Friday, December 25, 2015

Christmas 2015

Our first Christmas at the Barn House!

The boys and Daddy went out on the land 
and found a rustic Christmas tree.





EJ tied that tree down four different ways 
but that was no match for the Kansas wind.


Q and I decided we better remedy this situation. 
We found a display tree that was skinny enough to 
fit in our small barn house living room. 
We got it for 1/2 off 4 days before Christmas. 

Perfect!

Happy kids on Christmas Eve.




W read "Twas the Night before Christmas" to his baby brothers.

Grandma made gluten free, dairy free, egg free 
sugar cookie dough for us. 
What a blessing!

Christmas morning was a blast!











We celebrated with Grandma and Papa!



Then we celebrated with our "Four Sisters Farm" Family.


Pop and Grammy with 16 of their 17 grandchildren.
Little Sister will be home from China by next Christmas!


We love to celebrate Christmas.

God sent his son Jesus just for us.

I would say we have a reason to celebrate!

Merry Christmas!!!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Introducing Little Sister!

We are beyond thrilled to introduce you to our new daughter!



On December 9th, our agency emailed us her file to consider. Could she be our daughter? We have had the opportunity to review several other files but I have never had the reaction I had to little sister's file. 

The Lord gave us the word "Restore" in regards to our adoption. When I read the file the word "Restore" fell on me all over again.


All adoptions in China begin with abandonment. We knew that going into this. I'm not sure why the reality of Little Sister's story was more than I could bear. I went about my day holding it together but by that night it was all too much. EJ found me sobbing in the laundry room.

I was completely overcome.

Our precious girl was found at the age of 2. She had a heart problem and needed to have surgery. I have been told that surgery is very expensive and you must pay up front. Once under the care of the orphanage she received her surgery.

I will never know the whole story. Little Sister will never know about the first two years of her life. You see, it is illegal to abandon a child. Her parents left no identifying information. No birth date. No name.

I picture her, a tiny two year old, standing alone. She is wondering where she is. Where is her family? I weep for her. She must have been so scared. Did she cry? Was she just frozen in fear? I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have scooped her up in my arms. I would have whispered in her ear that it is all going to be okay. Oh how I wish she had never gone through this kind of pain.

I picture her Mother. I cannot imagine the anguish she must have felt. I do not know all the circumstances but I know what it feels like to be a mother. I weep for her. She must have felt so hopeless. I wish I could tell her that I am coming. I will finish the race. I am honored to be the mother of her baby girl. Oh how I wish I could tell her. How I wish I could get to know her.

To my sweet daughter,

We will never know the beginning of your story...

but God knows.

He knows your name. 

He knows your story. 

He loves you so.

Did you know that God says he places the lonely in families?

You won't have to be lonely any longer, my sweet girl.

Your Mommy and Daddy are coming!

We will be there as soon as we can.

Guess what?

You have 6 siblings waiting for you! 5 brothers and 1 sister. They have been praying and waiting for you.

We stare at your picture and wonder what you will think of all of us.

We are praying for your heart.

We are asking God to whisper our voices in your ear.

We love you little sister.

You are coming home!

Love, 
Daddy, Mommy and your brothers and sister



Thursday, December 10, 2015

B is 10!


Double Digits!!!


We had a science themed party for our science loving fella.



We are so proud to be his Mom and Dad!

Grandma and Papa

Grammy and Pop