Our Christmas Season

We spent last weekend at the cabin and Kaylee got to experience SNOW for the first time!

She loved sledding.....but wouldn't touch or walk on the snow ;)  She'd only sit on the sled!

The big kids had so much fun sledding down the hill over and over that she just couldn't resist ;)

We had Kolson's Christmas program this week

His classroom sang songs from Polar Express ;)

Picnic time....Cheerios, cheese, quesadilla and fruit on Kaylee's plate....we got her to actually eat quite a few cheerios and I'd sneak a piece of cheese in here and there ;)

We've been reminiscing a lot about Brodie and Sissy's Haiti trip because they will be sharing about it at our Christmas Church Service tomorrow

Sis giving knuckles to the kids in the orphanage just above the creche that they served at

High 5's from Brod :)

We are looking forward to spending time with our families over the next couple of weeks

We had Christmas with some of Brodie's extended family tonight....Kaylee's starting to really like all this present stuff ;) She caught on right away and can't wait for more fun over the next few days!

This Christmas

This is a very special Christmas season for us!!!

It is Kaylee's FIRST Christmas!

The FIRST thing we did was set up the Little People Nativity set so that we could tell her more about JESUS! She hears His Name over and over everyday....she hears His Name when we pray, when we thank Him for our food, when we sing praise songs, every week at church when we worship with our church family. 

She hears His Name when we tuck her into bed at night and tell her that Jesus made her special :)  And that Jesus loves her and that He is always with her. 

We tell her that Christmas is Jesus' "Happy Birthday" and pretty soon we will sing Happy Birthday to Him :) 

The big kids want to get her the perfect gift ~ she gets SO excited about certain things (mainly Dora lol) and they just can't wait to see her reaction to the gifts she gets :) 

I realized today.....we haven't even really told her about Santa! I'm sure soon enough she will know all about him...how could she not when sadly so much of Christmas talk is usually about him?  

But for now I love that when she hears about Christmas, she is hearing about HIM...the One who came to earth to die for the sins of all mankind. 

The One Whose very Name calms her when it is spoken....no, she doesn't understand who He is yet...or what He has done for her....or the joy she will have when she gives her life to Him. 

But still His Name spoken brings peace over her and quiets her in even her most difficult moments :) 

There is no other name but the Name of Jesus that can do that! And even if she doesn't know just who He is yet and how great His love is.....she has experienced His Peace over and over in her 9 months with us. 

The VERY BEST part of having her home is teaching her about Jesus. I love that sometimes during worship I look down at her standing in between my legs and her eyes are closed and her hand is up in the air (copying the attitude of praise she sees all around her)...she doesn't really know why her hand is up or her eyes are closed....but one day she will. 

One day she will understand why Christmas is such a big deal worldwide and why we lift our hands in praise and why His Name brings peace. And when she does, she will not be lifting her hands out of "copying" but out of adoration to the Only One worthy of our praise! 

"And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Haiti Pics and Our Weekend

Brodie and Kennady have been home for a week now...it's so great to have them back! We all missed them.....especially Miss Kaylee Grace! She really didn't even sleep much without them here....she'd dose off here and there and then start crying again and ask over and over, "Daddy? Daddy?" all through the night :(   She was just SO sad! 

We were able to FaceTime with them a time or two towards the end of the week and that really helped her a lot :)  Sis got really sick the day after they got back and was home from school all week! Poor girl was not feeling well at all :(  

But is was nice having her home and getting some extra sweet time with her as we loved on her :)

Their first night in Haiti going out to dinner (Brodie, Kennady, our niece Jordan)

"Team Turkey" Haiti 2013

Fabrice....a little cutie that Kennady had so much fun with

This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.....Kennady is sitting in the chair (see her blonde head popping out?) and completely surrounded by all the kids. It perfectly captures how Brodie described her...a kid-loving machine that ran circles around the rest of the team. She loved every minute of being with the kids and has CONTINUALLY asked us when she can go back. She would like to go and live there for a year with the director ;)  LOVE seeing Jesus shine through her heart :) Such a gift!

