What can I say...I have an amazing husband?

This is the view I get to see when I wake up on the morning of my 40th birthday....and Tom arranged it all for me. I have already been here for three days but it feels like a week because its a perfect combination of what relaxes me....the sound of the waves, warm 70 degree days, no agenda, and terrific food. I love the ocean breeze on my face and hearing the sea gulls and seeing the pelicans dive for fish. I love reading a book in the warm sun while sipping a cup of coffee and napping if I find myself dozing in a chapter. It has been an amazing few days and I am so blessed. If you see Tom tell him how much I love him and how blessed I feel.
If you ever get the chance to visit San Diego it rivals my all time favorite place...St John in the USVI. We are staying at the Del Coranado Hotel on Coranado Island. Check it out here...www.hoteldel.com

Got my baby fix!

I spent this past weekend helping my sister care for Jackson...her little 5 week old son. What a sweetheart...I miss him already. I also got to watch some tv and saw amovie...all from her couch while giving my sisters arms a break. Those things are a real treat for me. I cant wait to see all of them when they come out for a visit in November.

When I returned on Tuesday I was sent into full fall schedule. Caila has already had two volleyball games. They won the last one and lost the first. Its great as a mom to see your child's skills develop and allow them to do things that really impact their lives. She has been able to jump in and play with the varsity team and has developed some great friendships through trying volleyball.

Nick and Ben have begun their first weekend of football games. Today Ben had his first game, and had a great 45yard run. He came home telling me all about how everyone on the other team was chasing him. They played the toughest team in the league and got beat, but you wouldnt have know by the look on his face. Nick plays his first game tomorrow. He was named offensive left tackle..so he's feeling the pressure and smiling big as well! Lets hope that the quarterback does well tomorrow!

Maren is plugging along with her cheerleading practice and being my buddy while we drive all around to everyone else's practices..so far she hasnt minded. I think she appreciates the quiet when everyone else is busy. Too bad she's not old enough to drive....I could use her help!



On a more somber note, my sister had to say goodbye to her long time friend and traveling companion Mac. Mac was losing control of his back legs and when I left he was also losing control of the front, even with pain medication you could tell that he was trying to put on up a good face, but it just became to much after a while to try to get him outside anymore...and when you cant get a big guy like Mac out to do his business...it gets hard to do hospice care anymore, especially with a new baby.
We love you and miss you Mac...thanks for taking such good care of Ang from one coast to another!

Jackson Taylor has arrived...watch out girls!

My sister and her husband are the proud new parents of this handsome little guy. Congratulations Angie and Perry! Isnt he just gonna melt hearts? He's already melting mine. I get to go see him over labor day weekend. I cant wait!

MY FAMILY

Its not everyday you see your family covered in mud..and they chose to do this. Its just one activity of many at family camp.
We go to Life Action family camp every summer for the past few years and its always a great time....notice Maren and I arent pictured...? We also weren't muddy! Hey...someone has to take pictures!

The Summer Begins!

I sit here in our new house, on the last day of school for the kids...just thinking about how much of my personality and nature cringes at the thought of change..upheaval..uncertainty, and yet that is exactly where I have been walking with God in the past 10 years or so. The picture is our pug Bella...and yet it reminds me so much of myself...keep looking up!
The more I say yes to God an no to myself the more twists and turns and adventure happens in my life that I would have never imagined. I honestly don't know how I manage the blessed hum of life around here. I know some of you look at my life/schedule and think its crazy...but that buzz is what God uses to keep me dependant on him for every step. When I say step I mean step...because it has been two years now that I have been hobbling around with plantar facitis. First in the left foot and now in the right one. If it were up to me, I would be about 3 sizes smaller right now and lounging at a pool in my bikini...but getting through the day and obeying God means that my reality is there are 6 kids in my house eating pizza and watching movies and I am sitting with my sore feet up with a snoring pug at my side, and it is so good.
I have learned this past year how God meets the desires of your heart even if you don't voice them to anyone...God sees you...not just your life, and circumstances...but the inner part of you that not even your closest friend or spouse sees. Its terrifying because some of those parts of me are ugly and shameful and you dont want them seen by anyone, but God has had to scream his love out to me in only ways that I would see it, and in ways that only He would know...and I see that no matter how much I dont meet my own expectations...or dislike where I am or who I am...that I am precious in his sight and He sees the me inside me.
So where am I going with all of this? Well, we should hear sometime in the next 6 months or so about our daughter in China. When we felt God urging us to adopt again two years ago...well I never would have believed we would be waiting this long. Our family will have a new baby in the house and our youngest are 10 years old...why the gap? Am I ready for the middle of the night wake ups and the energy of a toddler? How am I going to manage the schedules of a high schooler, a junior higher and two elementary students with that of a baby? I have no idea, but I do know that the God who sees me has it all figured out and I am going to keep looking up, saying yes and smiling back because I know who knows ME best.

We're Home!

