Clarks Choosing Joy: January Ends!

There is not much happening at our house in January. I for one am thankful we have not had much snow at all. It was predicted to be an extra cold winter but so far it has been mild. We have only had one day out of school and it was for ice rather than alot of snow as usual. Josh and Cate have been healthy and I am thankful for that also. Many of our friends have had a horrible flu or some type of sickness but so far we are good here at the Clark house. I see to be the one causing issues. After Mexico I had some infection in my foot.

My ugly foot after our Mexico vacation. It was pretty swollen and gross looking.

I was treated with meals served in bed! Very nice actually!

Apparently I stepped on something in Mexico and brought some germs back with me. I was on a heavy Rx for 10 days and instructed to stay off the foot. About 3 weeks after the foot healed up I was out running with our dog, Addy, and fell. I hit my head and blackened my eye. Once again I found myself laying around taking it easy. As a precaution for a concussion I had to rest and avoid working out. I guess if you have to stay down and relax, January is a good month to do just that.

Today starts February and I am hoping I have no more health issues in the future. Jeff and the kids have been very good at taking care of me with the physical restrictions. Thank you Jesus for a household of Jesus lovers!

Besides my mishaps January has been about baseball, volleyball, school, and seeing the grandkids. Josh and Cate had MLK day off so we took the opportunity to visit Nick and his family in New Lenox, IL.

We sure love these 3 boys and their parents. Nolan is age 5 and loves loves to hang out with Josh. Wyatt is age 2 and he loves loves his Cate. And Sawyer is the baby (6 months) and everyone wants a piece of him. God has surely blessed us with these 3.

Cate had a volleyball tournament in Indianapolis and that just happens to be where Luke (our oldest son) lives with his family so Cate and I got lucky and were able to visit them. We must be the luckiest people on the planet to have these grandkids and parents. Konrad is 2 and Johanna is 6 months. Beautiful children! Really have you every seen cuter kids? Josh and Cate love to spend time with all the littles and their big siblings. How blessed they are to have an extended family all around them to show them God's love.

Josh has not had any baseball games but Cate has had 1 volleyball tournament so I have to include a few game day photos.

Besides sports we do alot of homework and studying at our house. Josh and Cate are below grade level in all subjects but working very hard to catch up. We have tutors and study sessions and lots of Mom/Dad helping at home. I can't give enough credit to these kiddos and our school system. We spend alot of our spare time in the following positions.

We had a little at home chore that Jeff asked Josh to help him out with.

Josh loves to do fix it type things.

As I close the blog for now I want to show you how God works in lives. I found the last picture this week in Josh's life book from KGCH. This picture is Josh and Michael when they were very young and lived in the Philippines at King's Garden Childrens' Home. They were friends from the start. The other 2 pictures are from this past November when Michael came to visit us for a week. Michael was adopted to Florida the year after Josh came to be in our family. Isn't it crazy how God takes 2 little boys in an orphanage half a world away and transports them into loving families on the other side of the world and yet keeps them connected. I mean really it can't be a coicidence that these boys are still friends. It is God at work in their lives. I mean look at these faces! Such joy in being together. They are bonded to the core. God has plans for Cate and Josh and Michael. I can't wait to hear the end of their story.