Grace is 7!

Hard to believe it's been seven year since we welcomed our sweet girl into our family! Grace is just so full of joy and happiness that almost bursts from her little body.

We celebrated with 3 of her friends at our house doing art projects, eating fun snacks and doing the whole birthday cake and presents. She was in heaven all day and didn't want it to end.

                           

                                         

I picked up Grace from school early on her birthday and took her out to lunch and shopping. It was a fun day that will become a tradition for years to come.

She had fun picking out her own clothes and her favorite stores.

                           

In her class they sang happy birthday in 3 languages plus sign language while the class was circled around her. It was a very cute idea and made her so happy. 

I brought in a cookie cake for her to share with her friends.

                                      

Baseball Time

It's baseball time again! The kids (well, maybe Jackson more) have been counting down until this day. Jackson is playing in the minors this year. They have boys pitching as well as umpires to keep the game on track. He loves playing baseball and truly enjoys being part of a team.

Grace is playing coach pitch for the first time this year. Yeah, no more t-ball! Just kidding...but really we were ready to move on...

Jason is coaching both of their teams. I know he's crazy. But he truly loves being a part of the kids lives during this time. I love that and am thankful that he loves it too.

After the opening ceremonies (no pictures b/c no SD card in the camera) we went to Jason's gym to play and hit some balls. 

The kids did fantastic on their first game. Here's to living our lives around baseball for the next 7 weeks!

Third Quarter Reports

                                     We are so proud of the kids and the third quarter progress reports they received. Hard to believe just one more quarter and we will have a 4th and 2nd grader...

                                             

                                                 

Steve Smith Football Camp

Jackson was able to take part in the Steve Smith NFL Pro football camp offered on base. There were only 120 slots open to the first to sign up. He was so excited when we told him that he got in and would participating. 

The camp took place on Saturday and Sunday for 4 hours. Jason took him both days and was able to watch from the stands the drills they did. Jason was very impressed and loved seeing the interaction Steve Smith had with the boys and girls. 

At the end of the camp each kid got a autographed t-shirt, football and picture of him.

Jackson will treasure these for years, I am sure!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year! Between getting our traditional cake from our neighbor Frau Lill, to dying Easter eggs, enjoying the celebration of our Risen Savior and having lunch with friends it was a special time.

                                        

Letter to Daddy

Grace is the queen of writing the sweetest little notes to us. It's amazing to me how much love she has within her tiny little body. It just oozes from her!

(This note was written about a month ago, but I'm still catching up on the blog after getting way far behind.)

The care she has for others is amazing to me. She truly, deep down loves and cares about others around her.
Jason's foot hurts...it usually hurts about 80% of the time...if not more. These past few weeks have been busy with appointments with podiatrists, deep talks about to have surgery, to not have surgery, and more appointments. Jason's foot is flatter than a flatter foot. He has always had issues with his feet. It came to a point that he just really felt he needed to do something about it. Thankfully the base doctors are starting to see more civilian patients so Jason was able a podiatrist. He loved the doctor and felt very comfortable with chatting with her about his options. He was tentatively scheduled for surgery on April 15th to have a MAJOR surgery on his foot. It would be 4 weeks on the couch, 8-10 weeks in a cast, more weeks in a boot and then 6 months of physical therapy to learn how to walk again. We talked, cried, and prayed about it for about a week about the best possible option for him.

At this point in time Jason said that he still has good days and still feels that he can "hold out" a little more before he resorts to a drastic surgery. He is having new inserts for his feet made, getting acupuncture, and going to see a chiropractic for readjustments his body needs from compensating from the pain.

We are praying that these together will ease him of his pain and allow him to delay the surgery for as long as he can. 

Until then...these little notes will make things all better!

Sorry for the sideways picture. I could't get it right after many tries on my phone.

(Translation: I am so sorry that your foot hurts. I love you. Write me back. I love you.)