a little vacation update

this space. right here...I must duplicate it somewhere. the weathered wood walls, light green couch, iron coffee table with wooden top, gigantic pics....love. love. 

Ethan stayed back at the condo this day. I think Levi did too. They get tired of our coffee shenanigans.
haha.

this never ever gets old.

this doesn't either. I am ocean-sick.

Mel and I had a day out at the outlet mall. We saw Santa at the 'Bucks. Nice to know he vacations down there too.

This is Ethan teaching karate to his father. 

This day, the water was such a deep bluish green. I was in love.

Molly in the Morning. I love this face.

David looks like he's pouting. Not sure what he was doing actually. Trying not to get burned, that much is true.

I'm not a big fan of burying my kids. just saying

Our last night at the beautiful condo. We ate at Tacky Jack's. I hate leaving the great Gulf.

The first three. Always so glad to get them in a good picture.

Love these people.

Good Friday afternoon!!

Hope this finds you enjoying some warmer temps and sunshine. We have a bit of sunshine and the temps, though hardly warmer, are much better than the 20's and 30's we had earlier this week. Boo!!

Spring, please come. In Indy, we go from 50's and 60's to 90's it seems. I guess at this point, I'd welcome some 90's. Sheesh. This winter has been harsh.

So many fun and exciting things on our horizon...I honestly sit down to blog and don't know where to begin, what to share, what not to share and so on.

I can say this....God is good and I'm truly thankful for the journey we've been on for, well...ever, but namely the past 3 years. I believe that even when bad, hard, painful things happen, that God is still good and worthy of our praise and trust. Hard to accept sometimes, yes...but worthy.  The way in which I've seen my kids grown in Christ, my marriage, my own personal relationship is other worldly. This time three years ago, I was in a very crabby pregnancy, feeling very, very scared and challenged. I had asked the Lord to show Himself to me, felt dead in my own walk....and then Jack.

Amazes me how the Lord shows up. Not that He wasn't always there. He was.

I'm at the point in my Grief Journey where I can look back, enough time has passed, where I don't cry as much as I used to. Sometimes, even, days go by and I don't think about that particular day, at least coherently...

I mostly just look forward to the day when I will see Jesus and I get to see my precious son. I imagine  him hanging out with Grandma Taylor, Pastor Mills, Auntie Bee and Tim, Grandma and Grandpa McCoy, cousin Tim, Keith Green, Rich Mullins...whoever has touched my life down there, they are with him up there, telling him stories about me and his dad.

Anyways, I don't get lost in those imaginings like I used to but still do. It used to consume me....now it just makes me smile and laugh.

My life is forever changed. For the better. To God be the Glory.

On another note, I am reading a book by a mom whose son died in utero during labor also. It is a very sad, hopeless book to me. It's taken me forever to read it because it is truly depressing. She was angry, blaming, void of any hope that she'd see her son again. Blaming the cosmos, universe, this thought or that action....

and I get it. I know. Most people don't believe the way we do, that we will see Jack again, that we have this HOPE as an anchor for our soul (Jesus Christ)....and may call us cray cray. That's ok too. It honestly can't be any crazier than believing that the Universe took your baby and that his spirit just dissolved into the earth and sky, trees, ocean and such. I appreciate having this hope and I will until I take my last breath.

In the morning, when I rise, Give me Jesus. When I am alone, oh when I am alone, Give me Jesus. When I come to die....Give me Jesus. such simple words but so full of life for me.

I am done now. Totally didn't mean to get off on a tangent but feeling so burdened by occurrences in our world. Just laying them all down.

hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'll be back with more pics soon.

Love ya,
Laurie

We say goodbye to some of our faves...

This is Alyssa with Kaitlin, another one of our faves, who had better stay at 'Bucks. ;)

Lisi and Kaitlin. sorry it's so blurry.

again, sorry so blurry....Lisi is one of the coolest people.

Lisi with most of my kids. 

Lisi and Alyssa have moved. I mean, I'm so happy for them. Especially because it's like 30 below zero up here in Indy. But their absence is felt. Is it weird that I grew so attached to my barista chicks? NO! I'd walk in and they knew my order. Better than I did. Even almost a week later, I'm a little verklempt about their departure. I usually go to their Starbucks to do payroll on Tuesday afternoons...I came home today. it's the small things in life that make life so incredible. People. People make life incredible. Especially really cool people.

