18 months old today

Today marks a milestone in "David's" life...he is 18 months old. How I wish he wasn't some 5000 miles away. My hope is that he will be celebrating his 2nd birthday with us in NJ. Please pray for us for a financial miracle...we need one right now! I can't post his photo due to the rules of R*ssian adoption, but just picture the cutest little guy ever with a sweet smile...that's him. Praying that 2009 will be the year that will change this little one's life.

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas despite the disappointment of not having Joe there. He was scheduled to take leave on the 18th and arrive from Japan sometime the next day. Just a couple days before he was due to arrive, we got the bad news that he would not be able to take leave at that time.

With that in mind, Chris received a wonderful present...a webcam. So, later that evening, we were able to talk to Joe via the internet and see him, too! What a difference it made to be able to see his expressions and for him to see us, including Katie's "gappy" grin!

The highlight for the girls, besides talking to their brother on the internet, had to be their American Girl dolls. Katie asked Santa for one that looked like her, and Claire wanted "Ruthie," Kitt Kittredge's sidekick. They also received pajamas that matched the pajamas of their dolls.

Matt and Marc just asked for clothes and $$$.

We then prepared our typical Christmas dinner--filet on the grill with Bearnaise sauce, baked potatoes, and veggies. Our pastor and his wife joined us for dinner, as well as Chris' dad.

Christmas Eve was spent at a party at Chris' work up in Mount Holly, a candlelight service, driving around and looking at lights, and watching, "It's a Wonderful Life."

Wishing everyone all the blessings of Christmas and a great New Year!

Totally a God thing...

It seems like when we're under the gun to accomplish one thing, everything else that has a deadline is always due at the same time! That was the case with me on November 1st. We had our benefit concert on that day, which was such a blessing from God in that we raised our entire first payment towards the adoption. Our county has an annual art competition and there are monetary prizes as well as the opportunity to sell your work. This year's theme was "Schools: Old and New," which was right up my alley because architecture is my "thing." I like to do renderings with a fine-tip marker and a watercolor wash. I decided to do a school up the street that had recently closed :( . So, can you guess when the piece was due??? If you guessed November 1st, you are correct! I was running around like a crazy woman trying to pull together last minute details for the benefit concert, and then I had this art competition hanging over my head. I thought many times about just not doing it, but then I would remember that even if a prize was out of the question, there was always the chance of selling the piece, which could be two-hundred or so dollars. I called the gallery on Friday and explained my predicament with the concert. They were very kind and said I could bring the piece in on Monday morning, which would give me Sunday afternoon to complete it. After the concert on Saturday, I was so exhausted that I didn't even look at it on Sunday! Monday morning, I was grumbling about it, wondering whether to finish it or just forget about it. I threw it in a cheapy Michael's frame and took it to the gallery and handed it in. Fast forward to Friday night, the opening reception for the show. I am at a ladies' retreat in Lancaster, PA, so Chris is good enough to attend the reception for me and give me the scoop on the prizes and/or any possible buyers. He calls me to tell me he is looking at the Best of Show ribbon...on my piece! Totally a God thing, because I did not put the time into that drawing that I should have, and there were many entries there that looked a lot better than mine! I truly think that God knew how much we needed that prize money ($500!!!) for this adoption, and He made it happen for us.

I have to confess, sometimes I have a real problem with totally trusting Him to meet our needs. This adoption has been a real testing of my faith. We went into this completely relying on God to provide. We don't have $25,000! We know that God has put this little boy on our hearts. Even if we aren't the family to adopt him, we have to help him get here. God doesn't give us a burden without providing the means for us to act on it. I have clearly seen His hand working in all of this, and I really just need to give this up completely to Him. Could I ask you to remember us in your prayers? Please pray that we would trust as God continues to work...please pray for this little boy in Russia who so desperately needs to come here for medical care and the love of a family.

Army Navy Game....Go Navy!

