Abbey turns 2!

 As we celebrated Abbey's 2nd birthday we were reminded once again.....

We did not think our hearts were ready...God did

We could not understand why He would take one daughter away to give another...God understood

We had no idea how much we needed her...God knew

"For I know the plans I have for you, "declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

In August, 2009 Abigail Elyse Chez entered our life and we were once again blessed with a miracle from God.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body, All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

For Abbey's birthday we went to Disneyland!  It was such a great day and Abbey was so excited!  Auntie Bridget and cousin Jaden helped make it a perfect day! It's a small world and the parade were her very favorite.  She absolutely loves Mickey.  We tried, actually begged, for her to get a picture with Minnie and she would not have it! Mickey is who she loves and so we took our family picture with Mickey.  She had the biggest smile and kept saying over and over, "Hi Mickey."  

Abbey is all personality.  She loves to laugh, dance, scream and boss us all around.  She has the happiest heart and she has brought so much joy to us all.  

During Luke's last school year I met a fun and very loving friend.  Her love for God and life exudes out of her. I was so excited to see what an amazing photographer she was and asked if she would not mind taking 2 year old photos of Abbey.  Although I was excited to capture this sweet time in Abbey's life, we could not help but to be reminded of the fact that this was the last birthday that we celebrated with our  Gracie.  I felt so safe with Becky and she was gentle with my emotions as she captured the sweetest moments of Abbey and what a miracle she is.  Thank you Becky, we love you!  To check out Abbey's photos please visit:  Becky Lew Photography Blog  

Thanks for checking in!

Chez Family

It's been a while ....so it's going to be a long one...

I remember the time in my life where I felt incomplete if I did not update my blog every week or two.  Many have asked where have you been?  It all started with writers block and for those of you who are unware of it's defition: 

temporary psychological inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing.

Seems crazy coming from the person who cannot stop talking, right?  What I have come to realize is; those who cannot stop talking are the ones that ramble and those that ramble cannot aritculate their thoughts properly (at least in my case anyways) Therefore they go on and on, with the delete button to follow and then what happens?  Blank screen. 

So I've disappered to Facebook. A place where I could share a quick update and post some pictures within seconds. Facebook does not let me ramble.  With FB you are limited and can only write so much, so I have gotten used to it.  As much as I love facebook, this blog is my heart and I miss it. So, I am back for now.  However, it's been a while, so there may be some rambling.  

Let's start off with the fact that things have been pretty amazing lately. I know this goes without saying, but I feel better by mentioning it...Gracie is always missed deeply.  As a matter of fact, there have been some really difficult times as Abbey is approaching the age that we remember most about Gracie.  However, through the missing her we have been very aware of all the great blessings God continues to give us.  

Adam and I continue to put God at the center of our marriage. We have been really enjoying this season of our lives together.  Our trials and challenges, through God's grace have brought us so much closer.  All marriages have there season.  I'm so thankful to be in this one.  Adam is truly a an amazing husband and father.  More than ever I am a believer that if you put God first, your marriage will be blessed over and over.  

So with all that being said, the kids have been great as well.  Sometimes it is hard to believe that it has been over a year and a half with no hospital stays!  Some concerns, but not too serious. We have been enjoying every single moment of this time.  It feels weird, it almost feels like we are living someone else's life.  Does that sound crazy?  It's how we feel.  So...since the rambling is in high gear, let me just give you an update on the kids.

Luke:

Health-No vomiting for quite sometime.  So long ago in fact I cannot even remember! It's wonderful!  Still extremely limited diet, but we have added quite a few things along the way.  Not sure he will ever enjoying eating, but as long as we are not vomiting, we are rejoicing!

We have been seeing the cardiologists every 3 months and Luke has remained stable.  We felt that he may have to have a surgery this year, but not so sure that will be the case.  Will keep you updated.

Socially-He graduated from kindergarten and had the best school year. He has grown so much spiritually and academically.  His social calendar has been busier than the first 10 years of my life. He is enjoying all the things that 6 year olds enjoy and much more. It has been such a blessing to see him doing well and loving these innocent years.  

Abbey:

Health- Due to concerns with the narrowing of her valve, she had an MRI not too long ago. They are a little concerned with her pressures and her left ventricle is dialated.  Although there are some slight concerns, no action needs to be taken at this time.  However, he wants to monitor her very closely and we will need another MRI within three months.  Her energy level is extremely high and her coloring is great, which of course makes us feel good. 

Socially-she is a fireball!  One minute she is dancing and the next minute she is screaming.  She is a huge people person, of course she has her favorites, but mostly she just loves to interact with everyone. She is also a huge book lover!  We used to visit the library often, but she gets so excited when she is pretend reading that we had to change locations.  Now it is Barnes and Noble.  The helpers at church say she reads all the books and then plays.  Her and Luke bug eachother as much as they love eachother.  It's hard to believe she is turning two in two weeks!

Being the emotional person that I am, I tend to get teary eyed often thinking about blessed we have been.  So thankful for this time we have been given!

Thank you for checking in and sorry for the rambling. :)

All our love, Chez Family

Gracie's Journal

Not to long ago I ran across a journal I had written for Gracie...

After reading about a daughters greatest gift... Her mothers journal to her. I decided I wanted to do the same for Gracie. I started the journal when Gracie was 1 1/2 years old. It was important for me to share with Gracie all my feelings about what we had been through and how deeply blessed we were to have God choose us to be her parents. I shared with her that she was a special gift, perfectly created in the image of God. Many pages were about how much we deeply loved her...others were quotes and bible verses. It was my hope to have her always be comforted by Gods word. As I sit here and read her journal, she is now comforted not by Gods word, but by Him Himself. Simply Amazing. She is in the hands of her Rock, her Fortress and her Deliverer.

