Grandpa's Birthday

Grandpa John's birthday was few days ago, and he chose the Bamboo House to go out to eat. Delicious! Best Asian food restaurant I've been to!

John & Carol

This is the tempura Joel got--it was soooo good!

Pretty morning--view from our deck

just a pic of Ethan, being cute, like always :)

Double Fun!

My dear friend Erin and her twin girls, Ella & Elizabeth, came over for a visit today. They are a riot! -- and super sweet and cute, to boot. A good time was had by all (well, Lyla was having some tummy troubles and was a bit grumpy, but distractable.)

Ella gave Lyla a kiss--such a sweetie!

Ella and Lyla checking each other out

Ella, Elizabeth, and Erin. I love the cheeser smiles :)

Elizabeth driving, Lyla following

Ethan's first visit

We had our new nephew, Ethan, over to our house for the very first time. Well, his parents came too! We grilled out and had a fun evening. Gotta love the warmer weather!

Ethan with his daddy

Lyla being jealous while I held Ethan.

My sweet nephew and I.

He's 7 weeks old already, and weighing in at over 10 lbs.

The next day Joel, Lyla, Carol and I went to Minneapolis to pick up John from the airport. He just came back from Hawaii. We went to Ikea and then drove home. There was a tired Grandpa and a tired little girl in the back seat. :)

Play Date

We took advantage of a gorgeous spring day and had a play date with our friends Janet, Lyndon, and Kaylyn. :)

Check out the 10 chubby fingers :)

Lyla loves Janet's curls

Thanks for having us over Janet--we had a lot of fun!

Cutie in the Sunshine

PS- She's not wearing a Guess shirt--it says "guess whooo's 2". :)

Walking in the driveway and cal-du-sac that our house is on. This was last week--the weather has improved since then!

On our back deck--I included a little panorama of our view off the deck. We are loving our new home!

The Gospel

So I've been thinking about this blog and the things that I share on here. Essentially I started it so that friends, family and loved ones could get to know Lyla. But more importantly I wanted others to see the way that God is working in her life and in our lives. He is working mightily. He continues to amaze us and always, always will. He is unfathomable and all-powerful and yet He is a loving, forgiving, tender father--Abba Father--meaning Daddy. That is amazing.

What I realized though, is that I often speak about Jesus and His love and about the amazing things He is doing, but I have never shared the foundation of my faith. The foundation of my faith comes straight from the Bible. It is truth and it is purpose. The Gospel is the one thing in this world that truly matters.

So when you die what happens? Your soul either goes to Heaven or hell, right? Yes, that's what the Bible says. Many believe that to get to Heaven you need to be a good enough person. But how do we know how good we have to be? Are there guidelines that say specifically how good you have to be to get into Heaven? Nope. Can I even be good enough to get into Heaven? The Bible clearly says no. No one can be good enough to get into Heaven and spend eternity with God. Every single person has done at least one wrong thing, making us all imperfect.

Romans 3:10 says "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous not even one"

According to the Bible there is no person who has never done anything wrong.

Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Romans 5:12 says "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned"

So then does that mean that we're all going to end up going to hell when we die? God loves us and provided an answer to that. He does not want us to go to hell and be separated from Him, so He sent Jesus to earth. Jesus is the one perfect person in all of humanity to ever live. God sent Jesus to earth to die and go to hell for us so that we don't have to. Jesus paid the penalty for all the wrong things we have ever done, or ever will do, when he died. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. It's like if I went to court because I committed murder. I was sentenced to die in the electric chair. I deserved my sentence. But instead of having to die in the electric chair Jesus stepped in and said--I love her and I am going to pay the penalty of her crime for her--I will die in the electric chair so she doesn't have to. The judge says, okay He paid the penalty and you're off scotch free. That would be the ultimate sacrifice and the ultimate gift. That's what Jesus did when He died on the cross. He paid the penalty for our sin so we don't have to go to hell. Instead, we can accept Jesus' gift and spend eternity in Heaven. Wowsa.

Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Easter is coming up here very soon. We celebrate Easter because Jesus defeated death. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins (on Good Friday), and three days later (on Easter) he rose from the dead, having been to hell and back. He paid the price for our wrong-doing, beat death, and went back to Heaven to continue to reign with the Father.

Romans 10:13 says, "for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' "

Romans 10:9-10 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

So the Bible says that if you believe in your heart and accept what Jesus did for you, then you are saved from hell. You see, it's not about what I can do to get into Heaven, it's about what Jesus did to make a way. We can't get into Heaven on our own because none of us are perfect, but Jesus was perfect and made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can get into Heaven and be with God.

John 1:12-13 says, "Yet to all who received him, (Jesus) to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

In John 3:16 Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

So that's the Gospel, the truth about Jesus. I accepted Jesus into my life when I was 8 years old. It was the beginning of my journey of faith. I have had periods of growth and closeness with God and I have had periods of stagnation and back-sliding. If you know me, you know I am far from perfect. But I do love Jesus and He loves me more than I can understand. I strive to know Him better through His word, the Bible, and through teaching and fellowship at a great church. If you are reading this, and are curious about what I've written, then you should read the Bible for yourself. A good place to start to understand Jesus is the Gospel of John.

And if you ever want to talk to me about it, please do. I don't pretend to have all the answers to questions you may have, but ask them anyway. I would love to talk about Jesus, or really anything in the Bible.

So there you have it. Love, Jenny

Wisconsin Waterfall

This is what Lyla's hair looked like when she woke up this morning. I honestly did not do anything to it.

