Our Life for God's Will: 2013

Monday, December 30, 2013

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014!

May All your days be joyful and blessed

~the Grasham family~

Friday, December 27, 2013

When we are home for Christmas, we make it a point to have Christmas morning be a private time with just Daniel, Hannah and I. We give each other our gifts and Face time with my parents and grandparents while Hannah opens their gifts.

I really enjoy this time we share together.

Of course, the very first thing Hannah grabbed on Christmas morning was her tool bag!

She is her father's daughter.

Grasham Christmas

This year we spent Christmas with the Grasham Family.

We had a great time. Unfortunately, half of us were sick.

Sickness ranged from flu to upper respiratory, to random vomiting, bronchitis and more.

I actually blacked out two night in a row in the middle of the night, that was scary.

My dentist said if I didn't have my night guard in, I would have busted my mouth open and knocked same teeth out. Glad I had my night guard in!

Anyway, I made several gifts this year and I had a lot of fun doing gifts.

I also hosted at my house for a couple meals and it was so nice to have everyone over.

Schlumberger Christmas Party

Daniel's company Christmas party was at the Omni Hotel in Houston this year.

I am pretty sure it was the nicest hotel we've had it in since we've been here for the last 6 years.

It was beautiful, decorated very lovely.

The food was amazing, many options and delicious.

They also had some great entertainment, "The Gentleman's thief".

He has performed on major T.V. networks/channels like NBC, CNN, The View and more.

He was incredible. He is the only man to have pick pocketed the Secret service in front of the president.

As always, Daniel and I look forward to this party all year. We get to be all dressed up and fancy! I love those kinds of dates. We left Hannah with Dan's parents and we stayed the night in the hotel.

Thank you Bill and Toni for keeping Toni, it was a much needed and appreciated night.

I know she had a ton of fun with you all as well!

First Family Holidays

Our First Family is our small group from church.

I always like to make things extra special for holidays when we are together.

Each family brings a dish...their favorite Thanksgiving dish.

Here we are at our "Thanksgiving" in November.
Ham/Turkey/Rolls/Green Beans/Potato Gratin/Sweet Potatoes

Our Annual Christmas Party

This year we hosted out annual Christmas party at our house.

We invited our good friends, enjoyed great food and fellowship and played a lovely game of what I like to call "The Grinch Gift Exchange".

This year, we decided to have it a bit more fancy.

I was excited to wear a nice dress, as were the other ladies as well.

Sarina's 28th Birthday

Seems like September was a whirlwind, in fact this entire year has been that way.

The more time that goes on, the faster life goes. It's just crazy!

Anyway, in September, we celebrated my birthday with a girls night out to dinner.

We had a blast and it was so fun having fellowship time with just the girls.

Abby picked me up :-)

Hannah's Preschool Christmas Program

This year, Hannah had a Christmas program in her preschool.

There are four 3 year old classes and they all sang a compilation of songs.

Each child was dressed up in a costume...some angels, shepherds, kings,etc.

representing Jesus and His birth.

It was beyond precious. Hannah practiced her songs at home and in the car.

We did not have a listening CD, she just remembered them all and her voice was the joyful sound to our ears instead of the radio. Precious time I will never forget!

What Christmas Looks like at our house!

Every year, we decorate our house with Christmas lights and decor.

We also always make something to take to our neighbors.

This year, Hannah drove around in her jeep as we all went together to bring goodies.

St. Nicholas Day!

Every year on December 5th, Hannah sets her boots out by her doorway before bed.

See this post for more details.

St. Nicholas comes and fills her boots with a calendar and goodies on December 6th.

Here she was this year.

Boots are filled...

Lake Tahoe

Every other November, we visit my family for Thanksgiving.

This year, we got there a few days before and my parents watched Hannah so that Dan and I could travel a little and spend some time together while they kept her for three days.

It was absolutely wonderful. We loved the time we shared, and we got to do some pretty awesome things. I love spending time with Daniel and it's definitely hard to do often. Since we don't have to pull any legs for my parents to watch Hannah, it was super easy to head out. There were equally as happy to watch her as we were to leave together.

Thanksgiving

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents.

We had a full house this year. My Aunt and Uncle from Ohio, with their daughter, came to stay with my parents as did my other uncle from Ohio. We were packed in their house like sardines, at least two people in every room...I meant every room including the living room.

