Let's Dance to HIS tune.

Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

YUP, on our way to see her.

So, tomorrow morning we head out to the airport. Tomorrow is the day we head to out get our baby girl.

Finally.

After all this time. It is slightly surreal and extremely thrilling, but not without it's bouts of anxiety attacks. Will they give her to us for real? Will I forget that one piece of paper that keeps her from us?? How will Samuel survive 14 hours on a plane, my active crazy child?? The thoughts pop in, whenever they feel like it, randomly.

But..

Soon baby girl.

May our Lord bring us together. This has always been HIS, all to HIS glory. I pray we have a safe journey, and we may bring you home, and raise you to adore HIM.

And would you consider keeping us in your prayers? We would greatly appreciate them.

And so, once again, since China blocks blogger & Facebook, so I can't post on here, and if you have time and if you WANT to...come along and follow this journey of faith.


China Trip Go to the In China part. :)

And you all have a blessed and beautiful New Year!!!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Christmas 2009

How does one start Christmas Eve??

Running? Um, well, Chloe & Shelby did. Shelby about died having to run at such an old age. She is almost 10!


Christmas Day, my parent's home.


John & Chloe. ( and shrimp.) I don't have to wonder how their daddy/baby girl relationship will be after Elly gets here. It will be just fine. :)


My boys. Twins, separated by 13 years.


Stevie. <3


Guess what he asked for??


Nat( my niece) & Andrew. They are too cute for their own good.


Stevie got something for Samuel. Samuel was stunned.


He tried to squeeze all the love into Stevie


What was it?

An Eagles nutcracker. He loves & collects nutcrackers (he has about 22) and he loves the Eagles. Best of both.


What did my mom get Lance?



A BEARD TRIMMER!!!!!!!!


My parents got Chloe these shoes that she has been drooling for for a long time. But she couldn't afford them. She was so happy, you couldn't pry them off her hands.








Elizzi & Choe had the same hair style & wore the same color dress! Scary because my sister & I do that. Often. And it is never planned.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Williamsburg. Again.

So we went. Again :)

Since we were going to the south, John stripped down to his t-shirt in the car. Or maybe it was because I had the heat blasting the whole time.

I am going with the "going to the south" story.


When we got there, we ate and played a new game. Josiah read EVERY word of the directions. EVERY WORD.


And his loving wife waited patiently until he finished.


Samuel loves their hammok. Then he flipped. But it didn't stop him from going on it 5 million more times.

"...help..."


The next morning, Josiah & Samuel made eggnog from scratch. I am not an eggnog fan. At all. But this one wasn't 1/2 bad.


Josiah mapping out the day at Williamsburg. It amazes me that my scatter brain, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants daughter married someone who is so meticulous. About everything.


It was cold. COLD. So much for the South being warm. Josiah & Samuel found patches of snow. Enough for a snowball fight. All day, whenever a patch could be found.






John is a HAVC contractor. ( heat & air con.) He was quite impressed with this heating system. He was so impressed... he is still talking about it. It was his favorite part of the whole thing. duh.


I wish I had one of these. They are so lovely to walk through, even in the cold brown-leafed winter.


Josiah sitting in front of the courthouse. He wanted to look official. I wonder if he realized the hat doesn't help.


Then as we were leaving it started to snow!!!! It was so pretty.





As we were driving from Williamsburg to VA Beach, the snow turned into rain. Like that dumb song. It didn't snow there at all. But it was cold.


The men wanted to go to the beach after church. Chloe & I stayed in the car. With the heat on.


And look what we found in Northern MD!!! SNOW!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Amendment

SO, I got to realizing that maybe I am not as great a communicator as I think I am.

Which doesn't surprise me.

At all.

Specially since my husband walks around trying to figure out what I say and what I mean, which according to him, tend not to be the same thing.

Huh.

Yes, poor guy.

BUT, this is not about him being married to me and trying to survive it...


...we are not going to be in VA for Christmas, itself!! We are going for a long weekend. This weekend!

We are coming back on Sunday.

And spending Christmas HERE. And yes my daughter & son-in-law will be here, too.

But we will SEE how Williamsburg decorated for Christmas.

THATS WHAT I MEANT TO SAY!!!!

:)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Christmas in Williamsburg!

We decided, WHY NOT??

I need to go see my baby girl, and she is there.



So we are going to see Williamsburg at Christmas time!!!

