We are a family of six (now 12 including spouses and grandkids) who lives each day here on lemonade lane taking the lemons thrown at us, adding some sugar and sweetening things up.   We are shaped not only by our circumstances but also by the sweetness each member brings to the mix.

A little about us…..my name is Kim, and my husband and I have been married for over twenty eight adventurous years.  Travis was in law enforcement for 25 years and now works as an investigator for a local school, and I am a registered nurse working at a children’s hospital doing training and education. Best of all, I get to work from home which is a huge blessing. Travis brings the humor and lightheartedness to our marriage, and I often tell him, “you can’t be serious for five minutes!” but I love how he makes me laugh.  I am the text-book description of a strong-willed, independent woman, am as transparent as can be, and absolutely love to bake.  Together, we have four children.  The oldest three – Brad, Sidney and Trevor –  are grown up and left our home….and yes, I often miss the days when they were all home being loud with friends, making messes in the basement, leaving their shoes by the front door, and eating all the food in the house.  Brad is a junior high SPED teacher. He is married to Taylor, and they have three kids – Bode and identical twin girls, Eloise and Iva – whom she is blessed to stay home with. Sidney is married to Nathan and the best mom to sweet Cooper; she gets to stay home as well. Nathan is a mechanic who also serves in the National Guard.  Our third is Trevor who is in the Navy, currently serving in Texas where we don’t really know what he does.  Each of the kids has a compassion and empathy for others because of the influence their little brother has on their lives.

The baby of the family, Ryan, is a sweet teenager (19 now) who has had many lemons thrown at him over the years. He has been diagnosed with Lennox Gastaut (intractable epilepsy), autism, cerebral degeneration, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, gastroparesis, hemiplegia, neurogenic bladder and bowel; the list goes on and on.  Ryan is about one year old developmentally, is nonverbal, and has a host of other medical issues. Our goal has always been to increase his quality of life, and we are committed to doing everything we can for him to reach that goal. The older he gets, the more Ryan’s body weakens.  As we tell others, his brain is broken, but he is exactly as God intended him to be.  He loves long care rides, toys with lights and music, turning lights on and off, throwing anything and everything within reach, playing with door stoppers, and giving nosey kisses to anyone who will accept them.  I cannot begin to tell you how loved this little boy is.  Ryan never lacks for attention!

We have had many ups and downs, fears and trials on our journey.  And through it all God continues to meet our every need, holds us in our darkest moments, cries with us as we grieve, rejoices with us in every blessing, walks with us wherever the road leads. And while we do not understand His will and purpose, we keep trusting Him as we carry on.  We are learning, every single day, to take the good with the bad, the joy with the sorrow, the tears with the laughter….to mix the lemons and the sugar and make something very sweet.

Isaiah 41:13 ~ For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you’.

Matthew 6:24 (The Message) ~ Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.