Merry Christmas!!!!

McKinney

Family Christmas!

Well another year has come and almost gone!  We are excited to celebrate the birth of our King, Jesus Christ again this year!  We have had a crazy busy year, as usual.  Lots of basketball games, homework, church activities, and family time.

Big news of the year, is that we have moved!  Yes, really, we have moved off of our farm.  There were several motivating factors behind our move, but God literally worked out every single detail for us, and we are thrilled in our new home.  It is LARGE, comfortable, and cozy!  Come visit us!  New address is 3098 N. Norwood Ave., Decatur, IL 62526.

Dale and Ann celebrated 25 years of marriage this year!  It has been a great 25 years, and we hope to have 25 more years together (or more!).  Dale is working hard getting Tzedakah Christian Health Center up and going, it will be Decatur’s first free medical clinic.  He is employed at SIU School of Medicine, but is working at the clinic in his “free” time.  He also took some of our teens to Nicaragua this past summer.  Ann is still home educating (this is our 14th year!), and still hoping to find time to write that book that is in her head!  

Brogan, Zachary and Landon were able to visit over Thanksgiving!  Landon is quite a little charmer, and we are completely smitten with that little man!  Zachary is employed as a police officer and Brogan is working at a trophy business in Havelock, NC.  They need to move CLOSER!!! 

Patrick is in a journeyman welding/pipefitting program at MTI in Springfield.  He will graduate in June, and will probably be whisked away to wherever his honey, Danyne, lands!  They are adorable together!  He is also working part-time at Kmart, so feel free to stop in and ask him to carry something heavy for you.  He does it a lot!

Keagan, Toby, and Brian have all played a lot of basketball this year, and have also been doing a lot of sledding lately!  They all love the pool table, ping pong table, and dart board at our new house.  

Bronwyn, Brittany, and Brianna are loving the new house also.  More space, more places to make their movies, and WIFI, which they love (but mom doesn’t).  Having so many teenagers in the house is a lot of fun, but we sure go through a lot of groceries!  I kept track of just what we consume for breakfast in a given month, and it was overwhelming!  

Rory and Meng are great!  They are both in 2nd grade and doing fantastic!  Rory’s favorite is math, Meng loves to read. They are also both getting ready to start a new basketball season.  This is the first year Meng’s doc has cleared her to play, so she is very excited!

And Daley, or the “Princess of the Castle Norwood”, as we are now calling her!  She is doing very well.  Sleeping so much better, happier, and growing like crazy!  And, of course, still very spoiled!  

As always, we all continue to try our best to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  He has asked us to do some big things, but has always blessed us when we have tried our best to answer His call.  Our new home is just one example of His blessing.  Our amazing family is another.  God is good.  Serving Him is amazing.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  GOD BLESS YOU!

And a PS  WE GOT CHINA'S APPROVAL TO ADOPT THE TWINS!!!  Now we just have to get Illinois approval, and we are parents AGAIN!

And a few more!

Ok, here are a few more photos, including a pic of Wen and Wu, the twins we are hoping to adopt!  Aren't they so amazing!  We will call them Wen and Wu, their Chinese names (we learned through Meng, that changing a name is difficult!), but their American names will be Cecil and Ervin, after my father and father-in-law!

An update AND some photos of my treasures!

Well, we are LOVING our new home!  I am almost unpacked, and we have all settled in well.  We had a crazy scare the first week.  We all had headaches, and felt sick.  We just assumed that we were exhausted from packing and unpacking.  Nope...turns our we had a carbon monoxide leak, and we were all feeling the effects!  But, God is good, His hand of protection was on us, and we are fine, the boiler is repaired, and life goes on!  But we did install some carbon monoxide detectors!!!

Daley has been doing SO well since we moved!  We lost her pacifier the first few days here, and once we found it, we decided she didn't really need it after all!  She cannot keep it in by herself, and her dentist is going nuts over her having it!  So, this is day 8 with no paci.  And....she has slept through the night almost every night since we have been here!  Praising God for some much needed sleep!  Over 4 years of never sleeping through the night has taken it's toll on this old momma!

No update on the twins.  We thought for sure we would here from China by now, but it seems that the families needing waivers are taking longer to be granted pre approval for adoptions.  So....we still wait!  We did get some awesome updated photos of them, however!  Chomping at the bit to get our home study updated and going!

Well, gotta get some sleep!  Enjoy these new photos of my sweetie-pies!  And God bless you all!

