A Wonderful Young Man

Time seems to be going by so quickly.  I look at all our pictures from over the years and am in awe of how God has been so faithful in all things.  The miracles in our lives and how God brought each child into our home.  How far they have all come.  How old they are all getting!  I am amazed at it all.

As these middle children are hitting their upper teens it has been hard in some ways.  Hard to learn how to let them go a little more each year, to trust the Lord and all we have taught them.  I tend to like to hold tight to each of the children.  Protect them from  making mistakes and try to keep them close.  It is hard for me, to start handing over to them, the responsibility of making their own decisions and way in life.  I know many of them will always live with us because of their special needs but we still want them to become as independent as possible, have goals and dreams and strive to achieve them.

Zeke recently had a birthday and turned 17 years old.  He is the middle, middle.  :)  Over the last year, I have seen a huge shift in him, not only in appearance but in maturity and in the way he sees life.  He is making good choices.  He does not get upset as easily and if he does, gets over it much quicker.  He is much more relaxed in who he is and in interacting with his siblings.  Having autism makes social situations harder for him, to participate and navigate.  He is more confident lately.  I have seen him, volunteering to participate, in going on outings when invited. (especially if there is going to be food!) Or at least responding when talked to and not just standing far away from everyone else in crowds.  I have also seen him start to tease his siblings in a joking way to make them laugh, especially with Carolyn and Elizabeth. These are all huge for him.

I don't know why it is so hard for me to see them growing up, when I also see that God is doing such a work in them and they are maturing into such nice young people.  It is all God and again I am just so amazed.  Truly, they are my friends as well as siblings much of the time.  We get along well.

Zeke has grown into a quiet, kind young man.  He is helpful and always does his best at what he is asked to do.  He loves going to the work program he is enrolled in at school and every place he has worked, loves having him work there.  In his spare time he makes movies for Tim and I for our movie night.  Short 10 minute movies using his wooden railway or stop animation with legos.  He enjoys food and loves animals.  He has a little therapy/companion dog that is always in his arms when he is home.  It even sleeps with him and helps keep him calm.  He has had this little dog since it was six weeks old and it will be 14 years old in a few months.  Most of our pictures of him growing up have this little dog in his arms.

Zeke wanted to eat at home for his birthday meal.  He wanted his dad to grill out and for me to make home made mac-cheese.  He wanted my sister to make home made cheesecake with blueberries for his cake.  He loved it! My sister and her family also took him to the lego store.  He had a ball!

Zeke came to be our son because of a God given dream.  He has been through so much but has been such a good son and brother to his family.  He is a very kind and gentle soul and we have been very blessed to be chosen to raise him.  He is becoming a wonderful young man.  We love you!  Happy Birthday Zeke!

I pray God is with you now and always.  That He will have His mighty hand of protection upon you and lead you in the path He chooses for you.   That He will have a heart towards you as you have a heart towards Him.

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

Love, Dad, mom, Stephen, Antonio, William, Carolyn, Elizabeth, Billy, Timothy, Kinsley and Anna-Kate

16 Years!

I am so behind on blogging.  "Busy" has hit our home once again and I am doing my best to get everything back under control and into some type of routine.  Hopefully, by February, we should have fewer appointments and calmer days again.

In November 2017,  Zeke had his 16th birthday!  Happy Birthday Zeke!! 

Zeke came into our home when he was 8 days old.  I cut the hospital band off his little leg myself.  God brought Zeke into our home in one of the most miraculous ways.  In a way that I knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, that Zeke was to come into our home and be our son.  Through a dream (read about it here) given to me by God.  He has blessed my life and heart every day of his life.  I am amazed at how quickly 16 years have went by.  He is growing into such a nice young man.  He is quiet and kind.  He is helpful and always does his best at anything we ask him to do.  How I love this young man.

Zeke is still attending public school.  He loves going and his teacher is absolutely wonderful.  He is very close to the two para pro's in his classroom and thinks the world of them.  He spends some time doing work in his classroom.  He goes to two main stream classes...video production class and social studies.  He is doing very well in the work program at his school.  His first year in the program he worked at our local farm store.  At the beginning of this school year he worked at a local steak house.  This second half of the school year he will be working with his dad.  He is looking forward to that. 

This boy loves to eat!  He now can handle all foods without reactions and is enjoying the broader pallet!

