The Waring's Journey: Grandma's 70th Birthday

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Grandma's 70th Birthday

Saturday we went to Fort Scott, Kansas to celebrate my mother-in-laws 70th birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom :)

I have to be honest and say that with as busy as we've been this past month and with all of the frustrations with our embryo waiting, I really wasn't feeling up to going out of town and celebrating anything. I even told my husband that I felt maybe he and the kids should go without me. Then, just a few hours before getting ready to go, I decided to suck it up, put my shoes on... and just go. As soon as we arrived, I felt the tiredness and heaviness of my heart just lift and I was so glad I'd come. My In-Laws were so sweet and such a pleasure to be around. Their smiles and excitement to see the kids was awesome too. The room was already set up for the party and a lunch was set out for us to enjoy before the celebration began.

We all sat around a pre-school table in the Sunday school room to eat.

Here is my MIL, hubby, FIL, cousin Michaela, Addi, Aunt Brenda, Bailey, and Levi

Before people started arriving, we snapped a few pics of everyone.

This is Richard's family

It was Grandma's big day so here's one with her grand kids

And one with Grandpa too

The grand kids

My hubby with his sister, Brenda... she's the oldest

Aunt Brenda with her daughter Michaela

Our family

Cousin Michaela

Our kids...

Bailey, Levi, and Addison

As we sat and waited for the party to begin and people to show up, the kids played with Grandpa.

Just watching them interact together got me to thinking about the fact that Grandpa, Grandma and many of the relatives are getting up there in years and just how important it is for all of us to have this time together. Once this thought hit my heart I grabbed my camera and began snapping pictures of everyone. Life is short and way too busy, I don't want to take for granted, anyone here, assuming that they will always be around in my life. I don't want to miss this opportunity to love and enjoy each and every person who walks through the door to celebrate with us; knowing that it might be a long time again, before I see their faces and these small moments with them could be our last and precious.

Aunt Brenda spoiling the kids with treats she'd saved for them.

Levi sharing his love with his beloved Auntie

Me sneaking in close to my MIL and loving on her

As people entered the room and hugs continued to happen, I realized just how special this moment in time was for each of us. If I had given in to my business, tiredness, and frankly lack of wanting to be social, I would have missed this opportunity to love on those I have not seen for years, nor will possibly ever see again. As time has sliped by and months turned into years, I am saddened that I haven't taken advantage of more of these opportunities to be with the people I love and call family.

So many much loved and missed distant Cousins, Aunts and Uncles... And wonderful friends

... Like Richard's Great Aunt Gladys who I have not seen in years.

Oh how I've missed her!

Bailey cut and served 4 large cakes.

Aunt Barbara, Aunt Mary, Aunt Effie...

And others...

All together there were 92 people who came to say happy birthday to my MIL.

The girls with their Great Uncle Donnie

And Great Aunt Kathleen

Have you ever noticed how there can be 100 other chairs in the room, but still your babies (no matter how big they are) want to sit on your lap? LOL

Then... once one of your kids is perched on your knee, soon another will follow. :))

And before you know it...all of your kidos are in the picture. I love it!

Poor Levi...Mom's lap just couldn't hold him too. Hahaha

All in all, we had a wonderful time and I'm so glad we came. I look forward to the next time when our family's will see each other again.

Thank you Lord for changing my heart and helping me to set aside everything that is weighing me down and put those I love, as a greater priority in my life today. Thank you for showing me the importance of family and friends and the blessings they bring to my life.

Jesus, You are so good to me ...Always.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Our Hope To Adopt Embryos

Hi, my name is Tracy and here is our story,

My husband, Richard, and I have been happily married for 21 years. Early on in our marriage, we were diagnosed with complete male factor infertility. We have been blessed with three beautiful children through separate open adoptions. Bailey, now 17, was born during the time of our lives when my husband and I were grieving the loss of our only pregnancy from donor insemination. She was born when our baby would have been. Her birth was like a healing salve to our hurting hearts. Once we discovered that the Lord could fill our aching arms with such delight through adoption, we began to pray for the Lord to bring us another child.

We hoped and prayed for 6 years when Addison was born. She is now 11. In the time of waiting until the Lord brought our second child into our lives, He did an amazing work upon our heart towards opening our relationship up with Bailey's birthmother. We started out slow and before we knew it, she was a full active part of our family. Today, she is my best friend and we share many of our life experiences together. When Addison came into our lives, her birthparents were already friends that we had known for some time and loved dearly. Keeping the doors of our relationship open throughout her adoption was easy and our hearts today love them with even a greater love than ever before.

Levi is 3 and we just had his birthday party with many friends, our family and his birthmother and her family also. Reiko, his birthmother feels like a daughter to us and her presence in our family is wonderful. She has recently birthed another son named Heidern (pronounced Heiden), that we consider our grandson even though he is Levi's 1/2 brother.

We love all of our birth families very much and have contact with them on a regular basis. We have five birth families for our three children. Keeping everyone up to date with all that goes on in our family is much easier done with updates on our family blog.

For me, the road to motherhood for the past 21 years seemed only possible through domestic adoption. Now that the Lord has opened my eyes to embryo adoption, the longing to birth is again revived and stirred within me. The thought that there might be a way to hold a child of mine without traveling through the pain of another person, is something I look forward to. I love my children so dearly but I also know that their birth parents felt deep sorrow during my greatest time of joy (their birth). That realization is so hard on my heart because of the love I hold for them.

As a profession, I am a labor doula. I watch families birth without sorrow and it is so different than what I've witnessed with the births of my children. I pray that the Lord will allow me to experience this side of motherhood and to have joy without sorrow as our sweet new baby/babies come into our lives. We are praying that the gift of someone's embryos would be this for us.

We are so excited to meet and get to know the family of the embryos and make them a part of our family. We promise to love and cherish the children that come from them and the door to our hearts and home will always be open for you to get to know the children born. Honestly, there is nothing more precious to us than the lives of our children and the hope of the children to come.

We will continue to pray for this dream to come true and place our hope and trust upon the Lord to continue to build our family. We know that in His perfect timing He will bring us our precious little embryos, and bond us to (hopefully) you , a beautiful genetic family.

I have a life verse that has encouraged me throughout our journey.

1 Peter 5:10

But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Waiting for the joy set before us,

Richard and Tracy Waring.