Life Change - MAJOR! :)

Hello!
   Wow, where to start!?!   Well, last weekend, we MOVED!  It is just crazy how it all worked, but here is the short story.  We knew it would be hard to sell our home, while living in it.  Keeping a house of 12 clean and orderly is a challenge.  So, we looked into purchasing the new home, before selling ours, which truthfully scared me to death. We needed $4200 down.  The next day, we got a check in the mail for $4155.  And we remembered a secretly stashed $50 that was given to Dale by a stranger, who admired our crazy family.  So, God provided the down payment, without us touching our savings.
   We made the purchase.  SCARY.  We put the livestock up for sale, and sold them all within the week!!!  We put every dime back into savings, and had enough reserve to make about 8 house payments, should our home not sell quickly.  Whew.  It was hard to say goodbye to my sweet critters, but they all got excellent homes!  My sweet Pedro went to a dear friend, so I can visit him often!    The following two weekend, we showed our farm house many, many times.  And then finally, an offer! Actually two!  We accepted, made it through inspections and such, and have a closing date for middle of December.  Whew again!  God is good, and He totally is taking care of us!
   So, we moved in last weekend.  Our new home is huge, beautiful, and starting to feel more comfortable every day.  I am still not unpacked, but getting there.  We are settling into city life, and it is nice!  Our neighborhood is quiet, our dogs are adjusting better than expected, we have so much space and play/school areas!  It is really great!  I almost feel like this house was build for us!  Fireplaces, 8 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a fenced yard, 4 car garage, a beautiful fountain for Daley Faith!  It is just wonderful!  And it was less $ than what we sold our farm home for!
    And, so you were wondering about the twins?  Li Wen and Li Wu AKA Cecil and Ervin are still waiting in China, and we are anxiously waiting to see if we get pre-approval from China.  We applied last week, and should hear from them any day now.  If we get approval, we update our home study and  then we face Illinois!  Our agency is confident they can get us approved, so we again are trusting God's perfect plan for our lives!  Parents of twin 3 year olds?!?!?   WOW!  He is gonna have to give me strength!  LOL
   God bless you friends.  Trust Him, Serve Him, and give Him control of your life.  You will not be sorry!  

Decisions, decision.........

Hello!

     Well, our family is facing some major decisions right now, and all of the options are exciting!   First of all, is our adoption decision.  We never thought we could adopt again....or at least until the teens were over 18.  The state of IL is very particular about family size, and we are over their limit.  But recently a friend, who is a caseworker, called to ask if I was still advocating for a set of twins, who have arms and hands just like my Rory.  I had been told that they found a family, so I was no longer advocating for them.  The caseworker told me that they had NOT had a family, and then asked if we were interested in them!!!  I explained to her our family size limit issue, and she said that her agency would do everything in their power to get IL to approve us!  Not a guarantee by any means, but we have never had an agency willing to go head to head with IL for us!  So, here we go.  It is in God's hands.  He knows where these boys belong.  If it is with us, we are ready!

    In the midst of thinking about adding 2 to our family, we realized that our home is much too small. We already have Meng and Daley sleeping in the master bedroom with us, and no where to put two more!  So we began getting estimates to build onto our home.  We got several estimates, and they were so radically different, that it confused the heck out of us!  So, we decided to look at all of our options, and began looking at large homes for sale.  And then, we found it!  The perfect home for us!  It is HUGE, plenty of room for everyone, plus the new lil ones (if they are ours), and even guests!  The only catch is, it is is a residential area, which means giving up my farm and my farm critters, including the new horses we just got!   So, here we go again, putting our lives and our future into God's mighty hands.  I am sitting here right now, waiting for our realtor to come, so we can officially list our home on the market.  And if it sells, we will be moving!   Whew!  I am excited, but also a wee bit overwhelmed!

    I will keep this blog current, with our decisions and our progress.  Prayers appreciated!
Much love, and God bless!

Running, Riding, and Rescuing!

I don't do things for myself very often.  Not enough time, and better things to do!  But, not long ago, I began a running program, and I can truly say it is one of the best things I have ever done for myself!  I am in better shape physically than I have been in a very long time.  And spiritually as well!  When I run, I have nothing to do in my mind but: Pray, Praise, and sort through the thoughts that are always racing through my head.  Daley runs with me, and it is a blessing to her as well.  She loves the sunshine, the breeze blowing in her hair, and the movement of the stroller, thumping along the road.  We have done several charity runs together, and even though we don't astound people with our amazing speed or abilities, we love our time together, and are both better for it!  :)

Well, we did it!  We talked Dale into getting some horses!  Which was no small task!  We had horses when Brogan and Patrick were teens, and they were a lot of fun.  But, once they got older, the younger kids did not have enough interest and Dale and I did not have enough time.  This summer, we went to the state fair, and all the kids were infatuated with the horse shows!  So, we began talking and praying about adding horses to our farm again.  And God started working.  We now have 2 beautiful horses, both given to us and both a blessing!  Sugar is our old gal!  A beautiful jet black thoroughbred/Morgan cross, who is a babysitter for the younger kids.  And Cherry is the younger mare, who is a wee bit spunkier than we hoped, but she is still working out beautifully for the kids to love and learn on.  I have always loves horses, so I am very happy to look out the window and see them both grazing in our pasture!