Matthew was lucky enough to win tickets this year from our insurance agency, USAA. What a great package they sent him...a parking pass, 2 tickets with GREAT seats, and 2 passes to an indoor tailgate party. Chris and Matt were definitely psyched up for this day! On the way to the stadium in Philly, they saw the presidential motorcade and Air Force One landing at the airport! It held up traffic for quite a while! The game was great! The Navy had some amazing parachute jumpers that dropped into the stadium attached at the feet and then landed separately right on the 50th yardline. I just don't know how they do that! Chris and Matt got to sit with some USAA people and were able to express how much this prize package was appreciated. The game was great...and it was really cold, but that is half the fun! Can you guess who won? (or should I say can you guess who totally demolished Army?) Thanks, USAA, for a really great game day!!!

One Year Ago Today...

...I lost my mother, Claire. She died peacefully at home with my brother by her side. She held on all week until he arrived from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I know she waited for him because she was gone in less than 24 hours after his arrival.

My mother was an amazingly artistic and complicated person. She was passionate about everything she loved to do. She was an accomplished horticulturist and won many awards at the Philadelphia Flower Show. She designed and maintained beautiful gardens at her home and grew many unusual flowers from around the world. She was eccentric and often difficult to get along with, but she loved her husband and family. She and my dad would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary six months after her death.

Today has been a rough day for me. I had a lot of trouble holding it together, especially in church. I'm glad we ended up having a busy day...church, lunch with friends, cutting down a Christmas tree, and a night out at the home of some friends. I was able to keep my mind off it for most of the day, but now it's late and I am consumed with missing her.

We had many discussions during the last couple of months of her life about heaven and the depth of love God had for her. I think she always felt she had to "clean up" to be acceptable to Him, not realizing He loves us in our brokenness. Her passion brought her great excitement in her life, but it also brought her great pain. Near the end, she wanted to know more about His ways and His love for her that had always been there. She wanted to know more about salvation and His wonderful free gift for all of us. I pray that in her quiet moments near the end, she made a decision for Christ.

I miss her passion, her sense of humor, and her love. My kids miss their "Nana." I wish that she was here to encourage me with this adoption. She adopted my sister and I as babies, and adoption was very close to her heart. I know she would just be so excited about her new little grandson and do everything possible to help us get him here. When we first told her that we were adopting a special needs child from China, she was adamant about getting the best care for her eyes and getting her here ASAP! She was immediately on the phone with the airlines, seeing what could be done. She ended up giving Chris and I all her air miles so we could get to China and back. As far as passion and determination, our Claire is appropriately named for her Nana.

If you're lucky enough to still have your mom, give her some extra hugs and tell her how much you love her. What I wouldn't give to do that right now!

Benefit Concert for Adoption--November 1st

The Higher Grounds Coffee House in Bridgeton put together a benefit concert for us on November 1st. It was a gorgeous day (65-70 degrees and sunny!) and we had a wonderful day just hanging out and listening to some great music from around noon to 7 pm. We had several Christian bands lined up that did an awesome job: Gerizim, Broken, Ashlyn, Zoe and a couple others. Chris and I manned the grill/food area (although I did take a break to do some facepainting), Marc worked the cotton candy and popcorn machines, and Chris' dad was the admission guy. Matt was our gopher: ice, balloons, quarters, whatever we needed! The youth group from Calvary Bible Baptist Church went out on the street and collected over $200 from kind people driving by. When the day was over (around 7:00), we had a post-concert party with all the guys who spent the day doing sound and setup....lots of hamburgers, hotdogs, and other goodies, and just great fellowship. We are so thankful to everyone who helped to make the day a success. We would especially like to thank Mike and Viki Pangburn of the Higher Grounds Coffee House for putting on this event for us. We were able to raise $2000 towards our adoption fees! Chris and I had really been praying about this because we were $1600 short of making our first payment, and we didn't know how we were going to come up with it. God provided and then some!

Happy Halloween!

We had such a busy Halloween that we didn't even get to carve our pumpkins! We were getting ready for our benefit concert the following day, but we managed to squeeze in a little trick or treating. Claire was Dorothy and Katie was a cheerleader this year. I had wanted to sew their costumes, but I had two other major contenders for my time this year: 1) Benefit concert on Novemeber 1st. 2) County-wide art competition (possible prize $$$$ to use for adoption!), work due Nov 1st. Yikes! Well, something had to give, and it was the costumes! We didn't have too much trouble finding what the girls wanted at Target. Despite not carving pumpkins and just doing a quick jaunt around the neighborhood, the girls had fun and collected lots of loot!

