Happy Happy Birthday Baby

I know I have gushed about my husband a lot on here but I can't help it. I love this man so dearly. Tomorrow is his 35th birthday. He has always gotten overlooked on his birthday because it is right after Christmas so I always try and make it extra special. Well tomorrow I'm taking him away overnight to the laguna cliffs Mariott in Dana Point. I will make him the traditional cinnamon muffins in the morning and he will eat on the famous you are special plate. If you have been reading my blog for awhile you know all about the traditional breakfast we have on birthdays :) I look forward to celebrating this wonderful man. We have been enjoying playing with our christmas goodies. I got an I phone and a I pad for Christmas and I'm already addicted to word with friends. It's a game like scrabble and some people cheat and use the dictionary(you know who you are lol) the boys have been enjoying learning how to shoot there new bb gun with dad and playing with thier new Lego set. Legos are huge this year in our house and I'm so happy to be hearing about something other than Star Wars. Hannah has very much enjoyed her babies and doll stuff. I love playing dress up with the dolls too sooooo fun. It has been a great week.

Wonderful Christmas!

This Christmas was so wonderful. It only happens once every seven years or so that Christmas lands on Sunday and it was so great to be at Church on Christmas Day. We always go to Christmas Eve Service which I Love but there was something special about being at Church on Christmas. The Service was beautiful and I just Love being around our precious church family that we adore so much. Jason was saying how this year felt so much more relaxed and not rushed or stressful and I couldn't have agreed more. We are so thankful for the precious gift of Jesus. Christmas eve was spent hanging out as a family. One of our traditions we have on Christmas Eve is to read the Christmas Story and then open three gifts. The three gifts represent the three wise man and they are a practical, fun, and spiritual gift. They always get matching jammies as there practical gift, this year they got an odyssey drama for the spiritual gift, and the game quirrkel for the fun gift. After an evening at church and visits with family we tucked them in and got all the gift arranged under the tree. Noah really wanted to set up a video camera to see who really puts the presents under the tree. He is convinced that it is us. So Jason being the silly dad he is dressed up as Yoda and I video taped him putting the gifts under the tree. The boys thought it was hillarious as did I. It was a fun day full of fun surprises for all of us.

Catch Up

I have had such low energy lately and have desired to blog but it just wasn't happening. We have had a lot of fun things since my last post. The boys were in the Christmas musical through there homeschool program. Noah played one of the Angel Characters and Jonah played a star. I was proud of Noah for memorizing all his lines and remembering when to say them. They were both great. Jonah was so excited to finally have a turn to be on that stage. The following week Jason and I attended a formal ball entitled "King Of Kings" it was put on by my wonderful trainer and friend Dan and his wonderful wife Myrna. They wanted to have a night honoring the True king and share the real meaning of Christmas. They did it beautifully. I had never been to anything quite like it. It was at the most beautiful hotel, they had a full orchestra, beautiful music, and a wonderful message. Jason and I had a blast getting all dressed up and are still talking about what a great time we had. I recently got approved to go to UCLA for further testing. I will make an appointment in January after they reveiw my files. All of the doctors that i have seen so far agree that I have some form of a muscle wasting disease but are unclear as to what it is. They are hopeful that UCLA will have answers for me. I joke that they are going to name a disease after me. I see improvements from working with the trainer, some days are good and to be honest some days are just plain hard. This is mostly due to the fact that I just have little energy. I feel like I'm pregnant without any light at the end of the tunnel. I fight harder on those days to get my perspective in line with God's and he usually brings me right back to where I need to be. I have a daily reminder in my daughter of what he's capable of and that helps tremendously :) She encourages me to fight through it and to do what I need to do. We are loving the holidays and looking forward to celebrating his birth with family and friends.

Favorite things

So after reading this post from Nester I decided to reveal some of my favorite things. I love seeing other peoples favorite things and it helps give me christmas giving ideas. After reading her post I really want to do a Favorite Things party!! Doesn't it sound SO FUN!?!? And what a fun way to have some girl time this holiday season and bless your friends with a few fun little gifts!!

