Everyday Blessings

So many blessings...so little time to blog about them!!

2010-05-11T13:36:00.003-07:00

Well it is hard to believe that I haven't blogged since February but life has just gotten me the last couple of months and blogging has been at the bottom of the list. So here is an update on what we have been up to.

Starting at the end of March we began our birthday circuit. First the boys had a party to attend one weekend then the girls had a tea party birthday to attend the following weekend.
Next we celebrated my grandmother's 90th birthday early. Her dearest friend was leaving town last month so we planned the party so that she could attend. We managed to keep the event a secret and she was so thrilled. We had relatives from around the country join us and it was a blessing for all of us in our very small family to spend some time with folks we rarely get to see. Nanny was blessed and that was the most important thing!
The following weekend we celebrated Emma's 11th birthday with a couple of her church friends coming up to join us. We had lunch and painted pottery and overall had a grand time. What a blessing to have sweet friends that were willing to make the trek north to bless her. They each painted a fun piece to remember the occasion and Emma got a fun plate that she eats on each night that we all signed. Fun memories!!
We had one weekend off the end of April but it was busy none the less. We spent time working to clean up our yard and get rid of trash and a lot of water meters. The older kids have been doing a job for Robert's company tearing apart old water meters which has been a great learning experience for them but has left our yard looking less than what I like. This weekend we made a lot of progress and it looks much nicer which I'm very happy about.
The first weekend in May was spent in the valley. First we finally had our appointment with the geneticist to find out about Daniel's MRI results. He has given him an official diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome which while it is not the best news it was such a relief to finally know for sure that that is what we are dealing with. We both felt such a lift knowing that we have not been crazy and also that we can finally stop pursuing and just give him the best care we know how to and deal with each new day as it comes. Next we headed to the east valley to hang out with our sweet friends from church at their house for the weekend. They were on an adventure to Africa to pick up their newly adopted son and we had the privilege of caring for their two daughters for the weekend. We had grand fun on Saturday helping to put on our church's first Mother/Daughter Tea. It went very well, we had awesome food and wonderful entertainment as well as sweet fellowship with ladies young and old. One of the things that I love about our church is the multigenerational fellowship. What a blessing it was.
Next came our first weekend to help out some other friends butcher their first batch of chickens of the year. We all headed to Paulden early Friday morning me with a little trepidation but the kiddos oh so very excited. James, Peter, Robert and I all helped in one way or another. The other three just had a blast playing on the farm. It was exciting last night to cook a chicken that I helped to process quite a feeling of accomplishment for me who wasn't quite sure I could do it or not!! Now mind you I was at the quality control end of things but still I feel like I conquered something and I'm looking forward to doing it again several more times this summer.
Now we are preparing to leave for our long awaited vacation back east. We are going to get to spend a whole week with our dear friends in Virginia and then head south to spend some time in North Carolina. There is a family integrated church that we have been wanting to visit for some time now and we are finally going to get to go. We are all excited to see what the Lord reveals to us in our time away and we are all so very excited for a break and time to just be together. I am pleased to be able to say that we finished our Core for school and our major subjects and so we can go and relax knowing that we don't have a bunch of school waiting for us when we return.

It has been a blessed and busy spring for our family and we pray that the Lord will continue to bless us as we head into summer. Hopefully I won't wait till the end of the summer to blog again :)!!

A Box Checker's Day Off

2010-02-20T07:54:00.002-07:00

Those who know me well would not be surprised to hear me call myself a box checker. I enjoy knowing where I'm going and then feeling the accomplishment of checking off the box when I'm done. I get a sort of endorphin rush from checking things off. My sweet friend Melissa would call this being my "gold" self...right Melissa? Well this gold box checker has been having a difficult few weeks coming to grips with the reality of sweet Daniel's condition. We still do not have an official diagnosis but I know in my heart that we are dealing with alcohol related something. Whether you call it FAS, FAE, ARND, ARBD, or pFAS matters little the reality is we are in for a long haul and a lot of unknowns. I think that what I have been feeling is in a manner of speaking grief and it has put me into a bit of a tail spin.

Things came to a head on Thursday morning while I was doing my Bible study. I'm studying Esther and Beth Moore's lesson on Thursday was ironically talking about the joy that the Jews felt after Haman was hanged and Mordecai was promoted to his position and emerged from the palace clad in robes fit for a king. The paragraph that got me was when she said, "At times I feel stressed beyond human capacity and other times profoundly lonely. Sometimes I feel so frustrated I could scream and other times so ill-equipped I could panic. And those are only the things I feel free to tell you. The far more challenging conditions are too private to share. I venture to say that for this brief season I'm possibly living life as good as it gets...yet even it is hard. So when a time of happiness comes, I think we ought to take it and run." The words ill-equipped jumped off the page at me at that moment. That is how I feel right now. I know in my heart that the Lord will provide all the necessary equipment that I need in His timing but in that moment and really for a few weeks now I have felt so very ill-equipped for this task that He has put before me. And I could not face another box checking day, so I did something fairly radical for me and decided to chuck the day and take my children to Phoenix to hang out with my friend Nancy and her two kiddos. I know that doesn't sound too radical, but for a box checker like me it was pretty huge. I called Nancy and she was gracious enough to change her day (she is a fellow box checker so this was difficult for her too) and allow us to come hang out for the day.

It was exactly what I needed at that moment. The drive down was a blessing in itself as I listened to praise songs and prayed for wisdom and guidance. The Lord brought to mind a sermon that one of our elders preached a few weeks ago. He was talking about Psalm 127 and the fact that children are such a blessing and that even though having many of them can be stressful that he often prays that the Lord will give us each just one more than we think that we can handle so that we are desperate for His help and realize that we can do none of this on our own. I think that is where I am right now. I realize that in my own strength there is no way that I can handle all of the issues that we are currently facing as well as all those that we will more than likely face in the future. The beauty is that if I will allow Him the Lord will do the "how" for me. I just need to worry about the "what". I believe that is knowing that He has called me to raise these children in this time and that they are a blessing and that He knows what they need and what I need and He will provide each thing as it is needed. If I could just remember that when I begin to ruminate over what Daniel's future might hold what adolescence may be like, what adulthood is going to hold. I know that I'm definitely not the first parent to have these thoughts but they are in fact overwhelming none the less.

In any case this week He has provided for me in a myriad of ways. He provided a day of rest and refreshment and a friend who understands and was willing to take the day and spend just reflecting and sharing her heart. He provided a wonderful phone call from another friend earlier in the week from sweet Melissa who always listens and provided such encouragement and wisdom. Then last evening another phone call from sweet Jodi who is walking much the same walk that we are with her own son. We were able to download some of the feelings of grief and frustration with the medical establishment and the public in general who don't seem to think that alcohol related birth defects are necessarily a big deal. He also provided a husband who processes things quite differently but who is so willing to listen to my heart and support me and us in this grief process. And to let me know that we will succeed in this journey with God's help. I am so grateful for the people that the Lord has brought into my life to walk along side me in this. They are gifts that He has provided for this ill-equipped box checker to lean on. And even though the grief is still there I feel just a little more equipped to handle it.

Weeks 13-18 Favorites...to Mongolia, Russia and Beyond

2010-01-23T15:16:00.002-07:00

Hard to believe that we have just finished up our 18th week of school and it is time for another update of our favorite things from the past six weeks. It has been a bit longer than six weeks because we did take a breather during the Christmas season to study the Advent. But for the last three weeks we have been hard at work and have "visited" some very fun places. Including four of my children's homeland RUSSIA! Yippee!!!

James was excited about finishing up a book we started when we were studying China called the House of Sixty Fathers. It is a story of a small boy who gets swept down river in his family's sampan during World War II. He ends up having the adventure of his life while he tries to make his way back to his family. With the help of some very kind American military men who are also in China fighting the Japanese he succeeds. James enjoyed learning about the extreme lengths that people went to to get food in this time of history and some of the interesting things that they ate when they were hungry to include grass. He was also excited about our study of Genghis Khan during our study of Mongolia. He was intrigued with the fact that coming from such humble roots this man became such a powerful if not brutal ruler.

Peter has been enjoying our study of his homeland Russia. He has especially enjoyed seeing all the changes that have happened there over the years and particularly some of the information that he learned while studying Alexander the I. Russia has had such a difficult history but through it all the people have persevered and survived some very difficult periods. I think Peter has enjoyed getting to know more about where he came from.

Emma was thrilled with our most recent read aloud The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. This engaging book kept us all coming back for more. It is a bit of a mystery and chronicles the lives of two cousins who find themselves at the mercy of a wicked cousin who comes to care for them while the one little girl's parents are out of town. They are quite brave and creative in their approach to the situations they are put into. It was very well written and easy to read which compared to some we have read this year was a blessing for old mom as well!!

Daniel has been enjoying the reading books he is working on. He has finished up the Beginners Bible and is now having adventures with Frog and Toad and Mouse Tales. He has amazed me with how well his reading is coming along and that he loves it. He is always asking me if he can read a few more pages. Who can resist that??? He is also getting a bit better with his math and he is liking the Touchmath that I have been doing with him. He is beginning to get the hang of using the dots and seems to be getting more answers correct every day.

Ana is liking her I Can Read It stories as well as doing much better with her math. She is loving to use the FlashMaster and is getting pretty good at her addition facts. Whoopee!! She also mentioned our science that we have been doing which is on Weather right now. We have been studying the different types of clouds as well as air pressure.

I have to say I have been loving our unit on Russia as well. There was an activity at the beginning of the unit that involved figuring out how long a trip would take on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. I thought it was a neat activity but it also made me think of how much fun it would be to actually take a trip like that. I told Robert I would like to do that some day. I think he thought I might be loosing my mind :). It has been interesting to see how things have changed over the years in this largest country on the planet and see how the people have persevered through so many trials. We even watched Fiddler on the Roof yesterday, one of my favorites!

As you can see we have not been letting any grass grow under our feet. We have one more week in Russia and then we are off to Central Asia who knows what new adventures we will have there?? I love homeschooling!!

Revelations

2010-01-21T10:18:00.003-07:00

Yesterday we visited the geneticist again to find out about the genetics testing that was done on Daniel back in September when he was getting his feeding tube put in. I had been praying all week that the Lord would give us some answers that could possibly help us with his growth as well as just give us some peace about what the long term may look like for him. I wish that I could say that the doctor had something concrete to tell us but alas he did not. All of the testing that he did both the micro-array genetics study and the metabolic panel that he did came back completely normal. I was initially crestfallen when he said this because I had truly thought that perhaps this would be the day that we finally got an answer. I sat through the rest of the exam which was a complete repeat of the last time wanting to cry and also mortified because Daniel was completely out of control because of nervousness the whole time. The doctor told us that he would like to do an MRI of Daniel's brain next to see what that looks like. When I asked what he was perhaps looking for he said that it would tell more about if we were dealing with Fetal Alcohol issues.

That is when it began to hit me. All this time I have been putting the obvious aside. My son has Fetal Alcohol Effect and that could be the ultimate cause of all these problems. Four years ago when we were first home with the boys I did some research about FAS and FAE and at the time I saw some similarities but I still didn't know for sure if what we were seeing was from the orphanage or just environment or what. Then the psychologist that originally diagnosed Daniel with MR and ADHD also reported that FAE was a good possibility. Again I cast it aside not really dealing with all the ramifications that it could involve. Then we started having so many problems with growth and we began to pursue all these other things not really ever dealing with the obvious. So I began to think while we were driving home and while Robert and I were debriefing about why I have avoided this for so long. I think as I told him it is because deep down I didn't want to believe that this was something that could have been prevented. If there was something genetically wrong that his birthmother wasn't in control of I guess I thought I would be able to handle it better. I guess I also wanted to believe that there might be something that could be done to fix or at least help his condition.

Last night and this morning I spent some time reading from a website and magazine from a wonderful organization called CHASK. It stands for Christian Homes and Special Kids. I have been getting their newsletters for quite some time now but this particular newsletter has truly ministered to my heart. Reading the stories about other families that are parenting children with various special needs has given me hope that I am not alone and also that some of my failings are quite normal. You see I have been feeling very guilty lately about my attitude toward Daniel and not feeling equipped to parent and teach him the way I should be. I get very frustrated with him and I think that I was hoping that perhaps these results might help me to cope better. What God showed me last night and this morning is that all the results in the world are not going to change the reality that God made him to be this way for a purpose and I need to start realizing that there may never be a magic fix - this is who he is. This morning I read some beautiful words that a mother of two FAE children from Russia wrote. Almost everything that she described is Daniel to a tee. I also see some of what she said in Ana and a bit in Peter. While it was hard to read the reality it helped to see that I'm not living something that no one has ever seen before.

