Reflections....

2010 has been a year of phenomenal growth for me in the area of trusting God more. When I was asking God for a verse last year I had no idea what He was going to do in our lives this year. Which is probably good because, knowing me, I would have shrank back and missed out on it all.

Sometimes I feel like Sarah in the Bible. Remember, she laughed when God told her she would have a child in her old age? Well, when God told me in January of last year that not only would we adopt again but that I would also write a book it caused ripples and gales of laughter! Seriously God, you must be joking, right?! Um, nope! In fact to prove His point, He allowed us to go thru the adoption process in high speed (much to our Social Workers delight....NOT! LOL!) From start to finish it took us 12 days!

 Now that's God!

 But let me back up....

I began writing a book and only had a couple of pages done when I sent it off to a publisher to see if they would be interested. One Friday night I was astounded to find a contract from the publisher in the mail. They wanted my book and they hadn't even seen more than 7 pages!!

Now that my friends, is most certainly God!! 

I signed the contract and within days found out about a sweet baby boy born that no one wanted due to some serious issues in his family tree. Sean and I talked and prayed about him and much to my amazement, Sean said yes pretty much instantly. If you know anything about our adoption stories you know that response

could only be God!! 

He blew our minds and blessed our hearts ABUNDANTLY! Samuel Tobias, no matter what his future holds, is an amazing, humbling, beautiful gift to us! Words can not contain our thankfulness and praises to God Almighty for this good gift.

That's not to say our year did not have its' share of valleys because it did....it does. Due to our children's past (each of them) our futures will always have incredible challenges....mountaintop highs and deep valley lows.  But it's not that much different than yours. Whether you are dealing with children's behaviors, health issues, job loss, divorce, loss of a child, or loneliness, it hurts deeply. But let me tell you, God is there with you. He wants to help. He wants to comfort. He wants your trust. But you need to let Him in. It's up to you to turn the controls of your life over to Him. Scary, I know. But He loves you and I promise He will take good care of you!

Where will 2011 take you? What adventures await? Will you be on the mountain top exalting God? Better yet, will you, while in the deep valleys, be just as content to exalt and praise God there? That's my hearts desire....to continually, no matter what the situation, good or bad, to be praising and worshiping God with all I am. After all, it's the least I can do after all He's done for me!!

Wishing you more of God in your life in this New Year!

No Worries...I got this mom!

 Uh-oh! Something's brewing in that brain. Just look at those eyes. Hmmm, wonder what it is...

 

Hey mom, I've got an idea....no worries....I got this....

See first you got to grab this nifty little item....

Slippery little bugger it is...

Ah ha! I got it! Now what?  

Yeah, that's the ticket. The hand works so much better...scoop, shovel, scoop, shovel....

See mom. I told you I had this. So what if you have to change my clothes, give me another bath and hose down the kitchen....that's what being a baby is all about!! :)

Oh yeah baby!! :)

A Recap in Pictures....

 Engrossed in the movie "Polar Express"

 Our annual Shepherd's Meal. We try to imagine what it was like to be a shepherd on the day Jesus was born. We eat yummy turkey chowder, homemade bread, fruit, and homemade cookies for dessert. We read from the Bible; The birth of Jesus, the death of Jesus and then the resurrection of Jesus. We finish up with Christmas songs and a prayer. The kids always look so forward to this time together!

 Gabriella and Connor sang on Christmas Eve and she begged to wear her "pretty dress". This dress is really her flower girl dress for big brothers' upcoming wedding but we are sure getting our money's worth from it! LOL! These next pictures are all of Christmas Eve service....

 It's become a tradition to stop at McD's on our way home from church Christmas Eve. The little's were beside themselves with joy! :)

 This is the girls crowding around Hannah's (Ryan's girlfriend) phone. She had a game on it that you could color the princess dress and my girls were all over that. :)

 Winding down Christmas Eve night. Samuel passed out on daddy and he reminded me of a koala bear hanging on. It wasn't but an hour or so later he broke out in hives on his face that had us watching him closely to see if he needed to head to the ER. Sean and I decided that for him at least, the spiritual battle is heaviest over the holidays. Thanksgiving found us in the ER after he had an allergic reaction and again on Christmas Eve he had an allergic reaction to something, who knows what! Thank God after several hours the hives went away and his breathing was just fine.

 A view of the living room Christmas morning before the little's came downstairs. Nice and orderly but not for long! LOL!

