Our life is nothing short of an adventure...

Wind in our hair and screams of delight but also unpredictable turns and unknown outcomes. We are a family of six; Dave, Susie, Nate, Jake, Sam, and Bella.

God has been faithful in our marriage and through the birth and blessings of our boys.

God has been faithful during our adoption journey and united Bella with us in May of 2008. We were privileged to visit with Bella's birth mother; therefore, Bella's family in Guatemala will always be dear to our hearts.

On October 16, 2008, Bella was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia. We are now battling the disease with 2 years and 3 months of treatment. We believe God will continue to be faithful!

Our family is committed to living life to the fullest...even on the hard days. Thank you for checking in and journeying with us!


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Another summer has come and gone



The cousins cheering on the cousins skiing!


The Babies (all cousins) of 08'. Joe Joe, Bella and Donnie


The Boat...for the first time, it never broke down! AMEN!


The Cottage!



Annual Cousin Picture taken the last day of summer vacation.


My son the snake charmer.....yuck!


Nothing better than big brother


Lovin the little sister.


Daily cousin fun, they think of something different every day.

It's hard to say goodbye to summer. We are fortunate and blessed to live our summers at the family cottage. For us Midwesterners, summers are magical. For 3 short months, life comes to a complete halt and we do our very best to abandon structure and daily life to enjoy the great lakes, beaches, boating, camping, etc. For winters are long, and spring is brief. For my family, it means life at the cottage...surrounded by all my siblings, parents, nieces and newphews, friends and extended family. My kids experience their cousins in ways most people cant even imagine. For 3 months, we eat, sleep and drink family, and amazingly enough, we all get along and are generally sad when its over but celebrate in the time we enjoyed.

We spent the last 2 weeks at the cottage beaching it, skiing, tubing, bonfires, cooking, catching snakes and frogs, laughing, making new memories and taking endless photos. There are not enough words to express what my family means to me. This was a summer of challenges, change, transition and joy and they were there for our family through every step. My heavenly Father, thank you for every one of them....all the way down to the youngest, Joe Joe. I love you all so much and I treasure you always.

We celebrated Bella's 1st Birthday on August 28th, I plan to post photos and updates Friday as that is our "Referral Day" and in my eye's, her Birthday. For she was born to our family on that day.

So on to Fall! We love fall and Halloween is on of our very favorite holidays! It's just so much fun to be someone else for a day.

Blessings!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting your stories and pictures. I truly enjoy reading the details of the family I miss so much! I feel a little closer to home. :) I love you guys and can't wait to see everyone in December!

Cheri said...

I am so happy you had an awesome summer, but I'm thankful you are getting back in the swing of things so we can catch up more often!ha! A bit selfish, aren't I?! So glad chatting with you today. Your children/family are just beautiful. Can't wait to see the new pictures. Love, Cheri

Pam L said...

I hate to see the summer come to an end too! It looks like you all made the best of it!
Now, all this time you have spoken of "the cottage", I had in my mind a "cottage"........you know, small, quaint, cozy. After seeing the picture, I think you should call it "the Mansion". It's huge!!!. I guess it has to be to house your whole family!
Can't wait to see Bella's birthday pictures.

Courtney said...

Happy Birthday Bella.............Love the cottage. So sad summer is over. On to fall............Courtney

Candy said...

I SO WISH I WAS YOUR SISTER...Can you all ADOPT ME???? And by the way CUTE COTTAGE...Love it! I think it is AWESOME for you and your kids that you have a family like that. HUGS

Susie said...

Another great post! Guess what? I got the DNA test results back and I'm a long lost cousin! hee hee Your summer sounds like it was amazing, and I love that your kids will have such wonderful memories to take with them the rest of their lives. What a beautiful thing! Happy belated birthday Bella baby, and happy upcoming referral-versary. Time surely does fly . . .
the "other other" Susie