Much love--
Monday, February 8, 2010
Taking care of babies!
This is what Addison likes to do most days...she'll make a wonderful mama one day!
Much love--
Much love--
Friday, February 5, 2010
Our trip
Last weekend, after playing in the snow here in the upstate, we headed to the lowcountry, where we used to live. Our main reason in going was to help The Link celebrate their one year anniversary! Yes, it is hard to believe it's been a year since we were a part of helping this church launch. The church started with a core group of 12 members, 4 of which were me, Bob, Weston, and Addison. I am thrilled to report that they are up to averaging right at 100 people! These guys are doing great things in Beaufort county. If you are looking for a great Christian organization to give to, I encourage you to go to their website, www.thelinkbeaufort.com and make a contribution. They have come a long way, and still have lots of goals to meet, including becoming financially indpendent this year. Will you please remember to pray for this church? We believe that God has brought people to The Link at just the right times....while we left and moved, others have come and joined in the efforts there. What an awesome adventure to be a part of! We count it a privilege that God gave us a chance, if even for a short while, to be a part of God's ministry at The Link.
Here is a picture of Bob and I talking about our experience with The Link during the celebration service.
It warmed my heart to look at the crowd and see how God has grown this church!
We stayed with our friends, Chad and Amy, while we were away and alot of the time we were at their house, Addison was playing with their dogs and Weston was playing video games on the Wii.
On Monday, we went to MUSC in Charleston, where Addison had a doctors appointment. We got home Monday night, and then over the next day or two, I had to play catch-up with grocery shopping, laundry, etc. I'm glad that the weekend is here again, but now it is raining cats and dogs AGAIN! I think pretty soon we might need a boat to get around in!
Much love--
Here is a picture of Bob and I talking about our experience with The Link during the celebration service.
It warmed my heart to look at the crowd and see how God has grown this church!
We stayed with our friends, Chad and Amy, while we were away and alot of the time we were at their house, Addison was playing with their dogs and Weston was playing video games on the Wii.
On Monday, we went to MUSC in Charleston, where Addison had a doctors appointment. We got home Monday night, and then over the next day or two, I had to play catch-up with grocery shopping, laundry, etc. I'm glad that the weekend is here again, but now it is raining cats and dogs AGAIN! I think pretty soon we might need a boat to get around in!
Much love--
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Adopted for Life...And in Death
A moving story that I just had to share...
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 at 6:27 am ET
"Arno was inseparable from Mr. Penguin. The little Haitian boy was almost three years old, and the plush penguin with the word "love" inscribed upon it was his most treasured object. The orphan and his penguin were always seen together.
The boy had been given the penguin just after his birth. A Dutch couple was in the process of adopting him almost from the start of his life -- they had been matched to him when he was only two months old. The penguin represented a promise.
The process of adoption took two years -- the length of time considered adequate to determine that no living relatives might claim him. According to official estimates, there were over 50,000 parentless orphans in Haiti before the earthquake came and orphaned many thousands more.
Richard and Rowena Pet were the young Dutch couple who wanted so badly to be Arno's mother and father. They had struggled with infertility for years before deciding to adopt. As they awaited the adoption of Arno, Rowena became pregnant. Last August she gave birth to Jim, who was left in the care of relatives as Richard and Rowena flew to Haiti in January to claim Arno and complete the adoption process.
The story of Arno's adoption is movingly told by reporter David Charter of The Times [London]. As he reported, "Arno was shy at first but within 30 minutes of meeting his adoptive parents he reached for Rowena’s hand and took the Dutch couple on a tour of the orphanage in Port-au-Prince where he had spent most of his short life. He began to call them Mummy and Daddy."
Richard had shared their joy with a friend in an e-mail:
“We got to the orphanage feeling a bit strange. We went around a corner and immediately saw Arno walking towards us. He was OK until he was about half a meter away, but then he panicked. The woman from the orphanage helped out and half an hour later he took Rowena’s hand for the first time. I’m sorry but I can’t help crying at the moment as I type this. Arno has been showing us everything in the orphanage. He showed us an old car they have for the children to play on. He was holding a birthday card we sent for his second birthday.”
