Mr. Pumpkin Head

This year we decided to do something a little different. Instead of carving a pumkin, we made a Mr. Pumpkin Head. It was Madelyn's choice to have a Mr and not a Mrs. He turned out really cute. Daddy and Maddy did a great job. The absolute best part...NO CLEAN UP :)

We now have a Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Sahadi

Well the wedding was a success. Mika looked beautiful and it was such a sweet ceremony. You could feel the presence of their love take over the room. If any little girl has even envisioned how they would want their groom to look at them on their wedding day, Kevin was it! He was so sweet.

We honored my dad all night long.   All of the men in the wedding and some close friends and family wore fish hooks on their jackets. On the first chair, on the front row we had a picture of my dad and a candle burning. The candle burned all night long. Also, the photographer surprised Mika with a little charm that had a picture of my dad that she could wrap around her boutique. The first song of the night was dedicated to my dad as well. Mika took bridal pictures and one of the pictures she was holding a picture of my dad. It was very sweet.



Picture of the chair during setting up. (Bows are not on the chair yet)





Before the wedding started. Notice the fish hook :)



Our little flower girl Madelyn was so good during the wedding. There were two flower girls and Madelyn followed behind Katelyn. Well Madelyn was walking and stopped to pick up the flowers Katelyn had thrown, Ashlee explained to her that the flowers were suppose to be on the floor, so Madelyn just dumped all of her pedals right then and there. Too cute! We put some little drawing boards on the chairs where the little ones would sit and it was perfect. It gave them something to do during the ceremony.  From what I heard on the way out Madelyn danced down the aisle and it did not stop there. This little girl danced the entire night, non-stop. She did not and would not leave the dance floor. Finally around eleven or so we slowly watched Madelyn lay down on the dance floor and go to sleep. John grabbed her and she was out!

So now it is over and we don’t know what to do with ourselves. This will be the first weekend in over a month that I will be home and have nothing to do. It is much needed.

Am I coming or going....who knows.

Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. Life has been CRAZY to say the least. I cannot believe that we are less than two weeks to the wedding. I have gone to Corpus twice so far this month and will be leaving again next week. I am exhausted, but feel like we are getting things accomplished.

Mika’s bridal shower and bachelorette party were a success. We had a blast. Mika had a great turn out of people that love her and support her and Kevin. She ended up with lots of goodies too. I would say that with everything that has been thrown at us in the last 3 months, it was nice to have a weekend that was on a positive side. We all held up really well.

Decorations

Such a sweet gift. Kevin's mom gave her a box of baby/childhood pics of Kevin

Sisters

Mother and Daughter

Mom and all her girls

I pray that Mika is able to maintain the same attitude and will be able to have some sense of peace on her wedding day. It will be a happy/sad day. We are going to honor my dad and all of the men are going to wear fish hooks on their tuxedo jackets. We will also have a candle that burns the entire night in memory of him.

Last weekend we met with the funeral home regarding a headstone for my dad. We all found one we love and are going to get that process started soon. My sweet grandfather made a cross for my dad and had a little plaque made for it. We went Friday and placed it at my dad’s grave. It was so sad to see my grandfather dig a hole to place that cross. We are so happy that there is now something out there to mark his spot though.

Well that is pretty much the update here. We officially have a roof going up on my dad’s house right now and I just received the approval from my insurance for a new roof, fence and a window! J

One more thing, thank goodness for awesome grandparents. Last week while I was in Corpus taking care of some of the Estate process, John's parents, aka Granny and PawPaw, watched Madelyn for me so I could run errands.  So THANK YOU so much Granny and PawPaw. We love you!

Releasing balloons

Our tradition on Emma's birthday/anniversary is to send up balloons and eat cake. So last night we did and Madelyn did much better this year. Last year she did not want to let go of the balloon. This year, no problem. Afterwards, we went in for cupcakes. So we passed them out and are getting ready to eat and Madelyn says "Momma, Emma's not here". Oh... talk about breaking your heart. I told her that she was up in heaven with Papa Mike. We have been talking allot about Papa lately and when asked she will say that  he is "up in the sky with Jesus", those are her words. So she accepted that and went on to eat. Needless to say, Kim and I sat there with tear filled eyes and ate our cupcakes. :(

Here is our picture from yesterday. We had a hard time getting one, between batteries going out in the camera to a two year old not wanting cooperate.

Five years

Five years ago today John and I held an angel in our arms. Five years ago today changed our lives forever and not a day has gone by in five years that I have not thought about our angel. Five years ago today we did the hardest thing we ever had to do and that is saying our goodbyes to our angel. Emma Lucille you are remembered today and always and Mommy and Daddy love you so much. I know that she is up in heaven with our family and the day she was born my father never left her side and I know in my heart he is with her again today.

Every year John and I release balloons and also buy a cake or cupcakes or something for her.



1st Birthday/Anniversary



2nd Birthday/Anniversary

3rd Birthday/Anniversary



I have the fourth picture, but it is on my home computer.

Until we meet again my angel. Love you to the moon and back!

Wow...Beautiful

The Broken Chain

We knew little that morning that God was going to call your name.

In life we loved you dearly; in death we do the same.

It broke our hearts to lose you; you did not go alone;

for part of us went with you the day God called you home.

You left us peaceful memories; your love is still our guide;

and though we cannot see you, you are always at our side.

Our family chain is broken, and nothing seems the same;

but as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.

