Love Spring Sunshine!

Well, once again it has been awhile since I last wrote. I am going to try REALLY hard this time to write more on the blog. :) We will see how it goes.

Yesterday we had a great day. Garrett was off and it was finally sunny out, so we decided to work on the front of the house to get it all beautiful. :) It was fun to watch the kids as they ran around and went from playing to wanting to help us. To be honest, I don't LOVE doing yardwork. But when we are doing it as a family together it is very enjoyable. Garrett has great ideas and good taste in flowers since that is what he has been doing at work. He made it look so good. I love it! The kids were happy to be outside since we have had a bunch of rain. So here are some pictures of what we accomplished...

We added some bushes to the side of the front door and two more other bushes
We are going to leave this all greens. Now we just need Jon to bring us another big rock from NH! :)

This is a closer shot of the two bushes we put in. I love them

The kids sitting and enjoying a snack from Juan :)

Our kidney shaped bed that Garrett made! I love it. Our little maple is going to look so good when it gets bigger!

Moving...

I have been wanting to get into our blog more than I do now. But it's so hard for me to do. So I am just going to jump on top of things and start.
We will be moving in a month or so. We will still be at Keswick, just moving to a new house. Sadly very good friends of ours and following the Lord's leading and moving out to Lancaster. We are only moving next door. We have lots of things we would like to do to the house. So to keep everyone undated on what's happening I will post pictures here.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weather these last few days. I know we have. Every morning so far the kids and I head out around 9ish and go for a walk. We love walking around the lake here and getting the fresh air. Hoping it stays around longer so we can keep enjoying it! So until next time...

Walk-a-thon in memory of Lindsay Bear

Just as last year our family will be walking in the Children's Hospital Boston Walk-a-thon this coming June. Last year we had a blast traveling to Boston and doing the 2 mile walk. This year we are walking 7 miles for this wonderful hospital.

While Lindsay was at CHB she had excellent care! The staff and doctors were great not only with Lindsay but with Laura, Jon and family members. I was able to visit Lindsay twice in her 6 weeks stay and I was able to see it for myself. They truly are great. We are very excited about going again this year.

We each have to raise money for this event. Would you consider helping Garrett and I out with this? We would love to raise as much money as we can while remembering our sweet Lindsay Bear. If you are intrested in sponsoring us, you can make a donation at either one of these sites (or both if you feel led)

Thanks in advance for being willing to help us out.

Julie's Page : https://howtohelp.childrenshospital.org/walk/pfp/?ID=HJ0104

Garrett's Page: https://howtohelp.childrenshospital.org/walk/pfp/?ID=HG0013

Our Group at last year's Walk

Prayers Needed for my Aunt

We are asking for prayer for my Aunt Jeanne. (My mom's sister) She has just been diagonsed with Stage IV Ovarian Cancer. As this is coming as a shock we are leaning on our GOD to carry her and her family through this time! She has 2 kids whom are both married and the sweetest little granddaughter Ainsli.

My Aunt is so special to us. She has always loved us and thought of us has her own. She loves our kids!!! We have such great memories from growing up being spent with her and my Uncle Mark.

So we ask that you pray for peace and comfort for them and that they feel the love of Jesus wrapped around them and that they know there are people pray for them.

Aunt Jeanne, we love you so very much and we are so glad that you are apart of our lives and the lives of our kids. We are praying for you and Uncle Mark. We are here for anything you need!!!!!!!!!! You will beat this, we know you can!!! Love you so much!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We hope that you all had a very great Christmas! We sure did!!! The Houston's had a busy day but enjoyed watching the kids really get into Chrismtas this year. In our house, I can never sleep on Christmas Eve and we are always up early. We woke the kids up at about 6:45. Emma didn't sleep well the night before so she was pretty tired. She really understood Santa this year so it was so fun to see her face when she came out in the living room. She was a tornado and tore through her presents. Ethan on the other hand, we had to force him to open more presents after the first one. He was happy and content with what he had in his hands and didn't need anything else.

We then headed to the Welte house where we opened gifts with Granny, Pop, Unlce Zach, Unlce Jon, Aunt Ra-Ra, Tanner, Case, Grandma Laurel, and Grandpa Van. By mid morning Emma wasn't acting herself and we figured out she had a fever. After breakfast we decided it was best not to travel an hour to be with more family. Gar and I headed home with the kids for naps in hopes that would make them feel better. However, while they were sleeping we had to take our tree down. It had been dying over a couple weeks and it was looking really bad. Needless to say, by the time we got it out of the house there were only a few needles left on the floor. Lots of cleaning to do.

On Saturday Ethan started with hives all over his body. We took him to the doctor and figured out it was a food alleregy. Still not sure what he ate.

So we had an exciting Christmas weekend! :)

Emma's 1st visit to the ER

This past Friday we had quite the interesting day! Emma and our dog Lola were playing together. This is a very normal thing in our house. The next thing I knew Emma was screaming and holding her lip. Lola had scratched her lip and taken a nice piece out of her bottom lip. It stopped bledding right away. I called my mom in a panic and her and my dad and brother came over to check it out. Needless to say, my mom, Emma and I went to the hospital. After waiting for 5 hours.. yes that's right 5 hours. She was getting 5 stitches in her lip by a plastic surgeon. It was a horrible experience for her and for ME! I sat behind the curtain listening to her scream for me and cry. I CRIED the whole time. It was awful!! :)

She is doing very well, but her mom on the other hand is driving her crazy worrying that she is going to hurt her lip. We take her in 2 days back to the doctor for him to look at it and I guess take them out. Check out some of the pictures to see her little adventure...