I would love to hear your favorite things and know who is actually reading this little blog :)

If you do a Favorite Things post, please let me know! I love finding new favorites. :)

#1 I LOVE my Tom's they are so comftorable. I'm usually a flip flop girl and would wear flip flops all year. The doc said no bueno so I have been trying other shoes and these are my new faves I already want another pair in grey.

#2 My mom got me this devotional book called Jesus Calling a few months ago and I LOVE it. It speaks to me every morning and is filled with good scripture.

#3 I Love Happy Nails. I Love to get pedicures. I don't get there as often now as I would like but it is something I LOVE to do. I have tried lots of places and this place is clean and they always do a great job.

#4. Is my Canon SLR Camera. Got this for Christmas last year and it is awesome. I don’t know how to fully work it yet but I LOVE how I can capture my little girls smiles. She is fast and smiles for a millisecond for pics and with my point and shoot i would miss the shot. Worth every penny just for that.

#5. My last thing would be my DKNY perfume BE Delicious. It comes in this adorable bottle and smells so good. It is light and sweet and I love the smell. Hopefully others do too :)

There are so many other things I love but these are the things that come to mind at the moment. Ok now it’s your turn. what are your favorite things?

The end of a thankful month

Day30 This last day I'm so thankful for this blog and the many friends I have met through blogging. I love looking back on the things I have written. It is full of God's goodness and reminds me that I have so much to be thankful for.

I Loved taking this month to blog the things I was thankful for. I have a friend who spent five hours working on the most amazing tablecloth of different things she was thankful for. She wrote them all out on a drop cloth and used it as a tablecloth at her families thanksgiving. It was stunning and such a great time for her as she reflected and thanked the Lord for so many wonderful things. The Lord is always doing great things and we should always find things that we are thankful for even if it is for the breaths we breathe in. After all he is the creator who gave us life and sustains us.

Day 28 and 29

Day 28

Thankful for my wonderful Mother in law and friend who so graciously has been helping me out by taking the boys to school on her lunch break. This has been so helpful. She is a super blessing to me.

Day 29

Thankful for a group of woman in my discipleship group. There are five of us that meet once a week and these woman are so incredible and bless my soul each week.

We decorated our tree this last weekend and the stockings are hung. Looking forward to a great holiday. This is my favorite time of the year. Pictures to come.

More thankfullness

Day 27

Thankful for the talent at my church and for the wonderful Cd that came out yesterday. This music has touched my heart.

Day 28

So Thankful for blog friends that are in China getting there precious daughter Ruby today and for another blog friend Sharon who brought her sweet boy home a week ago. They are orphans no more and will know what it means to have a family and grow up knowing that they are adopted in Christ as well.

Catching up on my Thankfulness

I have learned that I'm not the best at blogging everyday :)

Day 21

Thankful today for Hannah's doctor appointment. Her oxygen levels were in the middle 90's highest they have ever been. She has developed another blood vessel on her own and it is allowing more blood and oygen to get to the heart. While this is benefitting her they want to keep in eye on it to make sure that it does not cause any pressure on her heart. So instead of seeing her in four months he would like to see her in two. Still so thankful for the appointment and the great doctors she has.

Day22

Thankful for my Brother who celebrates his 40th birthday today.

Day 23

Thankful that we were able to sign papers to refinance our home today. The interest rate keeps going down and we were able to take advantage of a lower rate.

Day 24

Thankful to celebrate thanksgiving with great friends and family. Today when my mom asked Hannah what she was thankful for she put her hand on her chest and said my heart. Oh my sweet girl how we love you and are all so thankful for the same thing.

Day 25

Thankful to not be shopping with the crowds and instead putting up the Christmas tree and having hot chocolate with the blessings.

Day 26

Thankful to spend the day with my husband making freezer meals. We had a great time together and made like 8 meals. We are looking for ways to help save my energy which I'm lacking these days and to help us have a stress free month so we can enjoy the holiday season.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sadly I forgot to take pictures :(

15-20

Boy oh Boy did I get behind on this blog. I guess you can tell we are back at home and back to busy life. We had an amazing time in hawaii. So blessed to have lots of rest and relaxation with my family. Something about being away that changes everyones moods especially in a beautiful place. Can't wait to go back someday. Here is a continuation of the things I'm thankful for.

