Playing Catch-Up!

 I feel as if I am about to be as behind on this blog as I am in my scrapbooks!  Since this blog is easier to keep current, I will have to make the effort so that when I DO decide I can take on the daunting task of getting the 'ole scrapbooks out, I will at least know WHEN things happened!

So here goes...

We have had such a mild winter this year.  Even camp has only had a little snow here and there.  I DO love that place when it is covered in snow, it is breathtaking!

 I am LOVING the tray that Scott made me for Christmas.  It is so fun to have candles sitting on it at night giving a gentle glow to the ENORMOUS piles of clothes I fold....

 And my other awesome gift from Scott...these wonderful pull-outs for my cabinets- that he made from scratch!  I was SO IMPRESSED!! He only has 2 more to make and ALL my cabinets will have them! Give that boy a little time, and some space in the garage and he gets after it!

 My mother-in-law gave me this precious little lamp for Christmas and it, too, has provided me much joy.  I LOVE me some  lamp-lit spaces!  So cozy!

 Scott seems to have been on a creative roll lately...Anna needed to be something that started with the first letter of her first name for Spirit Week at school..

 What ELSE would Scott suggest but and "airplane" ?!  He made an almost exact replica of his own plane!  (she got 3rd place for it :/  )

We live in the most beautiful part of California.  There are so many places to hike or bike ride around us.  While we are researching bike trailers for full-sized kids like sweet Lindsay, we have had to stick to walking.  2 weekends ago we went up to Shasta Dam.  WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY to go!

 Snow covered Mt. Shasta is always so majestic!  The water was so ble, Lindsay kept saying she thought we should go swimming.   Brrrr.

We walked all the way across and looked over the side a few times..it is FREAKY!

 Last week, our newest cousin came into the family!   On February 28th, little Miss Amelia Hope Luff was born, weighing a whopping 6 pounds 9 ounces.  Brad and Beckie will have a lot to learn about girls since Amelia is their first one after two boys!

Lindsay was absolutely taken with her!

 She is the tiniest little thing!

Beckie's mom was coming into town this last weekend, so we decided that the boys should come over and hang out at our house while Beckie got things ready at her house...

 We had an action packed day to say the least!

Boys are BUSY!

 and they like to splash!

 Lindsay kept her distance and only asked a couple of times when they would be going back to their house! hahaha  She is so used to peace and quiet!

That night Scott made some incredible pizzas...I mean incredible!

 and we ate under the stars!!

 We ended the evening sitting by the fire pit that Scott built.  Now he for sure wants one of those brick ovens for cooking pizza!  What a perfect evening!

Changes....

 The turning of the "new year" has had me pondering something, especially this year.  Sure, the new year brings new adventures and new endeavors.  But this year, this year,  the changes seem daunting to me.  This year, we say goodbye to what has seemed like "the innocent years" for Lindsay.  This year she will graduate from the comfort and safety of being on an "elementary school" campus and venture on into a new and frightening world....HIGH SCHOOL.

 When you have a brain injured child, the younger years are tough in so so many ways, but it almost feels like the "younger" the child, the more accepting "the outside world" is to those with special needs.

 Lindsay has always had such a vibrant and engaging personality,

 She has been so easy to love.  Everyone in her world has loved her. Loved her.  I am not kidding.

 But, it's easy to love the little ones.  The children with special needs are so cute, so sweet, so innocent.  Their teeth are small (well, not Lindsay's- haha), their needs are simplistic, they don't make people feel "uncomfortable".

 They are so unassuming and approachable.

 

But, now with high school staring us in the face, I find myself doing more "fretting" than I am used to.

"Special" adults aren't as "cute" and they are certainly not  as "approachable".  Many adults avoid contact with people like that, and they don't teach their children how to react when they encounter them either.

 Will Lindsay be loved and accepted in her new world, or will the teasing and bullying begin?

Will she even  be able to tell if she is being teased?

