Special Reunions

Once we arrived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, we had time to reconnect with family that we haven't seen in 4 years.  Here are the kids with their cousin who used to come out in the summers when she (and my kids) were much younger.  They still hold her as very special due to those old memories.  Personally, I just can't believe she's all grown up now and in college!?!

Here is my man with his big brother.  These two are such a hoot to listen to when they get together.  It's only too bad that neither one of them has a heartfelt opinion about anything.  :)  (HA!)

Here is the bigger shot of our little party.  Aunt Liz came down from Delaware and we all enjoyed some yummy wings (thanks Jo-Ann) and other goodies while we caught up.  Unlike back home, the weather was pretty nice and relatively cool all week.

Earlier that morning we made an impromptu stop at an old Mennonite School my man attended for several years.  It was going to be a quick stop but we ran into someone he knew and before you know it, the crowd kept growing.  Even as an "outsider", it was fun to listen to the stories and connections being remade over those 2 hours.

Another special reunion happened 2 days later when we got to see Mumum & Pupup at their home.  At 91 and 98 years old, we weren't sure last time we visited if we would ever get to see them again.  As it was, we had a delightful visit and were happy to introduce them to Spiderman for the first time.  All of us were glad to connect with them again despite their failing bodies.  Isn't this man with his Grandma sweet?

Here are the kids with Pupup.  They love to tell anyone who will listen about their Great Grandpa who is almost 100 years old.

Road Trip 2010

Since it had been 4 years since returning to my man's childhood stomping grounds, we decided we were overdue.  We started out by stopping for the night in Xenia, OH to visit my old friend and roomie, Sandy.  She has always been a sweet friend and had shared her home, family and life with me during my final college years.  How fun to introduce her to my kids and catch up on what God has done for each of us over the years. 

On our way out of town, we swung past our old college campus, now called Cedarville Universtiy.  It was deserted, going on a Sunday during summer break, but we marvelled at how much it has grown and changed physically in the past 15 years.  We will always treasure the years we spent there, the friends made and the spouses met. :)

For a 20 hour drive out, the kids all did great.  They had proven that to us last year and we again had a fun adventure.  As I took HUNDREDS of photos on this trip, I'll have to sum it all up but I will post things separately as they happened.  Stay tuned....

Special Friends = special memories

We were so blessed to have another great visit with our friends, the Morbys.  They drove out of their way in order to stop for a few days and let their kids reconnect with ours.  Spiderman and his buddy have been friends from Ethiopia BEFORE they each ended up in an orphanage.  They arrived in America within a month of each other and while they are on opposite sides of the country, God has allowed them to stay connected.  This is their third visit with each other in America.  His big sis just happens to be good friends with Hope so they both get a special treat when they visit. 

Another fringe benefit of these visits is that I've become good friends with Matt's Momma.  Cindy seems to be cut from the same cloth as Lori and since Lori & I are such good friends, naturally I click with Cindy as well.  I am so blessed to have these more experienced mommas to encourage me in my own journey.  Not only that, they are fun!

Here are some jewels...

This is the boys last week and below is the photo of them back in 2008.  Lord willing I will have many more similar photos of the boys over the years.

New Discoveries: Back to Basics

I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.  I have begun to embrace the country life more and more over the years and now I'm milling my own whole wheat flour and making my own bread.   Not only is it very yummy but I feel better about feeding it to my kids.  When you consider how much food these guys can eat, I believe it will really pay off in the long run.  Above is my new grain mill and below is my high powered mixer than can make BIG batches of dough at a time.  This was my Mother's Day gift and that first week my family ate 13 loaves of bread (we did have some company).  Since I've stopped buying cereal for breakfast, my family is now eating toast with eggs or oatmeal.  Add that to sandwiches for 6 people and you can see where it's all going!  I'm now going to be a regular at the bulk food Amish store nearby.

The special ingredient that really makes the bread stay soft and fresh longer is called bread enhancer.  You can buy it prepackaged (not cheap) or make your own for pennies a loaf.  It's amazing what it can do for whole wheat bread.  With my new routine, I do bake bread twice a week and the kids LOVE it!  I have to ration it or they would go through even more than we already do but I guess it would be a rather healthy snack compared to some thing we used to eat in the past.  We're really trying to reduce our white flour/white sugar consumption as a whole so this has been a big help.  Thanks for all the encouragement Kristina!

