October 27, 2008

10

top ten things I learned this weekend:
1. claire, jane and oliver are wonderfully innocent and love their dad unconditionally. 2. mindy gledhill has one of the most soothing voices I’ve ever heard. cjane's is just as entertaining (if you know what I mean, my dear). note: I adore that courtney's singing reminded my cousin, erin, of kimmy on "my best friend's wedding".3. people are good.
4. jaimee rose captured the love of stephanie’s sisters perfectly. read one article here.
5. claire is going to be an angel witch (huh?) for halloween while jane will be a mummy (classic). oliver? spiderman.
6. I learned to simplify my life from this talk.
7. my family is loud and messy . . . but I love them.
8. I can’t wait for this weekend. I’ll be at this with my sister helena.
9. claire and jane chose christian’s bed to sleep in last night instead of mine (complete with oliver and christian himself - a bedfull). 10. the words “golden slumbers fill your eyes, smiles awake you when you rise. sleep pretty darling do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby” were perfect coming from the tiny, but strong voices of claire and jane.

(halloween party update is tomorrow - I know it's backward but what's more important? I mean, really.)
update: thanks to cousin erin for these pictures! I'm glad someone remembered to snap some shots!

16 comments:

  1. A lot of good things to learn....

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  2. Beautiful!I bet the children just loved being with Daddy.
    Wendy

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  3. So touching! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. amazing list.
    amazing family.

    jamie's article was all emotions...i bawled my eyes out. your family is so strong & i just pray & pray & pray for them.

    thanks for sharing, girl.

    *still sad we couldn't come to the par-tay. {i know we missed out.}

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  5. Hugs and blessings for you and your family. Thank you for sharing these wonderful thoughts with us! I am so happy that Christian and the children are seeing each other! I can only imagine how much they have missed each other. I am so inspired by the strength, courage, and bravery that Christian is showing right now. What a wonderful example of a father, husband, head of the household!

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  6. I had the perfect seat in the house! The concert was absolutely amazing! I officially LOVE MIndy Gledhill but I love Claire and Jane even more! They are too cute for words!

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  7. Thank you for those beautiful photos. Your families are loved by so many of us who have never even met you but feel like we know each and every one of you. My husband and I will continue to pray for Christian and Stephanie and their beautiful children.

    LeAnn

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  8. I look forward to every and all photos and the words that accompany them, of your family updates and happenings. So glad that the concert was all and more than you hoped for. I loved, loved the newspaper article and felt it settled and calmed me. Me! Who cares about me!?? But it did. It calmed me. Your family has wiggled their way into my heart and will always have a place therein. I believe that is what Heavenly Father wants for all of us. To love one another. To love our families, our friends, our co-workers, strangers and most especially to find love for those who we believe have wronged us. You are all so easy to love but this love, this easy love and giving which your two families inspire is a great start and example to me in my every day life. I am so thankful for this gift from Stephanie and Christian to me. I want to do better. I want to be more. I want to be who I was placed on this earth to be.

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  9. What a BLESSING to have Christian home & Stephanie waking! What a great weekend you have had! I'm so happy for your family & Stephanie's family! Thanks for all the updates:)

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  10. I was amazed by the concert and I am so grateful I was able to witness the beauty of 2 sisters who love eachother so very much. I love that they had no fear to sing in front of so many people to show their parents how much they love them and want them to heal quickly! I hope those girls know how much they affected so many peoples lives for the better!Also thank you Mindy for sharing your God given talent of singing!

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  11. Lizzy, Thank you for this post; it was just what I needed. (As in the commenter above: what I needed? Who cares what I need??!) But like her, I'm feeling so much a part of your whole extended family that I yearn for updates, I laugh and cry with you, and am learning so much from all of you guys. I'm SO pleased the kids got to be with their Daddy and the girls did well with their solo and it all was so beautiful. Thank you!! Praying for Stephanie and Christian and loving all the Nielsons and Clarks so much.

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  12. I wish I could have heard the girls sing...and Mindy too. Her voice is great. I loved the article about Stephanie and her sisters. I wish me and my sisters were even a little bit that close. Maybe if our Mom were still alive we'd have a chance...

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  13. Thank you for a wonderful post! I found you off Courtney's and have been dilligently checking both all day Sunday and Monday AM to get an update on the concert!
    I am so thrilled the kiddos got to sleep in the same bed as Christian!!! I can even imagine how special that was!!! My heart is thinking about Stephanie and all of her WONDERFUL family she has! What a blessing you guys are!

    Love from Oregon

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  14. #9 Filled my eyes with tears.

    I've been following this story for some time now, and I have to resonate that you are all constantly prayed for!

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  15. Oh my goodness you have so much to tell me. Thanks for posting all of this, the event, the reuniting and the party!

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