Welcome spring!

I confess I am hoping for a warm May.  The winter has seemed to hold on longer than usual but we had a beautiful last day of April--it felt like minus 4 degrees when Graham left for work this morning but it was 17 degrees this afternoon and it's supposed to feel like 28 degrees tomorrow afternoon.  This is southern Ontario.  Kohen and Lily-Anna ate their lunch outside today.

We celebrated what would have been Josiah's 6th birthday on April 13th.  Graham had booked the day off work and Isaac had a PD Day.  We spent some time at the cemetery and placed flowers on Josiah's grave.  I made a cake and we sang Happy Birthday.  We also looked at some old photos and

videos.  Sweet Lily-Anna was a little upset looking at images of her parents with another baby.

One day I showed Kohen the photos of Josiah's burial.  Later he asked me, "Can we put my name on the thing Josiah's body is in?"  (The extended family and close friends used markers to cover Josiah's white casket with handprints, names, and messages right before the casket was put into the ground.)  I just this moment realized that it was a missed opportunity - we already knew a baby was on the way so we could have written a message - I think Kohen would have liked that.  I remember being quite exhausted by the time of the burial.

Conversation with Kohen (keep in mind as you read this that Kohen wants to see Josiah but he doesn't like needles):

Kohen:  I wish I were Josiah.  Wait.  Did Josiah have needles?
Mommy: Yes.  He actually had needles every day.
Kohen:  I wish I were Samson then.  [From the Bible]  He's dead so he can see Josiah.
Mommy: I'm so glad you are here and so thankful you're alive. ...
Kohen: I wish I were Isaac.
Mommy: So you could have seen Josiah?
Kohen: Yes.  Did Isaac have needles?
Mommy: Yes.
Kohen: Did you and Daddy have needles?
Mommy: Yes. ...

****

Kohen: Can you show me a picture of Josiah and Jesus?
Mommy: We don't have a picture because we can't see them.
Kohen: We could make one.

****

Kohen: I'm going to make a picture for Josiah.

****

Kohen often uses the word killing so I felt that I should start the following conversation:

Mommy: You know that no one killed Josiah, right?  Josiah just died. ...
Kohen: How does someone die without someone killing him?

****

I asked Isaac a question and he answered me.  I  then googled the question and received the same answer.  Isaac told me, "I can be your Google from now on ... if I know it."

Lily-Anna will be two years old at the end of May!  She loves to sing and be with her brothers and look at books.  She sometimes plays with her dolls, small dollhouse, or kitchen.  She is very good at repeating what we say.  We often hear her say, "No Kohen!" or "Lily-Anna try."

I am loving my swimming lessons!  There are four people in the class and our teacher is really good.  We're starting each class with two lengths of the pool (50 m in total).  I was able to make it but just barely and my form on the way back was sad to say the least.  I'm looking forward to improving.  I am now able to swim the front crawl, back crawl, and breast stroke successfully (at least with goggles and a nose plug and a swimming cap - I look ridiculous but it's lots of fun).  It would help if I had some other cardio workouts during the week to work up my stamina.

I enjoy taking Kohen and Lily-Anna to their library programmes.  Next week Kohen and I will start attending a farm programme one morning a week for a number of weeks.  I did the same one with Isaac the fall before his third birthday.  I hope Kohen loves it and I'm looking forward to spending this one-on-one time with him. 

Our small group Bible study is going well.  We have nine people for this study on worship.  Due to a conversation the previous week in our group, we sampled raw turnip, rutabaga, parsnips, and kohlrabi this past week.  I enjoyed them all and then enjoyed them even more roasted for dinner the next night.

For one study we looked at the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai.  In perusing the surrounding chapters in preparation for the study, I read this from Exodus 28:2, "And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty."  That line has never struck me before but I love that God wanted these special garments created "for glory and for beauty."  All the beauty in this world is a gift.  I actually have a vase of sad tulips in front of me but they were magnificent a few days ago.  I think we are surrounded by beauty for which I should give God praise and I think I need to remember that God values beauty.

In addition to his work, Graham is busy with the church board, our condo board, and he participates in a men's Bible study bright and early on Thursday mornings.  The boys always love his stories before bed.