Zeke spends his time, at home, making movies.  He has his own little 10 by ten area, that we set up for him on the enclosed front porch area, of our home.  He has a computer for making his movies after he films them.  He has all his legos and wooden railway train things for filming as well and many tables for making scenes on.   He tries to have a new movie for Tim and I to watch every Friday for movie night.

Zeke is a good brother to all his siblings.  He often stops to tickle and tease his younger siblings.  He gets along well with Billy and they play legos together.  He also helps us load and unload Antonio onto the bus or helps with transfers when we have to lift Antonio.  Zeke will have to live with us always and none of us have any complaints or concerns about that. 

Zeke loves animals.  He still has his little therapy/companion dog, Roo.  She is getting very old.  He has had her since she was six weeks old.  He also has two little Guinea pigs and a very old pony from his childhood , Dixie.  She can not be ridden and he tenderly grooms and cares for her daily.

I love Zeke dearly.  He is such a sweet, gentle soul and brings us many blessings by just being here with us...Just like God told me in that dream about him, those many years ago.

Zeke wanted a cheese cake for his birthday.  So my sister made him a delicious home made cheese cake.  He was so happy.  Thank you aunt "S"!  Aunt "S" and Uncle "B" also took Zeke and William to the Lego store for Zeke's birthday!  Very happy young men! 

Happy 16th birthday Zeke!  You are a truly wonderful son and blessing to our home.  You love the Lord and always try your hardest at all you do.  You inspire me.  May God have His mighty hand on your life now and always.  May you always serve and love Him!

Psalm 90:16  Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children.

Love, Dad, mom, Stephen, Antonio, William, Carolyn, Elizabeth, Billy, Timmy, Kinsley and Anna-Kate.

More Birthdays and Happenings!

At the time of the writing of my last post, Elizabeth and Carolyn had just celebrated their birthdays.   We have since had two more birthdays take place.  Kinsley celebrated her third birthday. 

She wanted blue and red flowers for her birthday from daddy.  He had to special order them.  :)

She wanted a character from her favorite show on her cake and my very talented sister made it for her.  Thank you Aunt "S".  Kinsley was so happy with it. 

I can not believe she is three already.  God has done a huge work in this child. She has come so far!

You are a huge blessing to our home Big Girl!  May God have His mighty hand on you all the days of your life and may you dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

Anna-Kate turned 2 on her birthday this year. 

She came to us when she was less than 48 hours old.  What a change in those two years.  She had so many issues when she came to us and is now thriving and developing well.  God does His thing in these children's lives and I just sit back in awe as I watch.

She is a huge fan of the purple dinosaur.  I personally, am about burnt out after 20 years of the "I love you" song but it brings her so much joy. My sister did a beautiful job on Anna-Kate's cake and she absolutely loved it! 

Thank you Aunt "S"  and family, for all you do to make our children's lives special.

We love you our littlest Princess!  May you be held in Gods mighty hand all the days of your life!

Zeke recently participated in the local Special Olympics.  This was his second year taking part and he really enjoys doing it.

He had quite a cheering section.

He placed second in the shock put, second in the 100 yard dash and his relay team placed first in the relay race for his school against the other schools relay teams.

Congratulations Zeke!  We love you so very much!

William had his graduation ceremony from the GED program! 

So much hard work and determination went into it for him.  He wore a gold cord for being inducted into the National Adult Education Honor Society. 

Tim's parents and brother came to the ceremony.  Carolyn was not there.  She had a ballet class and is only a few classes from recital so could not miss it. 

What an accomplishment and milestone. 

We could not be happier for him or more pleased.

While everyone was dressed up for the occasion I took a few pictures.  The boys are growing up so much! 

  Pure sweetness.  They are all very close and play very well together...most of the time!

It is very hard to get Kinsley to smile for the camera with a real smile.  She is pretty shy.

Elizabeth is changing so much lately in so many ways.  Quite the young lady lately.

We also took Antonio to Repticon.  The reptile show that comes to our area once a year.  He loves reptiles.  He was saving his money for a tortoise but once there decided to get two more crested geckos.

I am looking forward to summer.  It has been a very busy spring and our calendar is still full.  We are going to try to take it slow and easy this summer.  We have been diligently tightening our belts and saving our money.  We are going to try to take a vacation this year.  We have only had two vacations in the last 14 years.  We went to Jekyll Island in 2011 and 2012 and have not have a vacation since.  I would love for our four youngest to see the ocean and play on a beach as they have never been.  Also, our older children work so hard around here helping with the farm and younger children.  A vacation would be so good for them and us all.  God is so good.