I guess we got SNOW at the cabin....way more than we expected we would! Our neighbor sent us this shot...we SO wish we could have gone up there this weekend and played in the snow....soon enough! It will be Kaylee's first time in the snow - just seeing the pictures made her light up!

The big kids got ice cream and little sister gave in and tried it...she took about 5-6 "baby" bites but none-the-less she tasted it :)  Big Brothers and Sister love it when Kaylee orders something and doesn't eat it all....they get to finish it off!

Brodie had shoulder surgery on Friday...it made Kaylee's shoulder hurt too ;)

He's looking pretty good for 3 days after! Already started in home PT :)

Some of the exercises hurt but he's determined to rehab well! 

 BTW, like his shirt? Click HERE to support our friends and help them bring their daughter Abby Mei home!!! Look in the side bar to order ;)

Christmas is Coming!!!

We are SO excited to start celebrating Kaylee's 1st Christmas!!! She is so interested in all the lights and trees...we got started with our Christmas Lights today :)

Kaylee loved every minute of it :)

 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here at our house...my sister, Andrew, Claire and the Twins were able to come....so fun to have them all!!!

Getting ready for our guests :)  I am THANKFUL to have had 2 awesome helpers to clean and set up...
Keeg and Kols were awesome helpers all day long!

What a great SMILE for 1 day after surgery!

We were missing two of our favorite people....

they were having an AMAZING time in Haiti loving on some really sweet kiddos :)

Fun Peterson and Samy

And Mirlande and her friends

Rachel, Thomas and Anna spent the night Thanksgiving evening and we went out to breakfast the next morning...sweet time with cousins! Kennady was sad to miss out!

And look who is getting a little braver with food....she will now eat Cheerios all on her own. She eats bites of cheese when I put it in her mouth ;) and is pretty consistent with eating soup!

We are THANKFUL to have Brodie and Kennady home safely! They had an amazing trip that you can read all about HERE.

"For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; 

His faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:5

Kaylee's 2nd Eye Surgery

She was a trooper as usual! This time she went back without even crying! 

The surgery went well but the doctor found a mass in her right eye that she needed to remove- so it was more invasive of a surgery than planned. 

The doctor feels the mass is probably benign but will have it tested to be sure. 

Prayers for our girl as she recovers are greatly appreciated! 

She really hasn't opened her eyes yet but the few seconds here and there that she has I was able to see that they are very crossed- so crossed that she can't even see. I'm hoping and praying that as the muscles loosen her eyes will straighten out and we will not have to do this surgery again. 

So thankful for the Lord's provision and that He opened the surgeons eyes to see that mass! 

Keep resting sweet girl!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!!

Brod and Sis off to Haiti!

Yep! They're off! In fact we just saw them fly over our house ;). 

Praying for a sweet time for them as they love on the fatherless...those who are near to The Father's heart. And that as this team is going to be Jesus to those in need, that He will speak to them in sweet & special ways!!

 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by he world." James 1:27

Sissy's Birthday Party

We had a FUN group of girls!!! So thankful for SWEET friends for Sissy :)

Team #1 - "Green Apples" . We went on a scavenger hunt...thankful for our dad friends that drove the girls all around town following their clues!!! This team WON!!! It was close....they only beat the other team by about 1 1/2 minutes! It was fun to have all the brothers on our teams, too!!!

Team #2  "Blueberries"  .  They sure had a lot of FUN!!!!!

We had a great time celebrating our Sissy Girl!!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!!!!

And something even more FUN.....she and Brodie are headed to Haiti in 5 days!!!! They will be serving with our church at an orphanage (Creche) and this girl is in heaven that she gets to love on kids for a week!!! Her older cousin Jordan will be going as well so that will make it even more special to get to go do the Lord's work with not only her daddy but her awesome cousin as well!!!

She will be posting on her blog as much as possible!

