Live, Love, Laugh

I am a VERY Blessed Wife!

2011-01-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

This is one of those posts that I will start and stop a hundred times. It will be hard for me to find the words that help me fully tell the story and express its impact on me. But, it is too important for me not to share. I also admit from the beginning that I am sharing this to boast. I am boasting because I have a GREAT husband!

Last week Jay was in California for most of the week. ***sidenote- I am determined not to whine as much this spring when his traveling really picks up.*** There are some places that he travels to that I am not always very supportive of, primarily because I don't know anyone there and don't like not knowing all of the details. California is not one of those places, because he usually gets to visit some good friends of ours, Milo & Cheryl. Milo has been a mentor to Jay in many ways. He was in the same field as Jay, had a lot of the same business contacts, but most importantly, he serves God in all that he does. It is because of his influence (I believe) that Jay became interested in prison minstry. There have been many times that Jay has had breakfast with Milo at a place where some of the men that Milo mentored in jail currently worked.
Well, fortunately Jay was able to meet with Milo and Cheryl the last night of this trip too. But, this story is about the night before that.

Jay was walking from his hotel down the street to an area of fast food places. As he shared his this, I had remembered him telling me that because of budget cuts California released a lot of inmates (apparently he forgot). Anyway, off to the side of the street, a man approached him. He didn't ask for money, but rather just asked Jay if he wouldn't mind wrapping any leftovers up and giving them to him when he left. Jay told him sure and started off. Jay told me that he only got a few steps away when he turned around and asked him to eat with him. That's right! My husband invited a homeless man to join him at Wendy's.

Jay introduced himself and found out the man's name, David. At first, David told him that for $5 he could buy a case of ramen noodles. But, Jay requested his company and David agreed. In just 30-45 minutes, Jay learned quite a lot about this man. Apparently, David was quite the talker. I could so relate. I will talk anyone's ear off while Jay is travelling because I need adult conversation. So, I just thought to myself, if this man doesn't have a home and family to come home to, he needed to talk. Well, Jay found out that this man had served in the Army, been medically discharged and has been waiting 4 months for his first disability check. In the meantime, he has no home to go to, and he is unable to find a job. I am sure there are other details, but hat sums it up.

I thought to myself, just as you might be, he is good at telling this story, but how do I know it was for real. Jay said he quite possibly could have made it up, but Jay really did not get that impression at all, and he said, "Who was he to judge?" Anyway, David ordered chicken nuggets and a frosty off of the value menu...I would have gone for the biggest triple meat burger and fries if I was manipulating someone!

There are many details that really struck me about their conversation but will only share a few:

1) Jay asked if he was able to go to any church to ask for help. David replied, "I am a Godly man, but look at me. I can't go to church looking like this."
WOW! I have heard that some people were too intimidated to go to church because people wore expensive clothes, but I always thought, "not my church. We are middle class and really not that fancy." Never did I realize that the intimidation might not be about brand names(my materialistic thinking), but rather just being clean Jay too, was really struck by this comment. What message is the Church sending? Wasn't Christ's message to serve "the least of these?" Didn't Christ go to these people, walk among these people, teach and serve these people?

2) Jay was also really bothered by the fact that this man served his country and yet, after the hero's welcome home, he was left to fend for himself. I have dealt with government paperwork while working on our adoption, and can very easily imagine how overwelming and time-consuming dealing with the red tape can be! It should not take over 4 months to be compensated for a job done!

3) David may not have had much, but he did still have his pride. Jay told me that David told him he would starve to death before he would hold a cardboard sign asking for a handout. He rummaged through garbage in an attempt to avoid being seen and further humiliated.

4) One thing that Jay said to me was that he now views homeless people very differently. He (and I) have helped in homeless shelters, primarily at Christmas because that's the season to serve (ugh). But,he said he has always had a viewpoint of helping the homeless as a collective group. After meeting David, he has spent a lot of time thinking about how each person is unique and in their various situations for different reasons. Some may struggle with addiction, some mental illness, and some for a handout, but Jay said even those that are in those groups got to that point for different reasons.

All this to say, this one dinner with David affected Jay in a big way! He was so struck by David's need to preserve some sense of pride that Jay decided to find him the next night. Before he went looking again, Jay stopped at Wal-Mart to purchase leather cords, key chains, plastic cords, beads, ramen noodles, and a bible. Jay needed to do something, and he felt that if David was able to make a keychain and offer something in return for donations, that David would feel more self worth.
Needless to say, Jay did not see David again and we returned the items when he got back. Jay did acknowledge that the many reasons we have been skeptical in the past could be the reason that David was in the position that he was in, but it does not take away the fact that David made quite the impression on us and how we view humanity.

It all boils down to this:

First (and foremost):
God has made us to simply serve Him by serving others. Jesus came to earth and served! Why do I agree to help (which I think is different that serving) only on my terms, when its convenient, when the other person fits a sterotype, when I have time?

Second:
I am married to one really terrific guy!

Wordless Wednesday= WOW

2011-01-05T14:19:00.001-08:00

New pics!

2010-12-19T22:13:00.000-08:00

I have new pics and I am sooo pleased with them! A friend (that is only 16) took them. It was quick and painless, and not tears were shed!

Sick Day = Productive Day

2010-12-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to stay home with Lilly yesterday. She had strep, which is usually bad, but that girl never napped or stopped talking, other than a really red, sore throat, you would have never known that she was sick.

Soooo, I was able to get caught up on teacher and class Christmas gifts. Yeah!!! 45 s'more kits, 4 initial frames, and 6 picture frames. I even had time to enjoy myself. There is nothing better than VERY easy crafty gift ideas! I did steal the s'more kit from southernplate.com . That is a really great blog!

Raising girls....

2010-12-11T18:47:00.000-08:00

Raising girls for most usually means hairbows, pink tutus, and sugar and spice. We do have a little of the hairbows and pink. And, we have a LOT of sugar and spice.

But... They are definitely Daddy's girls and he takes much joy in spending time with them...

Macey got her first deer and Haley got a really "pretty" fox. Both are having a blast and Dad is loving every minute of it! And I am tickled to have our freezer stash replenished.

There is more to do...

2010-12-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

I have read a ccouple of books lately and read several scriptures again with a better understanding, that have confirmed that there is sooo much more that we as a family can do to serve God. Sure, we have a great responsibility to raise Godly girls, we donate a little time during the holidays, and we give monetarily. But, yet God calls us to be different, to not get caught up in worldy things, and that this is all temporary stuff. I hate to admit that there are many days that I am not real sure that I would give up my STUFF to truly follow God. Also, I have come to understand that being like Christ is not just simply being nice. Christ came to earth to serve. We are commanded to serve. Yet, there is so much more to do and that I am perfectly capable of doing.

The family pic above was taken during our wonderful Thanksgiving spent in Arkansas. It is kind of significant because we have all decided as a family that we can do more. I am so thankful to God for this family that he has blessed me with and it is the precious girls that have opened mine and Jay's eye to things that can be done with very little resources. They serve in various ways almost daily. I have been entrusted to raise them to follow Christ, but yet I justify keeping them from serving in a bigger capacity as a way of protecting them. That sounds awfully familiar to the man that buried his talents...doesn't it???

This is not like riding a bicycle!

2010-11-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to remember HOW to post and I can't remember where I put the cord to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer. Maybe once I get this blog back up and running I will have new incentive to keep at it!

I was able to find a few recent pics just to let you know what we have been up to...

Macey is still loving goat showing! I am so proud of her dedication and commitment.

Haley has become our family baker. She has had 3 "real" orders for cupcakes and the zebra design was all her own creation! I am in awe (especially for saomeone that has never seen fondant before)

Emily is our little clown. She has a very good sense of humor and is very good at making us laugh...even when we are trying to punish her!

Lilly is our cheerleader. She is on a great special needs team and will have 2 competitions, one is only 2 weeks away! She is sooo excited and we can't wait to cheer her on!

This is one of my favorite pics because it is from one of my favorite times. We went camping in Red River, in a tent, in the mountains, in the cold for the first time and we LOVED it. I am even ready to go again!!!

...to be continued

2010-11-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

I finally decided to read blogs and to check mine at the same time. When I signed onto my blog...It was gone! Not the gadgets, not the text, but my cute background and theme.

Sooo...I decided it was time to update. It will happen slowly and sporatically, but I will get it done. I need to! I had forgotten how therapeutic it is to record my family's activities and especially to read the uplifting blogs of others.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-09T09:17:00.001-08:00

My Hero

2009-12-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, first of all, I know that most EVERYONE is TIRED of the Tiger W**ds media attention. But, I do have to say that I was VERY disappointed to hear about it! I felt that he was a good role model to young people and that finally there was an athlete that kids could look up to. There is a lot of controversy about whether famous people should be held to a higher standard than others and whether they are entitled to their privacy.
My position is that the standard is the same for all and is set not by man, but by God through His Word and by the example that Jesus set while on earth. And, just as there are known hazards for skydiving there are known hazards for being famous...people will want to know every little detail (good and bad; right or wrong) of your life. Does that mean famous people should be or appear perfect?...No, BUT I would like for them to understand that there is responsibility that comes with having millions of young impressionable eyes watching them!
With that said, I do have a bigger responsibility to help my children know what traits and characteristics make a person a good role model. Not money, not athleticism, not talent! Jesus set the example for us to follow and therefore, surrounding themselves with those that try to be Christ-like are the good role models.

Soooo.... Tonight I watched a person work in a way that made her a hero in my eyes. I watched a 7 year old with physical limitations work her hardest on her homework. Homework that she had because it takes her a lot longer to complete pencil/paper tasks than most of her peers.
She brought home a reading assignment because she has to miss a portion of her recess to go to a literacy group for extra reading help. Keep in mind that she has learned the English language in less than a year and has a speech impairment that limits her pronunciation of words, therefore making it hard to sound out words. But, because of her hardwork she is still able to read alomost on grade level!
She brought home a math assignment because she had to WRITE her numbers 1-100 and did not complete it in time to complete the other math worksheet in class. Keep in mind that she can verbally count to 100 and completed the SKIP counting homework with no assistance, except for me transcribing exactly what she told me to.
She may have physical limitations, but she does work as if there were no difference between her and president (couldn't think of a better example...)It is next to impossible to "modify" or shorten any of her assignments, because she doesn't see why she can't do what everyone else does!
That little girl AMAZES me and teaches me so much more than any "famous" person on tv, in a magazine, or anywhere else. She loves God with all her being, gives 100% at everything and continues to want to learn more. That is what makes a hero!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

This year we headed south and had Thanksgiving with grandparents, great-grandparents, cousins, and an aunt and uncle.

I LOVE this picture!!!

This picture was at a roadside stop where we got out to stretch our legs and eat a sack lunch. We try this almost trip down south, but hardly ever have such pretty weather!

Spent time with Memaw and Papa and then headed to Papa's house... The kids paused for this picture after they all climbed the tree at Papa's.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know our family has sooo much to be thankful for, we just don't pause enough to reflect.

I do thank God for all that he has blessed me with!

Gotcha Day- Year 1

2009-11-10T16:20:00.001-08:00

A year ago today, this was our first photo of a beautiful but scared little girl. Amid the mass of paperwork and the translation, we were trying to take baby steps towards comforting her. She was sooo brave and from the very first minute we saw her we were awed by her!

By day two- we had a GENUINE smile! It was beautiful! It was really at that point that things relaxed and we began to get to know each other. I still wonder what she must have thought!

