Merry Christmas from the Yonkers!!

The Lord's Light Within


Lord we reflect with thankful hearts
On the wonder of your birth
The love you expressed when you left
Your glory to come to earth

For your life was like a beacon, Lord
Shining brightly in the night
Filling the world with the radiance of
The Father’s glorious light

And we, too, long to have inside
Your light for others to see
The beautiful reflection of your grace
And the wonder of your majesty

For as your life indwells our hearts
We can shine wherever we are
And arise to take hold of each new day
With your light ablaze in our hearts

So rekindle the flame within us Lord
So it will not flicker nor dim
Ignite us with the light of your love
So you will shine brightly within

© By M.S.Lowndes ~ 2007

Award

Thank you Diane for the award!!

With this award I am supposed to list 5 addictions and pass it on to 5 friends.

Here's my (top 5) addiction list:

1. Caffeine Free Diet Coke
2. Internet
3. Chocolate
4. Chinese food
5. Househunters

I am passing this one too:
Tara Livesay
Cheri Battjes
Julie Reeder
Kathy Friend
Anita Davison Hiehle

Sunday Snow Day!!!

Another blustery snow day. We slept in and made pancakes from scratch. We were out of pancake mix so I headed to the Internet to find a recipe for a homemade mix. It turned out really well. I will add it here soon. It was VERY easy. We then added a can of pumpkin, to be different, and they tasted so good. Nate then started a fire downstairs and we played a mean game of Disney Monopoly. Katie ended up bring the winner!!

Nikolas's Birthday party

Nikolas picked Chinese for his birthday so my parents came with us. My wonderful father first came over and plowed out our driveway and then Nikolas opened presents from them.

Nutcracker Ballet/ Bathroom

My friend, Kelly, called me yesterday and asked if I would like to go with her to the Nutcracker Ballet. She got some tickets because she donated something. I have never been to see this so I am excited about going. I have heard that its really good.

We also were able to have our bathroom tiled on tuesday. It looks so nice.
Here is the picture of the bathroom before: Nasty carpet and plain walls. Yuck.
Here is the bathroom after: Here are picture finally too of the girls bedroom walls:

Snow Day!

Hmm.... Is this trouble waiting to happen??!! These two have been friends since they were born.

Nikolas hanging out having his Hot Chocolate!!!

Nyah's 2 year birthday Party!

We have been blessed find a wonderful Haitian church in Grand Rapids. We love to go to Lighthouse in the morning for church and then head to the Haitian church for their service. We always have a great time and we have made some really good friends there. We were so blessed to be invited to Nyah's birthday party at the children's museum. The kids had such a fun time!!

Nyah

She is so adorable!!!

Children's museum - part 2

More pictures from the Children's museum!

Caleb and Katie playing in the cafe.

Heather and Nik playing in the post office.

This is Shella (Nyah's mom)

Happy Birthday, Nikolas!!

Not only was it Nikolas, 11th Gotcha day this week but its also his 12th birthday today!! God blessed us so much when we adopted Nikolas that we were able to spend his first birthday with him in Russia!! We also spent our first Christmas together as a family in Russia!! I remember it so vividly!! We had no hot water, no electricity, but we were a family!!

Nikolas, you were our first child. You were born in our hearts and we love you so much!! What a treasure you are to us!! You have a heart of gold and I cannot wait to see where God does with your life!! Happy Birthday, sweetheart!!!

Almost Christmas time.

Its been a crazy 1 1/2 weeks. First we hit a deer and then all but two of us came down with the flu. Heather and Hannah do not have it yet and I am praying they stay healthy.

Tomorrow is the possibility of a snow day for the kids and I am praying not. The kids have so many fun parties to go to. Nikolas especially has a fun day planned at school. This is the one day of the year that I can actually get them to want to go to school.

We finally got our van back today. I didn't mind driving the big black diesel but I am glad I no longer have to!! :) The van feels a little small to me now!! Thanks Terri for bringing me to get the van today and for covering me!! LOL you know what I mean!!

11th Gotcha Day

Today is Nikolas's 11th Gotcha day. I cannot believe has been here for 11 years. On Friday he will also turn 12! Wow where has that time gone!!! He has grown into such a nice young man and we are so proud of him!! We LOVE You Nikolas and cannot wait to so what God does with your life!!

Vans and Deers

This is not our van but it is kind of what kind of damage we have except the damage was in the center and not on the sides.

Last night we were on our way to church when a group of deer ran right out in front of us. There was no way we could stop and we hit a deer head on. It crunched up the front of the van and wrecked our radiator. No one was hurt thank goodness but the kids were VERY scared. However now I do not have a van. I do have Nate's truck if I need to get out but I HATE driving it. It is SO huge. I am just so thankful that if we were going to have to hit it that we hit it the way we did so that it did not come up over the hood and went off to the side. Poor thing.

2008 Christmas Card

This year unfortunately I had to email most of my Christmas cards. I went to smilebox and made up my own. I think its kind of cute. Or at least the kids are cute!!

Here is the card I made up this year!!

enjoy!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Saturday Fun

Yesterday was such a nice day. I had to take the girls up to the local nursing home so the kids could bring some small Christmas trees and sing some carols and hang out with the residents. They had a nice time there. Afterwards we all love going to the airport viewing area and so we hung out there for a few hours just watching the planes take off and land.