Looks delicious huh?

On a more frugal note, we began making our own laundry soap last fall and can not BELIEVE the incredible savings in cost!  I had realized the cost of laundry soap was going up quickly and I do a lot of laundry so I felt the pinch.  A friend shared this recipe with me and I've been passing it along by word of mouth.  I figure it's time to get it out there on a grander scale through my blog.  It cleans wonderfully (though it's not perfumey so if you like that, you'll want to use fabric softener), it's not hard to make and it costs just pennies a load. I found all 3 ingredients on the laundry isle at our local grocery store.   You just need a 5 gallon bucket to keep it in.  Here goes: 

LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP

4 cups hot tap water

1 fels naptha bar of soap

1 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax

1. Grate bar of soap into the water in saucepan and heat over low/med heat until soap is dissolved.

2. Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full of hot water and add melted soap, borax, and soda. Add more water to bucket until it is 2/3 full. Cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

3. Stir. Fill a used laundry container 1/2 full wtih the soap mixture and the rest of the way with water. Shake before each use, it will gel.

~Top loading machines-use 5/8 cup per load (approx 180 loads)

~Front loading machines-use 1/4 cup per load (approx 600 loads)

Their little girl

It was such a rare treat for my parents to come out and visit this month.  The week flew by and since the weather was cold and rainy, we had plenty of time to just relax together and reconnect.   It's always good to see them but it made an especially sweet Mother's Day gift for my mother & I.  My highlight was a video interview where the kids and I were able to ask them about their own childhood and lifechanging memories and capture it all on film.  I have no doubt we will treasure that in the years to come.

This is a 3-D puzzle of the White House that made for a fun project.  It was harder than we expected but with much perseverence (read obsessing), we got it done by bedtime that night.  Another big hit were the many rounds of Blokus Trigon.  Reminded me of the many hours growing up when we used to play Rook with my Grandparents.

Hey Mom & Dad, please come back again before too long!!!

Orphan Summit VI

What a wonderful opportunity!  God allowed me to get away for 3 days and attend an orphan ministry conference with over 1,000 other people with a heart for orphans.  It was sponsored by The Christian Alliance for Orphans and between the speakers and the breakout sessions, it was beyond my expectations.  You can read more details about it at their blog  http://www.christianallianceblog.org/  To top it off, God met me there in a special and emotional way in those hours and He encouraged me that the vision He has given me is not over yet.

My quick summary is that the need of the 147 million fatherless is staggering and yet - EACH one of us can do something to help JUST ONE!  Feed one, pray for one by name, give to meet their needs, foster them and even possibly adopt one.  There are so many ways God has mobilized the body of Christ to reach out to them in love, it was beautiful to hear some of them.  

Especially powerful for me were listening to Tom Davis speak about the unbelieveably massive situation regarding sex trafficking, Doug Sauder speak about the difference ONE can make for kids in need, and Stephanie Fast talk about how God rescued her from unimaginable desperation to give her a hope and a future.  I encourage you to follow these links to learn more.  My favorite breakout session was about a ministry program called Safe Families that any one of us could consider, being the hands and feet of Jesus to families in need BEFORE they lose their children to foster care.  In fact, I believe God can use this program in our local area and I'm praying about how and what I should do to help.

As an adoptive parent, I was hugely blessed by listening to Dr. Karen Purvis talking about trauma,attachment, grief and loss for my children.  I've ordered her book "The Connected Child" as her warnings and recommendations were so helpful at the conference.  All in all, if you ever get the opportunity to go to one of these Summit's you would be crazy not to go! 

"Pure & undefiled religion in the sight of God is this, to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world".  James 1:27

Turkey Season Fun

We recently finished our annual Spring Turkey Season visits with my man's folks.  They come every year and so far, every year they bring cold, rainy weather with them.  It's a good thing everyone had fun as the turkeys didn't want to come out and play the few times the weather cooperated.  Of course, the kids are just glad to see Grandma & Grandpa and they had a great time together.

Below is a shot of Boo going hunting with her Daddy (I think for the first time).  He always makes an effort to involve the kids in hunting or watching the hunt and she felt ready.  Not to mention, she looks mighty cute in her camo!  They did get to see a turkey but it just wasn't in range for a feast.