the merrick family

Monday, June 23, 2014

Two!

Kendall's birthday happened to fall while we were in Texas so it was so fun to get to celebrate her with family.

A Shipley's sprinkle donut to start her day off right.

The sweet birthday girl

A little practice Easter egg hunt to get the party started

We were so thankful Nana and Papa could come too

Present chaos

Cake time!

The spectators

A little help from big brother

The proud 2 year old!!

We love you big girl! You bring so much laughter and JOY to our lives.

Spring Break in Texas

The kids and I got out of the snow and headed to Texas for their Spring Break. I couldn't have been happier about the warm weather and sunshine...

And sweet family time.

We had a fun visit with Uncle Rick. He and Kendall were fast friends. :)

Luke does a good job recruiting Mario Kart opponents.

Picnicking at DeeDee's

We were so thankful GiGi was able to be there during part of our visit

She's the best!

A DeeDee pile up

DeeDee's dress up bin is something else

These two were too cute together

Billy the baby whisperer...

…and fort builder

This just cracked me up. Feeding his baby. :)

Sweet Lisa and her boys

We couldn't leave Texas in springtime without some bluebonnet pictures

The boys

DeeDee with all of her grandbabes

These two were buds too

We made lots of park visits

There is nothing as sweet as time with our cousins!

I'm breaking the blog hiatus, again. Finally. We made the move to Kentucky and life has slowed way down. We are enjoying lots of family time getting to know our new city a little bit, but with that comes a little extra time to blog.

Way back at the end of March, Val and I converged on Midland for a sister weekend. It was so fun to see Lisa, Daniel, the boys, and their (almost) finished house remodel.

Loving on my sweet nephews

Girl's night!!

I'm so thankful I have sisters. What a gift.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

He is good

Sorry for the lack of updates, it is certainly not for lack of activity or news. I'll get to some catch up posts at some point soon. Michael recently asked if I'm done blogging. I'm not, life just sure is busy.

Today was Miles' due date. As hard as this day has been to get to and through, I can say with more certainty than ever before, the Lord is good.

"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord…Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage." Psalm 27:13-14

Knowing we will not meet Miles on this side of Heaven hasn't gotten any easier, but it is comforting knowing he is in the arms of His maker today and always. I have wrestled through suffering and grief over the last few months and have seen His goodness and mercy shine through it all.

"Darkness transfigures into light, bad transfigures into good, grief transfigures into grace, empty transfigures into full. God wastes nothing-"He makes everything work out according to His plan." Ephesians 1:11

Ann Voskamp One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

In early February we found out we are expecting again! We have kept this news quiet until now, but we couldn't be happier that all things are pointing to a healthy baby due in October. He is so good!

In a way only the Lord could orchestrate, our initial due date was October 17th which was the day we found out Miles was no longer here. I could just hear Him whispering, "I am here."

"The ugly can be beautiful. The dark can give birth to life; suffering can deliver grace."

Ann Voskamp One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

God has placed some truly amazing friends in my life here in GR. They are the friends that show up when things are hard. They surprised me and showed up with prayers and balloons to release in remembrance of Miles today. I can't look at these pictures without crying some really ugly tears. He is so good!

I have lots more to share but the highlights are:

- We sold our house! He is Good.

- We're moving to Louisville in June and have a great rental house waiting for us. He is Good.

- Michael accepted a job in Tyler, Texas as a spine surgeon with Azalea Orthopedics starting next summer! He is so Good!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Six

We have a six year old. How did that happen? We had a couple of fun days celebrating our big boy.

We had a fun family day on his actual birthday. He got a new bike (because Mom backed over his old one…oops) but too bad he hasn't been able to ride it because of this never-ending winter.