Christmas Fun

Here they come!




Since it was Zoey and Kate's first Christmas, they opened the first gift.


"Why do I have the feeling there is nothing for me under the tree?"



Zoey and Kate check out their new adoption story books



If you are drinking coffee and reading this, please swallow before you look at the next photo, to avoid spewing.






Ryan reaction to the gag gift we got him

Bedlam and chaos reigned






Time to open stockings!

Contemplating the possibility of eating his candy cane without drooling



Checking out the M&M candy cane while SaraGrace struggles with hers


"I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm not getting squat this year."





Princess shoes

Sparkly earrings

Little girls who now have a family



Katie-bug has a new bunny to love

And Daddy has another little girl to love

Mommy loves her, too

Borrowing SaraGrace's cool velvet gloves

Zoey's turn to try them on


"Give me horsey ride, Mama."

"No, Jakie. I don't want to take a nap and I don't want you kissing me, even though Mommy wanted you to do it for a photo op."

Merry Christmas!

Love Came Down

We are less than two weeks away from Ryan leaving for bo*t camp and my heart is aching. I know I am not the only Mama who is grieving over sending her child to the milit*ry, so I pleaded with God to help me face it bravely, with peace in my heart.

He came alongside, as He so often does, with gentleness, and reminded me that He knows the pain of sending a Son away from home and out into the world.

We so often focus on the JOY of the Christmas season...the WONDER of a baby born...a baby who would SAVE the world and RESCUE us from our hopeless condition. But this year, my heart turned toward the Father...the one who waited at home while the Son went down to earth to fulfill His destiny.

• The Father had to watch His Boy leave.
• The Father knew that His much treasured, His Beloved, would not be received with the JOY that the Father intended. That in fact, His precious Boy would be tortured, rejected and misunderstood.
• The Father also knew, that this was His Son's destiny. An oppressed world awaited a rescuer. There was only One who had the credentials to do it.
  

So Love came down.

For me.

For you.

For ALL who will receive Him.

Somehow over the years, His message has been twisted to be all about do's and don'ts. That would be the same as defining a parent only by the rules they set for their children, and leaving out all the love they lavish on them. As parents we LOVE first....we bless our kids with material comforts as is possible...and we also have some rules to keep them safe. All of those components have to work together to give our kids the best upbringing possible.

Yes, as God's children there are some rules. But His extravagant LOVE is what should stand out. A LOVE that made Him willing to send His Son to be mistreated and murdered. A LOVE that made the Son willing to suffer in our place, while being cursed and rejected for doing so.

What will you do with this amazing, wonderful, extravagant, too-huge-to-comprehend GIFT?

It is so easy to accept it. All we have to say is yes. Yes, God, we admit we need you. We admit we have sinned. We are willing to accept the gift and the heritage of adoption that accompanies it. We rejoice that there are no strings attached. We rejoice that you LOVE us to much that our feeble minds cannot wrap themselves around the concept.

Thank you, God, for the precious gift of your Son. Thank you for sending LOVE down. For me.

"For unto us a child is born, to us a Son is given..." Isaiah 9:6

Cookies and Sugar Plums

So the much anticipated dreaded by mom cookie baking and decorating finally took place at our house this week. It was Jordan's first time being included and he was so excited.

We started with these that we had cut out and baked the day before--what a MESS!

I'm ready!

He took his duties very seriously

and carefully sprinkled each cookie


Jillian did multiple colors on her cookies--she has an artistic flair

Molly did her best to keep up with Jordan

SaraGrace's masterpieces

Let's just say, I am not the culinary talent in our house, so I force myself to go through this ritual.

Earlier in the day, SaraGrace decided to oversee an impromtu costume party with the little kids. They came downstairs dressed in various odd outfits. My picture of the five of them turned out blurry--sorry. Zoey and Kate were dressed as ballerina's and were spinning and dancing.

Are sugar plums dancing in her head? Probably not...but doesn't she make you want to join her?

Katie-bug and Zoey have too much fun together. It is so sweet to watch them. It never ceases to amaze me how God has so carefully placed each child into our family.

Little Elf

It would seem that there is a little elf lurking around our house. There seems to be an abundance of presents that look....um....well, like someone has been trying to sneak a peek.

Like this...

...and this

...and the most egregious


I'm certain that it will take all of you about one second to figure out who the little elf is:

He doesn't know that his older siblings have done the same thing every Christmas and I have gotten smart enough not to set out the presents whose identity will be revealed from such sneaky peeks. Nope...only the boring boxes are out and the little elf has been disappointed that his peeking has not paid off.

Guatemala adoptions--please pray

Guatemala is considering re-opening their adoption program for children with special needs. Many have been praying for this to happen for so long. The program is still a ways from coming to fruition, but please pray for the children who are trapped there. Children like:

This sweet little girls who spends her days in a crib

This smiley boy who gets out mostly when visitors come to help him

Same with this sweet boy

and Alex...the precious 8 year old who captured my heart. His body is so emaciated and CP prevents him from talking or moving much, but his smile... Oh. My. Goodness. It lights up his whole face. I truly have never experienced anything like it. When I talked to him, he would give me his huge smile. I will never forget how fast his smile faded, replaced by a look of raw pain, when I had to put him back in his crib. (The crib that was soaked in urine. We had been successful in getting Alex's clothes changed but the bed remained wet. Ugh.)

