Zane-18 months!

Today is Zane's last day of being 18 months old! Here he is with his curly little locks eating a piece of pizza. He and Colby were just cracking themselves up today at lunch- a couple of little comedians!

It's been a year and a half since February 6, 2008! Already! Wow! Do you ever feel like things in your life feel slow and fast at the same time? So much has happened since that time!

Day 1- February 6, 2008

Zane has changed a lot over the summer and particularly over the last six weeks or so, I think.

August 22
Sprinklers with the brothers

He's still not much of a talker (how can he get a word in edge-wise with 3 older brothers?!)...probably biding his time for just the right moment to present some sort of dramatic soliloquy or something...like this morning... First thing he did when he saw daddy come down the stairs was say,
"Hello!"
It was so completely clear, at the right moment, and with the right inflections, that we imagine he really meant to say it...but, his only other official word is "Dada," so I guess we'll have to wait and see if he says it again!

Here are a few snapshots of Zane's personality at 18 months and some possible leads for future employment:

July 17
Plumber...

July 17
Nudist...

July 17
Musician...

July 17
Social butterfly...

July 17
Budding artist...

July 25
Pastor...

July 28
Beach bum..."No one told me there was going to be sand on the beach!"

July 28

Conscientious business man and facebook addict... :)

August 11
Food connoisseur...

August 23
Backpack...er...

August 23
Naturalist

September 3
Avid sports and tail-gating fan...

We have enjoyed you so much, Zane! I wonder what God has in store for you?!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

He did it!

Thought you'd like to see...

He did it! Doesn't he look great!

The bone marrow came in a bag and took place pretty nicely on September 2nd as planned. Sounds like he had a pretty exciting "Bone Marrow Birthday Party" complete with guests, party favors, banners, presents and some very, very special visitors (us...via Skype!).

If you notice, he also had some red and blue streamers twisted above his bed, which I thought were a very clever reference to blood and transfusions...but found out they were instead a very clever reference to Riley's favorite colors! :)

Brenna also was given an award for being such a supportive sister!

We'd really appreciate it if you'd keep Riley and his family in your prayers these next couple of months as so many expected and unexpected bends and twists continue to happen in their lives.

Will You Pray With Us for Riley?

Will you join us in praying for our nephew, Riley and his bone marrow donor? His transplant is at 2:00 pm tomorrow, September 2. Please pray that his body accepts this new marrow, that side effects would be few to none and that his immune system recovers quickly.

September 1
Acrostic by Isaac (8 1/2) for Riley (8 1/2)

August 26

Energetic and artistic are probably two of the main words I would use to describe Riley! Energetic may have to wait for a couple of weeks, but I can just see him like in the Curious George story, where he finds a wheelchair and races down the ramp and makes the sad little girl smile at the end.

September 1

Tired and feeling sick today. Riley's own immune system is basically gone. Once the transplant takes place tomorrow, it will take approximately 3 weeks to start working for him. Please pray for protection for his immune system in all of this... that his caregivers, including his family, would all stay healthy for him.

August 25

Receiving total body radiation and trying not to giggle. Riley had to hold still for this for 15 minutes and then turn around and do 15 minutes on the other side. He is a trooper, isn't he?

August 27

I love this picture! What a sweet picture of Riley and Brenna! Please also pray for Riley's sister, Brenna and Riley's parents, too. Once the transplant has taken place tomorrow, the road to recovery is a long process...

August 31
Riley sleeping while 5 pumps pump fluids into his body

...and includes a very long hospital stay- approximately 2 months depending on how his body reacts to the new marrow. Please play for the family's patience and endurance as they are also far from their own home and their own routines and normalcy have been replaced by hospital protocol.

I have an acrostic for Riley, too! :)

R- Risking life and limb
I- I thought for sure you'd have broken bones!
L- Leukemia hit instead
E- Even out-of-control white blood cells can't keep you down!
Y- You are a go-getter, a prize winner!

We love you, Riley! Hope your bone marrow birthday party is fun!

The oldest post in posting history?

I started this post way back at the beginning of August. As of today, it's September 1st. I guess I've had such a hard time posting this particular piece because it just holds sooo much and you know, things just keep...happening! :) And how can a whole entire summer be contained in a dozen pictures and a few one-liner comments! At any rate, a condensed and extremely belated version follows:

I feel like the summer is already over. Not because it is, but because of all the fall activities that have start-ups right around the corner... and the 65 degree weather today only added to it! Soccer practices start on Monday, curriculums have (mostly) been ordered and organized, piano lessons are on the horizon, and AWANA will soon be starting. Although we are not even to the halfway mark in August, the pull of Autumn has definitely shown up and I can't say I am completely sad about this turn of events (I just love the bustling schedule and fresh expectancy of a new season of learning). But... I will miss this:

June 13
Trooper Riley, resting with his mom (my sister), Jeanne (I don't know why this picture won't rotate). Riley got tired more quickly than we were used to, but he was always quick to bounce back and always ready for more! The boys spent a lot of time outside playing basketball, riding various vehicles and throwing styrofoam airplanes

June 18
A quick picture in front of Primary Children's Hospital (Zane, Isaac, Colby, Brenna, Ian and his red boots!). God gave us a perfect opportunity to visit Riley...perfect timing as far as his procedures and our health. In fact, Isaac, Ian, Colby and I even got to go into his room on this particular day, where Jeanne read a story about a duck doctor named Waddle who treats cancer patients. And, the following day, Isaac got to go with Uncle Don to Starbucks and then up to Primary's to play video games with Riley.

