Happy Mother's Day and Happy Graduation, Lacy!

A good word to describe our family lately is sojourners!

We've been traveling out of state two weekends in a row and are now home and settled in for awhile. After celebrating my mother-in-law, Ellen's, birthday in VA, we traveled to Bloomington/Nashville, Indiana to celebrate my cousin, Lacy's, graduation from Indiana University! I still can't believe that the little girl who I used to make scavenger hunts for has graduated and is beginning the next phase of her adult life. We had a wonderful time with my family all staying together in a big house. We joked a lot that we felt like the Waltons or the family on the old tv show, Eight is Enough, especially the scenes when you're standing there with your toothbrush and towel and wondering who's in the bathroom! It was SO much fun to just walk down the stairs and hang out with my family in the kitchen over bacon and bagels. My little cousin, Katie, and I even dried our hair together in her room. The only one missing was my cousin, Wes, who had to study for his college finals. He'll graduate in December from Bluefield State in VA. We missed him!

Here's a picture of my family doing something we're all passionate about - eating breakfast!! Pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal - you name it- I think we ate it Sunday morning! It was a great way to celebrate my FIRST Mother's Day! My parents are in the foreground, and on the left side of the table are my cousin, Katie, who graduates from hs next weekend, my Uncle Rick, and Aunt Jill, and on the right side of the table is my Uncle Lonnie, who introduced Ben and me twelve years ago, my Aunt Syd, and cousin, Lacy.



My aunt had rented this cute little house for the entire family for the weekend in Nashville, Indiana, a very quaint little town. The house had previously been an antique shop, but the owners had turned it into a place to rent for the weekend. A short walk down the sidewalk, and we were in the town of Nashville. It had horse-drawn carriages and cute shops and ice cream parlors galore! If you're ever near Bloomington, be sure to check out Nashville.



This is my dear cousin, Lacy. She surprised me with a rose for Mother's Day.



I wanted to get a picture taken with Ava in front of this little shop. It had dried flowers and real flowers spilling out onto the sidewalk - my kind of shop! Very girly stuff inside.



Happy Mother's Day to my Mom! She will always be my biggest fan, and her nurturing and positive encouragement and affirmation have shaped me so much throughout the years. She is a woman of strength and of faith. Notice the matching flip flops. We found these cool flip flops, and most of the women in my family bought a pair. We were the matching flip flop family walking through Nashville. :)



A picture with my sweet husband and Ava's Daddy!

Relaxing in the Late Afternoon

Ben and I have been catching up on pictures since we got back in town, and we found a few that we had forgotten about in the rush of these past two weeks.

It's so pleasant outside in the late afternoon, now that it's officially spring, and I decided to move her play equipment outside for some grass and dirt time one night. Most all of our active pets came to be with us. Note that I left Saki off of that list, because she's inactive!

Here's to lazy afternoon days which have been few and far between lately!



I hear there's a dog noses.com site where you can post dog nose pictures. Maybe Bear is a candidate?



The stealthy mouse hunter, Lucy.



Fletch, I thought about Fletcher in this picture! So much fun!

It is Complete!

Happy News! I went to get the mail one day last week and found Ava's birth certificate had arrived from GA with our names on it! This was the final document that we were waiting for after the finalization of Ava's adoption! Whoohoo!

We're now awaiting her social security number which should come in a few weeks, so we can file our taxes!!

Lucy helping Ava wake up from her afternoon nap...

60th Birthday Surprise Celebration

This past weekend, we drove to Massanutten, VA, near Harrisonburg, to surprise Ben's Mom for her 60th birthday. Ben's sister and family and his brother drove from Maryland, and we all showed up to surprise her at the Massanutten Water Park and Resort. We had a great time catching up with family we don't see very often, and Ava had blast playing with her big cousins, Chase and Evan and going "swimming" for the first time! It was so wonderful to have some rest and relaxation time with family and for everyone to play with Ava at 8 months. She started crawling the morning we left and hasn't slowed down since! I did catch it on video, and Ben's going to help me load it tonight hopefully so you can see it. Here are a few pictures to celebrate our weekend together! Ava is definitely going to be a water baby. She loves it!

The gang's all here! Happy 60th Birthday, Ellen!



Granddaddy and Ava sharing a moment together.



Just hanging out with cousin, Evan, before we head to the water park. Ava is sporting her swimsuit and cover up!



Cousin Chase and Daddy having fun with Ava in the froggy pond. She absolutely loved the water!



Mommy, please don't make me wear this!



Grandma and Ava preparing for our ride around the lazy river. We weren't able to get a picture of that, but it sure was fun!



Ava had so much fun splish splashing around in these swings!



Cousin Evan pushes me from behind. Whee!



Mommy, Daddy and Ava in front of the water park! We had just gotten off of the raft after riding around the lazy river where it was impossible to stay dry! Staying dry wouldn't have been fun, anyway! Ava was almost lulled to sleep in her raft.



Going down the frog slide in the froggy pond that was built for little people like me!



