Thursday, July 30, 2009

prayers!



this summer has FLOWN by!! i honestly cannot believe it is almost august. it has been 3 months since mark was diagnosed with sarcoidosis. what a journey it has been. god has so used these months to make us stronger. we feel our marriage and family have so been blessed! it amazes me how god uses everything for his good! i have a hard time remembering what life was like before. sad to say but it almost feels normal now. mark is such a strong person and amazes me with how he has accepted this new way of life! we go back to national jewish in about 4 weeks to repeat some tests and see if his disease is progressing. the last 3 weeks mark has been feeling worse, he feels like he has taken some steps backward. he has good days and bad days, but more often we are seeing bad lately. if he continues to get worse we might have to do some chemo drugs to hopefully help him into remission. i am really going to push a lot of rest on mark in the next 4 weeks and see if that helps. i know the power of prayer and i ask for it! please pray that mark starts feeling better more days then not. pray for healing and strength against this nasty disease. thank you all for being such amazing friends and family! we feel so blessed!

guikema girls pictures!

we got pictures done while kevin and jen and the kids were here! so fun! i love that we were able to capture this memory!
the guikema girls!
my sweet girls
love this picture~
my baby~ 18 months!
my girl!
the guikema girls!

4 years going on 16 :)
how cute is she??

love my girls!

trouble!
cheese

getting so big!

guikema visit

mark's brother and family have not been able to visit us in colorado since we got married. living 18 hrs away and having 5 kids makes it hard to travel. but they braved it now that the twins are 4 and make the trip! we were so excited to have them come and see where we live and to visit the awesome state of colorado! it was amazing how well having 10 people in one house went! the kids got along great and we made lots of great memories! we swam, went to estes park, went to the fountains, and just had tons of fun! thank you so much middleville guikemas for braving the drive and coming! we hope it doesn't take another 5 1/2 years to do it again :)


kya so excited to have them here!!
so cute!
the uncle mark pile :)
playing at the fountians
such a good helper!
the guikema 7 ( minus cory)
cousins at estes park
i am such a lucky girl!
bear lake
such cute brothers :)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

seriously?!?!?!

i don't know what the Lord wants to teach me now, but i am done learning :)
kinley got hand, foot, mouth disease this week. joy! what a NASTY virus. well instead of getting better every day, she is getting worse. today she would not drink or eat anything, she had no wet diapers, and would not stop crying. her mouth looked HORRIBLE, and i could not even get her to take tylenol or motrin. we talked to the on call nurse and decided we should take her in to the er to get looked at. they decided she was dehydrated and needed some pain medication. we got her hydrated and got her some "baby vicodin" and she was so much happier. she looked like she was stoned when we left...but at least she was not crying!
we got her home and she has been sleeping ever since!! praise the lord!!
i feel like our life has been one mess after another since april. the beginning of april kinley had tubes placed due to prolonged ear infections we could not clear, mark got diagnosed with sarcoidosis in the end of april, mothers day mark had a set back, fathers day we got the stomach flu, we have crazy medical bills, our house got hit with hail, mark backed into his car with my car....well i could go on and on but i wont :)
what is God trying to teach me...i must be missing something. i know this is life, but i feel like i seriously can't handle anymore. i am so ready for life to just be easy for a little while. i know things could be so much worse, but i need a break :)
at the same moment i feel overwhelmed i feel so blessed! i have an AMAZING husband, 2 beautiful daughters and so many amazing family and friends! i have a baby girl that no long has ear infections, we found an amazing doctor to help us through this new diagnosis of sarcoidosis, i have had so many great moments with my family just being at home and enjoying life, we are getting a new roof due to the hail storm, we have health insurance ( the bills will be get paid eventually), we have 2 cars to drive, and i am married to the greatest guy in the world!!
i know we will get through this current storm and that we will come out the other side stronger.for now i am going to choose joy, to not let it get me down but instead to choose to allow it to make me stronger.

Friday, July 10, 2009

happy birthday kya payton!

kya is 4...what?? how did that happen???
i feel so blessed to have such a sweet girl!
kya is such an amazing little girl. she is wise beyond her years. she is compassionate, giving, loving, kind, fun, outgoing, talkative, sensitive, creative, organized, an amazing sister...i could go on and on!!
here are some pictures from her birthday. kya said she wanted a fairy flower party. kya's grandpa and grandma guikema came from michigan to celebrate. we had a fun fairy flower breakfast, made cupcakes, went swimming, and then had a fun party with family and a few friends. it was a great time!!
i love you kya payton you are a light in my life!
the birthday girl
kinley was so excited

her new high school musical toy
such a sweet girl!
birthday breakfast
kya was so excited to have grandpa and grandma here
her fairy flower!
my little fish
all ready for the party

all set up
kinley loves the cupcake
her beautiful picture from her cousin
the stevenson family got her a bridal dress!!
who knows with these 2!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

4th of july weekend fun!

we had a fun 4th of july weekend. kya was a flower girl in my cousin zach's wedding. it was so fun to see kya be a part of the wedding. she LOVED being a flower girl and asked as we were leaving the reception if she could do it again the next day!! so cute!
thanks zach and kerri for having us be a part of your special day!

kya at the rehearsal dinner
kinley loved playing in the grass

taking a walk around silo park
kya and maci...so adorable!
what a beautiful bride!
are they cute or what??
the girls keeping entertained between pictures
the beautiful view from the reception site
beautiful girl!
love my family!
sweet baby!
the older 4!!
what cute cousins!
kinley loved the dance floor, she kept going spread eagle!!
beautiful girl!
dylan has some great moves!
kya had a blast dancing with her cousins!