So, today after a year of small trials and many joys, we celebrate with what else- A CHOCOLATE CAKE! This little girl who came to us not sure about dessert has developed quite the fondness for sweets.

Lilly has also learned about God over the last year and has been very persistent in asking for her very own Bible (she was not content with her Bible storybook). So, inside of the fuzzy Bob the Tomato bible case is her very own Bible. One thing that has not changed since we brought her home is her fondness for red. Thanks to Veggie Tales we found a red bible cover that she calls Bob! She was EXCITED!

I asked the girls tonight if they remember what is was like before Lilly. None of us could remember- well, Emily did say that she remembered not having to share a room!

Miss Lilly,
You have made us so proud! We thank God everyday for you and your sisters and are so blessed! I know that there are great things in your future!
Lots of Love,
Mom and Daddy

It's A Boy!

2009-11-08T19:56:00.001-08:00

Those are 3 words we have never said before. It was fun to say but now let me explain...
I recently went to a Natalie Grant/Jeremy Camp concert and it was GREAT! I love their music. During intermission Bebo Norman (we missed him) came onstage to discuss Compassion International. I had briefly heard of it before, but the timing of this was perfect as Jay and I have realized that we have not been serving even close to what we are able to do.
From what I understand, Compassion International works with many third world or undeveloped countries to provide aid to children around the world. In the foyer were MANY pictures of children that needed a sponsor. There is a lot more to it than that, but I haven't researched it yet. I just needed to choose a child's packet. My choice was easy, I wanted a boy and I found one with Jay's birthdate.
So, I brought home the packet and showed Jay. I then showed the girls. Their first question was, "Oh are we going to adopt him?" I wish I could say that we are, but NO! (He does have a family too)I just can't physically get it together right now to add to our family right now. I have to figure out how to be in multiple places at one time first! But, the coolest part of sponsoring a child is that we get a picture, AND we can send letters and photos of us to him. The girls can be an active part of the process.
BTW- This post is not at all about "tooting my own horn"! It is to try and bring awareness to others about organizations such as Compassion International. We are so blessed, but I often feel that we don't DO enough for others, especially the ones Jesus calls "the least of these." Our decision to sponsor a child is ONLY a VERY SMALL step to be more of a servant. We can do so much more! But just imagine of all Christians took a small step towards doing more???
Bebo said something that really stung, especially at a time that I get soooo frustrated with our government. He was talking about how he gets angry with other governments as well, but then he has realized something. "It is not the governments calling to do something, to help the poor, to take care of the widows and orphans. It is OUR (God's people)calling. It is US that should answer the call."

One other thing- someone at the concert mentioned IJM (?), an organization that helps stop the buying and selling of young children. Is anyone out there familiar with this or a similar organization?

Thankful Thursday

2009-11-05T14:34:00.000-08:00

So much to be thankful for today...

For those that haven't heard by now, there was a gasline explosion last night less than a mile from our home. Something like that REALLY gets you thinking! So I thought a list would be very fitting for what I am most thankful for today.

1. Above all else I am thankful for a God that gives us peace during times of trial. I can not imagine how someone goes through daily life, much less a traumatic experience without faith in our one true God.

2. I am VERY VERY thankful for my daughters! They were quite the little troopers last night. They immediately obeyed without question when asked to load up and leave at 1:15 am in the night. My oldest was a rock, she had her sisters up and jackets on while I (frantically) discussed with our neighbors what we should do.

3. My husband is the BEST! He was 2 states away but as always, he was calm, reassuring, and supportive each time I called with an update. Then, he decided to leave at 2:30 am to leave and head home. What a sight for the girls to wake up in a friend's house and have Dad there with do-nuts.

4. Our friends are AWESOME! While discussing what to do with our neighbors, one of our best friends drives up and tells the girls and I to load up. We of course listen thinking we will go straight to his parent's house in the next town. Nope! Instead, as we work our way through the neighborhood, we stop at all of the houses to make sure people are awake and ready to leave. That's just the kind of guy he is! Then there are the friends that let us crash at 3:00 am at their place. There were 10 kids and 4 adults and it ended up being like a slumber party for the girls!

5. My community came together! I have wondered lately about our need for "roots" since we don't really live close to family. Well, we realized just how rooted in the community we really are. By 9:00 this morning we had at least 10 phone calls other than family and a ton of emails, asking how we were and if there was anything we needed. We had no damage to the house, so there was no need for physical assistance. That did not stop anyone! The next question was what could they do for the ones that did have damage to their home!

I wish it did not take things like this to bring me closer to God, but it did. I realized that my "stuff" is just stuff...people matter! With that said, please keep the 1 family that amazingly escaped the explosion. The mom and 1 daughter are still in the hospital with burns, but both are stable. Seeing their house completely gone, seeing and hearing the explosion, seeing the proximity their house and a couple of others...There is NO DOUBT that God's hand was with them and our neighborhood as a whole!

Last of the Firsts

2009-11-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

This was Lilly's First Halloween...but it is also one of the last "Firsts" that we get to experience. It is hard to believe that she has been with us only a year, but November 10th marks one year from Gotcha Day.
It is so fun to watch her grow and experience things. Here is just a peek at some of the activities she experienced on Halloween...

She was a beautiful Snow White Princess!!!

Here Lilly is with a couple of her "best" princess friends. I loved the Belle wig because that little girl has very blonde hair!

She really liked the concept of Trick or Treating! The girl LOVES candy...just like her momma!

This is her bobbing for gummy worms in whipped cream at a friends birthday party. She did it like a pro and even I cringed at the amount of sugar she consumed!

Pumpkin Pickin'

2009-10-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to pick out this years pumpkins that will be carved into jack-o-lanterns...

Anyone know how if I can rotate the pictures that are sideways? This hasn't happened before...ughhh

It's been a while...

2009-10-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

WOW! I can't believe that my last post was the first day of school! I am ashamed that I let that happen. There has been so much that has happened in the the last 6 weeks. The girls have had 2 lamb and goat livestock shows, they have completed the first 6 weeks of school and have made great grades, there was the Homecoming Football Game,and we have planned a trip to Walt Disney World for December.
Whew!
It is a crazy life but it is fun!

This is a scary sight! Dad was helping Lilly shoot at a target at a church fellowship. One of the boys that was there commented that this was the best church get-together because he could shoot!

We were all needing a nap, but Lilly was the only one that managed to get comfortable enough!

This was Emily's first show and I am proud of what an great job she did! But, she did show Nemo, which is the goat that Lilly spends most of her time with (she's not old enough to show) and so Lilly gets a lot of the credit as well. They all got 1st place!

First Day of School

2009-08-24T09:15:00.001-07:00

My 4th grader!

My 1st grader!

My 6th grader! (Saying that makes me feel old!)

My 3rd grader!

The whole gang, excited and ready to go!

Dad was in town today and I had to explain to him that it IS in the parenting rule book to walk your children into school on the first day. So, he took them and I took Haley. A great first day!

My Helpers

2009-07-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of days, Haley and Macey have been at 4-H Camp and Jay has been out of town as well. So, you would think that with just me and the little girls at home we would have had all kinds of fun things planned, especially with Lilly's birthday on Thursday.

Well............

"Our" Birthday...Lilly is 7!!!

2009-07-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

Today is Lilly's 7th Birthday!!! And we finally get to give her a real celebration. I have often thought about the birthdays that we weren't able to be with her and the milestones that we missed, but today I am just grateful to get to share this special day with her. She has been sooooo excited about her birthday, not really just about the presents (like her mom and sisters) but more about the joy of sharing her day with family and friends. She has planned her "guest list" for the last 2 months and each time she made a new friend she quickly amended her list. There were even days that we asked her NOT to talk about her birthday until it was only 1 month away.
So, following her sisters' birthday posts I will share 7 (one for each year)special qualities of our Lilly Mei:

1. Lilly has had a great sense of humor since the day we got her. She will make silly faces, play practical jokes on us and giggle uncontrollably!

2. Although Lilly truly dislikes being Mei Mei (littlest sister) she really looks up to her big sisters. She wants to do everything that they do. She also wants each of them to share in different activities with her.

3. Lilly has a wonderfully grateful heart! She has said thank you so much for her birthday gifts, but she has also been grateful simply for the birthday itself. A few days ago she and Haley were discussing homeless people and she asked why we didn't give them money to buy a house. Haley told me that it really bothered Lilly that there were people that did not have food or homes.

4. Lilly has a very determined personality. This has certainly been beneficial for her as she has had to overcome many physical and emotional difficulties. There is absolutely no telling just how far she will go because of her determination!

5. She lights up a room wherever she goes! There are often very few times that Lilly won't smile at people or want to share a story with them.

6. Lilly is a VERY smart little girl and has amazed us all at how quickly she has learned English. Not only has she learned English but she will be entering 1st grade almost on target...after only being in school for 1 semester!

7. Lilly is one very special little girl! She has amazed us, taught us patience, and made the perfect addition to our family!

Happy Birthday Lilly Mei! We can't wait to share all of the upcoming milestones with you! We love you!!!!

Vacation on the Lake

2009-07-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last week we were able to spend a few days in Oklahoma with family. The cabin was beautiful, the weather perfect and we were just a couple of miles from a BEAUTIFUL lake.

The kids (our girls and my two nephews) were happy to just float and play at the little beach area...

But, when we rented a boat for the day, we were all very happy! We just drove around the lake, stop and swam, drove around some more, beach the boat, and swim some more. It was GREAT!

All that fun and a great place to come back to as well. I hope we are able to do it again next summer!

The day after we came home, things were as hectic as before. The girls finished the week at VBS. All of the girls enjoyed it, but it was fun to watch Lilly. She LOVED the silly songs and it sparked a whole lot of conversations about Jesus and God. She asked last night why Jesus didn't just walk in our house instead of live in our hearts! I love it!
Macey finished her summer volleyball season, and I have to admit I am glad that it is over.

This past Saturday we also went to a local lake with some friends. How funny that Jay and I had not been on a boat in over 10 years and now in 1 week we had been twice and in 2 different states.

Finally, Haley and Macey left this morning for 4-H camp. They were both excited, but it was hard to tell that this was Macey's first camp. She was not the least bit nervous!
I'm not sure what the little girls and I will do this week...

Lazy Summer Mornings

2009-07-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of mornings, Haley has been up bright and early to ride her horse,Penny, by 8:30. One morning her sisters, except for Lilly, decided to join her.

This is where Lilly can be found each morning! Dad will even go in to get her out of bed, but she usually climbs right back in and falls hard asleep again! He is not big on the girls sleeping in...

I also found the the American Girl Dolls enjoy sleeping in... They must of stayed up late at their sleepover. :)

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-07T05:42:00.001-07:00

Lilly before the annual 4th of July Parade. She always puts her hand on her heart when she sees a flag! It is so cute!

Haley spent most of the day working in a duck pond booth at the square. Then, later that night at our block party she spent most of the time helping out with a little toddler. She can always be found with the little ones!

I love this picture!

Lilly did inform us that she had seen fireworks in China. But, the sparklers were new for her! I loved watching her face!

Dad is the official "firework lighter" and Macey is always the cautious one! I feel better having her keeping an eye on dad.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-02T07:28:00.001-07:00

Ok, so it's a day late, but there were just no words...

Mr. Wonderful

2009-06-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Today is Jay's birthday and although I can think of plenty of things that I love about him, I am choosing not to do a birthday list for the number of years he is today.
Instead I will list the top 3:
1. As the pics below show, he is the best dad to our daughters that I could have ever dreamed of having!
2. He is my best friend and other than a chick flick, I would rather do things, go places, and talk to him above anyone else!!!
3. Most importantly he is a Christian first, then dad and husband. I only pray that there will be 4 Christian men out there (a long time away) that will be as good to our daughters as he has been to me!

