In Florida...

Almost as quickly as Christmas came, it was gone. The taking down of Christmas, unlike the putting up, always comes with little fanfare and even less help. As Wade and I quietly took the tree down while the kids were back in school, we discussed a post-Christmas fall that my sweet grandmother took and whether I should fly out to Florida, to aide in her recovery. In her 90's, this is her second hip fracture in three years and I flew immediatey back the last time she fell to assist with her long, painful recovery.

After talking through all of it with Wade and the kids, I made the prayerful decision to fly to Florida with my mom to help with my grandma's painful journey.  With underlying cardiac issues, there was initial concern that my grandma would not actually make it through the grueling recovery process. My mom needed to be with her mom and with my dad no longer here to travel with her, I felt it was best for me to step up and assist both my mom and her mom.

We flew into Tampa a week ago today. We have a hotel on the beach in Clearwater...just 10 minutes from the hospital. We wake up each morning to the splashing waves, looking out at the beautiful water in the gulf before heading into the hospital for very long days, spent encouraging my grandma. She has made huge strides in her recovery thus far and I am so proud of her courage as she pushes herself through the painful, twice-daily physical therapy. 

Here's a photo of my mom with her mom, my sweet grandma Love.

And one with me and my precious grandma, whom I love so very much...

Although I miss my family terribly, am missing Colton's 10th birthday TODAY and am missing Audra's softball team playing in CA this weekend, I know that I am right where God wants me to be. I am blessed to be here! I'm praying that my grandma continues to improve and that my final four days here will be a blessing to her.

Happy New Year

As our family hides away from the world in our tree-top cabin these final days of 2011, we are grateful for the past week we've had to step away from our hectic schedules and to-do lists so that we might enjoy just being together. No alarm clocks, no schedules, no TV, no hurries and no pressure. Instead, we've enjoyed late night movies, lazy slow mornings, lots of board games, hot chocolate, the warmth of the fireplace, sledding in the snow, daily walks through the beautiful, cool outdoors and precious, unhurried family time. My heart has been warmed watching siblings huddled together, truly enjoying each other and I woke this morning to the sweet sounds of our sons playing imaginary games. This doesn't often happen at home, where the stress, chaos and hectic pace of our everyday lives diminishes our ability to truly enjoy each other on this same level.

As we get ready to ring in the New Year, we do so with hearts overflowing with gratitude. We are thankful that God wove the friendship and love of so many amazing people into our lives. Many blessings to you and yours in the coming year.  God bless!

Our Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,                                                            Christmas 2011

It’s been a great year for our family and what better way to share our news than in the Christmas letter. After years of the day-to-day grind, Wade’s business finally became profitable enough that several larger companies approached us, requesting that we sell. After much consternation, we accepted an offer that would allow Wade to retire at year-end, while providing financial security for our family. He is planning to purchase a working cattle ranch in Texas in the next month or so and is excitedly looking forward to making all of his cowboy dreams come true with this early gift of retirement!

As we’ve looked into spending more time in Texas next year, I’ve decided to discontinue my high school and local club coaching commitments so that I can pursue collegiate coaching opportunities that have arisen at TCU where, following several phone interviews, they’ve requested we fly out and we are told, they are prepared to make an offer. How cool is that?

Audra, our bubbly, joyful sophomore, has a unique opportunity to continue her high school studies overseas and has been accepted as an exchange student, where she will be living off-and-on in Europe for the next two years, while studying abroad. Of course, what 15 year old girl would not be deliriously happy to shop in Paris and explore the French Riviera as part of her school work? 

Although we are not American Idol fans, we’re all very excited for next year’s competition as Sierra, after several private auditions, has been accepted as an American Idol participant and is currently working with Jordin Sparks as her private voice coach. This is truly a dream come true for our sweet, confidant Sierra and we are all extremely overjoyed for her!

It’s been a rough year for our diligent, kind-hearted and focused son, Buck, who suffered his second knee dislocation in the fall. Based on MRI’s and bone scans done during the dislocation, the doctors revealed some great news, saying that Buck’s long-term football future looks extremely bright as they project he will grow to a height of about 6’6”. It’s just not possible to verbalize how absolutely thrilled he is about this news, as he hopes to one day play in the NFL.

