SOPHIA IS A DANCING PRINCESS

Sophia had her first round of ballet and tap and she STOLE the show - absolutely BEAUTIFUL! She is our dancing princess! You make mommy and daddy smile sweetheart!

Mother's Day TEA

I was able to be BLESSED BLESSED BLESSED! My little man hosted (with the help of his fellow Kindergarten pals and teacher) a fabulous Mother's Day brunch and tea! What fun! My handsome fella sang his precious songs and MELTED my heart! Where has the time gone? Thank you Lord for making me a mommy! My children are the most precious gifts ever and I thank the Lord for how much they add to our family! They shine the Lord daily and I LOVE THEM with all of my heart! My little guy made my Mother's Day extra special this year!

We will miss you Friend

Our doggie went to be with TOP DOGGIE in heaven and we will miss our pal! Percy, was by far - thee best dog. The kids adored him and he made our lives fuller because of how wonderful he was to us. Percy YOU WILL BE MISSED!

MOTHER - I so LOVE you!

We had a VERY special Mother's Day at My parents with the kids massaging the mama's stinky feet :) - and then our men all cooked us BRUNCH - move over country club - MY MAN CAN COOK! We had a BLAST! I am so blessed to have a mother who I love so much! I also thank the Lord for making me a mama! This is the role of a lifetime! Being a mommy is the best!

Life's a BEACH!

We had THEE best time on Mother's day celebrating with Adam's Mom at the beach! What a PERFECT day to let her know that she means THE world to us!

You held her under your heart

Just two days past Mother's day, I feel this strong desire to say thank you to Sophia's "tummy mommy". Thank you for giving my daughter life. Thank you for holding this precious child in your womb and giving her the chance to live. Thank you for her sweet smirk and bright loving eyes. Thank you for giving her a silly sense of humor and quick whit. Thank you for giving her the best chance ever when you allowed her to be found instantly at a police station out of your village. Thank you for holding her and kissing her sweet head the moment she breathed her first earthly breath. Thank you for your courage and strength. I pray that even though we will never meet face to face, that you feel the love I have for you. I can not imagine a better gift than the gift I have in my children. I hope you know that you too are our family - someone that we love and pray for - someone that we wish abundant peace and the power of the Lord in your life. I love my little girl and I will raise her knowing what a huge sacrifice you made to give her life. She was born under your heart and she was born in my heart. We are forever weaved together in the life Sophia has and will live. You gave her life and I will be the one to hold her hand throughout her life journey. Words can not express how much you mean to me. Woman to woman, I see you as a rock in your strength. I love you.

Goodbye Dear Friend

What a day. Today, we had to put our best friend to sleep. Our Percy, our fabulous BLACK LAB - one in a million dog - was sick with a cancer that had spread throughout his body. He was by far, thee best dog we have ever seen! He let the kids love on him with every ouce of LOVE that our children have (which can be hard for a doggie to do). He was always barking at suspicious sounds and coming to us for love and hugs and wet slobbery kisses!
This loss has rocked our little world. Our children are feeling very sad - lots of questions - WHY WHY WHY?
We went to the vet today and let our Percy lay in our arms as the vet administered the sleeping medication and he quickly and peacefully went out, almost as he lived here!
We have had a day of tears and disbelief. We feel like we have lost a family member.
Please pray for us.

ALMOST DONE....or is it just BEGINNING.....

So Adam and I are almost done with our PRIDE training which includes MANY hours (40) pf training and CPR/HIV and First Aid training - these classes have been jammed pack with information from how to transition a child who will go back to live with their birth parents to attachment. Some of this seems repetitive since we went through training for Sophia's adoption - but always helpful to brush up on! Plus this will be a FAR different journey for us - revealing different things that the Lord has for our lives and the lives of our family. I have been SO blessed by the wonderful people who have embraced and have given us such love during this time. So many people have already been touched, we have been even able to share about what we know already and have a couple of families that are interested about fostering....it is all about planting a seed - LIFE IS LIKE THAT
What we do today has eternal rewards/consequences. I think this week has really challenged the anxious ones as the Swine Flu has become a reality of many unknowns. People have started questioning their own lives and if the lives they have will be put in jeopardy. It totally makes me think of life. Questioning myself if my life is full and if I am walking the journey with God as the lead, or myself. I am so thankful that He has called us to care for His children - WOW - what a privilege. Life is short. Life is precious - why not allow a little life to be touched by showing love to a child with no hope - no love - no mom- no daddy. No one to tuck them in, pray with them, kick the soccer ball with, hug them when they have had one of "those days". In many ways we are ill prepared for this next journey - not all of our ducks are in the nice neat row that I like, but God still has given us this AMAZING peace and strength!
If any of you are ever interested in adoption or fostering, please leave me a comment. I would LOVE to pray for you and let you know how to get started!
In Him!

