what's been going on

my boy scout went caroling at a nursing home...

we have finally found a place where jack's volume is a needed and appreciated quality.

we hosted a christmas party for our small group at church.

for once i got a gift in the white elephant (aka dirty santa) gift exchange that i am super excited about. run out a get yourself a pair of these now. seriously, right now. they are so soft and cute and fragrant. you will thank me later when your feet are comfy and don't stink.

we hosted a christmas party for the junior high sunday school class.

we don't have a youth group for the junior high at our church yet, so i am excited for us to regularly host activities in our home. i am well acquainted with little kids birthday parties and have hosted many college parties in our home, but this is a whole new ball game...

we played the game curses. it is the world's most random game and it is always fun. we also had a white elephant gift exchange and did karaoke. lulu was right in the middle of the action, of course. she was the only non-junior higher invited (other than my aarp self) and she loved showing off her own karaoke and dance moves...

tate demonstrating his "you are embarrassing me, mom" face...

we hosted our annual "girl party" with our sweet friends rachel, addi and lyvi.

{i might like parties just a little bit}

ya gotta love cranberry splash sierra mist this time of year...

rachel was thrilled to give lulu her first taste of pop...

did she like it?

i couldn't wait til christmas and gave lulu one of her gifts early, these adorable ruched leggies...

one less thing i have to wrap since that is something that has definitely not been going on in my house. still 4 more days left, right?

until then we are sleeping in heavenly peace...

this is just not right

I quietly entered my 40's on June 19, 2010. I had hoped for a big dance party, but instead we were having a memorial service for my sweet Mommy. Needless to say, it wasn't my best birthday. Since then, I have been trying to adjust to being 40. And I think I have been doing pretty well. But there is something that keeps happening that is really making my adjustment to "middle aged-ness" harder.

It has to do with the mail. Twice I have received information from the AARP. Seriously? Is 40 the new 65? I shook it off. Mistakes happen. Instead of focusing on those unfortunate incidents, I have been enjoying this time of year with the Christmas cards arriving every day. But today I also received a very disturbing piece of mail with my name on it. It read

"Dear Neighbor,

We are excited to inform you about plans for the expansion of Pacific Springs Village, a beautiful 50-acre senior living community located near the intersection of..."

How is a girl like me supposed to have a merry Christmas if I'm getting mail like this?

Bah humbug to that.

a wrench like me

jack has always had a real distinctive speech pattern. many years ago, a student coined it "jackanese". his speech has greatly improved, but he still has his own jack way of saying things. he is a pretty quotable kid with phrases such as...

"mom is having some angerment issues!"

while we were cuddling at night, "Can we be a little more cuddleish? We're not too much in cuddle formation."

and recently this beauty, while playing with the thermometer, "mom! it's 83 degrees down my pants!"

he can often be heard singing around the house (since it's jack, he can probably be heard at the neighbors too). lately it's been "amazing grace, how sweet the sound. that saved a wrench like me..."

i am glad for the little things that make me chuckle because frankly, this whole merry christmas thing still isn't quite working for me this year. though we are doing some "christmas-y" things. like decorating the huge gingerbread men i bought from trader joe's...

the men were not delicious as a whole (thus they sit on on kitchen counter with most of their limbs still in tact), but the m&m toppings were a big hit...

and emmie's winter chorus concert was also sweet, in a different way...

she rocked her speaking role (not that i'm biased or anything)...

lulu was impressed...

though i'm not in much of a christmas mood these days, i'm so thankful for the christ of christmas. this christmas i am reminded more than ever that it isn't about the decorations and the baking and the gifts and the traditions. it isn't even ultimately about being with the ones you love. christmas is...amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wrench like me. so keep on singing, jack. that's the true christmas spirit.

Oh what fun...

Oh what fun it is to ride in a Swagger Wagon. Tonight we have a new vehicle in our garage. We will be saying goodbye to our faithful steed, the Ford Windstar, tomorrow. It has gotten us from New York to Florida to San Diego and just about everywhere in between. Lots of laughs, fights, and chicken nuggets have been shared in that trusty, dented van.

Oh what fun for Bill and Tate to road trip to the Big Twelve Championship game in honor of Tate's 13th birthday...

Though the outcome of the game was not fun. Not fun at all. We watched from home...

That was painful enough.

Oh what fun to be on stage for a dance performance. I don't know what was more fun for her, dancing...

Or getting to wear makeup...

Oh what fun to go to our new Trader Joe's for the first time...

I should have been embarrassed by how I kept saying "I'm so happy" over and over again while walking through the store. Here's the back story, though. Four years ago, I called Trader Joe's corporate office and asked them to come to our city. When I told him it was in Nebraska, he laughed and said "I don't think so." Whatever. Who's laughing now? The girl happily walking through Trader Joe's, that's who. Joe, you were worth the wait.

