So many blessings........

Kenley started Mother's Day Out last month and it has been GREAT for her. :) She only goes two days a week and has really started thriving since she has been there. Her vocabulary has expanded, she has started putting sentences together and is starting to sing her ABC's (well shes got the tune and the ABC part down.) We are so proud of her. Her school does so many neat things for the kids, tomorrow she gets to have a Christmas pajama party and Santa is going to read books to them. How neat is that! Here is a picture they took of her at school a couple weeks ago. I just love it!

Last weekend we made our annual Piker family trip to Branson for Christmas shopping. Since we had Silver Dollar City season passes this year we went to see the lights. But it was FREEZING and so crowded. We didn't get to enjoy much of what they had out there but we were able to snap a couple of pictures. And the lights were SO pretty, Kenley just relaxed and took it all in.

Last week was also my dad's 50th birthday! A lot of people aren't very excited about turning 50 but for my dad and our family this day was such an exciting day. There was a time that we didn't think he would be able to celebrate his 50th birthday. After we moved to Springdale he got really sick, it took a long time to get a diagnosis but when he finally got the diagnosis of Wegener's Granulomatosis he was so sick that the doctor's were not expecting him to be with us much longer. As young girls my sister and I thought he may not be around to see us graduate high school, or walk us down the aisle. But the Lord had different plans- instead he cured my dad and has used him as a living testimony to Him everyday. (and my dad has not missed a single milestone in our lives.) This year marks 10 years in remission from Wegener's and dad is healthier than most 20 year olds right now. He decided to celebrate turning 50 and being in remission for 10 years by training for his first marathon. When he started training he was actually just going to do a half marathon, but like everything dad does, he doesn't "half" do it. And he trained for the FULL marathon. Just a couple weeks before the race satan tried to attack him, and he fell and broke his elbow. He had surgery to put in a rod and 3 screws. But it didn't hold him back, he continued to train and completed his first marathon and met ALL of his goals in doing it. I can not even begin to describe the pride that I felt while standing at that finish line waiting to see him come over that hill. Dad has faced so many obstacles in his life and no matter what satan throws at him he keeps on going while keeping his eyes on the Lord. He is a positive, God fearing, giving, loving man and I am truly blessed to call him my daddy!

Here are a few pictures from his marathon........

We are SO proud of you daddy!!!

We celebrated his birthday while we were in Branson. My sister and I wanted to get him a birthday cake since he was turning 50 and wanted to incorporate his marathon in the cake. So we had Shelby Lynn make this cake for him- I think it was perfect!

Happy Birthday Dad!

There is one other thing that I have not blogged about yet, but feel like I need to. As some of you know this fall Andy and I found out that we were expecting our second baby this summer. At first we were overwhelmed and then immediately excited! Kenley absolutely loves babies and we just knew she would be an excellent big sister. Since we are closer to NWA we were excited to be able to use a wonderful doctor in Springdale. I had my first appointment and had an ultrasound and saw a very healthy baby with a strong heartbeat. (Such an amazing sight, to see that little heart flutter on something SO tiny, God is amazing!) We were of course very nervous going into this pregancy because of the difficulty with the first pregnancy, but my doctor showed us from the beginning how proactive he is by bending over backwards to make sure I had the medications I needed.
I had been feeling ok and then Sunday night (Nov. 21) I woke up in the night not feeling well. I had some really bad cramping and then starting having a lot of blood in my stool. The next day we called the doctor's office and the recommended we go ahead and come on up to the ER. We headed to Springdale and saw a doctor in the ER. She set up an appointment with a GI specialist because she thought I had some internal hemorrhoids. I asked if they could go ahead and check on the baby since I had been having so much pain, she assured me that the baby would be ok but agreed to do a doppler of the heart. The nurse came in and couldn't find the heart beat, but again they assured me it was probably just because the baby was so small sometimes it is hard to find, but went ahead and brought in an old ultrasound machine to check on the baby. Again, we couldn't see anything but they assured me it was just an old machine and the baby was so small that is why we couldn't see anything. But they said if I wanted to come back the next day for a better ultrasound I could. I told them that I needed that peace of mind and wanted to come back the next morning. Everyone was convinced everything was ok with our baby, Andy & Kenley actually went home to Fort Smith that night because they thought everything would be fine. But I was not as sure- I think God gives mothers a special instinct. He gave me that instinct on Monday that everything was not ok with my baby, He helped me to be as prepared as I could have been to go into that ultrasound and see that my baby's tiny little heart was no longer beating. And He gave me a wonderful, compassionate doctor that took care of me that day and made sure I was as comfortable as I possibly could be while preparing for surgery. And He gave me an amazing family and wonderful friends that were more supportive than I could have imagined. The entire day I could literally feel all of the prayers holding me up. And He gave me a peace that I didn't know was possible, while I was grieving the loss of our little baby that we never got the chance to meet he showed me over and over how blessed I am and that as long as I continue to trust in Him I will always be held. His plan may not make sense to us, but that is ok, because His plan is perfect and we don't deserve a perfect life, we don't even deserve a decent life. But He is going to hold us and protect us and give us more love than we could ever dream possible. What a comfort we have in Jesus!

Here are the lyrics to a song that I have found so much comfort in- the whole song is great but this second verse has particularly been a great comfort to me. Here are the lyrics to Broken Hallelujah by Mandisa:

With my love and my sadness

I come before you Lord

My heart's in a thousand pieces

Maybe even more

Yet I trust in this moment

You're with me somehow

And You've always been faithful

So Lord even know

Chorus:

When all that I can sing

is a broken hallelujah

When my only offering

is shattered praise

Still a song of adoration

will rise up from these ruins

I will worship You and give You thanks

even when my only praise

is a broken hallelujah

Oh, Father you have given

Much more than I deserve

And I have felt you're hand of blessing

on me at every turn

How could I doubt Your wisdom

Your goodness, Your grace

So Lord hear my heart

In this painful place

chorus

I lift my voice

Your spirit move

I raise my hands

I reach for you

chorus

There really is a peace that only comes from the Grace of God. We would like to thank everyone again for all of the prayers over the past month. It has been such a blessing to feel all of your prayers surrounding us. Thank you again!