Travel Group Reunion

Betsie, Julia, Abbie

These little princesses were all born within 10 days of each other and lived in the same orphanage for their first 10.5 months.

A little over 2 years ago, six families from all over the country shared one of the greatest adventures ever...the journey to China to meet ~ and adopt ~ six orphans from the Hunan Province. Our journey together began with a really LONG layover in an airport in Chicago, followed by two weeks of sight seeing, memory making, scary traffic, assertive street vendors, laughter, prayer, lizards, chicken knuckles, and tears.

On Saturday, for the first time since that great adventure, three of those families spent the day together in the Atlanta, GA area. It was so special to see how the babies, now preschoolers, had changed and grown. It was fun hanging out with people who became very dear to us two years ago. And I was so happy that I got to introduce my other two girls to them as well as meet a few of their family members as well. I can't wait for the next reunion (in Florida, right Heather?)!

To All My Five in a Row Friends

(Warning: Those of you who have never been involved in an online community may find this post odd.)

Thank you so much for your encouraging words both on the boards and in private emails or notes when I said I was leaving the boards. It's just time. I have been using FIAR and it's boards since 2002 (I think.) and have come to care deeply about the people I have met there. A few close real life friendships have resulted from my time there and I feel so blessed by that. And some of you have become very good email friends as well. I'm glad to know that I can still communicate with you outside of the forums.

A few things led to me deciding to post my "good bye." The first is obviously that we will be using My Father's World as our core curriculum beginning in a month. And I know Steve and Jane did not establish the FIAR boards for people who use other curricula. Those boards are about so much more than homeschool curriculum so it's hard to leave, but I think it would be wrong to stay. True...I might use Before FIAR with Betsie here and there, but that will not be the main focus of our homeschool so I feel I need to step back. However, I will be watching to see which Fold-and-Learns are released for Before and I hope to use a few of them with my tiny little student.

Even though I might use Before FIAR sometimes, I still chose to leave because those forums are such a draw for me and I want to be online less when we start our new school year in a month. David Hazell of My Father's World suggests that your children receive your undivided attention in the mornings. I know if I did that, we would accomplish a whole lot more. So I want to stay off the computer on school days at least until after lunch. Posting a goodbye thread was a way to make myself stay off those forums in order to accomplish more at home.

Jason and I attended a Family Life Weekend to Remember conference last weekend. And I really just feel the need to give more of my time to my husband and our girls. I'll still be online, but I need to be online less.

Thank you again for your sweet words. You are a blessing to me and I have learned so much from you. I will forever be grateful for your kindnesses to me when we were adopting. You prayed and rejoiced and even helped me decide what to name her! I remember logging in to FIAR from our hotel room in Changsha (see how strong that draw is!) and seeing a post titled "Jen has Betsie!" with lots of happy tears and hopping icons and so many rejoicing over our special gift. You have no idea what that meant to me. And then when I got sick with mono just weeks after coming home, I received get well cards in my mailbox and even some muffins and fruit on my doorstep from one of those real life buddies. You gals are amazing. And those are just a few samples of how you have blessed me.

So be sure to check in here and be sure that I will be checking your blogs too. I don't want to lose YOU. I just need to be off the forums.

Praying you all have a great summer full of sweet memories with your families.
Love,
Jen

More Party Stuff

Okay...my sister Laura has better pictures of the party at her blog so go here to see more!

Pre-Party Pictures and Stuff

Well, the party was very successful. So successful that I didn't take a single picture during the party. I was too busy helping with food and spending time with friends and family who came to celebrate surviving another tax season with us. Here are a few pictures from before the guests arrived.

Rachel in front of the jump castle. You might be able to see her face paint too. We had the jumpers plus cotton candy machine, a face painter, and a sound system. It was great!

