Busy

Running and Rushing from here to there. Wrapping gifts and baking cookies. WHew it has been crazy but I LOVE IT ! There is something about the rush of anticipation and accomplishment. I am almost done wrapping gifts and 95% done shopping & some how among the crazyness of it all I have found some time to actually put together some layouts, altered work and a card which I am using some as my entry for http://www.createmykeepsake.com/ DT call.

I have been thinking about all the wonderful moments we had this year. Yes its been a rough year but somehow the good times out shadow the bad ! My kids are such a joy to me. They put a song in my heart and a skip to my step (literally when Isabella starts crawling). So I decided to highlight some of my favorite pictures of the year. Hope you will enjoy them too.

and just like I have many favorite pictures I have a ton of favorite layouts and projects and here are some for the year:

TFL !!!!

Family Newsletter

Dear Family & Friends,

I am going to start this letter by telling you what you already know which is that the past two years have been unbelievably rough on our family.

It all started when we had a very bad fire in our home. The re-build we did ourselves and we were out of our home for about 8 months.
Just as we were moving back into our home we made a very difficult decision. This decision did not come easily for us but with much prayer and many tears we decided to close down our business of 8 years and to shut down the warehouse.
That very same week that we decided to close shop the impossible happened! I can only say this now with a smile but after 6 home tests and confirmation from my Doctor, I was only then willing to accept the fact, that indeed I was PREGNANT.
The pregnancy brought a very difficult time for us due to the fact I was on mandatory bed rest and hospitalized several times.
We then had a major scare that will last and stay with us the rest of our lives. I went in for what I thought was a routine mammogram when they found a mass that appeared to be suspiciously cancerous. It then turned in to 3 weeks of constant prayer.
God is Great !!!!!

We received the phone call last week that both biopsies proved that there were no cancer cells.

I can also assure you all that our new precious member to our family- Isabella Julia is now 6 months & is growing and doing well. She has Daddy already wrapped around her finger and her Brothers have become her protector as naturally as it should be. Isabella has brought a joy and love to our family that I feel confident in saying she has made us all complete. Which now leads me to joyfully say that Damien has been working and is blessed with a job he loves that is stress free working for the local Painters Union. We are still working on our house (something I am afraid will never end :') but we are very happy here and will continue to thank God for a warm and loving home.

I can now tell you that when I hear the quote "God will never give one more than they can handle in life" you will no doubt see me break out in a great big smile. Having faced much adversity but thru it we have grown closer to each other and closer to God as we have learned to truly & fully depend on Him. We Praise our God Almighty and this Christmas we thank Him for His most precious gift to us of Eternal Life.
With Love, Damien, Norma, Cade, Seth & Isabella Kennedy

All Kinds of Updates

These few weeks have been very difficult. It all started when I went in for a mammogram that showed abnormal masses in my breast. I was than asked to go in and have an ultrasound done that would give a better image. I was pretty much told that the mass they found on the right side that the ultrasound was reading it as a sis and last weeks biopsy confirmed that. Now we are just waiting for the results on the left side biopsy this week which was showing up as suspiciously cancerous.

I went in on Wednesday for the 2nd mamotone biopsy it was absolutely horrible. The procedure it self was very painful compared to the first one. I came home took some pain killers and slept all afternoon, evening and right thru the night. The surgeon said they really went deep and that they had to pass quite a bit of nerve endings for the tissue sample. They extracted about 7 samples that were quite large. I normally do not have a queasy stomach but this procedure was really gross the way that they cut the tissue & then their is a vacuum hose that sucks out the fat & blood cells. Yuck Yuck Yuck

Which brings we to an apologize to my Family and Friends I know that I have not been very good about talking about this or updating but for me it had been emotionally difficult and I feel like I have been on a roller coaster ride. I will try to update as soon as I do get the results for the left side. This weekend was a really rough weekend. I feeel like I have cried right thru it. One moment I feeling confidant and strong and than there are other momments I look at my kids and become so weak in the knees.

O.k. moving on to much more uplifting talk. :' )

I made some slip covers for the ottomans in my kitchen. I wanted something I could simply spot wash and throw in the washer. I am pretty happy with the way they turned out. I will probably make more in different colors after the new year. I had enough material left over and I made Isabella a bib with it. Which I think I might just pick up more fabric this week and make her more. She is drooooooling big time and is going thru them like crazy.

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving weekend. What a wonderful time we had spending it with our family. In the afternoon we went to Damiens Aunts house and their was so much food there(American Food-Turkey, Mashed Potatoes etc) . I luv it because I get the best of both worlds..... than we went to my brothers girlfriends place where my family was and had a wide variety of Puerto Rican food Yum Yum !!!!!! Than I actually was crazy enough to get up early and joined the mad bunches who headed out for Black Friday. All in all it went well and found some pretty good deals other than my wallet was stolen. Yup you heard me right it was stolen. That of course did not detour me I went to my bank and they helped me cancel everything (credit and debit cards) than they were able to give me cash by using my signature card. So I was able to continue spending money and even got the 50 inch LCD TV my hubby has been wanting.Yeah I finally finished my trees. It takes forever since we put two trees up every year. One in the living room and one in the dinning room. It is so worth the work and I luv how all the decorations make our home feel- So cozy and inviting. Now all I have to do is get busy wrapping up gifts to put under them.