Our Weekend Away

Brodie and I went away for a night for the FIRST time since Kaylee Grace came home almost 2 years ago! We headed over to the coast and enjoyed some beautiful coastal weather :)

It was so nice to get to have quality time and pour into our relationship! 

The kids all stayed at my parents house (per Kaylee's request) and of course had a great time! Nana spoils them all and apparently cooks the best eggs ever cause our kids are still talking about them ;). Papa has every electronic gadget available which adds to the fun they have there :))

Our big kids are SUPERSTAR helpers with Kaylee. She did well overall....Sissy said they had a hard time getting her to eat and sleep... But once she was asleep she slept all night (this was so gracious of Jesus to help her sleep all night because she still struggles so much at night and I was worried about Sis missing so much sleep). Kaylee was excited that she made it all night at Nana & Papas and was brave...but I could tell it was hard on her having us away for a night because these last couple days she has struggled and been angry with us...but this afternoon she seemed to feel much better and back to herself a bit ;)

She even asked me to take a picture of her smile :))) LOVE that smile!!

At bedtime she mentioned missing her China mommy :(. I could tell she was thinking about her a lot because she also asked me what her name was...we of course have no idea. But it breaks my heart that she has to deal with that pain and sadness! I know prayer is the BEST thing we can do for her as Jesus is the ONLY ONE who can truly understand her pain and sadness...not only that, but He can bring JOY and PURPOSE out of her pain~ and that is exactly what I'm praying for Him to do!!

So as a family we all laid hands on her and prayed...she had a smile on her face the whole time ;). Then we did a "FAMILY!" group hug where we all squeeze each other and yell "FAMILYYYY!!!" 

It's hard because I'm so thankful Jesus gave her to us....she is so a part of us and I can't imagine even 1 second of life without her ~ but my heart breaks for WHY He needed to give her to us. It's a good reminder for me to be even more sensitive and understanding. 

We celebrated Chinese New Year last week by going out to dinner....of course our daughter from China is the only one in our family who goes to a chinese restaurant and orders a Grilled Cheese sandwich! The waiter (who was also chinese) looked at us like "what have you done to this girl??!!"

They of course don't have grilled cheese there, so she ate the turkey sandwich I brought and even a few bites of chicken fried rice :)))

But she does drink lots of lemonade ;)

Awards at School

Big kids had awards at school the last couple of weeks....we are so proud of them for working so hard :)))

Kolson, Kaylee Grace and Kolson's friend Miekhel

Keegan and supportive sister Kaylee :)

Sissy :)

Spring sports are starting at school... Keeg is doing volleyball, Kols will do track and Sis is starting back up with tennis :)

Looking forward to a great spring! We're praying big time that we will get some more rain before it gets too nice! We sure need it!