Gingerbread houses...

This week is so incredibly hectic... I had two tests today, have two tomorrow, have a major project and a five page research paper on plastic due on Thursday, and then on Friday, exams start... Three AP exams with a math one somewhere in the middle of them. At 12:00 next Wednesday, I'll be done with the first half of my junior year (although the semester doedn't end until a week after we come back.) I'm so looking forward to Christmas break! Junior year is so HARD.

But I did just have to share this picture of the little girlies... AnnaClaire, Kate, and their friend, Mia went to a children's museum today with the moms. They saw a Cliff*ord exhibit and it sounds like they did lots of fun things there. At the end of their time at the museum, they made little gingerbread houses! Mom didn't bring the camera, but I did get a picture of them with their houses once they got home... aren't they cute?! :)

Nati*onal Cham*pionship Bound

(I took this when we were at the Bay*lor vs. Te*xas game last month...)


It was scary.

My heart was pounding.

For a minute, I thought it was over.

But, thanks to the field goal kicker for his season long kick with 1 second remaining in the game,

Te*xas is going to the Nat*ional Cham*pionship!

Best part of all?

Jorda*n Shi*pley, who was holding the ball for the field goal, whispered Jeremiah 17:7 to Law*erence, the kicker right before he kicked...

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord."

Law*erence then went on to kick it...

And he made it... by maybe two inches.

The Long*horns are going back to Pas*adena!

We were hugging and screaming in our house last night:)

H00k 'Em H0rns!

Some November pictures I never posted...

Came across these and realized I never posted them... The first few were from a beautiful fall day last month... Now all our leaves are gone :( Sad. Oh well, I just love Christmas, too, and have loved having the tree up this week!! The last two pictures are from a "turkey day" activity the girlies went to with Mia. And yes, that would be AnnaClaire petting a snake. She's a crazy little thing:)

Just had to share....

They answered all of our questions as we paperchased back in early '06...

They celebrated with us when we got AnnaClaire's referral...

They were at the airport welcoming AnnaClaire home...

They celebrated with us when we got Kate's referral...

They helped us endure the wait for LOA for Kate...

They were, of course, at the airport to welcome Kate home...

They celebrated with us when we got Charlie's referral...

They have been there for us as we have waited for sweet Charlie...

And now FINALLY, after 44 months, we get to celebrate along with them!

You simply must see these two sweet babies...

Sarah Mei

and

Aliana Grace

H family and E family, we are SOOOO happy for you!!! Can't wait to be there at the airport welcoming you guys home!

Once an orphan...

Every Wednesday, our classes are cut a bit short and we have a chapel service after second period at school. Today, it was focusing on praising God. We sang quite a few praise songs and then they opened up the mic to any students who wanted to share. Some amazing stories. The last one was shared by one of the sophomores... I don't think there was a dry eye in the room...

She is the sister of one of my friends. His family adopted her a few years ago from Bela*rus. She was either 11 or 12 at the time she was adopted and is now 17.

She got up and took the mic as she composed herself and started by saying, "I was once an orphan."

With tears streaming down her face, she said something along the lines of, "I want to thank my family because I know I don't always seem grateful, but I want you to know how grateful I really am. If it weren't for you, if I was still an orphan, I would be on the streets. You see, when you turn 17 in Bela*rus, you are kicked out of the orphanage. You are homeless with no one to go to. Yet, I have a family. I'm not on the streets in Bela*rus because of them." Now sobbing, she got out the words, "I love you guys and I thank you so much, even though you might not always know it."

So often, the babies get all the attention. But what about the older kids? The older kids who are about to age out of the system and have little hope unless they are adopted? They will literally be on the streets. Unless they are adopted. They deserve a hope and a future. They deserve a family, too.

Life on the streets... I don't even want to bring myself to think about what that might include. I pray that families are raised up to not only adopt the little ones, but the older ones, too. Everyone deserves a family... no one should have to face being kicked out of an orphanage to be on the streets.

Just feeling convicted today..

