part three.

Here's the final installment of family reunion pictures.  We truly had a wonderful time being together and can't wait for another trip!  Hopefully next time with Sweet P.  

Peanut loved playing with the toys her cousins bought with their money from Grandma.  These girlies played "make-up shop" and were pretending to paint Peanut's nails here.

Buddy got a hold of the hairdryer and went to work... at least he knew the ladies would appreciate his attention!  Aunt Janet drove over with Grandma Doris to get her hair styled, of course.

K is seriously the best dad on the planet.  

...and not just because he made Mickey and Minnie pancakes for the kids.

Our family with Grandma Doris.  She is so amazing!  She is 92 (hope you don't mind me sharing that!) and still plays tennis most mornings, rides her bike with friends and lives summers in Florida and winters in New York.  Don't tell this lady to slow down!!  

One of my dearest friends Kimmy came for a visit with her husband Kyle and her beautiful baby Alyse.  This little girl has an infectious smile!

Kimmy and I met 11 years ago when we worked together at a Young Life camp in the mountains of Georgia.  We were fast friends and stay in touch constantly.  Since we met, we have seen each other only four times... once in Europe where we had a whirlwind train trip through four countries and three times in Florida within the last two or so years.  Hopefully there are more trips in the future!

Downtown Disney

Alyse had no lack for attention.

We're so glad they could visit for the day!  

It was the perfect way to end our time in Florida.

Thanks for sticking around this long to see all the pictures.  

Next post will be all about Saturday's humongous yard sale. 

 It was incredible and I can't wait to share about it!!  Blessings, angela

part two.

Read the post below if you missed part one, then meet me back here for part two!

A few weeks before we left, K and I volunteered at the local Food Bank to earn free Disney tickets!  Can't beat that!  One day is never enough at Disney but we packed in as much excitement as possible from opening to the fireworks.  It was only tempered a bit by the fact that we all woke up with food poisoning, and we still had a "magical" time!

These girlies were like two peas in a pod all week...

Something about the show just makes me want to throw my arms up in the air and start dancing.  Seriously.

Pops and Grandma treated everyone to Mickey ice cream while we waited for the parade.  Buddy's never been given free reign on that much ice cream at once, and it's not surprising that he loved it.

All the grandkids were given money by their Great Grandma Doris (who came to visit the next day!).  I have never let Peanut go into a store and choose anything she wanted, so she almost didn't know what to do with the responsibility!  She found this headband and was so cute wearing it around the clock.  Okay, we made her take it off to sleep, but the moment she woke up she wanted it right back on her head.  

This cutie picked out a kitty with her spending money.  

Here is what it looks like when I'm in charge of five kids while the adults and older kids ride a roller coaster.  Thankfully this aunt knows that lollipops are a miracle candy and kept them happy for a total of about five minutes.  ...when I pulled out more.  

Below is the progression of Peanut on Thunder Mountain Railroad.  She's ridden kiddie coasters but not one quite so intense.  She was so happy when she was tall enough to ride, and I wanted to see her face so I shot pictures through the whole ride.  These are hilarious to me!  I had to compress the experience to eight shots, but I think you'll get the idea.  Hope you laugh too!

At least she still gave it a thumbs up!

Our last stop was the Philharmagic show before the fireworks.  3D glasses are so much fun, no matter your age!

Any day that ends in fireworks must be a magical day!  A bit more of our fun in one final post coming soon...  

Blessings, angela

blessings.

We were blessed by K's parents with a week at their timeshare along in Florida, along with the entire family.   It was a much needed reunion, considering we live too far away for their frequent get-togethers.  Plans were in the works for about a year, and we looked forward to it with a lot of anticipation!  We had no idea we'd be thick in the middle of an adoption by then, but thanks to their generous gift, free tickets to theme parks, and hotel reward points (from K's work trips),  it cost us no more than a couple tanks of gas and our usual grocery budget.  Can't beat that for all the memories with family!!

Our kids ate up every minute of it, especially time with all the kiddos!  Each time our doorbell rang, Buddy ran to the door hollering "cousins!"  The kids all warmed up quickly and had tons of fun being silly together.  Pops wanted to see how many grandkids would fit in the hammock!  I'm sure we could have squeezed in a few more...

K's sister Kristin has six kids (one is unfortunately in college and couldn't make it).  They were entertained by Buddy opening up his Bible and flipping pages until he came to his favorite story: "Zacchaeus!"

