Fun Times....

My good friend, who happens to be a blogger and a great momma of 5 beautiful girls gave me some wonderful advice. She told me to really take these next few weeks to enjoy my babies that I have at home. My mom told me the other day "Don't let what you don't have ruin what you do..." (This was during a complete emotional breakdown, don't make me remind you about that day when we went to the CIS office..you know, the speaker through the glass, the audit, etc....can you say basketcase?) I digress, the advice from my mom and my buddy was pretty sound advice. So, while Micah is off this week we are trying to spend quality time with two out of our three babies. 

What better way to enjoy quality time together than to have donuts and all four of us sit at the little kids table?

The kids and I decided to do a little Farmer in the Dell concert tonight while the weather was nice. 

Creed was doing a little square dancing and he kept talking with a southern accent. He kept telling us to act and look like we were in the "Nineteens"...not quite sure what that means, but pretty sure he wanted us to act like old timey farmers.
He picked my costume.
Of course, Rinny and I went to get our nails done, today for fun. She is HILARIOUS when we do this, I wish you could all see her. 

Joy to the World

Rinn was SOOOOO excited that Ms.Connie asked her if she could sing in the choir tonight. I was a little worried, she sometimes gets a little stage fright. She was ADORABLE, as was her big brother. You have to understand that when Creed is on stage, he is ALL BUSINESS. No monkeying around. 

So, here you have it..... (check out the tutu, by the way!)Micah and his new girlfriend, lil' bit. 

Here is Rinn in the second service, the second time she had run through the whole performance, apparently the "newness" and excitement had run out. 
Hmm...where is my belly button? 
Creed is grinning on this picture because as he was singing, he had been turning Rinn's head toward the front and encouraging her to act more professional (all the while maintaining his composure and never taking his eyes off the conductor). He finally succeeded at getting her to look forward. 

Grammy and Grandaddy's Christmas

This year, for grammy and grandaddy's present we put on a play. It was called "The Christmas toys". The Bonnie Bright Eyes Doll (Makenna) and the Captain Johnny Jumpkick (Will) kept arguing on which toy was the greatest. Then, when Santa (Creed) arrives he answers there question by explaining that Jesus is the best gift of the season. When Mary (Rinn) and Joseph (Micah) arrive the toys start to understand and ultimately, they bow down to the "Greatest Gift of All."
You have to admit, they are pretty cute. Rinn was the cutest little Mary ever. 
Shout out to my brother in law for stepping in and playing a mean cameo as the red ball.
Creed plops in as Santa to explain the real reason behind why we celebrate Christmas.
Wow...Joseph is pretty cute too. Nice head piece. (He borrowed it from Jude).
Every year....at Thanksgiving and Christmas...the tradition of singing around the piano continues.
Creed participated this year with a little guitar playin'.

Happy Birthday Jesus cake.

Mim's Christmas

Rinny is obsessed with little doggies. She just loved on Elphie.A quick pic with Elphie's mommy.
We love mymy
and bapa
and mim, of course.
Shhh...it's a secret but I am Jones' favorite person in the world. I showed him a picture of Santa and he kept saying "ho ho ho."

The twins (and Roose in the background).
The yearly "all the siblings and mom" pic. J.D. always really loves these.
The second annual "in laws" pic...thanks for that idea, Jill. Hmm, why is it that my husband and Jill are the only ones that look normal in this picture?
Mim reading "twas the night before Christmas" to the grandbabies.
The annual "Happy Birthday Jesus" and angel food cake. 

Rinny and Uncle J.D. enjoying a moment together.
All I really wanted for Christmas was a good family picture. Welp, maybe next year. Oh well.

Merry Christmas!

Santa has already arrived in South Korea, as we saw on the Norad tracks Santa website. So, although Jude already has his gifts (umm...well, he kinda has a ton of gifts under our tree for his Christmas in January too, but that's beside the point), my other two babies are down for the count and Santa is about to land in our yard!!! Yippee. 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. 

Expired Milk and Eggs....SO EXCITING!!

So, what is it, exactly that excites me about these eggs and milk. I bought them at the grocery store last night and about cried in the aisles. Seriously, I was honestly talking to myself out loud. 