It was a blessing to attend a lovely wedding at the beginning of the month.  God must have helped them choose their date because a week later we had an ice storm.  Church was cancelled on the Sunday and Isaac was home from school on the Monday.  Even Graham had Monday morning off.  Actually Graham and the boys treated me to breakfast in bed that Sunday.

We now have a couple of new drawer units for our kitchen from Ikea.  We picked out a new countertop last week so now we just need to find a sink and faucet and get these all put in and we'll be finished our changes.

Thanks for any prayers!  Have a wonderful May!

Blessings,
Elizabeth

1 Peter 3:3-4
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.  Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Time marches on!

Last day being 3 years old!

It's raining outside so I guess March is "going out like a lamb."  We are quite happy to welcome spring.  The boys each used their money to buy baseball mitts today and Isaac is looking forward to starting soccer in May.  Kohen is too young for the place Isaac goes but he enjoys practicing soccer with Graham. 

Kohen just started a 'Get Ready for Kindergarten' program at our library.  He was very excited to tell Graham that he went to the program alone.  I think he'll enjoy kindergarten and I'm glad he'll be older than Isaac was when he started.  He had his fourth birthday this month; it was fun to celebrate with family. 

At the bus stop

Graham had a couple of days off during March Break.  One of his work days he took all three children on the bus.  Graham's parents took all three for a night and Graham and I enjoyed a dinner out.  We picked them up the next day and headed for a hotel which had all of the necessary ingredients for the kids: a pool, a t.v., and breakfast in the morning. 

Graham now has a CPAP machine.  He's still in the transition stage of getting used to it but we're hoping it helps him feel more rested (and get more oxygen at night). 

Kohen's shoes, Isaac's hat, dressed to impress!

We have a new kitchen in our home ... and it's four feet tall.  I found a kitchen I liked on Kijiji and we decided to give it to the kids now rather than wait until Lily-Anna's birthday at the end of May.  They've been having fun with it. 

Graham was giving Kohen a bath and they were having a "meeting" to make sure that Kohen knows all his body parts.  At one point Kohen was saying, "Okay, now let's talk about hands.  Hands are kind of strange ...."  After the bath Graham said, "Kohen, that was a great meeting."  Kohen responded, "Actually, it was amazing!"

Lily-Anna bit her lip today while eating her lunch.  I consoled her and kissed her lip and then she said, "God" while pointing up.  Graham let me know that this meant she wanted me to pray about it, so I did.  We make tons of mistakes with the kids and most days I feel like I'm failing at this crucial role of motherhood ... but even my 22 month old knows that we need to go to God in prayer with our needs.  So, we're doing one thing right, at least. 

We get to celebrate tomorrow - the resurrection of Jesus Christ; the conquering of death; the new life offered to all; the beautiful hope of eternity; the freedom we can enjoy; the peace, joy, and love we can know; the grace and mercy we desperately need; the perfect plan of God; the comfort and wisdom of the Holy Spirit ....  There are so many reasons to celebrate.  I wish I could fathom it more.  I wish I could feel it.  I wish I could understand what Jesus did for me and you.

Treats at Daddy's work!

I've had more emotion lately.  I was reading Heidi and a book about a man who hid and saved Jews during the war and both times I had tears.  Kohen always wants to kiss and hug me and say sweet things to me when this happens.  It would be great to have those same tears about Jesus.

I hope you and yours can also celebrate tomorrow because Christ is risen!  Indeed, He is risen!  And that changes everything.

Thanks for any prayers!

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Reading in comfort

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

⁵⁴ So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”^[g]

⁵⁵ “O Death, where is your sting?^[h]
O Hades, where is your victory?”^[i]

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

   

Isaac enjoying a sunrise

It's February 28th and it feels like spring!  I took the boys to Graham's parents' property yesterday to help Grandpa Ray at the sugar shack.  They helped tap some maple trees and add the spiles and buckets.  The sap was flowing and we're looking forward to some maple syrup.  We are blessed indeed to be able to take part in this fun adventure.  Grandpa Ray is a great teacher and the boys had a good time on such a beautiful, sunny day.  Lily-Anna had fun playing with Grandma Betty.

We did have snow at the beginning of February and the boys enjoyed making a snowman. 

