Prayer Need

Fasting for Cindy- Monday, July 27

I had never really fasted before, but Cindy's story touched me so that I had to participate in this fast organized by Linny (aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com). I did not eat breakfast this morning, but I will readily admit to having my coffee otherwise my children/students would have had a rough day in homeschool land. I also typically eat a mid-morning snack which I also skipped this morning. As my stomach growled, and I thought of how delicious the juicy oranges would have tasted as I peeled them for my children, I prayed for Cindy.

You see, Cindy is a MoM just like me (Mom to Many) She has 10 little blessings - wow - which makes my 6 look like such a manageable number! She also has a heart for adoption just like me. However, there is one huge difference in our daily struggles. Cindy has been fighting cancer for a long time. Please join me in praying for Cindy. You can read more about her story of courage and strength as she battles for her life at faithfulpromises.blogspot.com

Summer Fun

After seeing the cute little wolf driving a car on the Great Wolf Lodge commercial, we decided to give it a try. It was a great time, and we highly recommend it. Tons of fun all in one place, and something for all ages. Enjoy the pictures.

Lilly came down with a mild stomach virus on our first full day at the Lodge. She did have fun for half a day on the day we arrived. She was a trooper though and bounced back quickly so she could have some more fun the next day.

Lilly wasn't quite up to full-speed yet which means she was about like the average child :)

Have you figured out why Ethan was not in the 2 pictures with the rest of his siblings? Yep, that strong-will was exerting its ugly self. Oh well, by the grace of God we will survive his childhood and live to hopefully see him parent some children just like him! I remember my mom telling me that, and I just said it. Oh no!

The 2 little girls whom God used to start a beautiful friendship. On the way to the Great Wolf Lodge, we stopped by to see our dear friends, the Barbees. We had a wonderful visit as we always do.

Tea for 3? No, subs and chips please! Lainie was still warming up to Lilly and Ellie whereas Lilly and Ellie saw new toys and just made themselves at home.

All together: 4 adults, 10 kids. It still amazes me how God brought our 2 families together. He placed a love in our hearts for orphans, called us each to adopt a child from China, and then led us to 2 precious girls from the same orphanage in China. In His perfect way, He has created a beautiful friendship that I will always treasure.

Vacation Bible School is always a highlight of our summer. This year was no exception. We all had an awesome week at "Son Rock Kid's Camp".

Fulton at bat! He and his team had a great season and actually won the championship for his league. We are so proud of Fulton for all of his hard work. His coach said he was the most improved from last year. Way to go!

One of Fulton's biggest fans with the best seat in the house. Little Ellie cheers for Fulton with her whole heart. The blow-pops and other sugar treats are just an added bonus for the siblings of the players.

New Additions

The Horse Proud owner, Shelby. "Oreo" as she named him is actually an early 13th birthday present for Shelby. She saved her money for almost 2 years to buy the saddle and all of the other long list of supplies necessary for horse ownership, and we gave her the horse. This was on May 22, the day we moved Oreo to our farm. What a happy day this was for Shelby as well as our whole family. David and I did not grow up with horses, but so far horse ownership has been a wonderful experience for our family. For anyone who "knows" horses and wants a little info. on Oreo. He is a 6 year old black and white paint, hence the name :), and although it took several months, lots of wasted time trying out many other horses, a few heartaches and disappointments, we finally found the right one! He seems to be the perfect fit!

The Minature Donkey (the free gift with purchase)

This is Bradley or Bratley as we now call him. He was Oreo's pasture mate at his previous owner's place. He has kept Oreo company and has not been all that bad. He does try to chew on the horse brushes and other supplies including the reins and saddle - Big No No! He is quick to get into mischief, but he is a big hit with the under 6 crowd at our house. He is really quite cute, and I think he is a keeper although we came extremely close to sending him up to Elaine's farm (thehortonhome.blogspot.com) By the way, Elaine and her family have exciting news happening at their house with children from Ethiopia coming to stay a month for CWA's Summer of Hope program. Plus they are adopting 2 girls from Ethiopia. Check out their amazing journey!

The boys dressed like cowboys all on their own. They came down stairs ready to ride - the donkey that is! We thought they were too cute for words!

The Kitten

On Friday, May 29 as we were reading our history lesson in Story of the World (so we can finish the book before the next volume in the fall), Katie says "What is that in our yard?" Sure enough this little guy was at the back of our yard near the trees. We live in the country so I have no idea where he came from. Of course, David and I tried to play the practical parents with many speeches like the following: "We don't need another kitty. We already have 5!!! cats. Plus we have 2 dogs, numerous chickens, and we just added a donkey and a horse. No, we definitely do not need a kitten!!!!" Then we got replies like this "But we will pay for it with our own money. We'll do all the work. He is SO Cute! He must belong with us because God sent him here!" Well, he is still here and yes, the oldest 3 children are paying for all of the vet bills (which are quite pricey for a kitten) as well as the kitten food. And they are doing most of the work. His name is Caramel by the way which was the only name Shelby, Fulton, and Katie could all agree upon.


The Baby Chicks

We have had chickens for a few years and enjoy the fresh organic eggs. We have even raised baby chicks from our eggs by using an incubator. Well, today for the first time ever, we had baby chicks hatch "naturally" meaning one of our hens sat on a clutch of eggs for 21 days. The children were SO excited. Today 3 little chicks hatched but the clutch of eggs has 23 eggs total so hopefully our 2 Momma hens will continue to sit.