You know what? By the time this milk, or eggs expired we could be in Korea, or about ready to travel. 

I don't care who you are, that is exciting. 

Finding Joy in the little things today :)

Love you all. 

Jeremiah 31

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again, they will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; They will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord---They will be like a well-watered garden and they will sorrow no more...I will turn their morning into gladness; I will give Comfort and Joy instead of sorrow."

The light is shining through the clouds, friends. We are getting close. 

This week has been a true roller coaster of emotions. Micah and I went to the Citizenship and Immigration Office on Monday. The good news was our I 600 (you know the paperwork we have been waiting for for SIXTY days) was approved on the previous Friday. Bad news (really, really bad news) was that although it had been approved, it was not going to leave anyone's desk due to a nationwide audit. The office was not going to be able to send off our paperwork to get Jude's visa approved until January 5th. Needless to say, I sobbed to the lady at the window (who I was speaking to through glass, a speaker, and tears). Micah maintained composure but she kept explaining there was nothing she could do, the audit stated that if the paperwork was not mailed by noon on Friday, it could not be mailed. 

Okay, so Monday wasn't a good day (I went home and slept for 4 hours...with some assistance from Benadryl). But, there is good news, friends.

Micah had some contacts with some good friends and some amazing people (you know who you are!) and through the assistance of an amazing woman (I LOVE her, even though we have never met) and a congress-person our paperwork should be at the National Visa Center as I type this. She (our contact...the woman whom I dearly love) said that the CIS office had decided to make an exception due to Jude's burns. They decided to make the exception so that Jude can get home in a more timely manner to get evaluated by our local physician for any sort of treatment/therapy he might need. 

The other good news: I was honestly really nervous (and sad for my buddies) about posting this information because I knew that I have some dear, dear friends who are in the same boat as us but who were stuck in the audit. However, the good news is: they are on their way to the NVC too!!!!! The CIS office decided to go ahead and process Orphan Petitions through the audit. There paperwork should be on its way to D.C. on Tuesday.Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. 

So, what am I learning through this? God is Sovereign, He is Love, and He is good to His children. Also, I am learning things about how He takes really, really painful things and can somehow, in some manner turn them into something that is praise-worthy. When Jude was burned, we had no idea why this could be happening. We had prayed day after day that he would be protected. Although we may never know why Jude had to go through so much (until we reach heaven) we do at least have a little glimpse now. 

What does all this mean? It means that we should travel in about 3 weeks or so, could be sooner (ahh ihh ahh!!!) or could be a bit later. We will let you know as soon as we know anything. 

We appreciate your continued prayers. God listens, always.

My Buddies...

I love my buddies. They are so much fun. So kind, so loving, so gracious, so concerned, so fun. Our small group party was so much fun. We had a progressive dinner and progressed from one house to the next and ate WAY too much yummy food. They guys even let me take a group picture without complaining too much. 

Honestly, I have no idea how people make it through life without having a group like this. They enrich our lives so tremendously. They minister to us like crazy. They make my life way more fun. 

Shout out, friends....I love all of you. (missed those of you who weren't there!)

Side note: Sorry for all the black and white photos....our faces look a little shiny (that stinking photographer didn't get the right exposure) so I decided to go with the b/w version. (Cut me a little slack, it's the adoption hormones)

Christmas Crafts and Fun

This has to be one of the most fun Christmas crafts we have done. We made "faux" snow and molded it into a snowman. 

Rinn looked cute and tore toilet paper into little pieces.
Creed grated a bar of ivory soap.

We mixed the soap and the toilet paper chunks with some warm water to the right "snowy" texture.
Then, we molded it and (if needed) put a strip of toilet paper on the outside to hold together.

It was AWESOME. The kids loved it because they think it really isn't Christmas unless it snows and wah-lah!
We also did concrete hand print ornaments. I totally remember doing these in Sunday School growing up. Fun times.  Don't worry, I got one for little Jude's handprint as soon as he gets home. I am sure he will have so much fun moving his hand around in the goo. 
Creed enjoyed it although his hand barely fit in the mold! Dang, he is growing up.