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.

overdue

10 days overdue. that's what she was when she was born. 10 long days of walking the mall in hopes of getting something started. even then, i still had to be induced. it's really just like em. she has a contented nature. she was just fine to stay in that womb.

so maybe it is fitting that my birthday post for her is overdue as well. her birthday was 11/25. thanksgiving day. on thanksgiving, on her birthday and everyday, we are so thankful for our divine miss em...

my sd card is corrupted so i have no pictures from her birthday/thanksgiving right now. but i have a heart full of love for this "baby" girl who wears my same shoe size, writes her own blog posts, and is growing up way too fast.

but growing up into a lovely and loving young lady.

today

today i asked lulu who we are going to see as my side of the family gathers for thanksgiving. she immediately shouted "gunga!!".

i cried as i said, "no baby, not gunga."

but they were not just sad tears. they were also happy tears. because though we don't get to see gunga today, we get to see gunga and granddaddy's legacy. we get to be with our big family.

and way more than turkey, stuffing, and pie, we get to to taste LOVE.

i was concerned how i would feel with thanksgiving approaching since it is our first holiday without gunga. the feeling of pulling up to my parents house for thanksgiving or christmas has always brought the warmest sense of anticipation. i feared the ache that i would feel without pulling up to that house. without her waiting in the house with all the love that made her who she was.

but do you know how i feel today?

thankful.

and that feels really good.

10, the party

To celebrate Em's 10th birthday with her friends, we found an invitation (after some searching on vistaprint) that served as the inspiration...

So, I'll just use the invite as a tour guide to walk through the party that I survived and even, at times, enjoyed.

The top ten reasons to come to Emmie's party

10. What else are you doing Friday, Nov. 19th? Only one girl actually had something else to do Friday night, so that meant the total number of girls was 10. I now know, that's kind of a lot of tweens. Be warned, should you try this at your home, they are cute and they are sweet but they will overtake every inch of your house in all their pre-pubescent glory.

9. Everybody loves a sleepover. Really? I'm not sure I practiced truth in advertising because I'm not sure I even love a sleepover. And Jack and Tate weren't too fond of this particular one. Thankfully they were able to slip out and spend the night at Grandma's where there's cable, an indoor pool, and not 10 girls. Before leaving, Jack had to pick up the poop in the back yard...

then made a shirtless appearance (and was quickly whisked away)...

And Tate played waiter by taking drink orders...

8. Free dinner. Just tacos. I was SO glad to have lovely assistants helping me out in the kitchen...
Allison and Meghan are two students that are both long-time family friends. They are the reason I survived the night. They did dishes, painted nails, made colored frosting, held Lulu, handled girl drama, and completely saved my sanity.

7. Late-night giggles. They had late night giggles, just not as late as some wanted. Allison and I laid on the floor with them and made them whisper and keep their heads on the pillow. This caused Em to tell me I "ruined the party" the next morning, but let's just say I was on the Mom's side. Even though I ruined the party, I thought I told a pretty kickin' bedtime story. Only I was a little punchy after having bronchitis all week, so one part of the story was about how there were girls who wouldn't go to bed at a slumber party, so the mom broke all of their arms. Twisted, but effective. Everyone was asleep by 12:30am which I considered a major victory. (Btw, they knew I was kidding about the broken arms. I hope their parents did too.)
6. Dancing 'til we drop. Or until Emmie has a meltdown saying she is totally overwhelmed and we have to turn off the music and move to a more low key activity like watching "Ramona and Beezus".

5. See Mr. Bill's mad dancing skillz. I'm not gonna lie, this was the highlight of the whole stinkin' party. The man was unconscious...
The demented look he gets in his eyes while trying to get into the groove cracks me up. The girls loved it and I love that he is mine.

4. A fun craft. Yeah, I ran out of time for the craft. We were going to make pom poms, which would have been pretty cool. So now I am left with a truck load of tissue paper. Oh well, crafts are overrated. But painted nails are not, which is what we did instead...
Lulu got her nails painted for the first time...
She was mesmerized...

3. Being with friends...

the silly string war was a big hit...

the presents were a big hit too...

especially the overhead projector she has wanted for almost a year...

and the Justin Bieber calendar...

2. Cake and ice cream. Need I say more? The pint-sized cake was super duper cute...
So cute that I didn't even cut into it. I just realized that it is two days later and we still haven't eaten it. Better get on that. It really more a decoration than anything since we had girls decorate their own cupcakes...

Hey, that could be considered a fun craft right? Oh and guess what? I forgot to serve the ice cream. False advertising, once again. But I dished up a darling dose of number one...

1. One word: Lulu!
The party didn't have much of a theme beyond "10", but that was okay because the girls came up with their own theme: DRAMA. We had squeals, we had tears, we had pouting, we had attention-getting antics and we even had a wee bit of vomit in the morning. Drama or no drama, we were making memories. And celebrating God's goodness to us in the form of this almost 10 year old...
Just like the back of the invitation said...

P.S. It comforts me to have little reminders of Gunga on special days. For this party, I used her "foofer" as a decoration...

Only my sisters will appreciate the significance of this, but it brought a smile to face to have my Mommy represented at the party.