First Day Of School!! Aug 20th

Wow, We got awake at 6:45 today and the boys had no problem geting up, I am praying the entire school year runs this smoothly. The boys ate a big breakfast and of course Curran had to check his e-mail and blog for important messages and updates.

It is a madatory school day,but they all are meeting at Babler State Park to do some student building and to meet all the teachers. . The parents are invited to come for dinner.

These are pictures outsude our house from the actual first day of classes. I told Curran he should probably wear shoes.
Rylan and Curran were both really excited to be starting school today and they both had a great time at the park day last week. I am so thankful this has all worked out and they will be able to be taught by other Godly men and will have more opportunities to develop leadership skills. I loved teaching them at home and I am going to really miss not having them here everday. They were also I huge help, but this will give Hadyn and Eamon the chance to be given more responsibility. They have gotton of pretty easy most of the time. Well this begins a new chapter in our lives and we are all excited to see where God is taking us next.

Hiking in Missouri

We flew from Dallas to St Louis to get our washer and dryer and fridge delivered to the new rental house this week. They were to deliver it on Friday, but when they got to the house in their big truck they couldn't fit it down our mile long and very windy driveway. They said we would have to reschedule for the next weekend,which means another flight from Dallas to St Louis. This will be the 3rd week in a row we have flown back here. Grace thinks this is the only way to travel. We did some hiking while we were here and the area is really beautiful. This hike is just a few miles down the road from our house. Grace is usually leading the hike

Stopping for a break

Take time to smell the flowers

Eamon finds a frog

Grace likes riding on Daddy's back

Grace finds a dragon fly and thinks it's pretty fun

Curran down by the river

There Are Alligator Garb In The Lake

The boys came running up to the camper to show me what they had found at the lakes shore. A nasty looking thing with jagged sharp teeth. Nice, I said They ran to the office to ask the man what this thing was. They were told an Alligator Garb and they are very common and swim in the lake here. I am so glad we were told this right before we are leaving. The man assured the boys that they don't eat humans. I'm thankful for that!!!

How We Spent Our Summer Camping In Texas

We would get up in the morning, fix breakfast and read. When it got too hot we would grab our rafts and sit out on the lake.

Gracie loves Watermelon


This is so Yummy


Our Home Away From Home. Rylan and Curran actually slept in a tent behind the camper. We grilled out a bunch and Texas actually had some cooler weather, so we didn't have to pile into the camper all day.


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Grace swimming in Lake Grapevine. She could swim all over the lake in this ring.

Grace swimming to Rylan


Gracie and I in the camper. Mike is getting ready for work and Grace really wants to go with him.

Curran loved zooming around the campground in the golf cart.

Curran and Hadyn on the lake

Rylan throwing Gracie. She loved this.

Introducing Hope Elizabeth!!

We are so excited to announce we will soon be bringing Hope Elizabeth home. When we saw her Chinese name it was the same as Sophie's, (Jiaqian which means beautiful.) God has truly blessed our family and we are so thankful for this child. She is almost 9 months old and from Yangxi ,Guangdong province. Her birthday is Nov 28th only 3 days from Grace's, so they can have birthdays together. She is such a cutie and we think she looks like Hadyn!! Grace is now praying for both Sophie and Hope and she can't wait to be a big sister. We are waiting to receive our approval and then we will be traveling to China. We all continue to pray for Sophie and that God will heal her.

News!!!

We just received a new referral. She is a beautiful, 9 month old little girl from Yangxi, Guangdong. Her special need is an extra digit on her left hand. While we've been waiting for this news, I've been busy trying to find out what's best for Sophie. Is she in the best place to receive the best care? We contacted Love Without Boundaries to find out about their Heartbridge Program and we spoke with Ken at Heart and Hands International who funded Sophie's cleft repair surgery as well as supports the orphanage. They both told us that Sophie is already in the #1 orphanage in all of China with a physicial on the site and a great nanny to baby ratio. They also have plans to build a state of the art facility incorporating a medical and rehabilitation center. We are so thankful that God has made Sophie a part of our lives -- we will be able to send her care packages and get updates on her progress as she grows. We hope to have the opportunity to meet her as well as the orphanage director during our trip so that we can establish a relationship with them and provide for her into the future. More info soon on the newest little one!!!

Really Sad News

We just received the saddest news. We will not be able to bring little Sophie home. We had requested an update on her and found out that some tests were run on her in May. The results showed at 11 mos she only had cognitive scores of a 3 month old and some of her skills were at the 1 month level. She had a CT scan done and it showed that part of her brain is missing. This is a congenital defect that probably occurred the same time as the cleft lip and palate in utero. We are devastated by this news, but know that God has brought this child into our lives for a reason. We are praying for God's comfort and wisdom. We are committed to get Sophie the help and care that she needs. If we would of had this information about the extent of her special needs and brain injury she would still be on the list, but now we have the opportunity to make sure she is taken care of and given the therapy, care and love that she will need. Our adoption agency has been so wonderful through this time of grieving and will give us another baby. We will now have 2 beautiful children one in China and one we will be bringing home.We plan to visit Sophie when we go to China and hold her which is going to break my heart. This has been so hard, but God has the perfect plan and we know he has given Sophie to us and she is a gift. We rest in Christ's amazing grace. But he said to me "my grace is sufficient for you.for my power is made perfect in weakness" Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness,in insults,in hardships,in persecutions,in difficulties. For when I am weak,then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:9-10

New Videos

Heart and Hands finished the videos and Ken posted them on Youtube. Sophie is in some of the video after the surgery and back at the orphanage. She is slowly catching up developmentally and we are praying that she will thrive once we get her home. I can't believe in 5 weeks we will be in China loving and holding our daughter. We just requested an update and hope to hear something in the next few days. We are now busy making travel plans and are so excited to all be traveling this time.