Mary Evelyn getting more and more excited while she waits for her friends to show up!
I felt this slide was a tad obnoxious since it was taller than our house, but no neighbors have complained yet so I guess we're okay. The older kids loved it and I even went down once. My sister made me go with her. I have a terrible feeling that someone else took pictures of that but I wouldn't count on seeing it on this blog anyway.

Mary Evelyn after sliding

Rachel getting ready to slide.

The jump castle. Some of the younger kids loved this one. But not the littlest ones like Betsie and my two year old niece. They were a bit overwhelmed.

Rachel in the jump castle

Jason working two grills with hamburgers and hotdogs

Mary showing me her face paint

Good Week/Bad Week

The bad part is that I have had a cold. The good part is that I am getting better. The other bad part is that Betsie has it too. She still feels terrible and is super clingy and snotty...love that combo. She is kind of pitiful with her cough and runny nose and watery eyes. I hope (and pray) that she feels better soon. She is napping now or there is no way I could get this typed.

The other good and fun part of this week is that it's my birthday tomorrow! Yay! (I still like my birthday.) I have already received many blessings. My friend Hollie brought me some goodies last week. She spoils me. Then I won a little door prize at my homeschool support group meeting, a mug of candy and a Starbucks gift card. Jason was happy about the Starbucks card.

Sunday I checked my email and had an e-gift certificate to Amazon from my mother and father-in-law. It was spent before I finished checking email. Can't wait for that package to arrive. One thing I got was a John MacArthur book I have been wanting but I'm too cheap to buy for myself (library doesn't have it). It's called Twleve Extraordinary Women. It is about 12 women in the Bible. I got a few other goodies too.

Last night my parents took us to a Japanese steak house for my birhday. Betsie didn't feel great and she was pretty scared of the fire and all that showy stuff. My parents gave me some great gifts though. I got a Vera Bradley purse. (I've browsed before but never bought one!) I also got the softest, warmest lay-on-the-couch and watch a movie blanket. My girls have been warned that it is not a fort-building blanket. There were a few other treats too, but those were my favorites. The girls got little Valentine gifts from my parents too. (new webkinz for the olders and a beanie baby for Betsie)

This is Rose wishing she had my cool blanket. Sorry Rose.

And tomorrow I will be getting some kitchen shears and knives from Jason, but I am not supposed to know that, so shhhhhh. I know it doesn't sound like the typical Valentine/birthday gift, but it's what I asked for so I will be happy! (Assuming they shipped on time to get here. But I know nothing about it of course.) Also, Jason is very busy at work, but he has been trying to be home a little earlier in the evenings to spend a bit more time at home this week. That is a real gift for sure.


And God has blessed me with a huge peace about the direction of our homeschool. What a gift! The conference I went to last weekend was spectacular and I am very excited about the co-op we will be involved with and the new curriculum we will use.

So the good definitely outweighs the bad. Happy Valentines Day to all of you!

Forgot one huge thing: Betsie has used the potty THREE times this week! And I'm not even potty training her yet!! (Waiting for warmer weather so she can wear little dresses to make it easier) Did you hear us cheering for her and doing the happy potty dance? Go Betsie go! (And one of those times was when MARY EVELYN took her after "doing school" with Betsie, which consisted of Mary Evelyn writing the alphabet on the whiteboard and making Betsie repeat all the letters after her. Hilarious.) Good stuff!

The Blessing Jar

I made mention of our Blessing Jar in my New Year's Eve post and my sweet friend Leslie asked about it in the comments. Since I have been lacking in blog-worthy ideas lately, I appreciate a chance to respond! So Leslie, thanks for asking!

I am sure this idea must have come from the Five in a Row boards because I am a great copycat. Basically, our jar is just a big pitcher. We try to record as many blessings as we can on little pieces of paper (whatever is handy, not pre-cut fancy slips or anything!) throughout the year and drop it in the jar. We read these to each other as a part of our New Year's Eve celebration. It was a joy to remember the free dishwasher and dryer that friends from our homeschool group gave us last January...or the time Jason almost backed over Mary Evelyn in the driveway -but didn't because for some odd reason his trunk was open - and he stopped to get out and close it just as she was running across the driveway...or the time we went rollerskating as a family for Rachel's birthday...or the day Betsie finally reached 20 pounds...etc. You get the idea.

