Oh how time flies! I can't believe all that has happened in just a few short months. I hope you all enjoyed the Disney post. I am trying to get caught up today on the things that have been happening here. So we went to Disney, at the beginning of Sep., I've had lots of photo shoots, praise the Lord! We got a new puppy, Aztec. Shawn's belated birthday present. I got to go to AZ to photograph a wonderful wedding of two very special people. We have had done many things to get ready and celebrate fall. Parent teacher conference, which mostly went great, I have such smart, hard working little men!! And now we just closed out thanksgiving. Which was full of surprises and blessings. Which is a little of what I want to write about today. As all of you know, whether you have been through it or not, that divorce is so hard, on everyone! But we have such a great God that works all things out for good and in his timing. Well during our thanksgiving we really got to see the Lord work in such huge ways. Some things have been going on with Andrea, we don't know what, but she has mentioned that things are happening in her life. So daily we have been praying for her and just laying it all before the Lord and contrary to her most usual attitude about things, she is being loving and gracious and full of love and encouragement for the boys. She asked what our plans were for Thursday and Friday of thanksgiving. So we let her know that we were having thanksgiving on Thursday nothing really on Friday. And invited her to join us for our thanksgiving, fully expecting her to pass on the offer, but she graciously accepted. Which blew our socks off. We love this women and just want to see her grow in the Lord and have a changed life, so to have her come here and just share the day with our family was a huge deal both for her and the boys and us. So she showed up with a gift and pie and a smile and great attitude(even though I am sure she felt unsure of what the day would hold, the same as we did, everyone was holding their breath for a bit). And we had the best thanksgiving that we have ever had. We did find out later that she had no where to go and was really blessed and excited that we asked her to join us. So though divorce is so hard, there is healing and people can come together and you can, even if hurt, bestow blessing on other people, the people who have hurt you deeper than you could have ever imagined. But God calls us to really love even our enemy's because he loves them just the same as us, and wants to draw near to them the same as he does to us. So I am honored that a women who not too long ago, hated me, and my husband hated, was able to come and join us for food, fun, laughter and that my boys got the best thanksgiving ever because they were surrounded with so many that love them with their whole hearts and I know it is a thanksgiving none of us will forgot, and really a day of thanking the Lord for his work in our hearts everyday. And I pray that this is a start to a whole new relationship between all of this, and that Andrea knows with her whole heart that we love her, want her in the boys lives, and that she is welcome here day or night for any celebration, for any day that she needs a family. I know this is all a bit jumbled, it is so hard for me at times to express what my heart is feeling about a situation. But I hoped you followed along at least a little and that first and for most you see how important it is to love, open your heart up, show Jesus in every little thing, and change people lives with the love and knowledge of Jesus!!

Disney

Yeah!! Our first family vacation!! We have saved and planned for about 6 months and the day finally arrived. We were so lucky and blessed to take this trip with our best friends (Scott and Yvonne Brown) and with mom. The boys loved every minute of the adventure!! It was such a joy to wake up every morning with a full fun filled day planned and all of the boys asking what great things we got to do that day. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. Enjoy!! We can't wait to go back and are already planning a trip in about 4 years. And one big shout out for Disney and the guest assistance pass. Our family could not have done Disney without this great pass that they provide for families of those with special needs. We got to jump all of the lines and received first rate service and help no matter where we went. A blessing that does not even have words. John would never had made it through the week. But thanks to this benefit we flew through Disney with ease and had tons of laughs! The best vacation hands down!! Check out all of our pictures on flickr!!

New School Year

I can't believe that school is starting already. I am not ready to lose my boys for hours each day. But on the other hand it will be nice to get some things done around here and have a bit of quite during the day. I have only Corban and Jordan with my during the days and then Memphis on a couple days of the week also. Two/three boys is so much different than six. It's so crazy that there is a difference but it's mostly in the volume of the house. :)

As I sent each of my school ones out the door onto the bus I was hit with the sad realization that another one is going and in two more years I won't have any more at home. That seems like no time at all, and all of my precious little ones will be gone most of the day and I will have to figure out something to do with myself, instead of crying all day that all of my babies have left me, and they are not even in college yet! :)

Even though it is sad for me, my boys can't wait to be out the door into school. All of them love it so much and look forward to different parts. John just can't wait to be back and enjoy it all, Ximon can't wait to make new friends, James is so excited about eating lunch at school and being there all day, and Zeke is just excited to be going and doing doesn't matter at all what, just that it is at school.