Colton is still our little stick of dynamite, with a fuse the length of an eyelash, shockingly intense about absolutely everything. Although Colton has always been proficient in sports and a fierce competitor, we had no idea that his true gifts were in dance. Colton joined a local youth theater company this past year where a talent agent plucked him from a small dance troup and secured a two-year contract for him as a young, up-and-coming dancer, who will be appearing in various productions in the Los Angeles and New York areas. Of course, his retired dad will be traveling with him and I’m not sure who is more excited, Colton or Wade!

I know, I know, it all sounds unreal and clearly, IT IS...Gotcha!  Wade thought it would be funny to spice it up this year and I enjoyed the rediculously fun creative writing, which spares you from another humdrum Christmas letter about the minutia of our daily lives.

The truth is, we are all well, blooming where we are planted with cups overflowing. I am perpetually left undone at the speed in which time passes and as life keeps our active family running at full speed, we remain intentional about slowing down to enjoy simple blessings, service to others and face-to-face relationships, mindful to embrace the precious moments of this fleeting life, while making memories that we’ll forever carry forward. Our journey is filled with enormous joy, endless gratitude, faith-filled hearts and small victories, but it also comes with our share of bumps, bruises, mistakes, failures and disappointment along the way. Keeping an eternal perspective, as we travel the ups and downs of life, helps us focus on what is truly significant.

Although our paths certainly don’t cross as often as we’d like, please know that we carry you along in our hearts. Thank you for being a very special part of our journey!  We hope that you celebrate, with great joy, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, in this wonderful season we call Christmas. May the hope that only He can bring, the grace He extends freely and the love He has for you, be yours now and in the coming year.  

Many blessings!  

Christmas Blessings

It's been so long since I've managed a post, but I've stepped away from the Christmas cheer long enough to say Merry Christmas!

The kids came home from church last night, singing Christmas carols and hymns, bouncing off the walls with the exuberant excitement that only Christmas Eve can bring. Colton, previously 100% sure about the validity of Santa, declared that he was "50/50" this year, which brought a small pain to my heart. Kids too soon grow up.

The morning came early. Wild footsteps, giggles and whispers filled our room as small voices declared the day...Merry Christmas! We celebrated, with great joy, the birth of our Savior after enjoying the advent season, waiting in anticipation for His big day. The weeks of shopping and wrapping were unveiled in mere moments with shreds of paper, squeals, hugs, shrieks and many more hugs. Sierra baked the traditional birthday cake as we gathered around, young and old, to sing happy birthday to our King. 

Peace abides in our hearts and our home, the peace that we find in the birth of that tiny baby who came so that we might truly live. The grace of our loving God, who extends His greatest gift that we forever carry in our hearts.

Christmas blessings and much peace, love and joy in the coming year!

October

As many of you know, my schedule has been overloaded coaching Audra's club softball team. With three tournament weekends in October spent as various fields across town, our team chose to wear pink jerseys and pink socks all month in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness. At each tournament, AZ Pastime was easy to spot on Saturdays as we were always the team wearing the most pink. 

The girls also chose to wear pink ribbons in recognition of a school and church friend, Katie Wagner, who at the tender age of 15, is facing her own battle with stage 4 cancer. (I can not imagine, as a parent, taking my apparently healthy child in for an abdominal issue only to learn that it's stage four bone and lung cancer.) Not only is this family facing their unbelievable battle with faith and with courage, Katie is using this situation as a missionary, bringing as many people to Christ as she can as she travels along this journey. As her mom so bravely stated in church recently, if God brings you to something, He will bring you through it.

Here are some ways you can help the Wagner family in their time of great financial burden and in their quest to fight for Katie.

Katie and her family are residents of the Anthem Community. There are several ways to support the family even if you are not able to give financially.  The following businesses have committed to give a DOLLAR for every "LIKE" on their FACEBOOK Page.  Go to their pages and just click "LIKE".

Boates Law Firm
Levinson Law Firm
Choice Medical Walk In
Pro Skill Plumbing
ImagesAZ

More and more Anthem businesses are doing this so keep checking Facebook for these opportunities. 

To keep up with Katie's progress or to send her and the family prayers and good wishes check out the following pages on FACEBOOK.

Wagner Family Support
Katie Wagner Support Stickers
Get Well Katie Wagner

Romans 8:28  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Linking hands in support of Katie during the hands-across-Anthem day when we we were playing in her honor.

The girls wearing their hair ribbons with Katie's name and the Romans 8:28 scripture verse