Thankful Thursday

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,

to the which also ye are called in one body;

and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15

What defines your happiness?

Is it circumstances or is it your attitude?

I find it difficult to not let circumstances define my happiness. Developing a proper attitude is key to being a grateful person and sometimes my attitude needs adjusting. We are all given a choice to focus on what is either good or bad, or right or wrong with our life. I am realizing (albeit slowly...) that in every moment I am given the choice to look at my life in a positive or negative light.

There are some difficult circumstances clouding my head right now but I want to allow God's peace to rule over me and to express gratitude for the many blessings in my life.

So, today I am thankful for...

• My joyful children - their giggles and all of the funny things that they do
• My brother - for being a 'rock' during difficult family times
• Christmas lights
• Much needed time off from work
• The Christmas Caroling Party that we hosted this evening. Sweet fellowship, yummy desserts and joyful singing of Christmas carols along with a myriad of instruments...a night that I have wanted to see to fruition since I purchased my Yamaha C3 grand piano three and a half years ago. Amen!

What blessings are you grateful for?

No Chemo Ordered

My mom was admitted to the hospital on Thursday afternoon as planned. After being there 6+ hours she was sent home because the chemo drug had inadvertently not been ordered by her doctor. So...Mom is at home and doesn't know when she will return to the hospital for treatment.

I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime please pray for Sharon's emotional and physical strength and stability.

Thankful Thursday

My soul praises the Lord; my heart rejoices in God my Savior,

because he has shown his concern for his humble servant girl.

From now on, all people will say that I am blessed,

because the Powerful One has done great things for me."

Luke 1:46-49

My heart rejoices in:

• My husband who made me feel very special and loved during my birthday week
• My big time birthday present...more on that later!
• The little one who will be welcomed in to this world any day now...and parented by my dear friends Danny and Stacy who are incredibly deserving of this miracle child
• Good friends, always there in joy and in sorrow
• The Christ Child, my Savior. With anticipation we await and celebrate His birth

Mom Up-Date

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for my precious Mom, Sharon.

She has been out of the hospital since October 29th and is doing remarkably well considering what she has been up against (AML). Her white blood cell counts continue to be low but her energy level has steadily increased and overall she feels good. As a result of what she has endured the past three months my mom strives to live life to the fullest, and be grateful for even the littlest of blessings.

So many people have been deeply blessed by my mom over the years. Her impact on people's lives was evident once again in the outpouring of people who sent cards to her while she was in the hospital. The nursing staff said it was the most cards they had ever seen one patient receive!

This Thursday, Dec. 11th my mom will be admitted for her second round of chemotherapy. Her Dr. is pleased with her progress and will be treating her with a drug called Vidaza, FDA approved in the US for two years but used in Europe since the 60's. Insurance makes it difficult for the drug to be approved as an out-patient so she will be in the hospital for what we hope is a very short stint. If you would like to send her a letter of encouragement you can send it to:

Arrowhead Hospital
Sharon Hurley
18701 N. 67th Avenue
Glendale, AZ 85308

Please pray for:
-her body to receive and respond well to Vidaza Therapy
- her stay in the hospital to be as short and comfortable as possible
- encouragement and a positive mental state
- her husband Lance
- family in general

I will be up-dating Sharon's blog more often during her next treatment. Please check it for up-dates!

Choo Choo!!!

During our trip to AZ in November we took Caleb and Carissa to the Daisy Mountain Railroad located in the Anthem community. The 24 inch gauge railroad has been in operation since 2002. After exploring the Adventure Playground we bought our tickets to board the train. Caleb and Carissa were very excited to ride on their first 'Choo Choo Train'. All Aboard!The train tunnel - they talked about this tunnel for days - they loved it! Our first train ride was a highlight. The tots had a great time and so did we. It gives Jeff and I so much joy to watch our little people bust at the seems with excitement.
Choo Choo!

Thankful Thursday

"The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad."

Psalm 118:24

I have to admit that sitting down and concentrating on the many blessings in my life is causing me to be more of a gracious person. It seems that I should automatically live with an attitude of gratitude but sadly that is not the case. Having to regularly thank God for moving and working in my life is helping me to actually open my eyes wide enough to see what God has done and in response 'rejoice and be glad'. I believe my outlook is changing for the better and for this I am thankful.

Today I am thankful for...

• The Advent season. The anticipation of Christ's birth. Christmas decorations, parties and warm scarfs.
• Heat. Our furnace has been acting up. Two nights without heat in CO - not a good thing! Thank goodness the furnace is still under warranty because the 8 hours Mr. Fix-it worked on it could have been costly.
• The shrinking pile of laundry - almost done!
• My adorable tots who give me reasons to laugh every day

What do you have to 'rejoice and be glad' in?

What a Rascal

This morning I dressed Caleb in this appropriate shirt after his bath. No, we don't normally bathe the kids in the morning but today started out like no other...

The twins awoke around 6:30am. They were giggling, talking back and forth and playing their typical crib games (or so we thought).

By 7:00am it was unusually quiet.

When we entered the room we found Caleb buck naked in his crib (Carissa was laughing and egging him on). At first we thought it was funny (we've found Carissa in the buff before) but then we saw the unthinkable.

Yup, you guessed it, PEE & POOP! Caleb not only peed all over his sheets, blankets, and stuffed animals, but he also pooped! And to make matters worse he thought it was funny.

He quickly understood that his 'accident' was not acceptable but I'm praying 'Lord, please let this be a one time incident'!

It was gross.

Jeff stripped the bed and put everything in the laundry. With no need to strip Caleb I plopped him in the bathtub and scrubbed him from head to toe.

Our Caleb, we love him dearly but he can be a little Rascal!

Don't you love those curls?