Two Years Ago Today...

Two years ago today we held our sweet Jonas in our arms for the 1st time! 

What a quick two years it's been.

 Take a look back at our Journey to Jonas

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Today represents so much to me as a mom... the same as birthing my biological children! When the nannies brought our son to us we never realized how blessed we were going to be having Jonas in our family.  That moment of laying eyes on him for the 1st time still melts my heart like it was yesterday. His big brown eyes looking at us, he was trusting us, so loving nestled in my arms within an hour asleep hearing  the sound of my heartbeat. I was thankful he didn't cry once and felt secure. My mama bear protecting self came out.. more than ever before.  That first night I watched him so closely as he slept and just couldn't believe he was mine .. how did I get to be so lucky to be his mother? 

 I just couldn't wait to get to know him and catch up on all we had missed. 

The past two years have inspired so many around us .. his life is changing the people's lives he encounters. God is using this child for his Glory and I'm so thankful I get to sit back and watch! 

Thank you Jonas for being my son! I love you so much more than you will ever know.

If God lined up all the children in the entire world... I would pick you every time! 

Click here for details 

Homecomings

Last week we had the honor of watching one of our best friends bring home their baby girl ADA. 

It was a celebration with tons of family and friends witnessing such a great homecoming!  

With the last few weeks dragging on for them, she is finally with her forever family where she belongs. 

All the kids waiting patiently .. welcoming Ada 

 Lyla (on the far left) with her friends waiting to meet her new baby sister 

 the moment has arrived where the boys meet their baby sister for the 1st time!

She is just beautiful with her soft sweet curls and big beautiful brown eyes! 

If I could arrange a marriage I would! 

The rush of emotions burst out when she sees her mom 

 The new family of 6! Welcome to the club:) 

What a blessing it's been to watch our friends go through this process. It was such a huge leap of faith to trust in God and follow his calling.They trusted and God provided everything along the way. It was this time last year they sat in our living room telling us the news they wanted to adopt and asked us every question you could think of. They knew it was the next right step for them! I was like a kid in a candy store doing the happy dance all over the living room after they left that night!  I was just so excited!!  You almost want to pinch yourself thinking we are going to share in such a great bond having children from Ethiopia together. Our children were already so close and this is going to bring them even closer. Were in this journey together and just so thankful we have them to share it with! With a few other friends now in the process we are going to have such a beautiful group of families here!   I was looking back at this time last year we were welcoming home another precious child.

One year ago today sweet Haben came home to join the group. 

You can read about his homecoming here . 

 This is Haben waiting at the airport for Ada. 

Oh how I could go on and on about how sweet this boy is!

I'm in love! 

I'm so lucky to be able to call him my God Son, Welcome one year home Haben

 I am so blessed to be able to be a part of your life and watch you grow!

I wonder if being on the other side of this homecoming brings back any memories for him? For all our children to see homecomings, I know it pulls on their hearts and hopefully they will keep seeing them happen for years and years ahead. 

A Snapshot

Our snapshot of Easter! made by Aunt Allee 

Allee my sister came to spend the day with us! What a blessing it is to have her so close... I need to enjoy it while I can as she only has one more year left of school and who knows where God is going to take her. 

I think God has some really big plans for her in the mission field.

 So exciting to able to watch God prepare her for what he has planned ahead. 

Oh there is never a dull moment with our little Jonas, Easter wasn't any different. 

It was the typical Easter hunt, all the kids take off running to find the eggs hidden in the yard. All the others on a mission to find the most eggs but not Jonas .. he was focused on one thing only...CANDY!

He found the first egg and as quick as he picked up the egg it was riped opened and thrown on the ground.

   He then would scream,dying laughing, saying Candy, no way really Candy! Really he thought it was the funniest thing ever and so did all the rest of us as we all were dying laughing too. He was just so funny!  All the while the other kids had their Easter basket half full .. Jonas was stuck on the one egg and ready to just enjoy it. He had no concept the more eggs you found the more candy you would have. 

So, he moved on to find two more eggs and was the happiest kid in the world
with just three eggs and three pieces of candy. 

Oh how I wished I had this video taped as you would be just dying of laughter seeing how happy Jonas was to find his eggs. 

  Really a little lesson we could all learn is to just enjoy each gift that is given.. really isn't that was Easter is all about being thankful for the one who gave his gift of life for us. 

Oh Jonas you get it and don't even know it yet! 

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Haircut

Someone got a haircut? 

Yes, while I was packing boxes one day Scott took Jonas for a haircut. 

I thought just a little trim but instead he got a School Boy Cut... aka a total shave! 

I was so shocked when he walked in the door and

yes almost cried because he didn't look like the same kid at all! 

So grown up ... were did my cute fuzzy head little boy go?

 He turned into a sophisticated little boy where you could see every facial expression he makes.

His dimples looked bigger and those eyebrows were moving with every word he speaks.

