WOW 6 Months!

Wow! Time has flown and well its been a long time since updating our blog. I guess facebook has kind of taken over my updating people and I didnt even realize it...haha.
OK well I guess I have a lot to update on and will go one person at a time.
Anya just turned 17 years old and is a junior in high school. This past summer she had a few short romances but really seems focused on whats important, such as God, family, friends and school. Over the summer she took her first college course and recieved an A in ASL (American Sign Language). She spent a lot of time at the beach and hanging out with family and friends. We took the last week of summer to drive ehr to a few local universties to keep her interest peaked with school. She is still verbalizing a desire to stay close to home. IN sept she started school as a junior. She decided not do sports this year because of the drive time to/from school (45 minutes each way) and her more difficult school schedule. She also took another college class (speech). She got her liscence last June and is enjoying her bit of new found freedom on the occassion the car is available to fit her social calander. SHe also went to steubinville west through our church. This is a youth gathering that she went to in AZ for a weekend of Catholic worship, break out sessions, concerts and overall fellowship with other Catholic youth.
Galina is now 11 years old and in 5th grade. This year we are homeschooling her. Our hopes is that can get into St. Jospeh Academy (Anya and Mary's school) next year. She was not able to get into St. Joseph this year as it is somewhat difficult for kids to test in at this school at this level (so i learned from other families experiences). She has deveolped a love for theater, dance and singing and we hope to nuture this while be homeschooled. During summer break she did participate in a VBS play at a Lutheran Church in Temecula.
Mary is now 6 years old and in 1st grade at the same school Anya goes to. Anya drives them to school every day dropping off their daddy on the way there and picking him up on the way home. Mary is thriving at St. Joseph Academy. She is learning all about her faith, the love of God, all the saints and much much more. Two months into school she had to do a speech for all saints day. She had to choose a saint, research the saint and write a 10 sentance speech on that saint. She chose St. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungry who lived the same time frame as St. Francis. Writing this speech taught her so much, I was impressed at her abilities. She did a wonderful speech that Grandma Mary was able to come to school to see. At her school they say prayers before each class and before meals, they go to mass once a week. Once a month mass is in Latin. Mary learning latin during school as well. She has made many friends at school and love her teacher.
Peter Joseph is an adorable 2 year old. Oh my goodness what joy he brings to our family. He is definatley king of the household being spoiled and loved on by his 3 older sisters. He has gotten especially close to Galina in the last 4 months now that Galina is being homeschooled. He has a huge vocabulary and is all boy. He loves trucks, cars, rocks and dirt. He loves to jump from high places and grunt.
Peter and I are doing well. We just passed our 20 year wedding anniversary. TWENTY YEARS!!!!!! hard to believe! WE are blessed beyond measure with our children and eachother.
Work both inside and outside the home keep us VERY BUSY.
Hope to post pictures later tonight!

Broken Hearts and Prom

Gosh life is busy busy busy! BUT this is what Peter and I prayed for and we are enjoying it every minute.

Begininng of May our dear sweet oldest daughter had her first broken heart. Her boyfriend broke up with her the week of Prom. Then a friend she had planned on going with backed out 4 days before prom. Not a good week for Anya. My heart hurt so deeply for her. But in true Anya style she bounced back and found another friend to take her. Jake is my childhood best friend's son. I have known this boy since he was born and needless to say I am very good friends with his parents.

Jake is a Junior in Highschool at another high school. Anya had a very good time at prom after all. excuse the non centered pictures. It was very hard to photograph Jake as he is 6'4" tall. He is such a sweet boy. I hope they become lifetime friends!

