Wednesday, February 19, 2014
"Their Snowy Tea Party"
Every once in awhile an idea on paper, becomes a vision, and then maybe a reality.. When you are taking a photography class sometimes you are stretched to get outside your comfort zone.. When your best friends are photographers and avid Pintrest followers, you get pushed even more.. That is how a very special "Snowy Tea Party" came to be.
Jennifer sent me a photo, a month ago, and all she said, was "You have to do this..." It was a precious photo of two sisters, and their oversized teddy bear having tea in a snowy scene. Since I am currently in a photography class, I was motivated enough to do some extra homework.. The models I needed were easy.. Who better than Emme and Bella (and even Minnie) to help. We knew snow this year would not be an issue.. It was warm temperatures we had to pray for... Well, we had the "perfect storm" on Monday... No school, beautiful snow fall, two "willing" participants, and two crazy "clicking Mama's" to make sure we pulled this off... Props credit goes to Miss Jody.. She even painted furniture for this vision we had... I had the easy job, of taking the pictures!
Well, I think every photographer panics a little wondering if they got that one photo.... I am happy to say we got some very sweet pictures to remember this day! There were some funny behind the scenes events too.. You can just hop over to Jody's blog post from today if you want the details...
For now, enjoy our little moment in Minnesota Narnia!
Let me say that Jody did a brilliant job with our tea party guest, Minnie... Minnie is 135lbs and all puppy.. Jody handled her and I "clicked" as fast as I could!!
Thanks Jody and Jen.. Loved this snowy shoot!!!!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Sweet Secrets...
Bella's Mom asked me to bring my camera to the girls dance class on Thursday.. We showed up a little early to sneak them into the studio.. Jody asked them to look out the window, and I was fortunate to snap this sweet moment... These two have had a special bond since "Ni Hao!" I hope they will always be friends...
"A friend loves at all times.." ~Proverbs 17:17
Speaking of my gifted friend Jody, follow her on Facebook at "Jody McNatt - even the sparrow" on Facebook for her daily/monthly devotions!
Friday, February 14, 2014
It's Valentine's Day!!!!
"And now these three remain... faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13
Happy Valentine's Day!
Friday, January 10, 2014
A "Treasured" Story about Emme Jade...
I have had this post on my heart this week. It makes sense, because three years ago at this time we were reviewing the file of Yang Yu Qiao. Seven months later, the Chinese government would recognize her as Emme Jade, our daughter. This adoption was a leap of faith.. Especially for her Daddy. I have never really shared the whole story.. But, the anniversary of this little miracle, is worth sharing. It was truly a faith walk that took us back to China. God blessed us and assured us over and over again while we waited for this tiny gem, that this was His plan for our family... But, it started out with a prompt from an incredible friend that encouraged me to speak from my heart to Jeff...
At the time this photo grabbed my attention, life was not easy here.. Quite honestly, it was hard. I was over my head in the Mom department. Sienna Grace had rocked my world. She had rocked all of our worlds.. Our wounded beautiful third child from Hunan, had only been home for 10 months.. She had sifted us all by this time, especially me. Most people probably would not have signed up to go back for another child when we did. Thankfully, my ability to forget the labor pains, and China's new policy for re-using dossiers guided me on this one.
If there is one thing I have learned through our adoptions it is that when you follow God's plan for your family, He blesses you. The hard part some times is discerning if it is God's plan or our plan. That is where faith has to come in. Not everything is neat and tidy. At least not in my life. Emme's file came to us like an un-planned pregnancy. It was the result of a thank you note I sent to a "God Mother" on New Years Eve. That resulted in a link to a few files of kids becoming available on an individual list. Should I have been looking at files, the truth is no.. I was at capacity. The following day, I plopped three files of children on Jeff's lap while he was watching football on New Year's Day. I think I said something like, "can you just look at these?" His response, "We are done.." My repsonse was something like, "I know, but can you look anyway!" My very sweet husband did that for me.. Why, because He loves me.. And, He knows that if God is involved, He might as well get out of the way.. So he humored me.. Less than impressed he went through them.. One little girl caught his eye.. She was on a green plastic riding toy.. When I asked him who she reminded him of, he said Ruby... My thoughts exactly! That joyful face was a little hard to ignore! I am pretty sure that is where Mr. Handsome checked out.. He had sweetly done what I had asked him to do...