I love my boys so much and I am so thankful that I have been given the opportunity and blessing to be their mom. There is nothing more in this world that I would want to do more than be a mom and a mom of 6 and if the Lord so chooses to bring me more, so be it. I love it!!!

I can't wait to see how each of them grow this year! Memories are being made and I plan on enjoying and cherishing every minute of it.

While the boys are at school all day I am planning to do a bit of homeschooling with Corban and Jordan to get them hopefully soild on a few basic things. It is going to be a fun, rewarding challenge I think.

Well I have ranted and raved about this day for long enough, thanks for hanging in there with me. Enjoy the pics!!

Summer Memories

We had such a fun filled busy summer. We had so many fun adventures, we went to eliches, my parents came to visit, lots of bowling,VBS, museums, zoos, roller skating, broncos sports camp, building at Lowe's, lizards, swimming, July 4th, 4 birthday's and so much more.

These are just a few of my favorite pictures to give you a rundown of our summer here at the Reinsel house! Enjoy! And we hope your summer was just as fun and filled with great memories! If you want to see all of our pictures from our summer adventures just check out our flickr site!

Joy in what may seem to you as simple things, but to me is the Lord moving mountinans

I have had such a blessed week and the Lord has done some incredible things, simple as they all may be to everyone else they are huge in this house.

John has always had such a hard time eating different things and has had the most limited diet on earth and will not try new foods, which is all part of the Autism cycle we live each day. This is something we have struggled with for so long and prayed one day it would change but really didn't think it would so we were happy just with what he would eat. And as you can imagine it really messes up his digestion and bowel movements. So after a really bad incident about 1 1/2 weeks ago, where he could not have a bowel movement and when he did is was super painful and his tummy, butt hurt so bad, I had a talk to him about trying new foods and eating what we eat, which will help his tummy and butt feel better and not hurt. In the back of my mind I was thinking that this was no way going to work but what was the harm in trying and using this as the springing board to eat the things he and I call "Healthy food". He is very curious about what is healthy or not healthy, fortunately we eat a lot of healthy foods here (not too much candy, sweets, etc). So very unexpectedly he jumped off of that board.

Starting that very next day he ate all of the food that we ate! What a moved mountain in our lives and now 5 days later he has still eaten every meal with us, what ever we are having with very minimal issues. I am praising God and so thankful and proud of my little man working through it, even though I know it is so hard for him.

I didn't really think it would have lasted this long, but our God is good, and my boy works so hard so please pray that is continues and we can be getting him more of the things that he needs and he will find more and more foods that he actually likes!!!

The night we had fiesta salad (which is like taco salad), he was very hesitant to eat that meal but once he did just try the meat, he said "That is delicious". Shawn and I about shouted and almost fell out of our seats. He even asked for more. Then that next day when I made soft tacos, he ate 2 of them and even asked for a bit of homemade salsa on them. I am living in astonishment every day and so much excitement about how this is going to change his life and ours! Praise God!!

Thanks for sharing in this miracle with us and the joy of him growing up a bit and really stepping out of his comfort zone and at least trying. Even if this ends tomorrow, I am so glad for this great week we had and so proud of him for at least going that extra mile, even if it was just this once!

Our house!

Well I know it's a little late, but after a huge 2 1/2 month adventure the house is ours!! Praise God! He worked out every little detail and in his timing we signed the papers and took over the keys. We are so happy!! I have the sold sign just haven't gotten a picture of all of us with it in front of the house yet, but I will I promise! Thank all of you so much for your support and prayers, there are so many who helped so graciously both financially and prayerfully in all of this and we are so thankful for you. We can't wait to have everyone over and celebrate!!

