A day of celebration

Today was another wonderful day of celebration!  Jaybird followed the Lord in believer's baptism and my man was honored to be the one baptising him.  We've been attending a new church for the past 3 months and Jaybird was given the option of having the pastor or his Daddy baptise him  - precious choice!  He has been so excited all week anticipating this big event. 

I wish I could put the video on here (sorry.... dial-up) but Jaybird told the church that he asked Jesus into his heart at 7 years old,  after talking with his Dad at church.  He confessed that Jesus is the living Son of God and that he has accepted Him as Lord and Master of his life.  When he came up out of the water, Dad had a big ol' hug waiting for him.

"...for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."  Gal 3:27

It is so precious to me as a mom to watch my children grow in their faith.  Kids are kids and sometimes you wonder if anything is getting through to them.  Then they give you glimpses now and then, actions or offhanded remarks, that God is working in their hearts.  I've seen much of that with this boy.  What a privilege to have a front row seat in watching him become the man God created him to be.

"Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:3-4

My baby girl is 6!

Another year older, my little one HAD to have a tea party to celebrate.  What a change of pace as the girls giggled and snacked their way through the party.  As fun as it was, the best part was watching my girl with some peers closer to her own age.  She's always followed around big sis and her friends so having a few kids closer to her own age is new territory for her.

After filling up on sugar ("one lump or two?"), they played a couple of fun games inside before heading outdoors for a treasure hunt.  It was so nice to have a warm day in November.  The girls brought along their "best friends" (mostly dolls and stuffed dogs) and squealed plenty as they ran around the yard.

Here is the very happy birthday girl with one of her favorites - GUM!  This girls got so much gum this year and it just so happens to be one of her favorite things, along with lip gloss.  What a girlie girl, I love you Boo!

Family Photos

Well, since it had been 5 years since our last family portrait, we figured it is about time we update it with our bigger family (I know, I know -  it's taken us quite awhile).  A friend of ours has started a photography business call Infinite joy Photography and it was just the excuse we needed to get our act together.

These are some of the best shots, though I must admit the best family photo isn't here as I wanted my Christmas cards to be a surprise. :)  You'll just have to wait for that one.

Can you tell by any of these photos that it was crazy windy and freezing that day?  Hopefully it's not too obvious but we were glad we didn't blow away!

Soccer Stars

I've been pretty busy this month and have neglected the blog.  These photos give you an idea of what some of that crazy schedule is all about.  This game Jaybird scored his first goal (possibly ever).  The sidelines erupted in noisy cheers and he casually walked away.  He told us later (and the coach as well) that he was embarrassed by all the attention.

This year we have 2 teams to schedule in (I know, it could be 4 so we are pretty blessed there).  The older 3 all play on the same team and this year, Boo decided to give it a try.

These photos are decptive as they are from the first game.  It hasn't been warm enough for shorts SINCE!  Last Saturday felt like we were playing games in December rather than October. Only 3 more weeks to go..

This is Goose who decided that she hates being Goalie.  I imagine that is in part because the goal is much bigger to defend this year.  She's much prefer playing defense. 
 

Here is our first timer.  She seems to enjoy playing on a team this year but needs much encouragement from the coach and the sidelines to stay after that ball.  She does make a pretty cute goalie though if I do say so myself. :)

Here is Spiderman (or maybe I should say "soccer man").  He's pretty fast on his feet and seems to enjoy the challenge of scoring a goal.  This game his best shot bounced off the goal posts so he was pretty disappointed.  Happy fall! 

My 9 year old American

Today Spiderman turned 9 and though it works for the blog, he's not really into Spiderman anymore.  He's much more passionate about Lego Star Wars (as you can see from his big grin down below).  In a surprise turn of events, he declared he didn't want a "friends party" this year, just a family one.  In light of how busy life has been, I should not complain that there were no games to plan or crazy cake to decorate (he actually asked for Papa Johns pizza and lemon meringue pie).  It just seemed very strange NOT to have a big "to do".  He had just as much fun and even had his soccer team singing to him after tonight's make up game.

If you take the whole past weekend into account, it really was a big party weekend for him.  Thursday we went to St. Louis with the Schneiders and had a pizza & pool party at a nice hotel.  That was followed by an early morning appointment at Immigration as both he and Hope became American Citizens!  It was precious to see them take swear their oath as citizens.  After all the paperwork that had gone before this, there were even extra reasons to celebrate.

