Have a Great Weekend!

 Just a note to say Have a Great Weekend - from The Wright Family!!!!  :)

As you can see Joanna liked the chocolate part of her cookie :) he he he.

JOIN me in praying for Noah- he just had heart surgery and there have been some crazy ups and downs in blood pressure and blood sugars.  Today they had to drain the fluid.  PLEASE pray for this precious boy to heal completely!!!  And for his momma, daddy, and 10 other brothers and sisters too :)

Unexpected Blessing

 Hello, I am cute, and these are my new shoes.  Thanks!

 Yes, feel free to stare at my cute chub because it is soo yummy my mommy wants to eat it daily.  :)

 SOOOOO.......Jason phoned on Monday afternoon and said there is someone at the office that is giving away tickets for the Tampa Ray Rays vs. New York Yankees.  Would we like to go to the game that night?

 OK so you have to know our kiddos go to bed early (youngers at 7pm olders at 8pm)- so I said to the kids you will need to take a nap today, but trust me it is worth it!  They whined, begged, pleaded on their knees, but I wouldn't give in and tell them the surprise.........

 This was what they thought when the found out......

 I think my girl got up and down at least a million times during the game- good thing there was no one behind us!

 Oh yeah, baseball is my favorite....

 Isn't she sooo beautiful? 

 My handsome man!  Look at his face :)

 Sarah gives it two thumbs up!

 Oh yeah, it was worth taking a nap!  This is cool!

 Yeah, couldn't get Joanna to look at the camera...every time there was cheering she looked away.  Oh well, she is cute anyway!

The Tampa Bay Rays won!!!  YEAH!!!!!!!!!!  It was a fun game.  Haven't been to a professional baseball game since college.  :)  Used to go on family vacations - because my brothers always wanted to go.

Oh so sweet when you get a blessing just because- Thank God for little surprises!!!!!

OK I know you can't post to tell me, but if you are still having issues posting on my blog will you shoot me an email, or facebook me- Thanks!  Trying to figure it out :)

Friends are a Gift from God!! Part 2

 So Wednesday was fun playing and swimming at our house with the Peifer Family & Friday was the zoo with the Dupuis Family- go back a post if you missed it :)

 Saturday was fun at the park grilling out with 3 other families that all used AGCI (All God's Children International) as our agency to adopt (at least one child) from Ethiopia.

 So what do you get with these 4 families?

 8 adults......

 22 children........

 7 home grown children....................

 1 child from Guatemala..............

 6 children through foster care in the US.....

 2 children from Eastern Europe.........

 5 children from Ethiopia.............

 1 child through domestic adoption...........

 AND a HUGE AMOUNT OF FUN!!!!!!!!!

 AND FELLOWSHIP!!!!!

 AND LAUGHTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

 AND children that had a blast playing together!!!!!

 AND relaxing together!!!!

 AND talking with each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 AND eating food of course!!!!

 AND well there was a lot of CUTENESS!!!! 

 OH AND some talk about adoption tax credit- OYE!!!!!!

 AND some chill time.......

 AND well let's just say it- CUTE!!!!!!!

AND well time to MAKE FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See the wonderful people we met up with- we have only met up with one of the families before.  The Boyce's  who only live abtt1/2 hr from us.  We met up with them while still in that transition where we had no idea of anything yet :).

Saturday was the first time in meeting the Falvo family and the Alexander Family.  The Falvo family lives about and hourish away North of us, and the Alexander family (who were here on vacation) lives several states north of us.....so this was a GREAT Blessing to be able to meet up. 

The great part about meeting together with bloggy friends, adoptive friends, is that we get it.  We understand the roller coaster rides involved.  We understand the frustrations of waiting, of set backs, of loss in our childrenn's lives, of the JOY that comes with each new step.

An interesting fact as well is that ALL of the families - since our Ethiopian adoptions- have or will be soon adopting again.  Isn't that cool.  To think that all the craziness that goes into an adoption- all the ups and downs, the waiting, the moments that we all experience......and yet- we get back on that roller coaster again and say- IT WAS WORTH IT!!!!  GOD SEND ME AGAIN!!! I think that speaks VOLUMES for adoption- is it hard- Absolutely!!!  Is is worth it- Absolutely!!!!

And what great JOY in seeing each other, and seeing each other's children playing together.  There was no- oh you are from this country and I am from this country, or you are a biological child and I am adopted, there was no staring (well at least not from us- well except gazing at all the beautiful children!), there was no - I would never do adoption again- instead it was all about the beauty that comes from adoption.

FRIENDS- whether close by, or many states away......are soooo wonderful to have!!!!!!  THANK YOU FRIENDS FOR YOUR TIME!!!  WE were soo excited to meet up, play, dream, talk, and share in each other's trials and joys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What a gift from GOD!

Friends are a Gift from God!!

 So this past Friday we went to the zoo with our friends the Dupuis family!  It was great! 

 Melissa the mommy of the crew (not pictured until later) was someone God placed in our family to let me know it would be ok.  For real!  One thing we really really wanted when we moved were friends.  Friends that loved the Lord. 

 Well, when it was time to move a blogger friend told me her sister lived in Florida- Tampa area.  Well.....Tampa is a pretty big area.  But, hoping and praying I said where specifically does she live?

 Wouldn't you know- God gave us a great gift!  Her sister lived in the same area we were moving to!  AND when we asked her what church they attended- well.....that is how we got led to our church! 

 AND she happens to go to the awesome foster/adoptive group here AND she homeschools.....

 AND they have adopted internationally, domestically, AND are doing foster care too! (which is why you can't see some of the cute pics I took, and sometimes the cute little boys faces aren't looking at the camera- but take my word for it - THEY ARE CUTE!)

 AND when we bought our home......they "happen" to live seriously in the same area!  

 AND now we go to the same life group!!!!

 AND- can you tell this is totally a GOD THING?  Because when it all seems like coincidence- it is really a GOD INCIDENCE!!!!!!!!  God knew that when we moved here- we would have our family, but we also wanted others too that would surround us in Christian love.

 Hey, if you are going to move across the country, change your whole work routine, your whole life, and take a chance this big- ASK GOD TO PROVIDE ALL YOUR NEEDS!!!

 WOW!!!!!  Are we blown away!!! 

 Does it mean that the transition has been easy? He he he- just go back in my blog a few months or so to see that is sooo not the case.  Does it mean that the work situation although totally a GOD thing has been an easy transition- NO!  It is hard work changing your families routine. 

 BUT GOD!  GOD has provided in ways that are soo AMAZING!!!!

 AND I am thankful for Christian friends/family that can lift you up and you lift them up too! 

 SO Thankful for the Dupuis family for allowing us to be a part of their life and to share in the crazy adventures that life hands us. 

We had SOO MANY friend BLESSINGS this week!!!  Because Wednesday we had Beth Peifer and her crew over to play, eat, and swim!!!!  Beth is someone I met through the foster/adoptive group and they also homeschool, have adopted from Haiti, and well let's just say we have similar experiences with some kiddos we have ;).   What a BLESSING to talk to someone about your specific experiences with a child and feel like someone out there gets it!

How did I not get any pictures???  WOW- serious brain lapse......well that and the fact that Beth and I were talking a lot :)  You know that is how it goes.  Just how God made ladies right?  :)

It is sooo awesome to have theses families in our lives, and yet yesterday there were more BLESSINGS!  Seriously amazing.....stay tuned to find out........PRAISING GOD for HIS ABUNDANT gifts of friends!!!!!