June 25
Vacation Bible School was in Rome this year! The boys were super excited about seeing Paul in prison talking to his guard about Jesus, getting into the underground church by finishing the "fish" sign in the sand, and spending their money at the market place. Fantastic! The kids were not separated into age groups for this VBS, but into family groups. The boys were thrilled to be able to be in the same group.

June 27
Superday was really and truly a super day! Hot, bouncy castles galore (with very small waiting times, carnival games and great trinkety prizes, lost a shoe, watched a trick horse, saw almost everyone in Cheyenne that we know (ok, not really), found a shoe- only wish we would have brought a lunch!

4th of July snakes! Beloved and traditional 4th of July snakes! I'm sure George Washington would have been fascinated as well!

July 4
I bought A HUGE container of poppers thinking it was a mixed bag of smokers, poppers and fountains...ummm...I guess not! But, the boys (and Scott and I) had a great time with these. Fun 4th of July despite the very heavy rain on our parade!!

July 7
So... we are blessed with a whole, big back yard and yet the boys choose to re-create their mining camp adventure site next to the road (Ok, yeah, I encouraged it! Kind of reminds me of all the fun I had playing in the gutters in front of our house when I was little!) :)

July 9
How can he possibly be four?(Next thing we know, he'll be getting married and leaving the nest!)

July 9
Colby sporting his new policeman jammies and playing with his new 'cars characters'.

July 9
Inspired by his 2nd cousin Keenan (who drew a picture of McQueen for Ian way back in maybe 2006?), Ian has drawn fleet after fleet (or sheet after sheet) of 'cars character' memorabilia.

July 10
This is a classic maneuver... brother #1 slaves away cleaning up the yard of "deposits." Brother #2 supervises... I know, because I was child #3 (thanks for all you've done for me over the years, Jeanne and Carter!) :)

July 20
Isaac, Ian, Colby and I got to spend some time in CRMC's box, watch some good rodeo and rustle up some grub-including lots of cookies! (Zane took a nap at Mrs. H's-thanks). Frontier Days is always great and this year's was no exception! We had a wonderful time watching the Indian dances, meeting the frontier's men and outlaws (and seeing their weapons-high point for the boys), buying bows and arrows and watching the Thunderbirds!
July 22
The boys love the bows and arrows that they bought at Frontier days! In fact, one of Ian's arrows had to be taken off the roof before we were cleared to go on our trip to Michigan. And it was so exciting to have three quivers come in the mail from Great Gramma Clarke after we got back-thankyou so much!

July 25
What a treat to see my brother, who just happened to be in MI recruiting. He was able to take a break and meet us at Wendy's! Who would have thought! What perfect timing...although, changing Zane's diaper on the floor of Wendy's bathroom was less than appealling (tmi?).

July 26
Zane hitting the beach in Uncle Rick's hat

July 26
Pancake breakfast with Great Grandma Balyo.

July 26
Gigglies with Great Grandma Clarke.

July 27
Making memories with cousins Jack and Heath.

July 26

Beautiful and freezing cold Lake Huron! I discovered (after only about 15... ummm...years!!) that my personality is much sunnier in the invisible ice-bath WITH a wet suit than without! (If you are curious what the lake might feel like, take an ice cube and rub it on your arm for a couple of minutes! :) Ok, maybe it's not quite that cold...or is it?
July 31
A warm, sunshiny day on Mackinac Island and a good picture to end on...beautiful boat ride over (and fun bumpy ride back), BBQ picnic and shopping, superman cones and unexpectedly seeing our friends, the Moores.

As you can imagine, such a lot has happened since these particular events... but I will leave that for later, as... 1) I need to go up and fix lunch for the starving and Lord of the Flies children upstairs, 2) after 10? years of owning a computer and digital camera, I am no further ahead on understanding the complexities of downloading photos (despite Scott's best efforts) than I was in '99 when the "internet" was still a bit of a phenomenon (at least for me), and 3) the refrigerator/stove/oven repair person(s) is at the end of his/her/their scheduled huge window of time that they have carved out of my day and should be here momentarily-we'll see!

Each Day is Like a Suitcase...

July 1- Homeschool soccer in the morning with friends, p.b. and j. picnic for lunch (not me...I had ranchero chicken tacos from taco bell!), splash park in the afternoon with friends and cloudburst to go!
July 2- Off to the wonderful library for a great stack of books!
July 3- Brandishing swords with daddy!
... Perfectly summer!

Isaac, Nathaniel, Zane, Josiah and Colby

Luckily, I was quick... notice that fiendish look in his eyes!?!

Double C, still 3!

Ah, much better playing in the water here, than squirting mommy with the faucets at home...right?!! :)

We love Mrs. H...what a great friend! And the lady in the background (no idea who she is), graciously spent a large portion of her time at the park receiving large rocks that Zane gifted her.
Ian's artwork...wow, that's close! Is that Mary Kay eye-liner and mascara that I'm noticing?...sure has held up well at the splash park!...Hmmm...wonder where I could order some of that?!! :)

Not as cold as Lake Huron...but definitely making a case! :)

Josiah and Isaac had such a great time making Zane sit on the fountains...giggle, giggle, giggle!

July 2
Isaac and Ian, sharing a good read...
July 3
"Absolutely, I would love to share this car with you, my friend and my brother!"
"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart..." Proverbs 15:30
...a daily dose of Jedi!

Swashbuckling

Lots of love

All of these snippets remind me:

"Each day is like a suitcase-every person gets the same size, but some people figure out how to pack more into theirs. Life is short... forget about practical and decide instead to be a joy collector. Always be on the look out for gifts without ribbons. God is strewing them across your path right now...Enjoy the little things because one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things!"

~Barbara Johnson~

Happy Father's Day!

We love you, Daddy!