18 Months Old!

Yesterday our little boy turned 18 months old or I guess we can now say a year and a half as well :)!  He continues to bring so much joy to our lives as well as a lot of exercising (he is super energetic)!  He is starting to talk a lot more as he repeats just about anything, what a fun stage.  He is definitely Mr. Independent and wants to do things all by himself :)!  He still weighs about 22 pounds and is about 31 inches.  We will have his 18 month appointment when we get back to find out the "true" statistics!  We continue to be blessed by him and we are enjoying watching him grow up.  At times we wish we could just stop time for a little bit and soak it all in some more, life goes way too fast!  

Sorry for the lack in posts lately, it has been a busy few weeks as we are currently on vacation in the midwest with Matthew's family.  I will have to post more about our travels at a later time!!!  There are just too many pictures and stories to tell, but they will come . . . I promise!

God is Faithful!

I received this e-mail from my dad this morning and once again helped put things in perspective as I know my family is still grieving along with Shaun and Courtney at the loss of Zachary. Today marks the day where one month ago I lost my first nephew.  Someone I never had the chance to meet here on earth but I am definitely more excited to go to heaven so I can meet him and snuggle his cute little self!  I was going to write my own post but realized that my dad and his great words of wisdom did a lot better job at wording how I feel.  Here is his e-mail that he wrote to his colleagues, family, and friends:

Colleagues and Friends,

One month ago today (May 17) our family received the news that Zachary Michael, our 2^nd grandchild, was called to his eternal home (early, according to our standards)…now, on the day that would be his 1-month birthday, we continue experiencing God’s faithfulness…his strong arms have held us and have carried us through the deep dark nights…we also believe he continues to carry us over some of the valleys and he has parted the clouds from time to time to graciously allow us to see glimpses of his eternal perspective…the pain is deep and the grieving continues…we’re continuously amazed at all the little things that come up in our daily lives (a song, a comment, a radio program, riding past a park, personal and family devotions, the ‘class of 2009’ slide show) that bring a flood of tears, force us to contemplate the same questions, and put us back on our knees in prayer, but we KNOW that God will continue to prepare us for each step of the journey…we continue to be amazed at how the memory of  Zachary’s life continues to draw so many to closer relationships with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  We are becoming even more aware of the precious gift of abundant life we have in Christ.

 

Shaun and Courtney continue to stand on and grow in their faith as they walk this very, very difficult journey …as parents and family, we’re so grateful for each of them and their faith, but, there are so many times we feel so inadequate as we walk the journey with them. 

 

To the SCS community: on behalf of Courtney & Shaun, Diane and myself and our entire family, THANK YOU for your consistent prayers, your hugs, all the beautiful flowers, your cards, your presence…as the Lord leads you, keep praying…we’re going to continue to keep trusting that our loving, amazing God will continue to be faithful!

 

Psalm 115 and Psalm 116

 

zacharymichaeldeyager.blogspot.com

 

Stan J. De Yager  

Wow! I am so much more thankful for my family and the faith that they have more than ever!  It is comforting to know that our whole family will meet Zachary one day and that through his little life that God created, others will get to meet him as well!  Please continue to pray for Shaun and Courtney especially today as they remember back to one month ago!  We love you Shaun and Courtney!!!!

5 YEARS!!

Last Friday, June 12, Matthew and I celebrated our 5th year anniversary!  It is hard to believe that 5 years can go so quickly and we have had a lot of changes over these past 5 years!  We got married in Seattle, drove to Iowa, drove to Michigan, moved to San Diego, went to Africa, moved to Azusa, had Cayden, (not to mention many trips to visit our families), and now . . . we are awaiting God's plans for us.  There has been definite ups and downs over these past 5 years but through it all we can testify God's faithfulness and love!  We have been so blessed, I have been so blessed with having Matthew by my side!  We can't wait to see what God has planned for us over the next 50 plus years!  