These girls made our (almost daily) visits to a local Starbucks so much more fun and enjoyable.

so, hats off to two of the most awesome chicks around! We miss you so much already.

waaaa.
Ok, I'm done now.

Has it really been almost a month since I last blogged? shame.

This guy had a birthday last week...I've lost track of his age. Happy birthday, Uncle Tom. You are an excellent uncle.

this guy also had a birthday last week...he turned 43.
That doesn't even seem possible.
whoa.

These two birthday boys above here are very important men in my life. I'm so thankful for Tom and David.
______________________________________________
We are on our way back north from Orange Beach, Alabama. We had a lovely time at our friends' condo near Flora-bama....Thank you, so much, B Family. We are completely grateful. It only took us about 4 days to get into relaxation mode and then we had to pack up and leave soooo ya know....when you're a run run run kinda family, down time takes time. haha. I kill myself.

Tonight, we are spending our second night in Franklin, TN. We love this area. We love this Drury Hotel. I love that I don't have to think about food AT ALL here. They serve a hearty big breakfast, we load up, take a bagel for the day, some yogurt, fruit...then they serve the Kick back at 5:30...which consists of salad, nachos, some form of protein, soup, baked potatoes....it's pretty fantastic. We love Drury hotels.

Ethan, Will and Mel have just taken the younger two down to swim for the second time today. We've all worked out in the Drury work out room. I've managed to keep running whilst on vacation...pretty excited about that. I won't have to get home and resume life as I knew it...at least where exercise is concerned.

We had the unique opportunity to drive my little niece, Phebe, up to Franklin. Andy was going to drive all the way to Pensacola to get her for spring break. I love how the Lord worked it out for us to drive her 7+ hours to save her dad a bit of time on the road. She is a precious girl. Andy and his boys picked her up around 8 last night. Right after we had just gotten the kids into the pool. LOL!

We are excited for spring around our house. E is planning his garden and chicken coop. I can't wait to start planting flowers and such. Springtime is my fave time around our house. We have some other plans for our house that are in the works...surely I'll Facebook or blog these developments but who knows. I'm so inconsistent on here anymore. Forgive me.

Will will be coaching a soccer team and Ethan and Mel will be playing. Molly continues with gymnastics and Levi does cardio 5 days a week. David and I have been pushing each other with our exercise/cardio. Right now I'm aiming to get 3.25 miles each day, with one rest day every 7 days.

The kids are cool, constantly amazed at how Godly and loving my older three are....Levi and Molly are awesome too, just a little bit more work still. I am trying to cherish these days.

I had a thought tonight, as I sat in the dining room here, as a new baby cried near by....that, though it does catch me by surprise to hear a baby cry, especially a new baby, it doesn't make me cry like it used to...not to say it won't ever again...but now I just can't help but think about what Jack's voice/cry would've been like. At nearly 3 now, what would he sound like? Would he be a loud mouth, in the sea of voices, trying to be heard (most likely)? Would he be squeaky like Levi? I will forever wonder, which is just a weird place to be ya know? Always wondering about someone who was meant to be here....I miss him. He'd be a lot of fun in a hotel pool or on the Gulf, in the sand, with 50 SPF sunscreen...He was a beautiful boy, complete, whole, wanted. I want to sniff his precious head and give him little bags of fruit snacks. Sippy cups and almost potty training. I miss you, sweet boy. But you know that.

Will made a little friend on the beach the first day we were down there...a little boy named Ian who came right up to my Frisbee players and wanted to play with Will, and then lose interest in Frisbee, to bury his hand in the sand and act like it was cut off (such a boy)...and I couldn't help but think how much we've missed out on having a crazy little boy around. My older three are so stinkin' good with little people. I don't feel bad for Jack...I feel bad for all that we missed out on. but not bad in a bad way, bad in a sad way...

always trusting God though. even when we don't see the plan...knowing that through it all, God has been with us. Thankful for the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

I can't wait to have grandkids someday.

Ok, I'm done...for now.

Hope this finds you well and enjoying springtime wherever you are. I hear we aren't anywhere near springtime in Indiana.

choose JOY.

adios and lotsa love.

I miss you.

just another day in the life

In true blogger confusion....all of my pictures have uploaded out of order.

This guy got his roof expander and lip bumper installed today. His mouth is a bit tender tonight, he's slobbery-ier than usual and he's finding out what he can and can't eat with these applications in his mouth. doesn't it look like he's in pure shock in this pic?

