In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 1:5-6
On Wednesday night, we went to Gosh Ethiopian Restaurant to celebrate two years home with Will! We had a great dinner and enjoyed our time visiting with the owner of the restaurant. She told us that the curtains hanging in the restaurant were from the region of Ethiopia that Will is from. She said that they are known for their beautiful fabrics and clothing. I had already commented to Sean that I thought the curtains were pretty, so of course, I had to have our family's picture made in front of them before we left!
When we got home, we celebrated a little more with a special cake that all three kiddos had made that afternoon. Beckett and Helen had decorated it with M&M's which are Will's favorite!
On Thursday, we spent several hours at the lake with a couple of friends. It was a very pleasant day...not too hot and simply beautiful! Here is Helen giving Will a piggyback ride!
Nathan, Matt and Beckett were out playing on the floating yellow tube that marks the end of the play area and Will and Helen (my non-swimmers) stayed where it was more shallow!
These two have so much fun together!
I just love this picture (even though it is a bit off-center!) Will has gotten to the age where, when I ask him to smile, he gives a big CHEESY grin! You just have to catch him laughing....not posing to see his great smile! He is such a happy boy!
So, fast forward a few hours and see how quickly things can change! We had a normal Thursday evening, although we were a little late getting to bed. I won't go into all of the details, but around 10:30 on Thursday night, we had to call 911 to get emergency help for Will. He was experiencing a seizure of some sort and it was clear pretty quickly that we needed help. The paramedics arrived and began caring for him and I rode with him to Children's Hospital in the ambulance. The seizure lasted about 30-40 min. and it was over by the time we arrived at the hospital. We were so relieved when he finally began responding to us when we said his name and then he eventually began talking to us. Will had several tests in the ER that ruled out any emergency situations and then we were admitted to a room at 2am Friday morning. He was exhausted, not only because it was his normal sleeping time, but we were told that a seizure will wear out your body and make you extremely tired. They told me to wake him up at 4am and keep him awake until 8am so he could be sleep deprived for the EEG test that they would do on Friday morning. THAT was not easy. A very sleepy little boy did NOT want to stay awake. It did help that he was VERY sleepy when they attached the 24 wires to his head so they could record his brain activity during the test. He did very well during the test and by noon on Friday, just a bit over 12 hours since the whole episode took place, we had some answers as to why the seizure had happened. He does have an area of his brain that has some abnormal electrical disturbances. There is a good chance that he will grow out of it, but for the time being, he will take medicine to control those abnormalities. By Friday afternoon, after some good rest, he was right back to our sweet, fun Will! He had so much fun playing in the hospital play room and with all of the new toys that Nana, Papa, Helen and Beckett brought to him! Every time a nurse or doctor came to check on him, he was friendly, happy and compliant with their requests! They kept him Friday night for observation and we were allowed to go home on Saturday afternoon. Here is a picture of Will showing his breakfast on Saturday morning. He loved the little dome that covered his meals to keep them warm! He would say, "taa daa" and then lift the cover off as if he had performed a special trick to make the food appear!
And here, he turned the cover into a little hat!
To say that this was a scary experience would be an understatement. My thoughts were all over the place as I was trying to figure out what had happened and wondering if our little boy would recover from this seizure. But as I look back over the events of that late night and early morning, I am so aware of God's presence with us and His hand of protection in everything that happened. I just see so many ways that He was guiding us as we made split second decisions when time was so important. The paramedics arrived so quickly and were here with us when the seizure became more disturbing and for that, I am so thankful. Sean's parents were able to be here so quickly to take care of Beckett and Helen who were so scared for their little brother. I am so thankful that Nana stayed with them and that Papa was able to bring Sean to the hospital so I wasn't there alone with Will during all of this. I was greatly pleased with the paramedic who helped Will. I was so scared and he not only took care of Will, but he "talked me down" and just calmed my nerves. I'm so grateful for East TN Children's Hospital and the work that they do! They took such good care of Will and were so conscious of this momma's concern for her little boy.
