Our AMAZING Boy!!!

It has been 4 months since David turned 9 and I have not yet posted some highlights of his stellar 8th year... (I thought I had better get it done since he still hasn't had a friend party to celebrate...bad mama...AND his sister is about to have her birthday!!) So, here goes... David's eighth year was chalked FULL of changes which his laid back personality allowed him to handle pretty well. We did leave his beloved Alaska...his loyal heart hated to leave special friends and the only home he remembers. The trip down the Alcan was FANTASTIC with many wonderful family memories...being in AK & Canada at the SAME time, dancing at the sign post park, the HUGE water park and the fun time catching the waves for our BRAVE boy, seeing all kinds of wildlife, stopping to see a best AK buddies who had moved to Seattle to name a few. David adjusted well to his 2nd grade classroom with a super teacher, Mrs. Leuhring, who had also lived in AK!! He also made THE best new friends...the Bones, Rebekka, Shawn... They all went to school and AWANA together! :D David went to his first school dance, was opening adored and chased each day by 2 girls (I reminded him daily that he couldn't date until after med school though and he passed that on to the girls! :D)...He did a really cool study of Africa in class and did an Elephant report and made a toy to barter at the "African Market". The day also included authentic African food!! David has always enjoyed acting and was able to star in 2 plays...He was Mogli in The Jungle Book and a pirate in Swashbucklers. We are so proud of his ability to memorize lines, but, mostly we LOVE that he memorizes scripture so easily. We are thrilled that he is learning to hide God's Word in his heart and that it helps him in his every day life to be of good character...make good choices, share his faith, and be a good friend. He was THRILLED to cheer on his AK Governor, Sarah Palin as she ran for VP during election time!! At the AWANA Grand Prix the car Papa & David built together won all but 1 race. How EXCITING that was!! David also got to tackle bigger mountains with his snowboard his 8th year...Papa even tried snowboard, but alas, has gone back to skiing!!:D Skateboarding continued to be a great love and many new parks were found here in CO and many skills were learned...especially when David and his cousin Jonah got to study at SKATELAB in So Cal!! Wow was Mama nervous to watch at times!! The biggest new thing for David in year 8 was starting guitar. We soon found out yet another area where God has gifted our boy. He is a fast learner and we love to hear him worship!! We look forward to see how God will use this gift as he grows!! :D Our boy is smart and is a leader at school, he is a kind & FUN friend and big brother, he loves Wii & video games, skateboarding, snowboarding, camping, playing with friends, Jesus, AWANA, playing guitar, family game nights, Lexi... He has such a heart for the lost and the hurting. Our boy is our joy and we love him so and are INCREDIBLY proud and honored to be his parents!!! "Thank you, Jesus for the PRECIOUS gift of David Gregory Zydonis!!"

Beautiful distractions...

There is a BEAUTIFUL view from the "kitchen sink" window! It makes doing dishes a joy! I look out and think independent thoughts... (I still don't get to go to the bathroom by myself, but, at the kitchen sink I am alone for whole minutes at a time...) I LOVE the enormous tree out that window!! All summer long I have admired it when the sun shone brightly down, the moon too; when the breeze gently moved it's leaves; even when it stood majestically still. And then came fall...WOW!! The colors were ablaze and truly that tree was at it's beautiful best! This morning I noticed that the strong north winds have taken away all but a few leaves and the tree is bare and cold looking. I can now see right through to beyond it... And there IT was...Pikes Peak in all it's snow topped GLORY!! WOW!!! The mountains are AMAZING from my kitchen sink window, better than any other sight I have seen all summer or fall. How could I have forgotten?? I was so busily distracted by the tree that I forgot about the MOUNTAIN!!! God gently spoke to my heart and reminded me it is like that in my life sometimes as well. I get so distracted by beautiful things...my bright & creative kids, coffee with my lovely sister and her hysterically funny daughter, my hard working husband who loves me (and Jesus!!), attending prayer & mommy groups, helping at the kids school's, sharing my faith with new friends... Sometimes I miss HIM...my GLORIOUS Jesus...the One who's beauty is beyond compare!! Oh, I realize my "distractions" are still wonderful and worthy of my time. They are all given to me by THE One Whom I mustn't miss... He must always be in the forefront, the reason I appreciate all the other things well. His glory makes all of the other things shine brighter! I am utterly amazed this morning how Jesus, the creator of all things, desires to be in relationship with me! That He delights in 'lil ole, often distracted me! I want Him to be my focus each day...I don't want to ever "forget".

