My Beautiful Kids

Yesterday afternoon, the kids and I went to my friend Jenny's wedding. They had tons of fun...especially during the reception. They both love music and dancing. While they were dressed up cute, I couldn't resist but take a bunch of pictures. They weren't incredibly cooperative, but I think they still look pretty stinkin' adorable. Check 'em out:

Raife posing with the scarecrow outside our house

My sweet girl

Isn't she so stinkin' cute?!

Remi dancing and singing

Remi playing with friends Sara and Josiah in the hay

Fun At The Hee-Haw

There is little that makes me happier than watching my kids have the time of their life. The "Hee-Haw" is one of those times for them. The kids LOVE the fair...the animals and food and especially the rides. This year we bought Raife an unlimited ride pass and he had a blast! He rode rides until it was dark outside and still wanted more. In past years, I could tell that he enjoyed the rides...but this year it was so evident on his face. He was so excited! My mom, Lance, Ann, Cooper and Paisley joined us at the fair and Raife and Cooper got to go on a few rides together. Unfortunately, Cooper wasn't quite tall enough to go on most of the rides. It'll be much more fun for the 2 boys next year when they can both go on all the kiddie rides together.

As for Remi...at first we just kept her in the stroller or held her in our arms while Raife went on the rides. But she had other ideas in mind. She kept looking at the rides and signing "more"...her way of telling us that she wanted to go on the rides too. So, we took her on the Carousel...and she LOVED it! She cried for quite some time when the ride was over. So a little while later, we took her on it a couple more times. She thought it was so fun- she was petting the "horses" and talking to them. It was super cute.

The kids also loved the animals, especially Remi. She is a huge animal lover so the animal barns was probably her favorite part of the fair.

Raife and Mommy

Hee-Haw

For some reason...Raife calls the fair the "Hee-Haw". So on Labor Day Weekend, we all dressed up for the Hee-Haw. I'll talk a little bit about it in the next post, but here are some cute pics of the kids at the house before we went to the Hee-Haw:

There were no more pictures after this of Remi because she had had enough...the next picture would have been her attacking Raife because she was sick and tired of his arm being around her and then ripping her headband off her head...she's not too found of those things :)

Oh wait...I DID take a few pictures before intervening:

And THAT was the end of the pictures with Remi in them!

The Many Faces of Raife

In tradition...Matt and I took the kids to the Ellensburg Parade on Labor Day Weekend...I didn't watch the parade though...I was too busy watching my kids faces...especially Raife's face which was SO FULL OF EXCITEMENT! CHECK IT OUT:

Purpose in Sorrow

"Sorrow is one of the things lent, not given.
Joy is given; sorrow is lent.
Sorrow is lent to us for just a little while
that we may use it for eternal purposes.
Then it will be taken away and everlasting joy
will be our Father's gift to us, and the Lord God
will wipe away all tears..."
-Amy Carmichael

I read this quote on a blog that I've followed since last Winter- The Macs. Their little girl Cora died from cancer last winter after living on this earth for 341 days. The strength that the McClenahans have shown during these many months of grief has been an amazing testimony. I have so much respect for the way they have handled their loss. You can read their story here:

http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/

Cora's mom posted this quote recently and it really speaks to me. Obviously I like the part in the quote about JOY...we all want joy...I can't wait for the day when all sorrow is gone and all I have is JOY...I can't wait for the day when there are no more tears.

But in this quote, what really struck me is the part about sorrow. And not just the part about it only being temporary...but the part about it being used for eternal purposes. For some reason (I can think of at least a couple)...I feel sorrowful this week. As ALWAYS, I miss Angeliyah. I always do. And lately I've been dealing with some grief related to my miscarriage. It's been 3 months since my miscarriage...I'd be 6 months pregnant now. I can't seem to get that out of my head these days. The combination of the two is making me feel sorrowful. But sorrow is not necessarily a bad thing. There is USE in sorrow. It is not pointless. God can use anything. God can and does bring good out of sorrow. We have seen that in SO many ways. I don't know all the reasons why Angeliyah was born with Trisomy 13. I don't know all the reasons why she died. Only HE knows the reasons. But we have seen little glimpses of His reasons. We've seen good things come out of knowing and loving her...good in us and in others.

I pray that He will continue to use my sorrow to bring glory to Him...to do good in me and in the world around me. Angeliyah's short life was not in vain. We will not allow it to be in vain. God will not allow it to be in vain. Her life had and has purpose. This journey we have been on, and are still on, is not in vain. God is working through us even when we are not aware of it or not taking an active part in it.

For some reason, I felt motivated today to do something for Angeliyah. And of course, since Angeliyah isn't here...doing something FOR Angeliyah means doing something for somebody else IN HONOR OF or IN MEMORY OF her.

So...today after church, Raife helped me bring several more clay imprint kits to the hospital for their bereavement supplies. Such a little thing to do...but I pray it makes a difference for another mom out there like me. I love Angeliyah's imprints...I love tracing the imprints of her tiny hands and feet. They were so little...so perfect looking...11 fingers and all. It's amazing how something...or someone...so little could have such a HUGE impact on me. Angeliyah's imprints are one of my favorite momentos that I have to remind me of her. While buying and dropping off a few imprint kits at the hospital takes little effort...I know that God can use those kits to minister to the hearts of hurting families more than I could ever imagine...and I pray that they do help bring healing to someone...that they serve an eternal purpose.

Last week we went up to Priest Lake, Idaho for a camping trip with Matt's parents, my parents, Lance, Ann, Cooper and Paisley, and our family friend Dennis. Although we were hit by thunder, lightning, and tons and tons of rain for most of the week...we still enjoyed our time up there and jumped on the jet ski, boat, or in the lake whenever there was a break between rain clouds. After 5 days of tent camping in the rain, cold and mud/wet sand...we came home with filthy vehicles which Matt spent hours cleaning and about a zillion loads of dirty laundry which I'm still getting caught up on. But it was good to get away from our busy jobs and relax for a few days with the family. For me, the most fun was riding out on the jet ski with Matt...we tend to get a little crazy, especially when there's big waves from the rainstorms coming in. I actually flipped the jet ski (not a little jet ski either...it's a big, heavy 3 man jet ski) upside down while Matt and I flew into the lake.

Here are a few fun pics of Raife trying to knee board like daddy...guess it'll be a couple more years before he's behind the boat, but he enjoys playing on the knee board anyway even if it's just near the shore.

Here are a few fun pics of Remi...

Here are a few pictures showing just how close we are to beach at the campground. It's so nice to have your own personal beach that you can walk down to anytime you want. And you can have your jet ski and/or boat right out front of your site if you want as well.