According to a credible source, Lyla's natural mullet is known as the "Wisconsin Waterfall". Very fitting since she was born in Wisconsin. :) Kinda looks like a party in the front and in the back. Oh my.

Her mullet is so out of control, but I just cannot bring myself to have her hair cut!

3 Weeks Old

Our sweet little nephew hits the 3 week mark today. He is growing, growing and is healthy as can be! He's a very content little fella. Enjoy the pics...

Ethan snuggling with his mama

Grandma Carol and Grandpa John

Three generations: John Thomas, Joshua Thomas, and Ethan Thomas

Lyla's not quite sure what to think of her new cuzzie

Checking out Daddy

what a cutie :)

Happy Family

Baby Lambs

We got to go to a farm where there were 11 baby lambs--Nelson and Lyla thought it was pretty fun!

He's Here!

Ethan Thomas was born to Joshua & Bryana on Thursday, February 24th at 9:35 am. He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long. He and mom are doing great. We're thrilled to have a new nephew and Lyla's excited to have a new cuzzie!

What a looker!

Proud Mommy

Proud Daddy

Proud Uncle

Proud Auntie

Lyla Vids

A little glimpse as to why we always say she brings us smiles every day. :)

Baby Ethan...

...will be with us soon!

We get to meet him on February 24th--can't wait!

:) :) :)

Song

Here's a link to a song about Lyla, and many other children with stories like hers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJOSMB0QhFY

Praise the Lord for His healing power and grace.

Lyla Looks

Seriously

Sweet

What a Month!

February is shaping up to be quite an eventful month in these here parts...here's a (kinda long) rundown:

1) PACKERS WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!!!! Unbelievably awesome, and a great way to lift our spirits during the winter doldrums/deep freeze!

Packer Backer Fun!

So sad that my Charles Woodson (#21) got injured during the game :(

Went icefishing with my sweetie (above).

And Lyla in a little Packer recliner being incredibly cute (below)--I was sorely tempted to buy it!

2) I finally got my on-call position back in IV therapy! Super pumped about not having to learn a new area, and being able to work with my IV therapy friends again! I'm so glad I'll be able to be on-call or per diem, so I can choose when I want to work. I plan on working 1-2 shifts a week. :)

3) LYLA: Lyla got her Suresteps! She's actually not too sure about them yet--she's adjusting to the new sensation of having them on, but they do keep her feet and ankles aligned much better.

Here's a video of her walking with her Suresteps on--

Also, Lyla had a doctor's appointment yesterday with her primary physician. She now weighs 22 lbs 12 oz (3rd percentile on the regular charts) and is 33.5 inches tall (somewhere between the 10th and 20th percentile on the regular charts!). Her doctor was very pleased with how well Lyla's doing, especially her progress in gross motor skills--crawling, cruising along furniture, getting up to standing next to furniture, walking with a walking toy. We are now going to try to focus a little more on communication and some fine motor stuff. I would love for her to be able to do just one sign. I have been working on "all done" and "more" with her for awhile. The OT says once she does just one sign, she'll take off from there. Also, I want to start working more on her ability to communicate preferences with even just a noise, and helping her to understand that when she makes a sound that it is meaningful rather than just babbling.

Another thing I want to work on is getting Lyla to eat more independently--she will be having a "feeding study" done at the clinic with a dietician. I'm pumped because they'll be able to see where she's at with chewing and textures and swallowing so that I can have more guidance on how to help her progress toward self-feeding. I do ask for prayers for Lyla in these areas. It seems that she will be able to walk some day, and I would really love it if she could talk and feed herself as well. I never feel that I am very good at knowing how to move forward with helping her to progress--it just doesn't come naturally to me, so I am very grateful for all the professionals who do know how to help. I am also grateful for prayers for Lyla and for prayers for Joel and I--that we have wisdom in our parenting with her, and that we can help her along as much as possible! We certainly can't do it on our own!

As I said in a recent post, Lyla is becoming more social lately and is enjoying being around other kids so much! I have joined our local MOPS and have been enjoying it immensely--such a great way for Lyla to get some kid time, and for me to get to know other moms. Also, we are going to start some music therapy for Lyla--we went to a group music therapy session last week and Lyla really seemed to love it. She got really excited and was crawling up to all the kids and smiling and being a little nut. All the other kids in the group have Trisomy 21 (Down's Syndrome)--it's pretty neat. We are also going to be starting an Early Childhood Family Education class called Toddler Time in March. Should be fun!

4) We are closing on our house on February 25th! Can't wait to have a place of our own. Pics to follow...

5) Lyla's newest cousin, Ethan Thomas, will be arriving at the end of the month! Most likely he will arrive by scheduled c-section, since he is breech. Joel's brother, Joshua, and his wife, Bryana, are eagerly awaiting his arrival (as are we!). Can't wait for Lyla to have another playmate. :)

Though February (up north here anyway) tends to be kind of a downer month sometimes--as winter wears on--this year it has been a time of encouragement. The Lord has really been working in my heart and in my life. The Lord (very clearly) helped me to realize that I was starting to think that my happiness and joy was based on whether or not Joel and I would be able to have another child. It was becoming a big struggle for me. But the Lord, in His gentle way, reminded me that no matter what happens in life, He is enough. He is the source of true joy and happiness. And if I make my relationship with HIM my priority and my goal, then I will have joy regardless. I had lost sight of that. I fully trust God's plan for us, and if that does not include more children, I am okay with that. God is good all the time, and He sees the big picture. He set my heart right and has given me peace and joy in the process. Thank you Lord. And thank you for your prayers too!

Isaiah 40:31 "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

(one of my all-time favorite verses)