7 years of EXTRAVAGANT love

When God gives you a special gift and that gift changes your life for the better and brings you immense joy for 7 years, then that day is quite special. And as we contemplated celebrating Kya's 7th Gotcha Day, we wondered "How can we make each child's Gotcha Day anniversaries just a little more special? A little more memorable?"

Flowers from Dad for his tiny sweetheart are a must every year.


And then we took her to Pandora. Because a girls first fine jewelry really should be from Dad.

It's a little extravagent for us at this time in our life, but so is our love for this child, for all our children.

EXTRAVAGANT LOVE
There is always a reason not to splurge on the ones you love but sometimes you must push those reasons aside and just do it. This was one of those moments. We didn't want to wait another year to start this special tradition.


And so she picked out her first charm. And next year she can pick out another charm. And every year on her special day (and all our girls special days), they can pick out a charm for their Adoption bracelets.


We hope this tiny memento in the form of a bracelet will outlast even their parents. When they look at it, they will remember the moments, the love, the bond we shared as a family formed through the miracle of adoption.

Our Joy Overflows

Well, because I don't have enough to do or enough confusion: Not only do I have a website for Joy but now I have a blog for her too. My logic was this: The website is nice to have all the various pages for updates, fundraising, cost analysis, time lines, etc. BUT, when I travel to China the blog will be nice and simple (and easy) for uploading pictures and updates about our first few days together. BUT, since I started the blog, I have found it easy to use it to pour out my heart. I miss my girl. I have so many thoughts, feelings and words and very little outlet for them. A journal is hard for me anymore. For some reason, my hand cramps with extreme pain when I try to write more than 1/2 page in my journal. But, my blog allows me to type with comfort. Then as the year rolls to an end, I am able to copy/paste my words from my blog into a photo album, a keepsake for our Joy.

So here is her blog: http://joyfromtheeast.blogspot.com/

For now, the blog has only tidbits of info, a few pics and later as I travel it will be how I communicate daily.

Today, I was blessed beyond blessed to post updates photos of our waiting Joy to her new blog.



~ She is beyond precious. I am beyond blessed to have these photos. My heart is overflowing with pure Joy today! And, as I want to cry out in anguish over the wait, I try to focus on the thought that 'soon Mom and daughter will be united, soon'! ~

A blessed little visit

My 13 year old brother, Joel, visited us for just over three weeks this summer. We had such a sweet time with him. We celebrated the 4th of July, caught lightening bugs, roasted s'mores, went to the movies, fishing, washed cars, attended VBS, made a trip to Washington DC and created wonderful memories. He, Kya & Autumn all caught their first fish, rode the metro for the first time and had their first slumber party staying up late in pj's and watching movies even after mom and dad were asleep. It's hard to say goodbye, but we enjoyed our visit and look forward to next summer.

Here are the photos from our last fishing trip to celebrate Joel's 14th birthday.

Happy 3rd Birthday Son

Aaron Gabriel ~ son of my heart. He fills my day with laughter, my arms with hugs, my house with pitter patters and dinosaur growls. He loves Thomas the Train, McDonald's French Fries and Chuck E Cheese as if they were the main thing the universe evolved around. At the age of 3 he knows his ABC's, colors, shapes and can count to 13 and even 18 by skipping 14 of course. :-) He loves to read to himself but not be read to. He loves music and his guitar but can't sit still in a music class. He spends mass amounts of time digging through books and playing his guitar and using anything he can for railroad tracks. Some days he naps and other days he turns his room upside down but he always sleeps through the night. He's always happy to see me. He loves his bath and thankfully because he literally rolls (and I mean rolls) in the dirt and mud. He is all boy. He is my boy and I am blessed.

Kya in the Children's Choir

Aaron & Lily Updates

Well, it's been quite the month for "the babies".

On January 6th we celebrated their 2 year Gotcha Day.



And, today (Jan 17th) they gave up their cribs. They are no longer "babies" and are now sleeping in toddler beds. Lily really is under that mess of blankets. She just sleep with them over her head.

First Snow

The first snow of the season
and
the first snow EVER for our entire family.


















~The snow is STILL FALLING, so stay tuned for updated pictures.~

~ First Tooth Fairy Visit ~

It's a big moment when the first tooth of your first child finally falls out. All my close friends have experienced this before me with their children (and my 7 year old baby sister lost hers recently). Now it's our turn. Tonight, after about 4 weeks of the wiggles, Kya's first tooth finally fell out. So for the first time tonight, the Tooth Fairy will visit our house.

It is very difficult to get a good picture of a sick child, but I tried my best. Kya has been in bed, in pajamas, watching movies for 3 days now.

Hallelujah Party

We can't take credit for the name, someone recently introduced me to the name, Hallelujah Party and when I asked her what that was, it was the same thing we were doing at home: costumes, praise music, candy and games. Here are the pics from our Hallelujah Party and thanks to the world's greatest Dad for providing the music!



I thought this was particularly cute though: Autumn had decided her pumpkin was a sad pumpkin because he just got his head chopped off. Too funny! So she is posing sad with her pumpkin, for her pumpkin.

a girl and her umbrella

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

~ Aaron Gabriel ~

My youngest,
my mischievous,
my music lovin'
baby boy turned 2.

And, he very much enjoyed his cupcakes and gifts.



We Love You Aaron!