy!! She officially graduated out of her infant seat today (mostly because it was in the wash and we needed to get to the Doctor's office).

I think it's time for bed!! Maybe tomorrow we'll just stick around the house. . . maybe.

Up North

I think I won a "bad parent" award this weekend. We went up north to Boyne Highlands and Avalanche Bay Friday and Saturday for Jeff's work. Friday night after we finished eating the girls were walking around the tables with some friends they met. Melanie, whose not so great at walking yet, fell and hit her head on the edge of a metal chair. She has a very quiet cry (as many of you know) and we didn't realize she was crying till the 7 year old brought her over to us at which time Melanie threw her whole body backwards....the 7 yr old did a great job of not dropping her, pretty sure I would have. So Jeff grab her right away at which point she started turning purple and then passed out from crying and not breathing. This was our first experience with a child passing out. I was trying to think through what Dr. G has told me to do in this situation. He is always surprised this hasn't happened in our family yet. Jeff was getting very anxious but was able to get her to take a breath after several blows to her face. Melanie had a goose egg on her head that was sticking out at least an inch!! No JOKE!! I've never seen a bump that big. We were trying to decide if we should take her in or not. Jeff was able to get some smiles from her after about 15 min and by the end of the night she was back to her naughty little self. I felt terrible, but I'm not sure how to stop the child from falling. It seems she is falling all the time lately. Either she trips while walking, or she falls off from something she climbed. I try to deter the climbing, that doesn't seem to work very well. As for the walking, eventually she'll figure it out, right? Thankfully she's a tough kid and usually doesn't cry when she falls.

Saturday morning we went to Avalanche Bay, and indoor water park. The girls had lots of fun. Thankfully they enjoy swimming now (since their swimming lessons earlier this year) so they tried the slides. Until Melanie gets a little bigger I think we can skip the water parks. Either Jeff or I had to stay back with Melanie while the other took Miya or Jayden down a slide. Once they went down the bigger slides they didn't want to go again which was a bummer for the other parent. So I think we can put off the water parks till the kids are a little older, or until we have more helpers, or wait till we can go with some of their friends or COUSINS!! Everyone still had lots of fun. Including Melanie who feel asleep on Jeff's shoulder cuddled up in a towel while still in the water park. Would have made a great picture if would have remembered to pull out the camera :(

After some great family time together we are anxiously awaiting our vacation next week. I will hopefully use my camera a little more too. And we should probably scout out the nearest intermed just in case.

My Montage 7/22/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

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Hot Days

Wowzers has it been HOT here!! Our house spiked up to the low 80's at the beginning of the week. Normally when it's not too bad in here and we haven't put our window unit in for a couple of years. However, when it doesn't cool off at night and with 3 active kiddos somethings just HAVE to get done; all of which make the house a little hotter(laundry, dishes, cooking, baths...). After getting a little sick, jeff and I decided it was time to put in the window unit to help take off the edge.

During the days we have become pool squatters. My brother in-laws parents have a pool they have so graciously said we could use. So, this week we have took them up on that offer a couple of times. We also spent an afternoon at another friend's pool. There were 5 adults and 15 kiddos....lots of fun!!! The kiddos have been falling asleep on the way home in the afternoon during our 10min drive. They are having a blast. When they wake up in the morning they ask if we're going to the Heasley's pool or the Payton and London's Grandma's pool. I do like it hot, maybe not all the humidity, but I'm not going to complain as we've been waiting for warm weather for many months. So thankful for our friends that have shared their pools with us.

