Love, kisses and affection

 (THIS BLOG WILL COVER AUGUST 17 - SEPTEMBER 17... Yes, I know that I am trying to catch up) Since August 17, we have had some very busy times in our household...( anniversary celebrations, the start of school, the start of school year activities).  Here is an update on each of us:   David is keeping busy at church doing a GREAT job as a Teaching Pastor as well as being in charge of Outreach and Hospitality.

 I am still teaching ASL at Wright State University and am excited to teach my students to learn this beautiful language.   I also am privileged to care for my niece once a week.  She has a disease called MPS. ( http://mpssociety.org/) And in my spare time,  I am also a substitute teacher for Beavercreek City Schools.

  Bethany turns 20 on September 28 (more of that on the next blog) and is a Junior at Wright State studying Studio Art.  She works at Chick Fil A.

 Luke is a Senior this year and also works at the same Chick Fil A.  He just purchased his first car.
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 Cassidy started Middle School and is in the 6th grade.  Yes, I have 2 kids in the youth group at church again.  She decided to learn how to play the trumpet in the school band.

Toby started Preschool again and is enjoying school.

Let me start first with our anniversary celebrations.  On July 29th, David and I celebrated 25 years of marriage.  It was such a joyous time to reach such a milestone in our marriage.  It is so hard to believe that we have been together for so long, but at the same time, it just seemed like yesterday that we started dating.  Our children wanted to do something for our anniversary so we had a couple of celebrations.  We had one at our church where many friends came to congratulate us.  It was such a blessing!  We also had another party up in Cleveland where the majority of my family live.  It was SO beautiful and made us so happy!  We are so thankful to all that participated and blessed us with their presence.  We were so touched by so much love that was given to us!     Someone asked me why we wanted to celebrate so much for this occasion.. I guess that question made me think about how many couples actually get to 25 years together.  I know that it is even more rare to get to 50, but we were so excited to celebrate this great event in our lives.  Unfortunately, there are more divorce court dates today than 25th anniversary parties.   It has not always been easy, but David and I are committed to each other.  With God being in the center of our marriage, we have been able to get through our issues and love each other no matter what.    So if you hit a big anniversary... Celebrate BIG!  I am so glad we did this year!  \

Let me update you on Toby... He has been such an affectionate and caring little boy this summer.  His random kisses and hugs just thrill my heart.  Many of our quiet times are right before bedtime.  He still has a hard time going to sleep at night either because he is so wired that he can't sleep or that he is afraid to be alone.  I usually lay down with him and we just wind down together.  At that time, he tells me on his own.. "Toby loves you".   After seeing him tell that to me, it makes the frustrations go away.  I see the transformation in his life as he is trusting and actually expressing love.  It is the best feeling!  Toby has come a long way in this area.  However, we could still use prayers for some of his behavior issues.  He still can be mischievous and destructive on purpose.   That is very hard at times on me because as much as he loves me, he will act out with me the most.  So I am praying for patience and understanding during these times as it is not easy to clean up messes constantly or have to have our "talks" about his behavior.    I think some of this has escalated too because during the summer, he was home so much, but now that he is going back to school he is out of sync a bit.    Praying for a solid routine so that Toby will adjust once again.  (:

We had a lot of activities this past month.  We went to the Beavercreek Popcorn Festival and had a blast.  Toby loved the kettle corn!  We also got to celebrate Cassidy's birthday and my birthday as well.  I introduced Toby to Polish culture by taking him to a Polish festival up in Cleveland.  He loved dancing the polka. (:

We are so blessed by our little boy!

Our College Junior

Luke's new car!

Our 6th grader

Our High School Senior

Our Preschooler

These two were in the same foster home and now they both live in the same town.  

One of my sweet students brought me a birthday cake.. SO thoughtful!

Finally getting to go on the train in the mall.

Celebrating Cassidy's 11th Birthday.  Toby bowled for the first time.

Pray for Toby's digestive system.  He is still having some issues.

The picture on the left was the first picture we saw of Toby.  He sure has come a long way.

Pirate Day at Krispy Kreme

He is a great patient at the dentist!

Family Vacation

I have been a VERY busy lady here lately.  So busy that I did not write about our last month...SO I am going to turn back time and give an update as if it is August 17. (:

We have had our boy for 8 months!  So hard to believe that time is going so fast!

What an exciting month it has been! On July 17th, we set out on a 3 week adventure driving through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.  I can honestly say that this was one of the BEST family vacations we have ever had!  We experienced so many blessings.  First of all, we all needed rest and a time to refresh our minds.  We got that and we were recharged when we arrived home.  Secondly, we were able to see family and friends.  We went to Georgia on the way down and got to spend a couple of days with David's family.  It is always fun to go to Rome, Georgia to be with family!  Toby really loved seeing his Paw Paw and Maw Maw again as well as his Uncles, Aunts and cousins.  He had met them in the Spring and still remembered all of the sign names that he had given them.  He has such an amazing memory!  We also got to visit with precious friends in Florida and in North Carolina.   What a joy it was to introduce our son to people that have supported us prayerfully and financially.  It was a priority for us to thank them in person for their support.   Thirdly, we got to have a lot of fun as a family.  Seeing our children interact with each other, accepting Toby as a part of the family and laughing together was such a blessing.  Toby got to play A LOT at the beach and in the pool.  In the first few days, he was TERRIFIED of water.  He had such an issue with trust and fear.  As the days progressed, he learned to trust us when things got scary.  He knew that we were going to hold on to him and not let go.  It was miraculous how you could see the fear just falling off of him.  Even people that were observing him at the pool that we had just met, were astonished at his progress.  It allowed us to share his story and advocate for children in need of adoption.   One day, Toby was so brave that he went in the pool (which was way over his head) without his float.  He quickly sunk to the bottom and could not come back up.  I didn't think that I could move that fast, but I jumped off that lounge chair and dove in the water (everyone knows that I am not a water person) and pulled my little brave boy up out of the water.  He clung to me for dear life and I had to explain to him that he was not allowed to do that again or I would have a heart attack.  I think he learned a lot that day. (:  And I learned that I still have a lot of spunk.(:  I think Toby's highlight was going to see Mickey Mouse.  He knew about Mickey in China.  He would wear clothes with Mickey Mouse and he brought a water cup with him from the Foster Home with Mickey on it.  We knew that he was So excited to finally get to meet him.  We all teared up as Toby got to see Mickey for the first time.  His reaction was priceless!  He had no fear, but he was just star struck.  This imaginary character came to life in his mind.  It was a moment that was SO sweet.  We were so happy to give him that gift.  It was a time that we will always cherish as a family.