Day 15

Thankful for my husbands job. He works very close to home and his job allows for a more flexible schedule. He gets to work with great churches and ministries and it provides above and beyond for our needs. We are so thankful.

Day16

Thankful for a four hour plane delay that allowed us to have another full day in Hawaii.

Day 17

I was so thankful to come home to a clean house, for family who got our mail and took out our trash cans.

Day 18

Thankful for a friend who helped with carpooling the kids so I could rest with an awful headache and thankful to my husband for taking us out to dinner and being understanding about me not getting to the grocery store :)

Day 19

Thankful to finally find a gown to wear to a formal event were attending in 3 weeks. It was a long and tiring search but we found one and I was thankful.

Day 20

Thankful for my church service this morning. For the message and the beautiful people that just LOVE so well.

This has been so great to do each day. I hope as you all are preparing for Thanksgiving that you will stop and reflect on the things you are thankful for and give credit to the one who has blessed you.

Day 13 And 14

Day 13

Thankful for God's beautiful creation. I have seen the most beautiful flowers, the stars shining bright in a dark filled sky, glorious sunsets, and beautiful sunrises. He has created all things for us to enjoy and for that I'm thankful.

Day 14

Thankful for the sweet one on one moments with each one of my kids. I got to go snorkeling with Noah and we saw a octopus and had a blast together. Jonah and I hung out and played a game of toss up out on our patio that overlooked the ocean. Hannah and I took a walk where we saw a beautiful swan, waterfalls, and roosters. I cherish these moments and are so thankful when I get them.

Day 11 and 12

Day 11

I have to say this week has made me extremely thankful for the opportunity to homeschool my blessings. We have the opportunity to learn about things and go and explore them in person instead of reading about them in a book. Before we went to see the Grand Canyon we rented books from the library`and learned all about the canyon and the kids were so excited to see and learn more about it in person. We did the same thing for Hawaii. Noah is learning Botany this year and so we learned about the different flowers in Hawaii. The first thing the boys spotted when we got here were some of the flowers we learned about :) I love having the freedom to pick up and travel whenever we please and I love that we get to choose what we want to study based on what they are excited to learn about. Thankful for their co-ops and the friends they have become so close with because of our decision to homeschool.

Day 12

Thankful for Grandpa Great. Grandpa Great is 93 years old and today we learned that he had a mini stroke and is in the hospital. Thankful to the Lord that it did not effect his speech or anything serious but he is very weak and has a leaky heart valve. Thankful that he is recovering well. Thankful that my kids still have a great grandfather and that he has lived such a long wonderful life this far. They have been able to gain so much history and wisdom from this wonderful man. I pray we get many more years with him.

Day 9 and 10

Day 9

I'm so thankful that the Lord continues to provide amazing connections in my life. He provided me with a wonderful Trainer who is such a blessing in my life. I have gotten to know him more and more over the last five months and his wife as well who is in my ladies discipleship group. the Lord also blessed me with another connection recently. A couple at our church. the husband happens to be the chief of staff of St. Jude hospital. All my doctors just happen to be under St. Jude. This couple has been such a blessing. They have been able to talk to all of my doctors and really get things moving for me. Viviane the wife brought me lunch the other day and played with my kids while i rested and did some packing. what a gift.

Day 10

I'm so thankful to be in Hawaii. My husband has travelled a lot this year. With all the miles he racked up he was able to fly us all out for free. Not only that. We saved up enough Mariott points to stay a week in there Villas. What a huge blessing. So thankful for this opportunity to rest and be with my family. We have not had a vacation just the five of us in a long time. Our plan is to just soak it all in and relax. I could get use to this slow pace of life :) God is so good.

Day 7 and 8

Day 7

We are so thankful to work for an incredible agency. We get the chance to hold seminars at different churches throughout the year. We share about God's design for adoption, our journey and our agency. It is an honor and joy and we are so thankful for the opportunity. We get a small stipen and are then able to use that to help other people who are in the process and are trying to raise funds for there adoption. Thank you Lord for this opportunity.