His whole face just lights up now and melts my heart even more! 

Before 

After

Along with his new haircut being cute, it is super super easy!!

 In this picture, I feel like I can totally see him in the years ahead and 

see what he will look like when he's older.

 Oh what a lady killer he's going to be! 

Watch out ladies our little J-Man is going to be charmer.

Were Moving

Today is the big day! 

We are moving not far just a 3 mile drive away to our friend's rental. 

I ain't going to lie, I'm sad .. I love my house... really everything about it! 

We have made it our home and our favorite place we have lived. 

Our neighbors are rock stars, just plain awesome like family looking after us and loving our kids. 

For the past 5 1/2 years we have built our most precious moments in this house. One's I know the twins remember some but Kate will not having any. Most importantly Scott and I hold this house dear to us as we have had the greatest years of our life here bringing home Jonas and Kate plus raising our twins.. there are just so many FIRST times accomplished here. Mainly this house been a place that Scott and I have learned to be parents I look at this picture below and a rush of emotion come over me. We were clueless and majorly sleep deprived! The twins were only a month old moving into this house... crazy I know!! 

 Just look how tiny they were

Moving into our brand new house 5  1/2 years ago! The twins were a month old  

I remember breastfeeding both of them in our closet and a mover came in 

boy, that was forever embarrassing! 

It was a rough time not knowing anyone here and being a new mom.

 I counted the minutes down until Scott got home from work every night. 

but I knew we were right where we belonged... the night we moved in the sunset was breathtaking 

and also gave me peace and excitement for what was in store. 

Me and Parker the night we moved in 

Here we are today, wow how has life changed.

 God has given us so many blessings!

Even though we won't be in the house anymore we will always remember the shared moments. 

Still makes me sad! I hate change 

 But this change will hopefully be for the better as we really needed a back yard and one more bedroom so Kate doesn't have to sleep in our room anymore.  

Hopefully after we finally find a home to buy we won't be moving ever again!! 

I want to dig my roots in deep and have a strong foundation of stability  for my kids to grow up with.

Even though I know we don't always get what we want in life 

 Don't we all look so much older ... even Lucky has grey hair. 

So, the next chapter begins while we look for our forever home.. say a prayer that God makes his direction clear and where we will be used the most by Him. stay tuned...

Click here for details 

Not Giving Up

Our friends have reach a road block .. actually many of them! 

They have been encountering some MAJOR warfare!

Just about two weeks ago my sweet friend Jessica went to the ER to find out she had a slipped disk in her neck which was resting on a nerve. 

She had to have surgery which went smoothly and no permanent nerve damage.  Such a blessing!  It is extremely painful if you can only imagine and with 6 kids to care of and 4 weeks of bed rest I would feel defeated. Since then other crazy events have come up including a root canal, dog injury (slipped disk too.. CRAZY), and then their refrigerator went out. These past few months have been extremely challenging to say the least...  this family is under some major warfare. 

I do think most families would have given up and thrown in the towel but instead this family is only becoming stronger. Read more about it all here... 

Instead of them giving up on bringing home their 7th child they are clinging to this verse ... 

Ephesians 6:10-13
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

It should be encouraging to us all not to give up when 

we come across the more difficult times in our lives. 

So, this family needs your help! 

Even if you have never met this family, 

Christ calls us to help our brothers and sisters when they are in need. 

They are trying to raise enough money to bring home their beautiful little Ethiopian boy!

So, far they have raised $4615 which is amazing! 

But they have $5385 left to raise. 

They really need a few of you (well actually 769 of you) 

to pitch in $7 so they can reach their goal.

Seven dollars doesn't sound like much--but every $7 given really adds up.

Now, if 54 of you want to give one of these

then they can wrap this thing up just like that (how great would that be??? :-)

Please click here to donate today 

Don't forget to pass this link along to everyone... 

twitter, Facebook and/or  your blog.

Word of mouth is how this works so they need your help getting their story out there! 

Here is their link http://www.acharityproject.com/f/7forour7th

Help spread the word!!!

Happy Monday

Pure happiness bursting from his smile! 

such priceless pictures capturing the beautiful joy children bring to life 

Hoping this is contagious to your day 

Thanks Emily for capturing the joy

Happy Monday Morning 

KaTee Kate

Is what Jonas calls Kate... actually both boys call Kate, Katie, which I think is pretty cute.
 Our little Kate turns 9 months old today!

 For me I think this age is one of my favorite 

Yes, it's true I think being the youngest of 4 she is learning fast

and growing up even faster.. makes me sad. 

 She loves the swing and could sit in it for hours 

Getting a picture with her smiling can be hard to do, she just too quick ... 

 By far she is my chunkiest baby! Look at those thighs ... don't you just want to eat them they are so cute!! 

 Caught another happy face... loving the swing 

 Still loves to blow bubbles for entertainment... still NO teeth. 

After a long afternoon of swinging a girl can get tired! 

Such a rough life