Spring

Spring is Here OK, lets try this again. I had finished over half my post when PJ walked up and played with the mouse and erased everything. So let me try to remember what I was posting about. First off is Anya. Anya is finally settling into her school, especially with academics. This school was much more difficult academically but she managed to make honors even with the change. She takes her driving test next week and is going to the prom next saturday. She is taking college courses this summer. It is so hard to believe only 1 and 1/2 years she will be 18 years old.......makes me proud, but sad. She is a joy. Galina is finishing up her 4th grade year. Next month she will be a cardsmsn and fish in the school play "alice and wonderland." We are having her tested to get her into Anya's school. The goal is to have all the girls go there next year. We really love the school. Mary is finishing up her kindergarten year and wow has she learned so much. She only goes a half day and is not looking foward to going a full day next year. PJ is now 18 and half months and a kick in the pants. His vocabulary is exploding every day saying new words. He is 100 percent boy, digging in the dirt, playing with bugs, and climbing EVERYTHING. He loves to call his sister "ANYA". He is looking more like a big boy and less like a baby. . . . sigh. PEter is relieved as can be to have survived another tax season. He is such a trooper coming home after a long day at work and always willing to help out around the house and with the kids homework. I am blessed! I am also soooooooo ready for summer. It can not come soon enough. I will have to post pictures next time as I have to run!

1:54:00 PM
by suzanne murray

Easter Break is almost over :(

Sad times, the kids go back to school Monday. I have so enjoyed spending time with the kids this past week. It went way to fast and I didn't feel we got to do as much as I would have liked to.

We did make it to the beach twice and movie once. Anya is having a sleep over tonight and going to the movies tonight as well.

It is so nice not to have to get up early and work on homework late. I am giggling right now as I babysit my sister four kids and they are in the backyard and Mary is screaming "I found an orange one I found an orange one." Refering to a ladybug they have been hunting for over the last half hour. I am tired from a long day, but fun times! I am feeling so blessed to be surrounded by the joys of kids.

Prayerfully Considering Making Blog Private

Peter and I are prayerfully considering making our blog private. Originally our website that then morphed into a blog was set up as a means to keeping our friends and family informed of our ever changing interesting way God was growing our family. . . . . with updates on where we were in the process. As a bonus some people had stumbled onto our blog who were going through infertility. Some of these readers found some hope and comfort in the fact that we had survived infertility for 13 years surely they could. Some learned a had feared being so open about their infertility or adoption and our story helped them through that. Sigh. . . . . I am so torn. Our family is in a different place now and though I have absolutely no shame in our story, I worry that it can affect my children. It has affected my children (our story not the blog). Kids unfortunately have free access to computers and though google is my friend it can also be used by kids just thinking they are having fun googling their friends names. Mary will be in first grade next year, its time to step back and pray about if we should go private with our blog. If we do I would post a warning for anyone that wanted to email me for the password. Some of you I would email already. If you feel called to do so could you please join me in prayer as we consider?

Happy Easter!!!!!

Feeling so blessed in my life. With the best husband in the world. Peter is the best. He provides for our family and rarely complains. During this tax season he has started work every morning at 6AM, so that he can be off work at 5 PM and help with homework and bedtime duties of the kids. Again never complaining. He helps with the cooking, cleaning, homework and yesterday took his three girls and 4 of his nieces to see Hannah Montana the Movie. Peter is one of a kind I am blessed to call him my husband.

The kids woke up very excited at last it was Easter. Anya was looking foward to sweets because she had given them up all during Lent (peter too). Beautiful children God entrusted Peter and I with. The privledge to be called mommy by all of them. I love my family!

Nightlights Gala!

Last weekend we went to Nightlight's 50 TH anniversary Gala. It was fun! Here are some pictures of the kids.

"Play Another One Sam" PJ playing the Piano.

He finally is saying it!

Today PJ is FINALLY saying Momma to me. And at one point today while nursing he stopped, put his face next to mine and gave me a big ol hug. PJ melted mommy's heart today and made her proud.

What a sweet baby boy i have.