Day8

Today is our baby girls Third Birthday. We are thankful for her and the miracle she is. Thankful that God saved her life and has used her story for his glory. Thankful that we get to love this child everyday. Thankful that her birth mom cared for her for two months and was brave enough to pin her birthdate to her sweater so that we would have that important piece of information. What a gift. We are thankful that she cared enough to leave her in an elevator of a hospital and not in the street or some cold dark place. I long for her to feel comforted on this day knowing her baby girl is doing amazing. Hannah really is doing amazing. Many of you have asked what is next for her medically. She still needs another surgery called the Fontan. The doctor originally thought he would do this at age 3 or 4. Because she has responded so well to medication and is doing so well the doctors would like to wait until she is 6 or 8. This all of coarse depends on her doing well. The longer they can wait the better for her. Hannah has grown so much in the last year. She started a little preschool co-op in September. she loves to sing her abcs,count to 12, dance and play wrestle with her brothers. She is very feisty and has found her voice in this family. I thought Jonah was my loud one and Hannah blows him out of the water :) she talks A LOT and has more energy than all three put together. Ha! She is so smart and melts our hearts every day. We pray she grows to know her heavenly father and falls in love with him. We pray she will have a desire to follow him all of her days.

Day 5 and Day 6

Day 5

So Thankful for an amazing group of friends. I spent the evening with a group of ladies who know what it is like to love like Jesus. They organized an evening of prayer on my behalf for all the physical issues that have come my way and the unknowns we are facing. They asked for ways they could come along side me in this time and shared how this journey has already been an encouragement to them. It was an emotional night as I sat there feeling so blessed to be in each one of there lives. I love that God has put amazing people in my life that are so selfless and so others focused and truly live out the gospel so beautifully. Thank you Jesus for the gift of friendship.

Day6

So Thankful for my church. I woke up so excited today you would have thought it was Christmas. Three years ago on this particular Sunday our church launched a new orphan ministry called Project Hope. They spoke on caring for the orphan. Our hearts were forever changed and the Lord called us to adopt our beautiful girl. I Love that Adoption is important to our church. Not just adoption but the Gospel. We go to a church that is built up of believers who are passionate about the Lord and his word and really live that out. Thank you Lord for blessing me with a church that is allowing me to be submerged in your word and grow in my knowledge of who you are.

Thankfulness day 3 and 4

Day 3

I know I have 30 days to list the things I'm thankful for but I feel like I need a miilion. God has been so good. Today I'm so thankful for a wonderful date night with my husband. We got to see a wonderful concert by Steven Curtis Chapman, Andrew Peterson, and Josh Wilson. America World our agency we work for was sponsoring Steven's tour and we went to work the AWAA booth in between sessions. I felt so lucky to be able to share with people about adoption and then go and sit a few rows from the stage all for free. I felt like I should have been paying somebody for the amazing privilidge. So Thankful.

Day4

So Thankful for my little blessings. Most days :) they make me smile and fill my heart with immense joy. They are all three so different and keep me on my toes. Never a dull moment in our house. I look forward to seeing what the Lord does in their life and I'm so thankful I get to be apart of it.

30 days of Thanksgiving

So I wanted to join in and Praise God all month Long for the things I'm most thankful for. I'am behind so I will share two things in this post.

The First thing I'm so thankful for is my Heavenly Father. He is my everything. I can't tell you enough how good he is. He cares so deeply for me that he sent his son to die on a cross to pay for my sins. He is constantly growing my love for him and I Long for the day that I will see my savior face to face.

The Second is My amazing gift of a husband. This man shares my same love for the Lord. He loves so deeply and so completely. He is such a hard worker for his family. He amazes me all the time with his wisdom more often then I would like to admit :) He is the best caretaker and poor guy has had to do it since we were dating(six months after we were dating I had pacemaker surgery) He is the greatest father. I love seeing him interact with his children particularly his little girl who is wrapped around his finger. I still think he is the most handsome guy on this earth and he is my most favorite person to just hang out with. Thank you Lord for allowing me to be his wife. I love you baby.

