Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Christmas Blessings abound! I don't even know where to begin...I haven't blogged in ages and I have so much to say...I tried to pick my favorite pics from some recent events. My heart is so full!

 

Mally at her 2nd grade Christmas party!

 

Whit and her good buddy hard at work at their Kinder class party!

Mal and her Teacher, she taught Scott 1st grade!!! We love her! :)

My precious men! Adorable little nephews came to play!

 

 Oscar LOVED the jumperoo and he REALLY loved his Mal! :)



Lots of best buddy action! Cars in this pic...

Christmas Eve! :)

Annual Christmas Eve jammies! Lanie got some too!

 And of course La La Cahooca got some as well!



My little Christmas Eve cutie pies! :)

Decorating a cookie for Santa!!! :)



 

Eating the cookie he made for Santa and torturing the dog.....:/



 

Running in as fast as they can from putting out the Reindeer food!

Christmas Morning!!!

 

 Enjoying all his trains and the train table daddy made for him!!!



Lots of happy kids and big hugs!!

A fun time was had at the Graybeal Christmas! :)

And needless to say it was quite the CELEBRATION at the Moore House!

There are no words that could truly express what this photo means to me. That precious body brace wearing sister of mine makes my cup overflow...my smile could not have gotten any bigger! And my little green pants wearing nephews! :) Be still my heart...I melt! BLESSED!!!

Lots of Steph loving...a few tears of joy! ;)

And one car loving baby! :) Couldn't resist this pic...

 

I know I can not write anything that does any of this Christmas season justice. But I want to remember it for always! The JOY on our children's faces. The laughter, the excitement, the year of the Nintendo DSI XL and Cutie Pops and trains! The big hugs, the squeals of excitement my heart is SO full. Being able to have Steph with us just put the "icing on the cake" I soaked in every moment and I am still smiling thinking about it today. Actually I just talked to Steph on Facetime from my moms house :) Its the small things. Finding JOY in all things. That is my new years resolution....never forgetting to soak in the moment, find the joy in everything.

 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

I am so far behind on blogging...but I felt that after you all have prayed so much for my sweet sister Steph... I should start with a post that makes my heart so happy! A celebration for her!!! Steph had her first bridal shower!!! Praise JESUS she was able to be there!!!!...Beautiful brace and all!! ;) She says she is not ashamed...and thankful to be a new girl in 2 weeks when it comes off! Woot! :) Back to the shower...it was hosted but one of her dearest besties and a Pi Phi sister from K-State :) We had such a great time celebrating our girl! :) Enjoy a few pictures!!

 

Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name!

 

I know for a long time to come I will still be taking in all the events of the last two weeks. Things keep coming back to me in waves. Something that I want to share is this bracelet and what the saying means. Before & Behind. Two words that didn't mean that much before...they mean more than anything now. When we were sitting in the ICU with Steph after her ventilator first came out she kept saying "before and behind" I had no idea why she would say that but she was still not making a lot of sense so we would just comfort her. Later she started telling us that the Wagner's (Kevin's family) always huddle up and pray for travel Mercies before anyone begins traveling. They prayed over Steph and Kevin along with Kevin's siblings before everyone headed home from visiting for Thanksgiving. One of the things they always pray for is that Jesus is before and behind them. Protecting them as the go. Steph knew that Jesus was before and behind her and had saved her life. We know that too. With my entire being I know that Jesus was before and behind sweet Steph and Kevin. Our family will never let anyone travel again without praying together for Jesus to be before and behind us. The last day at the hospital Kevin's mom Jan came in and had a bag of these amazing purple (of course) bracelets that say before and behind. They had arrived at Kevin's and it didn't take long to figure out it was the doing of his brother, Brett. I can not say enough kind, loving things about Brett. Kevin is blessed to have him as a brother and now Steph gets to share in that blessing too. Thank you Brett! I have not taken it off! It makes me smile and is a constant reminder of the miracle that Jesus gave us in Steph and Kevin.

 

He is before you and behind you. He is with you even in your darkest hour.

 

Love, Sarah

 

I have sat down so many times to write this post since arriving home last night. The cursor just kept blinking at me as my mind just kept running with a million memories of every moment that has passed since my phone rang at 10:08 pm Sunday, November 24th. Then I remembered my book Jesus Calling. My mom gave it to me last Christmas and it is my favorite book to turn to each morning for a Devotion. The reading for November 28th in the midst of our hardest moments in the hospital said this,

"Rest in the deep assurance of my unfailing Love. Let your body, mind, and spirit relax in My presence. Release into My care anything that is troubling you, so that you can focus your full attention on Me. Be awed by the vast dimensions of My love for you: wider longer, higher, and deeper than anything you know. Rejoice that this marvelous Love is yours forever!"

Amen!



One of our 20 Christmas card photos from through the years ;)


 



I am a believer. Jesus is my savior. I have never been brought to my knees in his presence the way I was the night I found out my baby sister had been in a terrible car accident. I felt emotions I had never felt in all of my life. The sleepless night waiting for day break so I could drive to her was filled with cries to the Lord. The never ending drive to get to her was filled with cries to the Lord. Sitting in the ICU waiting to be with her, waiting for news, was filled with cries to the Lord. The mistake I made...I never needed to cry to him. He was with us. He never left us. He already knew the cries of my heart.