Robert and I did some talking yesterday and this morning about this and we agreed that we do want to have the MRI done just to see what it says but then we are done. We are not going to continue to search for an answer that may never come. I think we are finally at a point where we just need to dwell in our reality and try to cope the best we can with the behaviors that Daniel displays. And in turn I need to realize that I am going to fail sometimes just as Daniel is going to fail sometimes. I thank the Lord for these revelations and I have asked Him to help me to love this child as He loves him. And also to help me take each day and really each moment one at a time. I thank Him for the grace that He has shown me and I realize how blessed I am that He calls me His daughter even on my worst day.

Creative Avoidance...

2010-01-11T19:41:00.002-07:00

Yes that is indeed what I have been doing because I can't think of anything that inspiring to write and I think that I'm still a bit burned out from all of the holiday cheer! I have been very pleased to get back into the "normal" routine of life starting last week but once again "normal" is a very fluid concept around our family. I have to say that even our normal is quite refreshing and has been so wonderful for my children. I took a break from regular schooling in the month of December which I think was a good idea in theory but what it lead to was some major slacking on my part and some incredibly bored children. They just about drove me crazy with nothing set to do. I do however think that as we do get back into the routine it gives us a sense that the schedule is indeed our friend and no matter how many times they complain about it deep down they really do want and need it.

Our holiday was blessed but long this year. We had family in before Christmas, treasured friends in for Christmas and went to see more family for New Year's. It was a blessing to get to see everyone but it made for a very long month and made my children just a little self absorbed. I was so thankful that we chose to do Advent devotions this year and to make that a new tradition for us. I think that in all the craziness that it kept us somewhat grounded in what the season is truly about. It allowed us to take things slow and really study each event surrounding the preparation for Christ and His birth. That was a top blessing for the year.

So now what...what will 2010 hold for our Clan?? We are praying for guidance this year and that the Lord will show us where to go from here. We feel as though we are on the cusp of something but we don't exactly know what that is. Perhaps that is why I have not been able to blog. I just feel a bit cloudy and I'm hoping for some clarity. I think what it is teaching me is that I need to cling ever closer to the One that has those answers that I seek and who will give them in His timing. Now if I can just be patient to wait for those answers and pray without ceasing enjoying as much of our "normal" as I can each and every day that He gives to me!!

Gotcha Day #5

2009-12-08T14:51:00.003-07:00

Five years ago today our life changed forever. December 8, 2004 was the day that we stood in front of a Russian judge and asked that Regina Kupinskya be allowed to become Ana Regina and our second daughter. Looking back it was all quite surreal and it seems as though it were a lifetime ago. I honestly have a hard time remembering daily life before Ana joined our family and as I asked her this morning I think she feels the same way. She told me she knows that she is from Russia but I don't think that she can remember many of the details. Perhaps this is good as her first two and a half years of life were not ideal.

I can't help remembering a little for her our first meeting and the chocolate chip cookie that she inhaled. Or the last day we met with her on our first trip standing in the hallway of the orphanage she had just gotten up from a nap and was so sleepy and just laid her head on my shoulder...I was smitten. I cried so many tears that day when we had to leave her there and I was never so thankful that the time between our trips was only three weeks. Then there was the day we went to get her which was actually the 9th of December. Emma was with us and we were all aware that life was about to change but we were not quite prepared for how. Ana was playing outside when we got to the orphanage and she was not at all happy that they brought her in to us. The look on her face when we took her into the tiny room to get her changed said it all. "Who are you people and why did you interrupt my playtime???" I have seen that same look many times since, she was and continues to be quite a strong willed independant thing. But I think this is probably what allowed her to survive her first two years and I'm grateful that God gave her the spirit that he did.

As we pass this five year mark I thank the Lord that He chose us to parent this child. There have been days and I'm sure there will be many more where I wonder how I will ever be equal to the task, but I trust that He knew what He was doing. I'm grateful for her smile and for her sweet hugs and for her willingness to persevere when things are difficult for her. Happy Adoption Day Sweet Girl we love you so very much!!

Sunday Blessings

2009-11-22T21:01:00.002-07:00

Since we have started going to Phoenix for church our Sundays have been such an amazing blessing. Today was extra special because not only did we have a wonderful time of praise and worship and then fellowship at church but after that we got to spend time celebrating a birthday with some special friends of ours. What a wonderful time of fellowship for each of us I know that it refilled my emotional tank and I believe that it did the same for each of us. I was thinking about this as we were leaving Phoenix and just thanking God for how he has rekindled this friendship with these friends after a long time of being apart. We are sad because they will be moving to Montana in the not so distant future but we rejoice for the time that the Lord has given us to be with them and realize just how much we have in common. We are thrilled for them in this new adventure that they are going to be beginning and we are so thankful to have had so much time with them in the last few months.

We must hold loosely to the relationships that the Lord blesses us with and know that there are seasons when we are together in person and others where we may be separated by great distances, but the relationships remain precious just the same. I think the most wonderful thing for me is to realize that even if I will be separated from some dear friends here on earth I can take comfort to know that we will all be spending eternity together!! How fun to be able to look forward to this as well as treasure the moments that we get to spend together in the here and now. Thank you Lord Jesus for sweet fellowship, we are blessed!!

Top 6 from Weeks 7-12...

2009-11-17T16:38:00.002-07:00

Hard to believe we are a full twelve weeks into our school year. Time flies and so do the countries we have been studying. It was hard for my older ones to narrow it down because there have been so many interesting things that we have studied but we have tried our best to make the list manageable :).

James has been enthralled with our study of China which we are still in the process of completing. He did one of his extra projects on the Great Wall and even made a presentation on it for his father...gotta keep Dad involved you know! He also mentioned loving our study of Korea and the book Tales of a Korean Grandmother.

Peter seconds the motion and loved the Great Wall as well. He even made a model of it with a whole lot of craft sticks. I think I'm going to have to replenish my supply he used so many of them but it looks fantastic and he did a marvelous job with the design. He also is loving the read aloud book we are finishing up this week called Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. This was one that I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it through but it has turned out to be quite engaging for all of us.

Emma dearly loved the Tales of a Korean Grandmother and she was so sad when we finished it. She got so that she didn't want me to read the required amount of pages each day so that it would go on and on. She too is loving our study of China. She has been interested to find out more about Chinese medicine and how it compares with western medicine. Oh how we love homeschooling around here!

Daniel has been loving his new Touch Math. I have not ordered the full program as it is very expensive but I got some samples from their website and I'm modifying his other math using the touch points. So far he is doing much better with this and I'm hopeful that it will give him more of a practical way to do math.

Ana is enjoying her readers. I have to say that even though reading is her biggest struggle she always puts it at the top of her list of things she likes to do. What perseverance she has. She is working now on the Sonlight I Can Read It series...and even though her mother is getting a bit weary of these stories being that this is the fourth time I've gone though them...we are staying the course.

I have to say my favorite thing in this series has been from China as well. But not the books but the FOOD!! Last night we made homemade egg rolls and boy were they yummy. One of James' projects that he chose for the unit was to make this authentic Chinese food. Sunday when we were in Phoenix for church we found an amazing Asian market and bought some egg roll wrappers. The market was a treat in itself and amazingly enough had foods from just about every country that we have been studying who knew such a place existed. I have a feeling we will be going back for more food items as the year progresses. Anyway Robert helped and we had a fun Chinese meal with Chicken Lo Mein with real Chinese noodles and wonderful egg rolls. What a treat!!

So as you can see we are staying busy around here and still loving Core 5. I'm impressed with how much James, Peter and Emma are learning about doing research and what creative ideas they are coming up with for their Choose Your Own Adventure projects. Daniel and Ana are finishing up with their Abeka Phonics and Language and I think I will be making some changes after the holidays as they finish up. Always looking for the best ways to meet their needs and that takes a bit of creativity at times. Stay tuned after the holidays for our coming adventures!!

Peanut Butter and the Newsboys...

2009-10-30T20:57:00.002-07:00

Whatever do these two things have in common you ask??? Well they just so happen to be two blessings from my day yesterday. The first blessing was the homemade peanut butter that I made in my Vitamix!! Yummy, yummy oh so yummy. My sweet friend Melissa had told me about doing this several weeks ago and I finally made some yesterday. So with that and my homemade peach jam we had some pretty tasty sandwiches...thanks Melissa!!! I know now I just need to make some homemade bread and it would be truly wonderful right??? Even the kids mentioned this, but I'm not there just quite yet...baby steps you know.

The second blessing was the absolute blast that our family had at the Newsboys concert last night. They are the first Christian band to actually come to our town so we were excited to not have to make yet another trek to the Valley! I have to say Michael Tait adds some spice to the band and it was fun to hear not only Newsboys songs but some DC Talk as well. We jammed out and went to bed very late, but what a nice release for all of us. I think we all needed just a little bit of fun. I know this girl did.

So two big blessings in one day...can't beat that right???

Ode to October

2009-10-28T16:53:00.003-07:00

I have been pondering the last few days why it has been so hard for me to blog this month. I did so well last month and had so many ideas for posts and this month nothing!! I think that it has to do with my mood lately. I have been having some struggles spiritually and emotionally, I love being a girl sometimes and I think that it has caused me to not be able to think very clearly. Oh and the fact that as I was looking at my calendar today I think I was able to count 10 days during this month that we had some kind of appointment. Mostly doctors and dentists...ugh no wonder I'm a little fried.

The upside to all of this is that over the last week I have been feeling a little better. I think that sometimes you have to have a melt down in order to get out of the funk that you have been in. I think I may have had an official one at the beginning of last week and perhaps it helped a bit. Robert took all of last week off for a hunting adventure and although he didn't get an elk he did get some perspective on life and we had some really great discussions during the week. He listened while I melted and I listened while he shared his heart and together I think we have a better vision of things than we have had in a while.

The Lord is refining us I know that He is we are not sure what the end result will ultimately be but I know that whatever He is doing is for our learning and even when it is painful it is also productive. I have started back in to Bible study studying the book of Esther and I have been reading A.W. Tozer's book on the Holy Spirit which is challenging me and I think those are both positives. Funny how you can get so bogged down with life that you forget sometimes what is truly important and that is just dwelling with the Lord. As October draws to a close and the leaves are all but gone I realize that days have disappeared in rapid succession and I have been hard pressed to keep up. I pray that as November starts that I will be able to slow down a bit and just dwell with Him and listen to what He has for me each day.

Purpose

2009-10-05T21:17:00.003-07:00

God's Purpose or Mine?

By: Oswald Chambers

We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God's purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that god is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.

What is my vision of God's purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish - His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see "Him walking on the sea" with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see "Him walking on the sea" It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.

God's training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.

God's purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.

This devotion from My Utmost for His Highest has been one that I have continued to meditate on in recent weeks. I tend to be always searching and trying to figure out what God's purpose is for me. What He has been teaching me lately is that the moments of my life that pass by each day, teaching my children, building a strong relationship with my husband, and most importantly spending time with Him are the purpose. I have been having several struggles in my parenting lately with obedience. Not only with my children's obedience but with my obedience. I find things have come up more and more in my children that are so similar to what I'm sure the Lord struggles with in me. The process of parenting, the process of seeing His hand in my children's lives in their victories and their struggles that is my purpose. The moments are what He wants me to remember, the sweet and the sorrowful. They are His purpose for me. I need not look further than the next day to see what His purpose is for me. I need to dwell there and experience each moment to the fullest and be faithful to Him and my relationship with Him. If that is the most important purpose that I have then He will make apparent to me when a change is necessary. As Chambers says, "His purpose is the process itself.". Even when the process is frusterating and sometimes painful it is my purpose!!

