Christmas in July

So, I tend to be one of those people. You know, those people who are always late. I hate it about myself. I blame it on my optimism because I think everything will only take 5 minutes. So, I'm a tardy girl who married a prompt boy. He likes to be on time. He sees it as an issue of keeping his word. I guess I see it as an opportunity for other people to be gracious with me.

All of this to say that of all the years to send out Christmas cards on time, this would have been the one. I loved our card. I loved it so much that I ordered about 200 more copies than normal thinking this would be the year that I would find those addresses I've been missing and get back in touch with old friends. Yeah this year when I have four kids, a newly adopted child, and a mother with cancer. I told you I'm optimistic.

Some people got Christmas cards from us before Christmas. Prompt boy was in charge of those. A few others got a Christmas card from us at Easter time. Guess who was in charge of those. They are both important holidays, right? Still others will now have the opportunity to view the card as a special Christmas in July celebration...

(front)

(back)

So, Merry Christmas. And now I guess I will have some really cute scrap paper for the rest of the year with all the leftovers.

Since we're celebrating Christmas in July and all, there have been some presents we have received in July. One such present was visiting with our old friends the Lacher family while in Nashville for a special family wedding (more on that to come). They were gracious hosts and we all had a blast being with them again...

Playing "Ninja" with the boys...
How do you spell relief in Nashville? P-O-O-L...
A perfectly executed belly flop...
Lulu found a random Sprite bottle and decided "possession is 9/10'ths of ownership"...

Don't worry. She may be my fourth child, but I didn't let her put her mouth on it. Remember my mothering motto..."Low standards, but not no standards." (That's not really my motto, I just write stuff like that to amuse myself.)

I also received this precious gift from my friend Amy of an acrylic scrapbook...

I'd never even heard of one, but when it comes to scrapping Amy has got her groove on. She said she had never made a scrapbook for someone who she didn't know before, but she was still able to capture Gunga so well. I was overwhelmed. It is especially meaningful because I am not a scrapbooker, so it is something that I would have loved to have for our family but would never do. Lulu picked it up and immediately said "Gunga!". The kids have looked at it over and over again. Thank you so much, Amy, for this priceless gift. What a treasure!

An amazing gift we are reflecting on is that on this day one year ago, we arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Tuesday is our one year anniversary of Luci May Day. As we remember and celebrate this day, it has been significant for me to have been following a recent mission trip to Ethiopia through this blog and this blog. These posts have reminded me that we don't just celebrate Luci May Rediet on July 27th. We celebrate her birth country and heritage. We celebrate that Ethiopia is part of us now. And we remember. After a year, it is easy to move on from what we saw and experienced there. But I don't want to. I want to keep my heart tender not just to the child who has joined our family, but to the beautiful place she first called home. And to the ones who still have no family or home.

Lulu has been a gift and a blessing to our family beyond belief. And if there's one thing I know, it's that we've been blessed to be a blessing. It is our fervent prayer that our family will be a blessing to the nations, through whatever ways we can. I mean all the nations of the world, but today there is one nation that is specifically on my mind and in my heart...