Good Bye Uncle Art - We Miss You!

This past week we said so long to a very beloved man - Tim's Uncle Art. After a two year eight month battle with Glioblastoma, stage-four brain cancer, we rejoice that Art has left this world to be with his loving Father. It was truly an honor and privilege to know Art and call him family. He was a man of priorities, with relationships being of the utmost importance. He was a devoted husband, doting father, loving brother, proud uncle, motivated worker, and loyal friend. After attending his funeral and visiting with those close to Art, it was evident that he was able to leave this world without regretting missed opportunities to spend time with those he loved. 

Here are excerpts from Art's obituary: 
Saunders, Arthur William III died peacefully at home early Sunday morning, August 19th, 2012. He was surrounded by his loving family. He was 61 years young.... He was a great friend to many, making and keeping lifelong friendships.... He indelibly marked each friendship with his personality.... Robbie and Art have celebrated 35 years of a beautiful marriage. Together, as best friends, they have been an unstoppable team, especially fighting Art's Glioblastoma, stage-four brain cancer. Throughout this 2 year, 8-month battle, Art showed all of us how strength, grace, humor and love can prevail in the face of great adversity.... The world lost an epic husband, father, brother, and friend. The upside is that Heaven just got a lot more fun!

Our prayers continue to be with Art's wife Robbie and their two beautiful daughters, Christina and Alyssa. In the words of Tim's mom Sallie "The battle is over, and the victory is won." We miss you Uncle Art and love you very much!

Art loved spending time on Love Lake

The 4th of July was always a big deal at the Lake - next year will not be the same without Art. 

College Reunion 2012

Last weekend was one I've been looking forward to for months. My college roomies/friends came in from all over the country for a girls (& babies) weekend together. Planning this weekend is becoming a more momentous occasion each year as the number of babes is growing exponentially. The first year there was just one babe. Last year there were 3 and this year there were a whopping 7! How fun it was getting to know one another's kids and watching each woman take on the role of motherhood with such grace and beauty. As a mom myself, it was also very encouraging being around other moms that humbly strive to raise their kids to know and love the Lord.

I'll admit though that my favorite part of each day was when all the kids would be in bed and we could catch up and share joys and struggles from the past year. In the days and weeks following this reunion each year, I promise myself that I will not let another year pass where I fail to intentionally keep these relationships strong and close. Even though we meet each summer and easily fall back into close community, my prayer and hope is that this closeness will remain  strong throughout the year regardless of the many miles that separate us.

Finally got all the kids settled

Trying to get the kids settled

What beautiful babes! We considered it quite the feat that we actually got all of them to sit still for 2 minutes. You can't tell from the picture, but every single parent is standing above the circle of kids doing whatever silly thing we can to get them to smile. Only second after taking this, the four little babies of the group were overwhelmed and screaming.

Caleb is excited to spend time with his buds.

Precious Everly (Jori's baby)

Lisa's second, Gavin

Caleb is just learning to sit.

The face plant followed just moments after this photo

Such a happy boy!

Happy 5 Months Baby Boy!

Someday I'll post the monthly update on time, in the meantime, here are the highlights and milestones from Caleb's 5th month of life:

• The March family is gettin' it's groove back! Even though the first 4 months were full of awesome moments, they were also very challenging and draining at times. With more sleep and the confidence that we are equipped to care for Caleb, we are taking it one day at a time and enjoying almost every minute :)
• Caleb is able to sit up for a few brief moments with minimal assistance, only having face planted once at this point. 
• We tried introducing solids at 4 months, but either Caleb's digestive system wasn't quite ready, or he had a bad stomach bug (which made for LOTS of poopie diapers).
• After a few bouts of crying at nap time (the most being 29 minutes and 30 seconds... which happened when I said I would officially let him cry for 30 minutes), Caleb fell asleep on his own for the very first time. After months of rocking, bouncing, singing, walking and shushing, it felt like magic watching him roll over and close his eyes! 
• Caleb is starting to grab at and reach for toys (and our faces) and is able to transfer objects from one hand to the other. 

Here's Caleb at 5 months (and 2 days, oops):

 

More of the Broadmoor, Please

We just recently spent 5 glorious days at the Broadmoor in Colorado with the March family. Highlights included riding a train up Pike's Peak and biking down the mountain, the Cog Rail through the Royal Gorge, golfing, taking Caleb in the pool, a spa day with the March women and a car ride through Garden of the Gods. What a joy and privilege it is to be able to all take time out of busy lives to enjoy family and God's beautiful creation.

While most of the week was filled with the highlights mentioned above, we did witness one of the scariest things I've ever seen. Each year a race is held on Pike's Peak with hundreds of cars racing the clock to the top of the mountain. We happened to ride the train to the summit on the day of the race this year. It was neat to see the cars at first, until a tragic accident occurred. One of the cars was not able to stop in time and therefore missed the turn at the top. After hitting the large rocks that were meant to act as a barrier, he rolled through the air and hit a 6-year old girl, flinging her into the air. It was especially heart wrenching watching the parents hover over their little girl - I can't imagine something like that happening to Caleb. Thankfully, she was okay and has since been released from the hospital, but we'll never forget what I saw that day.

Standing in front of Garden of the Gods

"Garden of the Gods"

Could I be any cooler?

Our sister-in-law Mary with adorable Daniel

Chillin with his cousins, Mercy & Daniel

Fun cousin time

Caleb with Gagu

At the beautiful Broadmoor 

Fun times with Mercy