4 years later,....

It's our anniversary today! What a ride it has been thus far! When we got married, I never imagined we would be where we are today (physicaly, emotionally,... )

Here we are,... we look soooo young!

What a long day! I was so hyped up on excitement but it was like 90 degrees and running around for everything made me pooped out!

And here is our super fun wedding party! They were rockin it on the golf carts :)

And wrapping everything up with a midnight putting practice :)

Four years ago I thought I would already have a toddler whom I was potty training and either a new born or one on the way. We were suppose to be in our permanant house and in the midst of some super awesome renovations. The only thing that really is going the way that I saw it going is the whole job thing. Yah, I have a bachelors degree in teaching PE but I really never saw myself as a full-time teacher~ especially while I have little ones around. So I got that going for me : / (I kinda regret not pursuing a job now that I am still toddler-less.)

I am so in love with my hubby though. Even through all the crap that we have been through, I think it has brought us so much closer than most other couples. We have triumphed over adversity together, grieved together, and am now dealing with infertility together. Yes, many, many a times I have wanted to strangle him (and I am sure he would say the same about me) but how can you compare with all that we have been through together?!?! We often times sit and wonder how we made it out like we did with everything and I can only give the credit to our faith in God and prayer. ~So much more powerful than I will ever understand.~

Here's to many many more years and hopefully many many more babies :)

Wordless Wednesday

Right To Life Auction

With everything that has gone on in our lives in the past few years, I have really started to get involved with Right To Life (RTL). Not that we have ever, or ever will, have to make a choice of an unborn child but we really understand and know the REAL vaule of a baby. So, on August 19th, RTL is having a dinner and auction at the Post Family Farm near Hudsonville.

You can go to their website www.rtlofholland.org and get more info and where to get tickets for the dinenr. There is also a list of what is going to be auctioned off. You might notice that we are giving away 40 pounds of blueberries next year,... yummm!!! Come and bid on stuff and all proceeds go to RTL!

Map

Here is a link to a map of how to get to the farm : )
Woodland Enterprise Blueberry farm
We are about 15 min North of Holland and 15 min North of Zeeland. Oh, and just to give you a little heads up, Pierce Street is a dirt road!
If there is a problem with the link let me know! Thank you
~Kell

It's time...

... to pick!
Just to let you know, we will be starting U-pick and already picked blueberries on Monday, July 13th. We have been getting calls like crazy so I thought I would let eveyone and anyone know who was interested. If you would like more info let me know!

Let them eat cake :)

My birthday is tomorrow (yikes!) a week after that is my father-in-laws and just after that is my hubby's. So, we had my inlaws over the other day and I made this cake.Clearly, I am not that great of a cake decorator. I was running out of time so I kept it simple. The best part was the inside anyways. I got this great recipie form Jaclyn, I think. I am not totally sure, but I got it from a blog while blog-jumping.
Heres the inside : )

It was so good and moist! Even though I am not the super best baker in the world, I was pretty proud of it! Such a bright blast of color when you cut into it. Fun-stuff!

I forgot to mention,...

I was going to thank you all in the last post but I forgot. That idea about cleaning my stove top with a Magic Eraser worked so well. Awesome! I would have never thought! So thank you again!

Memorial Day weekend

I know that it has been a while since I last posted here but I have been super busy. Work, house stuff, and memorial weekend vacation. We had a great time and got some sun which is always a good thing.

We caught some big fish! I think the boys said that this one was a rock bass... I dunno,... :) And I tried to take the hook off but that sucker had it way in his mouth. Normally if it is just on the lip I will take the hook off. I don't really like it but I feel bad about bothering the boys all the time.

I think Daisey had the most fun by far! She is such a water dog! This is her taking a peek off the pontoon boat.

We also did some kayaking. Very enjoyable :)

Here it is

Sorry it took so long to update pics of the finished kitchen. I would like to say that I have been busy cooking and baking (well,... kinda) but honestly I have been lazy and busy. So here they are.

So,... what do you think? I love it!!!! I know I don't really have a color scheme, but,.. it works for now. This isn't our permanent home and hopefully we will be able to move into our place sooner rather than later!

One question I have for you all. As you might be able to tell I have a flat top stove. I kinda burnt something on it the othe day : ) and I cannot seem to get it off. I tried a scrubbing pad and everything but,... nata. Any suggestions? Thank you.

It's finally done!

The kitchen that is. Well,.... at least 95 percent done. It's usable at least. I have never lived through a home full-on construction project and ughhhh, it's NOT fun! (but well worth the pain!)

