Before/After

The first picture is what Kristin looks like when she gets up in the morning, and sometimes all day. Scary doesn't even begin to describe the tangled web on her poor little head. We have only one blonde which is a blast.....but, after 4 1/2 years of trying to grow hair and it comes to this?? :):) It looks like otherworldly creatures are living on her head! What's a Mom to do?? Bring in reinforcements that's what!....and there you have picture #2. Take a moment and gaze upon those shimmering, golden locks. Yes, it is a miracle we know. But only until she wakes up tomorrow morning :)

Happy Birthday/ Happy Anniversary Daddy!

We're back again! We'd like to wish our marvelous Dad a happy 4?th birthday and we also celebrated our 24th anniversary while we were away.(That's a very long time for this man to put up with me!:)) With kids in tow.....we had a great time! A short slide show this time as the camera taker was lazy. :)You can't really read the caption to the last pic but the story goes like this....the girls were outside eating ice cream and Leni accidentally fell partially into the pool pushing Katie in too (yes, Mommy was right there). Leni was VERY upset as I had told her NOT to get her new shorts wet (forget the fact she pushed the 2 yr. old in too :)) To lighten up the moment I picked her up and threw her in fully clothed which she loved. Scott seeing what was happening...came out and cannonballed into the pool also fully clothed. Kristin laughed so hard she almost threw up. We've never seen her so overwhelmed! (usually it's the opposite...being tears, as she's pretty emotional)... So a party began for all....except for Katie who would only get in after she stripped herself down :) Have to go against the flow!:) Would someone please tell Katie it's illegal to skinnydip in the state of Florida?!

"Oreo" Girls!

We're off again for a few days and will have limited Internet access for a while. Keep up with our Wales girl through the link on the previous post (I couldn't get it to format correctly where you could just click...I'm a computer idiot, but usually can figure things out. Not this time with little people crawling on top of me:))Anyway, here is a pic of what we sentimentally call our "Oreo" girls. Two dark cookies on the outside with light cream in the middle:)They are pretty cute aren't they?!!
Katie is the first awake these days. She reminds us so much of Jason in the way she thinks and processes information. Her mind is working faster than her speech right now which can translate into a frustrated little girl at times. She is very fine motor/detail oriented and doesn't' like to see anything out of place. She'll sit and concentrate for long periods of time with magnets, blocks, pegs, etc. with furrowed brow until all is correct (in her mind anyway). One of my joys is spending extended time in her room with her in the morning...reading, playing, when the rest of the house is still asleep. She is so sweet and loving at that time of day! It gives her uninterrupted Mommy time when I'm not pulled in 30 different directions at once :) Her favorite word is HELP!! Which she shouts with great gusto!
Next to join us is usually Leni. Katie calls both sisters by the same name..LEEEEEN!!!! Leni comes in with her collection of animals and joins the morning party. She is an avid reader and will sit forever listening to her favorite stories. She is very sensitive to the Bible stories in particular and asks for them again and again. Leni is very self-entertaining and I love to "listen in" on the stories she makes up with her toys. Lately she's taken to being Katie's "mama" and will get her up from naps and bring her favorite toys (all unprompted) all the while talking to her like "mama" does. Very cute!
The resident sparkplug, Kristin , is the last one up because she's the last one to fall asleep....go figure:) She is a non-stop bundle of energy that just "keeps on ticking". She helps me so much....it's honestly like having a 10 yr. old in a 4 yr old's body. She loves Polly Pockets, playing babydolls, and her friend Alexis. She's learned to swim all by herself this year which has given her much confidence and independence. It's funny too, because everyone at the pool on our vacation knew everything about us by the time I got to Kristin. This girl can talk!
I've been re-reading one of my mentors biographies "A Chance to Die. The Life of Amy Charmichael" by Elisabeth Elliot. Amy was a missionary in India during the early to mid 1900's. Her passion was rescuing little girls from abuse, neglect, temple prostitution, and the caste system, all the while showing them the almighty God is their ultimate rescuer. Not a small feat in a predominately Hindu society steeped in tradition. This book has many of her notes from her personal journals as well as observations from fellow workers. My prayer is that her vision would be a part of our lives as well as we seek to honor Christ in all we do, with the work God has called us to. The desire to help lost, lonely children in peril burned in Amy's soul as it does ours. Please pray for us that God would reveal more of himself on our getaway and that we would hear clear direction for our family.
That's our update! I have many of you not commenting here but sending comments to my private email which is fine. Keep them coming!I'm debating whether to change the blog format. It's large and pink:) I did that so some of our more "mature" readers could see it better, (we have alot) ....what do yall think?? To change or not?

