6 Months

Its quite difficult to believe that a half a year has passed since we lost our little man. Sometimes, its hard for me to think about the fact that we have moved forward. That we have moved on from this devastating loss. I miss Ezra every day. I think of him every day. And I wonder if that will ever change. Will a day pass when I don't think about him, when I don't cry from missing him? What about 6 months from now? 6 years? I feel like he is still a big part of our lives. While I want to keep his memory alive, I don't want to be silly about it or embarrass the kids (you know, like setting a place at the dinner table or something). I just don't ever want him to be forgotten. The kids are so young and I wonder if they will remember him at all. I don't have many memories from before age 5...it makes me sad that they might not have true memories of their brother. And that, too, has been a part of the grief.

I have ideas about how to keep Ezra a part of our family, despite his absence. For instance, we are going to buy/make an ornament for the Christmas tree every year in his honor. We will make a cake in his honor on his birthday. We've been taking some of his ashes wherever we go and sprinkling them there. We will continue to do that until they are gone. At times I feel so much sorrow because he is not here to have these experiences with us. And then, other times, I remember how bad off he was and that he would not have been able to enjoy them. God is so merciful! We thank him every day for blessing us with Ezra and every night we thank Him for allowing Ezra to go home to Heaven instead of staying here and suffering. The pain we're going through does not compare to what Ezra would have had to endure. Praise God for his faithfulness! He is so good.

And thank you all for being there as a support system for us. We could not have gotten through these times without your love, encouragement, and prayers.

He's 7 months old here:

Peter's Birthday

Today we celebrated Peter's 31st Birthday! We are so blessed to have him in our lives! He is the BEST husband in the world (sorry ladies, its the truth) and an awesome awesome Dad. I am amazed at how "lucky" I got in marrying him! Yeah, me?! Can you even believe it? He's amazing.

It was a very low-key celebration. We went out and grabbed some yummy Mexican food for lunch. And then we did a little shopping at Best Buy (can you say, Wii Fit!). And when we came home, after Jeremiah got home from school, we had some "Birthday Brownies" (Peter chose this instead of a cake). We actually made some terrrrr-ific brownie sundaes. So yummy. For dinner, I made a meal he likes a lot (Honey-nut chicken with mashed potatoes, and spicy green beans.) Then, we broke in the Wii Fit. It was a fabulous day. :)




We love you Peter! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

FYI

I've added another blog that truly is "blathering by sara"...a place for me to pour out my thoughts on just about anything. So, take a peek if you're interested. This blog will remain our family update blog. I know not everyone is interested on hearing my internal chatter about random stuff...;), so I refrain from posting that kind of stuff on here (although, thoughts about family situations and the like will still be on here).

Click here:
Not In So Many Words

Not Much A-happenin'

So, I know its been a couple weeks without a post, but there really hasn't been much going on out of the ordinary. Its just been school for the kids, work for Peter, and plenty of play time for all of us. I am still studying the book of Daniel with my R&R Ladies' Bible Study. (And it gets more fascinating by the week!!!)

Jeremiah actually just began his first Bible study last week! Its a mid-week class entitled "ROCK". They do Scripture and talk about Life Application. Its been so great to see Jeremiah get excited about reading the Word of God. And that he wants to live it out in his life! He memorized his first Bible verse recently! We're so proud of him. Here's a video of him reciting the verse:



And now his new verse for this week is Deut. 13:4 (which I don't even have memorized!):
"It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him."


Alayna is doing so well in school. She's a smart cookie that one. I have a feeling she is going to have the same issues I did in school (never being challenged in class, and as a result, getting sassy about it, resulting in Trouble). We'll see though...she has a different temperament than me, much more laid back like Daddy. Jeremiah is the one that has my impatience and persistence. We just signed Alayna up for "Young Kindergarten" for next year. This is a 5-day a week class that meets for 3 hours a day. It was created for the kids who turn five between September 1st and December 31st, that are still too young for the all-day Kindergarten they have here.

Here she is multitasking:


So, that's us. We have some things to look forward to this February. The groundhog did see his shadow, which in Arizona means that summer will come in late March/April, as usual. Peter celebrates a birthday this month. And my sister is coming to visit from Portland, providing she doesn't get snowed-in again. My parents will visit the same weekend. Yea for February!