Hosea 6:3  Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

May the Lord God in heaven be with you.  May He give you wisdom in making decisions for your life.  May He give you peace and joy in Him as you live and grow in the Word of God.

Blessings,

susan 

Happy 15th Birthday Zeke!!

I can not tell you how much happiness this young man brings to our home.  He is a laid back, helpful, kind soul, that is no trouble at all 98% of the time.

I have had a few dreams from the Lord in my life and one was about him coming to join our family.  It was so God lead and ordained, that there was no shadow of doubt, that we were to say yes to bring him into our family.  If you wish to read about the dream, you can here.

He has been such a blessing to our lives and family right from the beginning.

I had the privileged of cutting the hospital band off his little leg.

He had the biggest sparkly eyes and cutest kissable cheeks.

I have enjoyed every moment with him.  His first oatmeal cream pie.

Learning came hard for him.  It takes a lot of repetition but he always does his best with a good attitude.

Zeke and Elizabeth's adoption took place the same day!

He loved being out side playing when he was younger.

I love this picture of him.

Zeke and his second pony Smokey.  He loves animals and really enjoys his pets.

We have been able to take two vacations in the last 13 years.  Fun at the beach!

We travel with the children's lap/companion/therapy dogs when we go away.

He is growing up to quickly.

I can not tell you how honored we feel to have him as our son.

He turned 15 this year! He wanted a Thomas cake and Aunt "S" did a great job as always!

Happy Birthday to our wonderful son!  May God have His hand on you your whole life.  May He lead and guide you always!

Exodus 23:25 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

Love Always, Dad, mom, Stephen, Antonio, William, Carolyn, Elizabeth, Billy, Timothy, Kinsley and baby "A"

Labor Day Outing!

My kind brother in law and thoughtful sister, took several of our older children on a wonderful and memorable outing on Labor Day.

William, Carolyn and Zeke went to see Ruby Falls and Rock City.  They could not wait for Labor Day to arrive, so they could go.  William has always wanted to go to these two places.  These three young people, are our children, I can always count on to be well behaved.  They always work so hard around here on our farm.  They always are so helpful with all the other children.  I am so blessed to be able to call them our children and have them in our life.  It was a wonderful day away for them, to go and do something fun and be spoiled, for the hard work and effort they exhibit daily.

First, they went to Ruby Falls.  It is a water fall, in a cave, under Lookout Mountain.  There is a huge rock castle as the entrance to the tour.  This picture was taken from the top of the castle.

There is a room full of pictures and information about the explorer, who found Ruby Falls and all the history on it. 

There is a huge cave network under that mountain.

You have to take an elevator 260 feet down, to take the tour.  I guess the elevator screen was interesting to William, as he was the main photographer, for this trip and it was in the pictures I down loaded.

They saw all kinds of cave formations.   It was very fun and educational.

I guess there are no potty's down there.  (Another random photo that showed up when I down loaded them all)

The highlight of the tour is of course Ruby Falls.  It is stunning.  It is a beautiful water fall 145 feet high and 1120 feet under the earth surface.  No picture can actually do it justice.  It is really beautiful.

 The kids really enjoyed the whole experience.

They took a break for lunch and then headed to Rock City. 

Rock City is an amazing place where God carved out beautiful caverns, structures, formations and walkways.

  There is a lot of walking but the children really enjoyed it all.

I believe there is 4,100 feet of walking trails through these beautiful structures and gardens. 

If you have spent much time in the deep south, you have seen a barn or two with the famous "See Rock City" words painted on its side or roof.   Here is the neat history of this practice, that has gone on for many decades. There are even coffee table books made, that have collections of pictures of old barns, with the sayings painted on them.  There are also many people who have bird houses in their yards, with that saying painted on them, all over the south.

I love the above and below pictures of the kids.  These three are very close and always goofing around together.  

Taking a break to have their picture taken.

The view from the top of Lookout Mountain is spectacular.

You can see seven states from up there!

The children have talked a lot about their trip and what they did.  It really made a very happy memory for them to be able to go and see these two sights.  Thank you so much Uncle "B" and Aunt "S" ,for taking the time to plan such a wonderful outing and giving the kids such a special day away.

Psalm 95:2-3  Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Blessings,

susan