Blessings in Unexpected Places

2009-09-28T21:26:00.003-07:00

Last week we had another adventure that we never would have thought we would have, but once again the Lord turned it into a blessing. On Thursday Daniel went to Phoenix Children's to have his feeding tube placed. We had been anticipating this for quite some time. His GI doctor felt that since he has not gained weight in over a year and all the supplements that we have been giving him haven't made a difference it was time to take this step. The procedure is not difficult at all and takes very little time but it is incredibly nerve wracking for the mom and dad. Daniel was a trooper as usual and he came through the procedure just fine. We have incredible doctors that have treated us so well and have truly come along side us to find out what the underlying issues with Daniel's health are. All the staff at the hospital was fantastic as well and he was treated very well.

The amazing unexpected blessing in all of this came from the attending pediatrician. After surgery he came and talked with us in the recovery room and spent a great deal of time getting a full history from us. He wanted to know all about the things that we have already done to help him and what else we are doing currently. I mentioned that we have seen a geneticist and that we were waiting to find out if the insurance company would approve the tests that he ordered. To which he replied, oh we can take care of that we will just order them while he is inpatient and they will be covered automatically! What an amazing answer to prayer this is because I truly didn't believe that they were going to approve the tests since they are quite costly and we have already done so many other things already. Why was I surprised that my Lord would take care of this small detail as He has so many others in the past? But all I could do was thank Him and stand in awe of His many provisions for us. So the next day the doctor spoke with our geneticist and they worked it all out to get the tests ordered and the blood drawn and we will hopefully know something in around three months.

Daniel finished his stay in the hospital and we headed back up the hill on Saturday. What a blessing to know that our other children had been having the time of their lives with their Granny and that everything was well in hand at our house. We are already in a fairly good routine with Daniel's night time feedings through the tube. He has been doing extremely well with it and as the area around the incision heals he is slowly getting his energy and mobility back. He is anxious to get back to full speed, but I must admit it has been kind of nice for him to slow down a bit. Another hidden blessing in all of this, for mom that is :).

As Robert and I sat at the hospital together and tried our best to minister to our son I realized that there is no way that I would have the strength to accomplish any of this without the Lord. He has given both of us abilities that we never thought possible. But He also only gives us what we can handle. Being at the hospital we saw families in much more serious situations than ours and I realized that although Daniel has some issues and probably always will, they are manageable. I also know that even if they were more serious, the One who brought us through this experience would be there to bring us through whatever else might be around the corner. I'm so glad that I'm in His care and so is Daniel!

36 ÷ 6 = 6 Things We Are Excited About

2009-09-20T21:09:00.005-07:00

I was thinking the other day that we have just finished up our 6th week of school out of 36 total weeks. So there are six, six week sections to the year and there are six of us including the kiddos and me so I thought it would be fun to do a blog post every six weeks during the year where we each tell what we are excited about that we have studied so far! That way by the end of the year we will have 36 total things. If that made any sense at all...keep reading.

So far we have visited the Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and we have begun to touch on Japan. We have also discussed Lincoln, People of different World Cultures, Missionary Stories of great intrigue as well as learning addition, language and fiction and non-fiction writing. We are on a roll and are having a blast with all of the new things we are discovering. Each of us has a thing of special interest to share so here goes...

James is excited about his new Teaching Textbooks math curriculum. In it he is reviewing much of what he has learned already, but he is also discovering the world of practical math. The other day he informed me that he will not be buying a car any time soon. To which I said, "Oh?? Why is that?" He replied that according to his math book it would be a poor investment to purchase a car unless you had the cash to do so. You see he is learning about interest payments as well as the depreciation of items. His conclusion is pay cash!! Did I mention I love this math program?? He is also learning about gross vs. net pay and that old Uncle Sam takes more than his fair share of your money when you enter the workforce. I guess working for mom and dad isn't such a bad thing huh James???

Peter is excited about our study of Australia. He learned while studying about the country that it was originally settled by prisoners sent there by Great Britain. Great Britain was looking for a way to get rid of some of the prison population in their country and so they shipped them off Down Under. Until they realized that perhaps they would actually like to live there as well and they stopped shipping convicts and began immigrating themselves. Peter also enjoyed learning more about the aborigines culture and discovering that he is quite good at aboriginal painting.

Emma was enthralled as were we all with our latest read aloud book entitled The Master Puppeteer. This was our first glimpse into the culture of Japan which we will dig deeper into this coming week. It is about a boy who is living in very poor conditions in Japan and ends up moving to the Hanaza Theater where he learns all the ins and outs of puppeteering. The awesome thing about this book that was so different from many books we have read was the mystery involved in the story. It was truly a page turner and we even finished it a week early just so that we could find out the ending.

Daniel even listened in on this particular read aloud and it kept his attention so much that he said it was one of his favorites as well. This is awesome because it was all on his own initiative to come and listen. We are making some progress I think!! His other love has been our brief study in their language book about President Lincoln. He created some very nice sentences describing the former President and he informed me that he was brave as well as honest!!

Ana was the first to come and tell me what she was excited about when I asked each of them to come up with something. She has been excited to learn some safety rules in our health book and what to do and not do when you come across a stranger. She informed me that you do not talk with strangers but it is okay to talk with a police officer and tell him or her where you live and what your phone number is. She has her address, phone number and both her daddy and my names down pat and feels confident she would be able to tell someone if she were ever to get separated from us. This is one of those things that I pray will never be necessary, but I'm thankful that she knows and is excited about remembering!

I have to admit, Peter stole my original idea about Australia :). I learned a lot during that study and the fact that it was settled by convicts was news to me. But I have also enjoyed learning about Antarctica as well. I didn't know that a treaty was signed regarding the continent that states that it can only be used peacefully, for research or tourism and no military presence is allowed there unless it is in a rescue type situation. It was fascinating to read about the different expeditions across the frozen land and to learn about the animals that inhabit it. Only a few animals spend their entire lives on the land of Antarctica. The largest is the wingless midge, a tiny fly that only measures 1/2 inch long. Who knew???

As you can tell we have been quite busy around here. We are marveling at all the possibilities that the year continues to hold in store for us. Stay tuned for the next update after we finish week 12!!

Work and Rest

2009-09-13T20:59:00.002-07:00

This was a busy weekend in our house and was filled with some new experiences, some necessary tasks and some sweet fellowship. We began the weekend by pulling all the weeds in the easement that goes around our front yard. Not the most thrilling way to start the weekend but a much needed task that was far overdue. Amazing that although it was hard work what a feeling of accomplishment that Robert, James and I felt when the task was complete. How nice it is now to pull into our driveway and not see three foot mammoths as our first greeting. As I was picking up the many piles I was thinking about Adam and Eve and how things were before the fall. What it must have been like to never have to pull any weeds and to just enjoy the sweetness of the garden. But alas no there is sin and therefore we must continue to work at the ground in order to enjoy the beauty.

So with our weeds carefully in the trash we set off for our next adventure to pick up our first Bountiful Basket. I recently joined a fruit and vegetable co-op and Saturday was our first pick up. What fun it was to pick up not only two baskets full of fruits and veggies but also a 32 pound box of fresh peaches. Wow did that ever fill up my counter space! Next Robert and I set about the task of processing the peaches. Having never canned before it was a new adventure in every sense of the word and boy was I ever glad for his help in the process. I would say for our first try we did fairly well...we managed to can 9 jars of jam, 6 jars of sliced peaches, plus I made a peach coffeecake, a peach cobbler and we flash froze two gallon sized bags of sliced peaches for smoothies. Boy were we ever whipped last night but what an awesome feeling to have done work that will bring joy to our tummies and nutrition as well. I am so thankful for all of the canning advice that I have received over the last couple of weeks from some very sweet friends who assured me that I could indeed master this skill. I'm happy to say that I feel I have and I'm excited to see what else we can "put up" for winter in the next few weeks. Robert says apples should definitely be next!!

Today was our day of rest as we travelled to Phoenix to our new church home. For a little over a month we have been visiting a family integrated church in Gilbert. We have felt the conviction for quite some time that we needed to worship together as a family and we were longing for like-minded fellowship. After the homeschool conference Robert especially felt that it was time to order our lives around the convictions that the Lord has placed on us and since there is no FIC church in our area we headed for the Valley. To our delight we have found a group of people at Heritage of Faith that are such a blessing to all of us. And the Lord provided an added bonus in the fact that some friends of ours who live in Phoenix have also begun to attend the same church. We have been so enjoying getting to know these families and not only worshipping but having time each week to truly get to know them during their weekly lunch fellowship time. Today we had a chance to meet with the elders at a question and answer session to find out a bit more about the vision of the church. We were both pleased to hear that their vision lines up so well with what we have purposed to do with our family. They are very focused on fathers leading and discipling their children and assisting them to do this in the most effective way possible. We feel as though the Lord has answered our prayer regarding a church home and we see in our children such a peace as they are beginning to make new friends.

Another blessing is the travel time that it takes to get to church. While this might seem like a hardship, it is really a blessed time of fellowship for Robert and me. We are able to really focus on each other for several hours each Sunday. We have time to share what touched us about the message as well as talk about hopes and dreams for the future. It allows us to have a true Sabbath, as we are not concerned with what is waiting to "do" at home after church since it truly does take up most of our day. We are excited to see how the Lord will use us through this church and we are so thankful for His provision.

Some Days Are Like That

2009-09-09T21:14:00.003-07:00

"I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there is gum in my hair..." this begins one of my very favorite books from childhood, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. I must say that today was one of those days that this book came to mind. Even down to the fact that I know I have the book somewhere but when I went to look for it tonight before coming the write this blog post I couldn't find it.

One of the things that I love about this book is that nothing truly awful happens to Alexander in this book but just the ordinary stuff of life that just isn't exactly the way he would like. That is how my day was today. Nothing truly horrible happened but the day just didn't go as I would have preferred. It was one of those days that I questioned several times just exactly what I was thinking homeschooling. Several of my children who shall remain nameless had less than stellar days at school. It was one of those painful days to watch as they struggled with just about everything that I through at them and it seemed as though we would never be finished with school. Then just when I thought that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel, ie: Robert would be home soon, he called to say at 4:30 that he was still in Phoenix and that he wouldn't be home for several more hours. Ugh!!

I think that the Lord gives me these days every so often, well sometimes more often, to remind me that I have no business doing the things that He has called me to do...that is without Him. I realized today that in my own strength I can't do this job. It is only through Him that I have any capabilities at all. What is difficult though is that I try to do things in my own strength all the time. Even when I hear the Lord in my head trying to tell me that I can't and that He is there to help if I would only ask. Why am I so stubborn? Then I look into the eyes of one of my children and see the exact same stubborness and it drives me absolutely crazy. The Lord has a funny sense of humor doesn't He? I see in this child some of my same faults and I know that He is refining me through raising him. Perhaps we can learn to listen and obey Him more together.

Now at the end of the day, things are quiet and Robert is finally home. He even brought me Chipotle which was a super sweet thing to do. As I reflect on the day I realize that sometimes the biggest blessing of some days is when they are in fact complete, and I can look back and breath a sigh of relief that my children are all still alive and well and tucked into their beds. And I can look ahead with hope that tomorrow will be a better day, perhaps if I rely on the Lord more and me less.

As Alexander's mother said, "Some days are like that, even in Australia."

How "ists" Can Be Blessings

2009-09-05T10:02:00.003-07:00

Our lives the last few years have been filled with visits to A LOT of "ists". What is an "ist" you ask?? Well let me explain. We have in the last four and a half years visited: the dermatologist, optometrist, speech pathologist, occupational therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, pallate specialist, throat specialist, nutritionist, feeding specialist and yesterday the geneticist...wheeew! Robert and I were sitting in the geneticists office yesterday recounting all of the "ists" and what a journey it has been. A few of the early "ists" were for our daughter Ana who had some skin issues and needed glasses as well as James who definitely needed glasses. But the majority of the "ist" visits have been on a quest to understand and help our sweet son Daniel.

