Sad News and Joy

We are sad to announce that we recently lost our newest addition to the family through a miscarriage a couple weeks ago. It's taken some time for me to finally sit down and write about it on our blog. I don't want to just breeze past it as if it never happened, because that little child was important to us. Even though we never met him/her in person we had many hopes and dreams for the future. So we have been mourning the loss of this baby, but at the same time we are filled with joy. Here's why.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

-Jeremiah 29:11-13

God has a plan for our lives, and we want nothing less than what he has in mind for us. We don't always understand why certain things happen, but know that it is a small part of God's master plan. God loves us and wants the best for us.

Richard and I have hope that when we get to heaven, we'll finally get to meet the child we were never able to meet on earth. What joy! What more could we as parents ask for, but that our children be redeemed by God's grace.

Even though we're filled with joy at the thought of our child in heaven, we still lean on God for our strength to get through our sadness.

"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."

-Psalm 55:22

Gabriel Begins His Basketball Career

Our neighbors bought Gabriel a basketball hoop for Christmas.  Here is a short video of his first day on the court.  He seems to understand putting the ball in the hoop via the dunk.  Now we just need to work on the jump shot... after he learns to walk.

Remembering 2011 - Most visited posts

The year 2011 is almost over, so I thought I would wrap it up with one final blog post. I am going to share the top 5 visited posts from 2011. It's interesting to see which ones get the most hits. I think most of these are due to random Google searches that bring people to our blog.

Number 5
Richard Turns 35 and Hat Cake

Number 4
Trash Truck Cake

Number 3
Gabriel Kisses Mirror

Number 2
Bridal Shower and Leopard Print Cake

And the most visited blog post from 2011, which Richard is very proud of...
Number 1
Homemade HDTV Antenna

Until next year, love you all!

Books we read in 2011

There is a blog I follow where the family keeps track of all the books they read. I thought that sounded like so much fun. So, before the end of the year, which is tomorrow, here is our list from 2011 (as much as I can remember).
* Shows books we've finished

Bringing Up Boys* - Richard and Sarah
Live A Praying Life* - Sarah
The New Testament* - Richard and Sarah
On Becoming Baby Wise* - Richard and Sarah
On Becoming Baby Wise 2* - Richard and Sarah
The Nursing Mother's Companion* - Sarah
Super Baby Food* - Sarah
The Power of a Praying Wife* - Sarah
When You Rise Up* - Richard and Sarah
Family Driven Faith* - Richard and Sarah
Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophesy* - Sarah
The Phantom of the Opera* - Sarah
People of the Book* - Sarah
James* - Richard
9 Dragons* - Richard
Encountering John* - Richard and Sarah
The Read-Aloud Handbook* - Sarah
The Help* - Sarah
The New Dare to Discipline - Richard and Sarah
The Pilgrim's Progress - Sarah
Putting Food By* -  Sarah
Your Personal Penguin* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Hey Wake Up* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Belly Button Book* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Kiss Goodnight* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
The Foot Book* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Mr. Brown and Moo! Can You?* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Green Eggs and Ham* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Dr. Seuss's ABC's* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
The Napping House* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Guess How Much I Love You* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Baby's First Book of Prayers* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
The Neighborhood Mother Goose - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Please, Baby, Please* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Oh, the Places You'll Go - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
The Jesus Storybook Bible -  Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Peek-A-Boo, I Love You!* -  Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Geena Giraffe Gets Tucked In* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Are You My Mother?* - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
I Love You, Grandpa - Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
Splish Splash, Baby Bundt* -  Richard and Sarah to Gabriel
A Family Advent* - The Family

Christmas 2011

This year there were two very special new additions to our Christmas gift exchange. It was Gabriel's first Christmas, and my soon to be sister-in-law also joined us! That's right, my big brother is getting married to a wonderful, beautiful woman names Allison. Part of our tradition is stocking stuffers. So here are Gabriel and Allison with their new stockings. Well, actually, Gabriel just crawled over everyone's stalkings, but his is the one with the "G" on it.

Papa helped Gabriel open his stalking stuffers.

But Gabriel new exactly what to do when it came to tissue paper.

Great Grandma made him a quilt with cars and plains and his birth information in the middle. If you can't tell, there is an eyeball on the side of the car.  That's in remembrance of my mom's first car. Apparently it had a giant eyeball on the side of it, and everyone still talks about "the eyeball car" to this day.

It was a great Christmas, because we spent it with family.

Merry Christmas From The Four Of Us

We shared some great news with our family when we sent this picture on Christmas day.

"Merry Christmas From The Four Of Us!"

My first Dr appointment is this week. So there will be more updates to come.

Yearly Christmas Ornaments

Richard and I have started a tradition where we add a new ornament to our tree each year which represents something that happened within that year. It's so much fun to see the collection begin to grow. Each ornament has stories attached to it.

Our first year, we got the Hawaiian ornament from our honeymoon in Hawaii. We went to Kauaii and the big island.

 The second year, we traveled to Europe. We visited Paris and London. In London, we collected this crown ornament which represents the royal family.

This year, I made an ornament to represent Gabriel's birth. It's a block with his picture and his birth information. I plan to do this ornament for each of our children in the year they are born.