One Year Ago Today

One year ago yesterday we saw our daughter's face for the first time.

On year ago today we officially accepted her referral.

What a year it's been!

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Chinese New Year (although officially today is the day), only we will be celebrating so much more than that.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the gift of our daughter Suhn. Handpicked for our family, or maybe we were handpicked for her. Either way God's fingerprints have been revealed over and over again throughout our journey and hers.

About a month ago, AH, the foster home where she lived in China, asked us to make a video of Suhn. They were celebrating an anniversary and wanted videos of the children who had passed through their doors. I thought I'd share it with you today as we celebrate Suhn Mikayla Rui.

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Snowed In and Catching Up

It took a blizzard... here's a blog post. :)

And dare I say it,

I have LOVED being snowed in.

It is becoming a rare occurrence to have a complete day at home, and running around with five littles (or even 4 when Mya is at school) is exhausting.

So today I am giving thanks for snow days, a change of pace, a warm house, electricity, and a strong man who is willing to brave the elements to dig us out.

In other news, for friends and family who live afar, here is what we've been up to...

Suhn started preschool. She goes three mornings a week, gets OT and PT for part of the time and has loved the experience so far.

We celebrated Suhn's third birthday. Her first birthday with us. To see her surrounded by HER family, soaking in the love was awesome.

Ahh, vacation. Driving 19 hours straight through with 5 kids is not for the faint of heart...

But the destination was so worth it!

There you have it, a catch up blog post of sorts, with more to come...

Merry Christmas

It's been quiet around this little patch of Internet for several weeks, and just in case you are curious, it's going to continue to be quiet for several weeks more. At least into January, maybe more, we'll see.

Until then, wishing you a Wonder-filled Christmas, from our family to yours.

Wordless Wednesday - Five things I am Thankful for

6 if you count puppy :)

Giving Thanks for Choices

"Boys, before we head home, we're going to thank Jesus for all this food. You know why? Because we have choices about what to eat! Many children won't get even one meal today. We have several kinds of cereals and soups. We have sandwiches and crackers. We even have some cookies and juice. Let's say thank you to Jesus."

-taken from Growing Grateful Kids by Susie Larson

Why is it so easy for me to focus on what I don't have? I look at my closet of clothes and feel I have nothing to wear. I look in our pantry of food and feel I have nothing to eat. I look at my furnished, roomy home and feel it is lacking. I look at my relationships and feel I/they fall short.

And yet, if I follow the promptings of His Spirit in me, and give thanks for the choice of what to wear and eat, for a warm, roomy home filled with people who love I am reminded of what I have. What He has given me to steward.

He has made me rich indeed.

Gratitude is a daily, minute-by-minute choice. One that leads to contentment and thanksgiving, and turns my focus back to the Gift-Giver. Away from my wants and myself.

It reminds me to give freely because I have been given much.

But oh how I struggle to stay grateful and content.

I love that we celebrate a holiday focused on thanksgiving. I need the reminder in a big way. This week many will be focusing on the gifts that have already been received and giving thanks.

Today I'm giving thanks for choices, what about you?

Shopping with Purpose

Wanted to let you know, I found one more "master list" to share...

Go here, shop and help families adopt!

Birthday Fun?

It is a well documented fact that birthdays become less "fun" the older you get.

I don't anticipate them like I used to, thinking about "the day" for weeks, even months before it actually arrives. Instead, they tend to sneak up on me making it hard for me to remember how old I actually am or will be.

I don't have trouble sleeping the night before my birthday anymore anticipating the day to come. The only sleep deprivation that occurs now-a-days comes with the normal nighttime "I have children" experience.

My kids look forward to cake on their birthday, discussing the color schemes and candles long before I begin to plan that birthday staple. And while I still love chocolate cake and birthday icing, it just isn't the same when I'm the one who has to make it.

(a quick shout out to two friends, you know who you are, who surprised me on different birthdays with birthday cake, a lovely, lovely surprise!)

I'm not saying there is no fun on birthdays as you grow old, just less or maybe different fun.

This year, I've been surprised by a different, unknowing, self-manufactured kind of fun...

I have been treated to a free coffee at Starbucks, a free stir-fry at Flattop Grill and best of all, a free entree at Moe's (translated, FREE NACHOS). All this for simply sharing my e-mail address with them.

Panera e-mailed me too, letting me know that I have a "surprise" waiting for me. I'm not sure when I'll make it in to discover what my surprise is... just knowing I have one is nice.

There will be other pieces of birthday fun too, a date-night with Kory, telling my kids the best present they can give me would be a clean room or getting along (if only it actually worked), having a reason to get out of making dinner or changing diapers or getting up in the middle of the night with a crying kid for the day(maybe we could celebrate my birthday week?), and receiving Facebook and blog birthday wishes (ahem... hint, hint).

Fun, sure, but more of a grown-up kind of fun.

After all, it is a well documented fact that birthdays become less "fun" the older you get.