According to Charter, adoptive parents often stay at the Hotel Villa Therese in the Pétionville district of Port-au-Prince. That is where Richard and Rowena took Arno. That is where they were when the earthquake came. And that is where they died together.
David Charter tells the story, with comments by Chris Spaansen, the friend to whom Richard had sent the e-mail:
Dutch TV cameras were on hand during the frantic search by an international rescue team with members from the Netherlands, Britain and Canada. . . . Lying there amid the rubble was the unmistakable blue and yellow toy bird, Mr Penguin, marked with the word “Love”, that went everywhere with Arno. “That toy helped them to make their first contact with the little boy. It had a really special place in the family. It was a very emotional moment for all of us,” Spaansen says.
Then this:
What the cameras did not show were the three bodies, found intertwined together, as if Rowena and Richard had tried to put protective arms around Arno as the masonry began to fall. The disaster cruelly destroyed the new family, creating its own orphan back in the Netherlands. Jim, just five months old, will be brought up by Rowena’s sister, who already has her own three-year-old boy.
The bodies of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet were taken to the Netherlands together, just as they had been found together in the rubble of the Hotel Villa Therese. They had been a family for a few hours, but a family all the same. Arno had a tragically short life, but he ended that life in the arms of a mother and a father.
Who can read this account without heartbreak . . . and a heart warmed? Is there a heart so cold that it does not feel the pathos of this report, and sense the sentiment of this family's tragedy? At the same time, this is not a tragedy in the classic sense. The love of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet transcends tragedy. That is why The Times published this report, and why it stays with you so long after you read it.
Of course, for the Christian there is far more to this story. In the story of Arno Pet we find a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians:
But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a virgin, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. [Galatians 4:4-7]
Adoption is perhaps the most powerful depiction of the Gospel found in the Bible. We are all orphans, born under the curse of sin. By the sheer grace and mercy of God, those who come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are adopted as sons. Redeemed sinners are adopted as sons "through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." [Ephesians 1:5-6]
Arno Pet began life as an orphan, but he ended life as a son. He was abandoned at his birth, but he died in the arms of his parents. He did not die as Arno, he died as Arno Pet.
In the rubble of the Hotel Villa Therese the film crew found the bodies of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet. In that same rubble, we find a picture of the Gospel of Christ. He who has eyes to see, let him see."
by AlbertMohler at www.albertmohler.com
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 at 6:27 am ET
"Arno was inseparable from Mr. Penguin. The little Haitian boy was almost three years old, and the plush penguin with the word "love" inscribed upon it was his most treasured object. The orphan and his penguin were always seen together.
The boy had been given the penguin just after his birth. A Dutch couple was in the process of adopting him almost from the start of his life -- they had been matched to him when he was only two months old. The penguin represented a promise.
The process of adoption took two years -- the length of time considered adequate to determine that no living relatives might claim him. According to official estimates, there were over 50,000 parentless orphans in Haiti before the earthquake came and orphaned many thousands more.
Richard and Rowena Pet were the young Dutch couple who wanted so badly to be Arno's mother and father. They had struggled with infertility for years before deciding to adopt. As they awaited the adoption of Arno, Rowena became pregnant. Last August she gave birth to Jim, who was left in the care of relatives as Richard and Rowena flew to Haiti in January to claim Arno and complete the adoption process.
The story of Arno's adoption is movingly told by reporter David Charter of The Times [London]. As he reported, "Arno was shy at first but within 30 minutes of meeting his adoptive parents he reached for Rowena’s hand and took the Dutch couple on a tour of the orphanage in Port-au-Prince where he had spent most of his short life. He began to call them Mummy and Daddy."
