Basketball Wrap-up

If you are wondering why I haven't blogged in a while. . .this is what we were doing all winter!
Jackson played basketball for Funball this year. He was able to continue with his team from last year, so that was beneficial. We had practices every Tuesday night and games usually once a week. It was so fun to watch him play hard. His team, the Shockers, improved throughout the season. They even beat one team for the first time to progress into the final game of the tournament! Unfortunately, they lost, but we were proud of their 2nd place finish.
Raegan and Isaiah were such sports as they watched many, many games this winter. Between Chris coaching high school girls at Goddard, Sydney playing at the Y, and Jackson at Funball, the two youngers watched a lot of games! One thing that made it easier was that our friends, the Sites, were also on the Shockers team. I am indebted to Jeff & Robin for entertaining Isaiah for much of the time! Sydney got to play at the Y this year. Despite her team being thrown together at the last minutes, they did a great job. It was fun to watch them improve as well.I didn't do a good job of getting pictures of Chris coaching this year. After a brief hiatus from coaching, Chris returned to Goddard as the assistant girls coach. It was a tough year since the schools split for the first time, but it was fun to watch the girls learn how to persevere, even if wins were hard to come by. We really enjoyed having the girls over for a Super Bowl party because the rest of us got to know them better.

Challenge in an Adoption Story

My bloggy friend, Tiffany, just wrote a great article reflecting on her own adoption experience. She handles it with grace and challenge as she shares how God has changed her heart. She was an encouragement to me when we first brought Isaiah home, so I love hearing the "rest of the story" a year later. :) http://www.leavingitallonthefield.com/ Go check it out if you get a chance and be encouraged.

Inspiring Video

Wow--this video just gave me a pep talk. Since coming home with Isaiah, I have struggled with figuring out what my new role should be in the world of Orphan Care. I think there is such a balance in waiting for God to move and being intentional in doing my part. I can't always do the "out there, exciting thing", but taking part in a more "low-key" role makes me wonder if I am flirting with becoming comfortable and settling in, losing my passion.

Now, we wait and we pray for further direction. In the meantime, we hold chili lunches for other adoptive families, buy t-shirts, pray for other families, etc. These are all so important, and I am so blessed to be a part. Really, I LOVE being a part in these ways. But, I also feel my passion for orphans threatened as I am immersed more and more into "regular life". So, I continue to seek the balance.

That's why videos like this one challenge me and keep my heart and mind engaged in Orphan Care. Watch and be challenged.

We love music!

Our kids seem to love music, and I am so glad! Here is a sampling of some videos I never got uploaded during the year showcasing their talents! :)

First, Isaiah sings, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star":

Before we brought Isaiah home, the other kids bought him the book, Snuggle Puppy. It was a fun book to read and sing together during the bonding process and became a real hit with Isaiah. I didn't get the video propped up right, so you can't see Isaiah, but enjoy his robust singing!

Some of Isaiah's love of music comes from watching his brother and sisters sing and dance and play instruments. Here is a rare view of our shy son's rendition of Elvis:

One of our favorite CDs is our Africa CD. Here are Raegan, Isaiah and Elias (our good friend also adopted from Ethiopia) dancing and singing to this CD!

Here is a look at Jackson's music concert this past fall:

Finally, here is Sydney at her piano recital this year playing a concerto piece (piano duet) with her teacher. She is improving so much, and we are so proud of her.

I hope your day is full of music! :)

Other Holiday Celebrations

Not only was Christmas full of fun celebrations of Jesus' birthday, it was also a time of celebrating other events. My birthday happens to be the day after Christmas, so we had a fun day celebrating my 37 years! Chris even made a "from scratch" carrot cake that was delicious!
I love hearing kids sing "Happy Birthday"!

I was happy to have a birthday party with my friend, Paige, and her boys.
The next day, we went to the dollar theater and saw a Dolphin Tale. This was Isaiah's first movie in a theater!
December 28 was our official wedding anniversary--15 years! We were honestly happy to just be home with the kids, but we all dressed up for supper. It was a fun time of celebrating with our kiddos.