This journal tugs at the deepest parts of my soul...as I read what I wrote to her, I was reminded once again of how much I adored her. How deeply in love we were with our little princess. As I read page by page I found myself falling into complete despair...fresh wounds opened up once again...as parents all we want to do is protect our children...imagine not being able to...have you ever missed someone while they were away? Imagine if the missing never went away...

As I was feeling these emotions..I was finding comfort in the verses I shared with Gracie. The very same journal I created for her was now bringing me comfort.

My last entry in the journal was after October 2007, three months before she went to be with Jesus...

I'm so thankful for our God, I'm so thankful that....For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Dear God,

Thank you for your promise.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

Thank you for loving me and all my imperfections.

Thank you for covering our pain with your warm embrace

Thank you for restoring us

Thank you for loving your Children

Thank you for blessing me with Gracie

Thank you for keeping Gracie in your presence

Most importantly thank you for giving your Son, Jesus so that we may all have eternal life and once again be reunited with our sweet Gracie.

Love never leaves a mother's heart--

Sweet Gracie...

I will miss you always and love you forever

My soul, find rest in God;my hope comes from Him Psalm 62:5

Grieving does not have a time frame or a map...

Grief is such a strong word. Are we still grieving? I'm not sure how to answer that question. What I can explain to you is the deep pain that we have felt has been covered by God's love. When our hearts ache deeply for Gracie we find comfort from His spirit within us, scripture and His promises.

We are in perfect peace knowing Gracie is exactly where she is suppose to be. There is no amount of time that can pass that will make us miss her any less, we will always miss her. Through the loss of Gracie we continue to persevere and through this God has provided us with an inner strength we did not know existed. We feel we have such a better understanding of what eternal life really means. It gives us a deeper purpose. Through Gracie we have developed a relationship with God that we may never have had. There is not a day that goes by that Gracie is not deeply missed, she is a part of "us", but we will continue to live, laugh and feel blessed for what God continues to provide our family with.

I will always cherish this journal, it will always be a special way to remember Gracie.

Thank you once again for letting me share my heart.

All my love,

Terra

God's Provisions

Gods Love. act of giving; unconditional; "God is Love 1 John 4:8"

Mercy. a blessing regarded as an act of divine favor or compassion;

Grace. a gift; unearned, unmerited favour of God

Blessing. a gift bestowed by God

As we continue to go on with our lives, there are many moments when missing Gracie is very difficult. We are grateful and humbled by all God's provisions to our family, especially when it comes to missing our sweet Gracie so very much.

His love...His Mercy...and His Grace is what sustains us daily and it is also what helps us to rejoice in all our blessings he continues to bestow upon us.

We have felt so very blessed for this past year and three months....surgery free! It's strange to be out of the hospital for so long. It feels good. I feel bad feeling so free when I know there are still so many families that are hurting and going through so many trials. So many families in the hospital....but what comforts me...is knowing...God will restore them and bring what he always brings to those that love Him....sweet blessings!

Here is what we have been up to since our last update.....

Luke loves Jana Alayra! Oh yeah and so does miss Abbey!

When he was asked to join her on stage for a couple

songs...he was more than excited!

Love seeing him so excited about worshipping..

February 9, 2011 Luke and Gracie's 6th birthday

Always comes with so many mixed emotions...

Getting ready to send Gracie her note and 6 balloons

Grandma Marsha and Grandma Laura

Love you sweet Gracie...

I thought this picture was so sweet...cannot wait to

tell Abbey all about her sister Gracie

After much prayer, God provided us with peace and helped

us to rejoice in the fact our little man turned 6!

Here he is with his biggest fans..Grandma Laura

Grandpa Jim, Kendra and Grandma Marsha

Luke, James-Anthony and Hudson

Took a lot of effort to get a picture while they were

trying to bowl..but we did it.

Adam decided last minute that the Chez Family needed

a vacation! And what a vacation it was!

St. John, Virgin Islands. February 2011

Always in our hearts and on our minds...miss you Gracie

It was such a special trip...so much love and fun...and must we

not forget.. so much work.. to travel with a 18 month old :)

Luke has found a new love for Baseball

Another great blessing...This is Luke and Piers.

When Adam and I were married and living in Corona del Mar

we shared a common court yard with Piers parents. We recently reconnected

with our dear friends and it feels like no time was lost. We have

enjoyed a few visits and the boys all went to the Angel Game

Luke and Piers taking a ride...

one of my favorite pictures.

it was an instant friendship bond

Luke continues to love school. He is growing so much. Most

importantly in his spiritual growth. We feel so blessed for his

amazing teachers, friends and new MCS families we have met.

Here the boys are on one of their many field trips they took this year.

For Easter break we headed out to Arizona with a stop at

Prescott with our friends and their kiddos. It was so

much fun! Loved to witness all the fun the kids were having.

Boys will be boys...and

Girls will be girls!

So... I'm thinking life vest may have been a good idea...

Troy taking the boys around the lake

Adam and Shannon

Luke, Finnley, Hudson and Abbey....where is Ford?

So long Casa De Hassayampa...until we visit again

Health wise:

The best news we have received recently is that, although the kids valves are narrowing we can hold off until early summer for the next series of tests. This is such a blessing because the kids are so busy and just loving their routines. Luke can now finish off his school year, baseball and all the activities planned. We never take our children's health for granted and we are completely aware of how quickly things can change, but for now...we will rejoice in the fact we have been given more time.

"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. Proverbs 8:17