No Place like Home

No matter where your wandering take you t0

The memory forever stick like glue

Of the people and the places you once knew

They will live and they will die with you.

Makes no difference where your wandering take you to

To New York, Tokyo or Timbuctoo, 

To London, Paris, Melbourne or Rome

You will find out that there is no place like home. 

Francis Duggan

just recently I was able to visit my family in Munich and my grandparents at Chiemsee. Thankfully an american friend came to join me. She was a huge help with the kids especially while I was driving. We had a really good time together and it was great to see my mother, brother and grandparents again! It was the first time meeting Luis for everyone but my mother and a time I will treasure forever. We were able to go to the Munich Zoo, visit the city center of Munich (how I love this city) and then had some quality time close to the mountains where my grand parents live. When we met up at the Lake just after arriving we were blessed with the most amazing sunset I have ever seen at the best setting possible. Thank you God for making this first meeting of Luis and his great grandparents so special! One day I will tell him about it but for the moment I am hoping to see them many more times. Love my family!
Lana

Smells like Fall around here....

The days get shorter and its chilly outside but there is so much joy to be found in this season.
Made me think about how much I will miss all the different seasons once we move to the Pacific but then quickly rememberd that there is more important things then seasons. I like the perspective of a good friend of mine who is about to adopt 4! children from Poland.
When people have mentioned to her that she would not be able to travel anymore she just thought "I am pretty sure when I will stand face to face to God one day he won't say "I can't believe you never made it to Greece".

When Autumn Leaves Begin to Fall

by Kathleen Higham 

When autumn leaves begin to fall

I think of Him most of all

Colors bursting with the sun

Rays shine down on everyone.

There is a leafy autumn smell

I walk on softness where they fell

Floating gently to the ground

Touching down without a sound.

Animal are scurrying to and fro

Instinctively the creatures know

The leaves scatterered everywhere

Beautifies a place once bare.

Rising up to the bluest sky

A tree looks down, creaks a sigh

Nestled in her hollowed place

Life will wait through winter's race.

When the tress at last have shed

Sturdy branches though not dead

Beneath the earth roots hold tight

Tall and stately through the night.

When autumn leaves begin to fall

The Father orchestrates it all

Blooms in waiting seem to say

He is coming back someday.

Again dressed in a formal gown

Branches filled and hanging down

See the miracle of God once more

Birds leap from her branch to soar.

Here I stand in wonder of this

A soft wind blows to me a kiss

My spirit tells my mind to hush

Peace abounds in Christ for us.

The seasons change, come and go

But this is what I truly know

When autumn leaves begin to fall

I think of Him most of all.

liam had these flowers for me when I picked him up

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is August really over?

time flies again and Luis is already 2 month old. According to the doctor he looks more like a 6 month old and he already grew out his 3 month old clothes (-;
He is a really happy baby and smiles a lot at all of us. I am really enjoying being a mom of 3. And other than a little, well a lot, more laundry and fasting one more seat belt, and getting up at night  a million diapers not to much has changed.
While Lance had to go to Greece for a couple of weeks I was blessed with having friends visit me and the kids so I was not alone the whole time.
Luis even got to see the ocean for the first time when we went to the North Sea Coast in the Netherlands for a few days. Unfortunately the weather was not great and we were not able to lie at out in the sun but it was good to get out of the house and we had a really good time with my best friend Susi.
On our way home we toured Amsterdam which was really nice too.
I was able to reconnect with an old schoolfriend (and her 3 children) I had not seen in years .
It was great to spent some time with her and have our 6 children play together (-;
Growing up we used to go snowboarding every weekend with not a worry in the world and here we  are with our 6 children. Times change. But while we were all chatting in Bed until late when the kids were fast asleep it was almost as if we were 16 again.
Another big event was the Saubrenner Kirmes, a big Fair that was going on in our town with many rides that I went to with Susi and my good friend Jenny who's husband works with mine. I am really so blessed with all my friends and that I have never felt lonely in my life. Thank you God.
When Lance came home we went to a great park close by called Eifelpark and the kids had a blast.
Love to all of you.