We love you!
Your girls

What was I thinking?

2009-06-26T19:44:00.001-07:00

First of all, for several reasons, none very good, I do NOT like to fly anymore. I used to, but not now. So, that explains a little about how hard it was for me to put my oldest on a plane, for the first time and by herself!!! I had to make sure that she left before my husband did, because I knew he would be calm and reassuring. I wasn't so sure I would be.

Haley was sooooo excited to finally fly! Her sisters were jealous but we assured that they would all eventually have their turn, just not all in the same summer.

So, after Jay walked her through security, only one of us was allowed and I was relieved, I got a little misty-eyed. She was so giddy but also so grown-up about the whole thing.

She has had a blast and will FINALLY be home tomorrow. Not only will I be relieved to have her back on the ground, but I have certainly learned how much I appreciate all of the help she gives! I think even her sisters will be very glad to have her home as well.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

Emily's Post

2009-06-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

For the record, I did NOT forget to post Emily's birthday post! We were in Missouri.
So here is Emily's 8 year old Birthday Post...

8 Things That I Love About Emily

1. Emily enjoys life! She has very seldom, if ever, said she was bored and can always find something to do.
2. I love that Emily very easily makes friends! She seems to see the good in everyone, but stands strong. If someone is not nice to her (other than her sisters) she won't say anything, but just find soemthing else to do.

3. Emily can definitely be a girly girl or a tomboy. She loves to play dress-up, but has to be reminded to change out of her "high heels" BEFORE she goes outside to catch a frog or jump on the trampoline.
4. Although very frustrating, I DO love how she can be getting a lecture or scolding and all of the sudden make you laugh!

5. I love Emily's bright smile! She can bop in and out of a room and make everyone there smile as well.
6. Emily is so smart and loves to challenge herself. If she missed a problem on a worksheet, she will work hard to not miss the same one again.

7. I love that Emily is very athletic and competitive. She is the girl that has never been in gymnastics but has taught herself round-offs, one-handed cartwheels, flips on the trampoline...all out of sheer determination! She is also a pretty good basketball player!
8. She pays attention to things that we never thought she was even aware of. She has had discussions about adoption with her friends. She takes up for her sisters when someone is mean. And,lately, she has begun to ask about baptism and its meaning. I LOVE THAT!

Happy 8th Birthday, Emily! We are very proud of you!!!

School is Out!!!!

2009-05-29T12:56:00.001-07:00

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There are 7 girls in my yard playing in the sprinkler. Macey in goggles? Some in their school clothes? and one in a helmet? I think they are delirious!

Emily and her friend have found a frog...could this be "Hopper" from last summer?

The girls' had a great field day today for their last day at school. Each year the PTO goes all out and this year was no exception. Above is Lilly on a stick horse.

I think I will go look for a good book to read and begin my summer ...

My Graduate

2009-05-27T20:09:00.001-07:00

Today I attended Miss Lilly's Kindergarten Graduation. I have never been one to tear up at this because I always figured my kids would graduate from kindergarten, but today was a little different. Still no tears, but certainly a tingle or sniffle as I realized just how far Lilly has come in 6 short months. I am sooooo proud of her and to be her mama! She has learned academically, socially and even spiritually at lightning speed. It was very special to witness this milestone in her life and look forward to the many things that come!

P.S. I also need to publicly express how GREAT Lilly's teacher has been this year. She has nurtured when needed and pushed when needed. She has been a HUGE factor in the amount of progress that Lilly has made! Almost makes me want to have another child just to have in her class....just KIDDING!!!!!!

My Precious Moments

2009-05-26T19:52:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we decided to take a 7 hour road trip to Missouri to see the Precious Moments Chapel. I have never collected Precious Moments, but have found a new fondness for them after seeing my friend's, Rachel, collection. My mom and dad had also been to see the Chapel and seemed to really like it.
So... being that I was ready for a trip. We loaded up the car and headed East. We met my mom there and spent the next day at the chapel and then swimming in the hotel pool. Macey commented several times about how great the vacation was! I have to agree.

Each girl had their picture taken with the large-size figurine that represented their age. Emily just happened to turn 8 the day before! (Birthday post to follow soon...after birthday party this weekend)

Grammie and the girls posed in front of a "Castle Playhouse" that the artist had on a mini island. The tour guide told us that only he and his grandkids were allowed on the island. The girls thought that it would be neat if Grammie had an island like that! I thought I would like one too...but with a drawbridge!

Haley was too funny standing like the statues that we saw. She is growing up, but luckily still likes to goof around.

Lilly liked most of the figurines, but as always a snowman was her favorite!

These are my Precious Moments!!!

Spring Fever

2009-05-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

Time to re-arrange patio furniture. I made room for a porch swing that I THINK I will be getting for my birthday....YEAH!

Time to plant the garden. Jay finally bought a tiller, has the ground in great shape, and hurried to plant the seeds before the girls came outside. Last year, they helped with planting a lot and we had no idea what was going to come up in each row. This year, he did most of it, but saved a little for the girls to help with.

Time to ride Penny. Penny has certainly been a neighborhood attraction! Last Monday I went to buy groceries and Jay sent a text "8 kids plus our four at the house right now." I replied, "Call me when they are gone, just kidding."

Time for camping...almost! Haley had a friend spend the night and they decided to sleep in the tent. Well, it was 45 and drizzling, so we decided that camping in the garage would work just fine. Then, the next night, Lilly wanted to sleep in the tent, so Haley slept out there with her.

Hoppy Easter!

2009-04-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

Between ALL of the girls being sick in the last week and then our first rain of the season, and no day off from school (had to make up a snow day)we were still able to have a fun, happy Easter!
Hopefully this won't be a new tradition, but the girls were allowed (by dad) to hunt eggs in their pj's and before church. He was afraid that it would be raining later. It was kind of funny and I felt bad for the neighbor boys who were watching outside their window!
It was a great Easter and another first for Lilly!

One tradition that I LOVE...the Bunny Cake! This year we all had a hand in creating the cake and I have to say it was the BEST one ever!

Macey's 9 !!!! (finally the blog)

2009-04-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

Macey turned 9 last week! I waited to post her birthday blog until after her party, so that I could have some cute pics from the party...then the camera was MIA. So now, only a week later her birthday post.

9 Really Neat Things About Macey!

1. Macey has a very kind heart and has really shown that all people should be treated fairly. I have had the opportunity of watching her talk with others that had physical or mental impairments with great ease.
2. She has a strong sense of right and wrong. In fact, when she gets in trouble she almost always has a strong argument about why she did what she did. We actually pause sometimes to try and see it her way.

3. Macey jumped right in from the very beginning to teach Lilly things such as vocabulary, writing, and the rules. It wasn't accepted well by Lilly at first, but because of her persistence, Lilly quickly learned to go to Macey for help.

4. Macey shares her mom's fondness for organization and is a SUPER helper with household chores! Yeah!

5. Macey has a strong loyalty to her friends. It may take a little while for her to warm up, but once she does she considers the other person a friend for life!

6. She is very smart and catches academic concepts well, but more importantly that "smartness" carries over to her Bible study! I am so proud of how well she grasps and thirsts for God's Word!

7. Macey has a very generous personality. She has no problem giving her whole allowance to church or to people she feels are in need. We have all learned a lot by watching her do this in a very quiet manner.
8. Macey is a great sister and would stand up to anybody that she felt was being unfair or mean to any of her sisters!
9. The jump start to our adoption had a lot to do with Macey and her not understanding why if we could adopt that we hadn't done it already. She came to us several times and sinply asked "Why don't we adopt?"
We are so proud of all that she has done, accomplished, learned, and given. We are blessed to be her parents!

We love you Macey Moose!

Sisterly Love

2009-04-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share yesterday mornings events...
I always send the kids out to the car first in the morning to load up for school. I then stand in the kitchen and enjoy 1-2 minutes of complete silence. It has become a habit and seems to be a very therapeutic way to start the day.
Well, yesterday I go out to the car and Haley is crying. It is not unusual for someone to be fighting over a seat, backpack, etc., but crying is not the norm. Apparently Lilly's head made contact to Haley's mouth somehow and her braces cut her lip. Haley was very quick to tell me that is was an accident and that she was fine, but that it did hurt. So, we leave the garage and about 1/10 of a mile from the house, Lilly bursts into tears. She felt SO BAD for hurting Haley. We were quite surprised! Haley was VERY nice and told her it was okay, she was fine, and she would be her best friend forever (inside joke between them). Lilly felt so bad, but the tears went away.
Later that day, I received a phone call from Lilly's kindergarten teacher asking if everything was okay with Haley. Apparently when Lilly arrived in the classroom, she began crying about how she hurt Haley's lip and that she was very sorry. I felt so bad for Lilly, but at the same time was so grateful that she feels so much love for her sister.
You better believe Lilly was one happy girl to see her Best Friend Haley when she got home from school that day!

Pondering

2009-04-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

***Macey turned 9 yesterday! I did not forgot to do a birthday blog, but her party is Friday and I want to get pics then. We are also going to see Annie tonight...with dad...more details later!***

It is now time to schedule our 6 month post placement visit with our social worker and it (along with a few other things) has got me to thinking. For most people, that is a good thing, for me that is not always the case. Anyway- I have been thinking...

I can't believe that Lilly has ONLY been with us for 4 1/2 months!

There are many times that it seems she has been with us forever and even last night we had to stop and remind the girls that Lilly is picking things up and learning as fast as she possibly can. She has truly amazed us! She speaks almost completely in English, although it it's still difficult to understand. She is thriving at school, learning to read, learning to add, and she is not really "behind" at this point in school. We really learned at Spring Break just how much she loves school, she was the only one in the family that was counting the days down until she could go back.

Not only is she doing great academically, but in the last 2-3 weeks she has really blossomed socially. While camping she started playing with another little girl at a neighboring campsite and spent the afternoon playing with her. This was the first time we had witnessed her spontaneously initiate play with a person she did not know. It was fun to watch. Also, she has decided that boys are not that bad. At first she really wouldn't have much to do with them, but now she will name 3-5 from her class that she wants to have at her birthday party. Her birthday is not until the end of July, but ever since Haley's birthday party, she has begun to plan hers. It has nothing to do with the presents (a lesson my girls and I can certainly learn)but has ALL to do with having friends over! Her list is growing almost daily, but I have decided that if she wants a BIG party, she is going to get one! Oh yeah, and she watched Nemo over Spring Break, and now she wants a Nemo cake. There have also been some struggles with her being so social. She can't seem to understand why she can't go to friends houses the way her sisters do. I get the blame for this, but in reality I feel like I still need to keep her close. I know that at some point I will need to loosen up, but I don't know that I trust myself to know when that will be.

I know that I usually paint a really rosy picture of everything on my post and that is mostly because I feel it's my post and I can filter out what I don't want others to read. But, there are a couple of really good blogs of others that have adopted that are able to share the good and the bad. I have found that I really value knowing how they handle experiences that are similar. So, I will share a more open view.

The biggest thing I have struggled with lately is that Lilly tells me I am "a little bit mean, but Daddy is not mean." I do really understand why she says this, because he travels some and I am a "little" bit particular about schedules, picking up, etc. There was even one day she said, "You mean, I go back to China." That bothered me, so I pressed her on it. I asked, "Was other mama mean?" Lilly didn't answer, so I told her that I didn't want to be mean, but that when she was asked to do something that she needed to do it and that we would go visit China as a family when she is older, but that we also would come back as a family too. I since have read a favorite blog that shared a similar story. She compared that to the Israelites wanting to go back to Egypt when God was trying to lead them out. I hadn't thought about that...

