Adoption Day!!!

December 21.  Many people feared this was the day the world would end!  For us, it was an amazing new beginning.  December 21 is the day we went to the Coles County courthouse, and became the official parents to Brittany, Brianna, and Brian!  Bringing these three into our home and life was one of the best decisions we have ever made.  We are honored that they want to forever be a part of our family!  They have grown us, taught us, and challenged us.  We are blessed!  Enjoy these photos of our special day!

Five Generations of LOVE!

This photo needs few words.  Five generations.  I see this photo, and I think of so many things.  First, I see my grandmother, Mary the Great.  What an amazing woman she is!  She taught me so much as a child.  She was a very strong Christian, very active in her church, very strong in her faith, very accomplished in everything she ever set out to do.  My own mother, Marcia.  I have such fond memories of her teaching, teaching teaching.  Teaching my siblings and I songs about Jesus, teaching us Bible stories, and teaching us to care for others.  She was/is one of the best Sunday School teachers out there!  She loves the kids in her class, and truly finds joy in helping them learn about Jesus.  My daughter, Brogan.  I am SO proud of her.  She is a spunky, beautiful, bold, and crazy young woman, and has proven to be an excellent mother.  She has seen much of the the world, having served in Haiti, and Ethiopia, before residing in Germany with Zachary.  She has so much future ahead of her, and I am EXCITED to see it!  And Landon.  What a beautiful little man.  So HAPPY.  He surely knows how much he is loved and treasured.  He gives me such joy, and brings tears to my eyes when he does the littlest things, like reaching for me, or trying to smack with with his toy phone!  :)

God has surely blessed my family.  Blessed us with LOVE.  Blessed us with the good sense to serve Him.  I pray that He continues to bless every generation of our family!

Some of Jim B's amazing photos!

Keagan getting ruffed up!  Don't worry, he was laughing, not crying!

Rory the tormentor!  And as he holds a Bible, of all things!  LOL

Miss Daley on a stroll through the farm!  Also pictured: Marshmallow the kitten, Pippa the dog, and Nutmeg, RosieMiri, and Joash the cows!

Keagan was supposed to bathe this chicken for the fair!  He did not appreciate this chore!  LOL

This is Meng's buddy, Steve.  He is one of the few people she chose to bond to, when first coming to the US.  He remains a dear friend to her.  We are secretly praying she will influence he and his wife to find their treasure in China!  And btw, this was taken at a friend's adoption fundraiser.  The Law family is working towards bringing Gabby home from China!  :)

Christmas is COMING!!!

Happy December!  We are all SO excited about Christmas!  The Season of Jesus' birth is our favorite!

We have so much to be thankful for!  I am not even sure where to begin!

Hmmm, here are the highlights of the last few weeks:

1)  Brittany, Daley and I completed our first 5K!  Brittany got 2nd place in her age group!  I am SO totally proud of that girl, and we had an absolute blast running.  Have another one coming on Dec. 31

2)Daley's surgery went AMAZING also!  The infection was smaller and more contained than they anticipated, ear drum is repaired, and she is smiling, giggling, and back to her happy self already!  No Picc line needed, only one day of pain, and she is happier than ever!  PRAISE GOD!

3)The Herald and Review ran a wonderful article on my family, which was featured on Thanksgiving Day!  I am so thrilled that this article may encourage people to consider adoption, especially the adoption of older children, or children with special needs.  Our buddy Jim did a terrific job, and we love him lots!  Here is the link, if you are interested:

http://herald-review.com/news/local/traditional-values-at-the-heart-of-this-non-traditional-family/article_5aec5402-3472-11e2-ad7d-0019bb2963f4.html#.UK5BNJH0h3I.facebook

4)Brogan, Landon and Zachary will all be home NEXT WEEK!  We are so excited to see them!  It is so amazing to be a grandmother.....there is just something so cool about your baby having a baby!  BUT....it is SO hard to have this sweet little man be almost 9 months old, and I have only got to see him twice!  Been praying so hard that they would choose to move closer to home, once Z was released from the Army, but he recently accepted a position in Cherry Point, NC.  18 hours away.  But, trying to hang onto the joy I will have when they arrive Tuesday morning!  :)  And my Patrick will be home for Christmas break beginning next Friday as well! My house will be full, and so will my heart!

5)  We have been blessed, blessed, and more blessed.  My crazy family stirs attention everywhere we go.  Usually lots of stares!  But lately, it has been good attention!  We have been learning the process of receiving, rather than giving, which is hard, but we are trying!  We have received enormous amounts of groceries (well, ok, about a weeks worth LOL), lots of help with our mission fundraiser, and help with our Christmas spending.  One evening, we were not anticipating eating out, but some circumstances ( a party) required us to eat at a restaurant, which was not our choice, by anymeans.  Afterwards, we were a little bummed, to have spent $50 eating a meal we did not really care for.  Not an hour later, my husband received a gift of $50 from a complete stranger, who had read about my family, and wanted to bless us.

God is just so good.  Never forget that.  He wants nothing more than a relationship with us, our praise, and our obedience.  

Enjoy some pics of my treasures!

What's new with the fam on the farm!