Thanks to K's job, we get one free day to SeaWorld a year, so we took advantage of that!!

Shamu was amazing, of course!  

The older boys took a challenge from Pops to sit at the front of the splash zone and, I think, earned a bit of money in the process.  I, on the other hand, ran for the hills when the whales started splashing the crowds. 

Buddy definitely missed his nap but seemed to think Pops' head made a nice pillow.  You take what you can get, I suppose.

The timeshare had a really great pool area, and we all spent lots of time out in the water playing.  Okay, well, I should admit it was never long enough to still get any hint of a tan... particularly since I made the family wear 70 SPF.  I am positive they will thank me when they are 70 years old and they don't look like a raisin.

Most evenings we took turns hosting and cooking dinner for each other since our rooms had full kitchens.  I doubt any restaurant would have appreciated 17 people showing up asking to sit together!

The whole family, finally together after at least four years!  ...and we've added four kids to the bunch since then.

We had the treat of one evening when Walt and Sandi, longtime family friends, joined us for dinner.  Over 20 years ago, he gave K his first airplane ride... and the rest is history.  It was a blessing for me to finally meet this fabulous couple!

More is on the way from the rest of the week...  Blessings, angela

expecting.

I must say how much it means to me to have so many ask when they see me if there's any update on our Sweet P.  Adopting is similar to being pregnant in many ways, yet sometimes completely different.  When I had a big belly, it was obvious our family was about to grow.  I got questions right and left about the baby, and so it is wonderfully comforting to have people ask about Sweet P because it shows me they remember we are expecting.  


So, I read a blog that sent me blog-hopping and came across a giveaway for a necklace from The Vintage Pearl.  For someone who considers herself super unlucky, especially when it comes to contests, I almost didn't believe it when I got the email saying I'd won this necklace.  ...and the artist was generous enough to give me three charms, for each of my kiddos!  We've already chosen a name for Sweet P and I had her name engraved on another flower charm.  I suppose if the Lord changes things, I can always order a different charm, right?  But for now I'm wearing her name around my neck most days to keep her close to my heart.  


It is music to my ears to hear Peanut talk about Sweet P by name and even Buddy once in a while.  Peanut still calls her "our adoption child" often, but more and more she uses her name.  Love it.  I keep conversing with them both about how Sweet P will actually come live with us in our home.  Not sure how much it's sinking in, but I want them to know she is already their sister!  


That's it for today.  We just returned from K's family reunion and had a great time with them!  More on that to come soon...  once I am fully unpacked and get groceries back in the fridge.  Blessings, angela

quotable.

"My friends, adoption is redemption. It's costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him." -- Derek Loux

adopted.

Today was another day when I was completed overwhelmed by the generosity of friends.  We literally have a garage FULL of furniture, toys, clothes, bikes, and more... all given to us to sell at our yard sale.  While pricing things I pondered over the three people who gave to us who were adopted as children.  Kevin ran back and forth to get van load after van load of things from a family from church, and when he returned a few minutes ago with the final load, he handed me a card.  In it were the most precious words of encouragement, even more so because they were penned by a woman twice adopted.  


Last month I was captivated by a book review of Russell Moore's Adopted for Life I read in Citizen. More specifically, C.J. Mahaney's foreword that was quoted:

I was adopted when I was eighteen years old. I wasn't an orphan, the way most people think of that term. I wasn't an abandoned child. But I was in a condi­tion far more serious: I was a stranger to the family of God, a slave to sin, and an object of the justified wrath of God.

   I too was adopted into the family of God at the age of 10.  Maybe you've never thought of yourself as such if you are a Christian, but the parallel is too beautiful to overlook!  Throughout the New Testament it says Christians are grafted into the Vine (John 15) and that we are adopted as sons (Ephesians 1:5).  The Bible is also full of adoption stories that I cannot wait to share with Sweet P... Moses, Esther, Jesus...  and the great purpose the Lord had for their lives!


   What makes us family is not blood but relationship.  I'm ever grateful the Lord chose to adopt me and am awed by the fact that He cares to know me intimately.  

sleepy.

I am looking through pictures from all our birthdays and found this video, taken on my birthday a couple weeks ago. It captures one of the moments I think I will miss most when my kids are grown up. Thankfully, I can go back and watch and laugh all over again when I am missing these crazy days of motherhood.