torn.broken.refreshed

The title summarizes what has been going on in our physical bodies, but even more what has going on in our hearts the past few weeks. These have been such sweet and stretching days. Our dear Savior is truly doing something BIG in our hearts and lives. It has been a journey and a matter of obedience...we are choosing to embrace what He is revealing to us. More to come on this later... handsome little fella.

torn

Well, probably so. From the experts we have seen, so far it looks as if my hubs has his second torn ACL. First, one happened in college. He was quarterback and hurt it his first game of the season his senior year. I must brag, he continued to play the rest of the year on a torn ACL. Actually, he did not have the surgery until 5 years later, and that was in a foreign country.

The most recent incident, he was playing sand volleyball. We don't have insurance so he has yet to get an MRI, but one of his trainers from university days took the time out of his very busy schedule to check it out. Our brother is also an expert trainer, so when he came to town last week, he checked it out. So far a coffee table and kitchen counter have been super places to have an evaluation. Chris has been such a trooper and has handled this with such strength and trust. I am just hoping he doesn't wait 5 years to get this one taken care of.

The Lord continues to show us how He is so good and gracious to take care of our needs.

We are humbled by the many individuals in our life who have shown us such deep and generous kindness

Three days after Chris got hurt, I think I broke my toe (this has not been confirmed:), i have been hobbling and hurting ever since. Now this doesn't sound like much but when one parent is not able to walk for over a week and the other is quite a bit slower (due to a hurt toe) it can change the whole dynamics of a family with two toddlers.

*why won't these paragraphs seperate. i have tried everything, guess it will just have to be a long paragraph??

me and my baby


Pops and Zeke


Cousins


Aunt Lili and Nime

It has been such a blast having family and friends come to stay with us this summer.
We LOVE it.
We are telling everybody to come,
cause we know our guest will be much fewer once we hit East Asia.


Uncle B and Z


my 2 sisters and mom...best friends

grand baby, son and Mom

Granddad, me and Z enjoying some onion rings

Introducing our boy's to one of my favorite places to eat when I was growing up. It's greasy and definitely not organic, but sure is good to eat every few years.

home

My brother is home from war...this was truly one of the greatest moments of our lives.

All glory to the King for bringing our bubba home safely.

Zeke is two

These past 11 months have gone by so quickly as a family of four. Our little boy has certainly grown up, he is a loving, creative, compassionate, smart and athletic two year old. We are so proud of him. Actually, when we say that to him, he gives the sweetest little laugh.

We were able to celebrate by going to a local amusement park with my parents and sister in love, and then the four of us spent a few days away celebrating our precious son. The past few weeks we have thought often on the day we first met, holding him after 6 months of staring at his adorable face. The Lord has been so gracious to us, to give us such a gift in Ezekiel. He truly matches the name God gave us for him-Yahweh strengthens.

Our son challenges and teaches us to...

live each day with joy

if you don't know how to play the guitar, look like you do

embrace change

laugh more

to say thank you for everything

that the Lord can heal a heart by time and love

courage

love the Word of God

to think everything should be the color Red

wake up in a good mood

kiss every boo boo

enjoy reading time

that when someone says, "Hold your horses" the only appropriate response is, "NEIGH"

be a giver of LOVE and HUGS

accuracy in throwing balls is extremely important

learn something new everyday

appreciation for food,especially banana's

hard work

how to down a glass of milk

try new things

long to hear the honk of every semi that passes (he so sweetly request this of his momma by saying please then making his own horn noise, how can i refuse)

Clean up time can be fun

the first moments after meeting our son, Ezekiel B

(august 2009)

some recent pictures of our sweetie.

He sure looks like he knows what he is doing

First baseball game. the umpire thought he looked like he needed a ball.

Letting us know he was about to be Twooooooooo


the slide, brother and a friend...life is good.

His absolute favorite food

The 3 day birthday celebration

reading a psalm to him.

the Lord gave us this particular passage before they were home with us.

his family in Ethiopia was heavy on our hearts as we celebrated his birthday.

with his Dad.

I love their close relationship. Chris has been home more often the past few weeks and the boys have been soaking up all the Daddy time. They love doing everything together, playing catch, cuddling, reading, going to the play ground and just being boys.

one of his many faces of cuteness

his best buddy-Nehemiah.

Notice, they were really enjoying the pizza

We limit the sweets that the boys intake for special celebrations,

this boy fully enjoys his ice cream, even to the last bite.

taking in the train ride.

This boy loves trains, choo-choo was actually the first English sound he made.

Experiencing an amusement park for the first time as a family.

Mr. creative

hugs from Daddy.

Lately, he has noticed that we have been trying to refresh on some of our language study, so of course he feels the need to begin language study so he is ready when we return to EA. One of my favorite things is when he says, "Jesus love me" in Chinese.

oh, how we love our Bini

...and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.

Ezekiel 3:14b