handsful

I thought I’d NEVER get these shots posted. The site that I use to edit and post photos to the blog CHANGED all of their settings and procedures and it’s not letting me copy/paste photo urls like it used to. Grrr… WHY did they change something that wasn’t BROKEN? I’m frustrated. But, I managed to figure out how to copy/paste the HTML code so here they are.

The big kids in action, last week in their Power Up Clubs. There are 12 pics, with 3 each of P, E, M and A. You’ll have to find them, since it would take too long to add captions under each code. Grrr again.

Enjoy. I’m going to send another nasty nice email to that certain photo site…

Oh, how we love this little guy already! 

My friend Denise (see sidebar…Denise-Seth) is in China right now, adopting her 2nd child from China, Seth.  You may remember Dylan being in his birthday pictures back in March.  She graciously offered to try and meet Dylan, and take pictures of him if they were allowed to visit the orphanage. 

I was so excited to see these…I mean, he’s SMILING!  He was cute in those other pictures, but seriously??  I can barely stand the cuteness now! 

Seeing the pictures makes me so happy, but it also makes the waiting time seem that much longer until we can get there. 

Denise not only took the time to get all these pictures for us.  She also talked to him, spoke to the orphanage workers for us, gave him a hug for us.  It brings tears to my eyes.  I mean, she’s there adopting her own child and she went to such lengths to give us these precious gifts.  I’m so thankful. 

I’ll share more detail in another blog…for now, more cuteness. 

He’s happy.  The nannies he’s with seem to care for him. 

I think our next care package should include a shirt that fits better?  I guess pants are optional.  :)

Most days, we’re told we have our handsful (hence, the name of our site).  Yesterday, we had a houseful!  We braved the unknown and gave an open invite to the whole Jr. High at our church.  We wanted to give the kids a chance for one last bash with their friends before we move.  They began trickling in around 1pm. 

And, by 2:30 or so, we had a crowd.  Randy did a rough count at some point, and came up with about 75. 

We all gathered in the kitchen for some games.  We chose a few of the Minute to Win It games, from the tv show and made them girls vs guys. 

Stack Attack

Defying Gravity

Hanky Panky

Paper dragon

Randy’s made up game…

Junk in the trunk

   

Ping tac toe

Stick the landing

Games can be messy. 

Somehow, after calculating the girls and guys times, we had a tie.  “Okay, everyone go swim!”

Some went involuntarily.  Here, Ethan is being helped into the pool by some very kind 8th grade boys.  Awwww…notice brother Payton at the bottom smiling. 

The girls safely out of the 8th grade boys way. 

Apparently, our pool is still a little chilly.  A few brave souls decided the pond behind our house was much warmer. 

Abbey, far right.  Payton and Ethan swam across, too.  Marley is too much like her momma…either too chicken or too smart to try it. 

No, they aren’t wearing black socks.  Ewwwww….

I mean, really.  Would you want to swim in this gunk?? 

it does have a practical purpose…camo. 

Everyone who dunked in the pond was required to hose off / jump in the pool to “cleanse”.  I’ve not heard of anyone with pond sickness yet. 

How about some nice pictures??

Lainey and Nate

Abbey with homeschool co-op friends, Sarah, Brendan, and John

Ethan and Reese.  Or, I called them the “two guys with brown shirts and shaggy hair”

Abbey posing with Lindsey and Delaney

Lisa, David, their daughter Lauren, and Kristen (her husband Gregg was also there).  They are also Jr. High leaders with Randy and graciously helped us supervise the crowd. 

Marley spent some the day hanging out with her friends in the front room, playing “Sing It”. 

Marley (with her blow-pop stained lips) and Jasmine have been friends for years. 

Funny how no one is behind us in the pool…I think they were all in the pond. 

The grand finale of the party…ready, set, GO!

Girls vs. guys, of course

Great shot, Abbey!

Is there anything more fun than silly string?

Okay, ya’ll break it up!

The party was crazy, loud, tons of fun, and…did I mention loud?  Three kids ended up spending the night with us.  Thankfully, they all woke up early enough for us to get to church on time.  :)  We were all ready for Sunday cat naps today!

I know our kids will remember this party for a long time.  Any amount of noise and exhaustion is totally worth that.