A little while later she came to me and said "I know you a little mean, and that's okay mama. Other mama in China a little mean too. I know. I know." I hope I translated that right, because I took it as "I know I don't always get to do what I want and you have to correct me, but that is okay, it was the same in China too." There were other times that she repeated the same thing and I really believe that is what she means. I do have to admit that I do wish Jay had to "be mean" a little more, but that is really the case for all 4 girls and I have come to understand that. He too understands and has tried to do more too, which really helps!

Lately, it has also been an adjustment for her to not have everything done for her or go her way. We probably went a little overboard and now it is time for "real life" to start. Last night she got upset twice because she couldn't interrupt a conversation to tell me something and she couldn't pick the table that we ate at. The really good thing about it though is that after taking her to the restroom to explain it to her and to be firm with her, she got over her "mood" quicker than usual. She didn't even mind having to sit by me. Also,I really think the other girls appreciate knowing that she will have expectations similar to theirs.

There are still going to be bumps along the way. But for such a short amount of time, things have gone super. I so believe that her foster parents must have been great, and even parented in a similar style because of how well she has transitioned. I also feel that sharing this has been helpful for me, so probably more to follow at some point.
BTW- a plug for those contemplating older child adoption. We were told that it was hard, and yes that is the case. But, we haven't found it any harder than our 3 bio. daughters...it just seems that sometimes you have to go through the baby (nurturing), toddler (testing limits), and becoming a family unit, all at one time. That can be tiring, but also amazing!

SNOW DAY?!

2009-03-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, the last post had the girls in bathing suits and now...they are BUNDLED UP!

Abby even enjoyed playing in the snow!

We had Friday off because of blizzard conditions. 50 mph wind and 6-8 inches make for a miserable day. BUT, it does make for a fun next day. The girls were dressed and outside by 8:30 this morning to play in the snow. Mom and Dad even joined in. The snowman's name is Jr. Frosty (I thought that was cute!). We had enough snow to make a big one, but had a hard time time getting it to all stick together.

Bathing Suit and Spring Break

2009-03-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

Okay I grew up watching "classic" movies such as Beach Blanket Bingo, Fun in Acapulco, and Where the Boys Are. So, I always associated Spring Break with the beach, but really? Unless you make it to Florida or possibly California, is there really any place that is warm enough to sport a bathing suit? Well, it was one day here. I told the girls if it reached 80 degrees they could play in the water. We checked every 10 minutes and finally at about 3:30 it made it to 81! Yeah!!!! This was Lilly's first time in a bathing suit and I have to say she was VERY cute!

My girls being the "horse-crazed" country girls that they are, then put on jeans and boots along with their bathing suits and rode Penny until dark!

!

A Day at the Zoo

2009-03-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

We did not have any big trip planned for Spring Break this year, but that has been okay with us. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful and we took advantage of it by going to the zoo one day... well we actually went 2 days because we learned that it is not open on Mondays.

It is so hard to believe that these sweet sisters don't ALWAYS get along. Haley even enjoyed a trip down the slide. She wasn't too old and too cool to play a little on the playground.

The grand finale of the zoo was to be the buffalo (we were not at a large zoo). We had really talked it up to Lilly... BUT she had decided that the walking was just too much and the 72 degree weather was too hot. Therefore, she pouted because I refused to carry her. Oh well, the Son*c cherry coke fixed things on the way home...until she poked a hole through the cup. What a day!

Facebook...Oh My!

2009-03-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, I already had a BIG problem with blogging in moderation, but now I have found Facebook! I know, it is really not new, but I was busy blogging. I have connected with people I have not heard from in 10-15 years...WOW! I am going to have to look up scripture about doing things in moderation, or time management, OR even about my duties as a mom to care for my family because I can see where this may not be a good thing. Any suggestions?

Latest Happenings

2009-03-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am sending the kids into the kitchen to fix their own sandwich for dinner and I am going to blog.
We found out about 3 weeks ago that Lilly's eyesight is very BAD! We kind of figured this out earlier, but never got around to getting her to the optometrist (is that as bad as making them fix their own dinner???) So, we start with half strength lenses for a while and then move to full strength later. After having them for about 2 hours she broke the first pair, returned to get them repaired the next day and she is doing great with them now.

We spent the day yesterday scrapbooking. We had the help of a "professional" so things went very well. It would help if I would do this more than once a year or every other year!

Haley, Macey and I have been taking knitting lessons from the ladies at church the last couple of Sundays. It has been fun, but I can't wait to get to the stage of being able to knit and talk at the same time. Also, BEWARE everyone will be getting a scarf or knitted wash cloth (depending on if we speed up or not) for Christmas this year.

We have been very blessed with beautiful weather this past couple of weeks and the girls have been riding Penny a lot.

I guess other than Macey's karate class, Haley's piano lessons and Lilly's gymnastics class (mommy and me class), things have been pretty routine around here.

Our Special Valentine

2009-02-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

It is very hard to believe that our oldest was born 11 years ago today! So I thought I would share 11 things that make her so special, but there are many many more!
1. Haley has always had a smile that makes her eyes sparkle.
2. She is one of the kindest souls ever, and that is not just my opinion. I am so proud to hear it from her teachers and her friends' moms.
3. She has a very "nurturing" personality. We would always see it with small children, her sisters, but it has been VERY evident with her newest sister, Lilly.
4. She has a great LOVE for horses and now has a horse of her own. Even with the responsibility of having one, her love for it has not lessened.
5. We trust her to make very good choices. She is not afraid to tell her friends that she can't do something if it is questionable.
6. Haley has a very beautiful singing voice, but we can't convince her of it...yet!
7. Because of her good choices, she has friends that we actually enjoy being around.
8. She LOVES to be in the kitchen and it has become sort of the norm for her to wake up on Saturday mornings and cook breakfast for all of us.
9. Haley also has a great sense of humor. Jay and I really like being around her when she is goofing off!
10. If there are times that we don't make it to Bible Class on Wednesdays, Haley is very disappointed. She has a great love for GOD!!!
11. Haley definitely has made us look good as parents! We are SOOOO PROUD of her!

Basketball Season

2009-02-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

Whew! Basketball season is now over. I can't say that I am sad about it because we have had at least 3 games for the last few weekends and a lot of Macey's and Emily's games were at the same time. So, Dad and I would split up and get them to where we were going. But...it was fun to watch the girls as they progressed through the season. Emily is quite the point guard and can dribble better than I ever could. Macey is quite the defensive player.You tell her to stay on her girl and she is stuck there for the game. Haley has even taken an interest in it and has learned quite a bit at PE. Not real sure Lilly cared much for the sport and even fell asleep at one of the games!

Look to the right...

2009-01-28T10:20:00.001-08:00

I have always wanted to add buttons to my blog, but never took the time to learn how...until now.
I added a really neat button about a family that has adopted literally from around the world. They have 6 kids living at home, 2 of which are new to the family just within the last 2 months, and they are currently waiting on a new little one (if I understand correctly).
But, they also recently suffered the loss of their home to a fire. Thankfully, all are fine but there is strong push to nominate them for E*treme Home Makeover. Visist their blog to find out about this family.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2009-01-26T16:39:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday (with an explanation)

2009-01-21T16:53:00.001-08:00

2 LIKE Broccoli and 2 DON't!

Still quiet...time for a Lilly update

2009-01-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

This is the look on Lilly's face after I just loudly exclaimed,"LILLY!"

This is the reason for the shocked looked on both her face and mine! Yep, that is hair on the floor that she cut off. Once we got past the puzzled look on her face (a look that is now usually used when she WANTS to pretend she does not understand) she quickly said "Sorry." I have to admit I probably did not handle this well, but being that we were fortunate to make it through 3 daughters without self-given haircuts, I was quite shocked! Luckily, the spot she cut blended very well into the back of her hair.

This time this look of surprise was really cute. It was her first bath at Grammie and Poppa's Jacuzzi tub. She loved the bubbles!

The girl LOVES corn on the cob. We stopped her after 3 ears, but I am pretty sure she could have kept going. I bought some ears while she was with me at the grocery store and she started laughing and saying, "YEAHHH!!!"

Tomorrow makes 2 months of being home with Lilly! It is hard to believe! She has done soooo well through the whole transition and her sisters have done amazing helping her. There are many days that Jay and I both feel that it seems that she has been with us from birth. I thank God for the peace he has granted all of us through this change.
I had a friend tell me that things got a little rocky around the 2 month mark. So, I have began to "look for" things that aren't going well, and there really aren't any. But, in hopes that there are prospective adoptive parents out there in cyber space reading this, I feel that it would be a benefit to share some of the whole picture.
I have began to notice that we take forgranted the fact that Lilly has only been with us here at home for 2 months. She is absolutely learning and adjusting as fast as she possibly can! As soon as we arrived home, things were crazy. We had Thanksgiving, volleyball season, then Christmas season, travel to grandparents (10 hour car rides), start kindergarten, meet LOTS of new people,go back to school after break, doctor appointments, dentist appointments, dental surgery, livestock shows, and now basketball season. And yet, after her having to endure all of that, I feel myself get frustrated when I ask her to stop a particular behavior, continue to help her with "little" tasks such as bathing, toothbrushing, etc. WOW! ...and to think we have a heavenly Father that has eternal patience and understanding!
On top of her having to learn EVERYTHING, she has been able to communicate a little about her other mama and baba (daddy). It was these conversations that reminded me that this little 6 year old girl had been taken from everything familiar to her and thrust into a new environment. From all that I have understood from Lilly during these conversations, she loved and was loved by 2 very special people. She was able to communicate that her "other mama" (as she put it) cried when she left. The most amazing thing about these conversations is how she talks about her having 2 mamas and 2 daddies, and just when I want to feel jealous of missing her previous years I see that she is completely open to loving Jay and I in just 2 months the same as she loved her foster family for 4 years. I also just realized that the family that raised such a loving, fun little girl must have been truly amazing themselves and I am truly grateful for what they have done.

All is quiet....

2009-01-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

Whew! It is 8:56 and all is quiet at home. So, I am going to sit here and finally update my blog and probably get caught up on a LOT of other blogs that I have not read in a good while. And... I haven't even cleaned up the kitchen yet!
The following pictures are of the girls at our County Livestock Show this past weekend. I am so proud to say that the girls did a great job! They had 3 firsts and a third place, but more impressive is how well that worked together, not just this weekend but throughout the whole year.
The sheep are now gone, but Haley and Macey will continue to work with the goats in hopes of doing well at a "major" show. Lilly was a lot of fun to watch at the show and by the looks of things she will follow in her sisters footsteps in just a couple of years. I couldn't resist posting Emily's self-portrait...it speaks for itself. That is also the only picture I got of her during the show because she was off helping some friends with their show cattle.

Thankful Thursday... We have had a whole year of them!

2009-01-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

WOW! Where to begin? I sit down to do a "Thankful Thursday" post and realize that the year 2008 has flown by and the things to be thankful for today just can't be expressed on a blog. We have been blessed with a new daughter and each day it seems like she has been with us her whole life, we have been blessed with good health as a family, we have been blessed with the best friends and family a person could ever want, and we have been blessed beyond measure with material things. It all comes down to knowing God and knowing that all good comes from Him.

