Jack-o-lantern, Jack-o-lantern

You are such a pretty sight.

Meet Mr. and Miss Happy.

Fall Fun with Mimi!

If I could, I think I'd visit every pumpkin patch in town! I just love fall colors and decorations, especially when there's an unusual display, say, a giant corn tepee or a mum ferris wheel. You just never know what you'll see from year to year!

I had read about the mum ferris wheel, and last week Mimi and I drove across town to the Pumpkin Barn across from Mt. Lebanon. We had a great time, and Miss Ava had a lot of colorful things to keep her entertained! She even chewed on a piece of straw to be in keeping with her surroundings!







Ava loved the ferris wheel. An elderly gentlement built this and turned it on for us when we got close to the barn.



This would make a great bonfire! I had never seen one this tall.

This Time Last Year

Lately, I've been sorting through a mountain of pictures from 2008 as I prepare to begin Ava's special lifebook. I love going through pictures and seeing what was taking place this time last year. I found this picture today, and I love the look on Ava's face and her hands. That little hat looked so cute on her!

I get lost in remembering sometimes. We all have stories, and sometimes, I like to just sit down and remember details that I've forgotten or that have grown foggy after the passage of time. I like to remember His faithfulness as I move forward into uncharted territory, knowing in my heart that He's already there, waiting for me to join Him in this adventure.

I love knowing that He's the one waiting for me.

With open arms

You know that feeling you get when you get off of the plane and step through the gate to see someone waiting for your arrival? That's what I imagine. He's THAT excited to see me - especially after a long absence. That excited. Every time.

I think He would make posters and hold them up.

Amazing Grace

I get a lot of e-mails with attachments. It's not every day that I open videos and watch them in their entirety, but I did today. I am so glad I did! So glad, that I wanted to share it with you all. It's like a recipe that I just can't wait to tell someone, "You've got to try this!" May you be filled to overflowing today.

I've never been to the Colliseum in Rome, but I bet it's really something! This is a video of Ill Divo singing Amazing Grace there, and boy, was there a surprise at the end!

Truly, no matter how many dangers, toils and snares we come through, God's grace will lead us HOME! That is the best news I have ever received. He made a way for me to return to my rightful home, away from the dangers, toils and snares.

If I take the world up on all of it's many offers for fulfillment - entertainment, beauty, health and exercise, why in the world would I not take Him on his offer for true, lasting fulfillment? That really hit me just now.

We just rented Amazing Grace from Netflix, the true story of the man who wrote the song and the man who had a vision to stop the slave trade in England in the 1800s. It was an incredible movie, one we almost passed up. I just love true stories about men and women of great faith. If you do, too....

Meet William Wilberforce.

The honest truth is that Emily, meaning me, myself and I, is that wretch that the song talks about on any given day. All the makeup and fanciful scarves, friendliness and good intentions don't hide that. At my worst and my best, I need grace. Amazing grace. Lasting grace. Unconditional grace. In all my strivings, it's never about how good I am. It's about how GOOD HE IS. That's such a relief to me!

God says it is sufficient for this weary daughter. Enough.

Oh, how grateful I am for the grace that covers me. The world may see my blemishes. There are many on the outside and the inside, but God sees me as perfect. All of Christ's attributes are mine because of what He did for me. I don't know about you, but I need someone who doesn't look at all of my imperfections. Someone, who says, who you are is enough. I love you no matter what. You're beautiful, a princess, no matter your age or what you've been through or what you've said or done.

I'm having a moment right now - a giddy, beautiful moment with the Lord. The world can NEVER satisfy, but He can! He truly can!

I'm sorry I can't embed this. The embedding has been disabled by request. This link will take you straight to the video.

Let the words pour over you and into you in the midst of whatever you're doing. I promise you that your heart will be encouraged. Plus, the bagpipes are way cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i526Q8PlnL4

Back Aches and Fever

Just checking in today. I've been away from the blog for a few days as things have been a little crazy around here. Ben really threw his lower back out last Saturday and has been really struggling this week. He's going to a chiropractor who tells him that he should be better in a couple of weeks. He really does look like his body is going two different ways. I've never seen anything like it!