PROCRASTINATION= PJ's First Plane Ride

OK so i first became a nurse in 1997. I have had to renew my license every2 years since then. With the renewal comes a fee and proof of CEUs. They give you a couple of months to do it. But why I ask you, do it months before? When you can be notified by the human resource of your hospital and be told its due that week or you wont work and you can take an exciting trip to California's beautiful capital Sacramento. BETTER YET......spend quality time with your 16 month old son while you do it. And why I ask would you do this trip say in 12 hours when you can do it in 5 hours?
And so that is the lovely day i had today.... I will spare you the details of delayed flights, slower than molasses car rental places, even slower than slower than molasses state employees, streets that are not even streets with street names that are not identified. Bottom line mission accomplished. After spending $450 to accomplish something that could have been done for the cost of a stamp. Good news is PJ had his first flight.

Open Adoption

The words "open adoption" mean so much on so many different levels to so many different people. For us it is contact with our children's placing families of PJ and Mary. When introduced to "open adoption" when we first pursued adoption it was a scarey place. I felt God put barriers there for us to start. Lets face it, I would forever be thankful that not only did they choose life for their "extra" frozen embryos. They chose Peter and I to adopt them. They entrusted us to love and raise them. BUT then there is the fact that your not sure your really going to click with the placing family. Most relationships grow over time, you learn a little about the other and you decide if you would like to grow more. With open adoption, you are thankful but you are not sure your going to like them. I hope this comes out right. Anyways we have been blessed beyond measure with two wonderful placing families. We have grown to love these families. With both families we started with communication through our adoption agency, then moved to emails and then exchanged addresses to exchange family christmas cards.
Both families are very different. Communication is different with each one. Just proves that open adoption is not a cookie cutter cut out of what to do or follow. Over the past few years I became very god friends with a woman who went through IVF and still had 12 embryos left after her family was complete. She chose embryo adoption to place her embryos. I have been able to follow her journey from the time of decision of placing her embryos. It has been such a special friendship and an interesting prespective of a placing families emotions they go through when they do place embryos. She has taught me so much and helped me understand so much more of a placing families experience. Because of my friendship with her Peter and I were open to meeting one of our children's placing families in January this year. It was so wonderful to meet the family we had been in contact with. Special times and special meomories. Next month we are meeting that same placing mom and her mother in law (techniqually one of my children's genetic grandmother). I feel very blessed the way God weaved our families together with wonderful people that I can like enough to meet not only once but twice. Now my prayer is that the other one of my children's placing family we will get to meet some day. I will leave that to God and His timing.
I think and pray for my children's "first families." Galina and Anya have some family in Russia. I think of them often and pray for them. I also think of their family that have passed away. Then I think of PJ and Mary's placing families and pray for them. Such important people in this world. I am thankful for them.

My Father

In just a few weeks it on March 3rd, it will be the 10 year anniversary of my fathers death. I remember the day vividly. It is a day I experienced pain like I had never before. My dad was the best Dad in the world. He drove over an hour everyday to work to LA, worked a full day only to do the same drive home. He would leave about 5:30 am or 6 am everyday. When he would get home we would run up to him and he would sit in a chair and put his four youngest children on his knees (two kids on each knee) and sing silly songs with us while tapping his feet so we would go up and down. Silly songs he sang "Someones in the kitchen with dina" "who gunda stow my saxophone" and Alouette. I am not sure if he might have made some of them up but they were a hoot and he would make us laugh. On weekends he would pack us and the neighborhood kids in the car (before seat belt laws and when each kid having their own seat was optional) to the park. Again singing on the way there and back. What amazes me is that after working a full day at work he never complained he was too tired. He never told us kids to go away. I can't imagine having 7 kids that are 8.5 years apart and not being exhausted. Dad was a kidder. If we wanted something he kept us asking while making fun. "dad can we go to the movies?" " i don't know can you?" He was a GENTLEman. He was a religious man. He taught us to be non-judgemental, to be passionate about politics, to talk louder if someone disagrees with you because maybe they don't hear (LOL just kidding but we all do it). Most of all he taught us to love. Love our friends, love our family and more importantly to love God. So when he died that morning in March 1999, it was a great loss. Not just a loss to me but to the world. At his Rosary service more people stood up and spoke about him. They told stories that we had not heard. I learned at that time my dad was a humble man. He received medals in the army during the Korean war that none of us even knew, even my mother. Mom and Dad were married 40 years at the time of his death. This year would have been their 50th. The amount I miss him I am sure is NOTHING compared to her missing him. They were a team. OK so I babble (what else is new?).

