A year in review 2007

2007 has had great moments & sad ones. We have had births of babies & births of angels, weddings and anniversaries.

Let me try to give a run down of our year month by month:

January 2007:
Tori, my sister, met her future husband, Russ on New Year's Eve.
Caraline Grace was born Jan, 8th and made Lydia a big sister. She came home one day before the "ice storm" 2007".

February 2007:
Lydia went to the eye dr & she needed glasses. Her eyes were crossing. She looked so CUTE in her glasses! Scott & I had our 36 & 31 birthdays.

April 2007:
Caraline was 3 months old for her first Easter.
Grandma Betty & Grandpa Bob had their 60th wedding anniversary. We had a big celebration in Pawnee. Many family & friends came. My grandparents had a great time & felt so cared for & loved.

May 2007:
Lydia had eye surgery May 1st. She did a great job & recovered well. Her eyes are straight, but she still wears her glasses.
This was my first Mother's day of a mother of TWO!
Tori got engaged to Russ.

June 2007:
I started a bible study & met & got to know four wonderful women! I'm so glad I took a chance to met these amazing ladies!
My best friend from Iowa, Jenn, came to visit us with her son, Landon. Lydia and Landon are 3 weeks apart in age.
Scott & I celebrated 7 years of marriage.

July 2007:
We had a great Fourth of July!
Addyson Layne Barrett, my cousin Lindsay's daughter, was born & had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.

August 2007:
Addyson had open heart surgery and made a wonderful recovery.
Lydia went to the allergist. We found out that she is allergic to nuts, eggs, peas, and pears. We have to really watch what she eats now.

September 2007:
Lydia started Mother's day out, school to her.
Tori & Russ got married and Lana, Russ' daughter, joined our family!


October 2007:
Caraline was Minnie Mouse & Lydia was a ballerina princess for Halloween.
Finlee Dvorak, my cousin Timmy's daughter, was born one day before Halloween.

November 2007:
November 2: Addyson Layne became an angel at 3 months old.
November 3rd was Lydia's third birthday. We celebrated by going to the zoo with Tori, Russ & Lana.
My dad Ralph truned 60 this November. We had a party for him. His family came and lots of friends! He felt so blessed that everyone came to celebrate him!

December 2007:
Caraline had her first Christmas! Santa brought the girls a swing set! Lydia was so excited!

As this year comes to a close and a new year begins, I have thank God for the blessing He has blessed this family with and praise Him for the blessings he will give us in the coming year 2008!

HAPPY 2008! Hope you have a great year!

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!"

II Corinthians 5:17

The TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas

This Christmas Lydia is three and this will be Caraline's first Christmas. I prayed that this year I would show my girls the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas. I wanted them to know that Santa is fun, but Christmas is really about the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
We have a Little People Nativity set. The girls love it!! One night Lydia said to me, "Mom, you be the manger, I'll be Mary, and, Dad, you be Joseph! Who's going to be the angel?" Lydia asked. I said, "Well, I can't be the manger, so I'll be the angel and Caraline can be a wise man."
So Lydia took one of her baby dolls as Baby Jesus, and put him in the compartment in her step stool. She kissed baby Jesus, made "Joseph" hold him. It was the sweetest thing.
When we go look at Christmas lights, she is more concerned with the Nativity in people's yards then Santa.
Sometimes when she plays with the Nativity scene, she will say, "The angel of the Lord is bothering Mary!" She likes to pretend she is Mary. One time, as Mary, she said "My tummy hurts, I need to go to Bethlehem!"
Lydia knows the whole story of Jesus' birth, from when the angel appeared to Mary, to the trip to Bethlehem, to the birth, star, the angels appearing to the shepards, to the wisemen.

I love that God has put his TRUTH in her heart! I pray it stays with us all year long!
You can find the Christmas story in the Bible in Luke 2.
Jesus is the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas!

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

Kids say the darnest things!

Lydia is three and says some of the FUNNIEST things!!

1. "I need a boy to marry me!"

Ever since my sister, Tori got married in September, Lydia talks about getting married a lot! At one time she wanted to marry God and me. I told her that some day when she is bigger, she will meet a boy who will love her and she will love him and they can get married!

2. "When I grow up, I will be a doctor to help Mimi feel better."

Scott's mom, Lydia's Mimi, was having some tests run this morning on her heart. Scott told Lydia and that was her response.

3. "Oh grief! I can't sleep without my binky!"

This is want Lydia yelled as I told her I couldn't find her binky. I put her hands over her eyes and yelled this phrase!

4. "Dear God, please help my mom find my binky and that the binky fairy won't get it!"

God answers ALL prayers, right?! I HAD to find it!!!

I'm so glad that I've been home to hear Lydia say these things! It is so much fun!

"I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked. "

1 Samuel 1:27

Dad turns 60!

My dad's 60th birthday was November 22nd. We decided to have a birthday bash at the church. My parents have many friends at church. I had made dad a shirt that said: Ralph is this many...60!" and I had 60 fingers, my hands, my sister's hands, both my girls hands, Lana's hands and one of Scott's and one of Russ's hands.