Swing me higher, Daddy!



I'm playing in the sprinklers with Ava. This little kids area was really fun for Ava to experience the water.



Uncle Chuck plays peepie with Ava.




All tuckered out after we get back.



Cousin Evan, you make me laugh!



Out to eat, and I'm getting sleepy. Ava grabs anything resembling cloth around her and sticks that thumb in her mouth when she's sleepy. She grabbed her bib in this picture.



Matching uncle and nephew. Uncle Ben and Evan.



Yum! I love asparagus just like my Mommy! Daddy's not so crazy about it.

The Light is Just Right

Yesterday evening, I was off delivering radishes to some neighbors, and Daddy and Ava were having a front porch photo shoot. Ben will sometimes run and get the camera exclaiming, "The light is perfect right now." We've taken pictures of sunsets, rainbows, our dog, Bear, a tree, an old farmhouse standing abandoned on the side of the road, and countless other things when the light is just right. Yesterday, it was splendidly beautiful.

Thank, you Father, for being the Creator of light and illuminating our world with Your Presence. Help each of us to be a light in our corners of the world, no matter how large or small those corners are. Sometimes, it's in the midst of just taking radishes to neighbors that the Lord impresses something upon my heart. It's in the every day, and I sometimes forget that. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Three Years

Hi, everyone,

I'm home now after the picture session, and, boy, am I dragging! One super big lollipop, a painted tire, a pinecone, and a caterpillar or two later, and Ava still has so much energy, and I could collapse. Maybe I should have had a lollipop, too! I could close my eyes and seriously go to sleep and sleep all night, and it's only 8:00!

I came back on to post some pictures, and as I scrolled down the blog, something jumped out at me - our waiting time thus far for Maia Grace.

3 years

In April of 2006, I was at my desk at school grading papers and solving emotional issues with students, when I got the news that our paperwork, called a dossier, had officially been logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs. We exhaled, knowing that it had arrived, and we prepared ourselves for the then eleven to twelve months of waiting until we would bring our daughter, Maia, who we assumed had been born, to her forever home.

Eleven to twelve months, month by month, day by day, turned into three years.

We could never have guessed that it would be this long. I never knew that such a fierce love for a child who is across the ocean who maybe has or hasn't been born yet could grow in my heart. I would still get on a plane tonight to go and get her.

Maia Grace

This is what I wrote three years ago.

Isaiah 46:9-11.

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes my counsel from a far country. Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it."

The call we've been wating for and anticipating since all of the mountainous paperwork was finished came yesterday, May 26th! We got the call from All God's Children that our official log-in date to the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) was April 28th! This is the date that our official wait for referral for our little girl begins. At this time, they are telling us that it is approximately 11-12 months, longer or shorter, until we get our referral, meaning the picture and medical information about our little girl. We were submitted to CCAA on April 26 and logged-in on the 28th! We were astounded that we were logged in so quickly. These log in dates were some of the quickest our agency has ever seen! Maybe, the referral process will speed up, too!

It is comforting to know that God is behind the scenes moving on our behalf this very moment in China thousands of miles away! Reflecting back on the seven years of infertility we've endured, it's easier for Ben and I to wait. We've grown accustomed to it I suppose and have realized that there is nothing we can do now to speed up China. That's in God's hands. It's amazing how refreshing hope is after grief and despair. So, now we wait on the Lord, however long it is. It's as simple as that.

We now have just one last document to go - Ava's final adoption decree has to be sent to Beijing to join the rest of our paperwork. I just got it back last week state certified, and it will go tomorrow! I hesitate to say that that is the last thing that will be required. How MANY times I've said that before. I know the Lord is going before us. I've asked him to. I've petitioned Him so many times on Maia's behalf. He knows her name and hears her cries.



So, my vehicle can not get to the P.O. fast enough to mail this tomorrow! Away it goes to join our dossier in China, and we wait. It will be in the blink of an eye when I'm writing to tell you that we got our long-awaited referral, and Maia is COMING HOME!! I can't imagine that day!!

Well, Ben just came in from mowing, and I don't have a chance to post pictures because I need to fix dinner, but I promise I will post tomorrow! It will be a much more laid back day than today! Plan on planting some tomatoes, onions, cabbage and cucumbers. Hopefully! Did I tell you I'm growing potatoes in garbage cans? I'll show you a picture soon!

Goodnight!

Catching Up Soon!

Hey, friends and family!

This has been a crazy past five days with lots on our plates, but I want everyone to know that just as soon as I can - I'll post a boatload of pictures to catch you up on life with little Ava.

Two events that you can anticipate are her falling off of the bed into a tiny little space between our nightstand and the bed - how in the world she landed and was ok is beyond me! The other is how we awoke to only 1 diaper this morning, and how I tried my hand at cloth diapers with MY old plastic bloomers. Interesting!

Be back soon! We're going to Tamyra Park's house today for a teacup picture at 4:30. "Alice" is sleeping right now after an adventurous trip around town today.

She'll "see" you soon!