Christmas Celebrations

Like I said earlier, I love Christmas. It is just a sweet time of year. We are blessed because we are able to celebrate about seven times each year. :) Yes, this is a lot of Christmas celebrations; however, this year, each one was unique, making them each memorable. Here is a recap of the ones I did capture on film. :)

On Christmas Eve, we got dressed up and went to our Christmas Eve service. This is always a fun event because we find a church building big enough for all of us at one time. We came home that night and celebrated with Chris's mom and brothers. We always have snacks/Christmas goodies for supper, and this is always a treat! This is a crazy picture--just because it is fun. But, we really did have a fun evening celebrating.The next morning, we had our traditional family celebration with the kids. This includes waking up to stockings. Then, we do What God Wants for Christmas. If you do not have this, I highly recommend it. This activity is our favorite Christmas tradition. I tear up every single time because it is so meaningful.We stopped for a yummy french toast breakfast before going back to the tree and opening presents.The sweetest part of this was watching the kids as they gave their gifts to each other. I wish I had taken those pictures, but I was too busy enjoying the moment. :) They are just getting to that age where they are experiencing the true joy of giving, and it is fun to watch.

We were able to enjoy our time together most of the day before heading to Chris's aunt and uncle's house for the traditional Christmas meal. We had a great time there playing Bingo--and winning Bingo! :)

On Thursday, we went out to eat with my mom, siblings, and their kids before heading back to Mom's for dessert.Isaiah was amazed by the snow globe.The following day (Friday afternoon), we headed west to the farm where I grew up. The kids were excited because there was snow!Dad pulled the sled behind the 4-wheeler. . .
. . . they played in the snow. . .
. . . and they made a snowman!
After we got all warmed up, we ate supper and then celebrated. My brother brought his guitar so we could all sing together. I LOVE this part of Christmas--singing together as a family/friends. It is so sweet to me, so I was thankful he had brought it. "Away in a manger. . ."
Then, Dad read the Christmas story before handing out goodies to everyone. Here is Dad with all of the grandkids--minus Cambria because she was sick. :(Oh, the kids also got to help Aunt Katy make her amazingly yummy truffles. They loved that!The next day after making snow forts and having snowball fights. . .. . .we headed to my grandparents' house for our big family Christmas with all of my aunts, uncles & cousins. Here are a few favorites: The snack table!The drinking ladle:
The giant table in the basement:The "program" before the Christmas story:Isaiah even got in on the music. :)It was a sweet time of reconnecting with family. It was fun to watch Isaiah get to know his cousins better. He loved Morgan who was so sweet to entertain him most of the day!

Trip (Part Two)--now with video

On Tuesday, we found ourselves in port at Cozumel. We had heard great things about this port, so we were excited to tour the island in our beach buggy excursion. This was our first view of the island:We were a little nervous because the skies looked like they were ready to unload some serious rain. Sure enough, as soon as we reached the island, huge raindrops started falling. Luckily, we were close to a little bar, so we ducked inside. We hung out here for about 45 minutes and let the rain pass. Then, it was round time to head out! Chris drove us around the island in our beach buggy.Our first stop was a local resort where we got to go snorkeling. I wasn't sure how this would go since I don't really like animals touching me. I have to admit that when I first put my head into the water and saw a fish right in front of me, I screamed and frantically waved the fish away. Chris laughed at me and helped me get acclimated. I really did enjoy it after that. :) Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough. Here we are right after. We dried off and headed on to our next stop.
We drove to the other side of the island where we got to get an amazing view of the beach from this lighthouse. The waves were beautiful.
On our drive away from the lighthouse, we stopped at a miniature Mayan ruin. It was only 5 feet tall, so it was a little anti-climactic after seeing the ruins the previous day.Across the road was also a crocodile marsh. We saw a few swimming around. Our excursion continued by driving the buggy to yet another part of the island for an authentic Mexican buffet.
After eating, we snagged a few minutes on the beach before heading back to the ship. That night, the winds picked up to 47 miles per hour, so needless to say, our stomachs were a bit on edge. Luckily, we found the "adults only" section of the ship and made ourselves comfy for some of the time. We ended up skipping supper and heading to bed early to try to avoid any further sea sickness!The next day was our last day on the ship, so we headed to the workout room to run before grabbing breakfast and laying claim to some comfy lounge chairs in the "adults only" section again. (There were 800 kids on the ship, so we were merely trying to find a quiet place to relax!)
This was our view for the rest of the day--fabulous! It was just fun to be at the back of the boat and see this for lots of hours.
This is one of Chris's 7 ice cream cones that day. That evening, we tried to take better advantage of the evening activities. It definitely helped that the wind had died down. We played cards. . .Chris played fun21 with the other guys at our dinner table. . .
. . . & we watched the evening show. It was a fun night.
Overall, we had a great time celebrating our anniversary with some quality time during this vacation, but we were definitely ready to get back to our kiddos!