FEAR!

Anyone who knows me would say that I am NOT a worrier! I always seem to have enough faith that "all will be well"... These last few days have given me enough of a glimpse into fear though that I feel empathy for those who struggle with it quite keenly. My fear was totally irrational; not well founded AT all! It left me unable to sleep and with a constant churning in my stomach. I was trying to prepare Greg for life without me and the stress made me a complete grump and in need of a nap each day. Is that why God says don't do it? I don't want to ever again, yet, at the time it seemed quite impossible to stop... I know that fear comes from a lack of trust... Is God dealing with me yet again in this shadowy area? If so I want to be exposed! "Let there be no shadowy place left in me when you're through, oh Lord! I want to come before you with unveiled face, KNOWING that You love and accept me always. I want to never lack trust in You, ever. Thank you for Your faithfulness to me even when I doubt, You have NEVER let me down!" I am also thankful for the people in my life who love, encourage and pray for me!! It MATTERS as much as the air I breathe...even more because these things are eternal. That is all for now... Sometimes a girl just has to get her thoughts "thunked"...this seems the perfect place to do it!! :D

Gotcha Day 2009

As this day marks the 4th anniversary of the first day I held her in my arms I am overwhelmed with thoughts of our precious baby girl. I have spent the day remembering again how God perfectly brought all the details together so she would make it to the home He intended for her from the start. Having lost 3 babies in a row left my heart shredded, I longed so for another baby, but, I knew I could not try again. God did a work in Greg's heart and gave him the desire to adopt...overjoyed I shared the news with our ministry team to pray with us about. As soon as the words were out of my mouth Pastor Keith said, "I know exactly where you should start!" We knew Kymi was ours at 2 days old, just 5 weeks after our first contact with The Home of God's Love in Taiwan. And exactly four years ago today, when she was 7.5 months old, we finally got to be together as a family!! I remember when we FINALLY got there and picked her up that it took her a second to recognize us, but then she KNEW...she knew we were hers!! I remember that David was the first to make her laugh and feed her rice cereal, that Papa hardly ever put her down for the entire 8 days we were there and how he cried the first time he heard her make a noise (and that was over the phone before we ever got there!) It makes me laugh to think at one time he wasn't sure about adoption because he didn't know if he could love a child that wasn't "his own"...ha!!! Kymi could not be anymore "his own" if she grew from his right arm! She has captured his heart in ways he never imagined...just like she has with all of us!! She is feisty and STRONG willed, she LOVES to sing and does so always, she notices everything and points it all out to anyone who will listen, her heart is in love with Jesus and she knows and trusts Him, her personality and energy light up every room she's in, she loves to swing HIGHER and make soup in the sandbox, she never wants to go to bed without Bitty (her little blue blanket), but if Bitty is "hiding" she will settle for Pink because Pink is a good "extra". She ADORES her brother and everything that is his favorite is also her favorite. Recently she asked about "the other mommy "... I told her again how the other mommy was so brave! How she took good care of herself so Kymi would be born a healthy baby. How she wanted the very best home for Kymi with love, a mama & papa & brother & doggy, and Jesus! I told her that the other mommy heard all about Jesus at the CPC and that when I pray for her I always thank God for her and hope that she has accepted Jesus as her own, that she knows how much He loves her and she is happy. Kymi said that she was proud of the other mommy for doing the right thing and that she would pray for her to know Jesus too. My sweet girl!!! Oh how I love her and rejoice that God has given her to me to raise. She is my great delight! "Experts" have told me that she "may" one day feel have abandonment issues... It is my goal to remind her her whole life long that she has never been left alone!! She has always been loved and wanted and in exactly the right place! She was born to a 15 year old girl in a culture that has no problem with termination...at the custody trail her other grandpa held and cuddled her for the entire hour and a half in the courtroom, for 2 weeks after she was born she stayed with a loving Christian family who sent letters and gifts of love that she will one day see and have, and then until all the paperwork was ready she was held for every bottle, told all about and sung to about how much she was loved by Jesus at The Home of God's Love...and He was with her from the very start of her and He hasn't ever left. Abandoned? No! Loved from the start, taken care of, hoped for, wanted? YES!!! "Lord, may she always KNOW. I thank you for this precious gift of my baby girl!"

