What ADOPTION DOES....

THIS IS WHAT ADOPTION DOES......It takes a baby girl that is hanging out at an orphanage half way across the world...all by herself...waiting FOR HER TURN to come: And turns her into a PRINCESS in Tennessee:

I pray Lord that I NEVER forget WHERE she came from...And I pray and thank you Lord that you allowed us to be her parents!!! Cause the happiness on these kids faces while playing with their baby sister is simply PRICELESS to me!!!! :)

Yes, LL gets ROCK STAR treatment by her siblings about 24 hrs. a day...Her latest is to be pulled around on pillows in her wagon....Yes, she's a ham and completely spoiled and the kids love EVERY minute of it!!! She's gotten a little tired of this "princess game" (they call it)...and now just jumps out and runs and won't cooperate as much as they want her too!! :) BUT it sure was fun on the FIRST day they thought of it:

And...for all you George Fans out there...No worries...George won't be shown up for a second...He kicked her right out and declared it was HIS TURN!!! Yes, George is our "little prince" and is just as equally spoiled and rotten around here!!! :)

***I believe in my heart that there are 147 Million other Mommies and Daddies out there that feel God tugging at their heart to give a child a home....I know God has plans on blessing MILLIONS of other families in the same way HE BLESSED OURS......IS THERE A LITTLE ROCK STAR OUT THERE WAITING ON YOU???

Happy Sunday to you all!!! kj

The Bonners Made It Home...One Less Orphan!!

Oh, what a wonderful afternoon we had watching the Bonners fly in with their new 3 yr. old son, Gemechu!!! Oh, he is SOOOOOO cute and precious!!! But, first we waited a bit and LL and George ran the airport WILD!!! They were entertainment for everyone around...........

I got to finally meet Baby Elijah...He's been home for only a short few weeks...but oh my..he is precious!!!!

Above, the Dunlaps just returned from their first trip over to see their son at HH....They'll be leaving soon for trip #2 to pick him for GOOD!!! They got to see Gemechu Bonner and play with him BEFORE his new Mom and Dad did....

ABove, the Peters Family...home now for..ummmm...well...a long time now...9 months??? maybe??

Amy from http://www.filledwithpraise.blogspot.com/ and her whole gang

Marc and his boys who are on the wait list with agci for another boy!!

above, The Galbreaths who are waiting for a sibling group of 3 from AGCI...so awesome!!

above, LL's travel buddy Silas....

Above...Becky Rutland has just gotten home with her two children on each end...but the other 3 have been home for many years now...Such BEAUTIFUL children!!!!

Oh, here they come................

The wait is finally over....They've made it home safely.............

We've been friends with the Bonners for the past 11 years...Such sweet wonderful people!!!

Oh, isn't he adorable!!!!!!!!

Momma lovin on one of her girls she's missed over the past week:

And, ONE last pic of my LL and Gemechu...from the same orphanage, from across the world...brought home a year apart from each other...and now they live just a couple of miles down the road from each other....Such a miracle:

Welcome Home Bonners....You can read their journey at http://www.bonnerfamilyjourney.blogspot.com/ We are so happy for you all and couldn't LOVE your boy more!!! What a wonderful blessing to experience...and I just so LOVE airport homecomings!!! Praising God that the wait is finally over....NOW may Little G go forth and change the world....one little friend at a time!!!!

Happy Friday to you all, kj

The Grossest Thing EVER.....

Ok, so if you have a weak stomach like mine...then you won't want to read this...just fair warning!!! Ok...so we woke for breakfast yesterday morning and while sitting at the table, my 8 yr. old is looking out the window and says, "Hey, Mom...what is that?" I look and can't really make it out at first...it looks like a tree limb fell across our rod iron fence....BUT....THEN...IT MOVED!!! And we all SCREAMED!!!! A POOR ONE OF THESE: had attempted to jump over one of these in our back yard:And...well...lets say it DIDN'T MAKE IT ALL THE WAY OVER!!!!! Yes, there was an "impaled" deer ON MY FENCE in my back yard RIGHT OUT OUR BACK WINDOW!!! I yelled for the hubby to come quick....and we all yelled for the kids to GET AWAY FROM THE WINDOW....cause the worst thing was....IT WAS STILL ALIVE!!!! Horror Movie is the only thing that comes to mind!! It was an awful sight!!!!! Daddy quickly grabs older two to get them to school....While I call one of these:

And....a very nice female police officer shows up in my driveway and i point to my back yard and tell her "You can't miss it...It is huge!!" And, I hear her gasp for air at the sight as well!!! And, she tells me to keep the kids at the front of the house while she puts it out of its misery!!! So awful!!! She then calls for help and it takes 4 grown men to get the thing off the fence (I should note for detail purposes that I called the Non-emergency police number and she didn't end up having to shoot it cause it died before she had to ) !! And, thankfully they took the deer with them to dispose of it!!