On Valentine's Day, we had the immense pleasure of attending a tea with the lovely G gals...just a portion of them pictured here...see more below, naturally, out of order. While we were there, we were smashed with yet more snow. It was very lovely and quite fitting for our peaceful, lady-like time there...but getting outta the driveway was another story. 

This picture was taken today. Molly was up from about 1:15 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. expelling the contents of her stomach. Can I just say though that she is a very efficient thrower upper? She wastes no time, doesn't whine and holds her own hair back. Takes her drink, wipes her face and lays back down. She's feeling better now but still laying low.

This kid turned 18 last Friday. I meant to blog about him closer to his day but it was a crazy couple of days. It's amazing to me how fast the time has gone....and I look at pics like the one below and I'm floored...

Whatever they were watching, it was so good that even the baby was intrigued.  

Ok, so yeah...here's the Tea Party "younger" ladies. There were five adult women as well as Mel, Ellyn and the little ladies pictured here. We enjoyed dainty treats, tea, and fellowship. Thank you, G Family

That evening, after the tea...kinda late - ish...we met up at Lindo Mexico in Greenwood, to celebrate E's bday. He and Will had worked at our church, serving dinner for a marriage conference. Melanie had babysat for some friends of ours. I got the van stuck at the top of the driveway and D and I worked on that, along with our awesome neighbor, Joe, who saw us in our plight and walked down with his snow blower to give us a shove and a clearing. Jen also joined us! Cammi came along with the kids too.

I just wanted to make sure I remembered this. She actually really honestly believes this is her name.
I love it.

The mosaic table top that David made for us. We will probably make it into a coffee table but I think it's a beautiful way to remember our boy. 

Not a lot to say and yet there is much catching up to do. My brain is fuzzy today after our late night adventures, thanks Moo....I need all the help I can get.

As I mentioned above, Levi had his expander and lip bumper put in this morning. He handled it much better than I had anticipated but tonight it's proving to be a bit more challenging....drool everywhere. He even has a nifty lisp...

Molly's laying on the couch...because she's down and out, it seems we all feel that way. David is certainly fighting something and he hasn't left our bedroom all day. Will and E are working this evening. Mel is ...well, I'm not sure what she's up to..."checking on Molly".

I can say this....after living in the frozen tundra that has been Indiana since December, today's temps of 48 and up have been most welcome! Thursday, it's supposed to be be 59 with a chance of severe thunderstorms (which I love, when they aren't dangerous). What a balm for my soul to have sunshine and milder temps today!!

In 17 days, we will be heading to Orange Beach. You can feel the rumble of excitement welling up underneath all of us..or maybe that's the stomach bug talking....I dunno. whatever it is, the winds of change are blowing thru. and they kinda need to cuz it doesn't smell right here today. haha. I'm kidding.

Also, one week from this Thursday, I will be going to help my friend, Kellie N with her 3rd Craft Liberation. I'm really excited for the chance to help out at the craft house and for the change of scenery...Praying for mild weather so we don't get stuck in the hills of southern Indiana.

Ok, I've just bored myself back to sleep so I will close this for today...

couple things rolling around in my head...

1.)  do you wanna build a snow man? (from the new Disney movie, Frozen...which, if you haven't seen it yet, do it! it's such an adorable movie!! great music, sisters and a hilarious snowman)
2.) Matthew 11:28-29 - Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Jesus Christ
3.) Polyvore....check it out. Go to Pinterest and put that in and a whole world of outfit possibilities will pop up. I need help in this department. a lot.

See ya!

I'm as cold as ice...

Just a few ocean pix for my your viewing pleasure.

one month from today, Lord willing, my family will load up in the ol' grey mare and head south.
for 7 nights at the Gulf of Mexico.
15th floor condo.

I can hardly wait and it'll be here before I know it.

ever feel like you're walking down a tight alley?
that's how I feel this winter.
I know God is doing something in me, thru me, for me
but walking this long, weird, dark alley is wearing me down.
And never once, has He left me on my own or alone.
Keep your head up.
Spring is coming. for real...

and last but certainly not least, a Friday funny.
I look at this picture when I need to just giggle. like today for instance.

This week, though chock full of good things, has been very challenging.