We had planned on it back in September, when we got the yearly pass.

And then the whole* when is the Article 5/ TA coming??* thing made me think this year, it was just not going to happen.

But since we are leaving for China on Dec. 31, WHY NOT???

Josiah's last final is on Thursday, and so we will actually see him with our own eyes, and maybe even have a conversation with him!!!

How cool is that??

I love history, and Christmas.

Williamsburg seems like just the right fit. :)

Monday, December 14, 2009

Busy Birthday/ Christmas tree weekend

Last Friday we realized we forgot to reschedule Samuel's party.

So we did it this past Saturday,because it was the only time available before we go to China.

And he had his 3 very best buds come over and play...


Air-soft.


Who is going to shoot first?


John actually took them to the woods, and they played for hours. In the 30 degree weather. And they loved it.

And then they came home sweaty and did fireworks. Because what boy's party is complete without fireworks?...


...and pizza & cake??


Then after church on Sunday, we went to get our tree. It was POURING rain. P-O-U-R-I-N-G. And it was about 34 degrees. Just warm enough for it not to be snow, but cold enough for the cold to go right through your bones.

And once again, it was the only day we had left to do this mission.

Lance and Heather.


John & Samuel leading the way. It really was miserable, but somehow, one can't be THAT miserable looking for a tree.


Walking through the mud, looking for the perfect tree.


Found it after about 40 minutes, cut it,


and loaded it.


Walking back.


Hot chocolate to warm up the bones...courtesy of Rosemont Farms. :) We have been going there for the last 17 years, at least.


Preparing the tree to stand just right. We missed Chloe for this part. She always did it with him. He was cranky. I think he missed her.


There it is.( Is it me, or is it still slightly slanted?)


Decorating. Reilly in the middle of everything all the time.


Heather help decorate, too. And here it is all finished. I won't talk about the lights.. It is quite a story to tell.


Our family Christmas 2009. If/when my mom sees this picture, she will lecture me that I need makeup. I love her. :)
And PS, John is much taller than Hoops. But in this picture, the illusion begs to differ. :)

Friday, December 11, 2009

Sigh

She will be here tomorrow.

And I want to go. (Yes, I have her cookbook.)

It is not far, it is not difficult.

But I know John won't want me to go by myself.

And sometimes I wish she was still here, then I could drag her with me, and it would all be fine.

Like the time I dragged her to a Toby Keith concert ( which by the way was FABULOUS) even though she does not like country music. And the times I have dragged her shopping, even when she was tired. Or to the movies, when she wanted to finish her paper. And yes, even when I drag her out of bed Black Friday at 5:30 am.

And she was a pretty good sport about it, too.

Except maybe the Toby Keith concert.

I had to pay up big with food.

BIG.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Christmas is coming, how do you celebrate??

So Kathy over at Blessed Beyong Imagination had this one her blog, and it looked like fun...

So here it is:

Eerything You Always Wanted To Know About How We Celebrate Christmas...
I'm sure you've been wanting to ask me these questions all year long, right???? LOLOLOL


1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Though I don't like chocolate, I love hot chocolate. I don't like eggnog. Period. Not even a little bit.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? We don't do Santa. But ALL the presents are wrapped. Even the stocking ones!


3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the tree & house. Though last year, I decided to buy a fake tree for the porch and it has colored because of Samuel's begging. Next year, though... they will mysteriously turn white, too.


4. Do you hang mistletoe? we hang a mistle-toad. It's this stuffed frog with kissing lips. :p


5. When do you put your decorations up? Thanksgiving weekend. Usually that Sunday as it is the first day of Advent.


6. What is your favorite Christmas dish? Corned beef. Though we have it other times during the year, too.


7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Being hispanic, we would stay up until all hours of the night, and not go to sleep until way after 1 am. I mean, come on, we had Christmas Eve dinner between 11pm & midnight. That quickly changed when both my sister & I married Americans. I remember our first Christmas as marrieds, it was 5pm and John asked the most bizzare question on Christmas Eve. He said " When is dinner, it's 5pm?" To which I said " When is dinner? It is only 5 pm!!!"

Now we eat at 5 pm.


8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My parents did Santa, but seeing as how celebrations lasted well into the morning hours, Santa came sometime in the night while we slept. Then I heard from my friends he came at midnight, sharp. The 2 didn't reconcile. Enough said.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
YES! Who can last that long without even one gift????