I realize that I have not posted in a long while, so I will post quite a few pictures to help keep everyone updated...

Cowboy Limo??? That's all 6 of Poppa and Grammie's grandkids on Chica! It was fun to see all of the kids ride and it was a relief to know that Lilly loves horses as much as her sisters. That was one concern that they had while waiting to adopt Lilly. One had asked, "what if Lilly doesn't like horses?" We had our answer to the question when she cried because it was someone else's turn to ride.

Yeah for Aunt Lacie! She is a very crafty person and made all of the girls an apron. They loved them!

Christmas morning at Nana's! The two oldest were up at 3:00 am to see what Santa had brought! Nana heard them and was able to get a picture and encourage them to go back to sleep. Thankfully, they waited til about 6:00 to wake any of the others!

Yeah for Aunt Linda! She always gives the girls the coolest things with their names monogrammed on them. This year she got them all Aggie caps, added crystals, and had their names monogrammed on the back. They were perfect!

A special treat was to have Uncle Turkey (family joke) and his family stop for dinner while on their way to skiing!
Well, that is just the a few pics of our holiday! I hope to share many more later, but want to stop and read all of the other blogs that I have missed while out of town.

Hope 2009 is a great year for all!!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2008-12-14T19:33:00.000-08:00

...and here are just a few of the reasons:

The twinkle in the eye!

Christmas Dresses

PRESENTS (and the look that accompanies)

A complete family

Santa Clause and the wonder of the season!

to be continued...

All in a week!

2008-12-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

Whew! As I think back to the last week, I can't believe all that took place.

First of all, Lilly started school and had 2 complete days, in which she did fabulous. I say that meaning she did not seem the least bit anxious, scared, or intimidated. On the other hand, she does have a little way to go as far as sitting during carpet time, sharing during center time and learning the different voice levels to use at different times.
Thursday was quite an emotional roller coaster. That morning we received a call that a very dear friend of ours had passed away. Words cannot express what my friend has meant to me and what her whole family has (and continues) to mean to us. But, she was ready to go and be completely healed. Maybe at a later time I will be able to put into words all that I have learned from her as a mother, friend, and as someone who really handled her illness with great dignity and faith.
Later that day, my friends at the school that I work at gave our family a "Meet Lilly" shower. It was a lot of fun and soooo appreciated! Lilly received many cute hair bows, toys, outfits, and some of the most amazing books. I really love books, but usually prefer to just check them out from the library. After receiving some of the most thoughtful, beautiful books for Lilly about children, adoption, China and even an Aggie book; I must say that I have a new appreciation of children's books! Look out friends, that will be what everyone receives from now on!
Then, on Friday she had dental surgery. Again she amazed us! I had no idea of what to expect, as this was our first experience with surgery for ALL of our family! We have certainly been blessed in that regard. The dental procedure took about 2 hours, recovery an hour, and within an hour after that she was back to full speed. WOW! So, because of our inability at times to just slow down, we decided to go to the local museum's annual Christmas Open House.
I LOVE this open house and we try to attend every year. It has children's crafts, but my favorite is the Pioneer Town with local people dressed in period costumes. I hope my family will continue to indulge me even though I can tell that they are not near as excited about going as in years past.
Well, the rest of the weekend was still a whirlwind. Volleyball games, Sunday school Christams party, and a beautiful funeral service for Rachel.
Now, at 10:45 Sunday night all are nestled in their beds, the Christmas lights on, and I catch a few minutes to update the blog. I did get to catch a Christmas movie on the Hallm*rk channel and clean the bathrooms during commercial breaks. I love my life!

YIPPEEE!!!!

2008-12-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

Lilly has officially had her first day of school! Monday and Tuesday, she went for about half a day, much of which I kept going by to sit with her or to check on her. Well, today she made it the WHOLE day! I think she probably could have made it all day on Monday, but I had already decided to try it this way. Then, on Tuesday she went in the morning, 2 hour dentist appointment around lunch, then back the rest of the day. I really think she has done fabulous and will progress socially and academically by leaps in bounds in no time! (I am a little bias though.) A VERY special thank you to her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. A for being so flexible and so patient. Lilly will be our 2nd daughter to have her and all I can say is she is a VERY patient lady!
BTW- I do have pictures from the first day, but with keeping with "tradition" they are stuck on my camera as I forgot the memory card AGAIN! Jay does know how to fix that, so when he gets home, I should be able to have them recovered.

She is such a comedian! I bent down to take her picture while she was watching the Nutcracker dancer in this book, and she pretended to be asleep. She really makes us laugh, but she makes herself laugh too!

I finally relaxed a little and let them help decorate the tree with me. Needless to say we only broke 3 ornaments and that was by me and the 2 oldest girls!
And- as I type this and look at the tree, I have to laugh. It is tied to the front door until Jay gets home because it was leaning A LOT and I didn't trust the adjustment that I made to it...

She loves riding her tricycle!

About the 2 hour dentist appt.- Well, we knew she had REALLY bad tooth decay, but just did not realize how bad. So, this Friday she will have to have dental surgery to remove 2 teeth and do a "baby" root canal. Please keep us in your prayers!

Life at Home

2008-11-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

WOW! What a great first couple of days! Here is a list of just a few "firsts" for Miss Lilly:

1. sharing a room with her new sister

2. going out in the cold mornings, bundled in coats over pj's to help her sisters feed their lambs, goats, dog, and cats.

3. playing volleyball with th whole family

4. Meeting BOTH grandma's. She is really fond of Grammie and Nana!

5. Going to church...she sat perfectly quiet the entire service!

6. Mexican food...she wasn't so sure about it at first, but we have have it at least 3 times since being home and she has decided that it isn't so bad. You have to understand that 2 of our biggest concerns were whether she would like Mexican food and horses! lol

7. Doctor, dentist and haircut. She did great at all three!

8. Went to visit her sisters at school and ended up being their "Show and Tell" item.

9. Slumber party-style sleeping. The girls love to sleep in sleeping bags in the playroom while watching a movie when there is no school the next day. She is no exception, at bedtime tonight she motioned to sleep in the playroom and started giggling, and you guessed it, that is where she is right now!

10. A first for all of us and right now one of my favorites...eating dinner together around our table. We finally have the "hole" filled in and it seems that our family is now complete!

I am ashamed to admit that Thanksgiving has not really ever been a favorite holiday of mine. It usually just meant having a LOT of food that I was not particularly fond of (dressing, casseroles, pumpkin pie, veggies, etc) but it was the kick-off to the Christmas season, which I LOVE!!! I have a big feeling that because of the recent addition to our family, that I may be a bit more appreciative of the holiday that SHOULD have the most focus...Thanksgiving! I have been blessed beyond measure and this is the perfect time to reflect and thank God for all that he has provided!

BTW- I am still giddy about the beginning of Christmas Season!

We Made It

2008-11-22T13:13:00.000-08:00

Our arrival at the airport, and reunion with family and friends
Lilly's sisters and a few of her new friends at the airport
The four Thurman sisters
Lilly's first morning of chores
Lilly and her baby coming home

Diane asked me what she needed to change the name of her blog to, and I think my response is - Why change it? I don't think we ever get THERE, the finish line just moves. So although we are home now, there are a 1000 new almost's and we need to get there next.
However, we did make home and all in all it was a very uneventful trip. But that in and of itself made it great, all the flights were on time, Lilly did great, we had a great reception at the airport, everything was good.
Now life starts anew, more children, new dynamics, new personalities - this is great. As I write this post Lilly is playing with her sisters, we have already been to a volleyball game, and so it begins...
I am sure Diane will follow up, and my authoring will come to an end, but I do want tell everyone again how much we appreciate the prayers, support, help and everything else. So far this entire process has far exceeded all expectations I had. God is truly awesome.

Almost There!

2008-11-21T00:56:00.000-08:00

Can't wait to change the blog header when we actually get home!
We have had some ask if they could meet us (primarily Lilly) at the airport when we return and since we may not sleep until tomorrow, that would be great! Just check wit the airline (American) to make sure the time is good...8:15!

See ya'll later!

On our way

2008-11-20T22:35:00.000-08:00

We are enjoying our layover in Tokyo. It is currrently 3:35pm here, I think that is 12:35am Friday morning for the folks at home. Everything still looks good for our arrival tonight at 8:15.
We are trying to keep Lilly going until we get on the flight to Dallas then we try to get her to sleep for a few hours.
Ready or not here we come.

Last Post till HOME

2008-11-20T02:34:00.000-08:00

The sun has set on our time in China and it is time to see our OWN sunset!!!
Dad and Lilly on the paddle boat waiting for Mom to get done shopping. (I did catch up with them and was able to hop in from the bank...Lilly got a good laugh from that!)
Dad and Lilly sharing a little pizza. (We have eaten at Pizza Hut 3 times, and I must say it has been good. I need to talk to our Pizza Hut at home about adding 6 fried, big shrimp to the menu for $3)

Diane thought she found the end of the rainbow in Guangzhou

Yes, those are pearls!

We have traveled from Guangzhou to Beijing in our first leg home. We will leave the hotel at 5:45am in the morning, arrive in Tokyo at 12:45pm, leave Tokyo at 7:00pm, (won't that 6 hours and 15 minutes be fun!) arrive in Dallas 3:25pm Friday afternoon, clear customs and immigration, leave Dallas 7:00pm and arrive Amarillo 8:15pm Friday evening.
It has truly been a journey, we started out thinking we were going to need the 2 weeks with Lilly to prepare her for coming home, I am second guessing now because we may have been needing home to get prepared for Lilly! We are anxious to see everyone when we get back, and I am not sure who is more excited about seeing Haley, Macey and Emily - Mom and I , or Lilly.
We have a completely different view of China (and the USA for that matter), after being able to spend time here. We have also met many great people from the US adopting children. Diane is chomping at the bit, looking over my shoulder so I will let her add a few closing comments.

My turn-
We have had a super time in China and thus far all has gone well...
But it is time to move on. I knew I would miss the girls, but I did not realize just how much!
I also knew that this time with Lilly would be needed for bonding and I hope that is what has happened, but since she is so cheerful, bouncy and mischievious it is hard to tell just how far we have come and how far we have to go. She can get mad at either of us, but she always goes to the other for comfort. She reaches for our hand and has been giving lots of unsolicited (or bribed) kisses. On the other hand, she keeps asking about her jies jies (sisters) by name and I am sure is wondering why she has not gotten to meet them yet. I also tend to wonder if she feels she was adopted by a nomadic family that only travels from one hotel to the other. We caught ourselves saying we needed to go home after dinner last night! Jay and I keep reminding each other of all the things she needs to learn from seeing us in our home; how we react to the girls, how the girls can show her how to PLAY, how we each need to respect each each other, and so on. These are the things that can only be taught by example. Hmmmm...isn't that what we are taught all through God's word?
I have been following a blog of another family that adopted an older child and she has put into words so much of what I catch myself thinking lately. One of the posts was about the "firsts" that we often don't think of until now. We remember the first steps, first words, and all of the other milestones, but we don't always recognize the firsts that we are experiencing now with Lilly...the first time she said her sisters names, her experience with static electricity, the first time she felt comfortable wearing the new shoes wew bought her rather than the pair she came to us in. These are the little things that may not seem significant to some, but to others these are the "milestones."
Maybe in a way that is what we see in the Bible. Jesus performed many miracles that stood out, but at the same time He pointed out acts that may not have seemed significant to others, such as the woman giving her only coin (all that she had). Many of us (Jay and I) try to remember to teach by example by going to church, giving each Sunday, not swearing, and other "biggies." But, it is usually the kids that teach us much more often by their words and actions on a daily basis. It is because of their words that the a fire was lit to get us going with the adoption. All it took was them asking, "Why don't we adopt?" Needless, to say Jay and I did not have a single reason not to, that plus the fact that the 3 daughters we already had had made parenting seem easy (their doing, not ours), so why not?
I am most thankful that we did, I now can't imagine missing out on our newest blessing!
Love to all and thanks for the continuous thoughts and prayers!