We’ve lived in North Florida for almost 5 1/2 years now.  When we moved here, we anticipated staying around 2 years, and then returning to our home state, North Carolina.  God kept us here longer, and we are extremely thankful for the life he made for us here, especially our friends and amazing church family. 

In March, Randy received an unexpected call from a job recruiter trying to fill a job here in Florida.  Randy politely declined…approaching existing customers representing ANOTHER company wouldn’t really fly.  Making conversation, he said it was a shame he wasn’t looking for someone in the NC area.  The recruiter perked up, telling him that they were actually hoping to fill the same position in the Charlotte area even sooner than the Florida position.  Hmmm…

Randy went through the interview process, which involved flying down to Ft Lauderdale for a face-to-face with the executives.  He was offered the job a few days later…so, after much thought, even more prayer, getting advice from mentors, and talking with our kids, we’ve decided that God is moving us to Charlotte. 

And, when I say “God is”, I mean it.  Recently, Randy’s job has not been going as well as he’d like.  The economy in N. Florida, especially for the sales field, has been very slow, and we had already been in discussion and prayer over what God was doing in our lives right now.  What changes were we going to have to make?  How would we downsize/make ends meet?  And, with our impending adoption – how would we afford it?  We had stepped out in big-time faith, knowing that God called us to Dylan…certainly he’d provide.  We just didn’t know how. 

If Randy could design his own job, this one would be it.  Amazing.  His last paycheck included commissions for past sales he was not expecting.  Amazing.  He received three times the amount he expected back in Paid-Time-Off reimbursements.  We now have money needed to make improvements/repairs to our house before putting it on the market.  Amazing.   So many other littles things that have come together, giving us peace that this is truly our path right now. 

We are sad to leave Florida.  We are sad to say goodbye to the friends we’ve made, and Randy and the older kids are hurting when they think of the relationships in the youth/junior high that will become “long distance”.  But, we have promised our kids that we will make many trips back here – we’ve already planned to bring them back for our church’s Power Up Clubs at the end of the summer.    We’re also excited about this move…we love NC, and are happy that we’ll now be about 2 hours from family, instead of 7.  The kids are looking forward to SNOW.  I am, too.  The smaller areas around Charlotte look wonderful, and are very homeschool-friendly. 

We know that God has the right place for us.  A church that we need (and, maybe, needs us).  Friends to be found.  We’re trusting.

Two years ago today, we saw our daughter’s sweet face.  We were sent 3 precious photos, including the one above.  We had waited so long to see our Lainey, a child that we somehow already loved!  Today, Lainey is a joy and the absolute most perfect child that God and China could have gifted us with. 

Taken today :) 

Happy Referral Day, Lainey!

What we’ve been up to these last precious days of summer vacation :)

Tired but happy, Abbey LOVED her week at the church and working all 14 clubs that she helped lead!  We are extremely proud of her…last year, we couldn’t have paid her to participate in Power Up Clubs.  The thought scared her to death.  This year, she couldn’t imagine NOT doing it, and it shows how much she has matured both mentally and spiritually.  She can’t wait for next year! 

Power Surge (our end of PUC extravaganza at church) was a huge hit with all the kids, especially Lainey.  She rode down a water slide, had her hair sprayed with red streaks (kinda hard to see), and slurped down a whole BLUE snowcone! 

Ethan takes guitar lessons during the school year at our homeschool co-op on Fridays.  For the summer, our friend Steve came over every Monday night for one-on-one lessons.  EJ absolutely eats and breathes the guitar, and he’s been practicing A LOT.  Steve has mad skills, and Ethan soaked it all in.  He learned so much this summer, we’re so glad that Steve had the time to work with him! 

Speaking of guitar, Abbey is taking a beginner class at co-op this year.  Ethan is trying to give her a jumpstart!

someone’s hair FINALLY grew long enough to squeeze into pig tails!

She’s shoutin’ it from the rooftops :)

No, we didn’t get another dog…we’re dog sitting for our friends so they can spend their last days of summer in the Florida Keys.  Cammie is a cutie, but Jack keeps looking at us like “is she…uh…staying?” 

There is more I could post, but it’s been a llllooonngg day, so I’m closing this post.  Yawn… Happy almost end of summer, ya’ll.