Blessings

Jinnae is blessed with a great dad and I am blessed with a great husband.

We came home to this note and beautiful flowers.

What a good life we have.

The Bad and the Good

The Bad News:

• My throat has killed for the last week and teaching has been difficult. This morning, I decided to go to a med stop. I have strep throat.


• I had to miss Chloe's baptism today.

The Good News:

• I have medicine now to help my very, sore throat.



• I had a Christmas staff party at my house on Saturday and it was a great time. I am fortunate to work with such wonderful people.



• Jinnae had her first sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa Gerst's. She was spoiled like crazy and loved every minute of it.



• It is almost Christmas!



• I have a wonderful husband, beautiful daughter, and super friends.



• Jesus is my best friend.

Doing My Own Photo Shoot?!

Ok, so I thought rather than getting Jinnae's first Christmas pictures professionally done, I would do my own photo shoot.

Well, having a one year old cooperate for posed pictures is nearly impossible. This is why I teach fifth graders. I say, stand still and smile and they do. My own daughter, on the other hand, a different story. I love Jinnae like crazy and even though these shots are not professional, they are still fun. Enjoy!

Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

On Saturday, we went out to cut down a Christmas tree. It is Rick and I's tradition to make homemade hot chocolate, put it in a thermos, and bring it with us to cut down a tree. Once we pick out a tree, we pour the hot chocolate, and toast the tree a few times and thank it for giving us oxygen, providing a home for animals, sequestering the carbon in the atmosphere, etc. (the last one was Rick's, of course. :))

Jinnae was happy to join in on this tradition too. She enjoyed the hot chocolate in her sippy cup.

Jinnae's First Steps

On Thanksgiving morning, Jinnae took her first unassisted steps. It was two steps and we as parents were so proud. She now stands, takes two steps and falls. It won't be long before she is running all over the place.

Our friend, Tara , ordered her daughter, Vania, some Nike shoes on the Internet. When they came, they were baby shoes. Vania was kind and instead of sending them back, let Jinnae purchase them. Jinnae is now able to wear these shoes and loves them for walking in. Thanks, Vania!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever.

We had a wonderful day with family today. We spent lunch with Vicki's side of the family. Great Grandma Gerst enjoyed holding and feeding Jinnae pie and her aunts, uncles and cousins doted on her.

We then had dinner at Rick's sister, Rhonda's. We enjoyed more great food and a fun game of Swap. The boys also had a great time wrestling with Uncle Rick.

We are thankful for our many blessings.

Generous Giving

We have been less busy this weekend which is nice. We had a great church service on Friday night where we discussed and came up with a plan to help others in need this holiday season. There is a website called Other People Matter where you can find needs in your community and help. We also have begun focusing on the Jewish perspective and background of Jesus.

Jinnae is close to being able to walk and is a very happy girl. I look forward to the coming short work week - only 2 1/2 days until Thanksgiving Break! We also are excited to start some new and continue some old family traditions with Jinnae.

This is a picture of Jinnae waiting to go to daycare. Rick is wonderful about getting her ready each morning. He gets her up, changed, dressed, and even does her hair. Here she is waiting patiently on the couch while Rick puts his shoes on. She is very happy in the mornings. I have the privilege of picking Jinnae up in the evening. I cannot resist trying to help out in the morning though and Rick has to remind me that the morning is his time. :)

Presidential Election Party- 2008

I know it's a little late, but I didn't want to forget to mention about our election party. We had a great time with friends and neighbors who stopped by. We would all drink red kool-aid when a red state won, and blue kool-aid when a blue state won. We had great discussions and laughs. Rick was waiting for a green state to pop up but it never happened.

Jinnae had fun playing with her friends Taylor and Sydney. Here she is with Taylor.

Happy Birthday, Vicki!

It was my birthday this past week. I am thankful for all the cards and gifts yet most thankful to have God in my life, a loving husband, beautiful baby, awesome family and great friends.

I was sick and had parent teacher conferences on my birthday. I knew I wasn't doing well when I didn't want to eat all the chocolate my friends brought me at work but I am doing much better now.

Jinnae gave me flowers, Rick made me a homemade chocolate lava cake, and surprised me with a hot tub. He found this hot tub brand new on Craig's list for a very low, low price. Craig's list is an awesome place to shop if you have not discovered it yet.

I am thankful for the life God has blessed me with. I hope to live for him each day by caring for the poor, helping the disadvantaged, and restoring the world to what he would have it be.

AIDS Packages

Once a month our home church visits a homeless shelter in Grand Rapids. We visit the residents and play Bingo with them. We buy prizes for them to win that they can use. Prizes they really enjoy are homemade treats, hats, gloves, shoes, etc. We always have a good time. This time we brought medical supplies for the residents to put AIDS packages together. These packages will be sent to Africa to help give basic care to those suffering with AIDS. We formed an assembly line and put twenty-five kits together. The residents were proud that they could help people in need since they receive so much help themselves. It was a good evening.

Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. I John 3:18

Happy Halloween!

Jinnae loved her first Halloween. Jinnae was a giraffe, Rick was a gangsta rapper, and I was a pirate. It only took two houses for Jinnae to get the hang of holding out her bucket for treats. The bucket was getting heavy and she would not let go of it, she knew what was in it. :) After trick or treating we went to our friends Marc and Shelby's for a party.

By the way, we are loving our sewing machine (you can laugh). We whip up all sorts of things. We were able to sew my pirate skirt in a hour and it only costs $2.00!! This machine is a lot better than the old fashioned thing I had in my 8th grade sewing class. :)

Teacher's Convention

Each year, my school has the teachers attend a teacher's convention. It is always informative and a lot of fun. This year it was held in South Bend, Indiana on Thursday and Friday. I was very relaxed and had a good time. I knew Jinnae was in good hands with Miss Ella and her Dad. I did wonder why Jinnae seemed so tired when I picked her up on Friday. I found out later that Rick let her stay up until 10:30 pm! He said she was playing nice and didn't want to go to bed. :)

At the convention, my friends and I laughed a lot, ate too much and were creative. We decided that it was crowded for two people to sleep in a full size bed so we pushed the beds together. This worked out well. We all had more room.

My friend, Vonnie drove all seven of us in her minivan. Her husband didn't think that we could do it. He thought, as women, we would not have room for all the luggage. Well, we did it! All the luggage fit in the back nicely.

I would share more but some things that happen at the convention, stay at the convention. :)

Pictures in the Park by Cassie

Here are a few of my favorite pictures that Cassie took last week.

Six Month Agency Visit

October 11, 2008

Six months ago

On Thursday, we had our six month check up as adoptive parents. We will have one more when we have had Jinnae for one year. It is hard to believe that it has already been close to six months. We first held Jinnae on April 24, 2008. October 24 will be six months. Well, I had no worries about this check up ahead of time. I was pretty confident it would go well.
Here is what happened:
I picked Jinnae up from daycare at 4:30 pm.
We went to Family Fare and bought some heat up coookies so the house would smell good when the social worker was there. We also bought some chicken and macaroni and cheese from the deli for dinner.
We arrived home and picked up the house and then had dinner. Halfway through dinner, Jinnae pushed her plate away (anyone who has ate with Jinnae knows this doesn't happen. She never leaves even a crumb)
So, I say, what is wrong Jinnae? She looks horrible all of a sudden. I get her out of the high chair and she begins to fall asleep in my arms. Her lips turn purple, she begins shaking and feels like an ice cube. I freak out and call Rick. I can't get a hold of him. I call my sister, I can't get a hold of her. I decide I cannot keep making phone calls, I need to take care of Jinnae so I wrap her up in two blankets and hold her. She looks like she is going to throw up. Then she has bad diarrhea. It was everywhere. All over her and me. Next, I gave her a bath. She seemed to do a lot better after that. I look at the time at the social worker should be arriving in five minutes. No time to cancel the appointment now. I quick change, Rick walks in the door, and the doorbell rings. The meeting did go well, except for Jinnae being sick, the house smelling unpleasant and they documented a mark by Jinnae's lip from when she fell on her toy box earlier in the week. Hopefully, the next check up goes better. Jinnae has been fine since but I will be talking to my doctor tom. We still have the cookies. We will heat them up another day. Also, Rick was late because he was getting me an early birthday present. I will post about how awesome he is another day. :)

Typical Tuesday Turned Terrific

Jinnae was happily surprised when Grandma and Grandpa Gerst stopped by this evening. We all went out for Chinese. Afterwards, we came home, and Grandpa helped Jinnae practice walking. Rick says if Jinnae isn't walking by Halloween she won't be able to go trick or treating. So, she practiced hard. It was a typical Tuesday, turned terrific.

Pumpkin Patch and Ivy's Birthday

Jinnae was invited to her good friend Ivy's birthday celebration this weekend. In the morning, both Ivy's family and Jinnae had their pictures taken at a local park by Cassie. Cassie is a teacher who does photography on the side. She was very kind and took some great shots. Then we all went to lunch together. After that, we went to Post Family Farms pumpkin patch. We went on a hayride, looked at the animals, and bought pumpkin donuts. We then enjoyed pumpkin donuts and cupcakes for Ivy's birthday. Ivy liked the bandana, shirt and princess wand that Jinnae picked out for her. It was a great afternoon!

In the evening, our good friends, Dave and Vicky, came over. Jinnae loved meeting them and liked showing them the frog she got at the birthday party. She holds onto this frog all the time. I think she is fascinated by its eyes.