On Friday night we went out to a Padres/Angels game with our good friends Matt and Robyn.  Matt's sister, Meredith babysat for us . . . so much fun even though the Padres lost.  One bonus to the Angels winning was that if they scored 10 runs (they scored 11) then we could go to Claim Jumper and have free wings!  So we hit up Claim Jumper before heading home!  All in all it was a great evening!

The Fousts Visit Southern California!!

On May 29, the Fousts came over for the day. They were in southern California for a few weeks and their first week was spent in Redlands (40 mins from us!). We had a great time catching up with them and hanging out. It was so nice to pick up from where we left off (plus three kids)! Alyssa and Cayden had an absolute blast playing with each other. They would just run after each other and then crack up . . . this was hilarious! They pretty much did this the whole day, even when we took them outside to play! One great accomplishment for the adults was that we got all three kids down for a nap at the same time!!! This meant that we got to play Rook!!!! So much fun! Here are some pictures from the day:


Alyssa and Cayden running after each other and laughing!
Wow! That was hilarious :)!
Evan enjoyed watching them act silly!
Here is our attempt at getting a picture of Cayden, Alyssa, and Evan!
Cayden and Alyssa
Bath time after the craziness!
Looking at books before bed time!
We had so much fun, we definitely wished we lived closer so we could do this more often!!

San Diego

So this past weekend (the 5th and 6th) we went down to San Diego to spend the weekend with all our friends there. Before we met up with everyone we had the opportunity to see Heather and Riley (Matthew's cousin and son) who just so happened to be coming to San Diego that weekend to! We had a lot of fun catching up and hanging out with them. I think Cayden was trying to get Riley to walk so he would have someone to chase :)!!

Our attempt at getting their picture, not bad at all!

Playing on the blanket together
One of all of us!!!
Cayden throwing the football to Riley, so fun to watch them play together!
We had a great time! Thanks for stopping to see us Heather and Riley!!


After we spent a few hours with Heather and Riley we went over to Luke's mom's house to hang out for the night. The kids picked up right where they left off and this time joined forces in trying to throw the balls into the pool.
Running towards the pool
Even with 6 adults there, they still managed to get the balls in the pool several times. When they managed to victoriously throw the balls in the pool, they would look at each other and laugh, super funny!! Here is Sabrina and I trying to retrieve the balls from the pool!
Their victory picture!
On Saturday our entire old Bible Study group came over and we hung out the whole day. This was an awesome time to catch up with everyone. This made us miss San Diego even more :(! It was crazy to see how big our group has gotten with all the added children. The kids had a blast running around and playing together!
Here is our family picture!
Alyssa, Cayden, and Eden clapping and then laughing :)! It is amazing how children can think the littlest things are so funny!
Here is a group shot of all the kids: front row: Evan, Leia, Jonas, Elias 2nd row: Alyssa, Elise, Eden, Elora, Cayden. 3rd row: Rafa
I think the trend is to name your children names that start with "E"!
Here is the whole gang, I am not going to name them all but we love you all and miss you!
Later that night, Cayden had to take a little ride on a scooter, that is until he fell off it and hurt himself!
Jenny, Sabrina, and I taking a walk with Alyssa and Cayden. A great end to a fabulous weekend!

17 Months Old!!!

Our little boy is now 17 months! I decided that I will keep "celebrating" his months until he is around 2 years old, there are just so many changes taking place it is hard not to acknowledge them! For one, Cayden has started talking a lot more. His vocabulary is increasing all the time. The last list that I made was at least 30 words (words we can decipher anyways). Some of these words are more, bird, puppy, baby, thank you (na-ne), done, seat, cracker, up, sorry, no, bye, etc . . . He keeps amazing me everyday. We have also started the beginning steps of potty training and even have had a few successes! I am sure that we will have to become more diligent about this soon but for now we are just putting him on the potty at least one time a day. Cayden has become quite the athlete-he will now shoot a basketball, throw a ball, and kick a ball. Along with his athletic skills he really takes to music, in particular the drum and anything that has a beat :)! We are so proud to be his parents and keep loving him more each and everyday for many different reasons:


He is super HAPPY all the time!
He has a ZEST for life and an ENERGY that sometimes can't quite be contained!
He has a DRAMATIC side which just makes us smile!
He loves to EXPLORE and DISCOVER new things each and everyday!
He likes to SNUGGLE at night and HUG us goodnight!
He is just a LOVABLE, ADORABLE, FUN-LOVING boy and we couldn't ask for anything more!!!
We can't wait to see what God has planned for this little boy!!!

