and still we smile...

this isn't officially ten smile tuesday...simply a collection of little blessings in the past week. we were blessed by a day of togetherness...the four of us celebrating elizabeth's birthday. yes, the tears did fill our eyes at moments...and yet, laughter filled the air as well. we are blessed....even by the things in life that are painful. i am thankful that we were able to get out of the house today...take a trip to the museum...enjoy a birthday breakfast at the local donut shop...simply savoring the simple things in life...delighting in the joy of our daughters...delighting in each other. you see friends, we do not grieve without hope...we do not despair. i cannot even begin to describe how incredibly carried by the God of peace we have been. He is holding us steady...giving us grace at the very moment we need it...filling our hearts with rejoicing even as we mourn.
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riding the carousel

driving the bulldozer

sisters!

our little walking gator (aka.."drool monster"!)

we were blessed by not only one. not only two. but three separate deliveries of gorgeous flowers. like leslie was a few weeks ago, i was absolutely blown away when "the internet" sent me flowers. you incredible girls...thank you for thinking of us...thank you for praying for us...thank you for being with us in this time.

this lovely bouquet was from "the internet" :)

this lovely arrangement was compliments of my Bible study

...and another gorgeous fall bouquet from our church..

and of course i have to share some pictures of our now three year old elizabeth. i cannot believe how quickly three years have zipped past. last night in the car kate was crying, and elizabeth starting singing to her...oh the incredible sweetness of her little voice, soothing her sister....oh the blessing of hearing her praising Jesus in song. of course, it filled my already weepy eyes with fresh tears. if you asked elizabeth what she did on her birthday she would be sure to start by telling you about the "wiggle donut with cimmanen" she had for breakfast...and, of course, she would mention sitting on the big tall stool at the donut shop and watching the cars go by on main street. then she would tell you we went to the children's museum, and of course, she would proudly report that since she is officially three, she is old enough to ride the carousel horses that go up and down (this, my friends, is a BIG deal!). she would be sure to mention seeing the "dinoSAURS!" and choo-choos...and would most likely tell you that she drove a bulldozer with her daddy. she would be sure to mention going outside on her swingset (the one that "my daddy and my poppy built!") to take some birthday girl pictures. she would probably tell you that she received LOTS of phone calls from people who love her--and those lucky folks got to hear about this day from her sweet little voice! of course, she'd want to tell you that she got to sit on daddy's lap and open two presents...the curious george movie and some lacing shapes. and of course, no birthday would be complete without blowing out candles on some chocolate cake (good thing three year olds don't care whether its a "real" cake or just a warm delight bowl mom got as a free sample and whipped out at the last minute!). as for the rest of the fam...if you asked us about the day, we'd simply say we were darn lucky to spend it with such a fabulous, funny, beautiful, special girl. we love you libbers!

...and finally...a few last things we are smiling about.

the blessing of incredible friends and family who've come alongside of us and helped us in the past week. my mom came and stayed with us for three days...cleaning, cooking, taking care of the girls and me. my dear friend jill spent two days at our house...loving and serving us. mike's parents came saturday with yummy chili and an early birthday celebration for libs. our sweet friend jamie watched the girls tuesday during our appointment and then kept them into the afternoon so we'd have some processing time. she also watched the girls during our first appointment and rushed dinner over the first night of my bedrest...taking care of us while we were still reeling from the news that something was amiss. our dear friend nancy drove all the way across the city to bring us dinner one night...and she has loved, encouraged, and blessed us by sharing her own experience. a dear friend i have only just met in the past couple of weeks brought us dinner last night. our cup runneth over with blessings and love from the people around us.

grandmommy reads to miss elizabeth

elizabeth enjoying some chocolate cake grandma and grandpa brought over

though i was couch bound for a week, i had the privilege of watching miss kate take her first walk across the room (right straight to her daddy when he arrived home from work i might mention...looks like we've got another daddy's girl!). oh how sweet to be a captive audience for the debut week of crawling...i hope to post some of the video was captured very soon.


and this. a willow tree angel to add to my collection. mike and i picked this out yesterday...with tears streaming down our face at hallmark. how thankful i am that my husband didn't think i was silly for wanting something to have in front of us...a visual "remembrance" of sorts. in fact, he also suggested planting a tree in our yard as a sort of memorial...something we will be heading to do this weekend.


and so dear friends...we are blessed beyond measure. we serve a God who is ever faithful and oh so God. we are blessed by this trial, as it is showing us the intimate tenderness of our Father, our refuge and our rock.