Wedding Pictures

The wedding day was so hectic that I failed to get a good picture of the couple, my sister Michelle and Nick. Here they were looking fabulous together at the rehearsal dinner. Congratulations and Best Wishes!


(Just realized that I posted reception first instead of the wedding -sorry :)

Could we have a drummer in our future? I sure hope not, but isn't she cute? We were looking around for Lilly and then David spotted her making herself right at home on the drums while the band was on break. We all got a huge laugh out of that including the drummer himself who gave Lilly a few pointers too.

As close to the perfect family photo as we can get these days. At least the background is "perfect".

I love this picture of Ethan and Lilly peeking through the window to look at everybody dancing. Too cute!

Ellie was beautiful and did great with all the weekend's festivities. Of course she loved the reception- lots of yummy food and fun dancing!

My sister, Michelle, made such a beautiful bride, and her wedding gown was gorgeous! The wedding and reception were both lovely, and she planned it all while living 4 hours away and working 60- 80 hours/week as a resident physician. Superwoman!

Lilly did great although after standing at the front of the church for all of 5 minutes, just long enough for the bride to make it down the aisle (thank goodness), she then quietly bolted for her daddy and Ellie who were sitting on the second row. Did you guess that dad had lots of ammunition i.e. candy! Once or twice I heard "MINE!" and a whine or two. I'm sure if one looked closely they could have seen my whole body tense up, but other than that, the girls were really good!

Almost time to walk down the aisle. The stress of it all was so worth it because the children all looked so beautiful and did what they were suppossed to for their Aunt Michelle and Uncle Nick.

Don't they look handsome- despite the similar yet hilarious thing they are both doing with their mouths! At that point, I was just glad they were dressed and willing to walk down the aisle. Perfect picture wasn't important.

Our 2nd Gotcha Day with Lilly

May 14, 2007 in Changsha, China
With Jane, from CWA, being walked over to meet her family for the very first time ever!




In my arms for the very first time! Wow, how she has grown and blossomed since this day. And her hair, she finally has enough for pony tails!

Today is a busy day with David's birthday, Lilly's Gotcha Day, Fulton's baseball game, and Shelby's piano recital- Wow! Lilly loves the park so we did make time to do that after lunch. We have a small gift that we purchased in China for her that we will give her later today when we are all back together again after today's numerous activities. Last night, we were reminding her that today was her special day- 2 years since we became a family. She asked if it was her birthday and then we pulled out her mini photo album that is kept in a basket next to her bed with all of her books. We read it from time to time, and we read through it last night as well. It simply tells, in pictures, how we became a family. She seemed to understand a little more after that. This morning, she and I had a few quiet moments when we looked at the big album of pictures from her adoption trip. She loved seeing her baby pictures from the orphanage, seemed a little sad when looking at the pictures of her sick in the hospital, and enjoyed seeing some sights from her native country. After we closed the book, she smiled her huge smile and said so joyfully "That was a great story. That's my story!" I immediately thought of this verse: "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16b So, yes, that indeed was Lilly's story written by our Heavenly Father who lovingly watched over her and sustained her through 19 months of life with a heart defect in need of surgical repair and 19 months without a loving family. We thank God today for Lilly and all the joy that she has brought to our lives these last 2 years. What a blessing it is to call her our daughter and our sister.

This last picture (from my sister's wedding) perfectly captures our little Lilly: constant motion, pure energy, living life to the fullest all the time, full of joy (and lots of other emotions- good and bad :) ), and finally beautiful - both inside and out!

Recent Happenings

Easter Pictures:
I know that they are really late- sorry! Next post will be of my sister's wedding. We got some great pictures of all 6 of our little cuties dressed up for the big day! Happy Mother's Day!

Happy 8th Birthday Fulton!

Fulton turned 8 back in April. He requested his favorite- Zaxby's for supper followed by cookie cake. It's hard to believe he is 8. Wow, time sure has flown by. Fulton is a wonderful boy with a loving heart. He is such a good big brother to his little sisters. Fulton is enjoying baseball season and is having a great year. He has already hit a few homeruns, and we are so proud of him. He has really improved from the fall season when he was so ill from those pesky kidney stones.

Fulton trying out his new Pogo Stick. So far - no accidents! Great way to let out some energy.

Fulton wanted to go camping for his 8th birthday so he, Ethan, and David went on an overnight camping trip with old friends who have moved away from our area, Gabe and his son Luke. They had a blast although there was little sleep to be had especially for the over thirty group- ha ha! And check out the catch by the birthday boy!

Pickle Juice

Well, it has been a while since I've found the time to update! Life has been so full lately. My sister, Julie just had her first baby last week who is our first nephew on my side of the family. Congratulations Julie and Tripp and welcome baby Caleb!!! My other sister, Michelle, is getting married next Saturday to a wonderful guy, Nick who we can't wait to welcome into the family! Think 5 children in the wedding and mom too. Think of all the outfits and shoes for bridal luncheon, rehearsal dinner, and of course the wedding. Add to all of that, homeschooling, spring break with a few day trips, horse shopping and paddock preparation, summer clothes shopping for all 6 kiddos who have outgrown lots of clothes, and well that equals some very busy weeks! I have lots of pictures to post from Easter and Fulton's birthday but that will have to be another day.

Now onto this post. . . Since childhood, I have always loved to drink the pickle juice from a dill pickle jar. Strange, I know, but very true. Well, who knew that little Lilly also had this same crazy taste. Recently, after we had finished eating all of the dill pickles, she asked me if she could drink the juice. I didn't think she would like it, but she did! Like mother, like daughter!!!