 To add to my stress, we recently had one of our appointments with a doctor who sees Lindsay every six months to reassess her physical therapy needs.  At the end of the appointment, she came over to me  and said, "She's so pretty"  {huh?}  I thought it was the strangest thing to say (but, I do realize that  Lindsay is 5'8" tall, 130 pounds and WELL endowed).  But then she continued, "I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't tell you that that can be dangerous in her situation.  These kids are easily taken advantage of."  Oh.my.gosh.   THAT never dawned on me!  YIKES!!  A new "worry" to add to the growing list.

and...NEXT YEAR SHE IS GOING TO A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL!?

 My mind started going crazy with worry over Lindsay.

But, then I remembered something,

"I KNOW the plans I HAVE for you, says the LORD,

plans to prosper you AND NOT TO HARM YOU,

plans for a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Phew!  God has this all under control.  HE HAS A PLAN!

HE didn't allow this to happen to Lindsay without ALL THINGS CONSIDERED!

 As Mommys, we all have hopes and dreams for our children.  Safety goes without saying, I suppose.
 

While a physical or mental disability can shatter those "original dreams", it seems like God has given a compensating gift to these 'special' kids.  It is part of His unbelievable, wonderful, marvelous GRACE.

If HE  planned her life before she was born,  if he knew she would suffer a life changing brain injury on June 12, 1998 at 8 months old,  if He loves her with an EVERLASTING love...

HE CAN HANDLE HIGH SCHOOL.

and so can I.

 *I am humbled and thankful every single day by the love my other two girls have for their sister.  I don't have the benefit of a "sibling" so I am in awe of the relationship my girls have with each other.  I am so grateful that they feel a sense of responsibility for Lindsay too.  This "unconditional love" prompts them to be very protective over her. 

It's beyond my understanding to think that our heavenly Father loves her more than we do.

(God gave me this gift a few weeks ago.  Lindsay was "coloring" and I was cleaning up after she had gone to bed.  I found THIS PICTURE!  She is 14 years old and this is the first  picture she has ever drawn all by herself of a person.  LOOK at the DETAIL!  We were all amazed. It's as if GOD HIMSELF was saying to me, "Inger! I've got this! Let go and TRUST ME to work my plan for Lindsay's life!" )

"Now to HIM who is able to do exceedingly abundantly ABOVE all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us."

Ephesians 3:20

Life... Through the "Eye" of my Phone

*all these photos are from my phone, so they are not the greatest quality*

Scott and I started watching a new show on Netflix over Thanksgiving while we were home alone with Lindsay.  It's called 'Flying Wild Alaska' and it's from the Discovery Channel (I think). It is all about the remote areas of Alaska where they depend on Bush Pilots for everything.  We told Shae about it, and she gotquickly hooked and all caught up on season 1 during Christmas!

Then, for Christmas, she bought us Season 2 on Amazon.

So, the lack of blogging= Shae's fault.

During Shae's month home we did not go on any trips or do anything exciting...

 But I think I have learned to like not being so busy...there is more time for sister snuggles in Lindsay's bed. 

(this is my favorite thing to see!)

And then, there was the whole..."Let's switch rooms!" evening.  Easier said than done.  Really.

 At least Shae went through every single little thing she has kept for the last 19 years and was finally able to throw away a few things!  Phew!  She had a lot of laughs in the process!

 Anna has wanted Shae's room forever because it has a front facing window.  She was over at a friend's house while all this was happening, so she got to come home to a new (and highly organized) room.  The next thing on the list is to paint her "new" room since it is still grey, and it does not match.

After an entire evening of moving all that stuff, Shae felt like she had her new closet under control (nice bra storage, huh?)

 And she was delighted with her "new room".  She had a candle lit in there every day and really enjoyed the change while she was home.  I like change too, so I was happy to help.

(yes, poor Scott tried to stay out of all of the shenanigans, but we needed his muscles...he was so sweet to help. Oh. and what a great attitude he had. not.)

 Lindsay had to be included in all the changes somehow, so I got out the duvet cover that Shae's friend, Laura had given us as a hand me down and I tried it in Lindsay's room.  To my surprise, it looked great even with her old Pottery Barn Kids set ( I just turned her pillow shams over so the green striped side shows)!

