I love how the kids get on different kicks with their free time. For about a week or so it was all about the tree house. They spent hours fixing things up and got along so well. It was also great to see them pay attention to what Daddy spent $$ and time and sweat on! Enjoy the tour.
Part 1:
And part 2:
Well, it sure isn’t pretty but I’m thankful to still have a finger. We hauled a bit of wood today from the neighbors property and my index finger managed to get a bit smashed. I seriously had a flashback to the pain of childbirth as my finger throbbed and throbbed. It’s still very tender to the touch. I’m a lefty and this poses a bit of a problem, but at least maybe I can get out of doing dishes for a while. 
On a MUCH more exciting note, my dear, dear friend Amy from Oregon is coming in JUST TWO DAYS! I am SO looking forward to spending time with her. She will be here for just over four days and we have lots of plans. This is a birthday gift from her husband, but I feel like it’s my birthday gift, too! Both of our hubbies are taking off work to allow us this treat. Are they great, or what?! I’ll definitely blog more about this on Monday and have pictures to post as well.
I consider myself a very patriotic person, but I am ashamed to say that many years have passed and I have barely acknowledged Veterans Day other than to miss having mail delivery or be frustrated that the bank was closed. Today was different though. At the encouragement of a friend, I checked into what was going on in our community to mark Veterans Day. This morning the kids and I made a sign and stood along the short parade route downtown waving our flags. We also attended a short service held on the courthouse lawn to honor veterans and those currently serving our country. This truly was the least we could do to show our appreciation for the many that have fought and are fighting for our freedoms. How blessed we are with freedoms that really aren’t “free”. How thankful we are for those that have given their lives in service.
I don’t have any deep personal connections with anyone currently in service to our country, but I do want to acknowledge thanks to my dad, a Green Beret veteran of three years. Thank you, Dad, for your service. We love you!
If you want to see something fun, check out this link from our local paper today. 
Today is Orphan Sunday, an event sponsored by Christian Alliance for Orphans. Please take a minute to follow this link. This is the beginning of an incredible movement that I pray spreads like wildfire. The statistics are staggering, 143 million orphans in our world today. But, what if every Christian followed God’s calling to care for the fatherless? Wow, the results could be staggering! I am praying that God would move the hearts of many today that attend Orphan Sunday events.
On another note, Happy Birthday Mom! And Happy Birthday to an amazing friend who is coming out to see me in just one week. Can’t wait Amy!
It was a gorgeous day today so I made a last minute decision this morning to go check out one of our local Civil War battlefields. We’ve been learning about the Civil War in school, so this was a great visual lesson for the kids. The Battle of Lexington was fought about 1.5 hours from us and was the Confederate’s strongest win during the first year of the war. You can still see where trenches were dug and there are plenty of bullet holes in the main house that was under fire and captured. Of course the boys were fascinated with anything to do with guns and battles!
My generous hearted son spent his own money to buy a special souvenir for Daddy (who was at work today).
I just had to post this picture I got from Kate that was taken last week while our aunts and cousins visited. It this a great shot or what?
Ami a.k.a. ” Princess Jasmine”
Oh, the blackmail photos we are amassing.
In honor of Ami’s recent Gotcha Day anniversary, I’d like to post our Memorial Box story of Ami’s adoption. It is so hard to summarize such a significant event by telling one short story, but I’ll try to keep this story in as small of a “nutshell” as possible.
In early 2004 we had three biological children and we were feeling quite comfortable with the size of our family and the busyness that it entailed. But somewhere back in the far reaches of our hearts and minds we were not 100% sure that this was it. So together Chris and I began praying and seeking God’s will for our family. We began to have thoughts of foster care, domestic adoption, and international adoption. It left us both with a feeling of vulnerability to ask God, “Do you want us to foster children? Do you want us to adopt?” It was such a humble feeling, yet strangely comforting to be so open and moldable before Him. We had so many fears about everything from money and how it would change our current lifestyle to how it would affect our children. Yet as we prayed God began to soften our fears as we gave our control over to Him. It’s laughable to me now to look back at our various fears. Oh how He has stretched and strengthened our faith!
After a year of praying and continuing to seek God’s will for our family we heard from Chris’ brother and sister-in-law that they had felt led to pursue an adoption of a baby in China. Over the past year we had shared together our consideration of adoption, but neither of us had felt confident in that decision at the time. As they shared their excitement with us about their decision, Chris and I felt totally convicted that this was our calling as well. It was instant, like a light bulb had gone on for both of us. This was what we had been praying about for a year, this was God’s direction for us, this was his calling!
We were so excited that God had brought both of our families to this point at the same time. Yet we so did not want to “steal the show” from Eric and Kate. This was to be their first child and we didn’t want to take anything away from their big news, yet we knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was from God. They were so very gracious, though, and were very excited along with us.
We independently settled on China, a baby girl, and the same agency. That was just the beginning of seeing God along our journeys. We pursued our paperwork without pressuring each other, yet we also prayed all along that God would see fit to allow us the privilege of traveling together to receive our girls.
Our wait to be matched with a child was a very tough one for this mama as the months stretched into over a year, but during that year we knew God was at work. A year and a half after we began the adoption process we received the most wonderful call from our agency. We had been matched with a 6.5 month old beautiful baby girl. She was so much younger than we had anticipated, but oh how happy we were. She was living in a rural orphanage in southern China waiting for a forever family.
Another very exciting phone call was received on that same day announcing that our 6 month old niece was matched with Eric and Kate! The girls were only one week apart in age and were in the SAME orphanage! But God. He had answered our prayers above and beyond what we had expected or imagined.
Here is Ami waiting for her Daddy and Mommy to come.
We traveled to China together two months later and we received the gift of another child in our family along with a very special niece. I have said many times that I cannot imagine having missed this “surprise pregnancy”. These were not our plans. But God. He knew how much of a blessing little Long Li Dan would be to our family. He knew as He knit her together in her China mommy’s womb. He knew.
During our long, long wait to receive our Ami Jo-Li, Chris wore a simple red thread bracelet that he had made. It was simply a reminder of what was to come, something to physically grasp while we waited to physically hold our China doll.
This photo was taken during our stay in Guangzhou. It was so sweet that Ami discovered this bracelet on her daddy’s wrist.
So all that to say (!) tonight we will place this simple bracelet in our Memorial Box as a simple reminder, as a standing stone, to the amazing adoption journey that lead us to Ami. Thank you Father for this most unexpected and excellent gift!
We don’t celebrate Halloween at our house, but we do enjoy carving pumpkins and eating candy. This was Elijah’s first experience with carving jack o’ lanterns. Do you think we have enough pumpkins?! Between the pumpkin patch, a birthday party, and a bargain on jumbo pumpkins for $3 we amassed quite a few orange globes.
(Yes, Ami is in yet another dress-up dress. She hardly seems to wear “normal” clothes when at home!)