~Ron Tranmer~

Just a quick update

Kim’s surgery went well and the doctor didn’t think he saw any cancer!!! Praise God. She is doing pretty good, sore, but that is to be expected. My mom and Casey came up on Thursday night to help out. Kimberly was released from the hospital on Saturday. She is staying in our guest room and my mom and Casey slept in the living room. Well around 1am Saturday night they heard a loud pop and then a bunch of crunching noise. To our surprise our dining room window busted out of nowhere. It is double paned and the outside pane cracked. The screen is still intact, so it was not a rock or anything like that. We have a contractor coming out to look at our roof and we mentioned that to them and he said it sounded structural. So please pray that it is not. We really don’t need any more problems at this time.

Wordless Wednesday

When it rains, it pours

Right now my family is experiencing a downpour of grief and sadness. Not only are we all dealing with the loss of my dad, we are now dealing with Kimberly’s diagnosis of cancer. YES, you read that right, Kim has been diagnosed with Stage 2 Uterine Cancer (will know more next week). We are meeting with the oncologist Monday at 4:30. I say we, I am going with her for support or at least to  hold her hand. I am flooded with a range of emotions after her diagnosis, I cannot imagine what she is going through. I can only serve as an encourager and a support system.

With that being said…this comes to mind.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; (EXTREMELY HARD TO DO, BUT TRYING)

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6

VBS and David and Goliath

Yesterday was the second day of VBS and Madelyn did so much better. During Bible story the kids were asked to say "popcorn" prayers, just quick and simple prayers. Well our group of six girls range from two to four years old, so as you can imagine they were not really offering many prayers. I asked Madelyn, what do you give thanks for  and she said " I thank you for the food". It was so cute. At the end of the evening when we all gathered back up, she was starting to show signs of a fit brewing. So I picked her up and carried her to the back. I was considering leaving as she was already starting to throw a fit and Rachel came and took her out of my arms and off they went. Do you know that Madelyn was perfect for her. Rachel went up the stage to help pass out prizes and Madelyn was up there helping.

The VBS theme is "The Big Apple" NYC.

The Little Helper

On the way into work this morning I was listening to a Christian station and they were talking about David and Goliath. This is one of the more familiar stories, I think. So as I drove I thought about it. I am David and my grief is Goliath. I can choose to fear Goliath and run and hide, or I can face it and let my faith sustain me.  The Lord is our personal faith trainer. Always pushing us to grow in faith, to strengthen our faith. In doing this you have to go through struggles and hardships. You can either lean into your faith and trust in the Lord or you can turn from Him. I choose to lean into Him. "With God all things are possible" Matthew 19:26.

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a full blow two year old :)

Thought I would update on Madelyn, that is one of my main reasons for this blog. Just like the title says, we have a two year old. One second a perfect angel and the next the complete opposite. A few weeks ago I needed to get out of the house for a little bit so Maddy and I went to Target. She was a perfect angel. Well I decided to press my luck so off to Kohl's we went. Well this time she decided not to listen to me and to run off from me. Trying to catch her she ran into housewares and proceeded to set the store alarm off. Talk about embarrassing.

Last night was the kick off to VBS. Even though Madelyn is younger we took her and are staying with her. At the end of the night they bring back all of the kids to the sanctuary. Madelyn thought it would be fun to walk up the steps and then when John went to get her she ran away from him. She ended up in the center aisle. I had to go and pick her up and she started kicking and screaming in front of everyone. I am so embarrassed. I don't know what to do with her sometimes? Any suggestions?

Now my mom always said that I was the best baby ever, but when I hit two she would cry herself to sleep I was so bad. Well, am I getting a little glimpse of my payback?

Here are some recent pictures.


Madelyn and her big girl bed

                                             

Silly girl

                                              
  Pirate Madelyn (they learned about Pirates at daycare this week)

                                              

This crazy thing called life

Hello All. I have many friends that blog and I love to read them. It really is an awesome way to stay connected when you can't always be together. With  us being in Fort Worth and the rest of our family being scattered over this great state of Texas, I figured why not start a blog so they can stay up to date with our crazy life and our little girl who seems to grow right before our eyes.


Right now there are so many things going on, it's hard to even begin. One reason I have decided to blog is I am looking for a way to express all of these different emotions I am experiencing right now after the sudden loss of my father. Grief is a very crazy thing. If you give in, I can see how it can take over. I have been thrown into a world where I feel like emotionally, I am all over the map. I am different from one day to the next. I am sad, angry, confused, scared, broken hearted, lost, hopeless and the list can go on and on. I sit here and just think why?why?why? Who knows, only one person knows that answer, someone I am striving to get to know better, my savior Jesus Christ. John and I over the last year have started to become very active in our faith. I now wonder if the Lord lead us at this specific time to help prepare us for what was to come. I have met so many amazing people at our church and they have been the biggest blessing over the last six weeks. Over the last six months one verse has kept coming up over and over to me and it is " I will never leave you nor forsake you". Is someone trying to tell me something? I believe so. I was and am very angry at the Lord for what has happened. In the first few weeks I shut down. I could not pray. However, I have opened my heart and mind back up and have started reading in the bible, looking for something. I came across another verse, not one that you would think would stick out to you so much in the midst of all this grief, but for me it did. I can't even tell you how I came across it. It is 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". I will admit when I first read it, I thought WHAT? REALLY? How can I ever give thanks for this and  I thought about it and thought about it. I can be thankful! I am thankful that the Lord placed me in my father's life. I am thankful that he was my father and am thankful to have known such an amazing person. He is one of the brightest lights in my life and will continue to be always....