Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Friday, March 02, 2012
Who Would Have Thought?
My brother Shawn and I are 14 months apart.
When we were little kids we were
quite close.
At least that is what my mom says.
I'm not saying that we are not close now,
but you know how it is, right?
I have another brother, Nick, who is a bit younger
than Shawn and those two are as close as close
can be; so I do not feel super close to
either of them.
Do I love them dearly?
More than they will ever know.
Am I proud of them?
(NOT that I had anything to do with whom they have become,
but again, you understand)
More than words can express.
But now I have something in common with Shawn
that I never imagined we would have in common:
We are both parents.
It is not that I didn't think Shawn would have children.
It is simply that I never consciously pondered it, dreamed about it,
nor made plans for when that happened to him.
And now, he is a dad and I am a mama and it is so neat.
He came over for dinner with Noelle while Leanne was
away for the day and had dinner with us.
What a joy to see him with his little girl,
the newest sparkle in his eye.
The love he shares with her is SO evident.
It is SO beautiful.
The love she shares with him is also SO evident,
SO beautiful.
Shawn, who would have thought that one day we would
be parents together?
It is one thing that I really enjoy about getting older,
having more in common with you.
And Nick, don't think I have forgotten about you...
I am dreaming of the day when the three of us will
have this in common.
I am praying it will be soon!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Welcome Noelle!
We have a new family member to introduce ...
My brother, Shawn, and his wife, Leanne, adopted
Noelle Hope Gehring
on January 12th.
Katrina, Samuel and Joel are thrilled to have
a cousin state-side
(they have one cousin, Veronica, in Venezuela).
Noelle, we are so thankful God saw fit to add
you to our family.
We love you so much!
*Joel looks like a GIANT in this picture, right?
Our girl in 7 photos
This morning as Pancho and I drank our coffee together
I teared up thinking that 6 years ago this morning we
were in the hospital on one of the highest emotional
mountain tops we have ever been on.
Katrina was born at 10:19 on a Sunday evening,
February 26 to be exact.
I didn't sleep that night because I was on
such an emotional high.
We had waited so long for a child and
we had been blessed with such a gift,
a miracle, really.
The past 6 years have been amazing.
This little girl is becoming my closest girlfriend
and I am so thankful God has given her
to us.
It is a HUGE responsibility to raise her,
one that neither Pancho nor I take lightly,
and yet we are so thankful for God's
faithfulness in guiding our parenting
decisions and helping us impart
His wisdom to her.
Katrina,
tu papa y yo te amamos mas que nunca!
You are such a gift to us and our prayer is that
you will love Jesus more and more each day.
We see Him working in your heart and that is
such a blessing and encouragement to us.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Build-Your-Own Birthday Bash
This year for Katrina's birthday, 6 years old already,
we blessed her with 6 special activities leading up to her big day.
Monday -- date with Mama to the mall
Tuesday -- date with Papa to Culver's
Wednesday -- date with Samuel for a smoothie at McD's
Thursday -- date with Nani to Clay Corner, birthday party dinner with the Drexler's
Friday -- family date watching Dolphin Tale
Saturday -- family date to the dog show at the mall
Then, on her big day, we went to her favorite restaurant, Noodles & Co.
and came back home for a family build-your-own fruit pizza party.
We held a contest where Katrina was the judge of who built
the best fruit pizza. There were few guidelines and some of the
contestants really went all out.
Katrina had a clip board and was writing down everyone's names
while they built their pizzas.
She was making rounds,
"checking in on all the contestants."
She made sure I was taking pictures of each finished pizza
and then she gave the contestants the
go-ahead to eat their creations.
At the end of the building she had planned to look at all
the pictures but when she saw Uncle Nick's design she told me
secretly, "I don't have to look at the pictures. I know
Uncle Nick won."
She awarded Uncle Shawn second place and
Aunt Leanne came in third.
It was a fun party and a fun game!
Afterwards Pancho said, "Boy, Shawn and Nick
sure are competitive!"
Katrina requested 6 candles in her fruit pizza so we
obliged and sang to our big girl!
Happy birthday, Katrinita!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
what a great big sister I have...
We brought some tricycles into the house
for some middle-of-the-winter fun.
Katrina and Samuel played Safety City.
She told him, "You are going to be a STAR
at Safety City, Samuel, if you listen to everything
I teach you!"
Even Joel got a ride!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Buds
Samuel has had a really good friend since he was 3 days old.
They play really well together and they deal very well
with each other's shortcomings; better in fact, than anyone else.
The friend I speak of is a girl.
Both sets of parents have the arranged marriage document
drawn up on their computers and are ready to sign it any day.
Pancho and I absolutely adore little Josie and
Ben and Megan love little "Sammy."
Recently, though, Samuel has been very interested in play
dates with his new best "bud," Brogan.
Today Brogan and Josie were here at the same time
and Samuel spent more time with Brogan.
He even put on a shirt to match Brogan's.
Josie, please hold on to your love for Samuel.
His heart is still yours!
In about 15 years he will be ready to put his
best bud to 2nd fiddle so you can resume your
#1 spot in his heart!
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