*I am a BIG fan of Pottery Barn, especially now.  This bedding has held up so beautifully-even in the room of a little girl who can be "hard on things".  Thank you to Frances Cratsley, who ordered all this for me while she was a Pottery Barn Kids employee and thank you Trent family for thinking of us with your awesome hand me downs!

 

 I think her room looks more like a "big girl" room now!

Scott had a group at camp the weekend Shae was leaving, so I took her to Sacramento to fly out.  Scott let us stay in a hotel and even treated us dinner at Ruth's Chris.  We had such a wonderful time and we stocked up on some Laura Mercier makeup goodness with what was left of my "cup money".  I was so sad to say goodbye, but it was time for her to get back to business.

Virginia is SO FAR AWAY!
But,

"It is of The Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness"

Lamentations 3:22-23

The day Shae flew out was the same day Lindsay had her "8th Grade Invasion" field trip to Enterprise High School.  I made it home to meet her as she got off the bus...

 She was so excited to tell me all about her day "at high school" and show me her new t-shirt!

 "I'm a Hornet now, Mom, not a Bulldog!"

(i wish she could be a Redding Christian Lion..)

 Since the weather was beautiful and we were on our own for the weekend, Lindsay and I decided to go walk the River Trail.  It was so much fun.  But I was exhausted!  Pushing around a 5'7" 130 pound girl is no picnic!

 Lindsay was adorable.  She spoke to every person or dog we passed, and everyone was so sweet to speak to her!  One lady even said, "Hey, Pretty girl!" as she passed by us a second time on her way back to the parking lot.  Lindsay said, "Mom, that 'wady' was so sweet to me!"

 It was fun having conversation with Lindsay all along the way.  She kept saying that she could hear the river otters swimming, the ducks splashing and the beavers building their dams (she watches a lot of Diego!).  She also asked me if I could "hear that bear sharpening his claws on the tree bark?!"  (a man told us to be sure and look for the bear claw marks on one of the trees!)  I am certainly glad there was NOT a bear on the path..I wouldn't have had the energy to get away very quickly.

We are slowly getting used to life without one of our chicks in the nest once again.  I don't like it when Shae is gone but I am so thankful for where she is.  Liberty University is a wonderful place for her and she is embracing her new semester and all the excitement it brings!

Anna Fay is embracing her new semester too!

Little Miss Fashionista!  I love to see what she is going to come out wearing every day.  Shae was always the same way.  They both seem to have a great sense of style.  I don't know where they learned it,  obviously not from me since I have spent 90% of their lives in camp "Staff" t shirts!

"For the Lord God is our light and protector.  He gives us grace and glory.  No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right."

Psalm 84:11

Christmas Night 2011

 Christmas Dinner is always a yummy event at Scott's parent's house.  They work for several days getting everything just right.  Dottie makes the most delicious stuffing ever! 

Her house is always absolutely perfect, and so beautifully decorated.  Her southern-ness really shines through!

 Laurie comes to visit during her Christmas vacation, and ends up working hard nearly the whole time. I, for one, appreciate the little touches she and her Mama put on everything.  She is amazingly talented and can make something from the dollar store look like it came from Neiman Marcus!

 The table was gorgeous, as usual!

 There was even a special table for two special little boys!

 They settled in nicely to eat their yummy dinner too!

 It was a huge spread of food, as usual! :) And we always eat on "Old Country Roses" china!  I love that, because I don't even have china!  We southern California raised girls don't know about registering for that kind of thing when we are getting married! (But I do now, almost 25 years later!)

 The dessert table is always a big temptation!

 We ALWAYS sing happy birthday to Jesus, the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

(I was looking at these pictures and I think Dottie's house photographs so beautifully!)

 Brad spent the better part of the evening working on a Lego project!  Next year I guess he will be putting together a doll house!!

 My college girl has less than 2 weeks left at home.  Boo!  I have loved having a gym partner!

And the sisters have enjoyed having her here too!