Thursday, December 31, 2015

Recap of 2015






 
I cannot believe 2015 is drawing to a close, how can that be?  Time truly does seem to be in warp speed and we're just flying through the year.  For us, 2015 has been a year where we have seen God's abundant provision for our family and we stand in awe of all that He's done for us, entrusted us with and so graciously given to our family.

There were birthdays celebrated.  Emerson turned 4.  He enjoyed a bounce house party with Jojo.
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Lawson wanted a Star Wars party so we did it!  Thanks to my wonderful Mom who helped me design and make all the Jedi robes, I could have never done it without her!
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Ava Jane had a swimming party that was easy to pull off!
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Peyton turned 9 and really wanted a camping party so Adam enlisted his Dad's help so that we were able to pull off a pretty memorable celebration.
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Ava Jane was chosen as one of the Heart Associations Heart Survivors for 2015, which was such an honor.  It was really neat getting to share her story at the Capitol, on the news and during the Survivors Luncheon.  Recounting all the ways that God showed up during that trying time in our lives is always encouraging.  We also did our annual Ava Jane's Angels Heart Walk raising money for heart research.
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There were some really fun trips with friends and family as well as time away just me and Adam.  We went with several families to Silver Dollar City (at Spring Break) which was a nice "trial" for how a Disney trip might go. Thankfully we had a terrific time and Adam gave me the green light to plan for Disney World!  We also had the chance to do our first ever couples snow skiing trip with some great friends.  It was by far one of my most favorite things we did this year and I can't wait to go again!  We are looking forward to planning another couples trip with some more friends in the fall!   I'm really excited!  Adam and I were able to enjoy a few days alone in NYC to celebrate our 12th anniversary.
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We said "goodbye" to some of our dear friends.  The Sengoga's are a precious family who were here in Arkansas just for the year doing some pastoral training.  They were here just under a year but we became fast friends.   We've enjoyed keeping up with them and look forward to seeing Joel in the next month or so.
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Adam was honored to receive the award as Arkansas' Young Administrator of the Year.   We were all very proud of what he's accomplished and how well he has done.
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Adam and I both turned 34 this year and it seems like we started "falling apart".  Back in February Adam got a terrible cough where he actually coughed so hard that he ended up tearing his abdominal wall.  After a CT Scan for what the doctors thought was a hernia, he was diagnosed with the tears and began many weeks of physical therapy.  That injury has improved so that's a praise!  Another situation arose years ago.  Adam began seeing a dermatologist for potential skin cancers because his Dad was diagnosed with Melanoma.  Adam goes every 6 months and regularly has moles removed and it's always come back negative.  When we came back from Disney we found out that his last biopsy was positive for Basil Cell Carcinoma, he recently had a Mohs procedure and ended up with what we jokingly called a "zipper neck".  He went in to get his stitches removed today and they cut another spot off his arm.  He'll go back in four months to have another check, we're praying nothing else will have popped up. 
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I too have had my fair share of stuff.  In October, I began having neck pain.  To make a long story very short, I ended up in an Orthopedics office late one afternoon because I was in such a major neck spasm and received five injections, went on pain medicine and muscle relaxants all while Adam was out of town.  I was diagnosed with Cervical Kyphosis.  Thankfully my parents came to stay with me and help with the kids.  I began going to physical therapy twice a week for eight weeks.  I was still stiff and had regular, dull pain every day but the therapist released me to continue doing stretches at home.  After my doctor showed my original x-rays to a spinal specialist, he thought I should have an MRI of my neck.  I saw the surgeon a couple weeks ago and he said he didn't think I needed surgery, which was a huge praise, but he did say I needed another twelve weeks of intensive neck physical therapy.  So I'll begin doing that next week.  Here are some pictures of me when my neck was at its worst.  I literally couldn't straighten my head up, I was a total gimp.
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This next picture was taken at my last PT appointment.  (I also have a squinty eye that presents itself when I'm super tired, I fell asleep during the electrode heat/stimulation part of my PT so my eye was extra small).  Awesome huh?!
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Our year has been full of fun as well as hard things, but we are thankful to have God who helps us, encourages us and gives us peace when things are hard.  We look forward with eager anticipation to what the Lord is going to show us and teach us this next year.  We're begging him to guide and direct our steps and asking Him to reveal His will and purposes for our family so that we glorify Him.  May God bless and keep you, may His light shine down upon you and fill you with His peace.  Happy New Year!