Wales Update~

Julie and the team made it safely to Merthyl Tyfdil, Wales! She was able to call home today and check in with her Mommy! They had a few flight delays but all in all it was a good trip. Julie said this was easy after the China production of last year :). She was able to post on Stephanie's blog and they will be updating it as much as they can. Here is the link http://szthdyfrhsglry.blogspot.com. The pics she refers to didn't download which is probably related to slow internet. She said the connection was/is pretty spotty. She LOVED London and wants to go back. Where they are is beautiful country with lots of sheep! Hope you enjoy reading!

Off to Wales!

Well....our girl Julie is off to Wales for the next 2 weeks. She's on a mission trip through our church and Sovereign Grace Ministries. This is the "music" trip and the Xtreme Band she is a part of will be performing at various locations, including leading worhip at a team related church there this Sunday. The church there actually meets in a castle!! Needless to say they are all extremely excited at all God has planned for them. Please pray for safe travel, that their voices would stay healthy, and people's lives will be touched. 95% of the population of Wales doesn't attend church. Our prayer is that God would radically change lives and hearts through these next 2 weeks, and that God would be honored by these young people's lives as they seek to proclaim God's word to the nations. Here's a couple of pics of the team (some) and of Julie and Steph. They are the only female representation in the band :) so they stick together. Julie sings alto and Steph is soprano. Watch for continued updates!

Well....did you think we'd fallen off the face of the earth? We have been gone for 3(!) weeks but the time has flown by! A very good friend gave us the use of a townhouse just a mile from Disney property for the last few weeks. We had every intention of blogging from there but there was no internet access. It actually was nice being disconnected for a while....but now we're back and up and running.
We had a blast! Mom and girls stayed out there the entire time (only a 30-40 min. drive from home) while Dad/Julie went back and forth. The girls swam, swam, and swam....then slept like logs. We went to Sea World, Disney (all over) and had lots of quality family time. We also had visits from several friends and family. Mom Jo stayed the first week and then we had visits from the Cox, Jones, George,Rejonis, & VanLue :) families. We also ran into several families from our church out there as well. At night Mom got some much needed R&R....and enjoyed catching up on some reading and sometimes sleep :) It was a God given, much needed time of rest and renewal for us! There was even a few days without cell phones. Dad sat a pool soaked Katie up on top of the stoller not knowing my cell phone was underneath her....and well...my phone was peed upon. Bye-bye phone. Cingular was very nice and gave me another with thanks to my wonderful husband for orchestrating the delivery!
Another little girl from China adopted a month before Katie was there as well. She was 2-3 weeks older but no kidding...about 2-3 inches taller and talking up a storm. She was adorable! We also met a family from Korea and the Phillippines who questioned why we had an Asian daughter. When we told them she was adopted from an orphanage in China they all asked if they could have their pictures taken with her....so....Katie posed and smiled pretty for the Korean family from Virginia.
For a fun day with Julie we went to the Port Orleans resort there for Beignets and pool fun. Dad was sent in search for food with the girls and came back 30 min. later with all 3 girls hair "wrapped" (and no food). They were so excited! Julie and I made sure Dad knew he did good with that one! We didn't know Dad would even know what hair wrapping was!! They're still talking about it and eventually everyone was fed. :)
Another day we were at the pool and they had a "belly flop" contest. About 30-40 people lined up. We looked up and there was Leni in line. Soon Katie wanted to join her. Eventually all 3 girls entered the belly flop fanfare....with Katie Mei getting the most applause from the crowd..(yes, she flopped into the water with help from her daddy). A memory burned into my mind forever!!:) Definitely a mommy moment!!
We introduced the girls to Cracker Barrel resturant....and now Katie's favorite food is Chicken n Dumplin's. Very funny! All 3 girls ran around with wild hair (wrapped with ladybug beads of course) and no shoes for 3 weeks. A great time! We can't wait to go back! Enjoy the pictures and hope you aren't bored (there's alot of them!) It's good to be back! Let the diet begin! :)