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!

Happy Birthday Kirk!

What a blessed family we are to have you as our daddy!

Blowing out the candles with Daddy is so much fun!

We LOVE you daddy!

Happy 4th Birthday Joshua!

Our handsome 4 year old!

I love "Toy Story!"

Blowing out my candles ... with help from my sister Lilly.

I'm 4 and I got a "big Buzz Lightyear" for my birthday!!!

We LOVE our brother!!

It's hard to believe that our sweet boy turned four years old! He was SO excited to have family over for his "Toy Story" birthday. His joy and enthusiasm for life is infectious! He is tender hearted and always has a ready smile.
We love you dear Joshua and thank the Lord daily that He brought us together!

Simple Pictures From Today

Always a handsome man!

Love these dresses ... and the girls inside them even more!

"Oliver, you're my best buddy!"

Oliver is 6 months old now!

"I feel like a great fish owner!"

Lilly worked hard to save for her fish. Today we went and she picked it out. On the way home she commented, "I feel like a great fish owner!" Great job Lilly!

Meet Shrek the Fish

"I love my new fish!"

"Shrek the Fish" has certainly found a great new home.

Our first trip to the ER!

The children were pretending they were birds and Josh decided to "fly" off the couch. He received 3 stitches and "super glue" over his eyebrow. He was such a trooper and a brave little man through it all! I think mama cried more than he did. The exciting part for him was getting a purple popsicle at the end of it all.

You're a brave little man Joshua!

Happy 4th of July 2010!

Happy 4th of July! We spent a couple of nights in Frankenmuth with "Maw and Poppy" and then headed to the Hallgren Cottage with Grandpa and Grandma Hallgren for more fun! We had a wonderful time!

Lilly loved to fish and caught over 5 fish ... good size ones too! She and Kirk are naturals!

Josh loved to dig in the sand!

Jess loved to play in the water!

Oliver mostly barked at everything. He loved the boat the most! He's 5 months old now and is almost 40 pounds.

This picture is from Oliver's "graduation" from puppy school in June. Are they sure he should have graduated? :)