Richard had shared their joy with a friend in an e-mail:
“We got to the orphanage feeling a bit strange. We went around a corner and immediately saw Arno walking towards us. He was OK until he was about half a meter away, but then he panicked. The woman from the orphanage helped out and half an hour later he took Rowena’s hand for the first time. I’m sorry but I can’t help crying at the moment as I type this. Arno has been showing us everything in the orphanage. He showed us an old car they have for the children to play on. He was holding a birthday card we sent for his second birthday.”
According to Charter, adoptive parents often stay at the Hotel Villa Therese in the Pétionville district of Port-au-Prince. That is where Richard and Rowena took Arno. That is where they were when the earthquake came. And that is where they died together.
David Charter tells the story, with comments by Chris Spaansen, the friend to whom Richard had sent the e-mail:
Dutch TV cameras were on hand during the frantic search by an international rescue team with members from the Netherlands, Britain and Canada. . . . Lying there amid the rubble was the unmistakable blue and yellow toy bird, Mr Penguin, marked with the word “Love”, that went everywhere with Arno. “That toy helped them to make their first contact with the little boy. It had a really special place in the family. It was a very emotional moment for all of us,” Spaansen says.
Then this:
What the cameras did not show were the three bodies, found intertwined together, as if Rowena and Richard had tried to put protective arms around Arno as the masonry began to fall. The disaster cruelly destroyed the new family, creating its own orphan back in the Netherlands. Jim, just five months old, will be brought up by Rowena’s sister, who already has her own three-year-old boy.
The bodies of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet were taken to the Netherlands together, just as they had been found together in the rubble of the Hotel Villa Therese. They had been a family for a few hours, but a family all the same. Arno had a tragically short life, but he ended that life in the arms of a mother and a father.
Who can read this account without heartbreak . . . and a heart warmed? Is there a heart so cold that it does not feel the pathos of this report, and sense the sentiment of this family's tragedy? At the same time, this is not a tragedy in the classic sense. The love of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet transcends tragedy. That is why The Times published this report, and why it stays with you so long after you read it.
Of course, for the Christian there is far more to this story. In the story of Arno Pet we find a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians:
But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a virgin, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. [Galatians 4:4-7]
Adoption is perhaps the most powerful depiction of the Gospel found in the Bible. We are all orphans, born under the curse of sin. By the sheer grace and mercy of God, those who come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are adopted as sons. Redeemed sinners are adopted as sons "through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." [Ephesians 1:5-6]
Arno Pet began life as an orphan, but he ended life as a son. He was abandoned at his birth, but he died in the arms of his parents. He did not die as Arno, he died as Arno Pet.
In the rubble of the Hotel Villa Therese the film crew found the bodies of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet. In that same rubble, we find a picture of the Gospel of Christ. He who has eyes to see, let him see."
by AlbertMohler at www.albertmohler.com
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Snow day!
Last Friday night and Saturday morning it snowed at our house! We were leaving for a trip on Saturday morning, but we stayed home long enough to let the kids play in the snow before we left! There is actually still some snow and ice left on the ground, it is slowly melting.
We just LOVE snow!!
We just LOVE snow!!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Addison and her shoes...
I have been meaning to post these pics for awhile...Addison just loves changing her shoes all the time. This morning she was quiet and I went into her room to check on her and she had gone into her drawer and put her pajamas back on OVER her clothes! Wish I had gotten a picture of that!
She just loves putting clothes on and off and putting shoes on and off. She really likes her dress up shoes that she got for Christmas. My sister told me yesterday that Bob might need to take on another job to support Addison's shoe addiction! :)
And in this last picture, Addison had taken off the shoes and bow that I had put on her and changed them out with her own selection...not shocking at all that she chose pink shoes and a purple bow!
She just loves putting clothes on and off and putting shoes on and off. She really likes her dress up shoes that she got for Christmas. My sister told me yesterday that Bob might need to take on another job to support Addison's shoe addiction! :)
And in this last picture, Addison had taken off the shoes and bow that I had put on her and changed them out with her own selection...not shocking at all that she chose pink shoes and a purple bow!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Snow pop show offs!
