kinley is 4!

it is sooo hard to believe my baby girl is 4!! time is flying by and it is amazing to see how these once little helpless babies are growing into amazing little girls! i am constantly blessed by their sweet spirits.

if any of you would spend even 5 minutes with kinley one word that comes to many peoples minds is JOY. this little girl can brighten a room quicker then anyone i have ever met. it is often hard to find her without a smile on her sweet face and every direction she moves she does with a happy spring to her step.

what amazes me more is life is not easy for kinley. EVERYTHING she does is hard...with her delays, motor planning for movement and speech takes sooooo much work... but that doesn't not let this girl down she is a fighter....she will not let it be a joy stealer for her. i have been SOO BLESSED to be her mama! it is amazing what you can learn from you kids and how they approach life and difficulties. she blows me away every day with how she has such a positive attitude even when things are hard! i have learned.... the result is a SWEET celebration when the road there was long and rocky :) what an awesome lesson she has taught me!

kinley hudson guikema....oh how you have my heart! everyday is a happy one with you in my life! i KNOW God has HUGE plans for you and i am sooo excited to have a front row seat! i am soooo proud of how HARD you have worked for each word you have learned!!! what a year you have had! just one year ago you had a HANDFUL of words coming from that sweet mouth of yours...and today you have over a 100!!!!!! i cannot put into words how PROUD i am. i promise to be your greatest cheerleader and encourager...i promise to be your prayer warrior... and to be the arms you can run to when things are hard!

oh sweet girl happy 4th bday! i can't wait to see what God has in store for this year! you are the JOY of my life!

a big snowstorm!

last week we had an awesome snow storm! it dumped almost 2 feet of snow at our house from friday night to sunday morning! we had a great time as a family playing in the snow, baking, crafting, playing games, watching movies and just enjoying each other! here are some pictures for our fun weekend of snow!

~our year with apraxia~

as i look back at 2011 i am amazed at what the Lord has brought us through. i spend some time reading back at blog posts of our year! it was such a blessing to see God take care of us. each hurdle that came our way God lifted us over. there were times it was difficult but we are progressing. this year of challenge that apraxia brought to our family has indeed been a blessing. it truly has brought our family closer, it has strengthened our faith, it has drawn us closer to God, it has touch so many peoples lives....God does use all things for his good.

Kinley is talking...maybe not were a "typical" almost 4 year old should be..but she is TALKING! we were told in march that there was a possibility that would never happen! each and every day she makes steps in the right direction. little things like telling people she is thirsty, hungry, sad, scared, happy...and so many more she could not do but now she CAN :)we also are soooo thankful that we were lead to leave childrens and seek out private therapy at home. we now have an AMAZING home therapist that specializes in apraxia who comes 2 times a week. Kinley LOVES joan and gets so excited to do therapy every time! this is such a HUGE answer to prayer. kinley was having a very hard time at childrens and would cry and beg to not go. so to now have therapy that not only is helping her but also that she enjoys is wonderful.

i want to thank everyone who has supported our family this last year. we COULD NOT have made it without you! you truly touched our lives! please continue to pray for kinley. she has a LONG road ahead with i am sure many difficult times. pray that her JOYFUL spirit does not get injured though this hard journey to finding her voice!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

this year we decided to celebrate the new year with all the kids! we booked rooms at embassy suites in loveland and all headed up there! it was the perfect spot for all of us to be. happy hour. pool, breakfast, and the best part was we didn't have to clean up the mess :) the kids had a blast and we all said we can't wait to do it again next year!

the dads guarding the hallway :)

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there was a lot of dance parties!

a lot of horn blowing :)

alot of parades around the floor

a lot of treats in the hallway :)

and over all just a GREAT time!

we feel soo thankful to have such a great group of friends to celebrate with! here is to a GREAT 2012~

zoo with family

we love the zoo! one of the great things about colorado is that you get to enjoy it all year! every time we have a break from school we head there to check out all the animals. i love that they get just as excited to go each time! dylan and kendal headed to dave and busters while the rest of us headed to the zoo. after a fun day we met all the rest of the family at buffalo wild wings ...yum! such a good day with family!

christmas day #2 at gaga and papas

christmas day

christmas day!!! i think mark and i were as excited as the girls. we had a great christmas day at home. santa had some very special gifts for the girls and we all had a blast the the xbox 360 that day! my parents and auntie dana came right away in the morning to be a part of the christmas morning fun! we had so much fun i didn't even take many pictures! what a special day celebrating christs birth!