Mastercard has NOTHING on us....

Paper chasing with your Best Friend-$$

Getting Parking Ticket while authenticating Paperwork with Best Friend-$27.00

(each. yes, we both got tickets!)

Trip to China (again with Best Friend)-$$

Celebrating Life on Gotcha Day-*Priceless*

From the very first adoption paper signed on February 2005, we have walked side-by-side with the Massey family. God purposed our journey's to be a triple braided cord. Only He knew what the road ahead would hold. And he knew we would need each other to make it through.

Ally and I have joked that our lives run in a parallel. What happens in one household, will soon be a recurrence in the other. Some things have been anticipated with great joys and well.... the others have been harder to swallow. Like middle-school. Baby boys. Teen-age first born's. Faith walks. Adoptions. Children who struggle with reading.

As the years have gone by the bonds that tie our hearts together have grown stronger. What was once a friendship is now family. Ally sent me a card this summer ( because we missed the family va-ca) that said "Once we were were strangers and now we are just strange friends!" Love it. We just get each other. And love each other even more.

This Gotcha Day was welcomed with a sense of relief. Our very first Gotcha Day was hard fought. The day would always be on the calendar, we just weren't sure how it would look in the flesh. Myer's little life is nothing short of a MIRACLE. A work from the very hand of a Faithful God and Father that He allowed us to witness and be a part of. Something that has changed us from the very core of who we are. The days we spent talking about the girls growing up together and dreaming of what the future would hold, took an abrupt stop.

For a moment.

Then God allowed us to re-dream and re-think. Thank You, Father.

So, on Friday we once again gathered our families together to celebrate. Ally has been feeling yucky (gallbladder) and so it was low-key. Kip and I showed up in dress down clothes. I wore work-out clothes (clean!) and I wanted Kip to wear his running shorts but we compromised when he wore a T-Shirt and Un-Ironed Khaki shorts. Which if you knew my husband, you would know what a sacrifice that was!

Tatumn and Myer are truly the bestest of friends! They laugh, giggle, and boss each one around! It is so funny to watch. Tatumn was fascinated with Myer's LONG pigtails. She kept taking Myer's piggy and brushing it across her face! Long hair is quite amazing for my hair challenged girl. Myer is getting so strong and Tatumn was her encourager the whole time. I think Tatumn may be a nurse or a therapist when she grows up. Which will probably be a source of contention for Ms. Myer!

Ally got the great idea to put Tatumn's hair in rollers. Which I told her boldly that they NOT work in the very little hair that she has. But because Ally is Ally, she double-dogged-dared me and got out the rollers! And they......stayed! Well, the story ends with the mommies and the Asians having rollers in their hair. Laughing until Ally had a stomach ache. Sorry about that. Seriously, my jaws hurt that next morning from laughing so hard!

So, there it is. Life. Priceless. Joy. Abundant. Has it been easy. No. That Tatumn is here, ours, is through God's faithfulness. Because He is our Faithful Provider. Jehovah-Jireh. Myer's life is miraculous. Because He showed us the One who heals. Jehovah-Rophi.

So, for the rest of our days we will sing for joy over God's Victory. And in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. Psalm 20:5

Asian Delight

These pictures are from this summer. The girls delight in jewelery and lip gloss. And because Baylor is the Bestest Big sister to Myer she let us gently use.....hah, right....destroy her "make-up".

The last picture is what is to come when the girls get cell phones! They were using the walkie-talkis and chatting up a storm with each other. Hewhoa. Hewhoa.

Girl Day

Had a blast today with my daughter. We did all things girl, today. Except for lunch, I wanted to go to Bo Lings but we ran out of time. So, Tatumn snacked on goldfish and I indulged in a Frappuccino while we soared through Target. (Don't ask)

I enjoyed our trip to the nail salon so much! The girls there treated Tatumn as a princess! They oohed and ahhed over her and relished in her story.

Tatumn was so proud of her flower nails and polka-dot toes! She showed them off to everyone!

Tonight we are indulging in ice cream from Cold Stone and watching her Gotcha Movie. The goodness of God is twirling around our living room tonight.

2 Years Ago

2 years ago I met Tatumn Hope.
I had waited to meet this baby girl for a long time. My arms ached to hold her. My heart already loved her. Our family had made a place in their hearts for her.

The anticipation was suffocating.

The journey to her was marked with great joy and hard fought faith.
There was a moment when I didn't know if the dream of holding my daughter would come to reality. It was a dark moment in our journey to Tatumn. But one that God carried us through. The truth that I had claimed, I now had to walk out. It was a difficult season, no doubt. But it was also so very sweet, too. It was a season of Manna.