A while back Jennifer McKinney (also known as MckMama) posted on her blog about making snow pops...and she shared the recipe with her blog readers. Some of us, including myself, chose to give it a whirl and make them ourselves! I made ours on New Years Eve and they were simply delicious! I feel kinda famous today, because she put pictures of all of us that made them on her blog and linked back to us. :) You should click here and go check them out!
Happy Tuesday!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Our weekend
We had a fun weekend! Saturday morning our friends Tom and Sue Anne came over for brunch. The Christmas season was so busy that our schedules didn't allow us to get together then, so we had "Christmas in January" with them on Saturday. They always give our children a nutcracker every year and they are starting to have quite the collection! Here are a couple of pictures I took Saturday morning.
Mid day Weston had a basketball game and he scored a basket and did a really good job. We were so proud of him!
Then a friend came over and I got to meet her precious 10 day old foster baby. The baby is so beautiful and just 6 lbs. For a fleeting moment while holding her, I thought about what it would be like to have another. But, the moment was very fleeting...it came and left me quickly. I told my friend that instead of having another, I would just volunteer to keep hers a few hours here and there to get my "baby fix"! :)
Later in the evening, we enjoyed a fondue night with our friends, Michael and Amy. We did 3 courses- cheese, tempura/oil, and chocolate. Everything was so delcious!
And, I just had to share these pictures of Miss Addison playing with her doll care center. She has become quite the "cheeser" when taking pictures!
We had a great, fun-filled weekend and hope you did, too!
Mid day Weston had a basketball game and he scored a basket and did a really good job. We were so proud of him!
Then a friend came over and I got to meet her precious 10 day old foster baby. The baby is so beautiful and just 6 lbs. For a fleeting moment while holding her, I thought about what it would be like to have another. But, the moment was very fleeting...it came and left me quickly. I told my friend that instead of having another, I would just volunteer to keep hers a few hours here and there to get my "baby fix"! :)
Later in the evening, we enjoyed a fondue night with our friends, Michael and Amy. We did 3 courses- cheese, tempura/oil, and chocolate. Everything was so delcious!
And, I just had to share these pictures of Miss Addison playing with her doll care center. She has become quite the "cheeser" when taking pictures!
We had a great, fun-filled weekend and hope you did, too!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Our house: Part 5, The Kitchen & Dining Room
Months ago, I started touring you around various rooms in our new house. The last room I showed you was the living room. It's been a while since the last tour, but we have slowly been doing things around the house to make each room "complete"...I'm going to continue the tour, slowly but surely!
Welcome to our kitchen...
The bar...
The kitchen table nook...
We would like to eventually replace the kitchen floors. Our goal is to carry the same hardwood floors that are in our foyer and dining room into the kitchen!
And finally, here is our dining room...I've posted pictures of it before (at Thanksgiving, and the kids birthday parties, etc.). However, for my birthday I got fabric to reupholster the chairs. The fabric is a beautiful shade of brown. Also for Christmas, Bob gave me a new chandelier for the dining room and I just love it! You can also see, that the kitchen is located just off of the dining room.
Next, I'll be posting pictures of our master bedroom!
Welcome to our kitchen...
The bar...
The kitchen table nook...
We would like to eventually replace the kitchen floors. Our goal is to carry the same hardwood floors that are in our foyer and dining room into the kitchen!
And finally, here is our dining room...I've posted pictures of it before (at Thanksgiving, and the kids birthday parties, etc.). However, for my birthday I got fabric to reupholster the chairs. The fabric is a beautiful shade of brown. Also for Christmas, Bob gave me a new chandelier for the dining room and I just love it! You can also see, that the kitchen is located just off of the dining room.
Next, I'll be posting pictures of our master bedroom!
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