Even before we brought him home from Russia we had a feeling that we would have some medical issues to deal with. We had no idea the scope of what we were in for but we knew that the Lord planned for Daniel to be in our family and so we persevered to get him home. Since then we have pealed back the onion and discovered many things, Daniel has several diagnoses but the one that continues to allude us is what is causing him to still be only 36 pounds at the age of almost nine. We have tried liquid supplements, we have tried increasing his calories and nothing is working. So later this month we will be having a "g" tube or feeding tube put in which will hopefully allow him to absorb nutrients more efficiently and thus allow him to gain weight. However that does not answer the burning question of what is causing all of this in the first place. This is how we wound up at the geneticist's office. We were blessed to find a man who was very kind and spent almost two hours discussing with us Daniel's unique history and also doing a thorough physical exam. One of the kindest things though was that this man talked mostly to Daniel. He engaged him in conversation in part to find out his capabilities but he did it in such a way that Daniel felt important and that we were not just sitting there talking about him but that he was involved. Funny how something that could seem scary and unknown could turn out to be a blessing. God meets us where we are in every situation and pours out blessings. The doctor has some ideas about what might be causing his difficulties but we will have to wait for approval from the insurance company for genetic testing to see if he is correct in his assessment. For now we wait but with a new hope that we might get some answers concerning Daniel's condition.

The next blessing of the day was that my mom and her husband Brad met us there and watched the other children in the waiting room while we were in with the doctor. Being homeschoolers is a blessing in that you can go to appointments when you need to, but it is also challenging to have to have seven people trekking through various doctors offices. We are like a passing parade and it is not always easy. However in this instance it was a blessing. The children got to tell their grandparents all about their recent adventures to Disneyland. The grandparents got to spend time with the grandchildren and we got to focus on the doctor and Daniel. Everyone was blessed!

The final blessing of the day came after we came home last night. I figured after a day in very hot Phoenix going from place to place and doing not so enjoyable things perhaps we should have some fun. So we headed for the YMCA for a little swimming to end our day. While we were there I took Daniel down the water slide as I try to do whenever I'm swimming with them. He has almost drowned in the past coming out the end of the slide because he was too small to stand up. However last night when we went down together I tried to let him go a bit and see how he would do. He did okay so after we had gone down a few times and we were resting a bit he said to me. "Mom when I'm big I'm going to go down that slide by myself!" To which I responded why not try tonight?? He was a bit amazed that I would be so cavalier but he said..."Really??". I spoke with a kind lifeguard and he allowed me to stand at the bottom of the slide to see if he could do it. Well suffice it to say Daniel has learned a new skill! He did just fine and he must have worn out the path up the stairs and down the slide by the time we went home last night. Once again God blessed me with a glimpes of the fact that although Daniel is different from my other children and he is behind in his growth and may always be, he is making progress. God's timing is not our timing and His ways are not our ways but they are the BEST! I'm so thrilled that He chose me to be the mom of this special child and revel in whatever He chooses to do with his life.

By the Numbers

2009-09-01T07:57:00.003-07:00

The Lord is a keeper of time. He has been impressing this fact on my heart lately by bringing to mind significant numbers in my life.

The first number is 20. This fall it will be 20 years that Robert and I have been a couple. We began our relationship at the age of 16 and eventhough we went through a lot of rough times in those first few years of our relationship we always stayed together. This is one of the things in my life that I am most proud of. I can't imagine walking this journey with any other man. Even though we were not walking with the Lord at the time I know in my heart that He meant for us to be together.

The next number is 10. This is not only the number of years that we have been parents but it is also the number that signifies the number of years that it has been since the Lord took hold of my heart. I began my journey towards following Him when I was pregnant with Emma. And though my faith journey has grown and changed over the 10 year period I feel as though I have been on His path for 10 years.

13 and 7 are the next numbers. These are the numbers that I sometimes have the hardest time getting my head around. Thirteen is the age of my son James and eventhough I have only been his mom for almost four years and he was nine when he came home there is just something that won't let me believe that I am the parent of a teenager. He is a young 13 which helps a bit knowing that I still do have time and that he probably won't leave the nest at the typical age however it is sobering to know that in just a few short years he could. Seven is the age of my youngest child Ana. This sometimes gets me more than the 13 because it all seems to be going so fast. Ana joined our family at age 2 and it just doesn't seem possible that she could already be a busy 1st grader and come up with such funny sayings and be getting soooooo very tall.

Then there comes the number 5 which is the number of years since we started our wild ride of adopting four of our five children. It seems like the blink of an eye some days and other days it seems as though that these four treasures have been with us all along. I ponder sometimes what it would have been like to have them each from birth and it saddens me that I missed so much of their early lives. But it is also a reminder of just how precious each and every day has been since they have been with us. How much we have all grown and changed in the last five years. How many things I have learned about myself and what God has allowed me to walk through. There are so many things that I would have never experienced if they had not been here. Some amazing like riding roller coasters at Disneyland with my three sons. Ones that the girls didn't want anything to do with. Or seeing them all learn to swim this summer at the YMCA and then use the skills that they have learned to swim in the Pacific. How much more fun it is to have five than just one and the adventures that are so much more exciting when they can share them with one another. Then there are the not so fun things that I've learned like fighting with insurance companies to get my son Daniel to the doctors that he needs to go to. Or the fact that I could probably be a pharmacist with all the medications that I have dispensed over the last five years. Or the scary thought of having to learn how to feed Daniel with a feeding tube that will be put in later in the month...and praying that it will help him to grow. Even these not so fun things have been a blessing though. I have done things that I never dreamed I would and seen love grow in this unique family that I am helping to raise. I have laughed and cried and I know that I am not the same person that I was five short years ago and I'm glad for it!

These are the numbers that I have in my heart this week. As I ponder them I know for sure that there will be more significant numbers as the years pass. It helps me know my Lord more when I think about the numbers because I know that just as they are significant to me they are significant to Him. He is a keeper of the vast Kingdom Calendar and my numbers fit into His plan in just the right order. For that I am thankful.

A Change of Direction

2009-08-31T20:11:00.003-07:00

I desire to blog!! I cannot tell you the number of blog posts and blog ideas that I have hidden in my head. I think of things all the time that I would like to write or post photos about but for the last several months I have been unable to post pictures with any great success here on this blog. This has caused me to not blog or be frustrated with blogging in general. I even started another blog on another site only to be disappointed when I tried to post photos on that blog with no success either. And so my dilemma has been do I give this up all together or do I just not even try to post pictures anymore. Since every single time I do I get frustrated and sad that I can't post what I desire and then I quit. I think I have come to the conclusion that I will just have to have a photo-less blog for now. I still feel like I have some things to share and even if no one but a very few of my closest friends read this and comment (you know who you are) I feel that it is somewhat therapeutic to record some of my thoughts as well as some of the everyday blessings that occur in our family. So I am starting anew in a sense. I'm changing the title of this blog to Everyday Blessings and I am going to do my best to post more often. Even if it is just a few words about my day or the blessings that the Lord has brought to me in my quiet time or something small my children have done or said that blesses my heart. I am not going to worry about photos although I do have many I would love to share but perhaps I'll find another format in which to do that.

My blessing for this day was the bit of time that I spent this evening with my daughter Emma. Robert and I have been making an effort to meet with our three older children each week for some more focused discipleship. Emma has amazed me with her thirst for this time and the effort that she has put into the assignments that I have given her. This past week she has been working on looking up references for different wives in the Bible. We have been doing the Polished Cornerstones book from Doorposts. She looked up each of the wives some very good and some not so good ie: Abigail vs. Jezebel and wrote on a chart what things she gleaned from her readings and what the consequences of their actions righteous or not were. What a blessing for me to see her responses. Some very simple and some cute in their wording. I realized how blessed I am to have a daughter that thirsts after righteousness and is so focused on becoming the woman that God desires for her to be. We are also reading Beautiful Girlhood together and tonight's reading was on character. What a good reminder to me about my awesome responsibility of being an example to this ever growing young lady. I know that I have many flaws but it gives me a greater incentive to watch my tongue and try to teach she and the rest of my children what it means to be a Godly wife and mother. I'm thankful for this path that the Lord has me on and the gentle reminders that He so often gives me through my growing children.

Box Day!!

2009-07-01T15:14:00.009-07:00

One of the best days of our whole homeschool year is Box Day!! AKA the day our new books arrive from Sonlight. For people who don't homeschool this may strike you as a little weird but for us it has become a tradition that we all look forward to, especially me. I don't know what it is about getting new books that makes my heart so happy but boy does it ever. Probably because I'm the biggest bibliophile known to man. This year was not disappointing. We are going to be studying Core 5 this year which is Eastern Hemisphere. Much of the year will be devoted to studying countries in the 10/40 window which is one of the most unreached parts of the world for Christ. Going through the curriculum this afternoon was a bit overwhelming and I'm glad I got it early because it is going to take some studying to prepare a schedule and figure out how to accomplish all that I hope to this year. As the children will soon find out this core is a huge step up from what we have been doing in recent years and will require a lot more effort on their part. As their dad put it...playtime is officially over.

I'm excited though to study a new section of the world and know that I am learning so much right along with my five children. What a blessing homeschooling truly is. As I pray for this new year I'm excited to see what the Lord will do in my children this 2009/2010 school year and I look forward to the many new nuggets of wisdom that we all gain in the process.

My math wiz James is excited to start his new math program. As am I, it will be more self directed and all the lessons are right there for him on the computer!
Books...books...and more books

Peter was eager to get the books out of the box so that he could cut it apart to make the castle. Who ever said you need expensive toys to keep children occupied??

Projects, Projects, Projects

2009-06-23T10:06:00.004-07:00

Summer projects abound at our house this year. We are using the time to build and create new things and finish projects that have been in the works for quite some time. The weather here this summer has been ideal and so much cooler than normal. The Lord has blessed us with early summer rains that have made the landscape greener than our typical brown. It blesses my heart to see His hands at work all around us.

Peter has been doing what he loves most this summer and building all things crafty. He created a garage of his own using popcicle sticks and a lot of glue. It took him several days of hard work but the result is quite good and very sturdy too. It is a joy to watch his mind work to create fun art. So very unlike myself I marval at the creative side of my children and their passion for artsy things.

My project along with some help from Miss Emma has been to get some more flowers growing in our front flower bed. We are working on growing some begonias as well as moss roses and a couple other new types of flowers. We were pleased to see that even after the cold winter many of our annuals were still alive and kicking which is very rare indeed especially for us!! The snapdragons and even some of the petunias are still going strong. We are still not master gardeners by any stretch but we are enjoying the color of the flowers and the process of keeping them flourishing.

Robert's garage is continuing to take shape. The outside is ready for paint and the inside is completely finished yippee!! The last major thing to do will be to get power to the building which will require taking our small shed down and moving all the contents into the new garage so that the wire can be run to the panel on the house. We also still have to string new fence around the building and take down our now quite dilapidated temporary fence. It has been a long hard struggle and we have learned a lot about ourselves and working together through this project. I can't deny that I will rejoice when it is finally complete and we can move on to other things. But as I look at it I realize how much has been accomplished in its building. Not only the building itself but the relationships involved while creating it. What a blessing to have summer days to be fruitful but in a more relaxed way than during the hectic months of the school year.

Summer Renovations

2009-06-22T14:41:00.006-07:00

Well I finally was able to get a couple of photos to load on my blog!! I don't know what I did or why it worked but thank you Lord for making it work!! A few weeks ago we decided to go to Ikea to get some bookshelves for the living room. Robert heard my heart and helped me figure out a way to get a small library together until we can get our garage converted to a room which I hope to then have one whole wall devoted to shelves for all my books. But this is a wonderful fix for the moment. We were able to move all of the books out of the kid's rooms and bring them all to one place in the living room. We are all loving it so much. I was also able to leave a shelf open for my next Sonlight Core which will be arriving very soon for the fall. I love the fact that we use a curriculum that allows us to have such a wonderful library. But it is also very frusterating not to have the space to have them all out where the children can actually get to them!! So this is our solution for now, what a blessing.

While we were browsing Ikea we decided to look at some new dressers for the kid's rooms. They were within the budget so we ended up getting two for the girl's room and two for the boy's room. They were all in need of new ones that have a larger capacity than what we had. Funny how as kids grow so do their clothes :). The girls also decided that they wanted to split their bunk beds apart and so the next day we set about revamp the rooms. The result was just perfect. The girls are so thrilled with the way the room looks and the space that they have for their things. I'm thrilled because it looks more homey and not so junky. I will also say they have done a remarkable job keeping it clean and neat and it is such a nice place to be. The boys have two new dressers and their clothes actually fit in the drawers and the drawers even close now! Mom is a happy camper. Funny how small changes can change the whole mood of a house. We have become masters at working with small spaces!