Kohen took the bus with Graham to work one day and then I picked him up after dropping off Isaac at school.

 

I enjoyed taking both boys out separately to Starbucks for our annual Valentine's dates.  My brother and his family visited for the Family Day weekend and Isaac and Kohen were able to enjoy having their cousin sleep over.  Both Isaac and Kohen wanted to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. 

Kohen is now registered for Junior Kindergarten which will start in September.  He turns four next week.  I think he will enjoy it but Lily-Anna and I will miss him.   

Sadly, we needed to attend the funeral of Graham's aunt.  It was nice to see so much family on this sad occasion.  She loved the colour orange so most of the crowd tried to wear something that colour.  We will miss her but we are thankful to know she loved Jesus and is with her Lord.  We will see her again.

Lily-Anna loves books.  She often doesn't nap in the afternoon, until we go in the van to pick up Isaac from school.  However, she will play in the crib with her dolls or babies and eventually she'll ask for books.

It was so nice to have Graham's brother stay with us, even though the visit had to be short and sweet.  He always has great stories that make us laugh.

Isaac loves to create - with Lego, with paper, and in stories.  

It was a short month and this is a short post.  We'll see what adventures March has in store.  Thanks for any prayers.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

  

Happy 2018

Happy New Year!  How did we get to 2018?  I'm thankful that I am feeling good physically.  I had my knees drained and some cortisone added earlier this month so it's nice to not be stiff and swollen.  It would be nice if my doctor were a little closer than downtown Toronto but Graham and I were actually able to go together and we enjoyed some delicious Thai food afterwards at a restaurant where Graham has wanted to take me for a while.

The restaurant's prices had increased because of the new minimum wage but the notices on the walls said that they had also increased the wages of the experienced workers as the management did not think it would be fair for new employees to make the same amount of money as those who had already worked there.  I hadn't thought about that ramification but I'm glad they did.  Thanks for the Khao Soi, Panang Curry, Tom Kaa gai, and Som Tom.  I hope they have the laab next time!

Isaac is really enjoying playing the piano.  It is so nice to see him so excited!  I assume it's partly because he can now play some interesting pieces.  He is always happy to play for people.  He asked me the other week if he could play for our small group, telling me he could entertain them.  I love listening to him play.

We have a new tradition - we'll see if it lasts.  At 11:11 AM ... it's dance time!  Actually, we sing the 11:11 song (made up) and dance in the kitchen IF we look up at the clock when it is exactly 11:11.  But, at 11:12 the dance is over.  This usually involves Kohen and Lily-Anna and myself during the week when we are eating an early lunch.  This will probably change as Lily-Anna is able to go longer before her nap.  The other day we stopped dancing at 11:12 and then Kohen asked me what the word 'kitchen' starts with.  He guessed 'k' and then he pressed 'Kitchen Timer' on our microwave and set the timer for 11:11 (but did not start the timer) and said we could dance!  He's a clever boy who often makes me laugh. 

Lily-Anna loves to dance and she'll put up her arms when she is in her chair and say, "Dan" or come up and ask to "dan".  When the boys were small they loved it when I danced fast with them in my arms and did big dips upside down and pretended they were a guitar.  Lily-Anna wants to slow dance with her head on my (or Graham's) shoulder and moving slowly.  She's happy to do this for quite some time.

Lily-Anna is now going to bed better after a little sleep training.  We leave her awake and she cries for a very short time before going to sleep.  Daytime naps were going better and are now more hit and miss but she is happy to be left in her crib with dolls to play with so that still helps me have a little breather and space.

This morning the kids were eating toast.  Lily-Anna has discovered that she loves butter on toast.  Isaac told me this morning, "Lily-Anna gave me the idea of turning your toast over so that my tongue touches the butter.  But then I remembered that I read it in a book in Kindergarten.  The Butter Battle by Dr. Seuss."  At least once a day (often more) I hear Isaac say, "Oh, she's so sweet." or "Oh, she's so cute."  Lily-Anna has two adoring brothers but we all think she's lovely, though her recent discovery of loud squealing leaves a little to be desired.