In Honor of Zachary!

On Wednesday the 20th Cayden and I flew back home to Seattle to be with my family.  When we got to Seattle Shaun and Courtney picked us up.  It was so nice to be able to give them hugs and just be able to cry, share, and remember with them.  That was special for me and it was good for me to be able to see that they are o.k.  O.k. is how they still are and they are still grieving but there is hope.  Hope that they will have a family someday and most of all the hope that they get to see Zachary someday in heaven!  

Matthew and Brett drove up on Friday and joined us Friday night (they made it in under 16 hours and that was their goal . . . crazy).  It was so nice to be all together as a family and we spent a ton of time with everyone.  We just did a lot of hanging out and talking and of course some competitions!  What an amazing time to be with everyone, this is something that has definitely drawn us closer as a family.  It was a great time to remember Zachary and honor his little life!!!    

Cayden at Uncle Shaun and Aunt Courtney's house, man that kid can find anything and turn it into drum sticks!
Helping Uncle Shaun do some yard work!
We went over to Courtney's parent's house and Cayden LOVED playing with their dog and feeding her treats.  He kept asking for more and was not even scared to get up close and personal with the dog (doesn't take after me :) )!
Playing ball with Grandma.
Grandpa took Cayden up to the park a few different times, Cayden had a blast!
Snuggling with Aunt Natasha after a nap . . . precious!
Grandma and Cayden!
Our little family!
Cayden really enjoyed having Uncle Shaun push him around the yard in a wheel barrel.
Shaun and Courtney wanted to plant a tree in their yard in honor of Zachary.  Here is the tree they planted.
It took ALL the guys to plant one tree :)
The planted tree.
Sunday we had the memorial service for Zachary where we were able to celebrate his life. It was so evident that God was with Shaun and Courtney and the rest of us and we know that he will continue to be with us.  
After the memorial service there was a barbeque at Courtney's parent's house.  
The De Yager family!
The De Yager and Rablin family!
Our new found sport . . . ladder ball.  This is absolutely a blast, can't wait to have my own someday.  And by the way Shaun and I were undefeated in the family tournament!!!!
We were able to be there to help celebrate Shaun's birthday!
The boys at the park playing frisbee . . . Cayden joined right in!
He had a lot of fun playing with the big boys!
Although this has been a very sad time for our family, we know God has always been and is still with us.  Please continue to keep Shaun and Courtney in your prayers as these next few weeks and months will still be difficult as they try to find a "new normal"!  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!!!!

Zachary Michael De Yager

Our love, prayer, and support go out to Shaun and Courtney as we mourn with them in their loss of their precious baby, Zachary Michael De Yager.  Courtney delivered him (rockstar style: 30 mins!) yesterday afternoon and they then had a chance to be with Zachary for a couple of hours.  I had a chance to talk with them last night and a little bit today and they have really felt God's presence with them as they are beginning the grieving process.  They were blessed with a beautiful time where they were able to hold their precious baby, cry with each other, pray with each other, and finally say their good-byes.  They said it was a very special time.  Please continue to uphold them in your prayers as this will be a process for them for days, months, and years to come.  There is a memorial service being planned for this upcoming Sunday.  We are heading up to Seattle towards the end of the week to be there with the family.  Please check out their blog: http://www.zacharymichaeldeyager.blogspot.com and continue to pray!!! We love you Shaun and Courtney and we already miss you precious Zachary.  We are happy to know you are up in heaven playing with Jesus!!!!