I would love to share some more pics but these are the only two that would load for now. Hopefully I can get some of our other adventures to load in future posts!!

A Decade Old

2009-06-01T13:43:00.004-07:00

How can it be that my sweet daugher Emma is already ten?? She had this momentous birthday back in April and I think that part of me didn't blog about it back then because I still couldn't quite get my head around it. I know that I have two children older than she is but because they came into our family when they were nine and almost eight I guess it doesn't seem the same. But with Emma I can't quite figure out where the time went. Why just a minute ago I was feeding her baby food with a tiny spoon and chasing after her as she was toddling around getting into mischief. Now she is wearing a size seven ladies shoe and teaching her younger brother and sister about Christ as well as reading all the books I read to her to them. She is independant and stubborn at times and I see my faults in her so clearly sometimes. But two of the most amazing things about her are her simple love for Jesus and what an amazing big sister she has turned out to be. I was watching her the other day at the YMCA pool. She spent most of her time in the small activity pool with Daniel and Ana playing and playing with them. Either helping to teach Daniel to not fear the water or following Ana down the slide laughing and giggling with glee. She is still a little girl at heart but I see a maturity in her that sometimes scares me. I know that there are so many things that will happen with her in the next ten years and part of me just wants to slow down time just a little so that I don't miss any of it.

There have been so many blessings that have come from adopting our children from Russia. But one of the most unexpected ones is the person that Emma has become because of her brothers and her sister. She is much more adventurous than I believe she would have been with no brothers and she is far more giving and compassionate. God has blessed us so greatly with this loving and faithful daughter and I am one thankful mom to have her in my life.

Snow Adventures, Puppy Adventures, Zoo, Garage and Grand Adventures

2009-03-23T20:48:00.002-07:00

Time flies when you are having so many adventures!! We have had our share over the past couple of months. In February we had our first real snow since the boys have been home. Wouldn't you know it, it was when Robert was in Phoenix for a conference so he missed all the fun. But it was a doozie of a storm that left us with more than a couple inches of snow and enough for even us homeschoolers to call a snow day. The kids had a blast playing and throwing snow balls. Then they joined me inside for a relaxing day of movies and hot chocolate...no school allowed.

James was especially thrilled. He has been waiting for a good snow since he arrived from Siberia three years ago. This is his wonderful snow man that he worked all morning to get just right. He was so proud and was sad to watch him melt which happened before days end. Such is life in Arizona where the snow doesn't stay long!!

Our next adventure began around the same time as the snow. This is our precious new chocolate lab Hershey. He is curious, fun loving and all puppy for sure. And he loves to give Hershey kisses :) He joined the gang in February as well and has become part of the family very quickly. One thing about having five pairs of eyes to watch over a puppy he doesn't get away with much. He has trained very quickly and loves all his people. The only down fall to this dog so far is that he is a morning dog. When the sun comes up he thinks it is time to PLAY! Which doesn't go over so well with this non-morning girl. But we are working on it!! Hopefully I can get him to come around to my way of thinking...sleeping in is good Hershey!!

The beginning of March found us off to the Phoenix Zoo on a homeschool field trip. Our dear friends hopped in the silver streak with us and we made a day of it. The kiddos had a blast and us moms got some exercise. We even took a side trip out for an awesome lunch and a trip to Fashion Square. Why waste a perfectly good trip to Phoenix I say!!

My man has been hard at work on his adventure in his new garage. In the last few months he has put on the trusses (thank you friends that helped), had our friend from church roof it (in a day...yippee), get all the electrical done, and hang almost all the drywall on the ceiling. He has done an awesome job and I'm so proud of him. The boys have been fantastic helpers as well and are learning so much from their dad.

Our latest adventure was truly Grand!! Our friends who we visited in Virginia last year and who will be moving there permanently this week invited us to tour the Grand Canyon with them. It was a special day to celebrate their son's birthday and just have sweet fellowship. We will miss them terribly when they go but are looking forward to future adventures with them. Who knows all the things we have yet to see!!

As spring approaches we realize once again how blessed we are. The Lord has allowed us to have so much fun together in 2009, enjoying the beauty of His creation.

Eleven Already!!

2009-01-19T16:09:00.006-07:00

There are times that I can still hardly believe that I have an eleven year old son...not to mention a 12 year old son!!! When you get them already half grown it seems like time passes all the more quickly and you have to be careful to catch the moments quick because you blink and three years have passed. I am posting these photos of Mr. Peter's birthday several weeks late but I wanted to share some of the fun we had during his party. Having your birthday on December 28th has its challenges. Especially when you are the mom :) but we did our best this year to let Peter know he is loved and such a special part of our family. Peter is my little imp, we knew from the moment we saw his photo that this would be his personality. He is so very creative, loves anything to do with the military, can build just about anything and is a budding artist. He keeps me on my toes everyday but his smile makes my heart melt. His theme this year was Army stuff and between Christmas and his birthday he managed to get just about everything a boy could want or need to "do battle" including a real Army phone, a full camo outfit, army shovel and ruck sack. He loves to suit up in all of it and head to the back yard to dig trenches and battle with his brothers. Here are some of the photos from his party at the Hampton Inn. We had fun having "camo" cake and then heading to the indoor pool for fun swimming with friends.

The Whole Gang after swimming...they all slept well
I think this picture says it all!

Mr. Peter with his camo cake!

My Little Imp!!

P.S. When I first posted this the photos didn't load right and this time they are not in the right order, but I'm choosing to just leave them and move on :)

Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today

2008-12-31T15:35:00.005-07:00

Sunday after everyone left and we had returned from Church I headed out for a little breather to the Christian Bookstore to browse around a little by myself :) I decided to purchase a new devotional for the New Year so I picked out Oswald Chamber's My Utmost For His Highest. It is one that I had looked at before but never bought. I have read it the last few days and have already been blessed by these words written so many years ago but even so they seem like they were written just for me.

Today's was entitled Yesterday...as we finish 2008 and embark on the adventures of 2009 I want to share what Chambers has to say and hopefully it will strike you as it struck me.

"You shall not go out with haste...for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" Isaiah 52:12

"Security from Yesterday. "God requires an account of what is past" (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God's grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday's sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present."

"Security for Tomorrow. "...the Lord will go before you..." This is a gracious revelation-that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our "rear guard." And God's hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience."

"Security for Today. "You shall not go out with haste..." As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ. Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him."

I love that He is my rear guard as well as the one that goes before me. I know as I look back on 2008 I have made my share of mistakes and blunders but I also know that I'm forgiven...I take heart in this as 2009 begins! Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T14:34:00.002-07:00

Well the 24th has finally arrived and I have managed to get everything prepared for our Christmas celebration. The last few weeks and days have been filled with times spent with good friends, lots of laughter and really not a whole lot of stress. I was feeling it a bit earlier today as I rushed out to buy one last minute gift but over all this has been a very peaceful preparation time for Christmas. As we prepare to celebrate the Lord's birth I am filled thankgiving for all that this year has meant to our family. It has been a year filled with memory making and as we gather together tonight and tomorrow I'm feeling peace about what we have accomplished in the recent weeks and all this year. I pray that as you celebrate with your families that you will remember the meaning of the season and feel the peace that surpasses all understanding that our Lord offers. Merry Christmas!!

Purposeful Preparation

2008-12-05T16:15:00.004-07:00

As we are preparing for Christmas I am trying to keep in perspective the reason for this season and not get too stressed in the process. Staying focused on finishing my Bible study and spending time in prayer has helped a great deal. I just finished another wonderful Beth Moore study with my Bible study girls and it was truly awesome. It was all about the Psalms of Ascent which I had never even heard of before but they are the grouping of Psalms from Psalm 120-134. They were written as songs that the Israelites would sing as they made their yearly pilgrimages to the feasts in Jerusalem. Within this group is a Psalm that I have always held dear but it became even more dear to me after studying it more and it is one that I will cling to throughout this season to help me stay grounded in what is truly important during these busy days.

Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds a house its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. In vain you get up early and stay up late, eating food
earned by hard work; certainly He gives sleep to the one He loves. Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, children, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in
one's youth. Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them. Such men will never be put to shame when they speak with their enemies at the city gate.

I love that God wants me to get sleep!! That was such a revelation to me when studying this Psalm. Many times I get so caught up in all the things to do, especially at this time of year that I forget to rest and I forget that God wants me to rest. The other part of this psalm that I truly love is the part about my children being a Heritage from the Lord. I need to remind myself of that from time to time as well. When I get frustrated with behaviors or caught up in the busyness of getting school accomplished it is easy for me to forget what a blessing they truly are to my life. And my quiver is truly full with arrows for serving Jesus. I need to also remember to always build my house on the firm foundation of Christ so that I am not laboring in vain.

In the last session Beth talks about laying down things that we think are necessary but are not necessarily what God wants us to be doing. This is something that over the last year I have actually worked very hard to do. I know that I still could use some work on this but I'm pleased to say that He has taught me to pray much more fervently before I take something new on, and to make sure that it is really His will and not my own. My prayer for all of you that read this blog is that you would take the time to evaluate the "things" in your life that take up your time and be prayerful about whether or not they are truly what God wants for you. In the coming weeks as we prepare for Christmas I want to be purposeful about the things we choose to do and remember as the days pass why we celebrate this holiday we call Christmas, I hope I can pass some of that on to my quiver in the process!!

Lessons from Computer Land

2008-11-15T07:05:00.004-07:00

Over the past week I have learned just how much I have come to rely on the technology that is my computer! I entered the realm of technology slowly and with some trepidation. I don't know if I was resisting change or just being stubborn but apparently I may on to have been on to something, perhaps. Anyway...this week we found out that our computer had over 140 viruses on it, yippee. I have known for the past few months that something was not quite right on my computer but I had no idea that it was this bad. Anyway the folks at the local computer store assured Robert that they could rectify this problem quickly and efficiently, isn't that what they always say?? That was Saturday, by Monday my computer was back on my desk ready to roll right??? Alas no, when we pulled up the email I discovered that everything in my contacts on outlook (that is every address, phone number and email that I have saved) and all of my old saved emails were you guessed it, GONE! This made my heart very sad and being the understanding husband that he is made Robert very testy. Back to the computer store he marched where they once again assured him that they would quickly and efficiently be able to restore this problem and I would get my stuff back. That was Monday...fast forward to Friday, apparently it took longer than they thought. I call Robert to find out if he will be home soon and he sounds kinda funny. I ask what's going on?? He says I'm picking up the computer, I'll call you right back. I sense, all is not well at the big box electronic store. He never did call me back I think he was prolonging the inevitable friction that he knew was going to ensue. See apparently they are not nearly as crafty and efficient at the store, and even after reinfecting my computer and trying to restore all of my data alas that was not possible! All is lost...thank you so much cleaver hackers and virus engineers you got me good!!

I am still sad and not looking forward to collecting and restoring my address book but I'm coming around to the fact that there is a reason for everything and perhaps God is trying to teach me a lesson. Maybe I have gotten a little too comfy around my technology and have spent a bit too much time in the vortex which is the internet. Perhaps I am to teach you all a lesson about making back up copies of contact files and printing out emails that have fun recipes instead of assuming they will always be there. Or maybe He is just longing for me to remember that all things on this earth are temporary and if I'm going to put my trust in something it should be Him. Whatever the reason I'm sure it is for my own good right??

Big D Turns Eight

2008-10-21T15:42:00.002-07:00

Today is Daniel's or as we affectionately call him Big D's eighth birthday. He is my littlest guy but he has a big heart. Always willing to help and always smiling...Daniel lights up any room he enters. It is hard to believe that it has been three years since Daniel entered our lives with quite a bang. We have had our challenges since he joined our family for sure, but Daniel is also probably my most consistently happy child. Even when he is sick, Big D is going 100 mph from the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed. He is inquisitive and jovial and tells me so often how much he likes me!! We like him too, and can't imagine life without him. He teaches me everyday what it means to persevere and have patience and I can't believe how much he has grown and changed over the last three years. With his big boy teeth in the front he looks so very grown up. Happy Birthday Big Guy!!