This little girl seemed to have given up on human contact. After all, it never lasted long. Maybe better not to enjoy it at all than to have it only occasionally, and spend the rest of her days longing for it.

And please pray that parents will come forward. Ask God if you might be one of them. Truly ASK if you might have the privilege of being Jesus' hands and feet. There are children who need you. Will you take the risk? Will you be the answer to a child in need?

You just might be blessed with this:

Yep..that's Jake in Guatemala, no longer an orphan with special needs (unless you consider extreme cuteness and naughtiness a special need).

You just might be blessed with a little guy like him--who just threw a ball into the Christmas tree...who came downstairs this morning with gum in his mouth (that he's isn't allowed to have). When I asked him what was in his mouth, he said,
"Don't wook at it."
I pried his grubby little hands open and there were four sweaty gumballs that he had filched from his big sister's room.

Yeah...you could have an adorable, mischievous imp like that at your house, who gives the best hugs ever, who says, 'I duv you, Mama,' and pretty much lights up a room with his sparkly eyes and smile.

Imagine the possibilities....

Fa-La-La-La-La

So...

Today was sunny and I thought I would try to recreate the photos that I had done of Zoey and Kate by the Christmas tree--only substituting Jake and Jordan.

Needless to say, it didn't work.

Wrestling is just so much more fun than posing for Mom.






I thought this one seemed promising until I uploaded it and saw that Jake was pinching Jordan.


This one is sweet, as long you as you don't get distracted by the fact that Jake's pajama pants are on inside out.

Ahhh..the wonder of childhood...the magic of Christmas time. Thank you, God for the amazing gift of your Son.

Zoey and Kate, Home for Christmas

One year ago today, my heart was heavy. We were near the end of our wait to adopt Zoey and Kate and hoping to travel right after Christmas. The previous day, Travel Approvals had rolled in for many families whose paperwork had been approved the same time as ours. All day, I had expected a call, but none came. It was now Saturday, and all hope of hearing anything until Monday was dashed. I went grocery shopping and came home to see the light blinking on our answering machine. I hit the button and heard the voice of our adoption agency rep. "Karin! I received a package! I have your travel approvals for the girls! Can you be ready to go to China in 10 days?" I don't remember much after that except dancing around the room and shouting the good news with a pounding heart.

And now they're home.

Here is the updated video for Zoey and Kate. The last half of it is new, if you want to fast forward through the beginning. (Note to self: Photos removed from your computer and transferred to an external hard drive, will also be removed from your Movie Maker projects. Plan accordingly....argh....)

For those of you who receive the blog via email, you will need to click here to see it.

First Christmas

This is Zoey and Kate's first Christmas. I have been filled with nostalgia today as I thought back one year ago when we were waiting on pins and needles for our travel approval. It came on Dec. 20th and we were on a plane to China on the 30th.

The girls are having a hard time figuring out why they can't open the presents under the tree (yet), but they are E.X.C.I.T.E.D about all the festivities. A bit confused...but excited. I heard Kate tell Zoey today that all the presents under the tree were for Jesus.

Last year, I made an amateurish video for them--which they LOVE to watch now that they are home. I am re-posting it here and am working on an updated one to post later.

No room...

No room.
No room for you.

Those are words that bring forth emotions like loneliness, rejection and lack of love.

They are recorded in the second chapter of Luke. To a woman in labor. To her baby.

There are 143 million orphans in this world who are experiencing the same emotions. There is no room for them. Doors are closed. Hearts are closed. Shut tight. No room.

I have had so many people tell me to bring them a baby home when we went to China. I've heard people say that if a baby or child showed up on their doorstep, they would adopt them.

They would open the door. Open their hearts. Make room.

I can't bring anyone a baby from China. Nor is it likely that a baby will be left on their doorstep.
But what if, instead of a knock on your door, there was a knock at your heart?
What if there was a gentle nudge from heaven that asked you,
"Will you make room? Will you change the future of a child's life? Will you do what it takes to rescue a child from loneliness, rejection and lack of love?"

Do we hear that quiet voice and gently close the door in response? Do we pretend that we didn't hear it?

What kind of blessing did the inn keeper miss when he said he had no rooms available? What kind of blessing do we miss out on, when we tell God that we have no more room for a child in need? Will we close the doors of our hearts? Will we say we have already done enough?

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song called "What Now?

I saw the face of Jesus in a little orphan girl
She was standing in the corner on the other side of the world
And I heard the voice of Jesus gently whisper to my heart
Didn't you say you wanted to find Me?
Well here I am, here you are

So, What now?
What will you do now that you found Me?
What now?
What will you do with this treasure you've found?
I know I may not look like what you expected
But if you remember, this is right where I said I would be
You've found Me
What now?

We see the need. We know, and can't pretend we don't. In China. In Africa. In Russia. In the USA.
Will we dare to make room for an unexpected treasure?

Father, let us not forget...

"Father of the fatherless
Be with Your sons and daughters this Christmas
You ain't livin' til you choose to give
love and joy and peace
to one of His
Father let us not forget
The children who are all alone this Christmas."
chorus lyrics to "This Christmas" by TobyMac