HomeLife November 2008

God has blessed our family with an incredible story of His power and blessings. A few years ago when we were first experiencing all that He was pouring out on us, I promised Him that I would never pass up a chance to honor Him by sharing our story. Another opportunity came our way last spring. I was able to share our story with an amazing woman who happens to be a free lance writer. She used our story as part of an article she wrote for HomeLife magazine. The article in the November 2008 issue is about adoption. It focuses a lot on the Chapman family with other families mentioned as well.
In 2001, it was an article about Emily Chapman (Steven Curtis's oldest daughter) that God used to soften my heart and lead us to adopt. Now to see our daughter on the same 2 page spread with the Chapmans is like seeing God's plan come full circle. Thank you, Emily for praying your family into adoption. And thank you, Almighty God for using their family to guide us to Olivia. We are forever thankful!

Train ride

One of the best things about living here has to be the miniature trains. Twice a year, miniature trains from all over the country arrive in our local park. They offer free rides to the community. Today we all went to enjoy this neat treat.

We rode the trains a couple of times and then had a picnic in the park. We splurged on a funnel cake before coming home for some "north american phillips" (our code name for a nap). It was a great for our family!

End of an Era

It has happened... the end of an era

For the first time... the twins were not dressed alike! That may seem very minor to some of you, but trust me... this is HUGE. My babies have always (I Mean ALWAYS) matched. Even at night they wear matching jammies. But on Wednesday, Joshua insisted on wearing a different outfit. Yes, I agreed but I was a little teary eyed. I don't know how long this will last, as long as they want it to I guess. The exceptions are of course... holidays and all family pictures. I have final say so in those areas.

Cake by O

Today was a great day for Olivia...she baked her first cake! It started with me realizing that the mound of bananas I had in the basket were turning black really quickly. I know the tried and true solution to turning bananas is to make banana bread. However, my kids do not like banana bread so that is wasting not only the bananas but the flour and sugar and everything else the recipe calls for. So, instead I decided to "make up" a banana cake recipe.

Olivia was all about making this cake. She was in charge of the bananas. Needless to say...she LOVED it...

She was so excited to share her cake with our friends JohnDavid and Rachel. They came for dinner last and had the honor of trying the first ever... Cake by O. I am thinking the Ace of Cakes may have met his match!!

I can laugh about it now...

Last year around this time, David was away with the other lead pastors on a retreat. I sent him the following story. He said it made him and the others laugh. I thought I would share it here. Just a note... this happened last year but in reality it could happen everyday in my house...

Early Fall 2007

Guess what can happen when you are visited by the Welcome Wagon in your new community?... A very nice lady with a 1yr old bay in tow comes to your door, your kids jump up and down and greet them with shouts of joy, your kids climb all over you and the nice lady as she is trying to give you coupons and other gifts from area merchants, her baby cries because she has never been surrounded by this much chaos in her life, you try to bribe your kids by promising them a "treat" if they will play upstairs while you finish your visit, they disappear, you assume they are playing upstairs (never ASSUME!), when it is way too quiet you leave your conversation to investigate, you find your 3 dear children in the bathtub, fully clothed, covered in baby wash, there is no water in the tub, just babies and an entire bottle of baby wash, you spend the next 10 minutes stripping the kids, washing the soap off of them and finding new clothes, the nice lady quickly leaves saying "nice to meet you and welcome to our community, email me if you have any questions", you promise your kids they will have not treats the rest of the day and wish they were old enough to realize how upset you are, then the oldest (and ring leader of the impromptu bath) says "smell us Mommy, we are SO clean" you melt into a smile and promise yourself a nap a few hours. Hope your day is productive and joyous because it cannot be nearly as entertaining as mine! I love you, LeAnn

It made them laugh last year. And now as I sit here re-reading it, it makes me laugh as well. I am not raising perfect angels but incredible gifts, crafted into His perfect plan.

On a side note... there are some things that I still don't laugh about... a little boy came up to Joshua at the park today and he was scratching his head incessantly...I packed up, came home and gave everyone a bath... See somethings still FREAK me out.

Our princess is 4

Four years ago today we were on a plane somewhere near the grand canyon. (It looks really small from 35000 feet, off the topic...sorry) anyway... We landed in Las Vegas and received a phone call that our baby girl had been born.. 8lbs 9 oz. We screamed on the plane and all of the Southwest Airlines' crew and passengers cheered and clapped for us. After what seemed like a 2 day layover (it was 2 hours) we were on our final flight to Portland Oregon. We landed, rented a car (it had a flat tire), changed vehicles and were on our way to Salem. We arrived at Salem Hospital very nervous and anxious. Our Bethany case worker introduced herself and took us to meet the birth grandmother and great grandmother. They followed us into the nursery where we saw the most beautiful baby in the world. We both burst into tears, as did everyone around us. David started singing to her, I just stood and cried. I will never forget how full my arms felt when I held her for the first time. I had never known such completeness. All of our prayers had been answered. After a week in a hotel in Portland, we flew home and introduced our daughter to her brother, grandparents and a church full of wonderful people who had helped us get her into our arms.

Skip forward 4 years... our princess is a live wire. She never stops talking or moving. And if there were ever a girl who was in charge and knew what she wanted in life..it is Olivia. She has the vocabulary of a teenager and the reasoning skills of a graduate student. Beauty, intelligence and spirit...what blessings God has poured out on her! There are times when she wears me out, she gives new definition to "strong willed". But when I look at her and remember all that God orchestrated to bring her into our family, my heart overflows.

I love you sweet Olivia, you are my precious princess and I treasure you. Happy Birthday to the greatest daughter in the world!

I Can't Believe It...

A few years ago when Alex was in 3rd grade our Children's minister excitedly told him that he was old enough to go to Kids camp the following summer. Alex said "That's really cool, but don't tell my mom because she will cry." I have always been a little emotional when it came to Alex growing up. To me he will always be my baby. Being married to a youth minister, I knew when Alex was born that he would one day be a "youth". Tonight it happened, he donned his "True Dog" t-shirt, put on his hat (a little off sided) and was gone. Tonight my baby joined the youth group. I can't believe it has happened already. I was busy with kids programs so I couldn't go peek in and spy on him. When I finally saw him, he was happy and having a great time. He didn't stop talking the entire way home. His daddy is not the youth minister but we are so blessed to have a great youth ministry at our church.
On another note... we start homeschooling tomorrow. Say a prayer!