Lots of Choc

If your Holiday was anything like ours you ended up eating lots of "choc" and many other things that you don't want to see for a long, long time! Once again I'm sure one of my New Year's Resolutions will be to lose 20 lbs. Also, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to read the New Testament through twice in 2009. Our church is challenging everyone to this in 2009 and I think it's wonderful! What are YOUR resolutions this year?

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Sorry it's been so long since we've updated. So much going on this Christmas Season!--Good things though. Friday, we took a team from church to Boone, NC to work in the Operation Christmas Child warehouse to help go through and package shoeboxes. What an experience. They had already processed 620,000 boxes which was already a record for Boone! The boxes that we packed that day were going to an African country called Benin. It was surreal knowing that these boxes were going to children who had never seen most of these toys AND they were going to be able to hear the Gospel. I definately want to do this again..... and maybe just maybe be on a delivery team one day. If I don't update before Christmas I hope you all have a wonderful, joy-filled Christmas!

Santa Train

We had one of those marathon weekends again. It started with the church Christmas party and ended with a Santa train ride. The church party was great with over 100 people there and lots of good food, fellowship and laughs! Once again, Elvis took down the house although the ZZ Top and dancing shepherds were a close second!! Today, Mike and I took Noah for some family time on the Santa train ride and he loved it. He is addicted to trains and hates Santa, but this time he didn't even cry when he saw him. I could have something to do with the fact that this Santa gave him a candycane. What a great weekend. We STILL haven't done much Christmas shopping. I think we are in denial that it's coming up so quickly! Merry Christmas everyone.... enjoy the little moments.

PS: Mike actually updated his blog so take a look

Combine

A little boy's wish.... to ride the Combine. Sunday, Noah kept watching the combine out the window that was harvesting the soybeans. Mike, being the wonderful Daddy that he is, stopped the driver and asked if he and Noah could ride along. He was a very nice man and invited them along to ride. Noah was asleep by row 2 of soybeans. He LOVED it and kept saying "achoo combine" when he was done. Translation.... thank you combine. Thanks to Mr. Ricky for this little boys dreams coming true.

Picking the Perfect Tree

Our family tradition is go to a local cypress tree farm and pick a tree. Then we bring the tree home, have hot chocolate and cookies and decorate it! This year we did all that with a 2 year old and had a blast. Noah loved looking at all the ornaments and needless to say the hot chocolate and cookies were a hit! The first picture of the tree in the field is the where Rachael and John have chosen to have their wedding. It is one of my favorite spots on John's farm and will make a beautiful wedding spot!

THANKING THE GIVER

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours has been full of wonderful family & friends and lots of food!! We've been trying to help Noah understand a little about Thanksgiving and telling him it's a time that we thank God for all the things He has done for us and given to us. So, hopefully a little is sinking in.... you be the judge... ;)

YEEHAW!

Noah is oficially addicted to riding horses....well for a few minutes anyway. Every morning he wants to walk to the pond to see the horses and have me put him on their backs (while holding onto him for dear life of course). Rachael has assured me that I will end up on some website somewhere on worlds worst mom's with his picture on the horse and no bridle, saddle or helmet. Oh well. I guess we've all got to have our 15 min. of fame ;) He has even taken to riding his stick horse that his cousing Miranda and Keithan gave him a while ago. I love his little personality but now I know why my Dad never could watch me ride. I'm pretty sure he can only ride a tiny shetland pony when he's ready to take riding lessons. It is definately too nerve racking!!

Anyway, Rachael, John, Mike and I went riding on John's farm on Saturday for his big last "hurrah" ride b/4 marching off to war. I tried and tried to break John's legs so he wouldn't have to go but only managed to get dumped by Lilly and almost killed myself. The sunset there was completely unbelievable. There was a double rainbow and cars were stopping in the field so they could see it.

Adoption note: We have gotten all of our paperwork notarized and I will take my dossier to the Clerk of Courts to get it county certified next week. I am still WAITING on our homestudy. We are told by our social worker that the agency has it so hopefully we'll be receiving that very soon in order to finish our paperwork by January and start filing for financial aide. Thanks for the prayers!

HAPPY FALL

What have we been up to you ask?? Play, Play, Play!! The leaves are falling and the weather is perfect for outside play. Noah has to have his daily (sometimes twice daily) dose of walking down to the pond to see the horses. Mike made a huge pile of leaves for him to play in and he's in heaven, rolling around in them and being silly. I love watching seasons through the eyes of a toddler. It's the little things that get them excited like the huge yellow leaf they find or watching a deer run through the field. I thank God that He has allowed Noah to grow up in such a place rich with nature and history.

MIKE'S BLOG

I know it's hard to believe but check out Mike's blog. He actually updated it today!