I have often thought that I am a marketer's dream.  I get pop up adds on my computer for Harry's razors.  I finally clicked and saw that you can obtain a free trial (sort of).  I thought to myself, "Graham should get this."  Then I saw that people end up getting regular deliveries of the blades.  I thought, "Why do they need so many blades?"  Then I saw the icon of a man with shaving cream all over the bottom half of his face and I turned and looked at Graham on the couch and thought, "Oh yes, Graham has a beard."  Sadly, Graham does not need a Harry's razor.  They look nice though.  I hope they are as good as they say.

I am taking swimming lessons.  I am quite excited about this.  I have never been a good swimmer and have wanted to improve.  One of my roommates in university was going to teach me but after one lesson I realized that I couldn't possibly write a thesis and go to the pool (I've never known balance.)  I've always liked the back stroke but I've had a mental block with the breathing for the front crawl.  I looked up some online advice and watched some videos (and bought goggles) and I did much better at my last lesson.  I would love to get really comfortable in the water and be able to swim laps for exercise one day.  I really enjoy being in the water and it's good for my joints.  I like being able to talk to the boys about my lessons.  I never want to have to save my children swimming but it would be good to one day be able to say that I could.

I am thoroughly enjoying listening to Audrey Assad's hymns but I think my favourite song (prayer) of hers is currently "I Shall Not Want."  Here is a link to a Youtube video.  Yes, Lord, "When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want."  That's true now but one day it will be fully known and I will be fully free.  Josiah tastes the goodness of the Lord. 

The boys have both missed Josiah this month with tears and sadness at unexpected times.  Tears are a blessing.  I was driving this morning and looked back at Kohen who looked odd.

Me - Are you okay?  Are you tired?
Kohen - No.
Me - What's the matter?
Kohen - I'm just sad.
Me - About what?
Kohen - [He pointed to the sky.]
Me - You're sad about God?
Kohen - No.  I'm sad about Josiah.
When I parked, we hugged and chatted.  It's hard to have a brother in heaven whom you've never met.  They would have had fun together.  He told me that if Josiah were here, there would be six of us so we talked about where Josiah would sleep (he said on the roof but I think he meant the ceiling in their room).  

I was able to cry on the couch while reading "The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey" to Kohen.  Mr. Toomey took out the photo of his wife and baby son who had passed away and that did it for me (I was crying about Josiah though).

Isaac and I have both enjoyed reading "The Princess and the Goblin" by George MacDonald.  I am also reading Eric Metaxas' book, "7 Women and the Secret of Their Greatness."

It's time to say goodnight and look for some photos.  We received sad news these last few days about an uncle who has lost a sister and an aunt who is in need of a miraculous touch from God.  May the peace of Jesus be theirs (and yours). 

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Lamentations 3:21-26
21But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^[b]
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The end of the year is quickly approaching.  We have yet to decide if we are staying awake to greet the first minutes of 2018 but first I need to post something.  We had no hesitation putting the kids to bed at the normal time.  We'll try to make ebelskivers in the morning.  I think we may have skipped last year so it may be a biennial tradition.

December was a busy month.  Isaac enjoyed his spy birthday party and we had fun as well.  We also had a family birthday dinner and two Christmas celebrations and one more happening next weekend.  We went to the cemetery today and Isaac tried out his remote controlled car in the snow.  Lily-Anna says Josiah's name if I point to his picture.  She keeps surprising us with new words.  It is a very cold day.  People were ice fishing on the pond at the cemetery.  (Yes, my thoughts are coming randomly.)

For the first year, we missed the Christmas memorial at the Coping Centre due to sickness but they left our Josiah ornament and gifts in the mailbox so we went on a Saturday and put the ornament on a tree.  It was nice to be there together as a family.

A few stories from the month:

I hadn't heard back from one of Isaac's friends as to whether or not he was coming to the birthday party.  I saw his mom and spoke to her but she hadn't seen the invitation.  She later asked her son about it and was told that the invitation said 'Top Secret' so he thought he wasn't supposed to tell her about it.

***

Lily-Anna was drinking milk from her glass.  She put down the glass and said, "Bye bye milk."