Un Happy times for Jay

2008-11-18T15:34:00.000-08:00

The 13 AWAA families that we have become friends with as we have shared the past 2 weeks together.

Lilly and her mother share a love for the early morning

Trying to decide which one we wanted for dinner

Diane found out yesterday that a big group was starting home on Wednesday. We are not starting home until Thursday - Kinda, we have to fly back to Beijing Thursday, spend the night then start home from Beijing early Friday morning. Because we used American awards for our airfare there was limited availability on when we could travel, and Thursday there were no tickets. Anyway, Diane was not happy with her travel agent (me) yesterday when she found out half of our new friends were going to be home before we even started. Oh well it is the price you pay for being cheap I guess.
More importantly, We had our appointment at the US Consulate yesterday and received Lilly's visa and paperwork, so now when she passes through immigration in DFW she will be an American citizen!
This is our last day in Guangzhou, I am still trying to bargain on a set of golf clubs, Diane has most of her list completed I think, not that that will stop her from finding more bargains today.
Lilly is doing great, starting to figure us out a little bit, and get more comfortable with our personalities. She is ready to see her sisters (jie jies) so Haley, Macey and Emily be ready.
We are very excited about being on our way home, thanks again to everyone for the help.

A Day of Shopping at Shaiman Island

2008-11-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

This is the way Lilly and Dad felt ater an afternoon shopping with Mom.

One of many, many, many stores we looked in.

Yes, that is genuine iced tea with lemon (okay there isn't actuelly ice but it was cold). Thanks to Lucy's.

Haley, Mom was pretty proud of her messy ponytail and wanted to see if it met your approval?
Hey girls, this is Lilly trying to show off her painted toenails, and fingernails.

Okay, we have had fun, now we got the big shopping over, we have had a great time with Lilly, but it is really time to come home. I am ready for hugs and kisses from my other girls, and all the other comforts of home we take for granted everyday.
I am letting Mom and Lilly sleep in this morning while I drink coffee and post pictures, (sorry as you can tell I had the camera most of the day so there are not any very good ones). As we get closer to Friday the anticipation for coming home and introducing Lilly to her new world is very motivating.
The blessing of adoption has transitioned a little bit from the "birth" or getting to know her, to now the wanting to watch her grow in her new life. Sounds like another kind of adoption that we all get to take part in doesn't it?

One Day Closer to Home!

2008-11-16T03:27:00.000-08:00

Jay has been doing most of the posts and I have to say he has done a pretty good job. He asked if I wanted to post today and I said no at first. Our trip has gone great and our first week with Lilly has surpassed all that we could have hoped for. She is really happy, full of energy, and it is already feeling like she has been with us forever.
But, today I just really really want to be home! I miss my girls lots!!!! I also want to see friends (especially one in particular)… I want to see my family that will be at our house when we come home…I to introduce Lilly to everyone…I want my bed…And Haley, I want guacamole!
I also think I am craving to clean house and even cook a meal (what’s up with that?!)
Anyway- that is my whiny post and I hope not to do it again. As I said, this trip has really gone good and I thank everyone at home for everything that you all have done that allows us to feel comfort and peace for things at home.

A special thanks to Rachel and the whole family! Thank you for all that you have done, not just this past week. There is so much that wasn’t said before we left and I only pr*y that you know how special you are to me!

Guangzhou Finally

2008-11-15T01:24:00.000-08:00

We made it to Guangzhou. Although we are here for a while, it is like the last leg of the trip so we are that much closer to home. Yesterday was spent going to the Bird and Flower market, Diane found paradise. Basically, think of it as a 10,000 store flea market where bargaining is the way of business. Lilly however is wondering why we can’t touch and hold everything in all 10,000 booth’s.
The night before we had dinner with Alison, a special friend in Kunming that helped us get Lilly her package and photo album several weeks ago. She took us to the Wicker Basket to eat great western food, and pointed out several shopping places to get special gifts.
We had a palate pleasing lunch at Pizza Hut, small crab and shrimp pizza with 6 herbal shrimps and a grilled chicken salad. It was actually pretty tasty.
After getting Lilly’s passport we headed to the airport and hopped on the plane for Guangzhou. It was hard for Lilly to see but I think she got the jist of it. There was a very nice Chinese American couple that sat behind us and talked to Lilly and asked us a lot of questions, we did not mind at all.
The people here absolutely hate to wait, for anything, driving, crossing the street – if there is traffic coming apparently the proper procedure is to step out in the street and make the cars dodge you. Of course if you don’t use this method, you might live your life standing on the corner. Elevators here stay open for 2.5 seconds, and if you don’t push the doors close button upon your arrival in the elevator you will get growled at (that .005 seconds wasted costs you at the end of the day!)
Today is Lilly’s medical exam along with all the other kids in our group, then a trip to the grocery store in the afternoon. We are ready to start winding this trip down and get home to see Haley, Macey, Emily and the rest of our extended family.
We continue to thank every body for their prayers and support, we too enjoy checking the blog and reading the comments. We are absolutely blessed in our journey, Lilly is precious, mischievious, loving, defiant, oh wait she is a typical 6 year old. As we pray together, that perhaps is the blessing that stands out the most right now, her ability to now know G*d and live a life with that assurance, the beginning of faith.

A visit to Lilly's Heritage

2008-11-12T23:09:00.001-08:00

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Today we were able to visit the Minority Village. This is a tourist attraction that has replica houses for each of the ethnic groups of Yunnan. We learned that the majority of the people of Yunnan are Han (sp?), and the remaining are comprised of about 56 ethnic minority groups. We were told that Lilly is of the Yi minority group, so when visiting the village we bought her a Yi children's costume- as modeled above. When she put her costume on she started to sing and dance. It is on video but we are having a hard time downloading the video to the blog.

She is such a ham in fron of the camera!

The next couple of pictures are mostly around Minority Village.

Jay was really impressed with this. Can you guess what it is?
Yep, that is a chicken on a stick- the WHOLE chicken with the stick through the mouth and out the ...

We found a kitty walking around and Lilly was very determined to catch it, so that she could hold it. I was a little concerned about what the fate of the cat would be (i.e. dinner?) but it was wearing a collar with a bell, so I choose to believe it is someone's pet. BTW- Girls, you might want to prepare Walter and Tigger, because Lilly really likes cats.

I decided to go for a walk while Jay stayed to work on posting the pictures. Meanwhile, Lilly found out what static electricity does!
Also, for those that are wondering, Jay has been doing most of the posts. So, don't get too spoiled because when its my turn I probably won't be patient enough to post as many pictures.

Haley, Macey and Emily,
We want you to know how much we miss you!!!! We need lots of hugs when we get home. We are almost to the halfway mark and we will be home before you know it.
Lots and lots of love,
Mom and Dad (and Lilly)

A few pictures before bed

2008-11-12T05:12:00.000-08:00

The girl LOVES anything with buttons to push, remote, computer, phone, but so far one of the best toys is the already used disposable camera. It has provided almost hours of fun!

Some were wondering if she would be an Aggie? Well.....

Little Miss Independent- she has to carry it by herself.

Lilly's first trip to McDonald's and it even had a slide. Mom and Dad took the picture while enjoying a milkshake....yummmm

Visiting the orphanage

2008-11-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

We had heard from some that bathtime can be very difficult...not so much for Lilly! She loves being in the bath, but at the same time really scrubs clean all on her own.

We were told that she was the "star" at the ophanage and it really seemed to be the case as we were given a tour and all of the nannies new her and took time to visit with her.

We then spent the afternoon at the park across the street from the hotel. It is a very big and clean park, and we were able to feed the seagulls. Knowing how the seagulls act at the beach, I was not all that crazy about the idea, but these birds actually stay over the water and wait for the bread to be thrown.

This morning was our visit to the orphanage where Lilly spent her first two years before being moved to the foster family. After the heartbreaking good byes Monday, we questioned how hard this visit might be and if it was worth it. Now, we are so glad we did! It was evident that even over the past 4 years that Lilly was known and knew many of the people there. The director and all the people we were introduced to obviously had a very special relationship with Lilly. It ended up being as much a chance for them to say goodbye than for Lilly. It also gives us such peace knowing more about her background and the type of care and love she received.
As we spend more time together, we learn more about each other. Lilly continues to impress us with how quick she learns, and she also has shown us she is used to getting her way most of the time. We are practicing numbers and colors now, she teaches us Ch*nese and sign language for the numbers and we teach her English. I know who is learning the most about life right now, but we can't let her know yet. As we spend time here and watch the daily activities of everyday people, we are so grateful - not for the stuff - but truly for the freedom we have to know and worship our Father and tell others about Him. How lonely to live in a place and not have that freedom, surrounded completely all the time but lonely on the inside.

The afternoon in pictures

2008-11-11T02:46:00.000-08:00

This is what it is all about!

2008-11-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

After an emotionally trying day yesterday of good byes, and what is happening to me feelings, today has been sheer joy. After waking this morning and calling for Ma Ma (Diane), Lilly has thouroughly enjoyed her day with both Ma Ma and Ba Ba today. Lilly and Dad are getting to be pretty big buddies she even gave both Mama and Daddy a kiss today. The comments on the blog, the emails and especially the prayers on our behalf are both felt and appreciated. Knowing how many people are helping make this trip possible and the sacrifice that so many have been willing to make is truly an act of G*ds love. Lilly is already a blessing to us and she will be to so many of you, soon also. The small trials and tribulations that you have to go through to get the ultimate reward is so trivial when this day arrives we feel guilty about complaining in the first place. Anyway, it is our time to thank so many of you for all that you have done to make this day possible.
Now on a lighter note we went to WalMart today, another adventure. However not quite so different as one might imagine. The size of the store was actually quite similar only 3-4 stories, instead of all spread out. That is how the housing is here also, there are no houses, everybody lives in apartments, enormous complexes that might house 50,000 - 100,000 residents in a single complex. Anyway back to Walmart, imagine after Thanksgiving shopping X 10. Normal day. Well I need to go, we are headed to do some silver shopping this afternoon.
P.S. Jay has been doing the posting and since he has not been shopping the day after Thanksgiving, I just wanted to let everyone know that it WAS busy but more like a Saturday afternoon trip to Wal-Mart. I also thank everyone for the prayers!!! Everything so far, so good! If you see our girls give them a hug for us!!!! We miss them bunches!

Wow - What a Day

2008-11-10T04:11:00.000-08:00

Well GOTCHA DAY has come and gone. Lilly is ours in spirit and body now. 3 hour flight to Kunming, guide sick, back up guide stuck in traffic, driver found us though. Adventurous ride back to hotel, check in, exchange money (which is a whole different story), another taxi adventure to civil affairs office, meet Wu Xi Feng aka Lilly Mei, fill out paper work and then hiccups. We asked our guide if we needed to exchange the adoption fee for Chinese Yuan and she said yes, so we did - but wish we didn't because later we needed that money in USD and the other fees in Yuan, so we spent the entire rest of the afternoon with the guide, orphanage assistant, orphanage business manager and Lilly prolonging the eventual seperation - near misery. But when we did finally make the seperation it was rough for about the next 30 minutes, but a quick walk to the park and a buffet dinner Diane and Lilly were getting to be pretty big buddies. She may take a little while to warm up to Dad, but that is okay we will get there eventually. We are excited and exhausted so this will have to do until later. Lilly is one happy, free spirited, stubborn, very bright, beatiful little girl and we cannot wait to introduce her to everyone.

