Yur'yev Polskiy

Many of you know that Chris has been planning for several months to take a trip to Yur'yev Polskiy, Russia. We are counting down the days!! He and a team of 5 of our church friends will be gone for 10 days. They will travel to Moscow and then take a bus about 5 hours northeast of Moscow to Yuryev Polskiy. They will stay in a hotel and spend their days conducting a day came at an orphanage in this small agricultural town.

Our church has sent a team of people to this same orphanage for 8 years and Chris has always been drawn to the trip. He is looking forward to the experience. The Yuryev Polskiy Orphanage is home to children ages 6 to 16. The orphans in Russia face a future with no hope. Many of the children are social orphans and were placed in the institution because their parents could no longer provide for them. Statistics show that 70% of the children leaving the Russian orphanage system at age 16 turn to drugs, prostitution or suicide. Working with Russian translators, Chris and our friends will be teaching the children skills for independant living. In addition, they will share the Word of God which gives them a hope for the future and they will teach them about their Heavenly Father who wants to adopt them into His family.

I want to share with you an amazing story about God's provision. The cost of this trip is about $2500 and in addition to that, we were looking at 10 days without Chris' income. On top of that, in Dec and Jan, we incurred about $2000 worth of medical bills (see post below to catch up on that). We had been praying about the finances because we definitely didn't have that much money to spare! In a very very short amount of time, the church received money in Chris' name to help fund the trip and THE ENTIRE TRIP HAS BEEN PAID FOR! In fact, the church received more than they needed to fund Chris' trip so they are using the excess to buy supplies and necessities for the children in the orphanage. AND we've received a great amount of money from friends and loved ones who wanted to be sure that the girls have what they need during Chris' absence. We are absolutely blown away by the generosity of others and the great provision has confirmed to us that we are walking in the will of the God we love :) We are so excited to see what will come of this trip! Thank you so much for your prayers and financial donations. We still haven't received a list of people who gave toward this trip so we're going to be quite a while on getting thank you notes out but we want you to know that we are so so so very grateful!


Here are some pictures of Yur'yev Polskiy (also spelled yuriev polski) that I found on line. Chris has been watching the weather for the last couple of months. Basically, yur'yev polskiy has seen snow every day for months and the temperatures haven't risen above freezing. This week, the warmest forecasted day is Saturday, with a high temp of 35 degrees!

Madeline's 5th Birthday!!!

Well we officially have a FIVE year old daughter. I'm sorry but I'm still choking on those words. Five is just such a HUGE milestone in my mind. And the time truly has gone by in the blink of an eye.

Here are some things we love about our oldest daughter:
1) She is very silly. She loves making funny faces, using funny voices and doing funny dances.
2) She is tender toward people, especially her little sis Hannah.
3) She has a very strong sense of right and wrong and she demonstrates responsibility in making sure that everyone (including herself) is doing what is right.
4) She has a phenomenal memory, which is a quality especially admired by her mom!
5) She LOVES doing homework. She will beg for homework sheets and doesn't seem to tire of learning.
6) She is attentive and can focus on tasks for a very long time.
7) She is a great communicator. She has a large vocabulary and she enjoys asking what new words mean. You can bet she'll use new words appropriately after learning about them.
8) She loves God and believes that He'll "never let go" - the lyrics of one of her favorite songs.
9) She enjoys thinking of friends and loved ones to pray for.
10)She is physically affectionate. She still loves to climb up in our laps, play with our hair, hold hands and wrestle around, just to be touching.

11) I (Jen) have called Madeline "mussie" since she was a little baby. The nickname came from the word Mimi used to say when she gave Chrissy and I kisses. Madeline is my little kiss :)

We could go on and on...

Here are some pics of Madeline growing up:

Newborn

1 Month old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

Proud Big Sister!! 3 1/2 years old

One of mom's favorite pics - 3 1/2 years old

4 years old

5 years old - sporting her style Madeline wanted a bowling party this year for her birthday celebration (not that you could tell from these pics - somehow we didn't get a single shot of any of the kids bowling!). We took our families and 3 families of friends to a local bowling alley. Madeline and I made cupcakes for her friends. Poor Hannah came down with a fever on the way to the party so she spent most of the party sleeping on Nana's lap. We were pleased to party with Papa, Nana and Dean, Manda and Cody, Becca, the Clarks (Eric, Michelle, Zach and Laney), the Neals (Preston, Megan, Vadin and Tolbyn) and the Feighners (Erik and Brooke...Jennifer and Camryn needed to be home for nap time). We missed Aunt Chrissy but will be sure to celebrate with her soon!!

Madeline, sweety, you are dearly loved. You have shaped our family in such a special way and we thank God for you daily. We love seeing the young lady you're becoming and we look forward to experiencing life with you in the coming years.

Love, Mom and Dad

I'm 8 inches lighter...

I'm going to tell the end of this story first, then go back to the beginning. So let me start by saying, I don't have cancer! Beginning in December 2008, I went through 2 months of testing to determine whether I might have breast cancer. I had a mammogram, 2 ultrasounds and an MRI and finally in late January a doctor decided that what I had been feeling is an inflamed and out of place lymph node.