Philippians 4:6-7

"Be anxious for NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." I am amazed by this verse and it has taken on such a deep meaning to me in my life. I am anxious about everything all of the time it seems, if it's not one thing, it is another almost every minute of everyday. And by taking hold of this verse my world has turned upside down or rather right side up. When ever I start to feel upset or anxious about something, instead of getting really worked up and worried I turn to my Lord and what this verse says. I say it aloud and make my requests known to God. I tell him all that I am feeling, all that I am worried about and ask for his peace, I turn it completely over to him for his care and working out and allow him to make it his burden not mine. What happens is amazing, I actually have peace, I can go about my day, my minute, my hour and feel at peace about what ever is going on in my life. I know it is because this verse is really alive in me and it has not always been so, I have felt the difference of just knowing this verse, and actually believing and doing what it says in this verse. I never have wanted to give up the control over what ever was happening in my life and it was destroying me, and effecting every part of my life and all of my relationships. Because I was constantly worried about something and I was stressed out so that made every other small thing that happened too much for me to handle and I would snap at people, not be loving or patient towards my husband or children and countless other mistakes, which is not what I wanted or how I am supposed to act as a daughter of the king no matter what is going on in my life. So I took hold of this verse and engraved it in my heart and am allowing God to give me his peace about any situation when I completely turn it over to him, and believe me it is beyond my understanding or anyone else how I can be so calm in the mist of my crazy life and all that happens on a daily basis. I know all of that is the Lord working on me in my life and me allowing him to do so, because we have to make the choice to let him, he won't force us to let him be LORD over our lives and work in us. I am not perfect, very far from it in fact, there are times that I don't heed this verse and I see it. My desire to control a situation takes over and I don't hand it over to God. It begins to effect everything in my life and I have to be reminded of this, to turn it to God and let go of it, though I must say this is not easy for me at all. I am a control freak, but I am learning and everyday am getting better at this and allowing my Jesus to work in and through me. Please commit this verse to memory so that you can recall it at a moments notice, write it on your mirrors, on your fridge, have it surrounding your life inside and out. I hope that this encourages you, and brings you to your knees about whatever is happening in your life right now, today. Give it to God, let him carry it, let him give you peace. Your life will be transformed and it will amaze you, it will help your marriage, it will help your parenting, it will help with your girlfriends, it will help in every part of your life, watch and see!!!

New Adventure

Well since it was not too long ago that I bought a house with Gabe and went through the whole crazy process, I was not too excited to begin it all again. But none the less I will endure if it means we can stay in our beloved home and keep the boys settled and right where they are. So yesterday we met with the realtor and found out the whole situation of our house. The man we are renting from is going into short sale and since we are living here we do have the first opportunity to buy it. So we found out from him what our next steps needed to be and proceeded. Today Shawn met with a mortgage lady to get an approval letter so we know exactly what we qualify for. It was a long process, 3 1/2 hours, but Shawn got all of the paperwork done and now we have to wait until the end of next week to see what we qualify for and then we can put an offer in on the house. In the meantime we were told that we are going to need a down payment, which sadly we don't have, so we are leaving that in God's hands to provide. We know that he knows our whole situation and our needs and we also know that he can work miracles, so we are hoping for ours. I will try and keep my blog updated so that you all can be praying for us in this. Thanks to all of you who are praying and sharing in this journey with us.

The best but worst week!

