And the wish is...

GRANTED! Gracie and crew will be boarding the Disney Wonder on Valentine's Day! We are super excited for this adventure, just one month before Gracie's fontan surgery.

Bon Voyage!

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We continue to celebrate this Christmas season, delighting in the greatest gift to all...the birth of Jesus Christ. As our lives fill up with busy schedules, parties, presents, food, and fun, we remember the reason we live with peace in our hearts and joy in our home--Jesus Christ--the Prince of Peace, the Son of God who became man dwelling among us in our sinful world so that we could become children of the Most High! I praise Him! It makes the ipods, the toys, the material presents under the tree pretty insignificant, doesn't it? The gift of a Savior, God with us...AMAZING LOVE!

Because of the weather we stayed home for Christmas. I think Breuklyn had the same jammies on for four days (showers in between, I promise!)! We've watched countless movies, put together giant puzzles, played the Wii and XBox until our fingers were considered "fit", rolled the dice for our board games, not needing to leave the house for anything! Well, Curtis and I did take off for a few hours on the 26th just for our sanity :) !!

We are so blessed this season with health! Gracie is feeling better than she ever has...she's running this place! Today, she is sporting her 4th of July attire with brown and pink plaid shorts--who's to say that doesn't work when its 20 degrees and snowing? Our house is warm! She's become SO SO SO independent...she knows what she wants to wear, what she wants to eat, where she wants to go, and who can go with her. My dear friend, Sara is her speech therapist and has aided Gracie greatly with her speech. She is now able to run a family of 7--as we've prayed for speech, to find us shushing her is quite ironic. A few minutes ago I called the Mayo Clinic to schedule her next surgery--it will likely be in March right after spring break--I'll keep you posted!

Our older kids are CRAZY about Christmas and will not let tradition die. We continue to run balls of yarn throughout our entire house for them to find their gifts--when we mention just placing them all under the tree, we are met with serious opposition! This year, Gracie was the first one up and she just ran right through the string, pulling things out of drawers and cupboards...chaos!

It's nearly noon and I still have some sleepers around here--what a rude awakening it will be in just five short days as the alarm rings at 7 am. It's eerily quiet around here--I better run!

I hope your Christmas was filled with joy, and your New Year is blessed abundantly!

Love,

Gayle

Selah is 9!

Selah celebrated her birthday on December 5--as you can see, we have had a very busy December! Both of the girls have had a lot of practice opening gifts and downing sugary treats! This is only Selah's 2nd birthday she has celebrated--this time Selah anticipated what was coming and was super excited. For her birthday, she just wanted fuzzy stuff, so fuzzy stuff is what she received--fuzzy clothes, fuzzy blankets, fuzzy animals--she loves texture. It is obvious she has some sensory issues--touch, smell, noise--she is quite sensitive to all of it.

Selah's past year has been full of adventure--some exhilirating, some pretty interesting, yet all useful. We are still in the process of learning how to be a part of a family. As we have battled through several behavioral issues, several "institutional symptoms", we are in a period of relative peace around here. Yes, her actions are very much to blame at times, yet we are finding our reactions can make or break the situation.

As we celebrated Selah's 9th birthday, I rejoice in the fact that she has a family, she is loved! I also look forward to what this next year will bring--we are praying for healing of her broken heart and the peace within her that she has no doubt she is loved. Now that would be a great gift for her before her next birthday!

Love,

Gayle

GRACIE IS 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessed doesn't begin to describe what is going on in my heart today. Over and over again, I have replayed that winter morning driving that long, lonely road to St. Louis, not knowing what to expect. Would our child be alive when we get there? We knew Gracie was extremely critical, having been resuscitated several times the morning of her birth. We walked into CHAOS! This little 5 pound dumpling was covered in tubes, wires, stickers, HANDS...yet underneath it all we saw complete beauty--God's handiwork displayed in gorgeous slanted eyes and soft, feathery hair. 10 fingers, 10 toes, arms, legs, mouth, nose--from the outside all intact. Underneath that beautiful shell was what we would soon learn...a very unique inside. All of Gracie's organs were in the wrong place, her intestines were going in dangerous directions...and her heart. Her heart was only using two chambers and had inadequate arteries to her lungs..."quite involved." we heard. "Extremely high risk" "Go home today--don't put your family through this." "She will likely not leave this hospital". Little did they know, God had a very different plan for this child. If they could see her now!! If they could have watched her blow out her candles and sing happy birthday to herself along with her family, if they could only hear her giggle and watch people's smiles stretch across their faces when Gracie blows kisses.

My heart is so full, it's about going to burst!

Gayle