***NO...I didn't take ANY pictures of the scene!! I felt like I was going to vomit every time I looked out the window...And, it was one of those times where I would cover my eyes every time I walked in front of the window so I wouldn't accidentally look again...And...well...I'd just have to peak to see if it was still there and I'd scream all over again!! The police officer took pics cause I think it was one of the worst things she'd ever seen and I'm sure she sent it to her entire police force after that!!! My sister Kelly gave me a hard time for NOT taking a pic of it...and well...I just told her it was WAY too gross and cruel to take a pic of !! I would have had EVERY animal rights activist camping out on my front lawn protesting the pics IF I'd taken one!! AWFUL!!!

**So, yes, I'm still scarred...I get nauseated every time I think of it...and Yes, I must be weak...cause things like that REALLY gross me out!!!!! And, my 5 yr. old Hal talked about it ALL day long...and came up with that idea that the Deer went to "deer heaven" and she got wings and is an angel deer now!!! :)

Hope your day started off better than mine yesterday!! :) May you Rest In Peace Sweet Deer!!! Happy Thursday to you all, kj

You Know You're A REAL Mom When....

You know you're a REAL mom when your Little Princess gets her face wet and DOESN'T enjoy it A BIT...and so YOU offer HER your skirt to wipe the water, snot and tears and you DON'T THINK A THING ABOUT IT!!! :)

***(someone sent me these pics they captured and I just had to share...too funny :)

Happy Tuesday to you all, kj

Sunday Night African Fellowship...(and HOW do you start a fellowship?)

So, I didn't have my camera with me tonight...so..I pulled out my I Phone instead..hince the quality of the pics!! :) BUT..either way..tonight's fellowship was so much fun and I LOVE getting together with families that LOOK LIKE MINE!! Such a little gift in my life!!

LL always has fun playing with new and old friends...Well...that is UNTIL this sweet little LOVE from Liberia decided to sit on this little green table WITH Lucy Lane and well...Little Miss LL decided she'd JUST GO AHEAD AND PUSH HER OFF!! Thankfully the Little Liberian Love DIDN'T fall and well....LL didn't like sharing the "spotlight" it seems!! Can you say she's ONLY slightly spoiled!! :) LOL

You can see LOTS more pics by visiting www.fellowship686.blogspot.com Tracy from www.ourunveiledfaces.blogspot.com runs our fellowship and does a GREAT job with it!! Thanks Tracy for a great night!!

So...I've gotten LOTS of emails asking "How do you go about STARTING a fellowship?" Well...I didn't start ours...but I'll do my best to give some tips:

So...I believe you just start "small"..UNLESS you just happen to know lots of people adopting from Africa!! BUT we call ours "African Fellowship" because we want all families that have adopted from any country in Africa PLUS any family that has adopted African American to feel welcome!! We have a GREAT mixture of all the above BUT the majority is Ethiopian since that is the fastest and easiest country to adopt from right now in Africa!! And...all agencies are welcomed and encouraged!! So.....We meet as a family group every other month at places like parks, pools, Ethiopian Restaurants, people's back yards, etc. The in-between month is meant to be a "smaller" group adult discussion night where we meet with "fewer" children and ask questions and talk in a circle type of thing!! BUT it is hard to get lots of people to turn out for that cause getting a sitter is always a hard thing...I always go and take LL and even George sometimes....but will leave the olders home with Daddy on those "smaller" adult nights!!

So...GET THE WORD OUT...start a "fellowship" blog so people can find you and see the upcoming events...Tell your homestudy offices in your area to "SEND" people your way...Lots of people have found us that way!! Ask your agency to give you emails for those people in your area....And...slowly you WILL GROW!!! I help Tracy plan the social events sometimes just cause I know she has 7 children..and I only have 5!! :) So..get a friend to help ya and together you can make a GREAT fellowship group in your area!! And..remember...it might just start with 2 families or so...but God will make that group GROW..I can promise that!! :) Oh...and most importantly...ALWAYS have everyone bring a dish to share...food is the key to every fellowship get together!! :) LOL

***FYI....My super cute shirt I wore tonight (pictured ABOVE) can be found at www.livingtolove.com Such a cute one!! And. yes....LL is picking her nose in that pick!! :) Such a stinker!! :) LOL Happy Sunday to you all, kj

Fearless Friday....

Most people in America STOP WITH THIS: (and I mean..who could blame them on days like this:)2 girls...one boy...America says that "3" is the NEW norm.....BUT..then we would have missed out on this: So, NOW we're supposedly NOT normal and LOOK LIKE THIS:

And, I just never knew that ABNORMAL could look and feel so good!!! :) So..on this Fearless Friday...WHO would you LET join your family if YOU DIDN'T have FEAR??

**Happy Friday to you all, kj

In Her Name........

