***Merry Christmas***

Well, it has been a wonderful (and wet) Arizona Christmas. Nathans parents came by this morning to spend some time with us, and then we headed over to my moms house for Christmas lunch. It was a small get together, just Grandpa & Grandma Roberts, Tom & Judy and their friend Victoria, Jeff & Heather and our family. We missed all the out of town family, but we know that in our hearts we were all together. We love you and miss you Christopher, Karissa, Elijah, baby girlies, Chris, Alexa and little Christopher!!! Have a blessed and very Merry Christmas! Oh, we also have some pics of Alec's new baby (she weighs in at about one lb!).

We are going to post many more Christmas day pics this week, we just thought we would do a few at a time! We will have some with Nathans parents, more from my moms house, and a few more from our early (very early!) morning.

Here's......Braeden!!!

Well, we're back to blogging and I promise I will try to keep up with it! We are on a much needed Christmas break, so I should have plenty of time to post at least every couple of days. So here are some of our newest Braeden pics, and they definitely express two of his biggest loves, gaming and the outdoors. Braeden was very proud of his squirrel, he worked hard for it and it paid off. He also had a great time playing Wii sports with Uncle Chris on Thanksgiving, he loves it when anyone will take the time to play video games with him. Braeden loves his Uncle Chris, and he still talks about getting to see him again so they can compete at all the Wii sports for hours. Keep checking back over the next couple of weeks, we will have pics of Thanksgiving, Braeden on the violin, Alec's birthday and much more!

It's Been So Long!!!

Well, I realized today, that I have not posted in a little over a month.We have been so busy between work, raising kids and the rest of our crazy busy life, that actually getting on and spending more than a minute or two on the computer has not been a reality lately. Braeden however has informed us that it is his turn to be profiled on the blog, so you will see him up on here this week with pictures and updates about what is going on in his world. Not too much is going on with us. Our one big news item is that Channys doctors are pleased with her health, and have told us that if she maintains with her current status they will wait for her third surgery until just before her tenth birthday. If her spleen begins to enlarge again, or her bloodwork changes they will schedule the surgery right away. We are currently awaiting the results of another round of genetic testing, and if we get any positive (meaning a positive test, not a "yay she doesn't have that") results we will have to determine a plan of treatment with her doctors, and finally have an idea of what we are facing with her down the road. Without a diagnosis, we are not sure of what the next day might bring, and that is scary. On the other hand, having a diagnosis and knowing what you are facing brings with it its own fears. Anyway!!!! she's good, the rest of us are good, and above all GOD IS GOOD...... Jeremiah 29:11-12

Family Breakfast

Here are some pictures from the breakfast on Saturday.

Happy Anniversary!

Congratulations on 65 years Grandma and Grandpa! We celebrated their anniversary this morning at the Big Apple restaurant. Afterwards, my (Heidi) mom took our kids so we could go over to Grandpa and Grandmas house to visit and spend some quality time. Both Nathan and I and our kids love every moment we are privileged to spend with them and hear about all the things they have seen and done in their life. It also is fun for me to reminisce about all the memories of times at their house (chicken pox, fudgesicles and the best burros ever!), trips with them, and best of all the love they have showered on me all my life that now extends to my husband and children. Our lives are so blessed by Grandpa and Grandma Roberts, and this world is a better place simply because they are in it!

All About Alec!!!

Alec is really starting to get serious about his music. He is enjoying the saxophone, and works hard at getting better. We are trying to find a new teacher for him, as things were not working out well personality wise with his previous one. He is great at reading music though and practices well on his own, so we are certain he will do fine for a few weeks until a new teacher can be lined up. He has also begun guitar classes, he prefers the electric to the acoustic, and is excited to start learning more about a new instrument. Alec is constantly receiving praise from his drums and percussion teacher at school for his playing and ear for music. He loves music, and is always aspiring to play better and try new instruments. Alec is doing great in school, he is pulling all A's and high B's, and has already begun talking about college (we are not that ready for him to grow up!) and where he wants to go. He is active in church, and can't wait to be a part of the Junior High group next year (our neighbor is one of the leaders, and a good friend). We are so proud of his accomplishments, and are even prouder to be his parents!

