Williams Christmas!

This year we hosted the Williams Family Christmas. Greg and Pam have moved to Holland, MI. and were unable to join us. We sure did miss them!

We had a wonderful day of just hanging together and celebrating our Savior's birth! Every year I am reminded of the blessing of family! What an incredibly FUN FUN FUN day! Lilly, Josh and Jessica had a blast with their cousins who graciously played with them all day!

Maw and Poppy sure are loved!

Stevie made us each our own special cookie.
They were delicious and certainly didn't last long!



Cousins!



The Crawford Family ... and honorary Crawford, Lilly.



The Skarjune Family



Auntie Karen lovin' on Jessica and Lilly.

Kirk ... in one his favorite places ... the kitchen.
He created an amazing aroma in the house!
He's an awesome cook and loves cooking for people.

Nicole lovin' on Josh!

Jessie loves her twirl skirt!

Fun with the cousins!

My sweet and precious family.
It still brings tears to my eyes when I see a family picture!

Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning was WONDERFUL! The children actually slept in a little. :) Once they were all up, we all anxiously went downstairs to see what "Santa" left us! We feel incrediblly blessed that we were able to give each one what they hoped for. We then feasted on yummy Christmas Rolls - a tradition we've had for years. We spent the entire day in our jammies and had fun with our new toys and simply enjoyed being together.

I am so thankful for my family! For years, I woke up alone - in a house by myself. There is nothing like the beautiful sound of children squealing with delight! Thank you Lord!



Josh wanted wanted a Buzz Lightyear bike!



A doll house for Jessica. All the children enjoyed playing with her house. Kirk and I spent 3 hours putting it together.
How come Santa didn't do this???

Lilly received her DSi. She's growing up and so are her toys!

Hallgren Christmas!

Today we went to Grandma and Grandpa Hallgren's house to celebrate Christmas. Silly me ... forgot my camera!!! :( We had a fun time with family and sat around eating delicious food, yummy treats and simply enjoying being together. The children were able to spend time with their cousins they don't get to see often. Fun times for sure!

Now we can really sing ...

"All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth ... my 2 front teeth ... my 2 front teeth. All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth ... then I could wish you Merry Christmas!"

Do you remember that old song? We are singing it a lot in our home right now.

Lilly was also very concerned because the weather is so very cold and snowy right now. I heard her ask Kirk, "Daddy, do you think the tooth fairy has a warm coat?" He assured her that the tooth fairy would be warm and cozy!



Here's my second front tooth!

 

Jessica kept checking her teeth to see if one was loose too. In time baby girl!



Happy 6th Gotcha Day Sweet Lilly!

It is so hard to believe that another year has gone by! There is not a moment that I don't thank the Lord for the incredible gift of Lilly. She is SO full of smiles, laughter, humor, joy and pure love. Thank you Lord for this beautiful little girl you have given us! Thank you that she knows who you are! Thank you that she is bold in her faith and teaches me all the time how to live for you! Thank you that she has a teachable spirit, but yet seems to always teach me! Thank you for her beautiful (toothless) smile!

This is what I was wearing on my "gotcha day" - I've grown!



I'm a happy happy girl!

 

Lord ... I am humbled that you chose me to be her mom. Words cannot express how proud I am to be her mom ... how proud I am to be a mom to 3 beautiful children! Nothing is sweeter than the sound ... "mommy!"

All I want for Christmas ...

is my 2 front teeth! OK, I've only lost one so far, but the other one is super loose too!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!



FAMILY!



Maw and Poppy Williams



Grandpa and Grandma Hallgren

The children were SO excited to see Santa. Lilly ran right up to him, Jessie cried but would allow us to stand next to him, Joshua simply refused to go anywhere near him. Maybe next year!



We found our tree!!



Thanksgiving Programs

I am blessed to have had the ability to attend all 3 of my children's Thanksgiving programs this year! Each one was so special and wonderful! Below are some pictures from their festivities.

Not a day goes by that I don't remember the Lord's blessings in my life. After being single for so long, I never imagined that I would have a wonderful hubby and 3 beautiful children. Each day is a gift!

Have a BLESSED Thanksgiving!



Jessie was a little shy at first.



Finally getting "into" the performance!

 

Josh is in the top/middle section. He was pretty shy, but certainly sang along!



He LOVED his turkey hat! And we love the one wearing it!



Lilly made this cute little outfit at school.



After the parade, the first graders had a feast. Lilly was quite excited! 50 first graders ... all in costume ... excited about the days festivities ... beautiful chaos!

Happy Halloween!