Those two months were emotionally and spiritually trying. I was facing the possibility of having the disease that took my mom's life and the anniversary of her death was in January. At the same time, we were dealing with many other sadnesses - my sweet Uncle Ralph's heart concerns, our dear friend Alex's declining health, the death of Chris' uncle Robert. Add to that some financial strain and the added cost of all of the tests! Without the relationship that I have with my Creator, I would have been a basket case. But I was so blessed to be able to pour out my heart to Him and I was able to see Him working in and around me in ways that confirmed that I wasn't alone. Chris was a tremendous support. We prayed together often and he was able to be at peace through it all as well. We kept the testing a secret for two reasons - 1) I thought that if I did end up having cancer, there would be plenty of time to discuss it with loved ones, and 2) our families have dealt with cancer for far too long and we didn't want anyone to move into a place of unncessary worry. A few of the tests that they did were in a Breast Center. The pillars in the parking garage were painted pink. there was Susan Komen merchandise in the office and pink ribbons were everyone. I felt such a burden to pray for every woman in the waiting room. There is such a strength and resolve in these women - something I truly admired in my mom during the 4 years she fought the disease. I decided then that if I had cancer and was going to face chemo anyway, I'd go ahead and donate my hair (which was ridiculously long) to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. This is an organization that creates wigs for women who are facing cancer and don't have the money to buy a wig.

Well, I found out the lump was not cancerous and I was faced with the decision of whether or not to donate my hair...took me a while to finally decide. I believe that God prepares us for events that are going to take place in our future...one of the things that helped me decide to do it was my sweet sister. We usually give each other Pink Ribbon merchandise for birthdays and Christmases. This year, Chrissy gave me a pink ribbon Chi for Christmas ( I love my Chi from my Chee! ) The Chi is super skinny - great for short hair styles. This week I decided to go for it!! I went to a new stylist on Friday and had her chop off 8-9 inches!! I think I need to play with styling it, but it's pretty cute. And hopefully the hair I lost will be put to good use. Long story, I know - here's the big reveal...







Chris says this last picture looks like I'm holding up a squirrel! :)

I should add that 8-9 inches didn't end up being near the amount of hair I thought it would be. So if you've considered donating, don't be afraid to go in and have your stylist measure your locks to see where your hair will fall once cut and styled. Locks of Love (wigs for children) does require 10 inches so that's something to keep in mind as well.

Icy Day

OK so this a totally random pic that doesn't belong with the post...but I had no where to put it and I think it's so cute. About a month ago, Hannah found this little bug in our entry way and the girls were mesmerized. Here's the result :)

Our Icy Day...

The freezing rain started yesterday afternoon and I'm not sure if it's stopped yet. My agency was closed today and Chris cancelled his clients so we spent a cozy day at home with our daughters. Here are a few pics of our adventures...

Madeline ready to go slippin and slidin

Enjoying an icicle

Hannah wasn't too sure about walking on the icy ground

Defrosting and eating raisins

Madeline eating a bowl of snow

These are some of my FAVORITE PICS!! Madeline and I mixed a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls this evening. And then Hannah pulled up a stool to get in on the action. The girls were eating flour (yuck!) and loving it.

Mini Vacation...

On Friday, we were so pleased to receive an invitation to join our friends for a trip to their parents house on Lake Eufala. I did a miserable job of taking pictures but we had a wonderful time! We arrived late Friday night and the kids stayed up until about 11:00 playing like crazy. My girls were up bright and early Saturday morning and we filled the day with meals, more play time and a trip down to the lake. Kathy - I stole some of your pics from facebook to add to my sorry collection of memories :)

Baby Rylee really likes Madeline, she smiles every time Madeline comes near.

Ed and Chris took Madeline and Gunner on a golf cart ride to the other side of the lake. If you look really closely, you can see tiny Madeline in her yellow coat and tiny Gunner to the right of her.

Hannah warming up from our trip down to the dock

Breakfast of champions - powdered sugar donuts and blueberries!
Amazing that we got all 4 children in one pic!! L to R: Gunner, Madeline, Rylee and HannahMadeline holding Rylee - my girls are absolutely enthralled with babies!
Ed, Gunner, Rylee and Kathy

Madeline, Jen, Chris and Hannah

Madeline modeling...

Madeline picked out her outfit and made a specific request for her hair this day. Lately she's been running from the camera. But she was so proud of her carefully planned look that she decided to grant me a photo shoot. Grey turtleneck with metallic threads, dark skinny jeans, Target "ugs" My cutie!! I love her!!

Sweet Celebration...

January 3rd was the 7th anniversary of my mom's entrance to Heaven!

Some day I'm going to create a post about my mom. She was (and is) an amazing woman with a loving heart and a deep down joy that was evident to everyone around her. I miss her so much and I passionately look forward to seeing her again in our eternal home.

I've found creative ways to teach Madeline about her Mimi and I look forward to carrying this on with Hannah when she's old enough to understand. Though Madeline has never seen her Mimi, she "knows" her and loves her and looks forward to meeting her one day.

On January 3rd, I was talking with Madeline about the day that Mimi went to Heaven, and her first response was "We should make a cake!!!". What a lovely idea from a lovely girl! Madeline knows the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon as "mimi's ribbon" so of course we had to decorate with it. Below are some picks of our cake. While Madeline and I iced the cake, Hannah enjoyed rubbing peanut butter and bananas all over her face. I'm going to post a video too...it's obviously staged but Madeline is cute in it.

Mimi's Cake from jen giles on Vimeo.