An update on our (not so baby anymore) girl Chantelle

Hi, we just wanted to do a quick update on Chantelle and her profile on classkids. The site is up, but they had to put her 4 year old posting up to get her name active. Once they have all the kids active, they will update them to their current age. Channy is doing very well, she is loving school, friends and Girl Scouts. Her health is pretty good, we are having some difficulty getting her allergies under control as she is severly allergic to the major allergy meds on the market. We have spent hours in the hospital and doctors office after giving her allergy meds ,and having her go into seizures, passing out from her blood pressure dropping so fast, and having hallucinations. We are trying a water based nasal spray right now, and praying that the side effects she is having (swollen glands, and a terrible sore throat) will lessen. Please pray also, as her scar tissue from her surgeries is really bothering her lately, that it will loosen up, or whatever it is supposed to do! Anyway, it all sounds horrible but it really is a small part of her life, and the majority of what she does is all fun! She is in guitar classes at church and she spends a huge part of her time on her passion, art. So, that's that and check back soon for personal updates on our favorite boys ever....Alec and Braeden!

Welcome To The Family

We are so excited to welcome our new nieces (and cousins) Hannah and Alysah, to the family! We can't wait to meet you, and hopefully soon. Congratulations Christopher and Karissa, we love you.

Searching For God

As I was typing in my blogspot address the other day to post, an interesting thing happened. I can pull up our blog simply by typing in god and our address will pop up and all I have to do is hit enter and it comes up. Well, I typed in god and without looking just hit enter and the next thing I knew I was looking at was all the internet listings for searching for God. How many ways does the Lord reach out to us in unexpected ways every day to remind us that he is always there, and all we have to do is search Him out. Now everytime I begin to type in our url, I have two choices : A Glimpse of the Godings or, Searching for God. What a blessing to know that the Lord is reaching out to me through every avenue that our world can create. God is not just the God of the bible, and the church building, He is able to be searched out and found anywhere, including the worldwide web! So today as we get busy with "life", let's not forget the one who gave it to us. Let's search Him out, let's take a moment in the chaos of life to simply "Be still, and know that I Am God"- Psalms 46:10.

What a storm!!!

We had a huge storm roll through this afternoon, complete with pouring rain and more hail than we have seen in years! The kids braved the stinging hail to collect it and show us whose piece was bigger, and whose should get to go in the freezer. We are such Arizonans :), how many people in other states get so excited about water from the skies! It was exciting for all of us, and we all stood outside and watched until the worst was over.

Welcome Home!

Welcome home Christopher!! We are so excited that you are back in the states for the birth of your baby girls. We just wish we could be there in CA.to see the look of Elijahs face when he sees his daddy for the first time in months. We love you Christopher, Karissa, Elijah and our little nieces so much, and we can't wait to see what the girls will look like!

This is an old picture, but one of our favorites of Channy and Elijah playing together!

RJ's Birthday Party At Anthem Waterpark

Flash Slideshow

We had so much fun today at Braeden's friend RJ's birthday party. We have known RJ since he and Braeden were in third grade, and we loved being able to celebrate his birthday with him and his family. Thanks so much for inviting us Ronney and Angie!

Alecs Day Out With Dad

Nathan and Alec had a great time dove hunting last weekend. They came home with three doves and about 50 mosquito bites!

It's been a little while since I posted, so I will try to bring everything up to date. All the kids are doing really well in school, Braeden has tested into gifted classes for reading and math, and Channy has tested gifted for reading. Alec is loving his new school, I think mostly because it is an accelerated school and he gets every Friday off :). He is taking fine arts and percussion this year, and is taking private saxophone lessons from a friend of the family. I have been working as a kindergarten aide for the last two weeks, but I will start today as a one on one for a special needs boy in Kindergarten. I am really excited, as being a one on one aide was what I had hoped for and am certified to do. Nathan has been working hard to get the new campus of our church set up (there will be two campuses instead of one), and will be taking a much needed break in October to go deer hunting. We will have some new pictures of the family up this week, we just need to get them on the computer!

Our Faithful God

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses[a] to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

We believe that God is calling us to obedience and faith in these verses. So in faith, we took Channy in last night before our elders and two of our pastors to have her prayed for and annointed with oil (a symbol of the Holy Spirit). We were blessed to have Nathans supervisor Cliff show up just at the right time to be able to stay and be with us as they prayed for Channy and her healing. It was awesome to see our church leaders come around our little girl and show her such love and care. We just know that the Lord is going to use Channy in a powerful way to bring Himself glory.