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Blue, silver & white. Though more multi colored ornaments have made their way in.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it the first day. Dread it because it stay around for weeks.

12. Can you ice skate? Um, yes. But don't because my arthritis can't take being on top of the ice anymore.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? YES! It was a bicycle! John gave it to me. Through Samaritan's Purse. It was for a missionary in India. And I cried. And now my children give me beautiful things from there also. This is my other favorite part of Christmas. :)

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Jesus. And then Jesus. And then after Jesus, Jesus. And celebrating with family. Love the songs, too. And have I mentioned Jesus?

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? These Jewish cookies my cousin makes. AMAZING. They are my favorites, I don't know the name. But I love them. And she only makes them during Christmas.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Advent. We have our own family Advent wreath. And John reading the Christmas story ( Luke) before opening presents.

17. What tops your tree? A star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving!! Duh.

19. Candy Canes: YES!!! I love candy canes! Love them love them love them. Have you ever seen a big stick? Gone in 20 minutes.

20 Favorite Christmas Show? It's a Wonderful Life. Duh. Though Home Alone is a classic.

21. Saddest Christmas Song? Is there a sad Christmas song?

WAIT!!

There is a song that made me cry this year. I mean really cry. Third Day's Merry Christmas. It is too close to home. Chloe told me to listen to it again. I think she thought I needed to weep. Again.
And here is the story behind it.

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Come O Come Emmanuel.



And now for even MORE fun, go HERE!!! It is hilarious!!!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Dates & Sorrow

Kate called today with our dates.

Our GOTCHA date is January 4th.

January 4 they will place her in our arms.

January 4 we become a forever family.

January 4 will change our lives forever.

January 4 is the date we have been waiting for, for a LONG time.

We will most likely leave December 31, get there January 1 and poke around Beijing for about 2 or 3 days, seeing as how the chances of getting John back on a plane to China are virtually nonexsistent. He says if we ever have money and are able to adopt again, we are going with a country that delivers.

No joke. He really said that.

He is not a traveler.

Then we travel to Nanning.

And the history starts.

Then this afternoon, my husband called me. I was at Borders. This in it of itself is not significant. I was picking up a new pair of reading glasses, as I lost my old ones. I happen to walk by the clearance rack and was looking at kid's books. Cute kids books; the kind of books one reads to their 3 year old; when my phone rang. It was my husband. And he gave me news that instantly broke my heart. And made life real.

And it became one of those moments that you remember forever where you were when you heard the news.

Like when my brother in law died.

And 9/11.

Our old church's pastor's wife died.

She died.

She was 45.

Her youngest baby is 7.

And I cried.

So, if you could please pray for those left behind. Pray for our pastor, her husband. Their 5 children. There is just so much there. I can't even begin.

The day we got our dates, and I knew the date I would have her in my arms, is the same day her children became motherless. Unexpectedly. To us.

And somehow, maybe because of it, they have now become precious to me.

And we grieve.

Open House

We decided to have a Christmas Open House last weekend. I know it was early, but we were HOPING to be in China soon.


Anyway, everyone got ready, including Shelby, much to her irritation, I'm sure.

But she sure did look cute. :)


We included a white elephant exchange for the party. Always fun!!

Leneah, Josiah's sister got Samuel's old hockey helmet. Being the girly girly girl that she is, she picked the big pink bag (in background). I wasn't even thinking of how opposite it was. It was the only bag big enough that I had!! Honest!


Samuel wanted to go first, not knowing how the game worked. Noah wanted to go last, knowing how the game worked.

Noah got Matzo. Samuel's favorite thing in the whole wide world. Which you can tell by looking at his face. rofl!!


Look at what Heather got! I wonder if she will use it??



Claudia got prunes & organic toilet paper. Words escape me.


Dan got a purse, filled with lipgloss & stuff. He hit the jackpot! Much to Leneah's pout.


I noticed a whole lot of girls at the party. There were like 2 boys. Hmmm...


Chloe & her father-in-law. I can't believe my baby has a father-in-law.



Leneah & Gwen. Gwen was adopted 6 years ago. :)


Hoops after everyone left.


We had about 40 people and everyone bought WAY too much food. Needless to say the beagles were in their crate the WHOLE time. Too much food, too easy access. Not a good plan with beagles. Unless you ask the beagles.

Many people couldn't make it, it being Thanksgiving weekend, but we had a great time!!!