God's Mercy Abounds

Once again, God has shown His power...and mercy. We had a crazy storm roll through here Monday morning. I was in Muskegon cleaning with my mom and the girls were home with Aunt Alyssa. I heard there was potential for severe wind and called Alyssa to take the girls to mom and dad's house. We have many beautiful maple trees on all sides of the house. While they provide great shade in the summer, and beautiful color in the fall, they also provide a little bit of anxiety during strong wind storms as we know they are getting old and very weak. With everyone out of the house my mind was at ease the rest of the morning. When I called home later in the afternoon I found out how strong of wind we had (over 70mph). While driving home the roads and tress all looked fine. Once we got to the old farm house we grew up in (next door to parents current house)we saw the force God put into the wind that morning. I think all of their trees~except for two smaller trees had some sort of damage. Many were completely uprooted. The old shed has a corner completely blown out, and you couldn't even see the fondation of the house from all of the limbs, trees, and roots in front of it. Mom and Dad's current house also had many, many trees uprooted. The woods in the back have several tress laying down and more trying to lay down. As we traveled to our house it was the same in every yard. Limbs down and many trees uprooted laying on their side. Thankfully we did not lose any trees this go-around. We had some down limbs that required a chainsaw, we will also need to reshingle our shed. We thankfully also have power as many in the area don't have any and don't expect to get it till Thursday at the earliest. So much to be thankful for at the Westra household again. When driving around town it looks bad, barns have collapsed, trees are gone, etc. However, once again we need to remember this could have been soooo much worse. We all still have our loved ones, our houses are standing unscathed. While driving around I kept picturing the images of the tornados that tore through the midwest earlier this spring. They had NOTHING left but their faith. God has shown His mercy through the power of this storm in this community. Yes, there will be a lot of work to come; cleaning up trees and debri and fixing some structures. But at the end of the night, we still have a bed to crawl into, our family to cuddle with, and most importantly; a merciful God to praise!

Miya came inside in tears after her rest Monday. "Mommy, the storm took our trampoline away, I don't see it anywere. The wind just took it."

I knew she would realize it sooner or later, so we took this time for a teachable moment explaining that it's just a 'thing' and we need to be thankful that nothing worse happend. After this little lesson with the girls they were fine, but super wound up when Dad came home, telling him ALL that happend through out the day. Here are some pictures of how far the trampoline 'blew'. We found it in the woods 3/4 of mile behind our house.

This is a regular pictures from our house looking towards the woods. The trampoline is about in the middle.

OOPS!!!!

View from the woods looking back at our house....way out there. The beans sure look nice don't they? If this was corn, it would be laying down from the wind :(

This is how Tyler's pigs are getting water. Filling a trash can with water from our house and bringing it to his. A little redneck ya think? ?

Where have the last 5 years gone?

This post is a little late and without pictures. I've been trying to upload them for a few days...im giving in for now and will keep trying. Miya turned 5 on June 15. I cannot believe how fast the past five years have passed by. I still remember every detail of her pregnancy and delivery. I remember all the firsts, and all the prodding to achieve those firsts :0) I have to say that is definantly something that has changed as of lately. I have always been one to push the kiddos to achieve that next milestone. Since little Melanie was born, I have now been holding back on pushing those milestones. I don't know if it's just that life is busier with 3 and I can't push as much, or if it's because I want to stretch these years out as long possible and treasure every minute of these infant/toddler/preschool years.

Miya and Jayden play sooooo nice together right now. I know that this dynamic will change (often) over the years so I'm enjoying it as much as possible right now. They love playing doll house, babies (in which they take turns being 'Jeff and Nicki'). They can play endlessly outside without me by their side. Miya also LOVES her baby sister Melanie. She reminds me of a VanOverLoop....always wanting to hold Melanie, even though she's 1/2 as long as her :0) Usually Melanie enjoys being lugged around by Miya and if she doesn't she'll let her know. Often times if Melanie is tired she'll grab her blankie and go cuddle by Miya. Precious!

I think the year of 5 is much like the first year of thier lives. There are soooo many things they learn at this age. Last weekend Miya learned to ride a 2-wheeler (this time with much prodding through many tears). She is learning to read and is trying ever-so-hard to tie her shoes. She has 2 of 5 days down for swimming lessons (this too is something we are pushing....both girls are NOT enjoying lessons).

Miya~you are growning up right before our eyes. You have given us so many memories already in these short 5 years. You fill up our days with questions and teachable moments and are always keeping your mom and dad on their toes. God has blessed our family. He has also blessed you with a heart that loves God. Already at such a young age you are memorizing memory verses, singing psalters, and teaching your little sisters to love reading the bible and going to church. You often talk about wanting to go heaven to see God. I LOVE being able to watch you grow in your faith, even at the tender age of 5. God has great plans for you life; I pray that you will follow those plan as you grow in age and keep this precious, innocent, love for God for the rest of the years God blesses you with. We love you around the world and back again Miya Lynn!!

