IS SHE REALLY 6???

It doesn't seem possible, but it is true. Laurel is 6!!! We didn't plan big parties this year b/c of all we have had going on working on the house. We still had a great time with a silly photo booth I set up. Everybody was a great sport! Laurel got a beautiful bicycle, a saddle, boots, a baby seat for the back of her bike, a pink saddle pad, coloring stuff and a playdough dentist set (horrible yes, but she loves it). She had a great birthday and we are grateful to our friends and family for all you do for us!

Budding Photographers??

The babies and I went on a nature walk a while back and I was trying to teach them a little about photography. Not that I know much but I would like them to enjoy it like I do! I enjoyed teaching them about centering objects and how to get the camera to focus on objects close up. They both had a blast and  took some pretty good photographs! The last 3 I found on my camera after Noah had it without me knowing. I was pleasantly surprised!! The last one may be the one he enters in the fair this year. Which one do you think he should enter? Laurel won't be entering one this year because she will be showing Rachael's horse Lilly...which she is SUPER excited about :)

WOW!! HAS IT BEEN THIS LONG??!!

Arlington National Cemetary

Laurel Graduating Pre School!

Washington DC

Lincoln Memorial

Nana, Poppy, Aunt Michelle, in DC

Vietnam Memorial was my favorite!

Finding a name of one of Poppy's buddy who was killed in Vietnam

Cookie decorating!

Sight and Sound Theatre seeing NOAH!! AWESOME!

Amish Buggy Ride

Waiting for the Train

Dinner Train!!

Gettysburg

HAPPY 4TH!!

Has it really been this long??? Wow! Lots of pictures to catch up the summer. Here are the some highlights....
--Laurel graduated Preschool! She's officially a kindergartener
--Noah survived his first year homeschooling and starts 1st grade!
-- We went to Pennsylvania with Nana & Poppy for vacation this year. The kids just love Amish Country. Saw so much and added DC to our trip this year. So much fun!
-- Went to the beach for a short weekend trip (pics to follow)
--Laurel got her second Cochlear Implant and is doing great!
-- Celebrated 4th of July with friends, swimming and fireworks
-- working working working on our addition and close to being finished!!

So.... that's it for now. No great words of wisdom. ;) we are just trying to get into some normalcy and routine and ramp up for another homeschool year! I promise I'll post more a lot sooner next time!

Redemption

Thank you to a wonderful friend Glenn Vonk for the photograph.
She is a treasure.

Sometimes There are No Words....

Patience

Girl, born 2004
HIV, mild mental delays
Patience has parentage of mixed backgrounds (her father was reportedly a visiting foreign exchange student) and she is treated poorly because of her skin color.  She is not in a great orphanage; she desperately needs a family.
From a family who met her in 2012:
She’s precious and sweet, but was terrified. They said she doesn’t talk hardly at all ever- my guess is selective mutism. She was definitely the racial minority, no apparent physical disability at all, very smart, receptive language skills seemed awesome. We just adored her and felt so sorry for her.
She would press up close to us and slide one little dark hand over and touch my knee and then the others would yell at her and she’d cringe and her eyes would cloud over and she’d slide to the back of the pack and just watch. We just loved her. Truly.



I have no doubt my God is in control. But if I were honest with myself and with others, I would have to say that I do struggle with the "Why" part at times. This little girl has grabbed my heart. It is hard to get her out of my mind. To know that even when I am not thinking about her, she is still there. Living in her private hell. We witnessed this racism. We saw a young, white mother visit her infant everyday in the orphanage only to return it a few hours later to the caregivers and go home for the day. Why??? Because her family was too ashamed to let her take it home because it was a mixed race child.

This little girl deserves better than this. By initiating any contact at all, it shows she wants love, but for how long? How long will she hold out hope? When we close our eyes and go to sleep, she still waits. When we get up to our own comfortable lives, she still waits. Another adoptive mom has met her and in her words says she is "awesome". Does she have issues. Absolutely, who wouldn't after living like that for so long. This mom says that both the children and the caregivers mistreat this little 8 yr old girl. 

God does care. He cares about the birds and flowers and so I KNOW he cares about His children that much more. But WE are His hands and feet. That is how he gets the glory. It is so much bigger than us. If  anyone is  interested in helping this little girl, please go to www.reecesrainbow.org under Newly Listed Children and donate to her account. Adoption is expensive. It is paying the ransom for a child to have a life! Pray for her. "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much" so DO it. Let's pray her out of her personal hell and into a family that can teach her about the Eternal love of a Father who will NEVER leave her. 

Trains & Boats

WAITING FOR THE TRAIN

NOAH IN HEAVEN ON GRANDAT'S BOAT

SNACKING ON THE TRAIN

Noah & Mike got to go on an adventure last weekend. They took the train down to Charleston to take a ride on Grandat's sailboat. To say that Noah was in heaven was an absolute understatement of the century!
They had such a great time and the weather was perfect. Laurel and I got to have a fun girls weekend being silly. Love my girl! When we picked them up on Sunday, we visited the 82nd Airborne Museum. These flags were flying in memory of some of our fallen soldiers. It was a very moving sight.

Up next....... Backyard Bible Clubs at our church. 1 week packed full of games, songs, bible stories etc.... An EXHAUSTING week but looking forward to it an the lives that can be touched!!