A good kind of busy....

To say we have been busy would be an understatement.

School will wrap up in about 3 weeks and with that comes all sorts of end of year activities.

Like......

Prom

 Brianna went with her good friend, Tyson.  She went to his prom and he went to hers.  Did I mention that Tyson lives 4 hours away?  Sounds like a road trip to me!  Brianna met him last summer at a Christ In Youth (CIY) conference and they have been talking/texting (whatever teenagers do these days) since then.  Where did my little girl go?  She looks so grown up and beautiful.

Flocking

 The youth group is doing a fundraiser for their CIY trip this summer.  We have been flocking church member yards with lovely pink flamingos.  People pay them to target someone.  It has been a lot of fun and everyone has been so excited to be the target!

High School Band concert

 That is Nicholas in the top picture.  He plays percussion so not easy to get a shot of him in the back.  Brianna is 4th flute player.  Not the best pictures but you get the idea!

Teddi Bear picnic in the park

 Being a boy, he really didn't care about the Teddi bear part of the day.  He was all about playing in the sand!

Youth group activities

 End of youth group for the summer consisted of a service project, food and some volleyball!

5th grade band concert

 Hunter is playing the saxophone!

Baseball

 That is Hunter playing catcher for his team.  This is a new role for him and he is loving it so far!

 This is me at every game.  Yep, I am the score keeper for the team.  I don't mind at all, at least I know what is going on at all times!

 This is what Claire and Caleb do at every game.  A kid and some dirt; who wouldn't be happy?

 This is why they go straight to the tub when we get home!  Caleb's jeans started out dark blue!

So as you can see, we have been busy but it is a good kind of busy.  We are enjoying the little things and enjoying time as a family.  Who could ask for anything more?

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

It is almost time to introduce ourselves to Caelyn!!!  This is the book I created to send to her!

What we have been up to in pictures...

We have been super busy at our household but that is nothing new!  Here are some of the highlights of what has been going on.

~Brianna was inducted into the National Honor Society.  We are so proud of her.  This was one of her goals and she worked hard to achieve it!

Brianna getting her National Honor Society pin put on by her Dad!

Brianna and her Daddy

Brianna and I

 ~  We had an Easter egg hunt at church.  The weather was gorgeous and Hunter, Claire and Caleb had a really good time!

Caleb showing us his basket at the Easter egg hunt

Claire enjoyed her find

Even Hunter enjoyed the hunt

My 3 youngest enjoying time together

~ We spent our Spring Break back home helping to take care of Grandpa while he undergoes his cancer treatments.  The kids got to spend time with my family as well.  My mom came and got the kids and kept them for a couple of days which was great especially since I got sick the night we arrived.  I had to get myself healthy quick so I could be around grandpa who was undergoing chemotherapy.

Here is grandpa with the gang!

~ While we were back home we spent the night at a hotel and let the kids swim.  Well...we intended to spend the night but after the pool fun and while we were getting ready for bed the fire alarm kept going off on our wing of the hotel.  Long story but we ended up checking out and going back to Grandpa's house.

Claire and Caleb enjoying the pool

The boys loved the water slides

Hunter in his goggles

Mia

Claire and Mia...sweet cousins

~The day after we got home the school called and told me that Claire had fallen off the monkey bars and that she had hurt her shoulder.  After a trip to the ER we found out nothing was broken but she continued to have problems.  The next week, we took her to see an orthopedic surgeon.  Here we found out that she has a nerve issue.  We are waiting to see how she does in a couple of weeks but she has been sidelined from gymnastics for now.  We knew something wasn't right when she wasn't doing cartwheels and handstands constantly.  Hopefully she will be back to that very soon.

Well, that is what we have been up to in a nutshell.  Next on the agenda....PROM....and then the start of baseball season.

OH and the biggest news....we received our I797 approval today in the mail.  Oh yeah, we are getting closer to getting our dossier to China!!!!

What has rocked our world...

Not sure how to start this post but I just feel that I should share what has been going on.  I want this blog to chronicle our lives and I haven't been blogging much as of late not because I don't want to but just have limited time.