This woman went out of her way to make it a smooth and easy appointment for all of us.  We were out of the office about 20 minutes later with our Certificates of Citizenship in hand.  Since it was way too early for the Ethiopian lunch we promised the kids, we had time to stop at the Mississippi River and the Gateway Arch to explore.

Here are the kids standing at the corner of the St. Louis Arch.  I always forget how tall this thing is (630 ft).  We had an hour to spend so we explored the underground museum here for a bit.  As you can see below, the weather was iffy and they were calling for thunderstorms.  We'd been praying for good weather all week so the zoo could still happen.  By the time we made it there at 1:00pm, the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky.  Thank you Jesus!

Well first we stopped for Ethiopian food and though Spiderman & Hope ate with abandon, my other 3 sat back and had Peanut butter sandwiches in the van when we were done.  The lady who ran the restaurant was expecially sweet and fawned all over the newest citizens.  When we made it to the zoo, Spiderman was thrilled!  He'd been planning this trip for almost 2 years and he got to see his favorite, the lions.  Below are the kids petting the king cobra.  Hope has this thing about snakes and would have none of it, fake or not!

Honoring Almaz

This last weekend we were so blessed to have a short visit from Almaz, the woman who runs Hannah's Hope Ethiopia. It seemed as if it might not happen even though we had been planning it for quite some time. God gifted us all when He made it possible and though she was only here for less than 48 hours, we made the most of our time together.

Here Almaz is pictured with 13 of the 15 kids that were here for our reunion. For most of these kids, it had been 1 or 2 years since they had last seen her and they all remember the love she showered on them in Ethiopia. I know it was very emotional for her to see the kids that she released so long ago and better yet, to see them all thriving in their new families and country. Over and over again she stated, "Only God could do this."

Here are the mommas of the special bunch of kids. We were surprised and yet blessed that the Morby's travelled all the way from New Hampshire and the Riggs drove all the way up from Oklahoma, for such a short and spontaneous trip. The rest of us Missouri Mommas had it easy in comparison. Of course, we all took turns filling in Almaz on our children and picking her brains about what God continues to do in her life and at Hannah's Hope. We will not forget this weekend!

A special treat for our family was having the Riggs stay at our home. Though we'd met Michelle & Hannah at last year's reunion, we got to meet Abby & Landis this time. It was our own mini-Guatemala reunion over here. Poor Abby http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/ didn't feel great through the weekend and yet she was such a trooper and just the sweetest thing you could imagine. It's both inspiring and heartbreaking to know the difficult road she has been travelling with her Leukemia. Please continue to pray for her and her family.

We had 3 big meals together as a group and filled in the gaps between with lots of laughing, playing and talking. My man marvelled at how we ladies could all talk for two days straight and yet still not run out of things to say. Almaz said that last evening that she wished it would continue on for 3 more days. Men will never understand us...

Not only did God take a humble woman from Ethiopia and call her to make a big difference in the lives of so many children and families, He endeared her to my heart in such a special way. Not only is Almaz my sister in Christ, in so many ways she is like a little sister to me. I have said many prayers on her behalf and I am compelled to continue to lift her up in prayer as I see even deeper into her calling, her heart and her needs. Her road is hard, her heart is big and it is surrendered to His will. ""Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised". Proverbs 31:29-30

Bryce Canyon National Park

We ended our trip with a short stay at Bryce, one of my favorite places. Even though I took a TON of photos, they just still can't do it justice. These "spires" behind us are called the hoodoos and they seem to go as far as we can see. The kids were entranced at the first sight of the canyon and when we took a 2 hour hike down to the bottom and back, they had such fun exploring.

Once again, Goose was so dramatic that she said, "I never want to leave this place". They saw chipmunks, birds and lizards but unfortunately no bears or mountain lions. :)

There was plenty of time for trailblazing along our hike and the kids slept very well in our tent that night (Did I tell you that it doesn't work that way for adults?). We got an early start for home the next day but for our final night before getting home, we opted to stay at a hotel instead. It was wonderful!!

Now it's time to get things ready to start school next week.