Endings and New Beginnings

We are (well some of us) looking forward to the start of the new school year tomorrow. Alec will be starting at his new school where in addition to regular studies, he will have his main focus in music and the visual arts. He is nervous but excited, and is looking forward to furthering himself on the saxophone while adding percussion to the mix. We are so excited about this new school, and to see where his love of music takes him. Braeden will be starting 5th grade this year, and he is still undecided about what sport or activity he will be getting into. We are thinking maybe basketball, or possibly another run (no pun intended) at cross country. Chantelle will be in 3rd grade, and she is excited to see all her friends again and catch up on what happened over the summer! She is still active in Girl Scouts, and hoping that she will be able to join the girls basketball team this year. I will be starting my new job tomorrow as a special ed aide at the school, and I am so glad to have the opportunity to work where my kids go to school.

The kids had a great "last day out" on Friday with Grandma Susan. She took them for dinner at Panda Express and then out to see Wall*E which Channy had been begging to see ever since it came out! They all had a wonderful time, and it was the perfect end to a good summer.

Lunch With Grandpa and Grandma!

Well, it is officially the last weekday of summer vacation. We were fortunate to be able to spend part of our day with some of our favorite people in the whole world....Grandma and Grandpa Roberts!!! We met up at Burger King for lunch, and then G&G took the kids for ice cream afterwards. It was a nice break in the day, as Channy and I had been hard at work school shopping all morning while the boys kicked back and relaxed at home :) It has been an almost weekly tradition to get together for lunch with Grandma and Grandma for the last 11 years (since Alec was born) and it is a treasured time for us. We are blessed to have them so involved in our lives!

A Visit To The Rock Museum

The kids all had a fun time this last Saturday, when Nathan's parents took them on a day trip to the Rock and Mineral Museum in Downtown Phoenix. Also with them was their cousin Devin who they hadn't seen in a while, so it was nice for them to reconnect. After their time at the museum, Grandpa and Grandma took the kids for ice cream at Dairy Queen where they loaded up on sugar to carry them through the rest of the day!

Summer Winding Down

Well, we are getting ready for another school year to start here in a week and a half. The kids are spending their last "free" week swimming, sleeping in and getting in as many playdates and sleepovers as possible. Hopefully I will be starting in a new position in the school when they reopen. I have applied to be a special ed aide, and have my "big interview" tomorrow!!! The job is to be a full time aide for an autistic boy, which just happens to be what I already do as a home health care worker. So I am pretty confident about going in there and having a great interview.

P.S. Angie, my fan club says the interview is in the bag :)

Boy's Camping

Flash Slideshow

Well the boys did not stay over night, although a fun time was had by all. Nathan and Braeden will be staying over night next Friday. Braeden just loves to camp, he loves to do the things that Nathan loves to do. This was a special time for Alec, Braeden and Nathan just to get away and have fun. School starts soon, and this was one of the last outings of summer.

Sunday Morning!

Hi! We seem to be having some trouble with the slideshow of the kids birthday party, but I am sure Nathan will have it up and running as soon as he gets back from his camping trip with the boys! Check out our new links, if you select "Our Special Kids" on the classkids site, and go down to "other liver disease/disorders" you can pull up Chantelles story by clicking on her name. They are updating right now, so if you can't click on her name just try again in a few days! Channy could use some prayer, she had some gallbladder spasms last night (seriously painful) and is having some arm pain from the major amount of blood she had drawn yesterday morning. She seems fine this morning though, and felt well enough to sneak sips of my "once a month, Sunday morning mocha bellacino" everytime I turned my head :) The guys are all on a camping/crawdad catching trip, and we should have pictures of it up soon! I know the picture of Channy is from 2006, but it is just so cute I had to post it!

Happy Birthday

Flash Slideshow

Braeden and Chantelle celebrated their birthdays together this year at Peter Piper Pizza. We had alot of fun, and were glad to have so many friends and family come to celebrate with us. We have to give a special shout out and thank you to our friend Cathey who put so much time and effort into the amazing birthday cakes! They looked and tasted incredible!

Getting Started

Hi Everyone! We are just getting started blogging, and we are excited to be able to share our lives with family and friends through pictures and posts! We thought we would open our blog with one of our favorite ever pics of all the kids together, and Channy's little "peace out" to all of you :) Keep checking back for new updates and pictures!