Hearts of PURE Gold...

Being a mom certainly has it's ups and downs...yesterday frustration was running high with a huge headache and two kids that seemed to be bickering FAR more than having fun with each other. It was a rough mommy day. Today was a fresh new start, as each day is, and it happened to be a GREAT mommy day! I have been praying for David in the past few weeks about something I have seen creeping into his life...jealousy...he has got some competition for the first time in his little life. God gave me the perfect opportunity to talk with him about it today!! I reminded him that God made him like nobody else, that he is a totally unique and valuable! I told him that when he is jealous he is focusing on this other boy and not on Jesus. And, this other little guy does not know Jesus yet...I told him with a wrong attitude he probably won't take opportunities to share Jesus with him. The light bulb went on and he totally understood. "Thank You, Jesus!" Then on the way to church tonight the kids were just cracking me up with jokes and silly songs they were making up. In the middle of all that Kymi said, "Mama, Jesus is my BEST friend!! I love Him and He loves me!! Isn't that GREAT?!!!" Wow!! I pray that is something she knows in her heart everyday of her life and that her thoughts and actions reflect the grace and love that she knows today!! The "cherry" on top was during prayers before bed...here was part of David's "And God, I pray for Mr. Kelly that You would make him well. I pray that Caleb and the rest of their family will not be scared or sad. And, Jesus, if Mr Kelly does die, I thank you that he gets to be with You and that someday so will all his family. Thank you, Jesus. Amen" From the mouth of babes!! More than anything I want my kids to KNOW Jesus, to have an unshakable faith in His grace and love for them and to walk with Him ALL the days of their lives. I am such a poor reflection of that grace and love for my kids sometimes; though and I know that where they will first learn it is at home... days like today remind me that God's grace covers my parenting too!! :D I am so thankful that He will and IS revealing Himself to them in spite of me as much as He is through me. I LOVE that about my Jesus!! I will praise His Name forever!!

DOUBLE TROUBLE Date...

HA!!!! What a RIOT!! We laughed SO hard on our big night out!! Our parents wanted to watch all the kids and treat us to a night on the town (or at least for fancy fondue) to celebrate Kim & Dave's new Colorado house. They packed really light and all Kim had to wear were white tennies...my mom borrowed her a pair of sandals that made her CA feet too cold so socks were added. :D Dave gave her a ride to the car so her socks wouldn't get wet...hysterical!!! We continued laughing and having a wonderful time all night!! What a special memory!!

FABULOUS Burson Visit!!

We had another fabulous spring break visit from my sister Kim and her fam this time!! WOW!!! We have been SO blessed with visits from family!! We are very thankful to now have a guest room for them all to stay comfortably!! Last time they visited us we were in our tiny Alaska home...boy way that cozy!!! :D This visit was filled with dress-up, star wars, webkinz, spring SNOW (FUN for CA cousins who do not get to see that very much!!!) yummy meals (thanks Grammy!!), Focus on the Family, hikes, playing at the park, bike rides, AND house hunting!! Kim & Dave looked at lots and BOUGHT one!! YES!!! They are moving HERE this very summer!! Our kids will go to the same school (except for Bren who is in high school already!! Wow, how time flies!!)!! God is so good and gives THE best gifts!!

We had a marvelous time celebrating the fact that JESUS IS RISEN!! My uncle was in town with my cousin, Destiny and the kids loved celebrating with her!! They played dress up, colored eggs with Grammy, watched it snow HUGE snowflakes, made Easter lambs, watched Mr. Bean (TOO funny!!), found baskets, re-told the Resurrection story with our new playset and Resurrection eggs, ate yummy food AND CANDY GALORE. We SO enjoyed Easter service at church, dressing up (Kymi took a bit to warm to that idea...her dress was TOO fancy and she did NOT want to be like Nancy!!!) and just spending the day resting with the fam...notice Greg at his usual spot on the couch! :D I LOVE Easter and what it represents...I am His and He is mine!! His banner over me is LOVE!! Resurrection Sunday blessings to you all!! xoxoxox