Patience is a Virtue

2008-11-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

After waking up yesterday at 4:00 am we stayed very busy visiting Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Imperial Garden, and shopping at the state run pearl and silk stores. Everything we saw was steeped in history and crowded. Now when I say crowded, I don't mean there was quite a few other people, more like stepping in the middle of a mound of fireants and watching the ground come alive crowded.
The food has been interesting, breakfast pretty good - hard to screw up an egg, after that, it has been more of an adventure. Apparently beef, chicken and pork mean different things when translated from Mandarin to English, because I am fairly certain some of the aforementioned labeled products had no actual content of that ingredient for lunch and supper.

A New Dawn

2008-11-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

As we began our trip yesterday I mistakenenly commented to Diane that the "journey" had started. She quickly corrected my terminology and reminded me that the journey had started long ago, this was just the trip. I stand corrected.
When we started our trip yesterday morning in the predawn hours of the Texas Panhandle flying east to Dallas/Ft Worth, watching the dawn of the new day blossom over the fast approaching horizon - I couln't help but think that, well that is our life, and it is in the fast lane right now. We think we are in control of so much around us, when in fact, the sun will come up tomorrow and we can only watch in awe. Luckily for us we are not in control of the important stuff. We will do our best to make sure this adoption process runs smoothly, but all we can do about the really important stuff is accept, give thanks, and do our best to take care of it. The Spirit of adoption is within us, as Lilly becomes part of our family, we ask for your pr*yers, for us, for her and for the entire network of friends and family that will be part of her life as the new dawn approaches.
By the way Diane did amazingly well yesterday, after 28 hours of travel she looked great and never did start growling.

We're Here!!!

2008-11-07T13:38:00.001-08:00

It may be hard to tell in the picture, but I found a massage chair in the Tokyo airport that way surpasses the chairs at our nail salons. It was the best $2 I have spent in a LONG time especially after our 13 hour plane ride!

I think I changed the blog header way too early, because I found myself asking, "Are we there yet?" a LOT yesterday! After leaving our house at 4:30 am Thursday morning we arrived at our hotel in Be*jing Friday night at 10:30 pm. All of the flights were on time and things went very smooth. So far we have been very impressed with how helpful everyone has been!

Last post for a while....

2008-11-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, the bags are packed, the paperwork gathered, visas in hand. All that is left is a trip to Target for last minute things for the girls, a meal at Tacos Garcia (last Mexican food for 2 weeks!) with the girls (last meal with the girls for 2 weeks!!!) and then to deliver them to their friends' houses. Not really ready to drop them off, but they sure are excited and that helps.

This is probably the last post until we are in Beijing.....

Less than 48 hours!!!!

2008-11-04T09:11:00.001-08:00

I just realized that in less than 48 hours we will be on our way to Lilly!!!! We have packed and repacked, made phone lists, phone calls, and rented phones, but for some reason my list is NOT shrinking!
On top of that I have been "moody." I nearly had a meltdown when Jay came home FROM DEER HUNTING ALL WEEKEND and the first thing he said was, "Do you realize that we leave soon?" Maybe it's similar to pregnancy hormones? I also realized that I will soon have to quit eating for two...lol!
BUT, more importantly everyone at home is buzzing with excitement! The girls have been excited all along, and they became even more so when they realized that they would get to spend the night with friends for 3 nights and even on a school night. There are little notes all over the place about how many days left til we leave, until we meet Lilly and until we return home!
I AM TRULY BLESSED!!!!

Thankful Thursday

2008-10-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

Much to be thankful for this week!
1. Thankful for GREAT looking jack-O-lanterns...even if we do say so ourselves!

2. Thankful for carving jack-0-lanterns and even letting the 10 year old use the knife!

3. Thankful for 3 great daughters that make Halloween fun for someone who doesn't really like Halloween!
BTW- Haley had a "twin" that went with her goofy girl costume. They were quite a pair, but I never did get a picture of them together.

4. Thankful that there is now only 1 week until we leave to go to China...
YIPPEEEEE!!!!!!

We have our plane tickets!

2008-10-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

Okay the tickets are bought, so I can start packing!!!! We leave in 2 weeks!

One other bit of good news... We received confirmation that both of our care packages made it to the orphanage. To make a long story a little shorter, we sent Lilly a care package via FedE* as soon as we received our RA. There have been a lot of difficulties getting information and packages to the orphanage we are going through, even with in-country services, so we opted to try ourselves. Well, the package got held up in customs, so we went to plan B.
Coincidentally, a friend of ours has a sibling that lives in Kunm*ng currently. So, we re-routed the package to her and then sent another package with a group that was traveling to see her. This morning she e-mailed that she was able to deliver the 2nd package to the orphanage and was able to speak to a very nice lady there. This lady also told her that they had just received the other package (from FedE* and not re-routed)and that Lilly had already received it and liked the photo album that we had sent. That is a good thing because if she gets the 2nd package she will have another album with the same pictures! Our soon-to-be friend was then even invited to by the orphanage to come back with us when we get Lilly. It seems that sending the 2 packages was actually a good thing! It was also nice to hear that the orphanage was so nice!

Okay, now I need to go and take some pictures of the girls so that I can post them before my blog turns into a diary...

We have TA!!!

2008-10-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

For those that may not know, we now have our TA. This is our travel approval saying that we can go and get Lilly!!! As of now, we have tentative travel dates for November 6. That is a week earlier than we were guessing, but a week earlier is all that much better! We are of course waiting to hear about our consulate appointment, which would allow us to confirm our travel dates.
-and to think that I was going to post a "poor me" blog tonight saying that I was tired of waiting.....

Heart Babies Doing Great!

2008-10-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

Great News!
Susannah, the little girl I have blogged about earlier is finally home. Other than the 12 hours that they were home together from China, this is the first time since Sept. 11th that the whole family will be able to sleep in the same home together. So far the chest x-rays have looked good.
And good news for the little 1 year old of some friends of ours. He had a heart transplant about two weeks ago and is doing great! He and his mom were able to move into an apartment yesterday. They will be in the apartment for the next 2 months so that they stay close to the hosptal while the doctors monitor him. He has already gained weight and from the sound of things both little ones are feeling good enough to actually be little toots!
Sounds like a good time for a prayer of thanksgiving!!!!

Lots To Do!

2008-09-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Since the precious RA arrived on Friday, it seems that we have decided to kick it into gear and prepare to meet Lilly!

We even went as far as to "pose" some pictures for the album that we are sending her. I don't want her to have false expectations, BUT for the sake of a photo, I posed in the kitchen with a EMPTY pot and pretended to cook dinner. Yes, I really did cook dinner later that evening. We even had a "posed" picture of the girls playing "nicely" together in the playroom.

This is the first gift that we can send Lilly - a care package. The most important item is the album that we hope will be used to introduce us BEFORE we get there. There have been times that the gifts don't actually make it to the child before Gotcha Day, so we will be taking another album and video to use to introduce Lilly to her sisters and extended family and friends.

Did you know that you can actually buy a pre-made scrapbook? Why in the world did I buy all of that scrapbook stuff when all I wanted to do was go to the scrapbook parties and visit - not scrapbook?

Notice the 3 notes. Jay decided to send one and not knowing which Chinese translation to use he decided to send a note in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and English!

WE HAVE OUR RA!!!

2008-09-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

We have the RA, so now we can post pictures!!!! So the following cutie is Lilly Mei Thurman. Needless to say she has 3 very excited sisters. They are playing with her doll and redoing her hair for the trip as I type.

The Fair

2008-09-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to brag about my girls' non-animal fair entries and awards!
They love to craft and bake, but unfortunately they have a longer attention span in those 2 areas than their mom!

Tidbits

2008-09-22T14:29:00.001-07:00

Just a few things to update on:
1. As you can see from the picture, Friday was Homecoming. BTW- it was also Hat Day. The girls were able to wear their mums to school, but we had to miss the game that night to take a "quick" trip home for my 16 year Reunion...
2. The quick trip home was actually an 11 hour drive down on Friday and an 11 hour drive back on Sunday to go to my 16 year reunion. Yes, 16 year, because we did not have a very reliable class president to organize a 10 or 15 year reunion- ME. It was fun to see friends that I had not seen in 16 years! And, I have to say we all looked like we had not aged a day. If someone send pics, I will be sure to post.
3. Prayer of thanksgiving for our friends in China adopting Susannah. It looks as if they will be able to travel home sooner than planned and get little Susannah to the doctors ASAP.
4. Prayer of thanksgiving for our friends from here that have a 1 year old son, who just receieved a heart transplant. He seems to be doing really well, sitting up and eating a bit. They will have to stay down there at least 2 months to monitor how things go, but so far things look pretty good.
5. DAY 76 of WAITING FOR OUR RA!!!!! Trying to stay patient, but getting harder each day while waiting on Lilly. BTW- It has pretty much been decided on Lilly Mei for her name. From my little understanding, "Mei" is Chinese for younger sister. It had a nice ring to it and seemed very appropriate.
6. Got a VERY brief update on Lilly. I was hoping for updated measurements, but got this instead.
"... the girl is also from Kunming orphanage, she loves stuffing toys. There is a dog in the foster home, so she loves dogs. She has other children live with her in the foster home. She does not go to school yet, just gets basic pre-school education from her foster mother."
We laughed at the Chinese translation because it sounds like she likes to stuff toys rather than "stuffed toys" and it sounds that she loves dogs just because there is one at the foster home. Still, it was good to hear at least this much!

Follow Along and Pray

2008-09-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have added a link to a blogsite that I have been closely following. This is the family that is currently in China adopting their daughter Susannah. She is the precious little girl that has a heart defect and the family is desperately trying to speed along the process, so that they may get her home for medical treatment. The blog explains it all.

Okay, okay, okay...

2008-09-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

Jay just asked me if I was through blogging already. He knows that I don't do things for a long period of time, but NO I am not through blogging, just taking a break (sort of). I wasn't going to blog until I had some more pics and well, I still don't have any. But, I will fill in the gap since the first day of school.
1. School has gone well for the girls. Fortunately, not a lot of homework and it is good that when the girls have homework that they are much better than me at remembering to get it done early in the evening. Are there any parents out there that agree that there are much more important things to come home and do, rather than homework? ....like ride bikes, play outside, work with 4-H projects. Oh well, don't tell the girls!
2. Got a VERY BRIEF update on Lilly. I requested updated measurements and didn't get them, but we were told that she likes "stuffing" toys (translated from Chinese for stuffed toys?, there is a dog at her foster home so she likes dogs, and there are other children in the foster home, so hopefully she will be used to siblings. We continue to TRY to be patient as we wait for our paperwork (RA) back from China and get a better idea of when we may travel to get her!
3. Tri-State Fair is this week and the girls will be showing lambs and goats. They also had their first Livestock Judging contest. As chaotic as it was, and with very little practice, they seemed like it. Jay and I hope it is the beginning of something!
4. Prayer Requests
* Please pray that Lilly is being prepared for her "Forever Family," and that we continue to prepare ourselves for lies ahead, as well as a quick RA from China.
* We have good friends that have a 1 yr.old son that is currently waiting for a heart transplant. Pray that all goes well and that they continue to lean on God during this time.
* Please pray for all that were affected by Hurricane Ike. We have family and friends there and thankfully, so far it sounds that all are doing fine.
* Please pray for our "blogging buddies" that are currently in China to pick up their little Susannah. This is the family that I posted about earlier that has heard mixed reports of how their daughter is doing (medically speaking). They will meet her tomorrow and get to see and hold her for the first time!!!!!

