Thankful Thursday - Recognizing my blessings!

Words have escaped me these last couple of weeks with Jessica's passing and I haven't felt much like writing.  I'm realizing though, that as hard as it is to accept, life does move on and while we will continue to grieve we will also heal...

In the spirit of that I thought today a good day to recognize how much I still have to be thankful for!!  The number one thing is the amount of grace and out-pouring of love that has come from all of our family and friends in the face of Jessica's tragedy.  I could never have imagined how many lives she had touched in her 12 years and am in awe of it.  I know that my sister and her family (and myself) would not be coping nearly as well without all the grace from the prayers that have been unleashed for them.  How can I not be thankful, grateful, humbled by that?!

My children remind me every day how thankful I need to be.  They are both miracles to us and for however long they are entrusted to my care by God, I am blessed. 

Fall is in full swing and I've been noticing it finally this last week.  The smell of the leaves, the crispness in the air, pumpkins on the porch... everything was hidden from me because of my sadness is starting to creep back into my consciousness... I am thankful for that because these are all things I LOVE about fall.

Ok - that might seem like a short list but it fills my cup for this morning, for which I am also thankful.

A picture of my sister's kids with Karen from fall a couple of years ago to end my post...

Miss you Jessica {Wordless Wednesday}

This picture is several years old, but wanted to post it today nonetheless.  I miss you sweetheart!

Trying to understand

... this is a hard post to write, but after today I need to get some of it out of my head... we had a beautiful weekend celebrating Megan's second birthday - a party on Saturday at my sister's house with my folks who were visiting, all three of my sisters, and my sister's family.  A second party yesterday at our house with most of my husbands family.  Happy times all around.

I was going about my day as usual today and received a phone call from my sister that our 12 year old niece had collapsed this morning with a severe headache and had to be life-flighted to the local children's hospital.  We found out just before lunch that she had suffered severe bleeding on the brain from an AVM (arteriovenous malformation) and her prognosis is not good.

I am trying so hard to understand God's plan in all of this... I trust His holy will for our families... but it is so hard facing what may become an inevitability with Jessica.

Lord, grant me the grace to accept your will  but know that I am currently praying with my whole heart that it is not the road that currently looks like it is before us.

Happy Birthday!

My sweet Meg turns 2 today!  It is so hard to believe 2 years have already gone by!

Frogs!! {Wordless Wednesday}

This weekend the girls had their first "catch" on the farm.  They found a frog while playing outside with their Daddy.  They were THRILLED, to put it mildly, and a little beside themselves when it decided to hop out of their bucket and make a break for it...