Happy Birthday...

to my wonderful hubby who is turning 44

one year away from the big

 

4-5

only, I can't tease him about this because...

 

come October...

 

 I will be one year away from the big

5-0

gulp

a fact that he never, ever teases me about

HA!

It has been quite a year for my sweet hubby

It has been a year full of ups and downs but mostly it has been a year full of growth for both of us and I cannot imagine going through this journey without this amazing man by my side.

He has such a caring heart, a heart that is moved by all of the things that move my heart.

Love the way the Lord worked that out!

He is the eternal optimist and all around goofy dad who delights in embarrassing his kiddos boys every chance he gets!

I have to admit that he has even succeeded in recruiting me in this pass time as well!

It's always fun around our house, during the school year, when one of the boys forgets their lunch!  

It really brings a smile to hubby's face when he can happily and loudly deliver the unfortunate boy's lunch in his sister's Princess lunch box!

The boys, however, have learned to roll with the punches and just play along!

Not as much fun for hubby so...

word of advice to the girls this year...

don't forget your lunch!

heh!

While he loves to tease our kiddos, he loves them with the kind of love that brings tears to my eyes - and his, although he blames me for making him a "marshmallow"

You're a ROCK, honey, no really you are...

a rocky marshmallow!

*smile*

We had a great day and ended it with a very special "birthday cake"

 
I found this incredibly sweet treat on my wonderful friend, Tammy's site, Country Girl at Home.

 
Yep, ya gotta go here on Tammy's site to get this recipe!

Y'all, it is, eat till ya feel sick, good and so easy!

 
Thanks Tammy:)  There were a lot of smiling faces and full tummies around here tonight!

 

I know the Lord has such a plan for you my love and I am just so proud of you for letting go and letting the Lord take it all from your shoulders!

This summer will be one we won't soon forget but more than anything, I will remember the time we had together as a family, the time that we had together with each other and the time we had together with our Heavenly Father, learning how to love Him and each other more fully!

Happy Birthday my sweet hubby!!!

You ROCK, no really, you do!

You're like Rocky Road Ice Cream

Rocky on the outside and all sweet and gooey on the inside!

HA!

How's that for not teasing you about being one year away from the big 4-5!

Hehe!

Love ya!!!!

Friends...

So as most of you all know, this summer has been full of challenges surprises...

but also full of blessings.

I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded by some pretty wonderful adoptive friends.

Hearts are really being moved here for orphans and being able to get together with these precious "hearts" who have become dear friends is just wonderful and so good for the spirit!

We get together often

 

and have such fun, as do our kiddos.

However, the other day, I got such a sweet gift!

I got to meet a beautiful, adoptive friend, live and in person,

a friend whom I had only talked to through email or on the phone,

a friend who loves the Lord and loves China's precious children,

a friend who has SEVEN beautiful daughters from China and is in the process of bringing TWO more home!!!

WOW!

Dear, sweet Maggie has been "with me" since I first began to advocate for these wonderful, waiting kiddos.

We don't get to talk as much as we would like but when we do...

well, let's just say that time has no meaning!

Hehe!

Maggie and her beautiful family stopped by on their way to Florida.

I invited my other adoption peep, Angie R

and we had such a great visit

I hated to see them leave but Angie and I are working on getting them back...

there is just way too much to talk about and too little minutes on my phone! 

*smile*

LOVED meeting you dear Maggie!

Come back soon!

Angie and I also got to meet and "re-meet" another wonderful adoptive family!

Carmi and I went to college together, like a lifetime ago and had not seen each other since!

We found out through FB that we had both adopted from China and had a great time catching up.

I introduced Carmi to Angie (through email) when Angie and fam were in process for their sweet 13 year old, Colin, as Carmi and her family had adopted their sweet 13 year old from China just a couple of years before.

It was so cool to get those 2 boys together and from what I understand, they both had fun!

It was great seeing them as well and hope they can come again very soon as I forgot my camera!

Bummer!

I was also given the opportunity to meet 2 other wonderful adoptive friends, sweet Carla, whose precious little one reminds me so much of our Lizzie and my dear friend and prayer warrior, Lavonne, who has a daughter from Lizzie's orphanage.   

