Chad and I are up in gatlinburg for two nights to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  We both slept until we woke up.  It's he first time I've really slept in months.  I usually have at least one kiddo in my bed.   Most nights two...and sometimes 3 or 4.  I woke up feeling wonderful.  I don't think I realized how worn out I was feeling.  

I was able to sit out on the balcony and have quiet time this morning.  It wa so peaceful and quiet.  I needed the time with god so badly.  I felt so revived by him.  But also, in his love, he really convicted me.  I've been trying to do so much without him...and my kids are paying the price.  I'm not swing them the love of Jesus...I can't if I'm not having quality time with him.  I've been squeezing it in where I can and praying "lord, help me!" all day.   But if I'm not walking in his strength and grace I can't show it to my kids.   The have treating each other very "ugly" lately.  This morning, what I already knew became more real.  They are acting just like me.  Impatient, no grace, etc.  I got on the phone with each kid this morning.  When christy got on she asked if I knew "that song about Jesus".  I asked which one and then she started to sing Jesus loves me.  "little ones to Him belong.  They are weak but He is strong.  Yes Jesus loves me...".   "my" little ones belong to Him.  They are weak, but HE is strong and he can shine through me if I'll let Him.

Now off to enjoy my sweet husband.   So thankful for him!

One year ago

One year ago....feels like yesterday.
One year ago...we lost 2 unborn babies...I thought I was dying...I almost died...I thought our 2 children in Africa would never get home.
Things were so different a year ago.   In August things started to spiral out of control.  Our car gave out..I had a miscarriage...Chad broke his foot and would be out of work for 3 months...I had a ruptured tubal pregnancy and almost died.    We were stuck in limbo with adoption stuff...waiting for what seemed like forever for our kids to become "our's" legally.

It was a heartbreaking and confusing time.   At the same time, God was so close and friends and church were so good.   Now, thing are so different.   It's weird to look back at the blog from last year.   All the pictures are missing 2 kids!  It's crazy...seems like they've been here forever!

Last year, I was released from the hospital on our anniversary.   Chad and I were both wheeled out of the hospital in wheel chairs.  Ha!  It's laughable now. :)

We are coming up on our 10th wedding anniversary and we are going to get away for a couple of days.   A year ago...we thought our kids would never get here...now we're counting the hours until we can get away and get a little break! God is so good! This year...I'm a lot more thankful.  Thankful to be here and thankful for the littles and my husband.

Here are a couple of posts from a year ago:

Surrender
Waiting

Soccer

Luke is playing Upward Soccer and loving it.  He is so stinking cute!  He has really started getting in there and fighting for the ball.  There is a huge hill for the other kids to play on...and get all covered in mud...while Luke's playing...it's perfect. :)

Squish!

It literally rained all day yesterday, all night and then a lot of the day today here!   This afternoon we had a break in the rain so the kids made a run for it!   As soon as we stepped outside you could hear the little spring running into our pond!  What joy!  The kids were in heaven!   We were just talking about how low our pond was.   Well, today, things that were on the shore are now floating. ugh.  One of those things is our dog kennel which was recently used to pick up two ducks! They're beautiful and seem to like our place.  They come up and visit us occasionally but stick around the pond.  Which is good...our last ducks visited our neighbor's swimming pool and that's why we had to say goodbye to them.   

I LOVE watching the kids just dive into nature.   They just automatically start digging for worms, tossing rocks and sticks, having mud fights.  It's awesome.   

"mama...hol' me"

We recently planted a bunch of stuff for a fall garden...it's our first time.   It's so exciting to see some sprouts again!

Last Days of Summer

After some beautiful, fall-like weather, we've had a couple of very hot days.   As usual, when it's time to do our outdoor chores and clean up...the kids end up filthy and sometimes wet! 

Today was very hot.  So, we fed and watered the chickens, checked on the ducks and took care of the baby chicks.  Then, Moses and Ethan grabbed a tub and filled it with water.  The got soaking wet BEFORE taking off their shoes and regular clothes.  I guess they couldn't resist!  

Here is the great big brother...shielding himself with his 2 year old brother.

I'm not going to lie and say my kids always look like this....they have their share of fights and getting on each other's nerves.  But, I'm so thankful they have each other, and I think they'd say they are too!   They're not missing out on anything...I can't imagine if they were missing out on each other!  How sad that would be!

Down on the Farm

We attended the "Down on the Farm" tour at the fair this week.  It was a lot of fun...and totally free!  

Here are Christy and Luke acting like they like each other :)