Here is the kitchen prior to the demo. Messy and small huh!?!? I can't believe that I cooked in that for almost 4 years. And here are a couple mid-demo pics. (The stressful time of the project!-no sink, no oven, no baking or cooking!)

And here it is just about done- and in Mike in the midst of finishing up the plumbing.

Our list to make it 100 percent:

-paint ceiling

-install light above sink

-install dishwasher (scheduled for tomorrow- thanks Andy!)

-put toe kicks on

-and put knobs on the cabinet doors

I will post a couple pics of the actual finished product. Hopefully by this weekend : )

Changed my mind

I have decided to keep this blog going a little bit. It won't be anything emotional or super gushy posts. I will just use this to post fun interesting things that have been going on around our home. Take for example Daisey. She is getting soooooo big. This was her the day after we got her so she must have been about 6 weeks old.

And this is her now! She is still such a little baby on the inside but a big 65 pound dog on the outside!!

We are back

It was so much fun and enjoyable but it feels good to be back with the pets. I am not, however, crazy about all this snow that has been coming down! yuck. I do not have very much time right now but I did want to let everyone know that I will be making a private blog and no longer using this one. (for purposes that I will explain in that blog) If you would like to be able to check in with me periodically please email me and I will give you access. Thank you. All my love~ Kell

I'm just about ready to go

In less than a month Mike and I are outta here. We have been planning this vacation for about 5 months and I cannot believe it is almost here!!!! Yah! We are going on a cruise to Mexico, Honduras, and Haiti. Neither of us have ever been 'cruising' befor and we are both so excited! I am NOT a cold person. I do not like Winter, I hate anyday that is less than 70 degrees out, and I am not a fan of snow. This trip is really the only thing right now that is keeping me going. I am excited about the whole Christmas Day and all that but it's sad. I just don't want to deal with people sometimes. I know everyone means well, but sometimes I just want to be alone because I am sad or mad that I do not have my little Leah and Maya here any more.

Sooo,....

I have started packing. Am I crazy? Maybe... I am just sooooooo excited!

I got my toes done too. (That's not a regular occurance for me. What's the special occasion: sinking my purty toes in the white sand on various Mexican beaches!)
Now all that's left is to go get Mike some new shirts today, celebrate a couple Christmas parties, finish packing and were off------- woop woop!

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours : )

This was our christmas picture. Not exactly what I was thinking but it was the best we could get. Daisey is just as crazy as ever and little miss Sophie was as grouchy as ever. But,... It's cute and shows our animals' personality. Mike and I always wonder if we pick weird animals or if it is us and how we raise them?!?! Oh well,... they make for fun conversation.

I hope everyone out there has a safe and happy christmas. I know it is hard for me, but try to remember where we got the whole christmas season from. Jesus was born to save us. God gave his only son for us and our sins. A little baby. Whenever I get cought up in the crazieness of the season or start having a pitty party about everything that has happened to me, I have to take a step back and remember...

The True Reason For The Season

God Bless

My thoughts for the day...

As I sit here at my computer, basking in the sun on this glorious day, I find myself being somewhat philisophical. So (as a disclaimer) I will be rambeling on about some stuff that has been running through my head for the past ohh,.... 6 months or so. I would like to remind you that I am only human. I pray to God every night to help me with these thoughts but that darn Satan keeps creeping back in every now and then.
My little girls were born sleeping. And then, a few months later I lost another baby in a misscarraige. That's my life. Unfortunatly, my little girls never got a chance to breath air. I was not able to hold them while the wiggled around or stretched. I had the horrifing experience of knowing that I was carrying two little girls in my tummy that had passed away some few days earlier. I had to go through labor and deliver them, knowing full well that they were already in heaven. Just thinking about it now brings back all the raw emotion of having to deliver my two little girls that were already sleeping.
I find myself comparing my circumstances to others that I have read or heard about. I noticed that I unintentionaly correct people in conversation on what happened to Leah and Maya or about anything else that has happened to me over the past 8 months. I am sorry. It was rude the way that I said it and my intentions were vicious. I just wish so badly that people would understand that we all do not grieve in the same way. We did not all have the same thing happen to us and that's the way God wants it. Some babies got to breath for a day or two, some just minutes, mine, ... none. No matter the situation we all lost our babies.
I would like to dedicate this post to all the mommies out there that had to let their babies go to heaven too early. All of our life situations are special and unique and, like I said befor, that's how God intended it to be (Whether we like it or not). We are all human and we all make mistakes and think things that we later regret. We just gotta keep the faith and know that God is taking good care of our babies until we get there to hold them again. God will help us get through this and He will take care of us as well.
Thanks for taking the time to read my rambelings. God Bless : )
~Kell

Surprise!

