A Very Full Day

Yep….it was a BUSY Saturday!

Erica’s basketball game.
Then Brock’s basketball tourney.
Then Micah’s post-placement visit with our social worker.
Then dinner with Tim, Ali, Tyler, Zack and Faith.

Whew…busy day.
The kids all fell asleep on the way home from dinner…a very quiet ride home, for sure.

I think Chad may have even caught a few zzzzzzzz’s on the way home…and HE was driving!!!

Fortunately there is nothing on the agenda for tomorrow, I am hoping for a very restful Sabbath.

Just like the "old days"...well, sorta.

Lookie what Erica and I whipped out tonight!

Don't ya just feel like you are looking at a scene right out of Little House on the Prairie?
Oh, come on, humor us!!

Erica wanted to make this skirt and apron for a little birthday party tomorrow. Her friend Genny invited Erica and another girl over for a "Laura Ingalls" theme celebration of her birthday. That sewing machine sure came in handy today!

Erica loves her skirt and apron...and she loves having to grab her skirt with both hands and pull it up a little so to climb stairs..."you know, like they would of done to cross a creek or something!) =)







I had to laugh, though, when right after we had finished, Genny called to make sure Erica was coming...I said "Yes! and she has her outfit all ready!"....and of course Genny replied, "OH, well we had 3 outfits to dress up in already!"

Well, now, my dear Genny, you have FOUR!!!
Happy Birthday!

What fun we had!!

This past weekend, Micah and I traveled across several time zones to spend time with our dear friend Stacy and her family! We had a GREAT time!



Washington state is beautiful...even when it is cold and snowy! Have I ever mentioned that I love mountains...seriously...they rank up there with sunsets and beaches for me! Micah was a trooper during our travels. The trip out was easier than the trip back (this "napping on the plane" picture, then, would obviously be on the trip out!)



Stacy's children are so sweet, and it was so fun to just hang out and be part of the family!



I especially loved to see Micah and sweet little Isaias playing together (not to mention their warm embraces of each other)...these boys first hung out together at Hannah's Hope orphange in Guatemala City!



Stacy is SUCH a good mommy! Her children adore her...and for good reason!



I continue to be amazed at the friendship that God wove together across these many miles. And I am thankful that Stacy would welcome Micah and I into her home!!! OH....and that reminds me to thank her hubby Mark, too! Wait...no pictures of Mark?? gasp! Well, anyway...he was quite the host... even baby sitting so that Stacy and I could enjoy a quiet dinner out!



What a blessing. And what sweet memories to treasure!!

And the rest of the family? Chad, Brock and Erica survived the 4 Micah-less days...but were very, very happy to wrap their arms around him at the airport. And I am reminded again how blessed I am by my sweet husband...he was super-fun-dad while I was gone, he was so happy for me to be able to share these days with Stacy, and he even had the house all tidy when we arrived home!

Immeasurably more!!!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine... Ephesians 3:20

6 years ago today it happened. We met for the first time together as "accountability partners."

I had been to a conference where the speaker talked about what a blessing an accountability partner can be...you know, that whole "iron sharpens iron" thing!? And after praying about it, I really felt like I should have one. But who? and how? and what? Over the next couple of weeks, a few different people crossed my mind....but I kept coming back to this "Carrie" person in my Sunday School class...I knew her a little bit, but would she think the idea was crazy? We talked about it and decided to give it a try. An accountability partner...GREAT! just what I had prayed for!!

But....

What exactly do accountability partners do when they meet?? Hmmmmm. Well, we sure wouldn't let a lack of direction stand in our way. We met that first time at Carrie's house, we shared prayer requests, and talked about the areas we felt we needed the most accountability, we talked about how our "meeting time" should go, we discussed starting some sort of Bible study together, we prayed,

... and I don't remember what we ate....but surely we ate something!!

And we did it all again the next week.
And the next.
And the next.
And the next.
Every week. With VERY few exceptions. For 6 years.

Over time, it became obvious that this sister in Christ shared so many of my views on so many things...and I loved talking to her...and I loved praying with her...and I loved studying the Bible with her...and I loved that our families had started hanging out together...and I loved that we laughed together, and I loved that we cried together.

I am not sure exactly when it happened...but at some point along the way, I realized that I had prayed for an accountablility partner, but the Lord had delivered into my life a very best friend. Indeed, "immeasutably more" than I had asked or imagined.

And so that is how it all started. 6 years ago today. And I am thankful....beyond words.

Go Horse!!

There are probably at least 50 things that I could post tonight that would be more important than me telling you that THE COLTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!! But, I am too worn out from watching that crazy game to post much of anything! ....stay tuned...tomorrow I will be post about our trip to visit Stacy!

Did I mention that the Colts are going to the Super Bowl!?!?!

