Here is some photos of my family for you to enjoy. My kids are the lights of my life. These pictures were taken in January of 2000. 
Sierra--My oldest, she was a special gift given to us from her birth mother. I was able to enjoy the wonder of watching her birth.
Sierra
Today you turn one
You'll have so much fun.
You chatter away
much to our dismay
for we cannot understand
what it is you want in your hand.
Your growing so fast
these days will soon be past.
As you take those first steps to me
We all laugh, what a sight to see.
But don't worry, it won't be long
before you'll be running everywhere big and strong
I just wanted you to know
that it makes my heart glow
That having you as a daughter of mine
has enriched my life more than any diamond mine
I will love you always,
Mom
© Written by me for Sierra on her 1st birthday.
Elisabeth--My middle child, so much like me in so many ways. Her pictures often remind my mom of a little "Leisa".
Elisabeth
Sometimes carrying the miracle of life
Can be a time of strife
But when I get feeling like a moose
you turn and give me a goose
it makes me giggle
to feel you wiggle
I look to the sky
and can't help but wonder why
God gave this wonderous pleasure
to only a few, like a hidden treasure.
Men can share the joys of fatherhood
yet they can never experience the secrets of motherhood
As the you turn and move it is easy to see
Yet I sometimes can't believe it's you inside of me
Soon you will arrive in a world full of hope
And once again God grants us the wisdom to cope.
You will grow and age so fast
This time of ours will be in the distant past.
Yet for now this body we share
I do this so you won't have a care.
All my love,
Mom.© Written by me shortly before Elisabeth was born.
Justen--My baby, special in his own way since he sees the world through the eyes of autism
Don't laugh at me
Written by Allen Shamblin and Steve Seskin
Sung by Mark Wills
I'm a little boy with glasses
the one they call the geek
A little girl who never smiles
'cause I've got braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels
To cry myself to sleep
I'm that kid on every playground
who's always chosen last
a single teenage mother
tryin' to overcome my past
you don't have to be my friend
but is it too much to ask
Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
don't get your pleasure from my pain
in God's eyes we're all the same
someday we'll all have perfect wings
don't laugh at me
I'm the cripple on the corner
you've passed me on the street
I wouldn't be out here beggin'
if I had enough to eat
don't think I don't notice
that our eyes never meet
I lost my wife and little boy when
some one crossed that yellow line
the day we laid them in the ground
is the day I lost my mind
and right now I'm down to holdin'
this little cardboard sign...so
don't laugh at me
don't call me names
don't get your pleasure from my pain
in God's eyes we're all the same
someday we'll all have perfect wings
don't laugh at me
I'm fat, I'm thin,I'm short, I'm tall,
I'm deaf, I'm blind, hey aren't we all..
This song touches me and says that although we have special needs here on earth, God loves us all and soon we will all be perfect.
I cry everytime I hear this song, since Justen has come home from school crying because some other student called him stupid. He is not stupid just different and aren't we all.
