Open Eyes

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

Open the eyes of my heart

I want to see you, I want to see you.

To see You high and lifted up

Shinin' in the light of Your glory

Pour out Your power and love

As we sing holy, holy, holy

I can't imagine how the world looks to Mira now. Her entire life, all 7+ years of it has been viewed through tiny slits.

Today, this all changed, she will never see the same again! 

Praise God!

I have to say, my initial sight of her was very emotional. I could see her eyes for the first time.

They seemed so deep, innocent. It was like I could see directly into her heart.

They eyes of my heart were open.

Living with Mira on a daily basis for a year and a half, going thru the ortho stuff & seeing her grow. We've sorta gotten used to her eyes.

I can not imagine seeing life in such darkness. Today we put this behind us and focus forward.... Shining in the light of God's glory! 

Praise be to him forever & always!

Prayer Request

Mira will be having surgery tomorrow am to "open her eyes". If you think if it, please say a prayer for her. I will post & update tomorrow!

Thanks for your prayers!!!

Where'd the summer go?!?!

I can't believe the kids are back in school already! Hardly seems fair...

Mira started 1st grade this year, she lives to be read to, I hope she will learn quickly, it will be quite rewarding for her!

Sami & Kayla are in middle school & Emily is a sophomore!

This is a slightly odd post for me..

.... But here it goes!

A neighbor blessed us with the.largest.zucchini... EVER!!
Seriously it could feed a small village!
After we took pictures (lol) I thought what am I gonna do with this thing! Well, here you go!
First I made 2 delicious loaves of Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini bread.
YUMM!
This recipe yields 1 loaf:
In medium bowl combine:
3/4 c sugar
1 beaten egg
Splash of vanilla
2 smashed bananas
1 c grated zucchini

In another medium bowl combine:
1.5 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients & blend. Then add 2 TBSP melted butter & stir. Then add 3/4-1 c chocolate chips.

Bake in greased loaf pan at 350* for 1 hour.

Well that only used like a 1/4 of it!

So since we were having burgers & hotdogs on the grill I decided to make Panko Breaded Zucchini Chips. They were a hit!
I simply sliced the zucchini in 1/4" rounds dredged in salt & peppered flour, beaten egg & then coated with Panko crumbs. Baked at 400* for 30 mins on a lightly sprayed baking sheet.
We dipped in ranch at our house!
YUMMY!!

Hard to believe but I still have a chunk left!
What would you do with it!?!?
Here are some pics:

Summer Fun!~ Part 1

We took a family vacation to South Dakota. We visited the Black Hills area, it was FUN!
I'd say in total there was about 30 of us, most of which we didn't know. But boy were they a fun, welcoming group! I was able to share our experience with adoption with another couple that is considering international adoption. We will continue to pray for Josh & Kelly as they seek the Lords direction.
With a group that size we didn't stick together, everyone did they're own thing during the day then we'd gather back at the houses for a huge family dinner! After dinner some would take a walk, shoot a game of pool, catch up on past times and others would go out to an Old West town for some fun.
We visited Mt Rushmore which is an awesome sight!! I'm not a huge history buff but I thought it was truly amazing. And we went to a really cool place called Bear Country, it is a drive thru wild life park with all kinds of animals including... Of course bears!
We also went to a fun park with the kids. They did bumper boats, go carts & they arcade. This was a really fun place to visit! We were blessed with the opportunity to take this mini vacation. Most times I'm bummed to come home after a fun filled weekend but this time was different! See how the fun kept going in part 2!!! Until then, enjoy the pics!!