Marriage Rally in Trenton, NJ--Let the People Decide!

We went up to Trenton on October 19 for the rally to keep marriage between one woman and one man. It should be up to the people in the state how marriage is defined, not the government! There were a lot of great speakers and we had a really good afternoon.

The magnets are in!

They're here, and the company who manufactured them did a really great job! They are heavy duty! If you would like to order one, please look to the left of this post.

Please tell your friends/family who have a heart for adoption and others you know in the adoption community about the bumper stickers! We would really appreciate it!

Homeschooling Perk

Here's yet another perk of homeschooling: Chris recently started a job which is about an hour away...it's actually the first time he's worked in the state of New Jersey, at least since we've been married. Today he had a jobsite to visit in Mullica Hill, only 3o minutes or so away, so we actually got to meet for lunch. The girls loved seeing their daddy half-way through the day! We do really love the flexibility that homeschooling allows, especially impromptu lunches with Daddy!

Katie is 7!!!

Katie officially turned 7 on September 28th. She blew out the candles on her cake as part of our usual after-church lunch/dinner at the Country Rose. Later on in the day, Grandpa came over and Katie opened her presents. She really liked her new bike, as the one she's had for a couple of years now is just too small. Her brother Matt had fun modeling it for her (see picture)! I can't help but think of a lady in Korea who is probably really missing her baby girl today. I thank her for her selflessness and her precious gift to our family.

Aboard the AJ Meerwald

Today we sailed on the AJ Meerwald with the Salem County Christian Homeschoolers Association. What a great trip! It was a beautiful, sunny day, but the wind was cold once we got out on the river. The kids were able to help hoist the gaff-rigged mainsail while we motored up the river. Then the kids divided into groups as we sailed to learn about oystering in the Delaware Bay, plankton, the history of the Meerwald, watersheds, and water quality. The girls had a great time and really enjoyed sailing on the Cohansey. Two field trip days in a row...the girls are loving homeschooling! Back to the books tomorrow!

Road trip to Cape May and monarch tagging

Wow, as the title suggests, it was a full day! The girls had fun with their friends Justin and Kaden, and of course, Michele and I had a great time, too. The purpose of our field trip was seeing the monarch migration through Cape May. The best time to experience it is late September/early October, preferably right after a cold front. Today was perfect, but while it was a little too windy for the butterflies right on the beach, we did see a few in the park. After a picnic lunch on the beach and some playing in the sand and water, we saw a monarch tagging demonstration by the Cape May Bird Observatory's Monarch Monitoring Project. The girls were able to hold a butterfly and participate in letting it go. We really had a fun day and learned quite a bit, too.

Look at that toothless grin!

Katie officially has a gappy, toothless grin as of Saturday! Thank goodness corn-on-the-cob season is basically over! More posts of Katie to come as she has her 7th birthday coming up a week from today.

A fun Friday night...

We had a great group of people turn out for our dessert social. Donald and Millie McGowan, owners of the Country Rose, graciously donated ALL the desserts and coffee. We can't thank them enough. We really had a fun time, and thanks to the generosity of all those who attended, we are much closer to paying our first deposit to the adoption agency! 

Oops

We had a little schedule conflict and had to push the dessert social to the next week...please see revised invitation below! Thanks!

Well, if you're reading this, you've probably received an invitation to a Dessert Social at the Country Rose to benefit the adoption of a little boy named G**b. So...I'll tell you a little bit about G**b and how he has captured our hearts.

Back in June I received an email about this little boy. He turned 1 on June 27th and he lives in an orphanage in S********l, R****a. I felt compelled to request more information about him, even though it was not our plan at that time to adopt any more children. (The house is already bursting at the seams!) Well, sometimes God's plans are completely different from our own! We prayed a lot about this little guy, and eventually we sent in an application to the agency with which he is listed. At this point, we are praying that God will provide the means for us to bring this little boy here from R*****a.