We were supposed to leave today to visit family in Maryland this weekend, but he has been instructed not to sit for long periods of time. We didn't think 10 hours in the car with Ava would be a good idea. We're so bummed as we were really excited about visiting family. We hope to go very soon as soon as he's able.

It's probably a good thing we didn't go, because Ava has a fever of 102 today! It's getting comical at this point.

I'll post more pictures just as soon as I'm able.

Ava has recently discovered Leggos!




Blessings to you~

Emily

Pumpkins for a Pumpkin

This time last year, Ava was almost two months old when we went to pick out pumpkins.





Today, the temperature climbed into the upper 60s, and we headed to the pumpkin patch. Ava is almost fourteen months old! Our church is just up the road and sells them each year to benefit Samaritan Hands. A dear friend of mine is in charge of the patch each year.

Ava had a ball! The mud on her knees is evidence of a good time. :)

Happy Fall, everyone!

CHINA!

Excitement in the house tonight! I just checked the China Adopt Talk site, and it has been confirmed that China has processed 5 days worth of log-in dates. They have now placed referrals through March 28, 2006! We are April 28, 2006! That's one month of log-in dates away from us. Let's just say that they consistently process 5 days per month from now on. That would mean us gettting our referral for Maia in April! Whoah, it's right around the corner! I need to get ALL of my China stuff back out!!! We definitely think it's going to be before summer of 2010!

Ava's going to have a baby sister from the other side of the globe, and the Lord knows Maia's name and where she is right now. She has likely been born and is waiting for us! I'm still posting on the Maia site if you still want to follow that.

Blink.

It will be here before we know it!

Simple Things

For me, it's any number of things; a comfortable chair, the smell of a blanket that's been outside for awhile, a memorable conversation with family or friends, a good, take you to another place read, a colorful scarf to add color to my day or my first sip of spiced tea. Just yesterday, it was the smell of seasonal cinnamon brooms at Kroger.

For Ava, it's a BIG box! She's had more fun in this box than she's had with all of her toys combined we think.

I thought about that box. I long for the simple most days.

Such joy can be found in the simple things.

Life, daily life, can be so complex and tangled and weighty.

Today, I was thinking that we all need a big box.

What's your big box?

Just for fun, leave me a comment and tell me what it is. I'll post the comments and we can read and be inspired by one another. Come on now, you maybe happened upon something I haven't thought of. Had you thought of cinnamon brooms? Ok, there you go.

We Have a Climber!

First, thank you guys so much for praying for Ben's cousin's wife, Shannon. I can not tell you how much it's appreciated. There are still a lot of unknowns with her recovery. They're waiting for the swelling in her brain to cease before they can proceed with surgery for the bone injuries she sustained. Right now, it's one day at a time. Please continue praying for her and her family. This recovery is going to be very difficult. Hope is a constant companion right now.

I wanted to post some pictures I took of Ava over the weekend as she was recuperating from strep throat. Can you tell she's on the mend? She is such the climber! If anything is off the ground and near her, she'll try to climb onto it! We have about another day of amoxicillin I think. I think we might venture out to the grocery store tomorrow. I wish there was a buggy wash that coated it with antibacterial stuff. They have the wipes, but wouldn't a buggy wash be cool?

Thinking about climbing.



Climbing?



Climb on.



Almost there. Umph!



Ok, now I'll rest. I love her feet in this picture!



Uh, oh. Mommy caught me.



Cool, a basket, too!

Prayer

We got a call today that Ben's cousin's wife was in a very bad car accident in Maryland this morning. I wanted to post and ask you to please pray for her and her family. Her name is Shannon. Your prayers are coveted during this difficult time in their family. Thank you so much.

All Dressed Up!

Oops. I double-posted today. Scroll down to see the other post about Ava's new car seat and to get an update on her strep throat.

Last Saturday, Ben and I drove to downtown Murfreesboro, TN for the wedding of Aaron and Hailey Carrol. Ben and Aaron work together, and they go way back to Denso days when when Aaron was a co-op in Ben's department. After many years, and Aaron's graduation from Tennessee Tech, he and Ben are together again! They really enjoy working with one another and have a lot in common - CARS! :)

The wedding was outside and was very beautiful. We were thankful that there was a fountain, a magnolia tree and a man with some flowers for Ava while the ceremony was going on!!!