In Preparation for Thanksgiving

Noah's first encounter with a snake (dead of course)
Leanna and My table at the Ladies Thanksgiving Celebration at our church (above)-theme-Forest glade.
My mom and Rachael's table (below)- theme is Veteran's Day
Our church had their annual Ladies Thanksgiving Celebration today. It is an outreach even where we try to fill our table with women with whom we want to minister to. Praise God all seats at all the tables were full!! Only one seat was vacant and I like to think we saved that one for Jesus to sit at. We had 64 ladies at the luncheon who heard the Gospel of Christ loud and clear. This really got me in the holiday spirit. It also got me thinking of something God has brought to my attention lately which is just how many people that I know within my little circle that are physically hungry. I mean that they don't have enough food for the week. It is something that I have not had to deal with in my life but suddenly all around me there seems physical and spiritual hunger. I help run a small food pantry out of our church and perhaps this has brought to my attention the need. Last week at a meeting I attend once a month, our speaker was a lady that helped run the Food Pantry in the small town where I live. I was shocked to know that they feed 550-600 people every 30 days! I was also shocked at the small amount of food that they were able to give these families. Also last week, a family was brought to my attention with 5 children who had no food in their house. For breakfast they had chili beans and water. It made me so thankful for all of the things I have been blessed with. So my challenge to you is this...... branch out of your comfort zone, see people through Jesus' eyes. Also, try to be very perceptive of peoples REAL life situations. My experience with many families I've seen use the food pantry is that they live in nice houses and don't look like what we believe to be the "typical" person who would need help. After all, we never know when we may need a helping hand.

Adoption Update: I met with the social worker tonight. She was helping me to put together our dossier (papers to send to the Ukraine). A lot of issues in them need to be corrected but strangely I feel a peace about it that I haven't had in a while (praise God!). I know some of you out there are praying and for that I am grateful. So here is the latest time line we are shooting for. November and December I will be fixing my paperwork, getting it notarized, authenticated and state sealed. We will submit the Dossier to the Ukraine Embassy in January. After they translate it, they will send it to the the Embassy in Kiev. This process will take a few months. Then, we will get a letter to fly from the Ukraine (if we are approved) which could be anywhere from a few months out to 6-8 months out. Either way, hopefully 2009 will be the year we'll get our little girl.

PRAYER REQUEST: Pray that my Homestudy will come in the next few weeks (it is finished and we passed!) so we can begin applying for grants and financial aide.
Pray that God has picked out the perfect little girl for our family. It's a little surreal to know that she has probably been born now. Thank ya'll so much for your prayers!

Get out and VOTE

Those of you who know me know that I would NEVER try to make anyone's mind up for them. I would especially NEVER tell anyone who to vote for. It's just not me. YEAH RIGHT!! Today is election day people. If you haven't voted please exercise this great freedom that we have to cast a secret ballot without fear of intimidation or oppression. If you still haven't made up your mind, I'll be by my phone all day taking calls with wonderful advice on who I believe is the best candidate for the job :) But regardless of who you are leaning towards (hopefully the right), please use this freedom we have been given wisely. I do say all of this partly joking but I would like to leave you with a few thoughts that our pastor shared with us on Sunday.
Who wins on Tuesday will not change some of the most important things. It will not change that the Bible is true. It will not change that God is Sovereign. It will not change that we are covered by Jesus' blood. It will not change the fact that if we believe in Jesus' name and repent from our sins that we will have eternal life. PRAISE THE LORD!!! But, as Christians, we do have a huge responsibility and that is to pray for whomever God allows to be our leader and that we must do faithfully.

TRICK OR TREAT

Noah doing "scary face"
Well, Noah successfully completed his first Trick or Treat experience. We went downtown to visit the stores that were open and giving out candy in the historic district and got to see lots of little trick or treaters. He loved that!! Then we went to see his great, great Uncle CB and and Lottie or "La and B" as he calls them and on to Nana and Poppy's to make candy apples. He had 5 lollipops in 2 hours. I'm pretty sure that's a record. Hopefully all of his teeth won't fall out. Ahh the memories.

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY MY BABY BOY!!

SOME OF US GOING ON A HAYRIDE

PLAYING "FISHING FOR TADPOLES"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU........

BOUNCING IN THE MOONBOUNCE

No way that my baby boy is 2 years old!! We had a wonderful party with some friends and family and would loved to have had many more but Alas, our house is too small!! Noah had is own private moonbounce, fish for tadpoles, ate lots of cake, had a hayride and enjoyed playing with his friend Jacob. I am so blessed to be Noah's mama. We love you so much baby boy!!

WHAT A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!

Congrats Tommy and Leanna!! You are a match made in heaven!!

We were doing the "twist"

THE FAIR

Fishing for a prize

When I asked Noah what his favorite thing at the fair was he said "baby chicks"

Have you ever just had a wonderful yet exhausting weekend? We were so blessed to watch Tommy and Leanna finally tie the knot and have a fun reception on Saturday. You guys are definately made for each other and you did it right!! We're so proud of you. Then, Sunday we heard a great sermon from our pastor who is doing a series on the names of God and how they should affect our lives. It is extremely thought provoking and we are enjoying it so much. Then Mike decided to play hooky from studying and took us to the Fair!! We weren't sure how Noah would do but he loved it so much. He was too short to really ride anything but the slide, but the animals were his favorite. He also had a mini meltdown when we had to leave the fishing booth. I just love my little family and it is so neat seeing things through Noah's eyes.

Adoption note: Our I 600 A to the government was approved and we have an appointment to go for fingerprinting next Tuesday. We are getting the paperwork together for our dossier and hope to have it done in the next few weeks. Still waiting on the homestudy but once it is received we will send it in and wait for our 171 clearance which usually takes a month or two. You can pray for: 1. Our dossier paperwork to come together 2. Clarity about paperwork from our adoption agency 3. Financing the adoption to come together 4. Our little girl who is out there waiting for us!! Thank you so much!!