And on to the rescue part.   Well, it started with a little stray dog, we call Wishbone.  We don't want another dog.  We don't need another dog.  But she came, she's a sweetheart, she's adorable, and it looks  like she's staying.  Actually, Patrick and Danyne are hoping to take her with them, when they start their life together.  But in the meantime, YES, we have another dog.  But that's not the only rescue that God has put on our hearts.  We are feeling that familiar adoption "tug" again.  Yes, I know, you will think we are crazy.  We may very well be.  But.....I would rather the world think we were crazy than God be disappointed that we failed to obey Him.  So.....here we go.  I cannot reveal any great details yet, but I will say, that if God intends for us to move forward with this particular adoption, He will have to perform some mighty miracles.  Miracles in moving China to waive regulations, Illinois to waive regulations, and in blessing our finances!  We are willing, if He has chosen us to be parents again!
How I love this exciting life!

Lots of good news!

Hello friends!   A dear gentleman from church reminded me this week, that I have not been very faithful in posting family updates!  So....I'm gonna try to do better!  Especially with it being summer....I do have a little more free time.

We are having a great summer!  First of all....I am getting SLEEP!   Yes, Daley is sleeping SO much better these past few months.  She is sleeping most nights until 6am, which is amazing considering she is usually up every 2-3 hours.  She has been happier, healthier, and we are gradually getting her seizures under control.  And that upcoming horrible, nasty hip surgery that I have been dreading putting her through....well, I cancelled it.  Not sure if it was the absolute right decision, but I feel like a 100# lifted off of me the minute I officially cancelled it.  WooHoo!

Brian has also been doing great!  Better behavior, less arguing and paranoia.   I think the thing that has helped Brian the most, was allowing God to work on my heart and mind.  I have to understand that Brian is different, and he will never behave or act like my other children.  He is who God made him.  I may never understand his actions, his noises, or his antics, but God does.

Dale, Patrick, Danyne (Pat's GF), Keagan, and Bronwyn are leaving on Thursday for NICARAGUA! I am so excited for them, a little nervous for them, and YES, a tad bit jealous of them!  Praying they can be the hands and feet of Jesus, and all of them will GROW in their relationship with Christ!

Britt and Brianna are doing well!  Enjoying their summer off.  They are both amazing girls.  Just recently I was sent their entire adoption "file", and I was pretty horrified over some of the things I read. God has surely had His hand upon them.  With everything they have been through in their short lives, they should be angry and bitter, but they are joyful and full of love and compassion.  I never though they could adapt to our family so quickly.  :)

Rory, Meng, and Toby just got back from Camp COCO, which is an oncology/hematology camp in Bloomington.  They had a blast!  I am grateful to all of the docs and nurses who volunteer their time to let kids fighting illnesses to still be able to enjoy the fun times of summer camp!

My sweet Dale is working hard on getting Tzedakah Christian Health Center open!  It will be the first FREE medical clinic in Macon County.  If all goes well, it should be open next month.  I am quite proud of him, for following through with a dream God put on his heart.  He's my sweetie, and I love him more each day!  <3 p="">
Me...well, I am still running, although it is much harder in this heat!  I am a winter person, but I am trying to find time to run in the early morning, or at dusk.  I am participating for the first time in the St. Jude Children's Hospital run on Aug. 3.  Our relay team of 10 will be running from the Walmart in Forsyth, to the Convention Ctr in Peoria.  We have to take country roads when possible, so it is a total of 96 miles. This will be a true test of my running commitment! LOL I am trying to prepare for it, so prayers appreciated!

Think that's all of the big news for now!  I do have 2 special kids I would like to ask you to pray for.  One is a baby girl, whose momma is not sure she wants to be a momma.  She is not willing or ready to accept the responsibilities of being a momma, and baby B is suffering because of it.  Please pray that this momma would step up, or allow baby B to be adopted by a family who is ready, willing, and able (no, not us!). Second is a young man named TJ.  He is unchurched, but recently accepted Christ at a Christian camp.  Pray that he will find other Christians in his neighborhood, his school, and family who will help him GROW.  He has such potential, but needs guidance and accountability.
Thanks sweet friends!  God bless you and your family!