For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13)
I am just so THANKFUL for the many ways that God was guiding us and protecting Will through all of this. I have such peace and comfort knowing that He loves us and that He will hold our hands and help us through all of our life experiences!
we were in Ethiopia and we met our sweet Will for the first time! We are celebrating Will today and the blessing that he is to our family! So thankful that God planned for us to be a family! We are just spending time today remembering our time in Ethiopia and that special moment when we first met Will Tekalgn Harper!
Helen, Will and I headed to Chic-fil-a for dinner last Friday night when the boys went camping! These two have so much fun together and I enjoyed taking lots of pictures of them being silly and having fun!
Will thoroughly enjoyed his ice cream!
....and playing with his spoon!
He didn't want to miss a single drip of ice cream!
The spoon just wasn't getting it.....so he did what all ice cream lovers do.....
I'll start out with a a fun picture of my three sweeties eating some sweets! They each had these fun suckers in their Easter baskets, but I only just let them eat them this weekend. Love it when I get all three looking at the camera and smiling!
Our Memorial Day weekend started out with a beautiful wedding on Saturday morning! John is Sean's cousin Dale's son and he and Amber were married on Saturday morning in an outdoor wedding. Here is a picture of Sean, Dale and the four musketeers! John and these other guys (Jeff, John and Joseph) were all in the youth group when Sean was the leader.
The weather was gorgeous and the location for the wedding was in a beautiful garden. The bride and groom looked so happy and everything was just perfect!
It was a perfect opportunity to take some family pictures....so here is Sean with his mom and dad and his brother and sister!
All of the grandkids were there too, so here is a picture of Nana and Papa with all their "babies!"
After the wedding, the kids and I went downtown to the Global DestiNation Finals. My longtime friend, Trish is a teacher and her school from Williamson Co., TN had a couple of teams competing. We went last year and there are lots of fun things for the kids to do! Beckett with a giant bubble.....
Helen at the NASA exhibit in an astronaut suit.....
Beckett and Helen watching as the KIVA blocks were about to come crashing down......
After we finished there, we headed over to the Sunsphere! I have lived here for a very long time, and I had never been up in the Sunsphere! So we headed up!
A picture of the kids up in the Sunsphere looking down on K-town!
Then a few blocks up the street to Market Square to the International Biscuit Festival and a chance to play in the water!
On Sunday evening we headed down to the river with some friends for a cook-out. Here are Beckett and Garrett playing a wiffle ball game in the field.
Fun times sitting around in camp chairs and getting ready to grill out!
Helen eating some chicken right off of the grill and getting ready to play a little football!
Helen, Maddie and Will just hanging out!
A little later in the evening we roasted marshmallows over the campfire and made s'mores! Here is Will enjoying his s'more!
Our Monday was quite laid back. Lots of cleaning and laundry catch up. The boys all got in an afternoon nap together!
Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend as much as we did! So thankful for the men and women who have served our country well and have fought for the freedoms that we enjoy!
On Wednesday, May 18th, my friend Wendy lost her battle with breast cancer. I have known Wendy for about 10 years. She had two daughters at the school where I taught and we were pregnant at the same time. Her third daughter, Emma, was born about six months before Beckett and about three years later they became great buddies in their Mother's Day Out class. I'm so thankful that Emma and "Bucket" (as she called him), became friends! Through their friendship, Sean and I had the pleasure of getting to know Wendy and her husband Joe. She was a wonderful wife to her husband, an amazing mother to her three daughters and a fantastic friend to many, many people. This picture was taken of Wendy and me about a year and a half ago at The Race for the Cure.
The last couple of years had been hard and especially these last couple of months. She had been so very sick. She never complained and she worked so hard to be physically and mentally present for her girls! I am going to miss Wendy very much and I'm so thankful for her friendship and the amazing example of a giving, loving and serving woman that she has been for me. She trusted in and loved her Heavenly Father and I know that she is enjoying resting in His presence as she is now fully healed!
The song on my playlist was played at Wendy's memorial service this past Saturday. She had requested that the song be played at her service. The words of this song reveal that she knew that even through her pain and trials, she understood that this earth was not her home. I'm so thankful that she is free from the pain of cancer and that she has been healed from the aching of this life!