Afterwards we went to a place called Yesterdog. It is a really old nostalgic restaurant that only serves hot dogs. Nate has done work on the owners house and so we took the kids there yesterday for a snack. It was really good and they kids loved looking at all the old stuff. Last night we played a mean game of Mickey Mouse Monoply with all 7 of us. We set up a big table next to the fire place downstairs and had a fun time. It can be a little stressful playing with 7 but it turned out to be fun!! Of course I won!! :) That is highly unusual!!

Have a great night. We are getting quite a bit of snow here and I am wondering if the kids will have school in the morning.

Mattresses

We had such a nice day yesterday!!!

I have to share a huge blessing that happened!!

You know we have been searching for mattresses everywhere we can think of. Well we had some VERY generous people buy us each a mattress for Caleb and Hannah. We NEVER asked for such a gift as we were willing to pay for a mattress we could just not afford brand new. God truly has blessed us over and over again in the last few months and we cannot thank Him enough.

I know there are so many people in need right now and I pray that someday God will allow us to pay it forward for someone else.

Nate's dad

I got a phone call a little while ago from Nate's mom. She said that Dad was doing good and that he had one stint put in. He had another stint put in the artery that was blocked 3 years ago. This time it was again 90% blocked. He is doing good though and we praise God for that! He should be out tomorrow sometime. Thank you for the prayers.

I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow!!!

things

Not a whole lot going on.

If you could remember Nate's dad, Harold, in your prayers that would be great. He is going in on Wednesday for another Heart Cath. Most of you will remember that 3 years ago he had 6 stints put in had been doing well. He was supposed to have rotor cuff surgery next week but needed to be cleared by the heart doctor first. He went into have some tests done and they found an abnormality in the bottom half of his heart. They are not sure yet what that will detail. We will know more hopefully Wednesday sometime.

Also I had someone just email me that they have a tie that Nikolas can use!! Thank you, Janell!!
That is a huge weight lifted off!!

Hopefully Nate will have the girls room finished and then I can take the final pictures of it for the blog!

Cheri, if you are out and about tomorrow you can always stop in and see it!! :)

Items needed

We have a couple of items we have been keeping our eye out for.

We are in need of 2 twin size mattresses and 1 twin box spring. If anyone hears of any that might be available could you let us know. Thanks. I have been watching Craig's list but they are gone by the time I call.

Also I am in need of 1 boys black clip on tie. He needs this for his Choir concert. I have been searching everywhere. I even went to a couple of stores but they are even outrageously expensive or they do not even carry them. He only needs it for about 2 concerts.

Thanks!!! A friend today said that I should post these items here and I never even had thought of it before.

Nate's Aunt

I just received an email from Nate's cousin!!! Thank you all for the prayers!! Please keep them coming!!

What a roller coaster this past week has been! In a 24 hour period we went from anticipating a very serious surgery, to staying in the hospital for 6 - 8 weeks with only IV fluids for 4 of those weeks to eat a full meal, keep it down and you can go home!

I don't think the doctors are still 100% sure of what was going on with my mother! Hower, on Tuesday she made such a turn around that it was decided that she could try a small amount of fluids by mouth. When that went well, they added more fluids, then a soft diet then a regular meal. Alll this was done on a trail basis, if there was any pain in the stomach, it would be immediate surgery. THERE WAS NO PAIN!!! It was amazing.

My mom came home yesterday afternoon, and last I heard she was dusting. Since she has her left arm is in a cast - this is not easy. But I have a very stubborn and determined mother! I think this personality trait helped her throughout this trail.

The doctor kept saying how he could not believe what was happening! He told my mom she was a miracle. I agree - but I also KNOW that it was the prayers of those who love and care about her that played the biggest role in her healing. So thank you - and thank you for the help you gave me with your comments and concerns.

Please continue to pray for a full recovery. If there is any indication of pain, it is an ambulance ride right back to Spectrum. So with this excitement, there is fear and trepidation that we are not out of the woods yet. However, we are celebrating the measure of health she has and continuing to trust that the Lord will bring her complete health and strength. After these past 24 hours, how can we expect anything more?!!

God bless!

Nate's Aunt

I just received an email from Nate's cousin!!! Thank you all for the prayers!! Please keep them coming!!

What a roller coaster this past week has been! In a 24 hour period we went from anticipating a very serious surgery, to staying in the hospital for 6 - 8 weeks with only IV fluids for 4 of those weeks to eat a full meal, keep it down and you can go home!

I don't think the doctors are still 100% sure of what was going on with my mother! Hower, on Tuesday she made such a turn around that it was decided that she could try a small amount of fluids by mouth. When that went well, they added more fluids, then a soft diet then a regular meal. Alll this was done on a trail basis, if there was any pain in the stomach, it would be immediate surgery. THERE WAS NO PAIN!!! It was amazing.

My mom came home yesterday afternoon, and last I heard she was dusting. Since she has her left arm is in a cast - this is not easy. But I have a very stubborn and determined mother! I think this personality trait helped her throughout this trail.

The doctor kept saying how he could not believe what was happening! He told my mom she was a miracle. I agree - but I also KNOW that it was the prayers of those who love and care about her that played the biggest role in her healing. So thank you - and thank you for the help you gave me with your comments and concerns.

Please continue to pray for a full recovery. If there is any indication of pain, it is an ambulance ride right back to Spectrum. So with this excitement, there is fear and trepidation that we are not out of the woods yet. However, we are celebrating the measure of health she has and continuing to trust that the Lord will bring her complete health and strength. After these past 24 hours, how can we expect anything more?!!

God bless!