My Five Chickens

2008-10-20T15:35:00.002-07:00

After we finished in DC we headed back to the farm for a few more days with our sweet friends. Melissa took these adorable pictures of our kiddos with one of the Bard Rock Chickens. This is the prettier of the two kinds of chickens that they have. Brent brought her up from the egg mobile for her photo session. That night we were having our yummy mexican dinner outside and she decided that she really wanted to join us. She proceeded to jump up on the table several times and wreak a little havoc on our dinner plans. Ana to the rescue...she pulled her off of the table and we went on eating!! Fun memories!

Chicken James
Chicken Peter
Chicken Emma
Chicken Daniel
And last but certainly not least...Chicken Ana

The next day it was time for us to head for home. We were very sad to leave and can't wait for our friends to come back to Arizona next month. However we will treasure so many memories from this grand adventure. Hopefully we can return to this part of the country some day for a visit or perhaps longer. Until then we will continue to wait on the Lord...here in brown but beautiful Arizona!!

A Few More Washington Photos

2008-10-15T17:25:00.003-07:00

Thought I would post a few more of our favorite photos from the monuments.

The Washington Monument and reflecting pool view from the Lincoln Memorial
The Vietnam Memorial
Vietnam Memorial Statue
Mr. Lincoln
Our trooper kiddos before our long trek back to the subway. They did an outstanding job with all the walking that we did. Boy were we happy to get to the metro station though...wheew!

Washington Adventure: Part Two

2008-10-15T15:25:00.002-07:00

After leaving the Library of Congress we headed next door to the Supreme Court Building. What an amazing site it was. How many country changing decisions have been made in this building. Quite awe inspiring. From there we headed to the Museum of American Indians which was at the top of our children's list of must see places. We had a wonderful lunch at their food court which has an amazing assortment of Native American cuisine. It is divided into regions...some of our samples included salmon, native american tacos, indian fry bread and of course for our more picky eaters...chicken and fries!! After lunch we toured around the exhibits which detail the lives of American Indians today as well as a lot of their history. There was a neat bead work exhibit as well as pottery and indian dolls. Next we headed for the Air and Space Museum which is right next door thankfully. Robert was thrilled about seeing all of the different treasures that this museum had to offer as were the boys. I have to admit though that the girls and I were pooped! We decided to let the boys explore and we went to McDonald's for a shake and some fries and some nice chairs. After some rest we rejoined our boys and Emma went with them to some of the other exhibits including the Wright Brother's area which was a favorite with all of them. Ana and I ended up camping out on the floor to people watch and Ana took a much needed cat nap. This rounded out our first day of touring. The one down side to the day was when we got back to the van we realized it had been broken into while we were gone. Thankfully my sweet husband was very smart and took pretty much everything out of any value and they only ended up taking four of the kids DVDs. One of them being Bible Man so we are hopeful that perhaps they will watch it and repent!! We filed a police report and headed for the camp ground...exhausted.

The Supreme Court
My weary kiddos at Air and Space...in front of the Spirit of St. Louis

After our adventure with the van we decided to take the Metro for our second day of touring. We were off and running to the first bus of the day which took us to the Metro station and on to downtown. Our first stop of the day was the National Archives which we were all excited about seeing. Since we have been studying early American history and specifically the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution this was thrilling for all of us. We spent some time looking over all the documents and snapping a lot of photos and then moved onto the gift shop! We found lots of treasures including copies of all the important documents and a copy of Poor Richard's Almanack for me written by Benjamin Franklin. Another person we had studied extensively last year.

Outside the National Archives

Next we headed to the Naval Museum. Peter especially enjoyed this spot looking at all the Naval uniforms and getting more info about a tour of duty of a naval officer in a very interesting film. We hit the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and then went to see the house where Lincoln died. Ford's Theater across the street is closed for renovation but we did see the outside of it. Next we walked to the White House and then over to the monuments. We were able to see the Washington, WWII, Vietnam and our personal favorite...Lincoln. We have been reading a photo biography about him since we returned from our trip and it is great to have the visual of the places that he lived and worked fresh in our minds.

After the monuments we trudged back to the subway, very weary but happy to have seen so much of this amazing city. Hopefully we will be able to go back again someday and see some of the things we missed, but we feel like for our first trip we saw the main highlights...memories we will have for a life time!

A nice view of the White House from over by the Washington Monument.

Washington Adventure Day One

2008-10-12T16:46:00.002-07:00

Our adventure in DC began at the US Capitol. We had gotten to the Smithsonian before it opened so we decided to take a walk down to the Capitol. We ended up walking down there and then around the other side to the Library of Congress, which I must admit was my favorite attraction...book junky that I am. Emma and I were sad to find out though that you can't actually see and touch the books except for through a glass window overlooking the rotunda. We were quite sad about this but it was fun just to be there. They also had a wonderful display set up of part of Thomas Jefferson's personal library. It had some interactive computers next to it, where you could pick a book and actually read excerpts from it on the computer screen. There was also a neat display with some of the original drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. James, Peter, and Emma were thrilled to know that even the authors of these fantastic documents wrote rough drafts with scribble marks all over them. Pretty amazing stuff!

My handsome family in front of the Capitol
A very nice lady was kind enough to snap this one for us. The sun was still in the way in the east so it was a little challenging to be able to actually get us and the building in the photo without tremendous glare.
This was taken near the reflecting pool by the Capitol. That was something that I had forgotten was there. I knew there was one between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial but I didn't remember this one. Very pretty area.
The Capitol Squirrels...we had fun with the kids pointing out different squirrels. There were the Capitol Squirrels, the White House Squirrels, the Lincoln Memorial Squirrels...you get the idea. What can I say we don't see a lot of squirrels in Arizona...and we are kind of dorks!! :)
The Library of Congress

A Surprising Wonder

2008-10-10T16:30:00.002-07:00

Luray Caverns, Virginia was a pleasant surprise along our journey up to Washington DC. A beautiful walk through this enormous cavern reveals some of God's handiwork in an amazing way. The children were amazed at all the stalactites and stalagmites throughout the cavern and the interesting formations that they create. Our favorite highlights were hearing the stalactite organ play and spending a moment with the lights out down in the cavern. I don't think I have ever been in a place that dark.

Me and my honey!!
Adventure Buddies
Sweet Friends

Sweet Girls and Sweet Fellowship

2008-10-08T20:21:00.002-07:00

One of the things that is wonderful about being on the farm is the freedoms that you can allow your children. Melissa and I turned our sweet girls loose one of the days we were there asking them if they wanted to go on a solo adventure to pick wild flowers in the Ranger. Abigail has been learning how to drive it and was anxious to show her friend what she had learned. With wide eyes they said a most definite "Yes!" and before we knew it they were off. We both gulped and agreed that this was a small taste of what it will be like to send them off in a car together someday...yikes!! All was well and they had a wonderful time and brought back some gorgeous Queen Anne's Lace which they arranged in a beautiful bouquet for us! I know just yesterday they were four and in dance class together...my how the time does fly.

Off on their grand adventure
Sweet Emma
Sweet Abigail

The Heart of Our Journey

2008-10-08T08:42:00.003-07:00

Our original reason for making this incredible journey was to visit our dear friends Brent and Melissa's farm in Virginia. They have been farming on the most amazing God created piece of land this summer and fall and we were privileged to get a glimpse of their life during our trip. They have been raising broiler chickens, some happy cows and laying hens and are having a marvelous time doing it. How amazing to see their three children, who are dear friends of our kiddos, Abigail, Samuel and Ethan working this farm right along side their parents. What a gift Brent and Melissa have given them to be involved in this lifestyle. So much slower paced and the bonus of being in some of the prettiest country I have ever been in. This Arizona girl was smitten with all the green rolling hills and beautiful flowers growing everywhere.

Robert was able to help Brent with morning chores (way too early for me to even think about helping). Then we all took our turns gathering, washing, weighing and cartoning eggs. All of the children loved pitching in. But our Sweet Ana was definitely the most eager to get down and dirty with the chickens. I was amazed at her fearlessness, pulling chickens off their nests and scooping up as many eggs as her basket would hold. I think we have a future farmer in our family!!

Here is the amazing view from near one of the egg mobiles truly breathtaking. How fun to wiz to the top of the hill in the Ranger and see this amazing view. Melissa was even brave enough to let me drive the Ranger one time, I almost made her regret it by going just a tad too fast down a hill!
Here is our sweet farm girl doing her thing in the egg mobile. It was her favorite time of the day.
Sweet friends Peter and Samuel. They had missed each other so much. Samuel was wonderful about showing the boys all the ins and outs of farm life. What a blessing to be able to turn the kids loose and let them ride bikes and just explore without fear. Something definitely not possible in the city.
Here are Mr. Brent's happy cows. One of the most amazing sites to behold. Each day around 3:00 Brent goes to move the cows to a new area of grass. They are surrounded by electric fence, and feast on a diet of yummy grass. Each day when Brent goes to move them they frolic and can't wait to follow him to the new pasture. It is quite a site to see 500 cows following a man as if he were the pied piper. Robert got to call them, one of the days that we were there and he loved every minute of it.

Blessing my Husband's Heart

2008-10-01T17:01:00.002-07:00

Our next day of travel took us through the beautiful state of Tennessee where we landed in Pigeon Forge for the night. It was a very long day of travel and we were all exhausted when we finally reached our destination. The one conciliation for all of us was that Pigeon Forge just happens to have a Johnny Carino's Restaurant. For those of you that know us well you know how much this means to us. For those who don't it is just about our favorite restaurant for so many reasons...Italian Nachos, Chicken Pasta, Chocolate cake...and the list goes on. We used to have one of these wonderful places in Prescott Valley, but alas it went out of business, so any time we visit a place that has one it is definitely on our list of stops. The next day we slept in a bit and then headed for Virginia and our wonderful friend's farm. On the way we just so happened to pass through the town of Bristol, Tennessee home to one of NASCAR's famous tracks. If you know Robert you know that NASCAR is one of his favorite things in life. And since we gave up television a few years ago he has only been able to get updates online and catch an occasional race when we are at a hotel. So when we saw the signs for the race track his face lit up. We ended up stopping there for lunch in the trailer and taking a look around the track. It is actually a very small track, and shaped very much like a paper clip according to my beloved! It blessed him to see it, perhaps someday we can even attend the actual race...smile!!

Bristol
Had to get a shot from out the window...Robert says it turned out great.
Robert sneaked a quick peak inside to get this photo.

Compared to the Phoenix track which we visited earlier this year, this is tiny!

Sweet Fellowship in Little Rock

2008-09-30T16:43:00.002-07:00

We made it through the winds and the rain of Ike and safely landed in Little Rock at the house of our sweet friends the Buchers. We had met them when we first started the process with Family Life at the Ministry Preview that we attended. They are very dear to us and we were thrilled that they were willing to host us for our short stay in Little Rock. Their four children graciously allowed us to sleep in their beds for two nights as well as making fast friends with our five. We attended church with them on Sunday morning and then Sunday afternoon they had a get together for all of the people that we had met through Family Life. Complete with wonderful food, lots of laughter, and even some singing, it was a very special day for all of us. A bit bittersweet as we realized once again that we will not be a part of this community. Fun none the less to see what the Lord has been doing in all of their lives and to finally get to meet all of their sweet children. All of our kiddos made fast friends that they hope to keep in touch with. Fun fellowship for all and difficult to say goodbye to as well. There will always be a piece of us in Little Rock and we hope to visit there again very soon.

Sweet new friends

Lance, Hope, Anna, Seth, Ethan and Joshua made our time in LR so special

Sweet Girls...Anna, Ana and Emma really hit it off...kindred spirits!

The Wonderful Cross

2008-09-30T16:06:00.007-07:00

Our second day of travel took us through the panhandle of Texas and past the Largest Cross in the World. Because of Hurricane Ike, Amarillo was blanketed with fog the morning we were leaving there. We decided to hit the road early and stop for breakfast at this huge cross which was also surrounded in a blanket of fog. We were the only ones there, so after a light breakfast in the trailer we walked around and explored the amazing exhibits surrounding this gigantic cross. Around the outside of the cross are bronze statues depicting the stations of the cross. There is a station for Calvary with the three crosses and next to it is a tomb with a giant angel statue inside. The children loved looking around and reading all the plaques at each station. It was a wonderful way to start our long day of travel.