Liam's soft heart

liam taking quack quack on a ride in South Carolina

I just want to spent a few minutes to write about Liam's soft heart.
For a mother their is nothing more touching than seeing and observing her children's tender hearts I believe. To me this is one of the biggest indicator that we were created in the image of God and not mere products of chance. Yes, we are all sinners in need of forgiveness (Romans 3.23) but we are also created in God's image and with the stories like the following that becomes clear to me.
Everyone that knows Liam knows his "quack quack" a stuffed duck that he has had ever since he was about 2 month old. To be exact the one we have now is the third one. The first one was one that my mother gave me as a child and I passed it on. Sadly it got lost and Liam had a night with hardly any sleep and lots and lots of tears....then the second one came which looked just a little different but thankfully was accepted fast.
The second one was lost on our trip to Greece and I kept telling Liam that "quack Quack" liked Greece so much that he decided to stay....he believed me.
We were able to find the exact same one again and thats the one we still have.
This boy loves this duck more than anything and we brought it with us on every vacation. So the duck has seen more than most people do in a lifetime (even made it to micronesia) , made it into almost every picture with Liam and never slept alone.I have made several drives over the years to stores and restaurants where we left it. It has a lot of holes and had a couple of open belly and neck surgeries performed by my mom. It has had hair transplants, first red....than blue and red and was washed countless times. Basically this duck has become a 5th family member long before Luis was born. I can't tell you how many times at bed time we had to go on a duck hunt and looked everywhere for it until we were able to put quack quack where he belongs ...in Liam's arms.
We decided to put quack quack in bed rest as Liam was older and mainly because we were tired of looking for it at bed time. Not only was there quack quack to look for but also Lilli's monkey...but that's a story for another day....
I could write a lot more and it would still not explain how much Liam loves his duck.
Before Luis was born Liam had mentioned that he would give him quack quack as a gift. I was not sure weather i could take this big promise serious or not.
When Liam walked into the hospital room with roses in his hand he had his quack quack in his other hand. he gave me the roses and after greeting Luis for the first time he placed his duck in Luis' little bed. a gesture that brought tears to my eyes. He continued to say that Luis can have it and that he does not need it anymore because he is 4 now....

What a sweet heart right? Where does this Love come from? who put it in his heart? This might sound strange to you  but to me this is excample shows the Love of God. It is a small glimpse of him showing me how much he loves me.
People ask me if the kids are jealous but so far I have not seen anything like it. The opposite. The constantly give Luis kisses and want to hold him. Liam draw pictures of our family of 5 and told me several times how much he loves Luis. Most of all he always makes sure that Luis has quack quack close to him.
I love my family of 5.
God is so good


Genesis 1:27
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Luis is here

The 4th of July 2014 is not only the celebration of Americas independence, but also the Ferguson family celebrating 1 week old Luis Everett. And besides, today was my official due date.

Considering that Luis' weight was 4820 gram, which is 10.6 lbs, I am thankful that he came a week early otherwise I probably would not write this right now. 

This big baby was born without pain medication and at the moment I take all the recognition I can for it. Beginning with the doctors' surprised face that made her measure twice out of disbelieve, to the midwife handing me the baby with the words "he feels like a 5week old", to friends congratulating me for delivering a toddler, and several others announcing me as their hero it's been a painful ride, I am sooooooo thankful that it's over!  Mind you I had the first two with epidural and this one without pain medication. It might sound paradoxical, but even though I would not wish those pains on my worst enemy I am thankful that I had this natural experience. 

Enough about my heroic performance though. Let's talk about the real superstar! Luis is such a sweetheart and super content. He sleeps ALOT and barely let's us see his beautiful eyes.

It's impossible to describe that immediate, uncomparable love you have when you look at your child. It's beautiful to see how love multiplies. God has blessed my life so much with my amazing husband and three wonderful children! Thank you Jesus!

When I look at this little face I find it so heard to believe that this perfect human being was formed inside of my body and that he was still inside of me last week...in a bubble of water amazingly fed through the umbilical cord! Wow! I just can't wrap my mind around it. Since the cord is cut I guess it's a little bit of an Independence Day for this little man too ha! 

I am so thankful for the all the wives that are making meals for our family right now, for great friends who have been watching the kids and, most of all for Lance who has been doing his best to give me the needed rest while handling my hormonal change quiet well.

                                     

Luis on the 4th 

             Psalm 139 vers 16 

in your jbook were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

1....2.....Countdown!

Can't wait to see what he will look like!  blonde or dark hair? or red? whatever you will look like Luis we can't wait to meet you! Liam just said the other day " when I will see my little brother I think I will be so happy that I have to cry".

our family of 4 !

will soon be history so I wanted to post a couple more pictures before I am officially outnumbered by boys. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer so far.

Lance and Liam will fly to the USA for a few days soon to attend his youngest brothers wedding and I hope and pray that baby Luis will wait for his grand appearance until they are back!!