I'll give a little month by month review....Well...ALL the months...except for, what ended up being, the most magical, wonderful month of all: December!!! December deserves its OWN post...so more to come on that.....For now...January 2010:
January is always cold in these parts...we celebrated New Year's with friends and family..and then at the end of the month: Our Oldest Kiddo TURNED 8:
February is always full of lots of LOVE around our home....LL was now fully walking and running...and she and George were two partners in crime all the time:
March brings on my sweet first son's 5th bday:
April is right behind him with Georgie's 3rd bday:
Then it was a quick trip to the beach for spring break.....the kids had a blast and we were ready for some warm weather after a long cold winter:
Then, in May we celebrated our "readoption day" of Lucy lane:
Also, African Fellowships were in full swing..and well....a memorable moment was this kind lady seeing LL at the park and crying and crying over her:
May also brought on the Flood of the Century in Nashville:
It was also Mother's Day:
In June we celebrated LL's One Year Home Anniversary:
And, we headed to Atlanta to watch Baby Isaac come home:
July is always a fun month as we celebrate the 4th:
We also had the AGCI Picnic in our area in July...it was HOT..but oh, so fun:
August came way too fast..and I now had 3 kiddos in school:
August and September were mine and Daddy's bday:
October was when my JuJu turned 7:
So, we headed to the beach again for fall break...yes, we love it there:
A little pumpkin patch fun in October:
In November, we all headed to church in our Orphan tshirts to bring awareness for Orphan Sunday:
And, new family pics were also taken in November.... and LL turned 2....
***Well...and then DECEMBER showed up....the month I was leaving and heading back to Ethiopia...to take advantage of the RARE chance that i could connect with and meet LL's birth family....and PRAYING that IF it was God's will...GREAT things would come out of this trip...and oh...they did!!!! :) Part Two of my year in review tomorrow: December!!! :) Stay tuned...I'll be sharing every detail...and letting you in on HOW 2011 should be a GREAT, LIFE CHANGING YEAR FOR US!!!! Until tomorrow...happy new year..and happy Friday to you all (i do think it is actually saturday now..but ya know...i'm up late :) kj
Also, African Fellowships were in full swing..and well....a memorable moment was this kind lady seeing LL at the park and crying and crying over her:
May also brought on the Flood of the Century in Nashville:
It was also Mother's Day:
In June we celebrated LL's One Year Home Anniversary:
And, we headed to Atlanta to watch Baby Isaac come home:
July is always a fun month as we celebrate the 4th:
We also had the AGCI Picnic in our area in July...it was HOT..but oh, so fun:
August came way too fast..and I now had 3 kiddos in school:
August and September were mine and Daddy's bday:
October was when my JuJu turned 7:
So, we headed to the beach again for fall break...yes, we love it there:
A little pumpkin patch fun in October:
In November, we all headed to church in our Orphan tshirts to bring awareness for Orphan Sunday:
And, new family pics were also taken in November.... and LL turned 2....
***Well...and then DECEMBER showed up....the month I was leaving and heading back to Ethiopia...to take advantage of the RARE chance that i could connect with and meet LL's birth family....and PRAYING that IF it was God's will...GREAT things would come out of this trip...and oh...they did!!!! :) Part Two of my year in review tomorrow: December!!! :) Stay tuned...I'll be sharing every detail...and letting you in on HOW 2011 should be a GREAT, LIFE CHANGING YEAR FOR US!!!! Until tomorrow...happy new year..and happy Friday to you all (i do think it is actually saturday now..but ya know...i'm up late :) kj
But, just when you think you've got this visit all figured out...God throws an extra little blessing your way...in the form of this little guy:
We soon found out WHY she was "invited"...we were introduced to this sweet mother and son and she told us in English..." I need help for my son...I came hoping you'd know someone that could sponsor him!" Nathan's birth mother had invited her LONG TIME friend to our 'visit' in hopes that we'd know someone somewhere that could help them..... 
This little boy's mom went on to tell us that he was born with "Mongolianism" I told her that we call it Downs Syndrome in the United States...She had never heard it called that before. She went on to tell me HOW hard it was to find drs. to see him because she was repeatedly turned away "when they see his face". She said that he isn't valued in her country....and her own husband WON'T accept his own son. She said she has raised him on her own...with no help from her husband.....
She told us how she is given no money to buy him food and her husband won't give her any money for him to have clothes either.... She said he is seven years old and hasn't been accepted by his father since the day he was born. She said she needs to work but she has no one that can watch her son..She tries to send him to school...but the money is too hard to come by to keep him there....She said she is tired every day and her body is exhausted because he doesn't sleep at night and he wants to be carried during the day....
And, of course, at this point...she had my full attention....I could hear the desperation in this mother's voice... She had been doing this COMPLETELY on her own for 7 years...and she was finally seeing her FIRST glimmer of HOPE for HIS future...IN US!! She said, " I need an American sponsor...I need help with his food, his clothes, his schooling and his medical care" 