Happy 5th Birthday~we pray the Lord will bless you with many more.

Ramblings

For many reasons my mind has been reeling lately. The past week or so has brought many, many reasons to praise God for the mercy and grace he has given to this family. There are so many out there tonight that are hurting for various reasons, and yet God has blessed this family with health, strength, safety, and sooooo many more things. I recently read a book about joy. I'm trying to find 'joy' in all the daily tasks of our life as the book suggests. Since I've been looking for joy, I've found myself looking much closer at things I've taken for granted. There are so many things EVERY DAY God has provided for our family that just slip right past my even thinking of them; I even complain about them.

Life again has been put into perspective for me in this week. My sister on a mission trip in Alaska fell off a glacier into icy cold water. So easily she could have slipped under the shelf of the glacier and not come back, or not have been able to pull herself out of that water back onto the ice. It is only through God's hand that she came home today. When I first read a brief description of what happened I joked around with her. It's been bugging me all week though how serious that fall was. Then today I read of the tragic accident of 3 young adults from our churches in which a dad-to-be was called to his eternal home and the mother-to-be, baby, and friend are in critical condition. We do not know how long God will have us live here on this earth. We all have a purpose while we are here, to praise the God that created us and blesses us with each and every day.

I need to live these days to their fullest. To use them to teach my girls, the girls that God has entrusted in my care, about Him and his faithfulness. I need to teach them to look for God in everything around them and to find 'joy' even in the things we may not understand or even like. There will be a day when I won't be here to teach them anymore, a day when they will be all grown up and teaching their own children (the Lord willing). All I have is today, for we know not what tomorrow brings. If I were to die today, I would REGRET not necessarily what we did, but more so what I didn't do with THIS day that Lord blessed our family with. I would want those little girls (and dad to) to have a different memory of their last day with me.

Wow, i didn't mean for this post to go this way. I actually sat down to write up a birthday post for Miya....another day.

I guess where I'm going will all of this is that I need to make a few changes over here. There will be less complaining , there will be more organizing of our time, there will be more time spent enjoying each other''s company and playing (that means less time doing 'tasks'...which goes back to organizing time). And most of all, more time reading the bible and praising God, thanking him for all of His blessings. For that is truly want I want to pass on to three little girls. I don't know how many days the Lord will give me with them, today may have been the last. I need to make each day count!!

Psalm 128:1-2 Blessed is every one that feareth the lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

fathers day 2011

Another father's day is here already. This time of year always seems so busy to me and tends to creep up very quickly. Maybe because Miya's birthday falls within days of father's day and leaves lots of planning and organizing to accomplish both. As the girls are getting older, it is much more fun to celebrate father's day for Jeff. They are starting to get their own ideas of how to celebrate and I love listening to them. I asked what they wanted to do for dad this year here are some of their responses.
Jayden ~ ummmm eat birfday cake

Miya ~ lets go to crazy bounce
Mom-not this year sweetie,
Miya-okay, then we'll go bowling
Mom-not for fathers day
Miya -Okay, then how about we get icecream
(3 of her favorite things)

Jayden~ m...m...m...ma...mom, mom, mom,(stuttering and excited) how about we s...s...s...sing him a song like this "happy faffers day to you, happy faffers day to you, happy faffers day to you

Mom - if we could buy dad a present what would you like to buy him?
Miya - ummmm a boat
jayden - ummmm another pwrple shirt and pwrple tie
Miya- ya and some brown shoes to go with it

That's just a little bit of the conversations that went on trying to plan for Father's day. I only wish I had a camera around when we were talking about it.

This is a video of the girls answering the question "why they love their dad". We did not talk about this before turning on the camera (very obvious in the begining). These are the thoughts running through their heads at that exact moment...including Melanie's 'enh's'. I think she's saying "I love you daddy".

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Happy Father's Day to all those Dad's out there, including our dad here in Michigan and our dad far, far, away in Iowa. The miles seem so far away the past few weeks. We love you all!!