Follow HERE

Orphan Awareness Month

November is National Orphan Awareness Month! Our church celebrated Orphan Sunday last month (a few weeks early) and we have seen great fruit coming from celebrating this special day!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate than to hear stories that show us a glimpse of our Father's Heart toward orphans....

Here is one of the most touching stories I've heard about just how far 

our Father's love will go ~ 

PLEASE READ HERE 


"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 
1 John 3:1

I see Jesus in that sweet girl's smile :))) He is SOOO GOOD!!!

Please pray for this family called by God...tomorrow is their forever family day with this sweet girl and I know how greatly appreciated prayers are in this time of transition ;) Follow along on their journey HERE

We cannot even begin to fathom the love of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! But we can see a glimpse of His Heart when we watch how He takes care of orphans....and it's the most beautiful thing we will ever see this side of Heaven!!!

One Year Ago Today We saw This Sweet Face....

And then we saw these...

SOOOO...thankful for the Lifeline staff and UAB doctors that went and loved on our girl before we could :)
It means the world to know that Jesus sent someone to hold her and pray over her!!!

And now we have had you for almost 8 months!!!

It's AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING to watch JESUS perform "miracle after miracle" (as Sissy said in her testimony) in this sweet girls' life!!! We are so blessed to have a front row seat to ALL that God is doing and all that He will do ;)  We love you, Kaylee Grace!!!

(Look at the light in her eyes in this picture above compared to the first pic in this post...ONLY JESUS can heal in that way! What need do you have that ONLY JESUS can meet? Trust Him for it...He is Faithful!!!)

Happy Birthday Sissy!!!

We have had 2 very special days around here....yesterday Sis got baptized at church! She felt God nudging her to make this public declaration of her faith in
Jesus about a month ago and yesterday was the big day!

Look who had a front and center seat ;)  Kaylee Grace didn't want to miss any of it!

Baptism is our public declaration of our faith in Jesus.
It's a picture of how we as Christians die to our old selves....

And are made new and given eternal LIFE in Him!!!

Miss Ashely read her testimony :)

I accepted Jesus to be my Lord and Savior on April 13, 2006 with my mom and my brother. I never really had a real relationship with him until recently. I always went to church because it was just what my family did every Sunday morning. I would go and pay attention and answer every question asked to me. In May 2011 my dad came home from work and showed us a picture of his client who had just adopted from Africa and asked us if we wanted to adopt. My brothers were all in and my mom and I said NO.  A few weeks later my mom felt the Lord put it on her heart but I was still a no. About 2 months later I had felt the Lord put it on my heart. We started the adoption process for a special needs little girl in China. My faith grew a lot in this process. When we brought her home on March 20th 2013 she just started making leaps and bounds, miracle after miracle. I started realizing that I needed Jesus more than I thought, He was more than just a Sunday morning hour deal... He was my life. I realized the depth of my sin and how He could save me and forgive me. My favorite verses are Proverbs 31:8, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” and James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” because they both remind me of my little sister and how one day when I am old enough I want to adopt.

 And TODAY is Sissy's 13th Birthday!!! How could it be that our sweet girl is already 13??!!

We celebrated with dinner out as a family :)

And with Grandpa and Nana and Papa :)

Happy Birthday to our TEENAGER!!! You are and always have been such a JOY to have as our daughter. We are so proud of the young woman that Jesus is growing you in to. It has been a delight to watch your faith deepen and become your own over this last year and a half. We know that the plans that He has for you are so far beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine! Your heart for the fatherless has encouraged and challenged us to seek Jesus more and be open to all that He has...His Ways are so far beyond our ways ~ and you are blessed with eyes to see that. Sis, the Bible tells us that when we give up our lives, we find true life. We watch you do that more and more everyday with your little sister (and all the other orphans that you advocate for!). Thank you for following Jesus towards the least of these ;)  "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength which He exerted when He rose Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the Heavenly realms." Ephesians 1:18,19