I am sitting here this morning with so much on my mind. It has been a really hard week for us in our house, and it seems to be only getting worse, between everyone at one time or another being sick, high emotions because of stress, finding out sad news from our family and now the latest news that we may be losing our house, is so much to take all in one week. But I must say it also has been the best week in some ways. John got into a study at children's hospital which is for helping doctors to better do an actual doctors appointment (well child check up) with kids with Autism. As a part of this study they do all of the updated testing like the ADOS, an IQ test and a few others, and we will get all of the results and at no cost to us, plus in April he will go back for a doctors appointment so the can put to use what they have learned about these kiddos. Also we had the boy's parent teacher conference's. What a joy these bought to my heart in the past few hard days. John is doing so excellent in school and is really getting the hang of it and is having fewer and fewer melt downs. But I must commend his team of people that work with him at school, they are the best I have ever seen minus Ms. Annies team in Arizona. These women work endlessly with John and have brought him so far in school. He has one aid that I really like named Melissa, John is such a joy to her heart and she works incredibly with him and doesn't allow him to pull one over on her, and her passion and love for him has brought her to each and every meeting we have ever had about John and I appreciate her commitment to him and his success. Each person that works with him is awesome, I can't say enough about them and could write a novel about each one and how great they are. I say he has won over many hearts with his greatness. Ximon is doing so well, making so much progress each and every day and I could not be prouder of him and all of his hard work. Coming into first grade he was not doing well at all, but now is right there with the rest of the kids mostly, we are still working on some things, but what a blessing. His teacher is so impressed with how far he has come and can't wait to see where he is at the end of the year. James is also doing excellent he is every ones favorite not only in his class but in the school, well actually our whole family is. Everyone is amazed at what great boys we have and how they listen and obey and are so friendly and polite, it blesses Shawn and I's heart to hear that we are doing well as parents, even though it is such hard work. But to raise our boys in the Lord there is no greater reward then to see them living in such a godly manner even at such a young age. James's teacher is one of my favorite that I have ever had to work with, this women is so sweet and so sad when we don't bring all of our kids to see her at school every time we come. She during the conference just wanted to talk about the boys and how they each were and find out more about Shawn and I and how we came to be, which was such incredible opportunity to share with her the Lord and his mercies and just our relationship with him and how we are what we are because of him. Who knew that this is where God would use us the most in reaching out to the teachers and staffs at our boy's school with the gospel by just being our crazy unique family. And the thing that brought me the greatest joy this week and brought me to tears and even to tears as I write this is that I am the mom to all of these boys and they feel it in their hearts. Let me explain. Yesterday Shawn and I had to go to the hospital to be with my sister who is there with my nephew, who is having a very hard time right now, all of them are as a family, please continue to always pray for them and lift them up everyday. Since we were gone, Becky was here to pick up Ximon off of the bus, and he came home, and asked where mom was and said that he missed me. I was amazed and so blessed and then at bed last night he did call me mom and my heart was bursting with Joy. I can't put to words the greatness and fullness that I feel being the mom of these boys and the wife of Shawn, I have felt only a few times in my life that I am right where I should be in such a strong manner and peace and this is one of these times. Even though in the mist of all of this goodness and peace the Lord is stretching me. We got a call yesterday that the man we are renting from is going into forecloser and will need to sell the house. We are offered the first go at it, but we don't know if we are going to be able to buy it. My name is still on Gabe's house and we are not sure if we make enough money to get a loan so we are praying desperately for guidance and peace about what our next step should be. This house is perfect for us, Shawn and I and the boys have friends in the neighborhood, it is safe, but more so the boy's school is the best fit that we have ever had so we don't want to take them out. As I prayed and tossed last night, I was seeking my Father to sit at his feet and lay out my heart about this awful situation. And I prayed and cried and told him all about our situation and told him all that was on my heart, that we have never been more settled and happy and that to uproot the boys would just be too much, and to uproot me would be too much, and I was comforted so much by him and his quite words to me. That I am to be anxious for nothing but to make my requests known to him and then allow HIM to give me the peace that surpasses all understanding. Because he does know our whole situations more than I could even express to him, he knows my boys and what moving would do to them, and exactly what they need. And I was comforted that his ways are not always our ways that I have to trust him and allow him to do what is best for our family even if it is the hard way. I woke up with such a peace in my heart that my Lord is going to care for me and my family no matter what and I just need to lay it all at his feet and let it go and let him do his work whatever that may be. And we will be happy no matter what because we have him and we have each other and we have 6 wonderful little boys who are God's gift to us and he will take care of us. I ask as we go into some very hard months ahead of us that you pray that we continue to trust the Lord and lay it at his feet and only move in his directing and if it is his will that he will give us a miracle. I know this is a bit jumbled but thanks for hanging in there with me. I will update more later about the house as we move on in the process. Thank you all that pray for us everyday and are such dear friends and family to us. You are God's blessings to us!