Well...I've gone back and forth about whether or not I should post this...You see...I think good deeds are done to NOT get praise and thanks for...I think when you really give from the heart then you AREN'T looking for a HUGE "pat on the back" and you can quietly "give" and feel good and walk away!! BUT...I then think..."What if I'd never blogged about our adoption? What if I'd adopted quietly and never told the world about Lucy lane?" Well...HOW MANY families would have missed out on this amazing journey of "adoption" if I'd KEPT QUIET?? So, in the end..I decided that having a BIG MOUTH is good at times and I decided to share a project we completed back at the beginning of the summer....I'm sharing in hopes that it brings some attention to an amazing group making a HUGE difference in MY DAUGHTER'S COUNTRY.....So...here goes:

So...My days of summer USED to look like this:

That is UNTIL I read this:
And, so AFTER reading that LIFE CHANGING Book...Our summer now looks like this:

So..this is HOW it happened and WHAT WE DID: My hubby and I read The Hole In Our Gospel together!! ( i encourage ALL couples to read that book together...amazing) Anyways, during and after reading the book...my hubby and I BOTH felt that WE COULDN'T JUST END WITH ADOPTION!! I knew that 2010 WOULDN'T be a year we would ADD to our family..so I read the book and prayed that the Lord would guide US to WHAT he had planned NEXT!! I prayed that the Lord would CONTINUE to BREAK my heart for what breaks HIS!! AND...most importantly..I WANTED to continue to help my daughter's country!!! So...WE BOUGHT A WELL!!! Yes...INSTEAD of giant blow up slides, a summer vacation, a membership to ANY local pool...we GAVE water INSTEAD of USING so much water!!!

Now don't get me wrong....We had LOTS of fun with our 5 dollar pool:

BUT....my heart continues to ACHE for those we left behind...and I knew "a well" in Ethiopia was our next project...so I started researching...AND...let me tell ya...there are AMAZING well digging organizations out there!! I googled, asked friends for their input....and through all the info I gathered...I FOUND http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/ !! And, it was a perfect MATCH!! THEY were looking for someone to purchase a well for their Ziway, Ethiopia school they were building....AND....THEY WOULD LET ME DEDICATE IT!!! I knew without a doubt that I would dedicate any well we purchased in LUCY LANE'S BIRTH MOTHER'S NAME!! Not only does she still reside in Ethiopia...but she gave me the most precious gift in this world...HER DAUGHTER!!! So...we purchased the well...worked on the wording...AND someday (when it is completed) there will be a well in Ziway, Ethiopia with a plaque on it "Honoring and Thanking" the ONE woman in this world that loves my Lucy Lane just as much as I do!!

So....

....we continued to get WET all summer....We didn't even MISS that OLD BLOW UP SLIDE AFTER ALL....AND...NOT ONE child asked WHY we didn't go to the beach....cause instead we were busy playing in the Nashville Flood of 2010:

We played LOTS in sprinklers:

We loved going down to the local creek:

And...our little 5 dollar pool even made its debut at the AGCI picnic...AND..all the kids loved it there too:

And...our neighborhood has a FREE pool anyways..so the kids didn't even notice or care that we weren't members of the local YMCA:

And, I'm kind of sad to report that I went down to PULL out the Little 5 dollar pool this weekend while the Wright Family was here...AND...well...Daddy said he "thought" we were done with it for the summer...and...well...he kind of threw it away!!! :( He's KNOWN around these parts for THROWING EVERYTHING AWAY....SO....the kids made the best of it...and:And, they created their VERY OWN WATER FUN:
So, they didn't even miss our 5 dollar pool either!! The truth is...we buy those HUGE blow up things and vacation and such MORE for OURSELVES rather than the KIDS!! The lesson is that the KIDS really don't CARE...They are just glad to be together and WET!! BUT imagine HOW MANY children WON'T have to become ORPHANS FROM ONE WATER WELL???? The majority of people in the world are traveling 8 or more hours a day to just bring one bucket of contaminated water back to their families to drink. When the parent is walking ALL DAY to retrieve water that will most likely KILL or SICKEN their family anyways..there is NO TIME or energy left in the day to work...children are left at home all day to be hungry and thirsty by themselves...It is a HORRIBLE reality for SO MANY HUMAN BEINGS!! Yes, these are human beings JUST AS IMPORTANT in the Lord's eyes as YOU AND ME!!! So...we cut back, bought a well...and..I pray children in Ziway, Ethiopia will some day DRINK FRESH water and play at their school and RETURN to their families INSTEAD of being orphaned because of sickness!! NOT everyone that reads this blog WILL ADOPT...but there are SO many other things that can be done to help the LEAST OF THESE...and a Water Well is just ONE OF THEM!!!

If you'd like to learn more about LifeSong For Orphans...Or YOU FEEL called to help with the Ziway, Ethiopia school project...watch the videos below and READ the paragraph I pasted directly from them below:

Beauty out of Ashes from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

Lifesong Ethiopia 2010 from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

To Learn More about the ON GOING projects in Ziway, Ethiopia...Please Read Below...This is a message straight from LifeSong:

Laughter & Smiles

We all go out of our ways to give our kiddos the very best we possibly can. In Ethiopia, this looks much different than it does for you and me in the US!

Lifesong for Orphans is supporting 3 schools in the Ziway, Ethiopia area. We are currently repairing one of the schools and are in the process of building another, but are hopeful to use all three this fall.

Let’s turn this bare piece of land at the Ziway Lifesong School …

Into a place of laughter and smiles!

View all current projects. View all Lifesong Ethiopia videos.

Happy Wednesday to you all, kj