Home again in Arizona

2008-09-29T06:41:00.002-07:00

We have returned safely from our journey east to Virginia. What a trip it was for all of us. A truly wonderful experience with some interesting adventures along the way. It was difficult to leave the beautiful green of the Virginia farm where our dear friends are dwelling this summer. It was a balm to my spirit to dwell there if only for a few days. I have so much to share and many pictures to post, but my computer is not feeling well and I think may have a virus so not sure how that is going to work. I will work today to try and get my old computer up and running and see if I can get some of the photos posted over there. In the mean time I have piles of laundry to sort through and children to get back on track. We are all overwhelmingly tired and a bit sick. Miss Emma got a cold along about the time we were in DC and then by the time we were headed home I had contracted it. The Lord was merciful and it has not been horrible for any of us, but we do need to take it easy I think for a couple more days. Hard to re-enter your life when you have been gone for such a period of time. But alas we must try. Robert is headed back to work and I will have the task of getting us back to school. What a blessing our time was to all of us, treasured memories we will have for a lifetime!! Stay tuned for more about our journey...

Our Big Adventure

2008-09-23T13:20:00.002-07:00

We have been having an amazing time on our journey across the country. We have not had email or web access for most of the trip so I have not had a chance to blog...but I am going to tell all about our adventure when we get home. Right now we are still in Virginia and having a blast on the farm!! What a blessing this has been for our whole family. I'm looking forward to sharing all about it when we get home at the end of the week.

Three Weeks into School Already

2008-08-20T16:44:00.002-07:00

Well we started back to school on the 4th of August and now suddenly it is already our third week!! So far we have stayed on track with our new schedule and amazingly enough I think that they are ALL learning. We have made some significant changes in curriculum this year and I'm loving it. We are still using Sonlight as our core for history, Bible and reading but we have changed to Abeka for most of our language arts and science. As well as adding Institute for Excellence in Writing which is fabulous! The children are doing so well with all of it, and it is such a relief since I spent so much time stressing over my choices as I mentioned in another blog entry. The Lord truly helped me through Robert to discern what were the best choices and He is rewarding us with a smooth transition. James, Peter and Emma are doing key word outlines and writing summaries from them all on their own...praise the Lord. My non writers are begging me to do writing which I never thought would happen. We have also done science every day we have done school...which for those of you that know me well know is a feat in and of itself. They are loving it and doing so well with learning about insects and some things about plants which we did cover last year. We are also doing devotions each morning to start our day and everyone is memorizing scripture together as well.

Daniel and Ana are on the right track as well and are coming along with their Abeka curriculum and Math U See. They still work slower than the others but I'm seeing some real progress and I'm hopeful that we will be able to cruise through the kindergarten curriculum and perhaps squeeze in some 1st grade work before the end of the year. We'll see! True praises all the way around.

Through some evaluations we have discovered some of the learning difficulties that we are dealing with with Peter and Ana and it has helped me to change my way of doing things and my attitude toward their learning. Sometimes you just need someone to lay things out for you and it puts things into better focus. We are getting them some extra services lined up for speech and occupational therapy which I think will also help. Daniel is still receiving OT services and making some real progress with it. It is daunting at times to think of all the individual needs, but I'm so thankful that the Lord is giving me the chance to help them through home schooling. I truly believe now more than ever that we have made the correct choice to keep them all home. They would flounder greatly if they had to survive in a large classroom setting. I don't have much free time during the day, but we are getting what we need to accomplished and I'm feeling content with our choices. Each day is not a breeze don't get me wrong, there have been a couple of doozies let me tell ya. But the Lord is giving me the strength and the patience most of time :).

We are looking forward to a grand adventure coming up next month. We will be travelling back to Virginia to see our dear friends and to visit Washington DC. We are all thrilled to be getting to do this. It is something that has been in the works since the beginning of the year so we are all anxious to finally get going. Until then we will try to complete some of our house projects. Robert is done laying the foundation for his garage...yippee! And we are taking some time now to replace some windows on the house and prepare it for paint. Which we will hopefully have someone doing while we are on our trip. So with God's help, when we return we will have a freshly painted house to welcome us. What a true blessing that would be.

Summer Blessings

2008-07-23T15:45:00.002-07:00

Since I have still had such a hard time keeping up on this blog I will condense this post of what has been going on the last month and a half with some blessings from our days that I'm thankful for.

1. The giggles and smiles from summer swim lessons where my children are learning to not be afraid of the water and are truly becoming swimmers.

2. Fun summer movies with friends from church. Yummy lunches afterwards too!!

3. Finishing a wonderful Bible Study (finally...we made it girls!) and sharing fellowship with sisters in Christ who always hold me accountable.

4. An amazing visit from certain sweet friends from Virginia...sharing laughter and tears and the joys and trials of motherhood together.

5. Birthday celebrations for Miss A and me and God's blessing us with another year. Fun dinners and desserts to celebrate were an added bonus.

6. A wonderful camping trip with family to celebrate our nation's birthday. Exploring and just playing with the kiddos around the camp ground.

7. Learning to knit with sweet Miss E and fun fellowship with friends while doing so.

8. Celebrating my mother's retirement after 20+ years with the University of Arizona. Hearing the relief in her voice and the anticipation of new adventures for her on the horizon.

9. Celebrating 13 wonderful years of marriage to my soul mate.

10. Sweet fellowship with old friends and new friends at the homeschool conference. Feeling encouraged to start a brand new school year knowing that I'm doing what is best for my children's education!

As you can see it has been a busy month at the Upton house and we have much to be thankful for. One additional blessing is that Robert has been diligently working on the new garage and in what little time he has had, has managed to complete the slab and get a good start on the brick. He is such a blessing in himself and has been very patient with all our travels this summer and interruptions of his project. I pray that as your summers wind down you will take the time to remember your summer blessings!!

Such a Fun Week and Weekend

2008-06-15T19:40:00.002-07:00

This was a fun week and weekend for our whole family. This was VBS week which is always highly anticipated by the kiddos and myself. They attend VBS at Robert Road Baptist church which is not our home church but has one of the best (we think THE best) VBS in our area. The woman that runs it is amazing and she spends literally the whole year preparing for this special week. The staff is also a mixture of young and old congregation members and they are such faithful servants of the Lord it is so amazing to watch all of it unfold. It is also a special week for me since it is my one week a year that all the children are gone from me for three and a half hours each day!! Being a homeschool mom I'm passionate about spending time and energy with and on my children but for this short week I get a much needed break and a small recharge. I was able to shop a little on my own and watch a movie I'd been trying to watch as well as talking to my sweet friend who is in Virginia for the next six months. It was a blessing for all of us. The best part of the week though was Friday night when the children perform a musical of all the songs that they had learned all week. This always brings tears to my eyes to see how much they have learned and grown from one year to the next. Robert and I were especially blessed to see Miss Ana and Mr Daniel perform this year. Two years ago when they attended their first VBS it was a rough week. We had behavior issues galore and barely made it through the week. This year nothing could have been further from the truth. They were in the Kindergarten class and had an absolute blast and never once had any behavior problems. Then at the musical they were the most fun to watch, singing at the top of their lungs and worshipping the Lord with all their little hearts, hand motions included!! What a blessing to our hearts to see what the Lord has done in our family in the last two years. It is so wonderful when the Lord gives you those glimpses every once in a while when you need some perspective.

They yesterday we headed to Phoenix to celebrate James' 12th birthday. We had gotten Diamondback tickets a few weeks ago and surprised him with this trip for his birthday. With five I get a little weary of parties so we try to mix things up and do some trips for birthdays when we can. We started the day by having lunch with Granny and Brad at a fun mexican restaurant and then headed to the hotel to check in before going to the game. The hotel has a wonderful pool with a lazy river that you can tube around and just relax as well as a water slide and another pool with a waterfall. The Diamondbacks didn't have their best showing so we came back and swam instead. Which was a perfect time to do so without the 110 degree temps. We swam again this morning after breakfast and then had a fun lunch at the Cheesecake Factory for Father's Day before heading back up the hill. It was a fun trip for all of us and James I think has felt sufficiently celebrated!!

Fun family fellowship is sure a wonderful way to spend our summer days. Thank you Jesus for knitting us together.

So How Does a Month Pass Sooooo Quickly???

2008-06-01T20:02:00.002-07:00

Here I was trying to make my posts around every week and here we are at the beginning of another month!! What a busy month it has been. Early in the month the kids had their first two choir performances. The first one was at the mall and the second one at Embry Riddle which was a true recital. Peter, Emma, Daniel and Ana are participating in choir and are loving every minute of it. Daniel particularly is doing a fabulous job and it is so awesome to see him doing something that he truly enjoys and that he is good at. They sang three of their songs at the mall performance and then at the recital they did five different numbers. It was so much fun to watch them all.

James and Peter have also started an art class through the same academy and are loving that as well. They both have an amazing gift in the area of art, and I have no skill whatsoever in this area so it is a tremendous blessing that this program exists. They have only been to one session but they are so excited and the program will go throughout the summer so that will be wonderful as well.

We had our first travel adventure two weeks ago. Robert was working down in Phoenix for the week on a project that he has been working on for a while that needed some more of his attention. So the kids and I tagged along and went down to stay at the hotel with him and do some swimming while he worked. They enjoyed it more than words can describe and I was able to still hang out with my honey a bit. We also got the chance to meet another adoptive family while we were down there. They just recently adopted two children from Russia and live over where we were staying so we were able to have dinner with them and share some of our experiences and give them some insight about our experiences. What a blessing that was, sweet fellowship that will hopefully grow from here. Our children played so well together and ours enjoyed meeting more children from Russia. Their children are a delight and we look forward to seeing them again.

We thought we would be getting back in the routine the last week of the month but last Sunday night we received a call from Robert's mom saying that his dad had fallen off a ladder while building his garage and broken both of his arms. He was okay but going to have to have surgery up in Colorado the next day. So we packed our bags and headed for Colorado! I was pretty impressed with my ability to get seven of us packed and ready in about three hours but I guess you can do most anything with the Lord's help. He was truly in the whole experience. Robert's dad could have been much worse off but he had the surgery and was out of the hospital in around 48 hours. He will be laid up for a long time but the Lord saved him from much more serious injury and his bones all went back into place when the doctor went in to do the surgery and he didn't even have to put in any pins on the inside or plates of any kind and the arm was broken in 15 pieces. We serve a mighty God. We helped to get things squared away up at their place and they will be coming back to Arizona for his recovery. Robert did a ton of work on the garage and finished up the second floor and arranged for roofers to come and do the roof in the next couple of days. We cut down trees and did a lot of clean up on the property and it should be all set for them to come home mid week. The kiddos had a blast playing around on the property and they did an awesome job helping out and staying out of trouble. They were even very good in the van on the drive and didn't complain at all. I was extremely proud of them!!

We got back today and aside from having about sixteen loads of laundry to do I think all is well. We will hopefully get back into the routine tomorrow. We have a bit of school to finish. Daniel and Ana will continue through the summer but the others will be pretty much done after this week. Which I might add they are very happy about. So here we are starting another month and I'll try once again to post more often. But you never know...time does fly by.

Giving Over My Ashes

2008-05-03T20:36:00.002-07:00

I realize more and more every day that parenting five children cannot be done without relying fully on the Lord. I have found lately that I have been trying to do this job in my own strength and it never goes well when I do that! From potty training issues and agressive behavior with siblings to choosing the proper curriculum for homeschooling I feel as though I have been failing miserably lately when it comes to looking to the Lord for guidance. I went to the Ladies Spring Fellowship at my church today and heard some of my fellow sisters in Christ speak about how the Lord will take all of my ashes and turn them into something beautiful. But as one of the speakers stated He can't do it if I don't give Him my ashes!!! This hit home because I really feel like lately I haven't been doing this. I have been stressed out about many things (mostly just day to day parenting things) and rather than looking to the Lord I have instead been worrying and fretting and truly making myself a little crazy (not to mention making my husband and children crazy).