Yipppeeeeee! How fun! Go Blue!

HI!! ....from the Pacific Northwest!!

We're not in Indiana anymore, Toto!!

Micah and I have journeyed to see our dear friends...Stacy and her family! Our long distance friendship with their family started during our adoption process. We are now sleeping about as far from Indiana as you can get and still be in the Continental United States!

Micah was a trooper on the trip here. God blessed us by giving us an entire row of seats to ourselves on the flight from St. Louis to here! Thank you, Lord!!! He napped and played and snacked and flirted with the girls in the row behind us. Next thing I knew...we were landing!

It has been such a blessing already to catch up with Stacy and her family. We are looking forward to 3 more days to share in their lives. Details and pictures will be coming soon! My only regret is that the whole family did not make this trip...Brock and Erica were not thrilled about me whisking Micah away for 4 days, that's for sure!

Ok...gotta go...I can smell those muffins cooking! Yummy!

And the cute little baby finally just passed out....

Goodness. Things have been bustling around here!

The Christmas trees are finally down (oooops. except that one in Erica's room. still gotta do that one!)....sad isn't it? middle of January. But, seriously, the kids BEGGED me to leave them up until they went back to school, which was just Tuesday...so, that's not so bad, right?

We are back into the swing of school and basketball.

But, the real bustle is....we are finally finishing our master bathroom/closet!!! I say FINALLY because we did our remodeling like 2 years ago. We had planned all along to wait awhile on finishing THAT part, but, I had secretly.....or not so secretly.....hoped that it would have been done by now. We have had little "blips" of progress over the past 2 years, but I think we are in the serious pursuit of the END at this point! Maybe I will post some "before and after" pics sometime?!? Lots of dust at this point, and lots of decisions...fixtures, tub, paint color, cabinets, toilet....sigh.

Micah has loved exploring this new area of the house. If the door to the bathroom is open, he is headed in there. He has played in the drywall mud, tried his skills at hammering, painted his arm and hair...you know, all that good stuff! Like any good human with a Y chromosome, though, he gets BORED with the shopping. Here he is on our "light fixture" outing yesterday....



...better sleeping than crying, right!?!? Good boy....you just sleep there and let mama shop.

He chose me...

I have quoted Ann, from Holy Experience before...and I am going to again today...and I will probably quote her again in the future. If you have never been to her blog before, I highly recommend you visit.

Anyway, I was reading this post and came to this C.S. Lewis quote:

"He could if He chose, repair our bodies miraculously without food;
or give us food without the aid of farmers, bakers, and butchers;
or knowledge without the aid of learned men;
or convert the heathen without missionaries.
Instead He allows soil and weather and animals,
and the muscles, minds and wills of men
to co-operate in the execution of His will."
~C.S. Lewis

And then Ann added this prayer:

You could, if You chose, raise up children without mothers. But You choose to use us.

May my mind,
and my will
and my tongue
co-operate in the execution of Your will today, Lord...

Put Your words in my mouth, Your love in my heart, Your thoughts in my mind today, Father.
All of me is an instrument of Your will.
Use me.

And....it hit me...God did not NEED me to raise Brock, Erica and Micah....He CHOSE me to do it because He WANTED me to do it. ME. ME! With all my failures (and He KNEW that I was going to fail sometimes!) and all my weaknesses (He created me with those weaknesses, don't you know??)...despite all of that, He CHOSE me...

....and I am so honored!

Thank you, Lord, for this priviledge. I am your servant...use ME.

Sigh.....so what if I wore jeans!?!?!?!

Sigh.

Back to work after almost 2 weeks away from the office!

I "eased" back into it by:
1. Taking Erica with me....she was begging to go, and I LOVE it when my kids want to go with me!!
2. Just couldn't pull out those "professional clothes" this week...stickin' with the jeans for another couple of days!!

So...how about you?? Getting back into the usual routine yet?

The blind leading the blind!!

Gummie gave Erica a new sewing machine for Christmas...and, well, this morning we decided to get 'er out of the box and give it a whirl!

Erica wanted to make some PJ's for her American Girl doll.

I am NOT a seamstress...seriously...1 year of 4-H sewing...and then there were those pillow cases we made in home-ec class in high school. Anyway, it was enough to make me think we could tackle a pair of PJ's. And, so we did. Erica did almost all the sewing on the bottoms!!

Don't look too close. We made our own pattern.

They may not be perfect, but Erica thinks they are "VERY PRETTY"!




Next up....Erica wants to do some pattern shopping....stay tuned!

Happy New Year 2007!!!!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!"
2 Cor. 5:17

We pray that your 2007 will be filled with many blessings from God's loving hand!

Aren't you glad that we serve a God of fresh starts, new beginnings and clean slates!?!?!