On his medical report, his special needs were listed as club feet, a tibial anomaly, and a dislocated hip. We were told by a doctor specializing in adoption medicine that he probably has a syndrome of some sort. After a few weeks, we received two new pictures of him that showed his legs. They gave a much clearer picture of the leg deformites: a club foot that pointed outward instead of inward, missing toes, and very importantly, a "dimple" or bump on the front of his shin. With all these clues and Google, a diagnosis was found that took every anomaly into account: fibular hemimelia. Now since our son Marc is an orthopedic anomaly himself, we are seeing an orthopedist at Dupont quite regularly. The last time we were there (last week, actually), I had the opportunity to ask his orthopedist which doctors in the practice treated this disorder. He said both himself and the head of the department handled fibular hemimelia. He also confirmed from the pictures that both of G**b's legs are affected and would require below-knee amputations. The encouraging part is that prosthetics are so advanced today that G**b will be able to do most anything childhood throws his way: running, jumping, swimming, riding a bike, or playing sports.

We have a long way to go as far as raising the funds to complete this adoption, but we are determined to give G**b the life and the medical treatment he deserves. If he stays in R****a, there will be no intervention for his legs, and he will remain crippled. Children (and adults) with disabilities aren't treated the same way in R****a as in this country. I can't begin to tell you how much we already love this child and how important it is to us that we're able to bring him here.

God has given Chris and I an incredible burden for orphans, and it is so close to His heart that we take care of them: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." James 1:27. We also find in scripture that He wants us to speak for the helpless: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8-9.

We hope to see you at the dessert social on September 12; I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. In the meanwhile, we would really covet your prayers for this little boy and his future. Thanks!

Claire is off to camp again...

We drove Claire to Avalon, NJ this afternoon for a week at camp. This is her third year at the Helen Diller Home at the Jersey Shore. This camp is just for visually impaired/blind children, and they do so many great activities with them. Besides going down to the beach, they take the kids to the Wildwood boardwalk for the rides, they go mini-golfing, shopping, etc. It is a very full week and she always has a great time. This morning while getting ready for church, she took a tumble down almost an entire flight of stairs. Miraculously, she was not hurt. Chris witnessed it and said she actually somersaulted at the end before she hit the floor. That kid is tough! She said she was more scared than hurt. I kept her home from church in case any injuries showed up. Besides a sore knee and wrist, she is fine. I thought maybe it would affect her week at camp, but she was good to go by this afternoon. So, it will be a quiet week here, although Katie will be saying, "I'm bored. I miss Claire," every 40 seconds! I will miss her, but I know she will have a great time!

Draft for magnetic bumper sticker for fundraising

Please let me know if you like it, would consider ordering it, or have any suggestions to improve it--Thanks!

Adoption Fundraising

Well, here we go. For those of you who don't know, God has put an orphan from R****a on our hearts. We are praying now for Him to supply all that's needed to bring this little boy home and get him the medical care he needs.

In order to try to raise funds, I am hoping to do some architectural renderings of people's homes. This is the flyer that is being posted in some select locations in the area. There may be some other opportunities having to do with prints of past artwork for a local historical society. I am praying this will come about--it would really help with what seems like an unsurmountable sum of money we need to come up with for this adoption. We are trusting God to provide.

If you know someone who would like a pen and ink rendering of their home, please make them aware of this. I usually work from photographs that I take, so doing an illustration long distance is not a problem. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek God's will in this.

Marc hits 15!

June 3, 2008

Well, I'm about birthday-ed out at this point. Three birthdays in a row, all about 8 days apart. (Matt, then Claire, then Marc) The cakes, the presents, parties, and special dinners...you get the picture. Marc has the last birthday in the series: June 3, 1993 at 10:28 a.m. Since Marc is now in the teenage years, he usually needs a wake-up call to be available to sit on my lap at that "early" hour.

Marc's dinner request actually ended up being a hit with everyone. He wanted something with shrimp....so I found a great recipe from Emeril for shrimp scampi with a baked herbed rice pilaf. The dinner was topped off with his request of ice cream cake.

It amazes me (and ages me) that my baby is now 15. Fifteen or not, look at the baby face on that boy! (AKA sweetcheeks) I probably won't be able to say that next year, as he is growing up too fast!