Why is it that as women we tend to take on so much of a burden of the daily things that we encounter?? I find myself going through times when I have such sweet fellowship with the Lord and then just that quick it is gone and I find myself heaping things upon myself that I should be giving over to Him. Having decided to bring my children home again for schooling was something that I didn't take on lightly and spent a great deal of time in prayer about. But recently I have become unhappy with some of our curriculum and I know that I need to make some changes. I have spent many hours on the computer researching some new material, particularly for Mr. D and Miss A who are my two with the most special needs and who have been struggling with some of the material we are doing. I have felt over the past week or so such a strong burden of this on my heart. I have had a couple of discussions with Robert and also with friends but have not once turned it over to the Lord. It hit me today how wrong this is and that I need to stop and do this and release this burden to Him. He was the one that wanted me to bring them home in the first place why would He not help me with all the decisions surrounding it??

I commit now to take this to the Lord in prayer and wait for an answer from Him. I know that I may soon try to take over again, but for this moment I recognize my need to lay this at the cross as well as all issues involving my children. After an incident tonight with our three oldest I asked Robert if he thought we would survive this parenting adventure. He said that he was certain that we would but that the choices that the children will make will ultimately be theirs and all we can to is impart as much to them as we can while we can and leave it up to the Lord to work out the details. Wise words and ones that I think I need to take to heart myself. My Heavenly Father does the same thing for me, He tries to impart His wisdom to me but whether I choose to listen is truly my choice. I pray that you all as my sisters in Christ remember to turn your burdens over to Him and allow Him to take your ashes and trade them for His beauty and glory. Let's pray for one another that we listen to His voice and choose His yoke and not our own self imposed yoke, His is so much lighter!

Long Awaited Update

2008-04-26T11:01:00.003-07:00

Well as you can tell I haven't been very diligent in getting my blog updates done. What I thought would be a weekly post has turned into a monthly post. Thank you those of you who keep checking this and I'm sorry that I haven't been a very good blogger. There have been lots of things going on though so let me see if I can summarize.

I was going to post at the end of last month about our trip to Flagstaff at Easter. I actually started the post and never finished. We decided to start a new tradition this year and head to Flagstaff for a weekend at a cabin in the woods to celebrate the Resurrection. It was a wonderful time just to relax and kick back together as a family which we really needed. There was still a bit of snow and the kids had a wonderful time sledding and mom didn't have to partake but just watch which was a good thing.

The next big event were the April birthdays. Both Robert and Miss E have birthdays in April. I got Robert tickets to the NASCAR race in Phoenix the Saturday after his birthday. We had a blast seeing all the cars and enjoying the race. It was a nice date night for us, thanks to our friends who graciously kept all the kiddos. Next was Miss E's 9th birthday. I can hardly believe that she is 9 years old seems like just yesterday she was born, wow has a lot happened since then. She wanted an all girl birthday so we took she and two of her friends to Red Robin for a girls lunch. My mom and grandmother came up from Tucson to join us and it was a fun frilly girls day. She got lots of American Girl stuff which thrilled her to no end and it was a fun celebration.

The other major event happening on an ongoing basis is the construction of our new garage. We have been planning this for years and it is finally happening. I can honestly say we have quite the example of the Bible's direction of building a firm foundation going on in our side yard. I never knew all the work that building up a foundation for a building took, but alas now I do. We have had removal of bad rock and material, two loads of good dirt, a third load of AB material (which until now I knew nothing about and thought those were just the first two letters of the alphabet) and this weekend we are compacting all the material to prepare for the next step of digging the footers. The kids have been thrilled to help in all of this activity and help drive the Bobcat a few weeks ago and then the tractor that arrived yesterday. It is finally beginning to become a reality and hopefully before the end of May we will have a slab.

Here inside the house we are in the process of finishing up our school year. Mr. J, Mr. P and Miss E are finishing up 3rd and 4th grades and Big D and Miss A are still plugging away at Kindergarten. We will hopefully have somewhat of a break over the summer but I'll probably continue some daily work with Mr. P and Big D and Miss A over the summer so that we don't loose ground. They are my ones with some extra needs and I'm working on trying to get them all the different things that they need to get caught up. Which as I'm finding out is more than a full time job.

I think that about covers it for now. As you can see our time between blogs has not been boring. I also wanted to take the time to recommend a film to you that we went to see last night. It is called Expelled and is a documentary about the scientific community's attack on the Intelligent Design theory. Ben Stein is the narrator and director of the film and it is an amazing look into the scientific establishment and how many scientists have lost their careers because they dared to bring up the ID possibility. It was an eye opener for Robert and me to what is going on in the world and how we as Christians are viewed as fanatical freaks whose beliefs are no more than idiotic fantasy to many in the education establishment. I would recommend that you take the time to see this film and support it.

Well I will sign off for now and will do my best to post more often. Please leave me a comment and let me know you are still with me!!!

The Cost of My Salvation

2008-03-06T08:01:00.004-07:00

Sometimes I forget in all my daily routine of what the true cost of my salvation really was for Christ. The devotional magazine that I use "Closer Walk" is taking me through the book of Romans this month. I am enjoying it particularly because each days reading is shorter than is typical and I'm able to really focus on just a few verses and what Christ is saying to me through them. The main verse for the lesson today was Romans 3:25.

Christ Jesus whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed

The word propitiation puzzles me, but my study bible describes it this way: Crucial to the significance of Christ's sacrifice, this word carries the idea of appeasemement or satisfacation in this case Christ's violent death satisfied the offended holiness and wrath of God against those for whom Christ died. For some reason this hit me hard this morning. I know that I take Christ's sacrifice for granted and it grieves my heart. I was moved by the quote in my devotion by Martin Luther. He says:

"Because Christ has become a King and Priest for you and has bestowed this great blessing on you, you dare not imagine that it cost little or comes to you because of your merit. Sin and death were overcome for you in Him and through Him. Grace and life were given you , but meant bitter work for Him. It cost Him much. He earned it at the greatest expense with His own blood, body, and life. For to put down God's wrath, judgement, hell, death, and everything evil, and to gain everything good, could not be done without satisfying divine justice. This is why Paul is in the habit of touching also on Christ's suffering and blood whenever he preaches God's grace in Christ, in order to note that all our blessings are given to us through Christ, but not without His unspeakable merit and cost."

How many times have I been prideful about something that I have done or said and not given Christ the credit. More times than I would care to admit. We talk as believers about the free gift of salvation and how all we need to do is accept it and we are saved. Do we tend to forget the price that it cost our Lord in the process? I know that I'm guilty of this so often and I focus more on what can God do for me now instead of focusing on what He has already done at the Cross.

Help me O Lord to remember your sacrifice and not to take for granted the precious gift that you gave ME at the cross. I pray that you would help me to teach this to my children that they might not take for granted your sacrifice and make it a point to be purposeful in their thanksgiving for your sacrifice. Amen.

The last thing that my devotion told me was to meditate on Psalm 22. I would encourage you to do the same and leave me a comment and let me know what the Lord speaks to you through this beautiful passage of Scripture.

The Silver Streak

2008-02-26T17:28:00.003-07:00

The Lord is good and He provides even for our most human needs and wants! We have a new van...this time not boring white but silver. Such a small detail but He even took care of that. Our whole experience getting it was just such a blessing. We have a wonderful gentleman that has helped us get two of our other vehicles that was able to get this van for us. It is a year newer than our old van and even has some upgrades that we had put on including a DVD player for those long van trips with our five blessings. The insurance company has already paid us and so even that has gone so smoothly. We are thanking God for this new blessing and have dubbed it the Silver Streak. A little more catchy than The Big White Bus. All the praise goes to the Lord.

Our California Adventure and the Lord's Deliverance

2008-02-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

January 30th marked the beginning of our first real family vacation since all our children came home from Russia. We were off to Disneyland and a fun filled adventure with all our kiddos and some good friends. Our first stop in Redlands to have lunch with another friend ended with our youngest daughter Miss A getting her finger caught in the van door. Perhaps this was the Lord's way of warning us of things yet to come? She was okay though and after getting her calmed down we pressed onward. We made it through LA traffic and to our hotel which was delightful and after getting some dinner socked in for the night to get some rest before our big adventure the next day.

Thursday we headed for the Magic Kingdom and all that awaited us there. What a treat to see our children's faces as they entered this magical world. I think they were all a bit overwhelmed and didn't know what to do first. We started with a few autographs and then headed for rides. Our daughter Miss E was a bit apprehensive about this whole thing and wasn't too sure she even wanted to brave anything faster than the rockets in Tomorrowland. As the day progressed though she warmed up and started being a little braver. We did all the major attractions and even met Jack Sparrow on the Pirate Island. Big J our oldest son was particularly pleased with this. We all left exhausted and very cold and ready to crash at closing time.

Our original plan was to head to California Adventure the next day. This was our first detour...both Miss A and Miss E ended up with fevers in the night (three trips on Splash Mountain probably didn't help) and clearly we were not doing more rides any time soon. We ended up at the beach for while that day and had a fairly quiet day. This was the first time that Big J, Mr. P, Little D and Miss A had ever been to the ocean so it was fun again to see their faces and watch them collect shells. We have some precious photos to commemorate the event.

Saturday the kiddos were feeling well enough to head back to the parks. California Adventure was first on the list and the big rollercoaster which Big J and Mr. P and Mr. Upton had been eyeing since we arrived. We finished the day back over at Disney and had a date with the princesses. This was definitely the highlight for Miss E and Miss A. They got to see all their favorites and we had many photo ops. Mr. R and I even got to go back for a date on Saturday night which was a real treat...thank you friends for watching our brood!

By Sunday we were more than ready to head for home. It was also nasty weather when we left there that afternoon. Poring down rain coming back across I-10. We were cruising along when we came upon an accident. I was thanking God for keeping us safe, especially since Miss E was with our friends and we had one of their sons with us, and praying for those involved. After we cleared the accident and were getting up to speed a car whizzed past us came up on our friends and cut over in front of us. He then lost control and began to spin towards the guard rail. R did his very best to slow down and get away from him but it was not to be. He came back across two lanes and we crashed into the back quarter panel of his car and we then came back across to the right and ended up in the ditch. I think we were all in shock, I know for sure I was, but praise the Lord we were all okay. All of the children were safe and not harmed in any way. The airbag hit my face so that was hurting but aside from that and being extremely cold I was fine. R was amazing. He immediately took control and when the highway patrol and rescue squad arrived he was on top of everything.

We serve an amazing God and He was with us in that van and sent amazing people to take care of us. Everyone was so kind and compassionate and took such wonderful care of us. The rest of the day was filled with getting a rental van and making it as far as Palm Desert to rest for the night. We made it home safely on Monday and everyone checked out perfectly with all their doctors. God is good. We don't have a new van yet but our friends are graciously letting us borrow their van until all the details get worked out and we can get in a new one. We have a wonderful gentleman at the Ford dealership who we have worked with before who is working on finding us what we are looking for. Our van was totalled and left in CA so we don't have to worry about getting it back, another praise. God has seen us through all the details, the insurance people have been very kind and things are moving along very well.

Who would have known that our family vacation would end up this way. I must say though that I'm praising Him for this experience, I have seen His fingerprints all over every piece of it. Although I spent most of last week in a fog just trying to get my head around it, now I can honestly say what a blessing to be able to SEE Him so clearly. I praise Him for all of it the good the bad and the ugly.

Welcome to the World of Blogging

2008-02-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that I would ever finally get a blog started. My sweet friend Christina has been encouraging me to start a blog for months and I finally got around to it today. I have recently started reading different blogs having to do with Christian Womanhood and have come across some facinating and heartfelt sites. I don't know that I will ever have anything very thought provoking to share but for the few people who will probably read this perhaps I can share a bit of my heart and how God is helping me through this journey as I wait for His return.

I am a mother of five blessings which I guess means that I probably have a few stories to tell. Four of my five blessings are from Russia and they have enriched as well as challenged me in more ways than I can express. My dear husband and I were on a path towards being missionaries with FamilyLife last year and what God taught us through that experience is that we are indeed already missionaries to these five children. He has given us a unique family and what He reminded us is that we can be just as useful to Him by being the very best mom and dad we can be and hopefully bring many generations into the Kingdom for His glory. We are spending this new year focusing on them and how we can best disciple them. Perhaps someday He will call us to another mission field but for now we are content to reside in Arizona and raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

So I guess that will be it for my first blog entry...what do you think Christina?