Remember me?  If not, let me clue you in.

My name is Hillary McCabe-Olsenn.  I am married to Gunther (four years now), and we have five children:  Heather Lindsay (five); Chandler Bryce (3); Harper Clint (2); and twins Paisley Grace and Pressley Arik, who are six months old.  (They were adopted from China only two months ago.)

We live in Nashville, Tennessee.  Our little family is thriving, and the twins have been nothing but a blessing upon our lives.  God has been awfully good to our family ever since our oldest (Heather) was born with Epstein's anomaly, which threatened to kill her; however, God intervened, and she is now happy.  Healthy.  Healed.  Whole.

Other than having to take heart medication and seeing her pediatric cardiologist every few months, Heather is a normal, typical little five-year-old child who has complete reign over her younger brothers and sister.  To look at her now, you wouldn't even think she had been so desperately sick.

I still have the pictures of Heather lying tethered to tubes in the NICU when she was a baby.  People sometimes think I am morbid, but I have an explanation for this.  I look at those pictures, and I am reminded of the miracles that God's given to her, and see just how far she's come in life. 

It's been an amazing journey.

I have just sent in the manuscript for the book I wrote about Heather and how God's grace brought her through the worst of her illness up to the present day; I pray it touches other families who might be going through the same thing I did when Heather was so ill.  I want to give them a sense of hope, a sense of encouragement, to remind them that they aren't alone in their struggles:  God is with them, always and forever; He will never leave or abandon them in their time of need.

I am actively involved in charities for children with heart or other significant health issues.  I have started a foundation for children with Epstein's anomaly or other serious heart problems, and it takes up a lot of my time, as does caring for my brood.

It gets crazy a lot of the time, especially since Paisley and Pressley joined our family, but I wouldn't have it any other way! :)

It's now December; Christmas will soon be upon us once again.  The children are all excited:  they know that soon Santa will be coming to see them, and they are trying their best to be good, which daddy and I both appreciate.  I also remind them about the birth of the Christ Child, and this is why we really celebrate Christmas; it isn't just about Santa Claus or all the presents.  We make a birthday cake for Jesus, and we sing songs to Him; it's a family tradition we've done for the past several years, and the older kids really seem to enjoy it.

Well, I'd best go.  Pressley is wailing up a storm; it won't be long before his twin sister joins in.  I will see what's going on.  I will write in here again soon; until later, this is Hilary McCabe-Olsenn saying so long and God bless!  And may you have the merriest of Christmases!

~Love, your friend, Hilary.  :)