Happy birthday Micah!!

One of the fun things about adopting older kids is helping them celebrate their first birthday. Obviously, Micah has had many birthdays to get as old as he is, but he's never been able to celebrate them. We had a wonderful day..All of his siblings went to the dollar store to purchase him a gift, so he had plenty of things to open. Everyone made him cards telling him how much they loved him...oh what fun it was to watch everyone LOVE on Micah for a few hours. He beamed from ear to ear most of the time, especially when he got to blow out his candles on the cake...We heard him proclaim, "You I LIKE!" as he took his first bite..

I love being a Mom, it is the best job in the world. I love being a Mom who gets to make kids feel special- kids born of my womb and kids born of another's womb. To me it doesn't matter and I think it's mattering less and less to those that God has placed in our home. Happy Birthday Micah! I am so thankful that Daddy met you last June and used you to get us to go back to Ethiopia to bring you all home. Your smile lights up the house. Your enthusiasm for life is contagious.

On another note- some dear friends that we met in August are heading back to Ethiopia in two weeks to bring home their second son- you see, they adopted their first son and found out that he had a very dear friend, a best friend, in Ethiopia who didn't have a family yet. I was there the day these two boys had to say good-bye to each other- it was one of the hardest things I've ever watched (reminded me of when we left with Gavin last year and his best friend was so very sad). When the Hammons got home, this other little boy was on their hearts and on their son's. They just accepted his referral and will be going to ET for court VERY SOON~~ the speed of all of this could make your head spin, but God knew. He knew that he could use their sweet son to bring yet another child home. Please hop on over to their blog and follow their story...better yet, help them out, this weekend, as they are doing some FUNdraising to bring him home. You might win an i-pad while helping a sweet, sweet boy find a forever family!! Just click on the light grey words, Hammons House and it will take you right there. Hammons House

I've seen over and over how God uses children to do what HE knows is important- caring for the orphan...God used Micah a year ago to open our hearts to having more kids. He then used our kids at home to ask Mike and I to consider adopting again. He used sweet Tariku to get his family to go get his friend. Do you see the smile on Micah's face in these pictures? He is loved, he is safe, he has a hope and future-EVERY child deserves this. Please consider bringing another child into your home- really, in life, nothing else matters..not until all 147 million orphans have a home. 147 million kids who are like my Micah, waiting, hoping and praying for a family to decide to come and get them.

Reality is a Weighty Thing

Reality is a Weighty Thing

Please read this- it's super tough, but it's reality.

Noah and the Webers

Yesterday, in church, we heard a great message about living our faith. The Pastor talked about how crazy all of Noah's friends thought he was, as he followed God's voice and built the ark. He went on to say if we hear God's voice, we must fear HIM enough to follow the voice. In Noah's case, his family was all that went with him. God blessed them, by saving them from devastation and out of their family grew the nations.

Our friends, the Webers are a Noah kind of family. They adopted sweet Abrham last year. He is a beloved Bench boy, from the same village as our Gavin. When they were in Ethiopia, they heard God asking them again to step out in faith and adopt again. Does the world call them crazy? Probably- I'm sure we've been called that many, many, times, yet we do follow an awesome God who calls us all to go to orphans in their distress.

Check out their blog at:
4nowsoon2be5.blogspot.com


If God calls you to help families who are adopting kids, please leave me a comment. We could connect you with families who are walking on faith, not on what's in their checking account. You will be blessed. If God is whispering to you to adopt, leave a comment. We would be happy to walk you through the process. Sometimes it might feel as lonely as it did for Noah and his family, but God does bless you when you step out in faith. I couldn't imagine our days without any of our kids. We are blessed beyond measure.

Great visit with Papa

My Dad came up this week for a little cross-country watching and kid greeting. I wish I would have taken some pictures of him while he was here, but it was definitely nice to have him here. All of my kids love their Papa, even the newest ones, who really don't understand his relationship to us. After he left, Micah said, "Papa, I like. Come back soon?" Even though we know that we have some great kids (not biased at all) it was nice to hear him say those same things.

Papa got his share of watching cross-country, with 7 out of 9 kids running- it was SO MUCH FUN to watch them! Gabe and Gavin have a little healthy competition going with each other and push each other to run pretty fast. I don't think I could run a mile in under 8 minutes anymore and yet they do it pretty easily. Everyone's times have improved dramatically from the beginning of the season.

The younger kids all have one more short race on Friday and then E,J, and K are finished on Saturday. It has been a great time as a family, traveling to each meet and meeting other families. I will definitely miss our cross-country times but know with 9 kids who love to run, I'll have many more meets in our future. If only they had a parents' race!!!

God is so faithful

Short update- EVERYONE is doing really well. Our God is so faithful when we step out in faith and do something the world would say is crazy...

First ER visit in Williston

I just got back from the ER with Micah. We had a wonderful afternoon of soccer playing with our friends- great fun- then started doing some relay races. As soon as Micah started to do a crab walk, he collapsed, because his shoulder hurt so badly. When we got home, his left A/C joint was pretty swollen and extremely sore to the touch, so to the ER we went (my boy is very brave, so telling us he hurt made us know that he really was in a lot of pain).

After a LONG wait, we had several x-rays taken and it looks like it'll heal up quickly. He has to wear a sling for a few days (up to 10) and then we'll revisit if it is still hurting him. The radiologist will give his films a second read tomorrow to make sure nothing got missed.

We'd appreciate prayers for a rapid healing for him. It's his writing hand and he LOVES schoolwork and using the computer.

This girl

We've been fighting a bug that had Elli, then Mike pretty sick. Then yesterday, Layne got it. My Layne doesn't have the ability to throw up- thanks to a much needed corrective surgery when she was an infant- most of the time it's a great thing, except when she's sick. It's the saddest thing ever, as her little body says it needs to vomit and she's not able. It hurts, she hurts and then we all feel so horrible for her, as we watch her struggle. This morning was one of those mornings. Her tummy HURT and so we made the decision for me to stay home with her instead of watching the kids run in Glasgow today...

THEN, my sweet Leah didn't eat breakfast- you see she was sick too, but is so SWEET, she didn't want to take anything away from Layne. After the runners left, I crawled back in bed for awhile and my two L girls snuggled on the couch for a movie. When I came in the room, Leah flashed me this huge smile. Did she feel better? NO- she has a fever, headache and tummy ache, BUT, she has a Mom who loves her and takes care of her. She has a home where she can rest comfortably in when she's sick and she has a new little sister who adores her.

The picture above shows Leah smiling like she always does. It doesn't matter what she's doing, she smiles. She told me, "Leah don't know sad or mad. Leah is so happy." AND SHE IS!!

However, these words didn't describe Leah even a few short weeks ago. Whenever someone met her in Ethiopia, they would report back at how sad she looked. They would tell us she was kind and extremely shy. Well, she is still kind, but there is not a shy bone in her body. My girl will walk up to anyone (smiling), stick out her hand and say, "My name is Leah." What a difference a month makes. What a difference a family makes. Steven Curtis Chapman's song, "When Love Takes you in" is so true..."When love takes you in and says you belong..everything changes."


Now I wait for the phone to ring to tell me how the runners did....