Christmas 2015

This year we hosted the whole Head side of the family for Christmas.  It was fun to have everyone over to our house.  It was a low key night of sharing appetizers and all kinds of delicious desserts.  (I set up a  photo booth just for fun!  Here's a few of our funny family pics!)
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Have I mentioned how much I love this little guy in the Santa goggles?!!  He is such a precious little dude!
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We went to the Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church with the whole family.  I must be completely honest.  I just barely made it through this service since we had Emerson and Ava Jane with us, and our family of six sat on just 3 chairs (you can do the math and logistical arrangements in your head).  One child has a real hard time whispering, the other wanted to hold the lit candle to which I was extremely nervous that my hair might get caught on fire since I had said child on my hip.  So, as you can imagine, it was not the most worshipful of services for me, but I did enjoy singing the Christmas carols.
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Christmas morning we set the kids alarm and told them they couldn't come out of their bedroom before 7:30 which gave me a little time to ease into my morning with some hot spiced tea.  We had a Happy Birthday breakfast for Jesus then had most of the day to open gifts, play with toys and enjoy the time together.
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Lawson and Emerson both got new bikes which they thought were awesome!
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This girl loved her cozy coop!  She drove it all over the house.
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Oh, these four little people…they have my whole entire heart!  I love being their Momma, I'm so very blessed!
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Later that afternoon we headed over to my parents house and enjoyed some outdoor play in the 70 degree weather!  These guys loved playing baseball.  There were lots of balls out in the street and Lawson had to rescue one or two from the sewer man hole which he was thrilled to do!
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On Saturday we celebrated with Adam's Mom's side of the family.  The kids enjoyed swinging at Poppy and Grammy's house.
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Gran's sister, Aunt Lee, came to visit from South Dakota.  She is 92 years and is still super active in her church, she plays bridge each week and enjoys staying very busy…I want to be just like her when I grow up!  Her two requests, when she came to Little Rock, was to visit Garvan Gardens to see the Christmas lights and go shopping at Dillard's!
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Here's some of the beautiful lights we saw at Garvan Gardens.
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I can hardly believe that 2015 is wrapping up in just a few hours.  How can it be 2016? As Adam and I look back on this year, we feel so incredibly blessed by the Lord and overwhelmed with his undeserved goodness to us!  We hope that you and yours had a very blessed Christmas and that in this next year you experience the presence of the Lord.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Disney World Final Post

Our fourth and final day we spent at Hollywood Studios.  We had an early morning breakfast reservation at Hollywood and Vine where all the Disney Junior characters do a meet and greet.
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As we were on our way to our first Fast Pass, we saw Donald Duck and decided to take a quick picture.
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My poor Mother got super sick with a stomach bug and wasn't able to join us the last day, I felt terrible for her and we missed her for sure. G-Dad came for a little bit of the day but went back to help her in the afternoon. We all enjoyed the Indian Jones Stunt Spectacular.
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We did most of the rides and shows at Hollywood Studios but the highlight was for sure the Jedi Training for the boys. I highly recommend it for any Star Wars fans out there!
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This was the last year for the Osborne's Christmas Lights.  I must say it was pretty packed with people down there so we didn't stay too long.
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Walt Disney World Photo Gallery Disc

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Emerson is still very much into Cars right now so we couldn't leave the park without getting a picture with Lightening McQueen and Mater.
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We had a great last day and thoroughly enjoyed our Disney experience!  Can't wait to come again!
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Spring Break: The Sweet Spot

I've been running mach 2 with my hair on fire and have not been posting as much as I'd like to on this here blog.  I'm a few wee...