Heart and Hands Video 2

Heart and Hands video

WE RECEIVED LOA TODAY!!!

We received an e-mail from Heritage, our adoption agency and they informed us that our LOA arrived today. That means in about 6 weeks from now we will be holding our sweet baby girl. We are all so excited and can't believe this wait is almost over!!! I just requested an update for Sophie to get an idea on what sizes to bring and it's been over 2 months since the surgery so maybe we'll get another picture. Ken has been so wonderful at keeping us updated. We have been praying for Sophie these past 7 months and Gracie keeps asking if Jesus has healed her owie yet. She knows when she gets an owie that Jesus heals it. Grace is excited to be a big sister and when people ask her how old she is she tells them 2 and then says Sophie one. We may need to work on the sharing thing, Gracie likes her stuff. I've been telling her everything belongs to God, but she thinks He's pretty easy to share with. The boys really aren't into 2 year old girls toys, so she has had most toys all to herself. We will all be going to China this time and I really think the boys will be a tremendous help.

More Alabama

Hardy is a real fish


Ryan Is Now Taller Than Both Rylan And Curran

Poppa and Hadyn Enjoying The Pool


Girl Talk


Gracie with Aunt M and Abby

Visiting Everyone In Alabama

Gracie really enjoyed the girl cousins

These boys are growing up

Family

Abby and Megan

We all jumped on a plane and flew from Dallas to Alabama. The R.M family drove up from Florida and we all invaded the M.M family for the weekend. Mike's parents picked us up from the airport and we just hung out the entire trip. We hadn't seen anyone in over a year, so it was so great to see everyone and just catch up. We did a lot of eating talking and swimming in the pool. The kiddos had such a great time and we were so thankful we were able to all get together

On The Road

When we're on the road one of the places we always have to stop and eat is Cracker Barrel. The boys always get breakfast.We left N.J. and are heading to St Louis to look for a house and pick up the (sanctification station) camper. Every sin you have will be revealed within the first few days of living in this thing with 4 boys and a 2 year old, I'm just praising God we don't have the pets. We left them in Germany and will have them shipped within the next month. We are praying to find a house in the next week and then pull the camper to Dallas for 6 weeks while Mike has training. It is going to be a crazy summer,but I am so thankful we can all be together.

On The Beach In New Jersey July 2008

Hanging out in NJ

We arrived from Germany July 1st and it has been a year since we have seen everyone. We hung out most of the time and spent the day at my sisters in Medford Lakes. The boys love going to the lake and taking their canoe out. They have 2 girls and a little guy Mac. Poor Macguire had some kind of funk and was sad the days we were there. The girls are growing up and Hadyn and Eamon had fun with them. They spent a lot of time pushing webkins down the slide in pink and purple barbie cars. They just don't get to do this much at home.

Happy Birthday Rylan!!

It was 16 years ago today that my little boy was born, two months early and not expected to live. God provided so many miracles those first few days of his life. One Korean man stayed up all night making an oxygen hood from kitchen utencils so Rylan could breathe. Rylan only spent a month in the hospital. The first year was so hard as a new mother and living in Korea so far from all of our family. I had to keep him indoors in a single room with an air filter and air conditioner for the first month we were home. Now he is 16 and has been truly blessed by God. It is so easy to live each day at a hectic pace and not relish all the miracles and blessings God bestowes on his people. Today I am so grateful for the gift of this precious child. He will be our first arrow to be sent out and we pray daily for God to direct his path and that he will truly glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Switzerland

This is the trip we all look forward to every year. Our church has a family retreat in Switzerland. We all load up our vans with all kinds of American junk food and head for the Alps. It is always such a great time of fellowship and teaching. The kiddos have fun just hanging out all week and there are all kinds of activities planned, hiking,biking,swimming,para gliding and shopping at the broken stubbas(thrift shops) The ladies got some great deals on our shopping day!!! We went down early again this year with the two M and B families and we just hung out the first few days. It was so great not having to cook, as all the meals were provided. Mike did have a great find fresh raw milk!! It was in a little village at the botom of the mountain and the farmer had it set up vending machine style. You put your money in and set your bottle under the machine and out comes fresh milk and it was the best milk we have ever tasted. I'm sure the farmer was wondering who was drinking all the milk because we went through lots and lots of milk while we were there. We would take turns making milk runs down the mountain. The view from the bible school looks out over a crystal blue lake and is at the top of the mountain. It is incredable. Switzerland is the most beautiful place we have ever been. This is our third year on the retreat and we have so many fantastic memories. It was sad to think we will be leaving this great church and all the people we love in a few short weeks. Knox Chamblin came and taught from Jackson Reformed Theological Seminary and had so much wisdom to share. His wife taught the ladies at two night sessions and she gave us all a grater passion to serve God and others. We always come away feeling refreshed and always wanting to stay longer.

Switzerland Church Retreat June 2008

More Switzerland!!!