Well, that's it for now......

ARGHHH!!!!

2008-08-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, for those that I told that I would post first day of school pics, I can't! I took the pictures, BUT did not realize that I did not have the memory card in and can't find the book to see how to take the pictures out of internal memory. So, I will either take more and pretend they are this year's pics or I will figure out how to get them out of my camera. Would love to hear from anyone that may know how to do this.
BTW- I am pretty sure that hubby took the card out and used it in the "deerstand" camera....

One more thing... The girls had a GREAT first day! Haley really enjoys being at the middle school and changing classes. Macey got the teacher that she really wanted, and has close friends in her class. Emily got a really sweet teacher and loved hearing how her teacher and Macey's from last year had to "fight" to have her in their room. I even found out who Lilly's kindergarten teacher will be when she FINALLY gets here. She will have Emily's previous kindergarten teacher because she is the only ESL certified kindergarten teacher. We loved her! Looks like it is going to be a good year!

It's Raining, It's pouring...

2008-08-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

I will not sing "Rain Rain Go Away," because in our neck of the woods (not really woods) rain is a very common subject in prayer. But, seriously we have had a very unusual amount of rain the last couple of days and my girls NEED to go outside! I am actually trying to talk them into playing in the rain, but no luck....

One more thing....

2008-08-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

I just registered my oldest for Middle School today (just 5th grade though)! Where has the time gone? Does this mean that I am getting older too?

End of Summer

2008-08-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well, this is my last night of my summer. I start back to work tomorrow. No more days at the pool with the girls, sleeping late, staying up late, not worrying if I finish my "To Do" list because there is always tomorrow, and last but not least no more reading blogs for an hour at a time....
But, on the bright side....I start at a new school district(the same school district as my daughters). It is a smaller district, so small that most people refer to the superintendent by first name and I know a lot of the staff there already. So, the change should be good! I am excited, a little sad to leave a district where I had developed good relationships with a lot of schools, but ready to see what lies ahead.
Wish me luck waking up to the alarm clock in the morning.........

P.S. I will also be able to check in on Lilly (frequently) when she starts school here, hopefully before Christmas!

Why I Love Where I Live...

2008-08-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

There are times that I really miss being closer to family, and there are times that I miss trees, but then there are times like this!

Summer Activities

2008-08-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought when I started this blog thing that I would be able to keep up with ALL of our activities.....didn't happen. So to catch everyone up on the happenings of the last few weeks, here goes:
Haley had a great time at church camp and even reported that it was more fun than last year (she still wants Grammie to go next year though!)When I was helping her pack up her stuff, she told me that there were some older girls that were really nice to her and an older boy that was nice too. I quickly reported to Jay about the guy, because Haley blushed a little when she said it. While waiting for the awards to be given out, the older kids meandered to their table and THE "nice" boy gave her a pat on the head as he walked by. Jay nudged me and we teased her about it, BUT I can proudly report that he was wearing an AGGIE cap!
Macey and Emily spent a couple of days at Nana's where they once again went to Sam Moon without me (a really good CHEAP jewelry store), they swam til they had webbed feet and they got lots of great school clothes. Nana even reported that they got along with each other pretty well, so for those wondering, threatening your children is effective.
They then went to Chica's house, I mean Grammie and Poppa's house. Chica is Poppa's horse, I mean Chica is the grandkids horse that Poppa so nicely trains, feeds, and boards! Anyway- the girls LOVE riding Chica and helping to take care of her. They also made bags and Birthday cans for their friends with Grammie. They think Grammie has always been crafty and that I should know how to do these things since my mom does, oh well. Then we all spent the day at the beach before heading back home.
Once back at home the girls and I have spent A LOT of time at the pool. It seems regardless of the day we are always able to run into friends there. Jay meanwhile has really taken an interest in the horse that we are keeping for a friend of mine. I have to remind him as he starts to look for HIM a saddle or various other things that WE don't have a horse yet. But it fun to watch him work her in the evenings!

Finally, we made a quick trip to Dallas this past week. Jay had a "business" trip to a Rangers game and the wives were allowed to attend as well. This was our second Rangers game of the year and they lost both times and each game was an adventure. The first game Jay and a few other dad's had 4th row seats, while the girls and I sat in center field with our ponchos on in the rain. I am glad the girls like baseball, but we may have carried it a bit too far by sitting in the rain. This last game was in a private box with a catered meal....MUCH BETTER!!!! The girls missed it though, although I know that they had a great time! They were able to stay at Jay's aunt's house, where they swam and made bracelets. Not just ordinary bracelets, but really cute bracelets from a huge selection of beads that Aunt Pattie has. BTW- Thanks Aunt Pattie, the girls had a great time!!!

And now as I type my youngest is at the deer lease with Jay and her uncles and cousin. She looked so cute this morning in her boots, ratty jeans and camo shirt with her BB gun. Some feel sorry for Jay having so many girls in his home, but when you have daughters that like baseball, want to hunt, play golf with dad, ride horses, it is a wonder that I was still able to talk the other two girls' into the pool today, Hobby Lobby and Justice. We are two very lucky, very proud, and very happy parents!!!!!

Happy Birthday Lilly!

2008-07-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well today is Lilly's 6th birthday. There are mixed emotions of happiness for her special day, but disappointment in not being able to have her here with us to celebrate it together!

So many questions:
* What kind of cake would she want if she were here?
* What are birthdays like for orphans in China?
* What is her favorite color?
* What would the girls want to get her or do for her?
* WHEN WILL WE BE ABLE TO GO GET HER??????

BTW- it doesn't help that I am watching Adoption Stories right now about a couple adopting twin girls from Korea! :)

What's a mom to do?

2008-07-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, some will be jealous and some will be sad when I disclose the following information: I have been alone for the last 3 1/2 days! That's right, no kids and no hubby! Dad took the girls to grandma's, church camp and then stayed in the area to work a while. I will be meeting up with him shortly.
I have survived, but it is getting lonely now and I am ready to see everyone!
So, you ask, "What does one do with all of that free time?"
At first, I only planned to stay in bed and read, but after a couple of hours on the computer, I decided it was time to be productive......

Things marked off of my "To Do" list are:
* rearrange girls rooms and to make room for Lilly (I even took down and set up the daybed)
* clean out closets
* set up Play Room
* Clean, Clean, Clean
* Make and freeze casseroles
* weed garden and flower bed
* haircut
* pedicure
* wash sheep and goats
* Shop (shhhh!)
I wish I had taken before pics, but the following are after pics of the girls' rooms. I have to boast and say that I am pretty happy with how they turned out.

What a week, but I am ready for my girls to be home!

Brace Face

2008-07-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

Before...

After...

We are already teasing Haley with names like "Brace Face" "Metal Mouth" and "Tin Grin". She really thinks the braces are pretty cool, not real sure how long that will take to wear off though.

Lamb and Goat Show

2008-07-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that we survived our first lamb and goat show of the season. I know that this may seem strange, I forget not everyone grew up being in 4-H and having the great privilege of living in rural America. I was able to show lambs and heifers through 4-H and FFA and my hubby was able to show pigs for a couple of years. Therefore, we have been anxious to continue the tradition with our kids. I mean we do give them the "choice" to do it or not, but isn't it funny how if you talk about something from the time they are born that they want to do the same things as their parents.... I know things may change later as they begin to forget just how COOL their parents are, but for now we are happy!

Special Request

2008-07-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

A family that I have come to know via blogging is waiting too for a precious little girl from China, I believe the same province and city as Lilly. They recently found out that she is going to have heart surgery, but the details are limited. The family knew that she has a heart condition, and were preparing to have her seen immediately when she was home, but as I am sure most can understand, it is very difficult for them to wait here while she is there. My request is that anybody reading this will say a special prayer for both Susannah and the family.
On a good note, I have heard from others familiar with the Kunming area that the children receive very good medical care. And, just yesterday I was asking our orthodontist about checking on Lilly's repaired cleft palate when she is here and he stated that most of what he has seen from China has looked good to him (he is ceratinly happy to see her and help determine what may need to be done). That made me feel better...

Summer Fun...

2008-07-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

Since I am a newborn blogger," I thought I would share a little about my family and the happenings of our summer.

Emily finished a great year of coach-pitch baseball. She had some REALLY good catches and had at least one hit every game. The highlight of the year may have been the end-of-the-year party where the team was introduced at a Dillas (local not-quite semi-pro baseball team) game. They were even given pennants and the family got to watch the game for free! Haley and Macey each played volleyball and it was quite a challenge for mom to get all to their games on the same night when dad was out of town. There was even one evening that I was able to stop at an intersection and pass Macey to the car behind me, which fortunately was driven by the coach. All 3 girls had a lot of fun playing and improved bunches by the end of the season.

We made our annual trip to Ruidosa, NM. This is an annual trip because dad has a short conference there every summer where the girls are able to raid all of the booths and take home lots of "needed" freebies. Because of this trip, Jay and I also have an annual go-cart race. These are really fast go-carts that require the driver to be at least 16. I won last year, but due to Jay illegally bumping me he claims to be this year's winner.

And...we have our 4-H projects. Macey has 2 goats, Willie and Champ, and Haley has 2 sheep, Simon and Oscar. We will be taking Willie and Oscar to a small show this Saturday. I look forward to posting about that!

Well, that is a few of the things that we have done over the summer. There has been volleyball, basketball, cheerleading and horse camp, a trip to Six Flags with friends, lots of sleepovers, and we are only halfway through the summer......
AND ALL I WANTED TO DO THIS SUMMER IS READ!

Family, Fireworks, and 4th of July

2008-07-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

WOW! We had a GREAT July 4th! My brother, Trey, and his family came to visit for the first time. My parents were here too. The weather was perfect, the parade was fun (a little long), and we had great fireworks at our house! We were also able to see Texas, a play performed in the Palo Duro Canyon and see more great fireworks.
I have to say the whole weekend was a lot of fun!

As you can tell, I need to work on my photography skills...I never had to worry about it until I started to post pics for all to see!

Adoption update

2008-07-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, I think I am getting the hang of this. So, in the event that I actually remember to tell friends about my site, I will fill you in on what has been going on. Today we received an e-mail from AWAA (adoption agency) letting us know what to expect during the travel portion of our adoption. We aren't sure what to think about receiving this e-mail, as it sounded as if we have already received our RA (referral acceptance) which we have not. I left our family coordinator a message asking about it, but have not heard anything yet. It did make Jay and I realize that things could be happening sooner than later and we need to be ready! We have been saying we are ready, BUT there are still a million things that would need to be done first...plane tickets and travel arrangements, babysitting and coordiantion of the girls' extracurricular activities, packing, bed for Lilly, school supplies for the girls, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork...just to name a few things! Oh well, we ARE ready for Lilly!

I DID IT!!!!

2008-06-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, I finally did it! I have been a lurker for almost a year now. First, with my sister-in-laws blog, Forever Flamingo, and then with a LOT of blogs from others that have finished or that are currently in the adoption process. Now I am officially a blogger myself! For those that do read this and have more experience (everyone that reads this) please be patient as I figure all of it out...the terms, the pics, the cool tricks, etc.