My reason to this post was to share something a few weeks after my passed away. It was a Saturday and most people know Peter and I go to mass every Saturday night. We go with my mom, my sister Annette and her husband and four girls, and my sister Jeanne, her husband and three girls. After mass we go to dinner. On Saturday, March 27th a few weeks after my dad had died I was at Mass in deep prayer when I looked down at my shoulder and saw a feather. I took the feather and put it in my pocket. At dinner I shared what had happened and told my family that I believed Dad or a guardian angel was present and lost a feather. I shared this while all teary eyed. To which my family, laughingly said "yeah that's right Sue an angel left its feather!" They made me feel a bit foolish but I kept my feather anyways. The next morning my phone began ringing early. Two of my sisters had called to tell me to read the Sunday funnies. Specifically "The Family Circus." When I did I laughed and cried. What a precious gift. I have kept it over the years and found it today and thought I would share it on my blog.

The first caption reads"No, Love.-- we don't see many angels in our yard"
The second caption reads "the feather is probably from a pigeon."

Called Home To Be With Jesus

Saturday morning, also Valentines Day, I got a call from my cousin Rose. She called to let me know that her sweet mom, my adorable Aunt Rosemary was called home to be with Jesus. At peace and restful. I am sad. Selfish I know. Aunt Rosemary wore her heart on her sleeve. She was there for almost every birth in the family, illness at a hospital or small or big party. She went to mass with us every Saturday Night (until the last few years when the cold got to be much) and dinner to follow. She was even there most vacations becuase she was my mom's travel buddy. She loved her nieces and nephews with so much love and loved and entertained our children with just as much zest. She rarely complained but laughed often. Aunt Rosemary you will be missed and always loved......til we meet again.

Aunt Rosemary Update

Aunt Rosemary was transfered to a different hospital. Her latest C-Scan showed a decreased in swelling on the brain. A biopsy came back from when they did brain surgery and the bleed was discovered to be caused by an AVM an atrialvenous malformation. People can have AVMS just about anywhere (I see them occassionally in the stomach or colon with GI bleeds) and can bleed anytime or never. MY aunt has evidently had this AVM all her life, it could have bled anytime in her life (My sister, an ICU nurse, cared for a 12 year old girl that sustained major brain injury when hers bled). God chose to have this happen now at 82 years of age. Knowing this information we feel blessed that it took 82 years (although we wished she was one that never bled). She is still in a coma. However with so much swellling on the brain that is to be expected. We pray now that the swelling is going down that a miracle will happen and she will wake up. It has been 2 and 1/2 weeks of a coma so far. A long process (but I am told it always is with brain injuries). We continue to visit (I am only able to visit 4 to 5 times a week but my mom, cousins visit everyday and my sisters visit on off days). Please continue to pray for my aunt.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow Let IT snow!!!!!

OK so ANya and Galina have been begging to go to the snow every year since moving here from Russia in 2005. We finally took them in January. They loved it! I have to say though I don't think they could handle living in it anymore.

Christmas 2008

Ok so I am a little late posting Christmas pictures.

Looking for reindeer and Santa

Putting carrots down for the reindeer

Sitting in 4 new beanbag chairs from Santa!

NBC wont allow prolife ad for the superbowl.