The beginning of last month, my father-in-law, Myron, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.  You know when you hear the word, CANCER, it just rocks your world.  I just hate that Myron has to go through this.  Sometimes it just doesn't make sense; he doesn't drink...he doesn't smoke.  He is very active for his age and volunteers at the children's museum making sure their train layout is working.  So that leaves us asking WHY?  I am slowly learning that it is not about the whys but it is about how God is going to work through Myron and our family during this time.  Myron is in his 2nd week of chemo and radiation.  He is doing well considering the circumstances.  He will have 5 weeks of treatments and then the hope is that the cancer will shrink enough so surgery can be done.

Here is Myron and my niece Alisha and Caleb taken this past December

I will close with scripture a family friend shared with us during this time...

2 Corinthians 1:2-7 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.  (NIV)

Those words just speak peace to my soul.

Immigration waiting and current fundraisers

I wanted to take some time to update you all on where the adoption process is right now.  We currently are waiting on immigration approval to bring her home.  I am happy to report that we have our appointment to be fingerprinted letter in our hands and will be going later this month for that!  Once, we receive this approval we can send our dossier to China!

We still have some fundraisers going as well.  With our dossier going to China we have more fees we need to cover.  I am being completely honest here and putting myself out there but we still need to raise $12,000 for this adoption and that does not include travel costs.  We have raised everything we have needed so far and we are trusting that we will be able to raise the rest.  God never promised this road to our newest daughter would be easy but stepping out in faith will be so worth it.  When we can look back and see all that God has done....what a testimony of God's provision and His love for us and the orphan!  THANK YOU to those who have stood with us and supported our fundraisers so far.  We are humbled by your generosity.

Here are the current fundraiser that we have going on:

Ground to Cup Coffee
We receive 40% of all sales.  So if you love coffee would you consider ordering from our website...you get great coffee and help bring Caelyn home at the same time...it is a WIN-WIN!  Click on the Ground to Cup logo on my sidebar for a link directly to our online store.

Puzzle Fundraiser

We still have about 700 pieces that are available to be sponsored.  Typically, people have sponsored a piece for $5/piece but if you wish to donate another amount that is fine just make sure you let us know what name (or names) to put on the back.  This will be a forever reminder of those who helped bring our precious girl home.  The puzzle will be something our family will treasure forever.  We have raised about $1400 so far!  THANK YOU!

Thirty-One online party
For the month of April I will be having a Thirty-One party online.  We will receive 25% of all sales for the entire month of April!  Click on the following link and select shop now.  Make sure you are shopping under the event of Caelyn's adoption!  This event and fundraiser will only be available during the month of April! Thirty-One fundraiser  The second link will show you the monthly special for April if you are interested.  Thirty-One April special
*I was notified that the Thirty-One link was not working.  I have fixed it, I hope!  The link should take you to the consultant's page and then click on My Events then click on Shop now under Caelyn adoption.

Finally, a reminder why we are doing this...

Because she waits for a family of her own....

Gotcha Day revisited....2 years later!

My good friend, Tina posted this on her blog 2 years ago on our Gotcha Day and I just loved how she phrased her post. Tina is a gifted writer with a heart for Christ and if you haven't stopped by her blog you will be blessed if you do. Thanks Tina for your beautiful words and for sharing in our joy.

Yesterday in the middle of the afternoon . . .

in the middle of the busy Atlanta airport . . .

in the middle of what might have been just another busy day for many . . .


a sweet little two year old boy (escorted) from Korea, lost the title "orphan"....


and gained . . .






the title "son" . . .






and "little brother"!





Caleb Joseph Ho-min . . .

became the newest member of the Gang!

I think he quickly realized that he was in a good place!

To our dear friends (and old neighbors) ~

Robin and Gary,

and their gang . . . Brianna, Nicholas, Hunter and Claire, and Caleb

we rejoice with you!

Welcome home, sweet boy! Welcome home!

Thank you Father God, that you put the lonely in families.

Thank you for bringing Caleb home!


Happy 2nd Gotcha Day, Caleb! 

We love you more than you know!

Claire's fun meet video

Could not figure out the blogger video so I am trying something different.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com