It was a great time to be with family and catch up.

I am always so anxious to see my family and celebrate the holidays.
My cousin Csilla and Hannah in the hot tub.

Formula 1 Weekend

Last weekend, we went to Austin for the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Dan's cousin Simon and his wife Sarah came to go with us...or should I say, "we with them"?

Sarah called a few weeks ago and wanted to surprise Simon for his birthday with a flight and trip to Austin's Circuit of the Americas race track to see the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Daniel and I thought it would be so fun if we all went together, so we planned it all and helped them out with flights and tickets to keep it a secret from Simon.

She picked him up from work with his bags packed and they drove to the airport.

He was very surprised, never expected a birthday gift quite like this.

Anyway, they came and we all went together, it was a blast.

We were graciously hosted by Shea and Anthony, dear friends.

We went for three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

My in-laws were gracious enough to keep Hannah for us and we are so thankful.

Here is a glimpse from our trip!

Quality Time with Friends...in Dime Box

We headed to Dime Box in November with a group of friends,

some from Houston and some from Austin.

We are so blessed to have wonderful lasting friendships that we can live life together and grow our families together.

Here is a peak from our trip.

Adoption Update November 12, 2013 (2 1/2 months in)

Our adoption process was in full force for awhile, but lately has been pushed to a halt.

Daniel has been traveling almost every week for the past several weeks, at least 4-5 days during the week. This of course leaves less time for us to discuss adoption questions and be still enough to hear the Lord speaking to us in this area together. We don't have as much time to spend together and with Hannah as a family, so we make that a priority. Also, I am more exhausted, more chores on my own and single parenting is not easy, even with just one ;-) We are making it through!

Emi's 4th Birthday

My niece Emily (Emi) turned 4 in November.

Since her birthday is so close to Thanksgiving,

she celebrated early this year so she could have her friends there too.

We drove to Austin and stayed with them, helping out however we could to get ready for the party.

They had two huge bouncy houses/slide and it was a blast for all those there!

Camping October

In October, we went on a camping trip.

We thought it would be nice and cool by November, but to our surprise (or not so much surprise living in Houston), it was 78 degrees!!

When we got there, Hannah already had about 20 mosquito bites on her body that she was scratching.

The first night, she was waking up screaming during the night because her legs itched so badly.

We almost went home, since it was only 20 minutes away, but we managed to get through the night, all three of us on our air mattress.

We had a great time cooking and playing outside with all of our friends. A big thanks for Andy and Stephanie Pace for all their hard effort in getting this trip all together. Andy was slaving over the fire making delicious food, we were so grateful!

Here is a look at our trip...

Hannah's First Visit to the Dentist

Hannah had her first visit to the dentist. She was 3 1/2.

She kept telling me that she was not excited to get her teeth cleaned and was afraid.

I had my teeth cleaned first and she sat on my lap for part of it to watch.

Then, when it was her turn, she very skeptically sat on me while she had her exam.

She got to wear cool glasses too, since they used a bright light to look into your mouth.

The glasses made her visit a little less daunting.

The hygienist was only able to see her front teeth before Hannah was done, she had had enough.

I am glad she at least got her glasses on and let the hygienist look in her mouth. Usually when we've come, she wouldn't even go near my chair!

Overall, she did great. We will try again this next year for another exam.

Until then, she will continue to come with me for mine so that she can see what it's all about.

Three-Day Preschool

Hannah started preschool on Wednesday, September 4th. She goes T/W/Th.

Her teachers are Ms. Roxanne and Ms. Kayce
Before school began I helped her to find pictures of her routine and cut them out. She is very good with her fine motor skills and insisted on cutting everything out all by her self.

Dime Box Clean Up Weekend

Back in November, Daniel, Hannah and I did a lot of work up in Dime Box.

We love to spend time there together and we enjoy working there too.

We have been the Landscapers, if you will--and we LOVE it.

This particular day we did A LOT of hard work for about 7-8 hours.

We cleaned up bushes and pulled some wild ones out.

We also tore down the old garden bead which meant we had to dig out all the 20" rod iron stakes and remove all the wire fencing.

Hannah has mastered driving the tractor, with help of course.

She also enjoys taking her little John Deere around and picking up twigs, rocks, etc. to be JUST like Papa.

