Wonderful Things

So many wonderful things have happened in the last week!

Of course I have to begin with the most incredible event of all – the whirlwind miracle birth of my adorable twin nephews Will and Jack on September 1!

Most people who read this blog are aware of the struggles that my brother Justin and sister-in-law Aly have been through in their journey to becoming parents. And God is so good. It’s overwhelming! The babies were born much earlier than we hoped, at 28 weeks, 6 days. But though tiny, they are very healthy and are breathing on their own. I just love these babies SO much!!!!! I can’t wait to visit!

This is my favorite picture of all: My little brother finally getting to hold his son. Look at the joy in his face!

 

There are some amazing pictures on their blog, too, so hop on over to check them out!

We have had the most wonderful experience getting to visit the NICU in Texas from our very own living room in Colorado, via FaceTime on the iPhone 4! Ryan and Justin sync up their phones, then Justin takes us down the hallway to the NICU. Sometimes we’re in his pocket; other times we are able to see the people in the hallway passing by. It’s surreal! Then he holds up the phone right inside one of the babies’ beds and we can hear the baby cry, see the nurse cleaning his face, see the baby stretch – all LIVE. And because it connects through wifi, there is absolutely no harm or interference to the medical equipment. It is such an amazing experience that last night I wrote a letter to Apple, telling them of our awesome experience! It’s a much clearer picture than Skype has ever been for us; it’s seriously like a little window into their world!

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The second wonderful occurrence was the wedding of Danielle and Michael in Estes Park. It was seriously one of the most beautiful weddings I had ever been to. Isn’t Danielle gorgeous?

It was such a lovely day!!! Ryan and I were talking about how you know someone’s a close friend when you discover that you have the same music tastes. And it’s so refreshing and reaffirming to discover it!

Danielle and I have been friends since we were 13, and we have always shared a love for music. She and I used to spend hours together in the piano room in our high school, taking turns playing our favorite piano solos for each other. But as adults, on our weekly Friday lunch dates, we don’t really discuss music anymore. But at her wedding and reception….I would say there were at least four songs that were played that Ryan and I knew…that he and I specifically thought we were the only ones that knew them!

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While in Estes Park, we had our share of wildlife run-ins:

“Why…Is that a black bear on the lawn of the inn where you stayed?” you ask.

Yes. Yes, it is.

Yes, and in typical Joy-fashion, I was only 20 feet away from it. But so were all the other inn guests!! I was not alone in my craziness.

Less than 15 minutes later, Ryan and I saw this:

And the next day, I came across this:

I spent the rest of the weekend in Nebraska with my grandma, aunt, uncle, and Ryley, but unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of our extremely relaxing time up there. And Ryan had to return home to work.

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A little bit of a praise report….In addition to the magazine, I suddenly have two and a half freelance editing projects on the back burner! I am going to have a very busy fall! Now that the editing is picking up, I am feeling very overwhelmed. Scared. Incompetent. But hopeful too. :-)

His grace is sufficient for me. And the editing is from Him, so He will help me organize my days. I have to continue believing that.

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This afternoon, Ryley and I visited a Girl Scouts meeting, completely on a whim. I am loving this 3:00 day-end, because I am able to do things like this with my daughter. I enrolled her in ballet, too (haven’t quite decided if we’ll stick with that), and we’re finally finding time to do her piano lessons consistently. Our schedule is actually filling up faster than I anticipated, and that is my only hesitancy with joining Girl Scouts. We will see. All the same, it brought back tons of memories that I hadn’t thought of in probably 25 years! :-)

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I am a little under the weather today, fighting some sort of flu virus thing. I am living on Emergen-C, cough drops, and Dayquil. My hope is to go to bed early, so I guess I should get some editing done first.

On another note, today is Ryan's and my 14-year anniversary of dating. Hard to believe!!

God is just so good. He is working miracles in every area of our lives.

Sometimes we wonder about it. But then we just have to remember how far we’ve come. :-)