 Anxiously waiting for the ok to come downstairs on Christmas morn.

 I just love this one. Kyalynn's face is priceless! She was so excited about getting Pablo from the Backyardigans. The next picture is right after she kissed him. :)

 Gabriella has been begging me for a B*rbie doll but I just am not sold on the idea so I met her in the middle with a Sleeping Beauty doll. She was so excited!!

Kyalynn with her Pablo and sportin' her new Jesse (from Toy Story) hat.

God so blessed us with wonderful family memories and love abundant! We were also blessed by a family (whom we had never met) from our church that wanted to bless our little ones with gifts and also prepared Christmas dinner for us. What an amazing day!

Happy...

Happy Holidays

 from all of us on the Mountain Top!!!

Hope your days are OVERFLOWING with God's love and blessings!!

Remember....

8!

Yesterday was Connor's birthday. He was so excited to no longer need to be in a carseat. Yeah! More room in the truck! :) He was sung too at Sunday School and got a prize (a whoopie cushion - which the little's all thought was HYSTERICAL). He was celebrated and enjoyed every.single.moment.

I want to share 8 things about Connor in honor of his 8 years of life:
1. Connor loves Superheroes and can name most every one even though he's never seen any movies or cartoons with superheroes in them!
2. He has an incredible memory. He can remember things from when he was 4, (in detail!) but for some reason has a hard time remembering rules. (Hmmmm....LOL!)
3. He excels at academics, especially math.
4. He likes to ride his scooter and pretend it's his rocketship.
5. He's a good helper.
6. He is funny, mostly without trying. ;)
7. He is in excellent physical condition mainly from all the exercises he's done over the years due to his disobedience. :)
8. He has the most amazing asian eyes and smile. Gorgeous! His aunt has said since seeing his referral picture that he will be a movie star someday. Only God knows what's in store for this boy but whatever it is it will be good!!

Happy, happy birthday Connor!

 We love you to infinity and beyond!!

Sacrificial Love...

My dear friend, Dana and I, were able to get together earlier this week and share our hearts with one another in regards to our RAD children. It is such a tremendous blessing to speak transparently about our concerns, fears, and struggles without fear of judgement. Anyways, while talking she spoke this truth to my heart...."loving these kids is true sacrificial love." I don't know why I never saw it like that before, but she is absolutely right! Pouring your heart and soul into someone without reciprocation or appreciation is the hardest thing I've ever done. Honestly, it hurts...deeply....it's beyond frustrating.....and many days it feels like failure is written on my forehead for everyone to read.

Sacrificial love...that's the love God had for us when we weren't interested in Him and yet, He did not give up! When I continue to struggle and strain against His will and direction and He allows it and still loves me with tenderness...that's sacrificial love. When He pours out the blessings and I am quick to complain and rant about things and yet He still gives....that's sacrificial love. When I commit the same stupid sin I've already done countless times before and He forgives, yet again....that's sacrificial love.

I'm humbled that He felt that I was worthy enough for such a high calling. I'm ashamed that I've seen it as more a curse than a blessing for all these years. I'm amazed that He felt I could do this job (by His power!) and do it with excellence when most days I feel like such a weak and needy failure.

Sacrificial love is something I never thought I'd be interested in participating in which is why He didn't give me a choice. LOL! I am definately seeing things from a new perspective after this timely truth spoken at just the right time to my hurting heart.

Thank you Dana!!

And thank you Lord for friends who speak Your Truth to me!

 I am truly blessed!!

Tissues Needed....

Beautiful....

Just look at my little beauties!! The Christmas Tea was a wonderful blessing and Gabi girl was sooooooo excited about it! She talked about it for days and was giddy with anticipation on Saturday. She's my girl that wants to live in a castle and wear fancy dresses all day. :) I did their hair, added a touch of makeup and allowed them to wear their flower girl dresses. She was in her glory!!  :)

Then on Sunday we were invited to our friends home for lunch.



We had the perfect winter day meal...chili and cornbread. YUM!! The food was delicious but the fellowship was DIVINE! How blessed we are, truly blessed, to call these folks friends! The best part of all is how much they adore our children and how much the children adore them. The kids were given a huge bag (bigger than Nolan!) full of goodies that will keep my kids happy and busy for a long time to come. When we got home last night they immediately got busy with their new things. There was reading in the living room, painting in the kitchen and slinky playing too! :)

Thank you Randy and Lori, John and Jessica, for the wonderful gift of being your friends!! Our lives are enriched by your friendship and love!!!

