Exciting News!

For those of you who are new to the blog and are coming from the ladies' retreat, let me say THANK YOU for being here! Thank you for joining us in this story God is writing in our lives, and we hope you get to spend some time getting to know our family through this blog.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, let me share. I had the opportunity to share our story this weekend with a wonderful group of 200 women, who absolutely blessed me more than I did them. The story of what God is doing through our baby Chase just keeps amazing me, and humbling me, as I am just so thankful to be a part of it all.

This was a big weekend for us...

• We began our website--www.hischase.org!! And, although there is still work to do, we can't wait for each of you to see it! See the His Chase button in the top left of our blog?Click there to see what we have so far! (And, if you have a blog, we would love for you to copy and paste our button to your blog to spread the word about His Chase!)

• The "His Chase" Foundation is officially off the ground! And, we are so incredibly thankful to announce that this weekend, the sweet women of Prestoncrest gave over $12,000 to help these children receive the hope of new life:

$12,000!!!! I still can't believe it. Sweet friends, THANK YOU so very much for your support of His Chase and of the work we hope to do in Ghana. This dream and prayer is becoming a reality quickly because of YOU and your generosity!! What's even better, is that the $12,000 has turned into $24,000 dollars because of matching donors!! Mark and I both cried tears of joy when we counted the checks and realized what this means. We already have the money for HALF of Chase's Place, and we're on day two of this whole thing. We stand in absolute awe at the Lord's providing hand.

• Chase's Place is officially our first project for His Chase Foundation! For those who haven't heard, we have developed a partnership with Touch A Life Ministries to build "Chase's Place" in Ghana, West Africa, to serve as a home for children rescued from slavery in this region. Our home will be one of many within the Village of Life in the Tema region. And, we are already so excited to begin planning and praying for these sweet children who will be living in Chase's Place. What an honor to celebrate Chase's life in this way...

We would LOVE for all of you to "join the chase" for the children across the world who are needing hope and new life. Here are some ways to do that!

Join our mailing list for occasional newsletters about our progress, by emailing me at chelsea@hischase.org!

Or, donate to get this ministry off the ground, by pushing the "donate" button at the top right of my blog. We are so very thankful to have so many of you supporting us, and especially supporting these children.

If you have questions for Mark or me, we'd love to hear from you! Our new emails for the foundation work are: mark@hischase.org and chelsea@hischase.org.

And, please stay tuned for a whole lot more that is coming! We will be working hard on developing His Chase even more throughout March, and can't wait to share more with all of you.

Thank you again for all the ways you have each supported our family. God is in control of every detail of this road, and we are just so thankful to be along for the ride.

Super Long Birthday Wish

Before I post about Kendyll's birthday last week, I want to send my deepest sympathy and love to the Ross and Bizaillion families tonight. Our hearts are broken over their loss...a daughter, a wife, a mother, a friend. As I celebrate with my daughter turning 8, our friend, Jenny Bizaillion won't get to be a part of her daughter's birthdays anymore. And, that makes me deeply sad. Although she is in the perfect place for partying now, my heart breaks for her precious 9 year old daughter and her husband, David. Jenny passed away yesterday, after fighting a hard fight for over two weeks in ICU. Our prayers go up constantly on the family's behalf. We are "pouring ourselves out before the Lord" for their peace and comfort, as Lamentations says. Tonight, I just cried and cried listening to "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin, and imagining what Jenny is experiencing right now. "Jesus has overcome, and the grave is overwhelmed. Victory is won! He is risen from the dead! And, I will rise when He calls my name, no more sorrow, no more pain, I will rise on eagle's wings, before my God, fall on my knees, and rise..."

Everything I have done today has seemed so trivial when I know there are others deep in the valley.

So, not a great way to start a birthday post, but I didn't feel right not acknowledging the heartbreak going on around us and honoring sweet Jenny. I pray that she's met my Chase and loved on him for me. :)

Now, about this girl...