What are you thankful for?

A Grand Time in Arizona

It has been way too long since my last post. So many great things to share. Our family got the privilege of attending a wonderful adoption conference called Together For Adoption this past weekend. It was held in Arizona. We drove out a couple days early and I got to spend time with a blogger friend Mary . It was a sweet visit that probably could of lasted for hours and hours. She is waiting for another little sweetie in China and you can pray her file gets expedited quickly. There was so much great stuff we took in from this conference and so many great people and stories. People are truly living out the Gospel and being Christ's hands and feet in this broken world it is just beautiful. One of the things that stood out to me the most was at Dennae Pierre's breakout session. She said "If we think that because we have adopted we have done our part or are doing are part to care for the orphan, we are wrong. They are no longer orphans. They were once orphans but are no more". I just LOVE that. It made me think and process other practical ways our family can be caring for orphans.

We ended our trip with a train ride to the Grand Canyon with friends. The Canyon was beautiful. I would have Loved to sit and really just take it all in. However with little ones that is not always the case :) I had to watch them and keep telling them not to get to close or mommy's heart would burst out of her chest :) God was truly at work and is doing amazing things.

Together For Adoption

I'm so excited about this upcoming adoption Conference coming up in Phoenix. For all you adoptive moms and pre-adoptive moms come be encouraged at the pre conference. Check out this website. I don't want anyone saying you should have told me about this :) go to Togetherforadoption.org and register. Looking forward to seeing and hearing all that God is doing through adoption and for the orphans.

Oh to be used by him

I had one of those beautiful experiences this morning of God showing us how he is using us for his glory. This is always my biggest prayer that I would be used by him in ways that were glorifying him. Last February we did our first America World Adoption Seminar at our church. We had decided to sign on as associates to help spread the word about Gods design for adoption and share our Journey and the work the Lord did through our adoption of Hannah. I had decided to leave a few flyers out at the benches at WC Friday school incase anyone was interested in coming. After the seminar a couple who had picked up a flyer at WC came up to us and said they were so blessed by the seminar and that there hearts were open to adopting from China. We talked a bit and said we wanted to have them over for dinner. Months went by and at the end of school we found out that they had applied with an agency and were starting the process. We were thrilled for them. Over the summer I had thought of this couple often wondering how things were going. This morning I got the opportunity to catch up with my sweet friend Alexis. She told me that she was so blessed by our story and the ways God was already working in their journey. They had received a referral for a 7 year old beautiful girl with a heart condition. They decided to name her Melody yes you read that right Melody(down came the waterworks) They said they were beyond happy to be naming there child in our honor and that we played an instrumental role in God's adoption plan for their Melody. After bawling I hugged her and said how excited I was for them and Melody and this journey. Lord thank you for that special conversation this morning and for allowing me to see the ways you are using our family to Glorify your name. You are an amazing God and we constantly stand in awe of you. The Lord spoke to me through this conversation this morning. He reminded me that I'm so blessed to be his. That I just need to concentrate on the wonderful blessings and WAIT on him because he is doing a work in my life that is bigger than diagnoses and tests and diseases. If you would like to hear more of Alexis's story you can read it here http://www.melodyfromchina.blogspot.com

Waiting!

This verse is especially fitting for me today. Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

I had an appointment with a third Neurologist today. We went through all of my history, did a full exam and answered a lot of questions. This Neurologist seems determined to figure out what kind of Muscle wasting disease I have. He would like a month to investigate. So we wait some more :) There are hundreds of possibilities and he needs to narrow it down by the criteria and tests I have undergone before he makes me do any further testing. I'm confident that God is working all things together for good and is going to use this situation for his glory. I would Love to have all the answers but I'm confident that the Lord has them and wants me to wait. Like the verse Wait for him so he will renew my strength. Even though it is hard not knowing what I'm facing I'm so grateful for the things this disease has not effected and the ability to lead a normal life I do not want to wallow in this. This is where the Lord will do his work in me and I want to be willing with open arms to accept this trial. I pray that I would keep leaning on him and clinging to his words on days that seem hard. I will keep you all updated as we get more information and have appreciated your prayers and help. Next post I promise to have some cute pics of the blessings.

melody

Now What?