We boarded the plane to China with timid steps. The months preceding had left us wounded but also with a stronger resolve to not let enemy hold us captive to fear. The flight was so long and quiet. I spent a lot of the flight in a running prayer with the Lord. Asking for strength, begging for peace, believing His promise, and asking Him to prepare Tatumn's heart for us.

And then it what seemed like a blur, we were in a steamy government building in Changsha. With a pink butterfly backpack filled with baby necessities.

And then in a flash...she was here. In our arms. She already had a place in our hearts now my arms got to physically feel what my heart already knew.

She was crying. She was terrified. She was tiny. And bald. Perfect.

I remember telling her over and over "I love you." And I will never forget the look on Kip's face. Watching their love story grow is truly one of the Lord's sweetest blessings.

And now 2 years later our days are filled with little girl giggles. Princess cups. Lip Gloss. Pink Shoes. Baby dolls. Pigtails. Hairbows. Tea Parties. Princess Pull-Ups. Peanut Butter Crackers. Almond Milk. Twirling.

I sit here tonight with a gratitude that I cannot put into words. What my heart wants to say, words just seem to fall short.

Not letting the School calendar boss us around...

Call me a rebel....
Or maybe a little careless...
But today when my boys got home we put on our swimsuits and spent a good part of our afternoon/evening at the pool.
I'm just not ready to give in to the school calendar.
I really struggled last night with wanting to stomp my foot and tell the powers that be they couldn't have my boys yet. I wasn't done hanging out with them.
But then again it was quiet and peaceful and not one person argued today. And I only ran the dishwasher once.
Hmmm....

We did it!

We finished our Summer strong. Although I feel like we did not get everything accomplished like I had anticipated; it was a good summer. A truly great Summer.
June was filled with Summer School, football practices, trips to the gym, and baseball. We "adopted "Taylor's friend who spent almost all of June with us. Another teenage boy in the house didn't change much, except for the groceries. If you read this blog and have little guys around (Sara) please be aware that as they grow their ability to put food away is astounding.
July went by in a complete blur. Baseball still lingered....and lingered. The boys all took turns at each grandparents house. We became regulars at the pool. We missed out on our vacation. (I am not bitter) We are still learning to do this new life. It has been over 2 years since our lives were turned upside down and honestly we are still trying to figure things out. God gave me a great lesson the other day with manna. I will share it here sometime soon.
August sneaked (snuck?) in on us and we were not ready. This Summer has been like living in a safe cocoon with the boys. Like we were able to steal away from the world and huddle together. The demands and "pull" was kept at bay from my first born. We were perfectly content to just hang out together. One night, I just had Taylor and Tucker in the car and Taylor said "mom, I haven't got in trouble all Summer." I asked him how that felt and he said "good. real good."
It really has been good. Really good.
So, tomorrow (yes tomorrow) my boys all head back to school. We have met the teachers, figured out schedules, organized lockers, joined the PTA, bought spirit wear and lunch tickets,(public school is not free) and purchased school clothes and shoes. So, we are ready.
Tomorrow morning our day will begin at 5:50 AM. Our biggest boys will get on the bus at 6:39 and 6:43. Tucker will board the bus and head to school (alone for the first time) at 8:26.
And a moment of silence will fall over our house.
And I will miss my boys.
Praying hard for them to walk with Jesus not only tomorrow but all of their days.

Watching the Olympics with a princess

We (more like me) are watching every little thing concerning the Olympics.
I am an Olympic freak. I remember watching Mary Lou Retton win a Gold medal in 1984. The next day I tried to mimic her winning vault routine...........in the pool. I remember trying it 1000 times and thinking I was pretty good. Ahhh the innocence of youth.
These games hold a very significant place in my heart. For the first time ever, I have actually walked the streets that hold the Olympic venues.The sights and sounds of this country, I have experienced. A part of our heart is still there.
It's Tatumn's first home. Her birth country. Her very first breath was there. Hunan is quite far from Beijing but I still wonder if maybe somebody connected to her is there.
We have loved watching the athletes compete and WIN Gold medals. I screamed and cheered for the 400 Medley Relay swim team beat the French! Or win bronze, like the USA Men's gymnastic team did last night! Aren't they the cutest boys?
We were watching the swimmers the other night and Tatumn said "Look at the Mermaids in the splash splash. "
I guess this is what you get when you mix together Olympic swimmers in high-tech Speedo suits and an Asian Princess's Favorite Disney movie.