Grandparents Day

On October 3rd, Hannah's preschool had a day devoted to Grandparents.

It was precious.

Oma and I came to be with Hannah.

When we came in, there was a meet and greet with the teachers and the kids showed their Grandparents where their work boxes are, classroom activities, etc. There was a refreshment table and Hannah was all about some goldfish...and muffins...foods I don't stock at home ;-)

We had a really nice time and they even sang a song about Grandparents. Hannah didn't sing, I think she was taking in all the people staring at her...that had to be intimidating, even for a 3 year old :-)

Hannah is showing Oma the placemat she made--it includes pictures of friends, family and Hannah's creativity--they eat lunch on these every day.

Adoption Update October 1, 2013 (One month in)

Here we are about a month in from beginning our journey to adoption.

Last time I posted, we had just received all the paperwork in the mail, and we had scheduled doctors visits and were preparing our home for the inspections.

This time, I am SO excited to share that almost ALL the paperwork is completed.

All of our references, medical paper work, employment verification, TB tests, background checks, fire escape routes, floor plans, etc. have all been completed and sent off to the agency.

Hannah was SUPER excited to be a part of the mailing!

When we got into the car to go in to the post office, she asked me if we were doing this for baby brother since I said we had to mail something to the adoption agency. When I said yes, her face lit up with her "Oh" face! She is so excited about having a new sibling.

She loved that she was able to put the sticker on to mail it.

Dime Box with the Edwards

In September, we took our best friends to Dime Box.

We had the BEST time!

It was a rainy weekend, but that didn't stop everyone from being outside having a blast.

The kids rode jeeps and played in the rain puddles, mud and even drove in the muddy pond.

Everyone had fun shooting and just spending time together.

We went to collect eggs from the neighbors house and ran into the "Great Almost Horse-Escape".

Our weekend was eventful, that's for sure!

August

Somehow, August totally slipped by.

I have taken pictures of so many things but have failed to put them on our blog.

I think I like this monthly update idea. I certainly don't have the time to blog often like I used to.

August went by so quickly.

Hannah finished up swim lessons.

I had an MRI done on my hand--which followed with Dr. appointments because I do have a torn ligament that acts up from time to time and I found out that I have some arthritis in my right hand--hereditary. I wear a brace from time to time because it hurts!!

We also headed to see my parents in CA for about 11 days. While we were there, we traveled to see some of our old friends from years ago and had a blast! We also went to visit my grandparents in Penn Valley and then our annual family reunion in San Jose.

We came back and had a couple days before we left for DimeBox to spend some great relaxing time with friends.

That about sums up August. Of course we had several play dates with our friends and began our adoption process officially. (More on that later)

Monday, September 2, 2013

Adoption Journey

As many of you know Daniel, Hannah and I have been praying about adoption for quite some time now. If you remember back to this post, "Perspective", that is when the Lord truly broke my heart and lit my fire and passion for adoption.

So, together Daniel and I began praying often and focused on living our life for God's will. How amazing it feels to not have expectations for the future, but be open to the endless possibilities that the Lord can lead us to.

And so our adoption journey began on July 26, 2013.

California Trip

Every Summer, Hannah and I fly out to California to stay with my parents for at least 10 days.

We have a family reunion every year and that is an even that I look forward to every year.

Family Reunion will be another post :-)

This year when we stayed with my parents,
we ventured out to tour Fresno's infamous Underground Gardens and spent some time just hanging out.
Here we were on the shuttle to church, Hannah LOVED it!

Annual Family Reunion

In August, Hannah and I headed out to California for my family reunion.

See this post for part I of our trip.

We always have a blast, see for yourself.

Anniversary Celebrations!

Daniel and I have been married for 8 years.
Many didn't think we would make it and would be divorced by now.
I can honestly say that my husband is incredibly amazing and I am so thankful and blessed that God's will was for us to marry and become one. I love living life together and serving in the name of Jesus.

Blast from the past...

Engagement weekend in Canada, Fathers Day

No pictures of "the ring"

I was 18 and Dan was 22

July

July was another busy month.

I have failed to mention that Daniel has been traveling almost every week (M-F) since April.

So, we have been finding inexpensive things to do with our friends and taking advantage of the time Daniel is home.