 Some other highlights we experienced were going to three different churches while we were away.  We love to visit other churches and get the perspective of a visitor. When we see things we like, we try to implement those things at our church especially with hospitality.  David and I both have a passion for people to love coming to church.  We really want visitors to feel welcome and get plugged into our community of friends.   We felt so welcomed at all three churches that we attended. (One of them was First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach where David served for 3 years and I directed the Deaf Ministry.  Of course we felt welcomed at one of our home churches! ;)  )

 One of the biggest highlights was that David and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary while we were at Daytona Beach!!!   What a thrill it was to renew our vows at the beach.  I felt like a bride all over.  My kids were such troopers as they were a part of the small ceremony that we had together.  I am so blessed to be married to my David!  He is my gift from God.  It hasn't been an easy 25 years, but we have stayed committed to each other and we are more in love today than ever.  He is such a part of my heart and soul.  I could not imagine my life without him.  I am so blessed to share my life with my wonderful husband and best friend.  He also is such a WONDERFUL and FUN daddy.  My kids adore him ...although his personality and antics sometimes embarrass them, but they would not want anyone else to be their Dad.   Thank you David for your love for the Lord, for me and for our children!  Let's just keep on celebrating this big occasion.   I love you!

. Another highlight was that we got to celebrate our little Sunshine, Cassidy's birthday!  I can't believe my baby girl turned 11 this year!   She is such a compassionate, sweet, thoughtful ray of light in our family.  I am SUCH a blessed Mommy to have her as my daughter!  Not only is she a wonderful daughter, but the way that she interacts with and communicates with Toby reminds me of someone else.... ME!  She interacts with Toby the same way that I interacted with my Deaf brother, Mark.  I love seeing this.  She has even expressed interest in becoming an ASL interpreter in the future.  My heart!   She has such natural ability and I can see God using her in a great way in the future with Deaf friends.  

When we arrived home after this long, much needed, adventure, we literally hit the ground running at our annual church 5K.  Toby did it!  That boy just does not stop.  He is so full energy and is starting to show such much affection to me.   I can't believe the summer is over, but it sure was a lot of fun!

Summer Fun!

Well we are in our 7th month of having little Toby in our lives.  We have tried to enjoy the summer in between the raindrops.   We are really doing a lot of bonding since we are together 24/7.   Toby is really feeling comfortable with our family and loves us all, but he is really attached to his Momma.  (:  When we hit the 6 month mark, I was so excited and to be honest expected this big change to take place with his behavior issues, but unfortunately, my expectations were a bit too high for him .  He had a rough month in this area .  It kinda felt like we were back at month one which was exhausting at times.  With his high energy levels, sleep time is a gift for all of us. (:  He has more energy than any person I know.  Along with his high energy, he has high joy levels too.  Hearing his laughter is such a blessing to us.  His memory and ability to communicate is unbelievable.  We are so thankful that he understands everything we are telling him although he may not always want to do what we tell him.  That is my biggest prayer request... I know he is a survivor and still does not understand that he can fully depend on us to help him and care for him.  He still thinks that he has to do everything on his own which shows his desire to want to always be in control.

As far as the rest of the family,  Did you get to see the American Bible Challenge episode that featured Team Lift Your Voice?  David was on that team and they played for the charity...The National MPS Society...This is the condition that my niece, Taylor has.  We are very proud of them!

  Bethany finished up her summer Art class at Wright State University.  She also has been very busy at Chick-fil-a and being the videographer for four weddings.  What a creative eye she has!

 Our Luke, has been working so hard this summer at Chick Fil A.   We are so proud of him for raising most of the money on his own for his mission trip.  He left a week ago for the country of Trinidad.  This is his 5th time going and he was so excited to be able to minister and serve there with the team from our church.   Oh did I mention that he got his drivers license too?   Please pray for safety for my teen drivers.  

Cassidy has been a close buddy with Toby.  She is communicating with him so well.  She looks like me in many ways with her expressions and signs.  It thrills my heart to see her signing to her brother.  It reminds me of when I was younger with my Deaf brother, Mark.  

  We are all excited about spending time together on our family vacation and celebrating our 25th Silver wedding anniversary on July 29th.    Below are some pictures from this summer.  Talk again to you in mid August!

Cousin Fun!

The end result from Bethany's Art Class!

Congrats to Team Lift Your Voice!

We grew a salad!

We love our new fire pit!  We will be using this a lot this fall.

Trying on my wedding dress after 25 years...

I think he is a fan of our homemade popsicles.  Who wouldn't be?