When the minister pronounced them husband and wife, Ava said, "Uh,oh." Hopefully, only us and the folks on the back row heard that! We then enjoyed the reception next door, and Ava was so sweet toddling and crawling around in her dress. She enjoyed all of the activity, the lights, pushing the wedding chairs around and the bubbles!

The dress she's wearing actually has a story behind it. It was made by Thai women overseas trying to earn money and make a new start in life. My sweet friend, Beth, Madeline and Lisa bought this for her at a World Market Mission we attended a few weeks ago. It fits perfectly!

Here I am all dressed up!



Ava's new black patent leather shoes. She reminded me of Annie when I saw her in them!



Daddy entertained Ava with magnolia leaves before the wedding started.



Ah, the fountain. Ava LOVES water, and this is what kept her occupied most of the time!



The manager of the building gave Ava some pretty little flowers to play with. She threw them in the fountain. :)



Look at Ava's hair in this picture. It cracks me up!



The bride and groom



Hmmm.. what's this? Ava's also loves lights.





I hope no one got strep throat at the wedding!!!

On the Mend

We rejoiced this morning, as the clock went off at 6:45, and Ava had slept through the night! I really think we turned a corner yesterday afternoon. After I took this picture, I decided that she needed to go outside and "play"- aka, take a wagon ride. It was a beautiful afternoon, and we played with Mr. Bear and took a nature walk. It was so good to get out of the house!

Resting

I would describe this day as a day of REST!

Ava awoke at 5:30 this morning crying with a temp of 104.5, so I flew into action giving her Tylenol and a sponge bath in the downstairs sink. When she laid back down at 6:15, her temp was back down to 101.1. The great news is that when she woke up this morning to start her day, her temp was 99.1 AND she started drinking diluted apple juice! She'll be contagious for 24 hours after the first dose of amoxycillin which was last night around 5:30. She's on the mend slowly but surely.

We're both resting today, and I'm catching up on the blog this morning. So far, I'm feeling fine - just a little weak and tired.

Here is our big girl in her new rear/forward facing car seat! Doesn't she look long? Daddy buckled her in the other night, and boy, was she snug!





Then, she picked up Maia's baby and put her in the car seat. We're starting to see pretend play a little bit, and it is so cute!

One Virus at a Time

Hi, everyone,

Well, we have a sick little girl in the house today. We noticed that Ava suddenly stopped drinking her formula a few days ago. We thought that it was because Enfamil had maybe changed their ingredients when they changed the can from Enfamil to Enfagrow. We're also in the process of weaning her from the bottle and going to whole milk in a cup, so we thought maybe that was adding to the problem. She has refused anything remotely milk-like in the last few days. So, we stuck to water and diluted apple juice and kept trying.

This morning, she refused anything to drink, which is very unlike her, and she developed a fever of 101.3. We just got home from the doctor, and she has strep throat.

She's pretty miserable and is upstairs napping. The Hand, Foot, Mouth she had back in August was bad, but this is really knocking her out. Now, I'm feeling lousy and weak. I'm really hoping that I don't catch this, too!

I bought some popsicles for her to eat to try to get some hydration in her, but she's even refusing those right now. We're really hopeful that she'll drink a little bit tonight when she wakes up.

I'm off to take my temperature. Oh, I have some really fun pictures to upload of Ava at a wedding we attended over the weekend. I'll get to that soon hopefully!

Have a great week, everyone!

Greenbelt Bike Ride with Daddy!

We have made friends with hand-me-downs. Lot of them! This little bike trailer belonged to Scott and Karen Nolan and then to Eric and Kristie Arendale, and we got it on one condition - that we would pass it on to others who could use it! I love stuff like that!

So, here's Ava hitched to Ben's bike. She had a ball, and Daddy went pretty fast! I would ride up beside them, and she looked so surprised every time she saw me, like where did she come from? :)

We hope to get back on our bikes soon and ride in this beautiful fall weather. There's a nip in the air, and I wore a sweater and a scarf yesterday. Aren't the scarves pretty this year? So many fun ways to wear them!

Goodbye humidity. Hello, cool, fresh, fall temperatures. Whee!