Buzzlight year to the rescue!
Mommy made your wings. :)



Every fairy princess needs a crown ...
and this was the one mommy wore on her wedding day!




This beautiful Candy Land girl had a head full of lollipops!
Someone mentioned at the school party that her hair was "genius."
It really turned out cute!



What Oliver Taught Me

The last couple of weeks have been a series of mixed emotions for me! After a lot of prayer, we realized that our sweet dog Oliver needed to be in a new home. He is a WONDERFUL dog, but was simply too big and energetic for our family. (I guess we are a little-fluffy-lap-dog kind of family.) We asked our dear friends, the Jagenberg's, to pray with us that we would find a perfect family for Ollie. Well to our pleasant surprise, they asked to take him for a couple of days to see how he would get along with their dog Zoey and son Gabe. Gabe, Zoey and Oliver "fell in love" and got along great! So, we all prayed more and they decided that they would love to have him as a part of their family! What could be more perfect than that? A WONDERFUL family and we still get to see him!

This past week, I prepared for Oliver (and mostly myself) to go to his new family. My overwhelming thoughts went back to Lilly and Joshua's biological parents. How must they have felt the last day they held their sweet babies? How did they have the strength to do what they did? The intense and deep love they felt for their babies must have been overwhelming! But the gift they gave us was incredible!!! Oh how I wish they could see how beautiful Lilly and Josh are ... how full of life ... how smart ... how amazing ... and what happy children they are!!! Then I thought of Joshua's precious foster family. They took in this beautiful baby, nurtured him, snuggled and loved him for 2 1/2 years. All this knowing that they would someday have to hand him over to complete strangers ... praying that he would know the Lord someday! We are eternally grateful to them!
I know you may think it silly to equate Oliver's "adoption" and our children. The feeling I have is nothing compared to what Lilly and Josh's Chinese parents went and still go through! I have such a deep appreciation and love for their biological and foster families!
The other part I find myself going back to is ... I know who Oliver is with ... I know how he is loved ... I know he is happy and I still get to see him when I miss him. That will never happen for Lilly and Joshua's Chinese parents. How difficult it must be to not KNOW! And Joshua's foster parents, they do know, but they don't get to see and love on him when they miss him. They simply trusted the Lord and us, complete strangers, with this precious boy.

So sweet Oliver ... thank you! Thank you for helping me to remember the incredible sacrifice Lilly and Joshua's Chinese families made. And thank you too, for teaching Jessica to not be afraid of dogs.:)

Jagenberg Family ... THANK YOU for loving Oliver! Thank you for being our dear friends. Thank you for having a heart for adoption (human and canine). You are an answer to prayer and I know Ollie will bring you and Zoey great joy!

And Lord ... if it be possible ... somehow let Lilly and Joshua's biological parents know ... know they are happy and safe ... know they are deeply loved ... and mostly ... know YOU!

With a thankful heart,
Brenda

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

We had so much fun picking out our pumpkins! We loved that there were reminders throughout the patch of who created the pumpkins!

Josh loved sitting on the pumpkins!

Mommy made my pretty dress!

Some of the pumpkins were huge!

At the request of the children, our perfect pumpkin had a safe ride home.

More pictures from Jessica's 3rd Birthday Family Party

Sound asleep on daddy's lap.

"I'm too tired for cake - even a princess cake!"

Jessica fell sound asleep in the "sea of party goers". She is not a napper, but chose her birthday party to nap in daddy's lap. We finally woke her up in time for cake. She wasn't too happy about that. By the time presents came out, she was awake and into her party ... OK, the presents!

Grandma and Grandpa Hallgren

Maw and Poppy Williams



My baby turned 3!

September 18 ... my baby turned 3! Where does time go? I so vividly remember holding her for the first time. This sweet little miracle was finally in my arms! Jessica is full of life, smiles, humor, hugs and joy! We went to the apple orchard and just had a fun time playing ... all day long! Next Saturday we celebrate with our extended family. She's loving having 2 birthday parties.

I love my presents!

I love my brother and sister!

And I love my dog too!

Thank you sweet Jessica, for bring such incredible joy to our family!

Lilly's First Day of First Grade

Lilly was SO excited for her first day of first grade! She said last night, "In first grade you get to eat lunch at school AND you get your very own desk AND I get to ride the bus home!" (Mommy's admittedly a little nervous about the bus - but she is one independent little lady and I had to give her that independence.)

Kirk, Jessica and Joshua met Lilly at the bus at the end of her day. Josh must have missed his sister because he brought her his favorite toys - Buzz Lightyear and Woody from "Toy Story".

I'm such a proud mama!

Pretty as a picture!