Keren

As many of you have heard by now, our niece Keren is with Jesus. She went home to be with Him yesterday morning.

Every day with Keren was a miracle we didn't know if we could expect. You see, she was born 6 1/2 years ago with trisomy 18. The official medical classification of this condition is "nonviable with life." Most trisomy 18 kids never make it to birth, let alone the first month of life. Our Keren made it 6 1/2 years.

And she did so much more than survive. She thrived! She surpassed everything the doctors initially told us she would be capable of! She loved, laughed and played every day. She had a unique relationship with each of us and would greet us each a little differently. She loved her sisters and she loved balloons! She loved giving hugs and very wet kisses and she loved pulling beards (just ask Uncle Kris).

Through the years we knew each moment was precious and that Keren's life would be shorter than ours. We knew in our minds that any number of things could take Keren's life quickly. But somewhere in our hearts we had chosen to forget that. She has been so healthy and strong, overcoming common colds that she shouldn't have been able to conquer so easily. When the day came so quickly that this changed, it took us all by surprise. We knew she hadn't been feeling well for a few days but in a matter of minutes it seems this went from a cold to the End.

So Jesus took her home yesterday morning. It seems He took her quickly. And today she is laughing, running, jumping and dancing like she never could here on Earth. Today she is singing to Jesus with words that her lips were never able to form here. Today she is giving Jesus one of those signature "Keren hugs" that we all miss so much.

And that is why our hearts are sad. Because we miss her. Please pray especially for Keren's parents, Kraig (Kris' brother) and Loren. They are hurting in a way none of us can truly comprehend. And pray for their other girls. Clare (3 1/2) and Evelyn (1 1/2) are missing Sissie very much and are struggling to understand.




Here are a few fun pics of Keren & her sister Clare. She was so full of joy and I wanted you to see that.

Thank you for your prayers and help. We've been able to feel the support of those prayers already.

The job of a big brother

Eli takes his role as a big brother very serious. One of our favorite parts of this is the way he is educating Simeon. Every once in awhile he gets right in Simeon's face and begins to "tell" him all about things. We don't understand most of what he is saying yet but we catch words like "Daddy" "Mommy" "ball" etc. And when Simeon responds, it always makes us all smile.

Meeting Great-Grandma

For Thanksgiving we went to GR to be with my family. Simeon met Great Grandma N for the first time. As soon as she started holding him, he started smiling and talking to her! We love you, Dama!

Baking

Eli has discovered the fun of baking with Mommy . . . licking the spoon!

My Boys

This is one of my current favorite pics . . .

Guitar

A couple of the guys from CityLife have brought their guitars over to play. Eli was fascinated and wanted to try.

Fun everywhere

While we were in Chicago, Eli was entertained for quite awhile with a dot of light. Enjoy the giggles.

Good Impressions

The things you do to impress a girl when you are 21 months old . . .

This is Eli's good friend Sarah.

Chicago trip

A few weeks ago we went to Chicago for a very quick but very fun trip with some friends.

We went to the zoo. The lion was Eli's favorite.

He really liked the "oo-oos" also (also known as the monkeys).

We walked a lot.

A lot.

Simeon speaks

Simeon has become quite chatty at 2 1/2 mths old.

Singing

Eli has been all about the singing lately. We thought you might enjoy seeing it. He had just finished enjoying a piece of chocolate cake . . . thus, the beard.

Smiles

I have so many pictures that I need to post to bring you up to date. Until I have time for that, though, I thought I might share a few smiles . . .

And, yes, that is spit up in his mouth. Kris calls Simeon a leaky faucet. He is a spitter!

Halloween

This Halloween was so fun! Eli was a lion with a great little "roar". Simeon was a giraffe that was simply adorable. Kris dressed up as the zoo keeper. We thought that was rather appropriate.

Eli had so much fun with his costume that he kept asking to wear it while playing.

Simeon was such an adorable giraffe! While we were out trick or treating, people kept giving him extra candy. Usually they offered him more right after they asked how old he was, which makes sense since he was six weeks old!

At the end of a long night of trick or treating, our little lion couldn't make it the mile and a half home.

Climbing into trouble

Eli has really gotten bold with climbing. He is always into and on everything. A few days ago I caught him climbing under a dining room chair. He got stuck and was less than amused. Mommy, on the other hand, found it entertaining. I couldn't rescue him until I took the picture.

Cold weather here we come

We had a few really cold days in October. Eli discovered the joys of bundling up and it definitely did not slow down his desire to play outside!

Apple Orchard

In October we made it to one of our favorite Apple orchards to play and pick pumpkins.

The pumpkin hunt was successful. This is only part of the group of friends that we played with that day. It was a beautiful but cold day!

Hunting

One of the joys of living in an old house is spiders. Eli and Daddy like to spider hunt together.

Eli especially likes to show off the squished spider after the hunt!

Fall Fun

Selah Concert

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to a Selah concert. Selah is one of our favorite groups. This concert was special because the entire Smith family was there, including Nicol Smith Sponberg, who is married to one of my good friends, Greg. We hadn't seen them in a few years. It was a blessing to reconnect. Check out Greg's blog from the link "Light Your World" on the side bar of this blog.

Greg shared his heart and story of losing their 10 week old son, Luke, earlier this year.

The boys enjoyed the concert, too.

And we got to meet Greg & Nicol's daughter for the first time. She is adorable!

Brothers

Simeon adores his big brother! He has really started to smile and Eli gets more smiles than any of the rest of us. And Eli thinks his baby brother is pretty great, too. He is always asking for Simeon to sit with him, play with him, share his apple . . .