First up, Hannah enjoyed her first movie experience.

Our local theater has $1 theater days and we went to see Ice Age.

Hannah had a blast with her friends, Nicolaas, Sydney and Maddie.

The mommies enjoyed the air conditioning and the relaxing :-)

June

June was filled with lots of indoor/outdoor fun!

(Brace yourself for this LONG post)

We headed to the splash pad almost every day and then the pool following.

At first, I put her life jacket suit on until she was comfortable being without floaties.

I saw quickly how fast she became dependent on it, so I took it away fast.

I then cut a pool noodle and she has just taken off swimming with those!

Hannah enjoyed playing in both places and was worn out by the evening.

Here are some pictures from our time there.

First Year Swimmer!

June began with Hannah's first day of Swimming Lessons.

She went for a two week session and continued to do twice a week maintenance.

The first day was horrible and she cried almost the entire time.

Here she is when we got there. Depending on which teacher she has, she gets a color coded coin to take when she goes in. It helps the Life Guards to know whose class she is in. She was excited to have a light Pink token :-)

May

Back in May, we had a lot going on and I haven't had a chance to blog about it, so here it goes!

We helped move Dan's grandparents from Dallas to Abilene.

Dan coordinated the move, got the truck packed and drove it to Abilene.

Hannah insisted on bringing her baby everywhere we went, so this was us heading into our hotel the first day.

4th of July

This year, we were invited to a lake house with some friends of ours, Justin,Abby and their kids Sydney and Nicolaas, to celebrate the 4th of July.

We stayed from Wednesday night to Sunday and it was perfect!

We all had such a great time!

We all went boating, tubing, fishing, swimming in the lake, enjoyed fantastic food, games and fellowship! Hannah had a blast driving the boat and absolutely loved being at the front of the boat. Dan and I were able to get away for a bit and do some kayaking, that was a lot of fun...a lot of work too!!

Fireworks were huge there since it was outside the city limits. Hannah was so exhausted that she conked out on me during fireworks. I think wearing ear plugs helped with that too ;-)

Abby and Me

Abby.

We have known each other for about 5 years.

We've both been through so much and I am so thankful for her.

She is such an inspiration to me.

Her weight loss journey is encouraging to anyone who feels they "can't" do it!

(February 2010)

Her personal life story is incredibly powerful through Christ at work in her.

She is a great friend, one of the best I've ever had!

We can talk and laugh for hours.

We can challenge each other and cry on each others shoulder when needed.

I love how we can each uplift each other and be truly honest in every situation.

(November, 2012)

Friends

At the end of May, we had a BBQ with our friends for Memorial Day!

Abby and Justin were so sweet to host a dinner/swim night for the kids!
The Hammonds came to join us all.

Healthy Living pushing Healthy Weight

As many of you know, last year I began to make some changes to my lifestyle.

When I began in October, I weighed 166, wore size 12, some 10's and was not happy with my self. I was not working out, I was trying to eat well, but wasn't too proactive about it.

The picture to the left is me in October 2011, the middle is February 2012

Hannah's 3rd BIrthday

This year, we celebrated Hannah's birthday about 5 times.

When we were in California in March, my parents had a little party for her.

When we were in Ohio April, my aunt had a little party for her.

On her actual birthday, April 22nd, we sang happy birthday with a cookie.

On May 11th, we had her birthday party at home, Hello Kitty Style!

Whew! By the time her party was over, I was glad to move along. I guess I was partied out!

We enjoyed our celebrations of our sweet and blessed Hannah Grace!

Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show

Sorry my posts are still behind, blogging isn't at high on my priority list as it had previously. Anyway, here is a post that I started back in March.
My friend Jenn and I, with her daughter Maddie and Hannah braved the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show together with our girls. We went on a Wednesday because kids are free.

We let them go through the farm...planting crops and harvesting and of course using the harvest to feed the animals. They learned about the process of how we get our food from the farm animals to the store to us. It was neat for them to see. They loved the petting zoo. The deer kept trying to eat people's clothing and hand bags!

They had a blast seeing the baby chicks hatch and the big bunnies. Hannah loved the Disney show.

It was a long day and we all headed home, with sonic drinks and sleeping kids on the way!

Thanks for taking us Jenn! I just love to watch our girls play together and be good friends.