We did officially move in...and we are all unpacked...and in the process of trying to get organized. Its not easy doing all of those things with a full schedule of basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and track! Speaking of track...Caila is going to state! She qualified in the long jump with a huge leap of 14 feet 91/2 inches. I think her angel lifted her up and boosted her forward...cuz she shocked herself!

School is out for the kids in 23 days...I'm not counting they are! Although a few days without driving them somewhere at 7:30 am sounds really nice right now. It should be an interesting summer...there are a lot of kids in our block...and they all congregate around our new basketball hoop. I will be trying to get organized with a new baby coming...we dont have any official word yet..but the rumor is that we should be getting a picture sometime in August or September...as long as the olympics dont interfere with getting things done. You never know one way or the other. As soon as we get some information I will post it here!

Merry Christmas!

We hope that this blog finds you happy and warm at your computer with a full belly and a great cup of cocoa! We feel extremely blessed and thankful for all of you as our friends and family, and equally thankful for the Internet and being able to keep in touch with you through the web....because life seems to be too hectic to catch up in real time!
To update you on happenings ....since November:

Our house has no front steps! But that is intentional....we needed to reset the limestone and repair the posts underneath the porch so that we don't have collapsing concrete. There is significant work being done on the fireplace (repairing brick and adding a liner) as well as demolition on one of the bathrooms. We have been given the date of March 1 for our expected completion, but we don't have any "rush" to get in by that time by our landlord (the town of Normal who purchased our property on Dec 5). I would like to get in by that date because April 1 is the week after spring break...and I want to relax on vacation...not be mentally gearing for a move! I promise to be more intentional during the Christmas holiday to get some pictures of the work being done on the house....I just forget to grab the camera!

Our adoption:
I haven't said much about this...because it seems like I've said the same thing for two years! But for all of you...here goes. We submitted a dossier (your body, mind, soul, finances and life in a file) to The Peoples Republic of China on Feb 1 2005. It was "logged in" on Feb 26. That is our log in date...which is a huge day...because all of the baby referrals (basically the baby they matched to your dossier) are given out by those dates on the first of every month in a "batch" of dates. Currently they have referred babies up to the date Dec 14 or 15 of 2004. That looks like its really close....but they have been working on this year for the entire year! They currently are only referring one weeks worth of log in dates per month. So....if you project ahead at the current rate ( not accounting for any slow downs or holidays which BOTH are likely to happen including the Olympics in Beijing) that would put us at getting a referral in Sept/October of 2008. Its really depressing when you think about it, but we are trusting God with the timing and try to think about the babies waiting to be loved, and the many parents who are longing for one child of their own, and we have four that keep us hopping! We will update you here as time goes by if things show signs of speeding up or slowing down. I think perhaps God is giving me time to get rid of my carpool butt....
which leads to the latest with us...
Tom and I have been working out (voluntarily tortured) with a personal trainer for about two months....and are trying to eat healthier....tough to do when your dinner usually consists of school concessions at sporting events. No amazing biggest loser breakthroughs....YET! But I better feel good in a swimsuit this summer after all this pain!
Caila's cheerleading squad earned 10th place in the IESA Cheerleading Championship this past weekend...GO CYCLONES!
Nick had been playing 6th grade basketball this year....and is the man protecting the basket...must be because he is the tallest/biggest guy around, and he takes his job seriously!
Ben has also been playing basketball...but with a club. He never tires....I would love to see him on the floor with some retired NBA players...because he could make them dizzy with how fast he could dribble around and underneath them! He doesn't have the height...but he has speed!
Maren has been taking cheer classes at a local gymnastics club (she likes to be prepared) so that she can try out for cheerleading next year as a fifth grader (my baby is gonna be in 5th grade?).
She loves it. OH! She also had one of the lead roles in the Christmas program at school and played investigative reporter Jane Blonde (yes...blonde wig and all!). She was awesome...and I think really has a natural talent for drama(like we didn't already know that!).

Last....for all you dog lovers who love our dogs....here's their news too!

Jayda...the matriarch pug...or Jayda potatah as I call her after "couch potato"....snores on the couch most days...has had trouble this year with mouth ulcers...poor thing, but currently is on an antibiotic and is feeling like a million bucks (we know this because she actually gets off the couch and barks when someone rings the doorbell now).

Snickers....the adorable (hilarious looking now) Yorkie has struggled with allergies this year that make her itch..hence the hilarious part...because she has scratched and bitten off almost all of her hair on her back legs....(only cuz she can reach the front ones!) She is still being treated...but it seems that when the hair finally grows back...she gets bad and in days looks like a bald chicken again...they really need to make pants for dogs!

Bella...the brainless pug. Gotta love her she is all heart...but really not very bright. She has the most energy of the bunch, and is also the one that requires the most parenting...she's alot like a defiant two year old.

Birkie..the backyard guard dog...has found her way into Ben's bed at night...so much of watching the yard. Oh well..we're moving in a few months and the neighbors don't want her booming bark outside at 2am anyway.

Please bookmark the blog or submit your email address to subscribe so we can keep in touch. I would love to hear from all of you, and get your email addresses as well...cuz I know I don't have them! Have a restful blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!