The story goes on that I sent little Miss Joyful's file to a cardiologist we know. But, he didn't respond.. In fact by the time he said, "go get her" he was one hour late. I had sent her file back already.. With a heavy heart, (and without Jeff's total blessing) I emailed the agency quickly and asked for 24 hours.. That request was granted.. So, now I had to put on my big girl panties, and call my husband. Whom by the way had just landed in Vegas for the busiest week of his year, and was standing in a cab line. I texted him first, with this message, "So.... do you want to go back to China?" I believe that led to a phone call from the cab line... Let's just say I put his back against the wall. I gave my sweet hubby less than 24 hours to say "yes, send me.." I can honestly say that a "China vacation" was definitely not on his itinerary for 2011. I let the poor guy go to his hotel, and asked him to call me...
In the meantime I am sure my heart was pounding on how I was going to convince him that he needed another child!! His objections were: We are too old (true), we have our plate full (true), college tuition (true), weddings (true), etc.. But, as we all know God does not care about any of that.. I knew if this was God's will, He would help us with all of that.. But, was it God's will, or my heart strings? So, like any girl, I picked up the phone and called my sweet and wise friend Jen. Her advice, "speak from your heart, and he will say yes!" So, that is what I did.. As I recall, I was in a "Krispy Kreme" parking lot selling Mr. Handsome on #4 without taking one single breath.. I agreed with all of his reasons.. And, added that I was the one looking at freedom (I mean Kindergarten for the Middles) next year. So, if I was willing to stay home with a toddler, this must be a God thing! My sales pitch went on and I must say between the Holy Spirit talking, and me handling Jeff's objections, I was pretty convincing! The conversation was closed with... "I am going to trust you on this.. If God is calling you back, then I will support that..." To compare this to a sales call, I felt like I had just gotten the purchase order.. I stopped talking, cried tears of thanks, and hung up quickly to lock that file before he could change his mind.." And that was that.. Sweet Emme Jade was conceived in the parking lot of Krispy Kreme donuts! LOL
Of course the story has more chapters.. It was obvious at first that Mr. Handsome had his doubts about his crazy wife's decision.. But, than the miracles started un-raveling.. One after another God showed us that there was absolutely no doubt that this little girl living in an orphanage half a world away was born to be ours.. The list is too long to share.. But, as my army of prayer warriors prayed for this Daddy's heart, and this adoption, God showed up in a big way.. It started with an unexpected commission check that equaled the amount of one adoption from China.. Then a completely wonderful stranger read my blog who had a daughter from Yangzhou... Her comment to me was:
"Please email me. We adopted our daughter from this very SWI 17 months ago. I have some contact info you will be very excited to have."
That email was the beginning of an introduction to Emme's SWI.. It was followed shortly by the first of many precious photos of Emme while we waited that we will treasure forever.. It was this photo that sent Jeff's heart at ease.. Love for this child began to grow that day...
This little love story goes on for Emme and her Daddy... It was with her new Baba in China where she found her security.. He was the one she wanted, not this Mama.. Mr. Handsome hung the China moon as far as his new daughter was concerned... It was, and still is, so incredibly sweet. She was born to be the baby here! His baby girl...
The first night in the hotel in Nanjing..
I think Emme's adoption will always be a reminder to me that faith is not about what we see, but what we can't see. It's about trusting God's plan for your life.. It's about getting out of our own way so we don't miss some of life's greatest blessings.. There is something reassuring about life when it's God's plan for you.. even when it's hard..
This verse was in a devotional I read three years ago today, January 10th, when we decided to officially go back to China!
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." ~Matthew 6:21
Amen to that!!
Thankful for this little treasure and her Daddy's big ole heart!!
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 1:11
Thursday, January 2, 2014
2013 - A Look Back in Pictures!