Yesterday I finally received the results of the Genetic testing for the Myatonic Dystrophy 2. The Doctor told me over the phone that the results were Normal. Normal meaning I did not test positive for that disease. You would assume that I would have been overjoyed at this news. In all reality I didn't know how to feel. Two doctors were with out a doubt 100% sure that I had this. I had accepted that this was going to be a part of my new life and had began to prepare as best as I could mentally for what lies ahead. Now What? Instead of the doctor saying "wow we were wrong, I don't know where to go from here". The doctor continues to say "well I still think it is that disease but we want to get a third opinion to see what this doctor thinks it might be. In other words they have no clue. They recognize that I have a lot of muscle weakness and muscle wasting but have no clue what disease this is. It could be any number of the dystrophies or a very rare case. Our next step is to see the third Neurologist and to also ask to be referred to a mayo clinic. Yesterday was a hard day as I processed the thought of more tests and more diagnoses that could be worse or could be better. Difficult in realizing I don't have control on whether we even get answers and so on. I completely lost all hope and completely forgot that time and time again my wonderful heavenly father has taken care of me and performed miracle after miracle in my life. I have really been at one of my lowest points these last few months. I have longed for the Lords joy and peace to fill my soul. I woke up today finally in a much better place. I woke up today thankful for another day to have energy to be a mom and a wife and a friend and a servant. Thankful that the Lord is carrying me through even when the lenses are foggy and I don't see him or feel him at times he is there. Nothing else matters and no test results are going to change that. The days aren't always easy and the road is long and tough but I know he is carrying me and he is worth the fight. I pray that he would use this trial for his glory and that I would choose to look for him in the midst of it. Thank you in advance for your prayers.

Favorite Photo Friday

Favorite Photo Friday~

I am linking up with Lisa from The Long Road to China for

Favorite Photo Friday

I love this picture. She put this on herself and has really started playing more on her own. I love to hear her playing pretend and using her imagination.

First Day of Co-Ops!

Many of you already know that I homeschool my blessings. Well I kinda do anyway. They really only do school with me half the time. The other half they each go to there own co-op class. This means that someone else teaches them and nine of there close friends at a separate house. They also go to Friday school. This is through a private christian school. They are in a classroom with like 15 kids and have all the fun things that a school offers like school pictures, assemblies, flag salute, fundraisers, programs and field trips. It really is awesome and they love it. Well this week co-op officially started and Little Miss started her very own pre-school co-op. This momma had mixed emotions. I was excited and nervous for her all at the same time. She did great. She kept saying "ME SCHOOL" "MY TURN" it was very cute. She was so excited to take her back pack and her lunch bag. With all that has been going on it was nice to have a few hours to myself to just sit and breathe and run errands. It is going to be a great year.

First Day Of School

Today was our official first day back to school. I say official because we have been doing some school work over the summer but nothing structured. I Love making a big deal out of the first day. I served homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and woke the kids up to some fun music. Then it was off to get dressed and get there chores done. Jonah was super excited to be able to do the file system this year(sorta like work boxes)he couldn't wait to do every task. I hope he is this eager all year. Noah had a good first day but I forgot how hard it is for him when you are not specific with times and details. He is very Type A and likes to have the day layed out for him so he knows what to expect :) I will be sure to cover that tomorrow :) We celebrated with a fun dinner and dessert to end the day. I will take the traditional backpack pics infront of the door on there first day of co-op and then some more on there first day of friday school. So many firsts i gotta make sure I get them all :). As for Miss Hannah she was my TA for the day and kept busy playing playdough, coloring and anything else that would keep her occupied long enough.