***

Kohen found me and asked me to come downstairs as there was something moving with legs.  It was some sort of insect so I found a glass to take it outside.  He wanted to hold it but I said it was a job for me.  When I came in he was very upset that I hadn't let him put the glass outside.  Between the tears he said, "I wanted to practise being a daddy!"  Next time I will let him help.

***

Kohen started singing our "We Miss You Josiah" song.  Then he said, "I wish I were Josiah."  I asked him why and he answered, "Because then I could be in heaven."

***

Clearly Graham and I need to go on more dates!  I told Kohen that Mommy and Daddy were going out (to a Board dinner).  He asked me if we would bring home a baby!  He was remembering one of the previous times we went out together ... and ended up bringing home Lily-Anna.

***

Well, I was quite proud of myself for staying up late on Christmas Eve and making a 'wifesaver' for breakfast.  I felt very motherly.  Not one of the kids liked it.  Graham and I ate it for three days.  Perhaps we'll just do Cheerios and toast next year.

At the end of this year, we are very thankful for our many blessings.  We are especially thankful that my mom is feeling better than she was a few months ago and my father-in-law is back in good health.  We are grateful for our family and friends and health.  We also think of the deep losses and grieve with those who are grieving.  I can think of beautiful reasons to celebrate and others for which I would like to cry.  There are many things I do not understand but I know I can trust the only One who is good, who is love, who is in control, who brings good out of bad, who has good plans, and has good works for me to accomplish.  I pray that my family will grow closer to our Lord Jesus this year and seek His face, and do His will, bringing glory to Him alone.

I wish the same for you in a happy new year!

Blessings,
Elizabeth


Matthew 22:37-40

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[c] 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{[d] 40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Hebrews 11:6

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Christmas is coming!

We've been listening to fun Christmas music for a while now.  Tomorrow I will surprise the kids with a nativity set.  I bought a Little People one so that I don't need to worry about Lily-Anna breaking or swallowing something.  A wonderful gentleman in our small group also blessed the kids with an Advent Calendar and a magnetic nativity scene.  They are going to love those!  For the last two years, since we've given Isaac a birthday party with friends, we haven't put up our tree until after his birthday, given our limited space.  His birthday is on the 11th, two weeks before Christmas.  Speaking of his birthday, I still have no idea what we're doing so I need to focus on that as soon as I'm finished typing this.

Graham was elected to our church Board earlier this month.  He's looking forward to all that will entail.  He also enjoyed a weekend in Montreal at a conference for his work.  My lovely in-laws came and helped on the Saturday, enabling the boys to go to their swimming lessons and me to go to the pottery show for my annual mug purchase.  It always takes me a while to choose the mug and then I fall in love with it at home.

I love boots!

Lily-Anna has been weaned.  She still asks for "Mil!" "Mil!" when I go to put her down for her nap but I think it's getting easier.  It is bittersweet.  I am so thankful that God allowed me to nurse all of my children and my supply was never a problem.  There were always normal struggles with nursing during the first number of weeks after birth but after that was usually smooth sailing.  I find many parts of child raising to be very challenging so being able to fully enjoy breastfeeding was a lovely gift from God.  I think it was also a gift from my husband to always support this decision which meant less flexibility in our schedule.

Lily-Anna can now climb up on any of our chairs and then our tables.  She and Kohen have lots of fun together.  Kohen is the "fun" ideas man and Lily-Anna is happy to play along.  I found them with a ride-on toy on top of the loveseat and I took a photo before they fell off.  Kohen tipped up our lazy boy chair this week so they could run up it and fall on each other, thankfully resulting in only minor blood loss.  

Isaac played at his Christmas piano recital this past weekend and sang in his school choir for Remembrance Day.  He's hoping to play the piano for the talent show at school (he'll audition next week) and sing in the Christmas Choir at school and church.  Isaac does most of his practicing in the morning which seems to work better than trying to do it when he's tired after school.

Allow me to recount some Kohen moments:

At the kitchen table during lunch one day:

Kohen - One day we'll have a new baby, Mommy.
Me - I don't think so.
Kohen - Yes we will.
Me - Why do you say that?
Kohen - There was a card at the grocery store about a new baby.
Me - Well, it wasn't our card.

***

Kohen yelling from the washroom:
MOMMY, PLEASE STOP TALKING TO ISAAC.  I'M TRYING TO COUNT TO 55!