I am thankful that I take a lot of photos.. Otherwise, I would never remember what we pack in to our years. 2013 was no different! It was another busy year of memories! We started off January celebrating my Mom's 81st birthday! From there we jumped in to February co-hosting a fun Chinese New Year's party with the McNatt family. It was Grandpa's turn to celebrate a big birthday in March! The girls loved celebrating 86 with him! March was also our first trip to Disney World and the beach as a family of six! We also celebrated 3 years home with Sienna Grace, and Ruby's 6th referral anniversary! The night before Easter, Ruby lost her second front tooth (with her big sister's assistance) making here toothless for most of the summer! April, I set out for an amazing journey back to China with Pearl River Outreach. Ainsley's volleyball team won their first championship in April too! In May Emme finished her second year of pre-school. The ice on the lakes finally thawed so the boats could go in! We also celebrated 6 years with Her Rubiness! June we celebrated Ainsley's Golden birthday, and I got talked into bringing a new 2 pound puppy into our already crazy world! We kicked off the month with dance and piano recitals, and swim team kicked into full gear for "the Middles!" July we celebrated the four birthdays in this house! We went to an awesome retreat center with our Family Group and Ruby won her first championship in breast stroke! August we celebrated my parents 60 year wedding anniversary, and Emme Jade's two years of forever! In August, the girls also went back to school where they started 2nd and 7th grade! The Pearl became our first middle schooler in 2013! We enjoyed a gorgeous September here. Emme Jade started at her new school in pre-K, three of us headed to Jacksonville, IL to see my sister, "Aunt Bop" installed as the 14th President (and first woman) of Illinois College! We headed back as a family to IC in October for Homecoming! Being in a parade and cheering with the college cheerleaders were highlights of October! Ainsley played on the Gold team for her school, and the Middles and Daddy spent a night with the Duck Dynasty cast raising money for our school! November continued to be busy with activities, a visit from our favorite Louisiana girls, and Thanksgiving here with family and friends! We wound down the year with a Santa party, Gingerbread Party, Concerts, 2 swim meets, a dance recital, a visit from Little Grandma and more..
As for me, it was a full year.. My volunteer work at Pearl River Outreach has been an incredible blessing in my life. I am thankful to be a part of it. The kids and their activities keep me busy. I feel like a bus driver some days! Besides the time spent with Mr. Handsome and the girls, a few of my favorite things in 2013 included being behind my camera (especially in China), going to Bible Study on Tuesday's with Emme, and cheering as loud as possible at volleyball games and swim meets! I even embarrassed myself a few times at Zumba this year. Hoping for more of the same in 2014!
In summary it was busy year! I am thankful for God's blessings..
Happy New Year!
A few of my favorite photos from my photography class with Lisa Furey in 2013!
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
The Pearl!
After the gifts were opened, Jeff set outside to plow the beautiful snow we had been blessed with overnight, and Ainsley and I escaped for an overdue photo shoot!!! I love these photos of my big girl! Was it not just a few Christmases ago that she was in her Christmas dress and little ruby red shoes?
Christmas!
Well before this day ends, I am determined to post photos of our Christmas 2013.. We had a "quiet" Christmas this year.. Little Grandma and my parents and Aunt Bop were here to celebrate with us.. God blessed us with a beautiful white Christmas too... So, a little glimpse into our Christmas at home!
The only pictures I took on Christmas Eve were of Emme while the others were getting ready for church. Ruby had a touch of the flu on Christmas Eve this year. Thankfully she recovered quickly to enjoy a fun Christmas Day with us!
Ainsley was the first one up on Christmas morning.. So funny, since she has definitely hit the "Tween" stage where she is NEVER the first one up!
Aunt Bop was here which we always love!!! Ainsley was giving her a lesson on Instagram!!!
The only thing Emme asked Santa for was a "Talking Baby.." He delivered, and she had such a sweet day taking care of her new baby! She is the sweetest Mama!
"The Middles" have been asking Grandma to teach them to sew! So, she surprised them with their own sewing machines!!! Next up, a sewing class with her! They were so excited!!!
Sienna and Ruby have become quite proficient at Lego's! This big boat was on their list!!
It seems that Santa shops at Zulilly!!! Jeff must have sent him the link to this great deal!!! These were quite the hit!!! Now we just need Spring to get her soon!
It's not everyday that these girls get cash to spend!!! I believe The American Girl store is their next stop!
Her favorite character from Doc McStuffins showed up in her stocking!
Only Aunt Tina would load up these awesome bags with Arts and Crafts and leave me in charge!!! Of course they have been thrilled with their new activities!! Thanks Tina! :)
I am thankful for another amazing year with our four blessings!!!!!!!
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