A Recap of our Thanksgiving Weekend

On Thursday, we woke up and watched the Ma*cy's Da*y Par*ade! The girls loved it...
especially the Dora float!
Kate was a completely diferent little girl this Thanksgiving from last year, when she had been home not even a month! Just look at that sweet smile:)
Grandma and Mom cooked delicious dishes for dinner, and AnnaClaire even helped Grandma make the stuffing! It was the best ever!
We then headed to the park to take some Christmas card pictures... we got lots of good ones:) but you'll have to wait to see the actual one we chose!
Kate was just jumping up and down the whole time... I think Thanks*giving might be her new favorite holiday! We got some really good pictures! Tthe boys and I thought the matching Bay*lor shirts was a bit much... but it turned out cute. We even got Charlie in!
We then played at the park a bit... the girls had a blast swinging,
sliding,
and they even made a train down the slide before we headed back to the house for lots of foot*ball, snacks, and naps!
The girlies then put on their Thanksgiving dress for more pictures...
Kate was extra cheesy!
AnnaClaire was, too, although at this point she was telling me, "I REALLY don't like takin' pictures!"
I don't blame her... but they are so cute, aren't they?!
Here's me and my two precious girls... our second Thanksgiving with Kate and our third with AC!
Miss priss... isn't her dress adorable?! We found it on sale! And Kate's was AC's from her first Thanksgiving! The dining room table looked beautiful... although we didn't even have enough chairs and had to bring in two from the kitchen! Don't know what we're going to do next year when we have Charlie, too!
AnnaClaire and her Thanksgiving meal...
and Kate with hers... the corn pudding was her favorite! After dinner, Mom and Grandma cleaned while we watched... you guessed it... more football! We even had some delicious pumpkin desert as we watched the Te*xas vs. Te*xas A&M game! Always a big rivalry... and it got close... but ultimately, Te*xas prevailed! :) :)

I woke up at 3:45am to go Bl*ack Fri*day shopping with my best friend. We both scored a G*PS for $59! Not bad, considering the original price is over $100 more than that! Wal*Mart was RIDICULOUS though... People.are.crazy.
On Saturday morning, Drew brought home a dozen donuts from Dun*kin for us before we caravaned (you know your family is getting big when you have to take TWO cars!) out to the mountains to get a Christmas tree!
We had a nice wagon ride up the hill...
Still just can't get over how this is the same little girl from last year... Then, she wouldn't go to Will-- much less SMILE in his arms-- and she hardly smiled at all as she rode in the Er*go on our last trip to the tree farm!
There's the fam! It was nice having Drew home this year (he was in Chin*a last Thanks*giving) although we were missing our littlest boy!
AnnaClaire and Kate had a BALL! Ohhh and the scarves they are wearing? I knit them a few years ago.
After looking around for awhile, we found our tree... it's perfect!
And we cut it down...
And walked back up to catch the wagon ride down to the barn!
In the barn, the girlies got to ride a horse! They thought that was just the greatest thing ever.
They even got to ride in a sleigh like Santa, as Booie told me!
Here's the whole crew, taken by a family we met with a cute little girl also adopted from China!
Santa even made an appearance! Yep... no mall lines for us this year! AnnaClaire told him that she wants a jump rope and a doll! Kate was content just looking at him from afar.
We then drove a short drive to Boo*ne to eat at the famouns Da*n'l Bo*one Inn... one of our traditions every time we are in the mountains!
Then today, we celebrated Drew's birthday, as he turns 22 on Wednesday! He took us to his favorite restaurant- a Viet*namese restaurant which is out near his apartment at college. Grandma treated us and it was delicious!
After watching a disappointing Pan*thers game and setting the Christmas tree up, we had chocolate cake!
It was definitely a fun weekend. Lots of time just as a family... and so very fun! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!

Happy Thanksgiving

from our family to yours!

We are feeling so incredibly blessed this Thanksgiving, despite missing our littlest guy! Praying that God is keeping him safe and loved this Thanksgiving... and rejoicing in the promise that he will be home for Thanksgiving next year!

Have an awesome day!