Thursday…

 Whether I am here, or on standby call, or called off, I am always planning to spend my Thursdays here: 

I am so thankful for my job and how it provides for my family…

Just Dandy…

 Eden loves the sweatshirt company, Dandy. Dandy had announced awhile ago that they would do a pop up in Huntington Beach this past weekend. Eden had been counting down hoping to go and finally with meds on board and feeling a little better, she and her dad made a date of it.

So many people!

She even got to meet Dandy’s CEO:

Her favorite part of the afternoon was time with her favorite guy…

The sweatshirt she picked…

Thursdays…

 Here we go!

past weekend plans…

 It was my weekend. I’m so thankful for this job…

Thursday…

 Thursday… I always wonder what the day will hold, but I know the One who has gone before me…

Our annual Biola Raclette 2025

 On January 2, we had our annual raclette dinner with our close college friends!

The uncles dress up to bring dessert to the kids:

We talked, ate, laughed, shared, and just sat in the peace of being with people that love you where you are and will stand with you so that you know you are never alone! God was so good to bring us together 26 years ago!

Go Eden!

This last weekend, Eden played striker and she made her first goal while playing club!

It was so fun to cheer our girl on. We are SO proud of this team!

Seven

On our vacation, I read the book Seven by Jen Hatmaker

It was so inspiring and thought provoking.  Some of my family read it too and we had such great conversations about it.  

Here is the summary.

I have been letting the ideas of the book simmer.  The book really mirrored lent.  I really enjoyed the challenge of it, but I would have to be careful that the goal of doing any type of experiment like this would not be to lose weight, or save money or give our stuff away, but that it would be a spiritual experience, one that the Lord would be in the center of, and that my heart would be transformed in the process.
I don't want it to be a self help book.
So we are praying what  the Lord would have us do with this challenge.
I will keep you posted!
If you want to learn more about the book or the author, go here.

smooches in heaven

My sister shared this conversation that she had with my niece the other day.

It was too sweet not to share...

my niece: "Papa Sal is in heaven, right mom?"

my sister: "yep."

my niece: "And so is my Ethiopian Mom so they can talk to each other."

my sister: "yep."

my niece: "And they can (puts two little thumbs together and makes them smooch) smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch."

my sister: "for sure."

my niece: "And God is there too so they can all talk together."

I could not love this little girl more...

Melissa Fay Greene

One of the most life changing books to date that I have ever read was by Melissa Fay Greene, entitled "There Is No Me Without You". It's about Ethiopia and adoption and I read it with my sister around the time that we received the referral for our niece.

This incredible author has recently come out with another book that shares more of her journey with adoption and I just wanted to pass the title along to you.

In our family we say that our family adopted a baby from ethiopia. She is not just my sister and brother-in-law's daughter, but she is my parent's granddaughter, our nephew's sister, she is our niece and Ryder's cousin. Kit and I are her god parents if anything were to ever happen to her parents. I just can't tell you how much adoption has changed our lives, that little girl is a phenomenal human being and we are different because we know her and have the privilege to live life with her.

Baby girl, you are wanted, waited for an loved!

For mother's...

My sister shared this poem with me from one of her adoption agency Yahoo group... it was just too beautiful not to share...

Once there were two women who never knew each other.

One you do not remember, the other you call mother.

Two different lives, shaped to make your one...

One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.

The first gave you life and the second taught you to live it.

The first gave you a need for love, and the second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name.

One gave you a seed of talent, the other gave you an aim.

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears.

One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.

One gave you up ... that's all she could do.

The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me, through your fears,

the age old question unanswered throughout the years...

Heredity or environment, which are you the product of?

Neither, my darling … neither.

Just two different kinds of love.

~ Author Unknown ~

how much did your kid cost?

My sister shared this blog post with me and it was so timely to a conversation that my sister had had with an older woman who could NOT understand how my niece could be my sister's daughter. (Wow, now that was a sentence...) It is amazing how insensitive people can be. Please take a chance to read it...

Thank you Single Dad Laughing for sharing this post...

Thank you Target!

Check out what Target has been up to as they have partnered with World Vision. Our niece got one and I can't tell you how cool it is to see something like this out there.

Here is the description:

What if you could change the world just by buying a doll? You can, with Hearts For Hearts Girls dolls! Each doll is a girl that wants to make a difference in her life and community. There are six beautiful dolls to choose from: Dell (USA), Lilian (Belarus), Rahel (Ethiopia), Nahji (India), Tipi (Laos), and Consuelo (Mexico).When you buy a Hearts For Hearts Girls doll, a portion of the purchase price is donated to children's causes in those countries through World Vision, a global humanitarian organization.

I hope you get a chance to check them out.

One year later...

In adoption, we have found that there are several celebration worthy days/dates. The day you got the referral, the first tme you met them, the court date in Ethipoia, the court date here when her name changed. But Kit and I celebrate January 15th because that is the day that she arrived in the states and we finally got to meet her... That is what we consider our "gotcha day". I can't believe it's already been a year!

This was the first night she was home and we had been so ready for her to only want my sister and brother-in-law and I had been given strict instructions to let initiate the first move, so when she held out her tiny little arms to me for me to snuggle her and pick her up, I looked wide eyed at my sister to make sure it was ok...(To which I got the response, "OF COURSE, god mommy!") She has been one of my favorite snugglers ever since...

One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE pictures of her first day...

And then you fast forward a year...

Baby girl~

We could not love you more! We can't imagine life without you and we are so honored to be part of your family. You were waited for and are wanted and loved. Who's our favorite little girl? That's right... YOU♥!

manicures

We painted our baby girls nails for the first time a few days ago and she was really excited about it. To be honest she has had her nails painted before, but she didn't really understand the concept of not touching things until the nails dried. All she wanted was to be like her mommy... So this time it actually worked. She is so precious!

I love our girl...

update on our baby girl...

Each time that we get to be with our niece, we are just reminded how incredible this little girl is. She brings so much joy and has so much love to give and receive. We can tell that she will be a very relational, nurturing soul, who loves others. She has her moments where you can tell that she is warming up to a situation but once she is comfortable, look out, because then we see her little extroverted side come out.

This little one LOVES Ryder. We could have an entire movie montage of just pictures with our niece and Ryder... Whenever she talks to him, her voice goes at least 8 octaves higher... when she holds him, she pats his little tummy and nuzzles her head to his, and it could make you cry with how much they love each other.

She still loves her coffee and ANYTHING that her brothers do. She is always taking inventory of where everyone is and what they are doing. (ie: daddy in his office, papa at work, mia at the hospital, Ryder sleeping...) Her language and vocabulary are incredible. She has gone to repeating words to putting her own sentences/phrases together. When she says something and we respond to her she just gives you the biggest smile.

Overall, she is doing so well and we just could not love her more.

We keep joking with each other, "too bad we aren't totally addicted to her..."

Thank you all for those that have continued to keep our family in your prayers through this time of transition. They are so appreciated!

court dates, names changes and citizenship...

Today my sister and brother in law had a court date, with our baby girl, and she now has the family name and is a huge step closer to finalizing her US citizenship. Thank you to all of you that have walked with our family through this whole process. This little girl is so precious to us and as far as we are concerned, she has been ours since we first got her referral...

(It's just nice to know that the United States concurs...)

Here are some recent pics with her mom and dad...

The whole family with the judge...