St. Louis Christmas Card 1993



Christmas card pic 1998



This is what 99 of the 100 shots taken at our Christmas Card shoot actually looked like each year ;)

 

My sisters story is hers to tell. I am not going to show pictures of the car or pictures from the hospital. I know that Steph will use all of that when she is ready to start sharing her testimony. I will say this though. My sister and her fiancé survived that car accident with Jesus and Jesus alone. Steph and Kevin were at slow roll/stop on the highway due to an accident somewhere ahead of them when a truck slammed into them at 75 mph without stopping. Steph was taken by life flight to a different hospital than Kevin. Kevin regained consciousness in the ambulance and didn't know what happened or where Steph was. Steph would wake up and write to us...Where is Kevin? I can only imagine how scared they both must have been. But... Jesus was with them. He took care of them. They are still here with us because he has a plan for them. There are no two people in this world that would use the miracle of their survival to bring people to the Lord the way Steph and Kevin will. Steph said to me in the hospital "I would go through all of this again if it brings people to the Lord" She amazes me, she inspires me, and she will be happy to know she brings me closer to the Lord.

 

 

 

Slumber party in our Pittsburg house when we were in college! :) Steph and Stac were probably Sophomores in high school.

If you take the time to read my ramblings and look at the pictures of my babies you probably know me pretty well. If you know me well you know that I love my family something fierce! I have 2 younger sisters and they have each been a piece of my heart that completes me since the day they were born. We are a tight bunch...we are over involved, we drive each other crazy, we laugh out loud often, argue now and then, have the best time together, and love each other an unmeasurable amount. We are a truly blessed to have each other. I am so thankful to Jesus that our family is still complete. I am so thankful to Jesus there is more to our story. Yesterday Steph started to cry a little and she said "I am not sad, sometimes I just get a little weepy for Jesus because I love him so much." Amazing...she is my sister? How did I get this lucky?



 

Being silly one weekend when I was home from college :)

One of my favorite pictures of my sisters together! :)

Okoboji!!!!!!!

My bridal shower
 

 

Concert in the park!

Leo's first birthday!

 

I have been touched by so many things throughout this trying time. One of the things that touched me the most was my Uncle Steve and his wife Catherine. They drove from Kentucky to be with us. They have been and still are spending long days in the hospital waiting room. Just being there for us, meeting any needs, loving us, holding us up, praying with us. Playing with our children. Just like Steph said to me..."It means so much to me that you are all here but I knew you would be." That is how our family has always been. We appreciate each other but we also know that we don't have to ask for love and support because it is always there. Uncle Steve has always been there for us and I am not surprised that he was there but it means SO much.

 

Uncle Steve and his nieces :) This is my all time favorite picture of us!

 

I could say so much more about each of you. I could go on and on about the love and prayers and support. I appreciate every single word of encouragement. I feel the love. More importantly Steph and Kevin feel the love. I want to keep my focus on my thankful heart, keep the focus on Lord Jesus. If you see this stop and say a prayer for Steph's complete healing. Please also stop and just give a prayer of thanks for each and everything you are thankful for in your life it's all from him. He is good. He is Holy. " For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

 

 

I can't finish this post without mentioning what this precious Aunt means to her nieces and nephews. Aunt Steph is so special to them! Mal just laid down and cried when she heard her Steph was sick in the hospital. We are so thankful we have so many memories with our girl! And even more thankful that there are many more memories to be made!!

 

 One of our many slumber parties in Stephs garage apartment! Eating Cuppies of course :)

 On the beach in Florida when Aunt Steph came to stay :)

Arts and Crafts at Okoboji! :)

 

 

I can't wait until the kids get to spend time with their Auntie Steph again!!!! :)

 

One last pic to close this with....

KState Siblings weekend ;)

 

okay and one more....

When Scott and I bought our house Steph and Scott's sisters slept over for 2 nights and I kid you not we painted every room in our house!!!! ahahahah :) That was SO much fun!! :)

 

 

"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you" Isaiah 41:13

 

 

I can not wait to celebrate with these two on April 6th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 



The kids had so much fun picking out and packing their Operation Christmas Child box! Today we are taking them to the drop off location and the girls are so excited to see all the boxes again. It is amazing how they talk about this all year long. They love to write a note to their child and include a picture. They love watching the video about it and guessing which child got their box. It is such a fun family tradition and I love what it teaches the kids. If you and your family aren't familiar with Operation Christmas Child there is still time! You can drop off through tomorrow. You just get any shoebox... Pick a boy or a girl and the age range and then fill the shoe box with items of your choice off the suggested list. Go to Samaritan's Purse now and make a child's Christmas special this year! You can even pay your 7.00 shipping donation online and print the barcode to attach to your box so you can find out what Country it goes to. Last year was priceless because ours went to Mexico but the girls were convinced it arrived by elephant (it shows some of the boxes arriving by elephant to villages in Africa in the video) I couldn't crush their excitement so I said " You never know" :) Tis the season y'all... And the reason for the season is Jesus. That's what we try to teach our kiddos above all else this time of year. Opetation Christmas Child is one great way to help teach that to kiddos :) Kansas LOVE!

Okay y'all know Bentley was a total mad man in the dollar store....he was all about packing his shoe box...the best was when he got this GIANT foam sword and was waving it around and then proceeded to try to shove it in the shoebox...the list clearly states "NO WEAPONS" sorry B bud ;)

 

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.