There are little everyday blessings like a child doing school with a sweet attitude that day or another child being very helpful without being asked or hearing from an old friend. Sometimes at family devotion Jason or I will pass out an index card to everyone and we'll all record at least one or two blessings. We do this when we have been a few weeks and kind of forgotten that we have a blessing jar! It's a nice way to keep Thanksgiving going all year long. Afterall, we are told in scripture to give thanks always, not just in November! 2007 was the first year we did this. It was an easy little project that we could all do and we found it to be a blessing in itself.

A Christmas Miracle For You

Last month I asked you to pray for little Ellie who was being adopted from Liberia. I know her mom Denise. The prayer request was urgent because Ellie needs surgery and she needed to come home to have the surgery.

I also asked you to pray that her two new brothers could come home at the same time.

All if this was impossible humanly speaking. But Denise and her husband made doctor's appointments for the three kids in faith. They prepared paperwork to take to Liberia for all three kids in faith. They bought clothing and toys and everything else in faith. They knew God could say no, and that if He did it would be for their good somehow. But they also knew that God is pleased when we come to Him believing He is able to do the impossible.

Last night Denise's husband and son arrived back home with not one, but three, little Liberian beauties! Just in time for Christmas! They have doctor's appointments already scheduled for all three and now Ellie can have her surgery. God has answered countless prayers for this family!

Thank you for praying for them. I hope you are encouraged by their faith. I sure am!

Merry Christmas!

Samuel, Joseph, and Ellie

One Thousand Gifts...Big Blessings Today

Our church is going through the book of Luke, verse by verse. We are in Luke 10 right now. So a few of my thank yous are based on the teaching I heard this morning.

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194. I rejoice that my name is written in Heaven...Lord forgive me for not always being mindful that this is miraculous!

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195. I am thankful that God is sovereign over everything. No trial or pain can come to me that is not under His control...and He loves me. This is so comforting!

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196. I am thankful that His name is going out all over the world and people are coming to Him in places that used to be untouched by the gospel. There are more Christians in China now than there are people in England. I pray for those Christians often...that they will somehow reach Betsie's birth family and some of the people who helped us adopt her.

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197. Tonight we are having dinner with some old friend, Bryan and Michele and their boys. I am thankful for this! We have only seen them once or twice in over four years because we live in different cities now. But there was a time when we saw them a few times a week. They were the kind of friends that you called on Friday night and said, "What are we doing tonight?" We never had to call and say, "Would you like to get together?" It was understood. And we had a regular Christmas tradition too, complete with gifts and a nice meal. They were a reference for us when we adopted. Bryan and Jason held each other accountable for many years. We prayed for each other as we moved from apartments to houses, babies being born, job changes, graduations, marriage issues, financial issues, health issues, and extended family issues! Then we moved. We've been in touch, but we rarely see each other. Well, tonight we are meeting at a favorite restaurant and I can't wait!

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I think that paragraph should count for a few gifts, don't you? (friends, fellowship, accountability, food, tradition, etc. Yep, I will start with 201 on my next list. Hey...it's my blog!)

Sweet Fellowship

Last night I got to meet another Five in a Row friend. Paige is on her way to meet her husband for a few days and our city was on her route! Her husband is about half way through a military deployment so their time will be very short. Pray that it will be a sweet time and filled with good fruit!!!

Here is a picture with Hollie, then me, and then Paige

We met at a McDonalds. After hours in the car, we thought maybe Paige wouldn't mind if her sweet kiddos could have some PLAY TIME. The three of us together had nine happy, sweaty kids by the time we said good night.