It was about one year ago today when we got the surprise of a life time. We were pregnant!!! Oh my goodness were we excited. I actually didn't get a chance to tell Mike until a while later. He was gone hunting when I got the postive test. I was just ready to burst with elation I had to tell someone so I told all my girlfriends befor I told him or my family : ) Ooops! I was just so excited! It's so hard to describe that feeling when you have wanted a baby for a while and you finally find out that you are going to. Excitement, elation, joy, happieness mixed with a little bit of worry and nervousness. Those girls were so loved and wanted. It's just not fair that they were taken from us so soon!
I have been having a hard time getting ready for the holidays. It's been a mix of what last year was like (telling everyone and the 24/7 sickness...) and what I thought this year was suppose to be like (toting the twins around to see the family, the little girl presents, the FOUR stocking not just two,...) This just isn't what it was suppose to be...

What...

...is going on with our animals?!?! As Mike was gone last week hunting, I took care of the animals (as best as I could : ) While doing some house work, Daisey was outside on her collar. I figured she had been out for a couple hours so I would go get her to come inside. This is what I found...
This was taken through the window. I didn't even open the door. She ended up staying outside for a couple more hours! I should have given her a bath but that girl is so strong and she HATES getting a bath it would have been impossible with just me.

Then I continued on my house work and started making a pie when I heard a thump thump. It sounded like Sophie (our cat) was jumping on something. I ignored it and then heard it again a short time later. So as I went to investigate the noise, this is what I found...

Sophie was drinking out of the toilet!!! Her water dish is about 3 feet from where she was but she decided to jump on the toilet and drink out of that instead. She sat there for a good 5 minutes, looked up at me every now and then but continued to sip out the toilet water. I just couldn't believe it. Our animals are soooo weird!

Life, in general

Well,.. There is not much new to post so I thought that I would post a couple of thoughts that I have had over the past few days.
I have been busy, with life, work (coaching), and the crazy dog. I have gotten so caught up, that sometimes I had forgotten to slow down and take life a little slower. But,... sadly when I started to try to do that the other day, all of the sadness from the loss of Leah and Maya started flooding back. I have been a wreck ever since. I just cannot help but to wonder what my life would have been like now. And how badly I wish they were still here. They were taken wayyy to soon!
I sucks that I have to make an effort to be happy. It sucks that I have to make a concious decision to think about the good things in life. Here is my list:
The awesome weather today and for the next couple days.
The political adds will be over soon! Yah!
My health- well,... just my physical health. I am in good shape but my mental health is another story. We won't get into that.
The wicked good apple carmel pizza that I made today. Wow was that good!
Family and all their support. Thanks guys!
Maybe I should just emmerse myself into life again and forget about 'stoping and smelling the roses.' I have allergies anyways! It just stinks that when I get cought up in life, time flies and befor I know it, it is November. Aghh,...

Light a Candle

Today I lit two candles for my two angels in heaven. I also lit a candle on line if you would like to see it go to: http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/message.cfm?l=eng&cid=6934770 You can go to http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng and click on an unlit candle to lite one for someone else.
This is all on an important day. Infant loss and still birth awareness day. Not that I need a specific day to mourn for my girls but I guess it is just a day that we can all set aside some time and remember the good times (even though they were few due to the short time that they were here on earth) and how badly we miss them.
'We loved and always will love you girls! Love mommy and daddy : )'

Various updates

I have noticed that I left a lot of things hanging on here so I thought that I would do a post to update you all on all my loose ends.
-My pinkey is doing great. I have skipped out on therepy a bunch of times and I think I am just not going to go anymore because I can do everything here at home. I have almost full ROM! Yah! It still hurts when I do my stretches but I have notice huge improvements.
-The whole $50 thing went well the other week. I did perfect until I got to Friday when I realized that I had to take Daisey to the vet. So if you don't count that I did OK. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be!
-Speaking of Daisey, she is getting so big. She weighed 35 pounnds at the vet the other week so I am assuming she is close to 40 now. Is so funny, when I squat down to pet her or something she will lean up against me and just about push me over!

This pic was actually taken about a month ago. I have been lagging in the pic department of her. oops : )

OK, I think you are all updated. Have a great Columbus Day! (Whatever that means. Was it on this day when he found America in 1492? I dunno. Whatever.)