Happy 5th Birthday Miya

Happy 5th Birthday Miya!! Since you no longer nap, I will have to write up a blog entry later tonight when you're sleeping!! How can you be 5 already?

Silly Mel

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Here are couple videos of Melanie from last week. The first shows how sensitive her toes are (although, mine toes wouldn't like that thing either??). The second video is of Melanie trying to go down a ramp. She has conquered how to climb stairs; up and down. However, she hasn't realized what a stair really is. She often 'climbs' down when going between two different textures. For example, when crossing from tile to carpet, or cement to grass. She turns that little bottom around and 'steps' down. The same on a ramp. She thought she had to back down it. Better safe then sorry I guess :)

AFO Pictures

(Yes, this is the face she ALWAYS makes when the camera comes out. And yes, that is how her hair ALWAYS looks. She pulls out her piggie tails usually within 20min of putting them in and a clump of hair usually accompanies it.)

Here are some pictures of Melanie's AFO's. They are much smaller then I was anticipating. The start just above the ankle instead of below the knee, YAY!! She is tolerating them very well. They take a while to fit on and she sometimes gets a little impatient with that, but once they're on she doesn't fight them one bit. A friend that also had a preemie that needed AFO's gave us a couple pairs of shoes to try that worked for her daughter. THEY FIT!! YAY! No more shoe stores. She had a size 6 and 7. Melanie 'just' fit into the 6. There's tons of toe room, just not much wiggle room in the top of the ankle.


The shoes/braces make walking for much more clumsy. She is dragging her left foot a little more and often chooses to crawl when she would normally stand or walk around things. It takes much more discipline on my part to walk with her and encourage her to walk. However, I am finding that once the shoes/braces come off she is light as a feather and feels much more confident. She then wants to walk everywhere and will try to take more steps on her own. So if that's the goal of these AFO's we're winning~however, I'm not sure that's how they're supposed to work.

Starting to Walk

Little Melanie is starting to figure out this walking thing. Every day she is gaining more and more confidence in herself. She doesn't like to walk when we 'try' to get her walk. However, if you watch her while she's playing she'll take 2-3steps between toys, turn in circles, and even stand in the middle of the room and take 3ish steps. It won't be long before she's able to keep up with those older sisters!! Hopefuly her braces won't slow down this walking process but only speed it up (we pick them up on Wednesday).

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Showing Pigs

Here is the video of the girls showing pigs. This video is a little long. The first part is Miya showing, the second part is Jayden showing. Nothing special happens in either video so you may want to do so some fast forwarding :o)

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I don't remember if I taped it, but Jayden did cry during her show. The judge asked what her name is and she started crying. Ha. Where do these girls get this shyness from? Definitely not their dad!!

Tulip Time/Pig Show

I'm well aware that Tulip Time was two weeks ago, however I was hoping to get back downtown to try for more pictures in the tulips since round one of pictures didn't go the best. However, there are some very 'real' pictures of how our girls act at them moment :o). Thank you Brittany for taking the pictures and thank you Wendi for occupying the other girls while trying to get pictures. The goal was Melanie's 18month and Jayden's 3year~we'll be heading to Target soon for pictures :0)






This past Saturday Miya and Jayden showed pigs for the first time!! Yeah!! We practiced one time, about 3 weeks ago. We were told they wouldn't be able to show at this event due to some crazy rules...well, we found out Friday night at 9 (while we were at a wedding) that they could show the next morning at 10 if we wanted them to. Ha!! So Saturday morning we tried to find some clothes to wear (we are lacking in the Jean department in this house, everything has holes in it....patiently awaiting the warmer short weather). The girls had their first fight over clothes.....a pair of pink cowboy boots. I am so not ready for that!!!

The pee-wee show is very laid back. They are just trying to encourage the kiddos and get them interested in showing. The age of kiddos in this group was 3yrs old to 8 years old. They could have someone go in the ring with them and the pig. So they asked Aimee and Tyler of course. Once they got over their nerves they had a ton of fun. Surprisingly they didn't even loose their pig :0) I'm trying to upload videos of them showing, I'll keep trying. We're going on 36hrs of uploading to no avail~grrr. Here's a picture after they showed!