***

"No Lily-Anna, you can't share your germs!  Only God can share His germs."

***

Fort time!

Kohen - Let's send a letter to Josiah and the other guys.
Me - What would you say?
Kohen - We love you but I'm sad you died guys.  I guess we could call them with a phone.

***

Kohen yelling after climbing something at the playground:

DA DA DA DAT DA DA!  I AM TALLER THAN JESUS!

***

Kohen was sitting with Graham at Tim Hortons on a Daddy-date and he started singing about the beautiful name of Jesus.

***

I came home from the hair dresser and these were the first words I heard from Kohen:

"You're bald."
[I can still put it in a ponytail!]

***

Kohen loves parks!

The boys were both very excited about the first snow.  They were dressed and outside at 7:15, helping Graham shovel driveways.  When Kohen came back in and I helped him get out of his snowpants, I realized that he hadn't put any pants on!  We started a new tradition: the boys may have hot chocolate in the morning during the first real snow of the year. 

***

Usually Kohen is very quick to pray about things but one day I started praying about something in regard to him and he said, "No!  Don't pray!"  I asked him, "Why not?"  He replied, "He already knows."

***

Kohen often talks about his friend "Coco" who does all sorts of things and knows all sorts of things.  The original Coco's parents died.  I believe there are a number of Cocos as one of the Cocos has also died.  The other day Coco's friends died because they were playing in thunder and lightening.  It is interesting to see what Kohen is processing.

I think Lily-Anna knows what she likes.  I've caught her taking off her grey socks to change them to pink and purple socks.  I have seen her refuse her blue and red bibs in favour of the pink bib.  I have now taken to putting Kohen and Lily-Anna's boots up high as otherwise she would always be in them, walking around the house.  The other day there were five pairs of footwear in various locations in the hallways as I was trying to make dinner.  She put on her lovely red Christmas dress and actually turned around in it, just like a little girl might want to show it off.  She has a new white cozy top that she loves and becomes quite displeased if I try to take it off her when she's not ready.

Isaac with the Child Training Bible

We made our Child Training Bible this month.  Actually, Isaac did almost all of it.  I thought he would really like the process of making it and I was right.  He did a great job and the process has helped him understand where more of the books of the Bible are located.  We're already started using it - Defiance and Disobedience have been hot topics!

I had an unusual thing happen to me this month.  I woke up on November 11th and realized that I couldn't focus my eyes if I looked straight ahead or up.  Looking down was fine and my vision was also fine if I covered either eye.  I ended up going to the ER where I had a CT Scan and bloodwork, both of which came back clear, thankfully.  My vision wasn't clear until Thursday when I first drove again (though it wasn't much of a hinderance in other ways as I always had my head slightly elevated so that I was always looking down with clear focus).  Thankfully, my dad and neighbour helped with taking Isaac to school and picking him up.  I saw an opthalmologist this week and he couldn't figure out why this happened and told me to come back if it happened again.  I know many people prayed for me and I'm thankful for your prayers! 

'Princess Knight' with hockey stick, tool belt, helmet and shield

I was able to get a couple of cries out of the above experience.  The first time was when I walked into the room with the CT Scanner.  I forgot what it looked like.  I forgot that the last time I saw one, I was putting sweet Josiah onto the scanner at SickKids after God miraculously put him to sleep for this scan about a month before his death.  The technician in the room this time was very sweet and kind.  I would have loved to have a really good cry but of course it wasn't the time and I needed to have this scan.  The second cry was the following morning when I thought about what would happen if I lost my vision and how I wouldn't be able to see my kids or look at Josiah's photos and I would forget what they looked like.  That was the only time I let myself go down that train of thought.  It was certainly inconvenient not being able to drive so I am very thankful for my sight.

I talked to Isaac about God's perfect timing.  This happened on a Saturday when Graham was home to watch the kids.  It didn't happen the following Saturday when Graham was in Montreal. 

Lily-Anna likes to "read"

Okay, it's time to add some photos, get out the nativity sets, and think up something for Isaac's birthday!  Thanks for any prayers!  May you have a blessed Christmas, full of the love and light of Jesus.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Luke 2:10-14
And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you:  you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!"