Each and every morning I have the joy and privilege of driving into some amazing sunrises. Every time God’s beauty takes my breath away.
Here are some pictures, they don’t do the actual sight justice, but will give you a small taste.
Gives your heart a lot of peace, doesn’t it?! 😊
Happy birthday to my sweet, snugly, curious, tender-hearted little Noah Daniel!!!
Enjoy the pictures of Noah’s first 2 years of life.
At the hospital, ready to “get that baby outta me!!”. I was HUGE!!!
After pushing for 7 minutes, getting weighed and “checked out”…Momma and baby get to snuggle.
This was our Christmas picture back in 2010, Eli was less than cooperative.
He’s busy wheelin’ deals!!
Clean Baby Burrito
Baby giggles on our way home from Mexico.
This is how every baby should wake up in the morning…SMILEY!!!!
Poppa and Noah snuggling on a Saturday morning.
My precious babe!
Noah and I had some quality time together while Eli and Daddy were at the hospital. Eli was having his 3rd open heart surgery and since Mommy was still nursing Noah, we spent the nights together at home.
Family fun at the photo shoot!
A beautiful boy, enjoying a beautiful day that God created.
At my Dad’s house, celebrating the boy’s birthdays.
We went down to the train tracks for the Holiday Train. The boys were cold, but had a great time looking at the train lights and listening to the Christmas music.
Cool dude!!
Snow day, fun day!!
Mommy’s little helper basking in the golden sunlight.
Little boys like dirt, bugs, slugs and things like that…
Curly haired babe!
Noah loves sparklers, he’s a mini-pyro just like his Daddy and Poppa.
Happy birthday sweet Noah!! We are so blessed by the joy and love you give our lives. We love you baby boy!!
Four years ago today, we gave birthday to an amazing, loveable, challenging, sweet, sensitive little boy…Eli Mathias.
Enjoy the pictures of Eli’s first four years.
Two weeks before Eli made his appearance, a dear friend took some “belly shots” for us, we truly enjoyed it.
Eli Mathias, just moments after he was born.
Our first family photo, just moments after Eli was born and moments before the hospital staff “whisked” him away.
Baby’s first mohawk!! Here’s Eli’s first mohawk a few days after his first open heart surgery.
We celebrated our first family Christmas a few weeks after Eli came home from the hospital.
“I love eating my fingers!!”
Eli is holding his head up for the first time while on his tummy!! Poppa had the joy of watching him for a week and got to see this new milestone.
Here’s my big boy, all clean after bath time.
Eli put his snack cup and his sippy cup in the wheelbarrow and then started crying. We are not sure why, but it was a picture worthy moment.
Eli’s new shirt announced the upcoming arrival of his baby brother!
We used some memorial money from Mom’s funeral to purchase some new trees for our front yard. Eli and Alexis were helping Daddy/Uncle Dave clear out the debris from the front yard.
Our new family of 4 – Daddy, Mommy, Eli and Noah.
Eli had a blast one afternoon putting stickers all over his forehead.
Eli was chilly while we were hanging out by the pool in Mexico.
Big brother, little brother!
Dave made the box that the stroller came in, into a house for the boys to play in. Eli insisted in sleeping in the box during nap time. He slept great and loved it.
Eli found the bandage wraps and needed his “owies” bandaged.
So happy! Eli had a blast at the Augustana College homecoming parade.
We had Evan and Alexis over one night so we decided to have fun with shaving cream. They played with shaving cream on the table before taking a bath and watching a movie.
We “hid” Easter eggs out in the yard this year for the boys to find. They had so much fun searching the entire yard and filling up their Easter baskets.
Happy birthday to my loveable, sweet, excitable, challenging boy. I love you very much Eli!! I think God everyday for giving you to me and allowing me to be your Mom. I love you!!
Happy Birthday Eli!!!!
Today was the Reeve 5k Memory Run. It’s the 2nd year of the 5k race in Reeve, WI (corner of Cty Rd A and Cty Rd K). The Reeve Evangelical Free Church has hosted the run for the past two years. Last year all the proceeds went to the Special Olympics in Wisconsin. This year all the proceeds went to the Heifer International program.
The boys, Nettie and Sierra and I, ran in the kiddie run.
For me, it’s so nice to have a day to spend with others who are grieving for a loved one. We are not worried about anniversaries, causes of death or anything else, we are focusing on the love we have for our family and friends who “beat” us to heaven. There were people to walked/ran in memory of Mom but lots of people were walking/running in memory of their friends and/or family. We have a united cause for the day, it was nice. I liked it!
Sporting our race shirts. Dave designed the shirts and Dad picked the color.
Brianna was not able to participate this year, she had a bowling tournament for Special Olympics. Dad and Cindy (his girlfriend) pushed the boys for a portion of the race. They turned around and headed back when they saw me (Cindy’s back wasn’t able to handle the distance). :-) My dear friend, Katie and her sweet babe, Caleb participated as well. Katie did some walking and running, she did a GREAT job!!
Dad, Cindy (Dad’s girlfriend) and the boys walking for part of the 5k.
Eli and Noah participated in the “Kiddie Run” (see first picture above) and did a great job. Nettie and Sierra ran as well. Eli took off running and was super excited. Poppa was waiting for him at the finish line and Eli ran straight to him. Eli was super excited because he WON!! I had several people comment about how nice it was to see Eli running and so healthy. The Reeve Church family has prayed for Eli since the day we found out about his heart condition. It made everyone’s heart glad to see him doing so well. Praise God!!!
Katie and Caleb pushing through the race with bright smiles!!
I ran my fastest time today (29:08 mins). The hardest part was running uphill in the beginning. The rest of the race was a piece of cake, so to speak. I was sprinting almost the rest of the way back to the park. It was hard running up the hill, but felt great running back down. I especially loved hearing everyone cheering me on as I passed them. It helped my sad heart.
Nettie took a picture of me running, not the best look but it proves that I did it!!
The church provided a yummy lunch afterward of BBQ sandwiches, fruit, chips and cookies. There were also hot beverages to warm up our cold bodies. It was a cold, rainy day. Brrr!!!
Steve and I won for the men and women divisions. Steve won overall as well. :-)
I came in 3rd place overall, but won first place for the women’s division. Steve (pictured above) won the race overall as well for the men’s division. I got a high-five from Steve after he made the turn to head back to the finish line. It was encouraging!
I won!!!!
I bought some crafty things for the boys to do tonight. There were some pumpkins and apples to decorate with stickers and gel pens. They sat quietly at the table for about 20 mins making crafts. Grandparents may be the recipients of some cute kid crafts. :-)
The Burlingames 