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
Beckett and some of his buddies were recruited to participate in a video that was shown at our church service this morning in honor of Mother's Day! I just had to share! Happy Mother's Day!
We were so blessed by our time with some of the girls from The African Children's Choir! We went to their concert on Sunday night and we loved it! They put on a very high energy performance with a blend of traditional African music and contemporary worship music. At the end of the program, we went to a room to wait until they matched us up with "our girls" (as Will and Helen called them!) We had three girls from the choir and their chaperone/choir director come home with us to stay for three nights and we had a wonderful time! This is the only decent picture that I got of the whole choir. By the time we met them, they had changed out of their costumes.
On Monday morning, we took them to the church where they had school and rehearsals. We picked them up that evening and had dinner then went to a local playground and splash pad to play and eat popsicles. They all had so much fun!
Helen with "her girls"......A, J and F! Such sweet girls!
Just had to include this shot of Mr. Dimples in his "emee emee" shirt. (That is what he calls M and M's)
This is "A" and she was the oldest of the girls. This is her second time to be in the ACC and she is such a beautiful girl. So kind, fun, smart and responsible. When "G" (their chaperone/choir director) was not with them, she took on the leader role and she was so good with the younger two girls. I loved this picture of her dancing as the water splashed up in a ring around her!
Back at home, the kids had fun playing in our backyard. I figured they would think we were crazy having corn in our sandbox, but I think they enjoyed it! We got lots of laughs over all the corn that was tracked in the house! I'd rather clean up corn kernels than sand any day!
I took this picture when we picked them up at the church on Tuesday. "A" was sitting in a really cool chair that looks like a hand, but when they were all piled in around it, you can't tell it is even there! Oh well! It is a cute picture of them all! Can you tell that the girls were loving Will? He kept them laughing (as he does with us) all the time! He has the most fun personality and they just giggled at him the whole time!
The girls LOVE to read! They were so happy with all the books we have! I have a huge shelf in my garage that is full of books and they loved it! Every time we would load up in the van to go somewhere, they would each grab several books to read as we traveled! They spent a lot of time reading!
We also got out our box full of puzzles. I hadn't gotten out our puzzles in a long time and they all enjoyed putting them together.
On Wednesday morning, it was time to say good-bye. We took a few pictures before they left. "A" always had Will with her every chance she got!
This is the only one that I got with "G," their chaperone. She was so sweet! She had been a member of the choir back in the 90's and she is now their director. We loved spending time with her. She actually had the day off on Tuesday, so when the girls were at the church for school and rehearsals, she got to sleep in and relax. We went to the library after we dropped the girls off so that she could sleep in, and then when we came home, we enjoyed hanging out and talking to her about many different things!
I took this last picture in front of their bus on the morning that we dropped them off at the church. Our kids really wanted to go to their concert that night in a town about 45 minutes from us, but we couldn't make it work out. The choir is going to be in my hometown of Brentwood this Saturday and Sunday. If you live in the area, you should really go and see them!
From The African Children's Choir website:
Since 1984, the Choir’s message has reached many millions of people across North America and Europe and as far a field as Australia.
Through the excellence of their performances they have raised substantial sums of money. This supports both the commitment of the organization to the ongoing care and education of the Choir children themselves and funds the education and welfare of many thousands of children in some of Africa’s most troubled and needy areas.
To date the work of the Choir has extended from its beginnings in Uganda to Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Southern Sudan and most recently Nkomazi in the northern border region of South Africa. It targets children whose lives can be changed by the chance to receive the care and quality education that brings freedom from poverty and hopelessness.
They are the future of Africa.
On Tuesday afternoon when "G" was hanging out here at the house with us, she told us about the Music For Life program and schools and all that it does for these children. She showed us many YouTube videos of the choir and she knew many of the kids from the school in Uganda! She would point at them and smile and say their names and you could tell she just had such love for them all. "A" was in the choir that performed with Josh Groban on the American Idol "Gives Back" program and I thought I would end this post with that video. Get your tissues ready, because it is impossible to not be moved by this inspirational song and these precious children!