Its a shame. I think it is powerful and thought I would share for anyone who has not seen it.

http://www.catholicvote.com/

Aunt Rosemary Update

Today is Friday and there has not been any significant changes with her. She does open her eyes when taken to CATscan and when she is laid flat for position changes. She still is on the vent. She does appear to move her right arm towards the intubation tube. Her scans show that she still has significant amount of swelling on her brain and the second bleed is not smaller. She also was started on antibiotics today for suspected pneumonia. We continue to pray for a miracle. The prayers right now would be for the infection to go away, the swelling to go down and bleeding to stop and be absorbed. With that we believe my sweet Aunt will wake up. Her children could use some prayers as they continue to encourage their mom at bedside.

Pictures Of PJ

Just a few shots of PJ. I just love to watch him. He is all boy and such a joy!

Sweet Sixteen Birthday Party!

This past week we FINALLY had Anya's sweet sixteen party. Her birthday was in December but with being so busy with the holidays and then her having to work on her grades. She had her finals last Friday so we had a party on Saturday. She invited her whole class and a few friends from her old class and a few cousins. There is about 23 students in her sophomore class and about 9 came all the way from San Marcos (about a 40 minute drive). In all there were about 12 kids. They played Guitar Hero and Dance revolution on the WII. Watched a movie and ate. I have to say I am so impressed with the kids that came to her party. They all were an awesome group of kids and I appreciated all the parents that drove them.

Aunt Rosemary Update

She still has not opened her eyes. Late last week she had a second bleed but not significant enough to do surgery on. This bleed most likely has set her recovery time back a few more weeks. I pray every day she will open her beautiful blue eyes. While visiting I tease her about the cute male nurses taking care of her. Amazing how we take those around us for granted til one day the carpet is pooled out from under them and you cant talk to them, you cant tell them how much they are appreciated and loved. Our family conitues to pray for her recovery. We continue to pray for her childrens hearts as they endure the waiting at bedside. Waiting for a miracle. A few days ago Peter found a voicemail on our answering machine. It was Aunt Rosemary. She had left a message the morning this all happened, looking for me to give her ride to her daughters.....sigh.

Reflections And The Request For Prayer

Wow...what a crummy day. A sad one. One that I hope some day I can reflect back on and see different than tonight. Today after getting off work I check my voicemail to find out my Aunt Rosemary had a stroke and went to the emergency room. Having experience in caring for the elderly for 10 years of my life, I know there is varying degrees. Nothing could have prepared me for when I went to the hospital. My Aunt was on a ventilator and they were preparing her for surgrey to cut her skull and clean up the bleed around her brain. My sweet Aunt laying there with her daughters at her bedside. Surgery was a success is the fact that she survived it. Our next goal is to have her get through the next 48 hours. After 48 hours with out complications then they can evaluate what damage has been done.
No for the reflections. My Aunt lives in the same town as me. Her daughter (my cousin) lives very close to Anya's school 45 minutes away from our town. At the last minute today, my Aunt and her daughter decided she would get a ride from me (while I take Anya to school) to my cousin's house. I was working today but my sister a very skilled critical care nurse was taking Anya. On the drive there my sister noticed signs of my Aunt having a possible stroke, getting her the help sooner than if my Aunt was at home by herself. SO for that I am thankful. I can definitely see God's hand at work here. I have to believe there will be a miracle with my aunt. She has a very special place in my heart and I am not ready to lose her.
If anyone reads this could you please pray for her?

Free Coffee Card Giveaway

A dear friend of mine whom I adore is doing a Starbucks free coffee card giveaway. All you do is visit her blog at http://wingerteam.blogspot.com/ and post what nicknames you call your kids or what you were called as a kid. She will pull a name from all those that entered to win a gift card to Starbucks. Even if you are not interested in the coffee card stop by anyways and see the AMAZING journey this family has been on to grow their family thru adoption. This family is one of the most beautiful families and I am so humbled when I am around them. Their love for Christ and their faith in HIM is such a beautiful testament. When I met Faith she had three children, less than a year later and a trip to Liberia and a suprise domestic adoption she was a mother of SIX children. Faith is a wonder mom and she constantly awes me.