Eli Update

So far Eli has had a few assessments done to help figure out his delayed speech. He had a Baley assessment within the last week, which assess all developmental areas, becuase he is under 3 the school district requires ALL areas to be assessed. That included cognitive, social, language, and small and large motor. So basically he did FANTASTIC exept for the expressive language part. He scored above average in the receptive language which we all knew, because he understands EVERYTHING you say to him.
Anyways, today the occupational/physical therapist was here to finish up the large and small motor stuff. She told me that he scored very high. She also told me that he is very intelligent but that he doesn't want people to know that. She said they are able to see his intelligence despite his minimal attempts to hide it. So basically my child is a GENIUS!!!! No surprise afterall, I am his mother. j/k

I called Ken and told him what she said. His response was, "Well you know that's my problem too, I am just so smart I don't want anyone to know it!" WHATEVER!

So it feels good knowing he is developing like average or above average in everyhting except speech. He meets with the Speech therapist next friday, so hopefully we will know more then.

Thanks for the continued prayers and support.

God is constantly reminding me to not worry or be anxious, but to TRUST in him completley. He fearfully and wonderfully knit Elijah together in my womb with no mistakes. Elijah is the very child he is supposed to be right here, right now, speech or no speech. Elijah brings our family such great joy, and how much more joy does he bring his Heavely Father. The Lord is pleased with him and loves him more than I as his mother could ever fathom. Ken and I continue to have a child like faith with this whole situation. And we thank God daily for what a blessing Eli is.

We made it back from SONSHINE 2008!

Sorry no posts this last week, we were on a mini adult only vacay!!! Yahooooo. It was awsome. Every year for the past four years or so we have gone to Sonshine in Willmar, MN. It is a Christian outdoor music festival from Wed-Sun. My fav bands are always out there like Newsboys, Skillet, Kutless, Toby Mac, Thousand Foot Krutch, Jeremy Camp, Barlow Girl, etc... It is the best worship and praise of the year for me. There is nothing cooler than being with 20,000 other Christians lifting your hands and honoring the Almighty God!! The Holy Spirit was moving this weekend and it was amazing to be a part of it.

While we were there Ken and I felt led by the Holy Spirit to have our family sponsor a child in a 3rd world country. Through Compassion Intl we are happy to say that we have sponsored two beautiful children, because I couldn't pick just one!. Our family has expanded over night! We have a 4 y/o little girl, Lucy, from Tanzania and a 4 y/o little boy, Geyson, from Hondorous. They are so precious. We pay a very small amount per month for each child to have food, clothing, school supplies, medical care, and The Gospel introduced to them. How awsome is that. The kids don't totally understand yet, but they will. We prayed for Lucy and Geyson last night before bed as a family.
Jaden asked if they are "Real" people. So I explained that they are real people but we only have pictures because they live far, far away, across the oceans in a different country. I also explained to him that these children were now apart of our family, as a new Christian Brother and Sister. He replied, "So they will be with us forever? Cool!" How precious!!! I told him they will forever be in our hearts, as part of our family. I also explained that we will get more pictures of them and they will get pics of us and we will be able to write letters back and forth for many years to get to know them more. And maybe in a few years we will be able to go on a missions trip as a family and meet them in person.

Jaden seemed interested in that, but he is still trying to figure the whole thing out. It will take time, but they will understand and pretty soon they will be able to write their own letters to the sponsored children. Ken and I want so badly for our children to understand the Mission of Jesus Christ and to know that if we can only do one thing towards the mission, it should be LOVING and serving "the least of these people".

Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing our family with these beautiful children, Lucy & Geyson, in addition to our birth children, KyLee Jaden & Elijah. We are so honored to be given the opportunity to serve you in this way. Lord, Ken and I ask that you bless these children with security, comfort, their daily bread, and your Word. Lord we also ask that you bless our children with compassion for others, the ability to reach hurting people, and the strength to not become "of this world" but to be You in the flesh in this world to others. I ask that you give Ken and I the direction to teach these things to our children and the strength to rely on you and have the faith to trust your Will for our lives and theirs. Thank you again Father for yet another opportunity to serve You and be served by YOU!! You are the definition of LOVE, may we help show people that. ~AMEN

Blessed with T...I...M...E...

So I started my new job this past week. I worked a 40 hour week for the first time in like forever. Man was I tired by Friday night, all I could think about was sleeping! I did have a lot of fun while at work, meeting people, learning policies, working with patients, using some of awsome nursing skills! So far everyone has been really nice and helpful and I think I am going to just love it there! Plus I can't beat the one minute drive!

I am reminded though of how wonderfully blessed I am. I have the opportunity to work in a profession where I can care for people and get paid very well allowing me to only have to work part time so that I have more time at home with family. I did not like having to work every day this week and being away from the kids(it was hard on them too) and I am so thankful that I am in the possition to be able to NOT have to work 5 days a week.

Once I am done with my orentation I will be working 2 days one week and 3 days the next for a total of 5 days every two weeks. How awsome is that! Financially I should work more so that we can focus on paying off some school debt, but that is not our priority right now. My family is the priority and my babies just keep getting bigger and before I know it, they will be all grown up. They are only young once and it is so important for me to be with them as much as possible. Besides I have the rest of my life to work and pay bills, but I only have little kids once!

Thank you GOD that you bless our family with time for each other. What a truely amazing God we serve! Thank you for meeting our daily needs Lord, it is a pleasure to serve you while I am at home and at work.

To My Smokin Hot Hubby

I LLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE you baby! Thanks for being the best husband I could have ever asked for. You make me so happy and giddy and I feel like I am falling in love with you all over again! <3

*I love the way you call me baby,
and you take me the way I am....

This is for you Mr. Ken Carlson!!!!

Happy Early 4th Every One

I hope everyone has a safe, happy 4th of July. We are laying low this year. Maybe hanging with Kens parents and then checking out some fireworks in the evening at the fairgrounds. Not too much excitement this year, sometimes we all just need to slow down a bit and enjoy eachothers company. Have a rockin weekend and God Bless!!!!! Love you all.

Blogging Slacker

There is no excuse for it. I have just been LAZY! Too lazy to blog, it's horrible. Honestly I don't know if there is much to update anyone on. Here are a few things:
~ I did get a job at Cambridge Medical Center on their Medical/Pediatric floor. I start on Monday the 7th!!! I am very excited and a little nervous. It will be good for me and I totally trust God and his plan for our family right now.

~ Ken has been busy working. He is no longer working full time for the state group homes. He is working construction full time for a friend of his. He has been going out of town during the week for 3 or 4 days working on a HUGE log home in Willmar, MN. It has been hard having him gone during the week. The kids miss him, I miss him. But he is great about spending time with us when he is home. He is much happier doing this work and it is good to see him enjoying life.

~The kids have been enjoying the sun. Most of their time is spent outside if possible. Jaden has been doing T-Ball 2 evenings a week and having a good time with that. KyLee has been doing T-Ball at her moms house too. Eli wants to play T-Ball but he'll have to wait until next year.

~ We have taken a few family mini vacations so far this summer and they have been a blast. The kids have been having a ton of fun. We just came back from a lakeside cabin at a Christian retreat center in Wisconsin. They loved being in the water and out on the boat.

So that is about it for now. We have a couple busy weeks ahead of us. But this summer so far has been enjoyable. God has been so faithful to our family and daily I am reminded of what an awsome God we serve.

Thank you Lord for leading our family down the path you have made for us. We are so blessed to know you, and we ask that we can lead others to know you.