Our family

Here are our family additions coming up this year.


My daughter "made" this picture of our other daughter.


It is now on our desktop, so we get to see her often. :) Of course its also hard to look at because we just wish she was in our arms already.

Her name is Elena.

Elena is my mom's name and Ellen is John's mom's name. The family jokes that when she is anywhere in a waiting room, and her hispanic first name and irish last name is called it may be a little shock when a chinese girl shows up. lol. I love it! We were also discussing how we want her to love her heritage, as well as grow up hispanic because her hispanic grandmother can't wait for her namesake, and love the irish culture that fills this home.

Here is our second addition.

Him, we can hug anytime already. :)




There are a mere 65 days before he joins our family officially. I was talking to a cashier the other day. She was a bit shocked I was old enough to have a daughter getting married. I told her her fiance is 2 days younger then our oldest son (23). Then she was shocked I was *letting* her get married at 20.

All I could say was that we are delighted in him. I am thankful for such a great future son in law and we will treasure him. No he is not perfect, but he is perfect for her. I know he loves her dearly, and his deepest desire is to bring her to the THRONE.

What more can we ask for??


GOD is so good to us. We prayed for all these children. For years and years and years.

And of course, Samuel is part of that faith. :)



Though he is only 10, we have prayed for his spouse for years already. Can't wait to meet her. Wait, I CAN wait, he is my baby boy, what I mean to say is, I already love her.

Pollenation has begun

We are covered.

It is crazy here. Pollen on everything. Samuel & I were out this morning at 7:30, spraying off the cars, the front porch, the walkway.

We went out at 11am, and you would have never known we had cleaned everything off just 3 and half hours earlier!!

Everything is that minty-yellow-y green. I keep forgetting this. I mean, I remember it, and *prepare* for it, but then it shows up and I forget how bad it really is. I forget how much work it is, and how it gets stuck in your throat when you are cleaning up after it, how it feels grimey and if the dogs are outside laying in the sun for a little while they, too get covered, how you open your windows to let the wonderful Spring breeze in and you stark white curtians are no longer stark white in a matter of 1/2 hour, and how you look out the window and WATCH IT MOVE, gliding across life and laughing at you because there is nothing you can do about it.

Okay, maybe its not laughing, maybe I am just slightly bitter.

But thankfully it doesn't last too long. Long enough, but not too long.

And so, we are out again, going to try to get rid of the mess.

I shouldn't complain, though. Nothing hurt this morning when I woke up.

That alone is worth it. :)

She is coming!!!

We got her!!

We now know what our baby girl looks like!!

And she is beautiful.

She turned 2 years old in January. We will be picking her up in November. So she will be almost 3. She is so precious and we can't believe it yet. Part of me just is in denial, and the other part of me is jumping out of my skin!!!

So...needless to say, I am starting private Chinese classes next week. Yes she will be frustrated just from all the changes, but then not to be able to communicate on top of it. No siree. If it kills me I will learn some Chinese.

She has cerebral palsy. Our pediatrician & a neurologist went through all her medicals. She knows us and thought it was a great match. Our child is only about 4 -5 months behind the norm.

We are thrilled.

In those few times when we get out of denial.

I really thought that it was our lot to do about 15 years worth of paper work, and then be told that we are too old to adopt. I may still feel like that until she is in our arms.

Thank you sweet Jesus for this precious child.

Its a coming.....

This Sunday afternoon, John and I (and Samuel) took a walk through downtown. It was so beautiful outside, we couldn't stay indoors. And granted, all the stores were closed, we did some good old fashioned window shopping. Just enjoying the walk and each other.

And we got to talking about this coming January.

It will be our 25th anniversary on January 2010. Which is a mere 9 months away.

I have always wanted to go to Italy for our 25th.

After acquiring 2 children, one through marriage and one through adoption, there will just be no money left for Italy. Which is okay.


But I expressed to my beloved, I still want to do something special.

Like renew our vows.

