Selah's Ski Lesson #2

On Saturday, Selah took her second ski lesson at Alpine Valley in Chesterland. Judah accompanied me to watch Selah in action as she hit the slopes. The winds were whipping out of the north at around 30 mph (hence, a bit of camera shake). Yes, it was frigid and the three of us were ready for a warm-up. From Alpine, we headed west on Mayfield road for a bite and a bit of indoor playground fun. 


Ski Lesson #2 from Derek DuRoss on Vimeo.

Finally, Alpine Valley 'Resort' made national news Saturday when skiers had to be plucked from the the Quad ski lift. I guess we left just in time, although, I would have enjoyed documenting the action on my video camera!

Below is a video of this story. Here is the link to the actual write-up: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41095299

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2010 - Full of Family, Full of Friends, Full of Deep Deep Love

Well, 2010 has come and gone. Where do the years go? Hope and I often wish we could just freeze moments in time. Yet we all know that is not to be...we get older, our kiddos get bigger, and life moves ever so fast. That being said, Hope and I take comfort in knowing that our faithful and sovereign Lord has each and every moment of our lives, perfectly planned and in His loving hands.

So as we move into 2011, here is a look back at the year that was 2010: Another wondeful year filled with the many blessings of family and friends and lots and lots of love. For our family, we thank the Lord for always providing and lay all of our plans for 2011 at His feet.

We love you all so much and thank each one of you for making 2010 such a special year.

Love,

Derek, Hope, Selah, Judah, and Mercy

Our Family - 2010 Review in Pictures from Derek DuRoss on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl

When I think of Mercy's 1st year of life - it is filled with many emotions.  It is a bit hard to not look back over the last year and see the impact cancer has had on our lives.  Mom DuRoss was diagnosed with Sarcoma a few months before Mercy was born and has gone through radiation and 2 surgeries in this first year of her life.  Heather was diagnosed exactly one week after Mercy was born with Non Hotchin's Lymphoma and under went chemotherapy during her first year of life.  What most people would look at as a devistating year, I honestly only see blessing upon blessing the Lord has graced us with.  He gave us a child whose name has lived up to more than I ever would have imagined.  She is a daughter who not only brings joy to my heart, but walked the chemo hall with me at every visit bringing smiles to the patients and care giver's day.  She slept in her NeNe's arms while she was being treated and brought peace to her soul.  She has snuggled up with Nana and Papa after returning from Boston and mom's treatments there.  Our sweet girl has experienced so much in her first year of life and I am thankful that the Lord gave her to me at just the moment I would need such sweet love from a baby.  What a gentle way the Lord choose to guide me through this year - how could you look back and not just be thankful for His love over us all??  I love you Mercy Lynn DuRoss - you have a tender loving soul, you bring a smile to my everyday, you have a presence of contentment and yet we already see your passion for life.  Mostly as I look over this past year I realize even more that I am just crazy over you!! 

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl - Happy Birthday!

Our Big Man is "3"!!!

Our Favorite Things About Judah:

His face - it tells it all!!

His tender heart towards his sisters

How he plays pretend "night-night" and lays all his animals to bed, turns the fan on, sings them each a song and kisses them goodnight!

How he will follow Selah to the moon and back

How he is CRAZY over his "baby" aka..Mercy

His quirky sense of humor

His need for lots of drinks throughout the day

His eyes - they simply draw you in!

Even though he is "3" ~ he still wants to cuddle mommy all day long!

How a day spent outside working with daddy is like winning the lottery!

That he is our son and we are blest to have him in our lives, teaching us everyday and loving us with his amazing heart.

Growin Up!!!

 Selah's first "Big-Girl" birthday party at Cut N Curls!

She is moving up... Kindergarten here we come!

Mercy brightens everyday (almost 8 months old)

Bath time in the Kitchen sink!!

Judah's dog (ok...Morgan's ~ but half the day Lola is ALL Judah's!!)

Be still my heart ~ our big man will be turning 3!!

LIFE!!

OK ~ so I may be saying "LIFE" a lot lately!! But, what I have realized is though I may say it to release my emotions during difficult times, I also say it to express my true love for family and the crazy moments that can only be shared by living life together!! This month has brought some GREAT milestones and I can't help but thank the Lord that we are at this point in our lives right now. We just finished Heather's very last chemo treatment this week ~ can I hear a big whoooohoooo!!! It has been a long journey and one I feel overwhelmed to have been able to share with my sis. I am proud of her spirit, her devotion to pointing all things towards her Saviour, her will to press through the hard days, her kindness even in the midst of the storm and for her commitment to shower love to those she loves ~ I love ya sis! It was with tears in my eyes that I got to see her ring the bell for her very last treatment and do a dance in my heart that this season is past and a new season is ahead!


Another BIG milestone this month was Selah turning "5" ~ yes, it is true, she is all grown up! She was snuggled up in my lap the other night and I thought to myself "when did the day come that she was too big to pick up" and "who is this child that is reading a book to me" and "how does she draw pictures better than her own mom". I just love her so much and want time to slow down a bit to soak it all in. She is a joy to be around, she has an amazing heart, a gentle soul and most of all ~ she is my baby even if she is 5!!

So, I don't know if this qualifies for a milestone or not ~ but Judah got his very first mohawk this month and I could just eat him up!!! I mean really, should we start swatting all the girls away now from our door??? He has grown up so much this month. We're proud of all the work he has been doing with Help Me Grow for speech therapy and can't believe the progress he is making. I feel like our little man is coming out of his shell with people other than us now and I love it!! Give him a tad bit of attention and he will not only melt your heart, but make you laugh at his humor and light up your day with his smile!

And last but certainly not least is our almost 5 month old girl. She on the other hand is making more progress than I can stand. I guess it is too much to ask her to stay my sweet little infant forever ~ since this month she too reached a milestone and rolled over for the first time. Agggghhhh, make it stop!! With the other two I couldn't wait for all these big milestones, but with her, our very last, it just makes me sad!! She brings me such joy it's hard to explain ~ she is laid back, content, happy, loving and her smile too can light up an entire room! I guess I will just have to capture it all in while I can and remind her that even as she grows, she will always be my baby.