Kendyll has had an excellent week of celebration. I still don't know how she can be eight years old, but she is...and she's very proud. The biggest perk that has come with year 8, in her book anyway: being legally free of the booster seat. We've actually had many discussions about this, because I am still requiring the booster. However, she feels like it's a rite of passage she deserves. So, I've taken the opportunity to give her THE lecture: "I don't care that so and so's mom lets her ride on the plain seat. I'm not so and so's mom. I'm your mom and I care much more about your safety than about you being cool." Yes, I did say that. And, I did hear phrases from my past, echoing around in my head. Love you, Mom. :)

Okay, that was a tangent.

Kendyll celebrated her birthday first with her sister and cousin, as they celebrated their combo February birthdays at Incredible Pizza Company. Avery turned 2 on February 2nd. Kendyll turned 8 on February 18th. Abby Kate will turn 3 on February 28th. So, they get to do it all at the same time for a family fun celebration.

Apparently, having a party the day after the winter snow blast is finally thawed isn't the best idea. EVERYONE in a 10 mile radius also decided to celebrate that day. And, we were all sharing the same pizza buffet. Wow.

But, kids never seem to notice these things and they had a great time playing blacklight putt putt, miniature bowling, and rides and games. Plus loving on all the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!

I love these birthday girls!!

And, I love these sisters...

Speaking of sisters, I thought this was very sweet. With no prompting from us, Kendyll wrapped a gift for Carlie, because she was afraid she would feel left out. She wrapped her own toy laptop and gave it to her at the party. I love seeing their love for each other (even if there are occasional fights too!) It makes me savor these moments even more.

As you can tell, Kendyll was QUITE excited to get her Aunts Day gift. She is scheduled for a day away with "the cool ones" this Saturday, including pedicures, lunch at a tea room, and some creative fun at Smashing Times. I'm a little bit jealous of Aunts Day! Sure wish Aunt Cailee was here for it. Too bad she'll jaunting around in Switzerland instead. Rough. :) We do miss you for the birthday fun, Cailee D.

This picture below of the cake frenzy makes me laugh. First, it's the only one I have. And, if you notice my BIG 8 year old's face, she is pouting. Her "8" candle kept blowing out because of the air vent above us. So, I'm laughing at the fact that Uncle Adam relit it at least five times, trying to make the BIG GIRL happy. Please! She never did get to blow the candle out, but she recovered eventually from the trauma of it all.

The next celebration for Kendyll was supposed to be a day before Valentine's, but instead, we played in the snow. The party was postponed a week, but the show did go on, hearts and all.

And, boy was it fun...and chaotic...and loud. :)

Another family at school shared this 8 year old "crafty party" with us, and the co-mom supplied all of the craft activities. Wow. It was a bit crazy. But, what do you expect when you invite the entire second grade girl group?!

Look at this crowd!

Here they are concentrating on being crafty & creative.

And, here are the two birthday girls together...

After the crafts and cake, the girls all went upstairs and played "Annie" the rest of the time. Every room I walked in was another part of their orphanage, and every single girl had dress up clothes on. NOT exactly part of the plan, but it was definitely the highlight of the afternoon.

On Kendyll's actual birthday, she got her traditional breakfast in bed on the "You are Special" plate. She was just a little excited to see us come in...

She wanted her sisters to join her for the fun, and of course they happily agreed!

Thanking Carlie for her new cute outfit...Carlie picked it out all by herself and was SO proud.

We brought a special lunch to Kendyll's school and a cookie cake for her class.

Then, after school, she got to visit her cousins at Grandma's house, and was surprised with a homemade butterfly cake made by Sophie and Grandma!! It was yummy!!

Then, we were off to Gattitown, where Kendyll has been planning to go for the last couple of months. All for ONE ride: The Hopper. She had experienced the Hopper at another birthday party, and we HAD to try it.

Now, Mommy DETESTS roller coasters or rides of any kind, but I thought nothing of "the hopper". In fact, I hopped right on, buckled my belt and still had not even considered that this might affect me. (a.k.a. "scare me")

But, it did.

I'm not kidding. Okay, not scary. But, it was the awful lose-your-stomach kind of a ride. Which I hate the most!!

So, then, the girls really enjoyed laughing at their mom who couldn't stand a ride at Gattitown. Seriously. I'm never going on it again.