A license to LOVE!

OK OK OK - we have prayed and asked God for His leading - His will - His way! This has been amongst one of the first life situations where I do not feel this rush that I need to be in charge or in control! It is WONDERFUL! God has been showing us in so many ways that He is calling us to shepard one of His little lambs! We have decided to Foster to Adopt! YAHOO!!! We are 1/2 way through completing our training and are so excited about what we are doing! MUCH MUCH MUCH more to come - !!! We plan to parent a baby - and.....are soooo excited about this new journey to family and love!

EASTER EGG PARTY !

SO - 10 dozen eggs - equals TONS OF FUN and creativity! We had grandma and grandpa come over and help us decorate eggs - what a blast! We had cousin, S come too!!! I think we all had fun being creative - having NO idea what we will do with that many eggs - LO CARB DIET THIS WEEK? Sounds good to me! Super excited for Easter - NEW BEGINNINGS...

Love this family!

Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them,"Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me." Mark 9:36-37 New American Standard

A QUESTION AMONG QUESTIONS

We have been thinking and praying. God has been revealing some really AWESOME things to us. It is amazing how God calls us to do things that we feel - we are not capable of in the flesh. I guess this is where faith comes into play - believing the unbelievable! EXCITING NEWS TO COME!

SPRING SOCCER FUN!

I have been CRAZY with all four kids in soccer - they are having a BALL and we are enjoying watching each of our little kickers get in and play soccer! They are all so much fun to watch and a GORGEOUS day it was to play! Mom and Sophia snuggle in right after her game! WAY TO GO SOPHIA!

MY DADDY IS THEE BEST!

The gang - in their "silly"pose!

THESE FOUR PRECIOUS ONES ARE MY HEART!

Hey all - just wanted to give recognition where it is deserved and I LOVE MY MOM! She is super STRONG willed and always "willing" to help make me stronger - when I ask and when I don't. She loves my kids - but has these incredible standards and expectations that they ALL meet - when I am flip flopping and being sloppy in my parenting, I think of her and how she does it!
I turn to mush when the kids are being manipulative - she tends to set them straight! Just got back from the ER and was SO SUPER SICK and was there overnight and WHO stayed with my precious angels - MOM - who had the house clean - MOM - the kids adorably dressed - MOM - the donuts and coffee on the table - MOM! HONESTLY - how does she do it?
When I am sick - as a woman - I still WANT MY MOM - isn't that wild!!!! She is such a rock - I would hope to someday be as strong as she is!
I LOVE YA MAMA!!!!
Lisa

CHINESE NEW YEAR FUN!

THE TOTALLY AWESOME DRAGON DANCE! SOPHIA AND HER BESTEST FRIEND!

THE BOYS ENJOYING SOME OF THE CHINESE NEW YEAR FUN!

OUR VERY PRECIOUS LITTLE GIRLS!

ENTERING THE EVENT!

A QUOTE TO LIVE BY

I am only one, But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
~Edward Everett Hale~

learning, growing,changing and becoming

In the past few days I have learned some from life that I have not listened to or responded to for years. I have been more in tuned with God's will for my life, the life of my family and the lives of others. I find it interesting that we grow the most when times are significantly painful and I can now understand those that say they find peace in the midst of challenges and difficulties. Without being specific, and possibly later we will be able to write more in this blog, but we had some exciting things entering our lives and today marks the very day that we surrendered all of the anticipation at the Lord's feet, knowing that He is God and we are not. We thought we had a plan - a family plan and now we look at tomorrow - planless - BUT in planless peace, being optimistic about what God will bring into our lives.
We all have a choice, to follow our heart or to seek the heart of God. There is true peace when we walk in God's path, but when we wonder onto our own, we create much pain, not only for ourselves, but for others as well.

CAN HE REALLY BE 6?