TGIF....

Yeah baby....Friday!!

Lots going on here on the mountaintop.

I was able to go shopping last night for a couple hours A.L.O.N.E.  :)

We are doing a Simple Christmas this year which does not involve much in the way of money but lots in the way of creativity and heart.  So my shopping last night was mainly groceries (I know, boring) but I did manage to pick up some house gifts for Zachary for really good prices. (shhh...don't tell him!)

Now if I could just get to makin' those gifts.....

In other news....If you have been joining me in praying for Jimmy (see picture on left side panel) please pray today especially as he will be having surgery. Please join us in praying him home, safe and sound, by Christmas so he can join with his family in celebrating Christs' birth.

Also, prayers for my dear friend, Dana, are so appreciated. She is amazing! She is walking this cancer journey with such faith and determination....definately a testimony to God's perfect care and love! Please join me in lifting her and her family up during this difficult time.

And, one more, Sean's grandpa is struggling greatly with his health right now. Please pray for wisdom for the drs. and health for him.

That's all for now...thanks for the prayers!!

We have our annual Christmas Tea this weekend and brunch with some dear friends on Sunday. So I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share.

Have a great weekend!!

Just a Sprinklin' of Stuff...

This was all that was left in the room after Zachary finished packing and moving. :(  He settled on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and moved into his new home that Saturday. It really looks nice! We are so very, very proud of him! It's odd though not to hug him goodnight each night or say our standard " I love you, sweet dreams" to one another.  What I miss most though is our long late, late night talks. He has such a tender heart and knew it would be rough on old mom and dad for a few days so he would call or text us each night. :) 

However, in a large family, when a room is "free" it doesn't take long for someone to move in. Ryan now has Zachary's old room and (finally!) Nolan (and eventually Sam) have their own room. YEAH!!

Our annual Christmas traditions have started.

Around here, nothing says winter like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph pancakes.

Included this just because he is so stinkin' handsome!

Look at those eyes!!!

 As a craft project we made birdfeeders from peanut butter, birdseed and fresh cranberries.

The birdies gave them 2 wings up! :)

And these feathered friends escaped Turkey dinner! LOL! These 5 turkeys were moseying their way down the mountain. I thought it was amazing how different wild turkeys look from the turkeys shown in Thanksgiving pictures and such. Wild turkeys are definately NOT as beautiful! LOL!

We try to head outdoors at least a little bit each day.

 It's good to get rid of that excess energy! I will admit that this day was a bit too cold for my tastes. We only stayed outside a brief time but I had to catch Nolan in his snowsuit. He reminds me of a Teletubby. I call him my "Cupie Doll". LOL!

This past weekend the National Aquarium in Baltimore had their Dollar Days weekend. It's something we've been doing since the boys were young. Heck, it's quite a deal for our large family....only $5!! Normally it would be close to $150. OUCH! We try to go every 2-3 years. Last time Nolan was just a new baby. So this time was really for him. He LOVED it! Especially the sharks. He still talks about all the things he saw there. We saw a dolphin show too and they added an interactive children's play area which was a big hit with our kids.

They entertained us with a puppet show, read books, dressed up as sea animals, and found shells and skeletons in the sand table.

And today, we tried out the wagon Zachary gave to the little's.

Looks pretty comfy, huh?! As we walked, Gabriella kept singing "bumping up and down in my little red wagon".

So cute!

We've had plenty of snow flurries here on the mountain already but sweet Kyalynn asks everyday "when winter mommy?" So Connor counted it off from the calendar today and told her. She won't be happy until our ground is blanketed in white, then it will be winter in her book! LOL!

Here but Not...

I have so much to say but nothing to say.

My mind is swirling with so much lately that it's hard to know what to share and what should remain private.

My heart is heavy with so many concerns for our family and so many others.

Sean and I are going to be going out Friday night for a couple of hours and I am soooooo looking forward to just some time away and of course, nothing better than to have him all to myself!  I'm thinking it would just be down right wrong for us to be caught necking in our truck. The big boys would have a hey day with that one!  But ya know, for old times sake.  {Just kidding}  Not that we ever engaged in any of those kind of activities...ahem...moving on....

I met my Editor (for my book that's in production) yesterday. I'm so excited and nervous all at once about the book. Oh my! Deep breath Lisa, deep breath.

So, you see, I am here but I just can't seem to nail down a semblance of sanity to post for all of you lately. I'll work on that.