But, Kendyll was SO happy to end her birthday this way--playing games with the fam.

It was lots of fun to celebrate with her in so many fun ways. What is it about a birthday that just makes you feel SO special? I could see it in Kendyll's eyes, and I just love that. (Here she is modeling her new birthday outfit from Aunt Cortni and Uncle Adam. Y'all did good!)

Kendyll Grace, we love you so much. We do wish you'd grow up a little slower, but at the very same time, we look so forward to watching what God is going to do in your life and in your heart. You are such a leader for the Lord. Don't ever lose that passion! I love you missy moo....all the way to heaven and back.

Celebrating LOVE

I feel like I should do a Valentine's post, although I'm a bit late! We had a wonderful family day for Valentine's Day, enjoying many of our family traditions and just being together.

Here are my four cuties before church that morning:

And, I love this picture of the big girls. (Abby Kate was her usual non-participating self)

The whole weekend was pink and red, of course...starting with pink pancakes:

and continued with heart shaped pizza...

A decked-out candlelit table decorated by three talented little girls...

Pink milkshakes (while reading for Reading Rally, of course)...

and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert...

Wow. I'm realizing how much our Valentine's celebration centers around eating. :)

Lots of cute handmade cards & crafts too...

And, an evening of LOVE as a family. We read a few different passages about love from the Bible, talking about how God shows His love to us, how we should show our love to God, and what LOVE is.

The sweetest part of this whole discussion was after we had read I Corinthians 13, and talked about each part. Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud... I guess this really pierced Carlie's heart, and made her sensitive to how she had not shown love. Because, out of nowhere, she just started crying. And, said "Mommy and Daddy, I'm so sorry when I haven't obeyed you today. And, I know I have been really whiny. I'm so sorry. That was not showing love." I mean, she was REALLY crying. And REALLY sorry.

We were all shocked. And, of course, she got big hugs and reassurance that she is so loving and so kind. And, that we all make mistakes. It was so sweet to watch her little heart feel sorry for the times she wasn't loving.

She really is my little softy. And, I hope that never changes!

As for gifts, we kept it simple (as we usually do!) Mark got Kurt Warner's new book called "First Things First" (which I think my husband does a REALLY good job at already), and I got the silver earrings I wanted from James Avery, along with this sweet and special bracelet that was finally ready for me (photo courtesy of Kendyll):

My charm bracelet now has all four of my sweet babies' initials and birthdates hanging on it. I cried when I saw my fourth charm added with Chase's initials. It just confirms that someone really is missing around here. And, I REALLY liked seeing four there. :)

We thought alot about Chase on Valentine's, actually. This was the time of year when we found out we were having another baby, and although we were shocked and surprised, we were also excited to see what lied ahead. It was a little bit hard to remember those feelings from last February...

And, as Mark brought the girls (and me) each a long stemmed red rose that morning, I got a little jealous. Just as he loves on his little girls, I sure wish I was loving on my little boy Valentine this year.

We did include him in our usual way, of course. Thanks to Gammy who supplied the balloon, Chase did receive a Valentine greeting from us, along with three balloons from Kendyll's, Avery's, and Abby Kate's birthday party!

It was a Happy Valentine's Day for us, as we once again reflect on how much abundant LOVE has been shown to our family, and how much we feel His love in our lives every day.

And, I thank God for my sweet Valentine, who I have been celebrating this cheesy holiday with for thirteen years. Mark, you amaze me. Thank you for being my partner through it all...Walking down this life's road--whether it be on the highest mountaintop or through the darkest valley--it is so much better walking beside you.

(This picture was taken on our trip to Italy this summer, our most amazing vacation that was never blogged about. I love this picture because my husband is so handsome, the scenery is amazing, and because Chase is in the picture too. :)

Now, we'll be entering Birthday Phase of the blog, as Kendyll turns EIGHT tomorrow and Abby Kate comes right after her with her big THREE year old celebration!! What a busy, happy February we have!!

Snowy Days!

Along with the rest of my Texas friends, we have been amazed at the snowfall we received this week! It was a snow like no other, and we had SO much fun!!