Well, it has been a while since I have had time to update!  Sorry!!!   Busy as always!   This little princess, smiling her best smile, is my THREE year old baby Daley!  Yes, she turned THREE in October!  This is quite a milestone for her, since she was not supposed to live to be 1!  She is doing well, but continues to struggle with a chronic infection in her left ear, which has recently been diagnosed as a mastoid infection.  She is scheduled for surgery December 3, so we would appreciate your prayers!  She is a very, very special one, as those of you who have met her already know!

Mr. Rory had a cool event this past month.  After 6 years of no contact, his birth-grandmother called, and asked if she could come meet him!!!  She had not seen him since the day he was born!  Rory was his usual self, he danced for her, sang her, and then told her this was the "greatest day of his life".  It was precious!  I hope they can form some sort of relationship.  I feel it is so important for my kids to know their first families.  It is a forever part of who they are, and saves them from a lot of drama when they are older.  Thank you Lord, that grandma Helen called and came to visit!  She is a beautiful lady!

Here we all are, at Grandma Ginger & Grandpa Jiggs 50th wedding anniversary party!  What an inspiration!  In a world where people trade spouses like cars, I am proud of the legacy both sets of grandparents have given to us!  Dale and I celebrate our 25th this Feb.  What a blessing!  I truthfully love him more now than I ever did when I married him!  He has aged quite well!  LOL

Speaking of Dale, here is is with my MengYan, and her special new friend Ru Tong, who was recently adopted by Marc and Sandra Abla!  You may remember me rejoicing over their decision to adopt Ru a few posts back.  Well, God moved mountains for the Abla's and they managed to get her home in record time!  She has been home a month, and is transitioning fantastically!  She is the sweetest little thing, and I thank God that He not only let me be a tiny part of her adoption, but he is allowing me to get to know and love her!  

And this is Charley!  Well, Bronwyn, who is my diva/farm daughter, decided that she wanted a baby pig for her 12th bday!  REALLY!  Of all things!  I was quite shocked, but since she is daddy's lil girl, they took off on a road trip and brought home Charley!  No.....I am not allowing him to be a house-pet.  He is shacking up with the chickens, and that is just fine with me!

Other news:  

Brittany, Brianna, and Brian are thriving!  We are loving these sweethearts, and thank God for the opportunity to be their parents!  They have brought even more joy, love and crazy fun to our home!  We should be finalizing their adoptions in December!

I know what you are wondering......are the girls and I still running, right?!?!

Well, we ARE!  We are up to 3.5 miles every other day, with NO walktime.  Tomorrow is our first official 5K race, and we are READY!  Now, we don't run fast, but we WILL finish!  And the crazy thing is, I REALLY enjoy running!  It is the best stress-reliever I have EVER found!  My knees no longer hurt, my muscles no longer ache, and I am slowly losing some weight.  Hoping the winter weather allows us to continue to run all year long!

God bless you all!   

Keep Jesus near to you in everything you do!

The Hardest Thing I Have Ever Done (YET)

Well.  I used to say that Daley was the hardest thing that I have ever done.  Then, I found out I was wrong, it was actually Brian.  Well, actually, I have discovered that both of them are not so bad, compared to my newest challenge.  About 3 weeks ago, I decided that it is now or never.  I am 40-something years old, and I have never been this out of shape, or this over-weight in my life.  Add that to the idea that I have been completely in awe over "Team Hoyt", the dad who takes his disabled son with him to compete in marathons, and Iron Man competitions.  So.....3 weeks ago, I began the "Couch Potato to 5K" program.  Wow.    It. Is. So. Hard.  

But, I have made it to the 3rd week, which is quite an accomplishment for me.  I borrowed a jogging stroller, so Daley can come with me.  She squeals and giggles the whole time, and fusses when I slow down.  Brittany, one of my newest daughters has been running with me.  She has these LONG legs, and has a very athletic build.  Let's just say that she humors me, by pretending to be tired and out of breath so I don't feel so pathetic.  A few days ago, though, she brought a tear to my eye.  And it wasn't from pain, either!  I was struggling, and ready to quit.  She began quoting Phil. 4:13 right at me!

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"!!!!!

She caught me so off guard!  This young lady, who 6 months ago was living in condemned trailer on the wrong side of E St. Louis, is now encouraging ME in God's Word!  I am in awe of you Lord!  

And......I will keep running.  

We miss you, Ippei!

Ippei learning to be a "farm-hand".  He didn't like stacking hay very much!  Neither do we!

Keagan and Ippei in the hay loft

One last photo together
(everyone except Patrick and Brian)

Ippei's last day in the US

Well, Ippei Tanaka has gone back to Japan. He is a really neat kid. It takes a very patient, tolerant, and crazy person to move into this household for a month, and thrive! The kids all learned a lot from Ippei, and miss him a lot. It was really neat to see how they all bonded to him, but I think MengYan the most. They spent a lot of time together, making origami crafts, and playing card games. Ippei did not speak much English, but the kids found ways to communicate with him anyway. We hope and pray, that even though we did not get the opportunity to share Christ with him directly, that he took a little bit of Christ back with him, to Japan. He seemed to enjoy church, and especially VBS. His mother called to let us know he arrived home safely, and she said he wants to come back next summer! He is more than welcome! It was a really awesome experience! 4H is always looking for host families, for both their school year exchange program, and their summer 4 week program. Interested?!?! Send me a message, or comment, and I will share some information! God Bless!