The Mercy That Covers Me

It's been a very full couple of weeks!  The Girls and their parents came for a visit and #1 Grandson has been visiting this week! The Girls turned 8 months old yesterday.  Hard to believe how far we've come in the last year or so.  Just one year ago we were starting to get a picture of the trouble ahead for little Emerson.  She may be gone but certainly is not forgotten.  The hole that Emerson's loss has left in her parent's hearts, however, isn't completely healed yet.  Certainly, as time goes by, remembering her will be less and less painful.  Until then - prayers, peace and patience as they continue their journey. Now for some pictures! Oliver went to Disney and got a "mask".  He sat very still while it was painted on! Helping Papa with the fish pond. Lennon loves the turtle! Lennon and Uncle Jeff Coeur d'Lane and her G-Grandmom Coeur and her daddy on her first "train" ride. Gigi and the Girls on the "t...

Today was a good day.  I had the privilege of catching a very special couple's first baby.  Stephanie and Josh have been close family friends for years.  Josh and our son Chris are best friends and have known each other since they were teenagers.  Stephanie holds a very special place in my life.  I believe that God has knit her in our family's heart.  He brought her into our lives during a time when she was dealing with the loss of her mother and more recently that of her father.  I love seeing how the Lord directs our paths and places us in the "right place at the right time".  She means the world to our family and well, her husband is ok too :-) Stephanie went into labor on March 5 at 1:00 AM and pushed out her baby on March 7, 2012 at 12:28 AM at the Fruitful Vine Birth Center.  I was blessed to be her midwife.  He weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and is adorable.  When Josh called Chris at 1:00 this morning to let him know Fisher was...

15 days until The Girls and their parents come to visit Gigi and Papa!  It's been too long.  We have been blessed to have Oliver hanging out with us for the last week though.  What a wonderful time we are having! Here are some of the latest pics and videos.  Enjoy! Oliver lets Gigi wash his hair only if we make "crazy" hair. Coeur and her Daddy. Guess who got some big boy underwear? Don't worry we corrected him as to where they go. Getting ready for Easter - haha! T-Ball players everywhere - lookout for Oliver! Love the look of concentration.   Long day of T-Ball practice. Lennon prepping for Easter.

Well, Lennon finally got the memo that it's time for teeth to come in!  Coeur second tooth broke through and Lennon's first tooth broke through today!  I can't wait to see those Girls! Lennon and her Daddy It's been 66 days since Ray and I have seen them.  I can't express how hard it is not to see them every day or at least once a week.  Now with Oliver in NY, it seems exponentially harder.  The Girls and their parents are coming to visit mid-March.  I wait patiently <sigh>.

Two weeks ago my daughter sent a text to my daughter-in-law.  It was an advertisement for a special Valentine's Day surprise from Jaxson De Ville (the Jax Jaguar's mascot).  Immediately, my DIL called and said "we have to do this for Rebecca!".  So, we started emailing "Jaxson" to make arrangements for the embarrassing, yet totally awesome, event. We thought long and hard about where the embarrass/awesome event would occur.  Thought about Fruitful Vine but what if a mom was in labor, that would not be a good idea.  There was only one other place to do this.  One place where I knew we could get her to come.  One place where there would be a crowd.  One place where others would totally appreciate it.  Church.  Sunday February 12 between 10:15 and 11:00. With any good secret, you don't tell everyone you are going to do this.  The less people who know, the less likely the beans would be spilled.  I didn't even tell Papa!  ...

Been too long since I've posted.  Lots to catch up on so pics will have to do!  Enjoy. The 'kids' are in town! Oliver and his friend, Aspen! This cute video of Lennon saying Da-Da was taken on 2/9/12. On February 1, 2012 Coeur's first tooth broke through!  Here she is eating a "cookie". Oliver and Uncle Jeff walking to the car. Pre-haircut and waiting for the train ride! The "lollypapa" from the "conductor".

Today was one of those days that ranks pretty high on the scale of amazing places visited.  Ray, Michael, Oliver and I went to Ellis Island.  A little background first. When I was 13, I started researching my family's genealogy.  I started with my Mother's family and then went on to my Father's family.  In the last 15 years I started researching my husband's family history.  I have researched about 20 families that I am not related to.  I have found a distant cousin's long lost grandfather, I have found skeletons in closets, war heroes and poor farmers who centuries ago could not even fathom that someone (me) would have access to records that they saw, signed or put their 'x' on. One of my challenges has been finding my husband's father's family.  He was fortunate to know his grandfather, Raymond "Smitty" Carl Schmidt.  We have photos of Smitty's father and mother, knew their names but had little information on where they came from ...