On Thursday morning, when I woke up early to find snow on the ground, I was so excited to tell the girls. I remember so well, when I was little, the feeling of seeing the morning snow that came while I was sleeping. There is just something so special about that! And, as you can see, the girls shared in my excitement. :)

I especially loved that the snow was blanketing our whole city, but the "black ice" that usually comes with it wasn't there. We were actually able to drive around all day in the snow and see its beauty! That is a rare thing in our state!

Kendyll still had school on Thursday, so Carlie promised to wait until after school to do any playing. She was SO ready by the time 3:00 rolled around, and so were her sisters! We couldn't get bundled fast enough! Look at these smiling faces!!

Now, there was one complication to this awesome snow day: Daddy (the fun one) was out of town! I felt some real pressure to fill the fun one's shoes for the day! (Mark is just a big kid in times like this, and really does get in there and play hard with the kids, while I have to work at being playful. Isn't that sad?) I realized that I rely way too much on Mark to do the "playful entertaining", while I just provide the tools to do it with. :) So, this time I got all bundled up too, and did everything the kids did...well, except roll down the hill in the snow. That was way too cold for me.

We were outside for hours, taking little breaks to come in, have hot chocolate, and dry our clothes....only to put them right back on again and head back out. This continued until it was too dark to see the snow anymore. :)

I decided by the first evening of this in-and-out fun that living in a cold climate would make me crazy, if for no other reason than the amount of stuff it takes to be out in it. This was just one pile of many!

There were a couple of times where the girls got a little too cold (probably from the hill rolling I mentioned earlier!) and their skin was stinging and tingling. This did not go over well with Miss Carlie!

Of course, I think she was the coldest of all, because of stunts like this one:

She would stand up and then fall straight down, landing face first in the snow. I tried to tell her that it may hurt later...but I guess she figured it out the hard way!

We had soup for most of our meals, with "snow coke", which was like a coke icee. This was a BIG treat for my girls, because they don't get coke EVER. So, they had a shocked look on their face when I told them I made them snow cokes. (The surprised look was followed by the comment "You're the most awesome mom in the whole world." Okay, okay. I may have told them to say that so they could have their cokes. Whatever it takes...)

Throughout the night, we sent pictures to Daddy, and let him know how much we were missing him for the fun! He was actually in New Jersey, and we had as much snow as he did! Crazy!!

The next day, we enjoyed the slower pace that snow days bring with them. I was excited to sleep late and not have to be anywhere. And, of course, the girls woke up at 5:50 am!!! They were so ready to hit the snow AGAIN! What?!

Since I am a huge homebody, I absolutely love the excuse that snow gives me to just be home, and relax. There is no need to rush around town, run errands, or even put clothes that match on. I love that God gives us those little breaks sometimes...

We had a great time repeating the activities from the day before. Snow, snow, snow, warm up, dry off, do a craft, and go back out again.

A snow castle, and two snowmen were built...

(Abby Kate built hers all by herself, with no one else allowed to assist. When she finished, she announced that her snowman was named Amy, in honor of her favorite 2 year old preschool teacher. :)

And, if you know my girls, this will not surprise you. They found a way to still play Little House on the Prairie, even in the snow. They hid out under the juniper trees (see below), and pretended to be sheltered from a winter storm.

They collected berries and twigs for their food, and said a whole lot of things about "Ma and Pa". Not sure what all was going on up there, but they had SO much fun. I love listening to them play together.

After we dried off yet again, Kendyll and I spent the whole afternoon reading (we're almost to 1500 minutes for week one of reading rally!), while Carlie watched a movie and asked AT LEAST 500 times if Daddy was on his way home yet. She was dying for him to be here and really wanted the snow to still be here when he did arrive. And, he finally did make it home late on Friday night. It was nice to have the fun one back. :)

Today, they fit in some Daddy fun before the snow melted, and perfected the art of flying down our hill on a taped up tarp. See, I told you he was more fun. I love those smiles!!
Tonight, Kendyll thanked God for the beautiful snow He sent, and for the fun days they had. And, then, she asked for it to come again this week. :) I hope you all enjoyed some fun family time indoors and out, as we all got a break from the hustle and bustle!