And Oh what fun it is to have Lulu in our lives...

let's do this

i've been fighting with christmas.

i love it, but i'm not ready for it this year.

not emotionally ready to get ready for it.

but christmas is coming.

christmas is coming because christ already came.

and i don't want to miss it.

so i finally turned on the christmas music

while emmie and i did this...

that's not my old mangy tree, by the way. it's gunga's tree.

and i love having it in my home.

it's the most wonderful time of the year, right?

so i called a truce.

and i feel much better.

More

When Bill and I were in the process of deciding to adopt, we discussed that we didn't really want another community to be a part of. We have our church, the Campus Crusade for Christ community, and we are well-connected in our neighborhood and kid's schools. The idea of having another community of adoptive families actually felt like it would be draining.

We were dummies. We didn't realize how much other adoptive families (particularly those who have adopted or are adopting from Ethiopia) would mean to us.There is such a sweet comradery that exists between adoptive families. We share experiences. We have a similar call on our lives. And, it just so happens that most adoptive families, if I may say so myself, are just plain cool.

We had the privilege of meeting blog friends in real life a couple of weeks ago. They live in the same state and are even related to our dear friends in town. So we all got together and it was "friends at first sight"...

So fun getting to meet this family we have known and loved from afar. We shared our stories and Lulu gave them some Ethiopian love while they wait for their own Ethiopian Princess...

Notice the love and longing in their eyes as they look at Lulu...

We talked about the ache in their hearts, mixed with trust, as they waited for their referral. But now that part of the wait is over for them as they just received their referral of their 4 year Peaches from Ethiopia. You can read their news here and experience their celebration here. Their blog is entitled Room For More. What a joy that they now know who the "more" is!!!!

thankful and more

while everyone else in blogland has moved onto christmas preparations, i am still stuck at thanksgiving. my blog is just a reflection of my real life (minus the times i try to retouch the two age spots on my left cheek or crop laundry baskets out of pictures) so it makes sense that i would be behind in blogland the same way i seem to be in everyday life.

i am thankful that my sd card was miraculously healed and i recovered my pictures of our thanksgiving and em's birthday celebration. so i can recount the time my family spent together.

together is my favorite place to be...

though we were without our beloved matriarch, georgie and alvin (aunt "ju ju" and "uncle alvie" to lulu) were a gracious host and hostess.

georgie, like gunga, knows how to make things lovely...

it was lovely and delicious. oh how i longed for elastic pants...

why yes, i love mashed potatoes. why do you ask?

also, on my plate, for those of you who love food more than you should like me:

my mommy's stuffing (the best), creamy corn (butter and cream cheese...all in favor say "aye"),

sweet potato casserole that tastes like a dessert, my sister carrie's pomegranate salad,

and turkey (dark meat only). not pictured: gunga's famous parmesan rolls.

many people throughout my adult life have told me that they wish they could be adopted by gunga. most of that was because she was so loving and so fun (as you may have read once or twice on my blog), though some of it was because she took us on cruises. even though gunga is gone, i must say that my family is still a pretty desirable one to be a part of if only for the fact that O.MY.WORD we have amazing food. and the men do the dishes.

i especially love that about us...

though much was different, we had old traditions like Aunt Ayay's pumpkin pancakes...

we celebrated a certain 10 year old's birthday...

yes that is the thanksgiving pumpkin pie that we put her candles in. what else are you going to do with a thanksgiving birthday? though her mommy did not bake her a cake, she got her this to celebrate with at school...

the birthday girl was super excited about receiving the american girl doll "addy"...

as well as the justin bieber doll...

we had some meaningful times, like letting the grandkids choose from gunga and

granddaddy's christmas ornaments...

and the girls putting on gunga's tiffany perfume (she always smelled divine) and gathering to share favorite memories from their house.

also writing down one thing we were thankful for then having everyone guess who wrote it.

this was both meaningful and hilarious...

i have so much to be thankful FOUR...

as i write this post, it is the end of world aids day. to be honest,

i have kinda wanted to forget about it all day long.

i have spent most of my life forgetting it.

but as i have spent time writing this post about my blessings,

there are two things i can't get out of my head:

"for to whom much is given, much is required" (luke 12:48)

and

"he has showed you, o man, what is good. and what does the lord

require of you? to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly

with your god." (micah 6:8)

these bid me to take note of a day like today.

and to take note on more than just a day like today

i am called to be thankful. but i am called to more than that.

if you read this blog post, you may have been mildly entertained.

read this if you want to be challenged or inspired.