1.) David got our sewage ejector installed Monday evening. It's Friday, I'm still so thrilled, I shiver. Living for 15 days without one was, well, gross and trying and I even had moments of just sheer anger and ugly frustration. How in the world did pioneers deal? Are we so spoiled that living without a luxury for even 15 days allows us the opportunity to grumble? I had to remind myself to CHOOSE JOY DAILY! Seeing my kids' willingness to help me suck up the laundry or dish water and toss it into the ravine renewed my strength and my joy 3 times a day. Thanks, Will, E and Mel. <>

2.) It is wicked cold here. I can handle some wicked cold. for a bit. but when you keep getting slammed with wicked snow and ice? yeah, that's where this Michigan girl draws the line. I can foresee David and I becoming snow birds. I know my parents are none too thrilled to have chosen this winter to not fly south. Brrrrr! I'm so thankful for neighbors that will come and snow blow out our dangerous driveway...for kids that will shovel paths to our frozen cars...for vehicles that will actually get us places and safely, well mostly safely, out of our somewhat treacherous drive and neighborhood.

3.) We've begun the sanding/cleaning process on the old doors that will make up Will's room divider. We are pretty jazzed about Aunt Sharon giving them to us and thank her from the bottom of our hearts. Hope to post some pix of the beginning process later on. One other "fun" thing about winter is that you are inside more, all the time, and you look around at your place and find 6,000 things you want to change, fix, repair. Well, yeah, I've got a list going. Wish I knew how to do door trim, window trim and such. Changing things up is always fun...bottom line.

4.) As I sit here and type, I can hear David talking on the phone with Tim, his union rep. Our benefits people are being very difficult and ya know, I'm just sorta over all the red tape and confusing practices. I hear the word union and I curl up in a ball and suck my thumb. waa waaa.  :)

I must get these kids going..If I don't sit right on top of them, they flounder. Remind me to tell you about the dentist yesterday...or maybe NOT. oy vey.

I hope this finds you warm, healthy and enjoying all of the wonderful blessings that the Lord has bestowed on you. If you find yourself in a valley, look up. Sometimes we have to (get to) go thru the valley so we can stand up on the mountain of God. That's what I'm clinging to today. (not that I'm really in a valley but ya know)

God bless YOU!!

I am a sucky blogger....

Charlie and Phebe visit Jack's spot. I loved this little moment in time. She told me she wished she'd been able to hold him. Have I told you that I love, so much, when people remember him or tell me things they wish they could've done with him? Such an important part in the healing process. Love these kids.

Back at the ranch, the kids got crazy on our last day with Pheebs before she went back to Florida. (luckyyyyyy) So grateful that my kids get the chance to know more of their cousins. 

Excuse my utter randomness...but this popped up on FB one day and I needed this reminder. 

Caught #5 taking selfies. She is....unique.

Mel's school pix for her sophomore year. Which reminds me, I never did take "official" 2013-14" pics like I've been saying I would. Maybe this will be my month. maybe not?

This was that week that I had only to care for this girl...the three big kids were doing their things, being all grown up like and Levi was in Illinois with his dad, a cool opportunity, and it was just me and Syb. She is something else.

This was my good morning song one morning as I got to CCG for my training session. God sends the coolest reminders, doesn't He?

So, while Levi was in Illinois with his Daddio, we found out through cool cousin Ginger, that her mom, David's Aunt Sharon (Levi's favoritest original Young sibling) had some old doors at her place. I'm wanting to make a room divider for the upstairs. Will has moved outta his small space, to make room for Molly...and we've put him in the former living room. These old doors are PERFECT, and utterly cool. Be on the lookout for some changes at Young Manor.

Solomon (aka Will) and Molly. More on this event later.

Emily and Ellyn G, two of our favorites. This was taken the night we had the Napoleon Dynamite party...Love these sweet, Godly sisters.

This should be up with the pic of Solomon and Molly but ya know, Blogger has a mind all it's own.
Will and E were asked to participate in "The Story" at Center Grove Presbyterian...the church that hosts their weekly class, as well as the home church of their cool teacher, Mrs. Thais. Their format is like the Tonight Show...I love that his Converse are showing...And the hosts are David and Moses. Hilarious.

Ethan played Daniel...I must say, he is pretty passionate about the things he loves...they carry over into anything he does, even portraying Daniel...he was promoting physical health and maybe even karate. Love this guy.

Pardon my French...I wanted to get on here just to say HI and to let my faithful blog followers (probably no one anymore, rightfully so) that I will update this blog this evening....and clue you in on all of these fantastic pics above. I know you're dying....


Ok, it's later now...I've been out running children to piano lessons, errands, Bible Study and now I get to be home for the evening with Levi and Molly!! Love love LOVE that E can drive. Now that I'm over the initial dread and fear of him out on the road, I only slightly bite my hands and have a tummy ache. He is such a good guy about calling when he lands and calling when he takes off again.