I think it would be special, even if it is just before our children. ( Boys, I suppose, since Chloe will be in VA.) To recommit after all the good, the bad, the ugly and the beauty in our married life together. Ad there have been plenty of all of those.


Considering we were but 17 & 19 when the first vows were said, and I can truly say, we were morons at the time, these will be more meaningful. We now know what on earth we are recommitting to when we say those precious, powerful words.

Promises, really.

And we all know what our LORD says about keeping promises.

We'll see.

But in all that, I can honestly say, this marriage, this life, this hope, has survived & thrive, all on the shoulders of Jesus.

As it should.

one more thing

I have taken a drive to the state capitol (Trenton) more times then I care to count.

First time I went, I held on the my GPS for dear life. Today, I thought " Gee, I can probably drive to this place with my eyes closed." Its that one-more-document-needs-to-be-state-certified for the adoption thing.

Josiah's sister came over the other day, and the UPS man had dropped off the document that needed state certification. I don't even get angry anymore. I just sighed, and put it in the "I have to go to Trenton again" mindset. She looked at the expression on my face, and said " You know, you really want to have to adopt to put up with all this stuff. Most people would just have said FORGET IT at this point. It kind of weeds out the ones who think it would be fun, to those who will sacrifice for the privilege."

That is very true.

But I have to confess, there have been more then a few times I said FORGET IT!! in my mind. And even in my heart.

And maybe even to my husband.

I just took it to the cross. Again. And my GOD came though. Again. Through the hope, excitement, obedience and perseverance to do that next thing .

And so, I am busy trying to make it a perfect day for my one daughter as she is getting ready to leave, while trying to bring my other one home.

Both totally worth it.

Life at Easter

I love Easter.

There is such an amazing peace and sense of gratefulness that comes at Easter. Thank you sweet Jesus. It never seems like I can be thankful enough.

And of course, getting together with family

My sons. It seems the only thing that separates them is size. My oldest is sometimes on the the same level as my youngest. But they sure do love life. And each other.


Once again, my parents put money in some of the eggs. Needless to say, ALL the grandkids participated. Again. lol. Don't let the fact that we are outside and it looks green fool you. It was about 38 - 40 degrees. Gross.



He just can't believe his little girl is moving on. He is hanging on as long as he can...


I have this terrible habit of blowing my bangs out of the way. I don't do the flip my head thing, and I don't usually touch my hair, to pull it back. Chloe laughed when she took this. She said it is my most common pose. Duh. Maybe I should cut my bangs.



It is most likely the last time our immediate family will be together for Easter. I doubt Josiah & Chloe will come up for the weekend next year. But somehow, thats okay. Though hard, I am also excited for her. I remember being a young bride. Being excited for our traditions, our family quirks, our celebrations.

Her time is coming. And I can't wait!!


PS, here they are opening their first batch of wedding presents!! wOw! WEDDING PRESENTS!!!! ALREADY!

Good ole Talbots

I GOT MY DRESS!!

We found my Mother-of-the-Bride dress. I was sooo not looking forward to this part of the details. I am not a shopper for me. I like basic stuff and thats about it. I don't do fancy, and neither does John. I wanted simple, but classy.

Chloe couldn't wait to look for a dress for me.

When we went the first time, I was so frustrated, but made sure no one knew it. I tried on dresses and was so not happy. I DID NOT want your typical MOB dress, all fancy and sparkle-y. All formal and important. Not me, really.

This week, Chloe had a little time off from work, and dragged me to Talbots. I mentioned I wanted to look there, instead of your typical MOB places.

I found my dress!! At Talbots! On sale!!

And Chloe is so very happy with it. Which is the important part.

Now here is the super special part. When it came time to pay, my daughter whipped out this wad of cash she evidently has been carrying around for weeks. She had it in her heart, and she saved up for this; she so wanted to pay for my dress. It made me want to cry. How very sweet of my precious child. Though I wanted to say " No, Honey, yous guys are moving to VA and setting up house, and need all the money you can get." I swallowed my pride and thank her dearly .

Now the dress is even more super special.

And...she loves it. :)