Overwhelmed

Well, for those of you burning with curiosity, Nicholas & Olivia's birthday party went very well. The reason for my long absence has been due to the camping trip Corrie, Sabrina, and I took after the party to spend some time together as a family. That was really good too.

So, now as I contemplate where we are at right now as a family, I am completely overwhelmed. With gratitude. With thankfulness. With joy. With blessing. With sadness too.

Let me share with you some of the highlights of Nicholas & Olivia's birthday. Do you know just how good our friends are? Not only did they host the party for us so we would not have to stress over it, but they organized a memorial gift for us:

These are the meanings of Nicholas' & Olivia's names engraved on a large piece of slate that is now placed in our garden. What this means to us is that they haven't been forgotten and never will be.

We had pink carnations for Olivia and tealight candles for Nicholas. For those of you who don't know the details of their memorial services, these were the items we chose to represent the beauty they brought into our lives the short time they were with us.

One of our good friends, who lived next door to us when I was pregnant with the twins, brought a strawberry plant each for Olivia and Nicholas, already bearing fruit. What a wonderful living reminder of the sweet things they brought into our lives:

What more can I say? The only thing that would have made the celebration better would have been to have my precious babies there. That's where the sadness comes in. It doesn't get any easier as time goes by, it just gets seasoned with acceptance.

My greatest fears were defeated that day. Nicholas and Olivia will not be forgotten, even as time goes on. Our loss was honored and not dismissed, and we were surrounded by the love and support of our family and friends. God is so good to us!