Now for some updates:

1.) The biggest one, and I'll try not to totally gross you out, is this....our sump pump (aka sewage ejector) went out two weeks ago yesterday....yes, that was January 19th. Granted, it's only in use when we use the lower level sinks, tubs, toilets or washer (pretty much my WHOLE everything)...once we got it all cleaned up...can you say NASTYYYYY?....we bleached it down, sucked it out and got it ready for manual dishwashing/laundry doing....all potty and showers were to take place on the upper level. whoa boy. The first two days, it was a fun adventure. Just call me Mrs. Ingalls. The 3rd day, David and I skidaddled outta town for the Smoky Mountains, leaving our poor children to fend for themselves. (they did fine). When we got home late Friday night, the first thing we did, even before unpacking car fully, was to suck up the water and dump over side of hill. Mind you, it was laundry and dish waste, not poo poo waste. Welcome home. Needless to really say, the adventure is over and the JOY is chosen daily. The gratitude and appreciation for a working sump is not lost on me. And it is without further adieu, David has picked up a replacement and found out that it may be covered under warranty (and it should be, we replaced it in the early fall of 2011. Finding a receipt from those dark days is proving to be more challenging than you can imagine. I didn't know which end was up in those tear soaked days). praying we find out that it is covered. I cannot WAIT to do a load of laundry or wash dishes (or use my own restroom facilities and not the boys' facilities upstairs, though I am MOST thankful for it!!) without worrying if the well was going spill out.

whew. this is a major relief.

I can say this too...I've enjoyed running by the laundromat to throw in a load or nine, wash 'em all up quickly and bring them home to dry...there's something peaceful about a laundromat at 10 am on a Tuesday morning.

2.) David just finished up a hugerrific job at the NCAA. It started while we were in TN, but he hit the ground running when we got home...Saturday through this past Friday...14 hour days. Working with him is always entertaining. In recuperation, he rested all day Saturday and most of yesterday....he is a force to be reckoned with. Feeling pretty darn grateful for him on many levels. but that may be a blog post for another day. Very excited to see how the Lord continues to bless his endeavors.

3.)  In 32 days, we leave for an unexpected trip to Orange Beach, AL. My parents didn't end up going this year, and we weren't sure if we'd even go again this year if they did due to worky stuff...we have some friends that are letting us use their condo for a week. More on this later.

4.) At the end of this month, I'll be going on The Lemondime's third Craft Liberation. I'm pretty excited about this!! I think I'm even leading a craft (a wreath..imagine that!) and look forward to seeing how the Lord will work in the lives of the attendees and even Kellie and I. A full out crafting weekend is a dream event!!

5.) Please be praying for my momma, as she's having a surgical procedure on her eyes tomorrow. I'm hoping to be there when she surfaces but Levi has his first orthodontia appt, Molly has gymnastics and I'm trying to line up my helpers.

6.) It's birthday month for my sister. I'm sure she'd want me to tell you that so you can begin planning the ways in which you shall spoil her, surprise her and what not. It's also the month that Ethan will turn 18. I'm really struggling with this...he was really just a newborn. I read back thru my journals of that winter of 1996 and I'm floored...it was another snowy, long winter, followed up by our move to North Dakota when E was 5 weeks old, Will was 17 months old. so thankful for the gift of that crazy, tender hearted little guy, my Valentine's boy. More on this later too.

I can hear Levi and Molly arguing about something upstairs so I'm off to ref. Hope that this finds you warm, healthy and enjoying all of the blessings that the Lord has given.

God bless you!

Snow days!

My pretty snow bunnies

I have to say, this is a glorious snowfall...the flakes are so chubby!
If you stand and just listen, it's like you can hear the voice of God.
peaceful
glorious
gentle

lotsa creaky branches around my house...

all is well

except for the fact that I will be taking my nephew Duncan home in this winter wonderland...
being forced to stay home is a nice thing.

We got about 6 inches of snow on Thursday and it is now being covered over by probably another 6-10 inches. The weather guys say we are at 5" and it keeps a-comin', baby!

Good thing I'm stocked up on craft supplies and scrapbook paraphernalia....and books, and coffee, and whipped cream, and 5 kids (6 including Dunc for a bit longer) who are pretty rock worthy....

so now I must go out and see if I can get the Ol' Grey Mare outta the drive way...Until the next batch comes around, adios amigos.