I can not believe that B is already 6! It is amazing how fast this time has gone by and I just wish I could slow down the speed to catch my breath!

B,

I love you so much. You have the biggest heart of all! We are always trying to give me hugs and continually telling me that you love me. You are so helpful and always wanting to please. You love school, your friends, your family and Jesus. I watch as you play with your friends and I see so much maturity in you. You are the kids who puts the needs and wants of others above your own - a characteristic that is so admirable - especially when you are just 6. I feel so honored to be your mom and to hold your hand and snuggle with you. You are such an important part of this family and add so much spice into our lives. We love you so much and can not wait to see what this 6 year old year will bring for you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Love - Mom

WHY ADOPT?

I have had so many people ask why Adam and I are so passionate about adoption. I thought that because there have been a variety of people asking, I should come up with an intelligent answer that sums up reasons without creating a novel to explain our hearts. We love God with all that we are. In saying that, we continually fall short of reaching His will because we are sinful and self focused. Our passion is not because we are martyrs for any cause, we have just been called. We have a strong belief that God wants Christians to adopt. The very fact that HE adopted US into HIS family, gives us the model of a pure and selfless love. We know that it was not easy for Him to love us and choose us as His own, just as adoption is seldom easy in any facet. Many people comment that we "have our hands full" and as we continue to think of yet another adoption, we realize that these very same people will not understand why we would choose to fill our basket even more full. The truth of the matter is that we seldom have it all together and know the direction that we are to go. We do not have the perfect marriage, the perfect behaving children, the perfect homelife. We are broken people and we fall short. What we do have is love. What we can offer is family. What we can do is fulfill God's call on our lives to give to those who are helpless and hopeless and for us, that is those who are orphaned - who have no mommy to wipe those tears or daddy to high five when they aced the spelling test or kicked the goal. We can give love. It does not cost one single cent. Life is EXPENSIVE and the economy is HORRIBLE - we wonder if this is the right time - but could it honestly ever be the WRONG time to give a child a chance - a life - a family - something to identify with and make them stronger in themselves. We also see adoption as a chance to change the world for the Lord. We love God so much and our home reflects His love. We pray - read His word and reflect on His will DAILY - which is why, adopting just makes sense! We were praying the other day and Sophie pointed to her heart and said "EESUS" - That is when it is SO CONFIRMED! Sophie now knows that Jesus is in that sweet heart of hers and that she is loved. Some people will tell us that adoption is not for them and I do not stand in any place to judge. We try to follow God's word as we interpret it and His will as He leads us. We chose to adopt in China because God planted a seed in my (Lisa's) heart showing me that our daughter was in this land. Because of this, we love China and the people and culture and would be honored to adopt from there again if God opens the doors for us. We will not limit God or His ability to use us, people of little talent and ability - to further His kingdom. From the moment Sophie was placed in our arms, she cried big tears, and the confusion and sadness she was feeling was overwhelming, but the love we felt at that moment could only be compared to the love we felt the moment our biological children were placed in our arms. So simply, why adopt - I guess, why not? Life is short and there is no greater gift in life than a family! When we put our children to bed at night, kiss and hug there sweet little necks - we are burdened for those many who have no mommy and daddy to hug and kiss and pray with them - EVERY CHILD DESERVES A FAMILY!

MY BABY IS 8!

LOVE THIS CAKE THAT MOM MADE - JUST LIKE A STACK OF LEGOS

MY FAMILY ARE THE BEST PEOPLE TO CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY WITH!

MAKING A WISH AND BLOWING THE CANDLES OUT!

LOVIN' THESE COOL GIFTS...

T,

I can not believe that you are 8. I recall the day that I had you - like it was just days ago. You came into this world as a vibrant and demanding little guy and continue to be just as tenacious! You have a heart of gold and demand much from yourself and others. You brighten a room by your smile and the love you have for others, is amazing! You are sensitive, loving and caring. You enjoy a sense of humor that is delightful and fun! I love you so much. I thank God for blessing me with a child who makes me be a better and stronger person. As you question, I do as well. You love God and you yearn to know more of who He is in character. You remember things that I can not for the life of me think of (especially when it benefits you :) -. I have just adored the past 8 years with you. They have been the best ones of my life. I thank God for allowing me the awesome privilege in raising such a wonderful boy! I love you! Mom