I had been working on a montage of pictures for this birthday party. I wanted pictures of my grandparents, who have been gone for many years, pictures of my dad and his sister as children and all their family. Kind of like a "family tree" in pictures. This DVD was a surprise for him. I didn't expect the reaction I got from him. He broke down and cried at the first picture to the last! My aunt sat beside him and cried too! After the video, he stood up with tears in his eyes and thanked everyone for coming and that he was a blessed man! There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

He told me he couldn't thank me enough for the wonderful job I did on the montage. I didn't do it to have him think that I was so creative, I wanted him to have those pictures and memories and be able to watch it. It was just for him. My dad doesn't get many things for himself & I wanted him to have something special that was just for him and about him.

I prayed that my dad would feel so loved and special that day. I think he did!

"...we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has gone."

Psalm 78:4

In the Arms of the angels

It was an unusally warm November day when we laid Addyson to rest. The wind was calm and the sky was completely clear. It was a beautiful day...a day our family will never forget.

That morning started with Addyson's uncle, Timmy, digging the grave for our angel. He wanted to do it.

Family and close friends gathered at the First Baptist Church in Pawnee for a lunch. Timmy had car stickers made for us that said "In memory of Addyson July 30- Nov 2 2007"

As the time grew near to go into the church, things turned quiet. The crying started as the family walked in the church. The slideshow of Addyson's short life was so moving and heartbreaking. We all wanted more time.

But it was time to say goodbye. As the pallbearer came to take this little pure white porsalin infant casket, the guys were shaking and crying. They hesitated for a moment as if to say, "We can't take this baby out of the church like this! Babies should never be carried out of a church in a casket!"

As Timmy, Addyson's uncle, and other family and friends, carried her out and placed her in the hearse, audible cries and sobs filled the air. Timmy said, "I got to carry an angel today!"

At Addyson's grave site, Cory & Lindsay released a dove. As it flew away, people gasped and cried. The little girls release pink and white balloons up to Addy.

Our family lingered at the grave site. It was as if we couldn't leave her there. My aunt said she would just walk home. My aunt said "I just want to hold her one more time, I want to rock her one more time." I thought, but one more time would turn into one more time and one more time...we weren't ready to let her go.

Timmy asked Cory, in a bit of a light hearted moment, said "Hey, Cory, you want to go find that dove?"

Addyson had her pink camoflauge blanket and a bear that she had in the hospital after her surgery. They have placed a nightlight at her grave.

And in the middle of ALL this sadness, God answered my prayer. My prayer was that I would say something encouraging or be an encouragement to my family.

Before Addyson's heart surgery, I had given Lindsay a card with a lot of scripture. She said they tore the house apart looking for that card to use scripture for her slideshow. She emailed me a few days before the funeral and asked for more scripture. I started crying and got on my knees and prayed for the right scripture.

Then at the funeral, my aunt Ginny said, through her tears, "You don't know how much strength you have given us!"

I know that strength wasn't from me, but from God. He just used me. I pray that He will use me like that ALL the time. What a bittersweet day! We will miss Addyson, but we know she is not afraid, she is in the everlasting arms of our Lord! We will see her someday and she will know us and we will know her.

"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blamesless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I Corinthains 1:8

The face of God

Have I mentioned that Lydia has seen God? Well, she has!

Last Christmas, she and I were rocking in the chair at 2am. She pointed to the kitchen and said, "There is an angel & Jesus. It's SO pretty!" and she blew a kiss to them. I, of course, saw nothing.

Then she says, "Jesus is singing to me." At this point, I was a little freaked out because I didn't know why she was seeing Jesus and an angel!

The next I asked Lydia, who had just turned two, who she saw last night. She said, "Jesus and an angel." I asked her where they were, she ran to the kitchen and said, "They are all gone." I tried to "trick" her and said "The angel was singing to you, right?" She said "NO, Jesus!"



Then just yesterday, she was in the car with Scott and pointed and said "I see my God." He asked where. Lydia pointed and said "Over there," Scott asked what God was doing, she answered "Just standing there."



She talks about "my God". The other day, I told her about baby Addy was with God in heaven. Lydia said, "I miss my God sometimes." Then she said something about baby Addy was in heaven with God and the waterfall. I never said anything about a waterfall.



I don't know why God is reveling Himself to Lydia. I hope it is because He has GREAT plans for her!

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God."

Matthew 5:8

Lydia's third birthday!

November 3rd, 2004, Scott and I were blessed with our first child: Lydia Claire Boyle! Our daughter turns three!! This has been a big year!!

Lydia became a big sister to Caraline on January 8, 2007.

In February, Lydia got glasses.

In March, she started staying home full time with me and gave up the nap!

In May, she had eye surgery.

In July, Lydia's 5th cousin was born, Addyson.

In August, we found out she was allgeric to peanuts, eggs, pears & peas.

In September, Lydia was in Tori & Russ's wedding and got a new cousin, Lana.

In October, Finlee was born, her 6th cousin

In November, the day before Lydia's birthday, Addyson went to be with God.

Lydia loves Dora, Blue's Clues, Curious George & princesses. She likes to sing and being the center of the attention! She likes to pick up her 9 month old sister and hold her and tickle her.

Scott and I love to hear the funny things she says! Lydia is SO much fun, I can't wait to see what the next year holds for our favorite three year old!

This is her favorite Bible verse:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."

Mark 12:30