However, the timing and circumstances just never worked out for those meetings.

Sigh!

I hope to get another shot at those two some time soon.

There is just nothing like meeting up with my adoption peeps.

They "get" me and I "get" them and for the first time in my life, I feel like I "fit in"!

Thanks my sweet friends!

The Wait

Aren't we always waiting? 

Waiting for the weather to get warmer or cooler, waiting for school to start again or for summer break, waiting in line at the store, waiting for our cars to be serviced, waiting for test results, waiting for the doctor and waiting and waiting... 

 waiting for that certain someone to "pop the question," waiting for the right time to start a family, waiting for a baby to be born or a child to come home. 

Always waiting. 

Some waits are hard. Some are a bit easier or exciting with the promise of something "worth waiting for" in the end. 

We are now waiting and while this wait is not necessarily easy it is exciting. 

 We are waiting on His perfect plan for our family and we just cannot "wait" to see what that plan is. It may not be what we hope it will be. It may not be what we want it to be but it will be what the Lord wants it to be and that is exciting. 

While we wait, we are being molded and refined and oh my goodness, do I need refining and I guess I always will and I know that in these times of struggle, I will experience my greatest growth so what's not to be excited about? 

We are also learning to wait with joy and with (gulp) patience. 

 That's a toughie for me. 

The joy part, well that has, amazingly, been a bit easier. 

The Lord knew what I needed in this wait and He provided. 

My wonderful Mom asked us again this year to spend a week at our beautiful, small, laid back family beach and because it was, well, free, how could we say no? 

We had a great time on the beach and just hanging out together playing Sorry and Scrabble but the best part was... 

The Boat 

You see, my Dad had a boat. 

 My Dad always had a boat. 

He loved the water. 

He loved to fish. 

 

 He loved his boat and he loved sharing that love with his family. 

 When my Dad passed away, my hubby, who was in the Merchant Marines – yeah – boats - hehe, took this boat

 

was able to get it up and running and once again get and give much joy from it. 

However, in the past few years, we have been unable to afford to do anything with the boat and so it sat in Mom's yard, gathering leaves and pine straw and apparently trees!! 

When Mom asked us to go to the beach this summer, there was never a doubt in hubby's mind that Dad's old boat had to go too, so... 

 We picked it up, brushed it off – it had a little pine tree growing in the center of it y'all – and with the help of the kiddos and even some neighborhood friends, made it shine once again! 

 The kids had such a great time tubing and knee boarding - thanks Bub!

and skiing!

not too bad for an old lady:)

and we even got to say a final Good Bye to our 5 old faithful doggie friends. 

 

If you have been reading my blog, you know that there were 5 dogs that the Lord used to bring Hubby and myself together. 

They were the original gang of 5 and hold a special place in our hearts. 

We have had their ashes for a very long time and have wanted to take them back to one of their favorite spots of all time... 

Pine Island 

 

It's nothing but a sandbar, but for us, it is a connection, it is a refuge, it is a place to relax and to exhale. 

We used to bring these wonderful dogs here cause they loved it and we loved it and thanks to Dad's old boat, we could bring them back and... 

 

let them go. 

The girls wanted to go with us and of course we took the pups we have now. 

They had never been to Pine Island and it was about time and very appropriate. 

They loved it too and even though it was hard to say that final good bye, it was full of JOY too! 

 My dear sweet Lizzie had a tougher time than any of us but that is another blog post all by itself. 

 

Precious, baby girl. 

 It was a week full of fun and of JOY and even though I was sick for part of it, the Lord provided just what we needed, just when we needed it. 

So we wait and we try our best to wait with joy and wait with (gulp) patience cause I would much rather wait for His perfect plan than to try and take control and completely mess things up! 

I pray that we will learn what we need to learn, we will be “putty in His hands” and we will hang on to this when we are not in a time of trial.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:1-4

I see joy all around me.

It's not hard.

What can be hard is learning to let go and just trust, not worrying about tomorrow but praising Him for the blessings of today and that shouldn't be hard cause...

oh my goodness am I blessed

 

and we know that we will continue to be blessed

 

in His time...