beautiful day

March and April have been months of trials....but today is a beautiful day and I am choosing...to soak it all in. I am recovering from my crazy onset of appendicitus and surgery to follow on Easter weekend and feeling better everyday. The other day I was laying in bed thinking of something profound to put on my blog as God has been dealing with me a lot lately about attitude....and all I can remember today is that no matter what comes our way, I choose joy. Jon and I have been talking about how crazy and random the last few months have been...rayna in the hospital while Jon was out of town, losing a student and going through the grief and steps with the family, and then this appendicitus, which frankly, I had to laugh at. The timing was impeccable at the worst possible time, but I still want to be a person who chooses joy. That's what we're supposed to do and commanded to do in God's Word. Joy..... Remember, Perseverance....leads to character...leads to love. If this is a character building time for our family, I want to choose joy and let the molding happen. Rayna, of course, has been amazing and spent Easter weekend with Tom and Kapi (kathy) and got to ride a tractor. They got some cute pictures of her in her Easter dress that I'll put on the blog when they give me a copy. Today is the kind of day when I found a new favorite song, the birds are singing, we took a walk as a family and went swinging in the park with Rayna, and I am working on choosing joy through any circumstance.

Here are a few cute pictures of Hannah and Caleb from Thanksgiving! I still haven't developed my pictures from Christmas and when I do, there will be more cute pics of Rayna's cousins. Thankful for the upcoming weekend and a little break to celebrate Easter and spend time with family.

the end is in sight

3 1/2 weeks of classes left...4 papers left to write...8 weeks of internship for the semester left...and the end is in sight. I am looking forward to a wonderful summer with my family and spending time doing things that don't require a lot of brain power. Rayna is doing good and always keeping us busy. Lately, Jon and I have both been putting her to bed together at night and she has been sleeping better. We've come to the conclusion that because of all of the uncertainity that comes with each day for her, it's no wonder she's reacting to all of the changes. Not knowing who was going to be there when she wakes up...or where she is going that day....has caused her to have to adjust. I am anxious to put my time focused on her even though my heart has been focused on her and my family this whole time. Didn't know it would be this hard....but in the thick of things, I can't quit now. God is good to us and we are thankful for his blessings and holding us up.