Shower, Anniversary Party And Birthday

Yes all these things happened in one day. I hate to miss a good party. So in grand Lietzau fashion we tackled all three and wore ourselves out. The day started out beautifully. I went to a beautiful shower for my friend Sarah on one of the only existing farms in LA lol. It was great to be amongst wonderful woman celebrating another miracle. I came home and we rested before the next two parties that were back to back. The first one. A special birthday party for Hannah's friend Jadie Mei who was adopted six months ago from China. We did not want to miss her special day. It was 98 degrees out and our little monkey spent a lot of time in the bounce house. We think she may have over did it because by the time we went to the other party she was very fatigued and threw up all over Grandma. We were thankful that this Anniversary party was across the street. We got everyone cleaned up and after some Gatorade Hannah perked up. It was scary to see her fatigued it brought back memories of the day we got our baby girl and how sick she was. No more bounce house in the heat for this girl. Sometimes we forget that our baby girl has a heart defect and can not always handle as much as the other kiddos.

Last Week Of Summer

So am I the only one that feels like this summer flew by? I had so many things I wanted to do and sadly did not. I know part of it is I just did not have the energy in me. This makes me very sad at times and I'm daily giving it up to the Lord. This little two year old darling has more energy for the both of us. She has enjoyed the water, playing dress up with her brothers, play dough, eating lots of icecream and mostly being outdoors.

Unscheduled Day

It was nice to have a day to do whatever our hearts desired. No appointments and nothing on the calendar. You have to understand this is not very typical for our family. So Jason let me sleep in a little and even made me breakfast. Did I mention I have the greatest husband EVER. We did some organizing and playing most of the day and then talked daddy into taking us to dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. This is one of our favorites. We like to eat dinner and then watch the trains at the train station. I'm loving these fun summer memories. School starts two weeks from today. I will be homeschooling two this year I can't believe it. So thankful for our co-op classes and friday school at Whittier Christian.

Joyful Heart

My heart has been overflowing with joy as I have been reading some of my favorite blogs. A few of the families I keep up with are either in China or are going. It has been exciting to read there journeys and to see the lords handiwork. I feel like I know these families so well even though we are states apart. I get so encouraged and inspired by each one of them and Love how we share this common bond of adoption. Thanks friends for letting us in on your stories. Life here has been good. We have enjoyed baseball camps, lake trips, swimming, and lots of icecream. We are preparing for school to start back up in a couple weeks and trying to soak in as much as we can of these final days of summer.

A fun And Busy Weekend

Friday evening we spent time with my Brother and sister in law. We went swimming, enjoyed a meal outside and made Smores by there fire pit. It was the perfect summer evening. we had a major breakthrough with Hannah and her fear of dogs. Since we have had Hannah she has been terrified of dogs and screams when she sees one. At first the dog would be a mile away and she would have a fit. She has gotten better at being able to look at them from afar and be okay. Well she finally was okay being in the same room with a dog which is a huge accomplishment. It has been hard for us because we want to spend time with our family but do not want to make our daughter feel scared at the same time so this was so huge for her. Saturday we met up with a family that adopted a little girl from china 9 months ago named Grace. Grace and Hannah are 7 days apart. They share the same doctor and similar heart condition and our doctor thought we should meet(he is so great). We had a great time at the park together. I love how adoption has connected our family with so many great people. we look forward to spending more time with this great family. If anyone is interested in hearing more about international adoption or our story. we will be holding an America World adoption seminar September 10th from 10-12 at 1507 Manhattan Beach Blvd. in Manhattan Beach, 90266. you can register at AWAA.org at there events page.

Baseball Camp and Potty Training

We have just unwined from a wonderful week up at Hume Lake(which I will post about later) and are back in the busy shuffle of life. This week Jonah is in baseball camp. This great couple from our church run this amazing baseball ministry www.calledupbaseball.com teaching kids baseball and also that the ultimate success in life is Jesus. He is loving it and will be so sad when the week is over. I love seeing his excitement and his self confidence lifted. I also reluctantly decided to start potty training miss Hannah this week as well. I have been wanting to put it off and decided I could no longer do that when she #1. Asks me to use the potty everyday and #2. started handing me her diapers after she had taken them off herself :) Fine okay I will potty train you. We started Yesterday and she has not had one accident. She tells us when she has to go and is loving her new princess undies. WHHAAAATTTT!!! If I had known it was going to be this easy I would have given in a long time ago. Heres hoping it continues.