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Happy Birthday Kenzie Rae

Today is our niece Mekenzie's birthday!! We are wishing her a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Mekenzie is #2 of 5 kids. She loves babies and is great at helping out with the kids. She is going to be a great babysitter in a few years and a great mom when she is older with kids of her own. Kenzie this week just got her cast off of her wrist. She broke it a few weeks back. We look forward to celebrating with her tomorrow.
Love you Kenzie

Happy 13th Birthday Zachy

Today is my little brother's birthday! I can't believe he is 13. When he was born I was only 12 years old. I remember wanting my mom to have twins. :) That would have been interesting!!! I wanted to be in the delivery room when he was born. My mom and dad were fine with that until it was actually starting to happen. They got worried that it would scare me. But I really wanted to be in there. I was able to see Zach being born and I loved it!! He is a great uncle to all his neices and nephews and they all just love him!!

So with that said, Zachy we love you TONS! We hope you have a really great birthday today. Enjoy! You are now officially a TEEN... AHHHHHH that's scary! :)

Happy 5th Birthday Tanner

Today is my nephew Tanner's 5th birthday. We are hoping he has an excellent day. When I told Emma this morning that it was his birthday she got sooo excited. She LOVES birthday's.

Tanner is a big brother to his little sister Lindsay and his little brother Case. He is an amazing kid. When his little sister Lindsay was in the hospital for 6 weeks is was soooo wonderful.

Tanner, Aunt Julie and Uncle Garrett love you very much. Emma is so excited about your birthday. We hope you have an extra special day. Sending you big hugs buddy. Love you!!!

Praying for Lindsay Dean

Update: They found out that Lindsay is NOT in rejection. Praise the LORD! Her fever has broke. They are still waiting to find out what she has but already have her on a broad antibotic. Continue to pray for the Dean family and for Lindsay. Thanks


Please be praying for Lindsay Dean. She is a heart baby that my sister Laura found. She is a little over a year old and had to have a heart transplant in June. She got her new heart and has been doing very well. She has been home for a few months now. I just checked her blog and they had to take her to the hospital last night. She had a fever and a few other symptoms. They are fearing that her body maybe rejecting her new heart.
This is such a hard place to be. All we can do is pray. Please pray along with me.
Here is her blog address. You can check things out and keep checking for updates.
http://www.lindsaysheart.blogspot.com/
Thanks

Family Weekend Oct. 2009

The Welte was all together for the weekend. That hasn't happened in awhile that we have ALL been here. We had lots of fun and yummy food. :) (Thanks Mom) The kids all really enjoyed being ALL together and getting to play. The made good use of Pop and Granny's hot tub. I was really thinking about Lindsay and missing her this weekend. Watching the kids run around and playing and wishing she could be with them. But I know she WAS!!! :)
We were able to take a family picture on Sunday afternoon at the Lake here at Keswick. It was a great day for it and the weather was beautiful. We got some great pictures. Then we let the kids run around in the water for a bit. The big highlight of the weekend was finding out that Josh, Jenny and Sam will be having another baby. We are so excited for them and will be praying for them!!

I am so thankful for a wonderful family that I love and thank God for! We don't always get to be together much but I am really looking forward to the next time we can be. Love you guys!!

(Gar and I)

(The Whole Gang)

(The 7 kids)

(My favorite picture.. Emma and Lindsay Bear)

(Josh and Jenny)

(Uncle Zach)

( Me and Case.. chunky monkey)

(Mom and Dad)

(Laura and Jon)

(The kids in the Hot Tub)

(The Grandkids... they had enough)

(Pop and Granny with all the grandkids)

Myrtle Beach Family Vacation 09

We got to head south to Myrtle Beach last week for our first family vacation. We had a blast. Being together doing special things with the kids was great. For our first time, the kids did amazing. We drove through the night on the way down. That helped a lot since the kids slept the whole way. While there were went to the Ripley's Aquarium, Alligator Adventure (over 700 gators there), the beach and much more. It was great to have Garrett relax and really enjoy himself and not do anything. Here are some pictures of the highlights. Enjoy...

Happy Birthday Samuel

Today is our nephew Samuel's 3rd Birthday. Emma and Sam were born only 3 days apart. The day we were coming home from the hospital is the day that my sister-in-law Jenny went to the doctor and found out she had preeclampsia.

Needless to say Sam was about 2 weeks early and we are so thankful that God protected Jenny and Samuel. He is such a joy and he makes us laugh. We love when Sam and Emma are together.. they are very alike!

So with that said, Happy Birthday Sam.. we hope you have a great day! We love you very much!

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma Grace

Today is Emma's 3rd birthday! I can't even believe that she is 3 years old. I remember every detail of her very eventful labor and delivery. I had to deliver her by emergency C-section after 26 hours in labor. She was a little stinker even before she entered into this world.

She is such a joy to us and we thank God for giving her to us!
Emma Grace, as you celebrate your birthday, we want you to know what a special little girl you are. Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

Enjoy your day baby girl!!

( She was only like 2 days old here... we were still in the hospital)

New beds

We have changing the kids room around... Ethan was starting to climb out of his crib, so we decided to put him in a toddler bed. That means, Emma is in a BIG GIRL BED. There are no more cribs in this house. :( Kind of sad I must say. So far they are enjoying it and doing really well! See pictures below..

The start of something new...

I hope will you use this blog to keep on our family! There are some people who don't get to see pictures of the kids ... so keep coming back for updates and lots of pictures!!!