Our daughters......

....with great smiles

.....sound asleep

......having fun

.....beautiful

My girls, you are such a blessing to me. I pray you grow in grace, dwell in peace, and love without measure.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Our arrival....

So thanks to our friend, Brandy, here are the pictures of our arrival in Haiti. This was only moments after the first time the girls were able to greet Jeremy as Papa and the first time they all met Jordyn.

Great conversations......

with a five year old.













Ok, I need to preface this conversation with one Camden and I had last night. We are in our yearly 'revival' at church. So each night after church we go to Jeremy's Mom's house to help serve the guest speaker and guest pastors in attendance. We gave our kids the typical 'warning', you know, be good, mind your manners, no whining or crying, you get the picture. So last night Camden was struggling with the idea that he had to wait for the guests to get their food then we would get ours. So I took him to the restroom for a 'conversation' and explained that we are to honor and respect these men and women. We talked about how they work for God and we want to honor them and be a help to them and whining and crying won't 'help' them. So he needed to make a wise choice and decide to be a help. Lucky for him he made a good choice. :)

So now for today's conversation:

Camden: Mom, do those people at Grandma's seriously work for Jesus?
Mom: Yes, they do.
Camden: Even Grandpa(our Pastor)?
Mom: Yes, even Grandpa.
Camden: Them, but not us?
Mom: Well, anyone that does what God tells them to do is working for Him. So actually us too. Just like Mommy and Daddy are adopting Noah, Mia & Hope because God told us to.
Camden: God didn't tell us to buy more kids!
Mom: (trying not to laugh) Yes He did! (Ok, I was laughing a little, I mean who wouldn't)
Camden: God told us to buy more kids?!?!
Mom: Yes
Camden: He told us to buy Noah first.
Mom: Yes
Camden: He told us to buy Mia & Hope too?
Mom: Yes
Camden: I wish he had only told us to buy Noah.
Mom: Camden!?!? Why?
Camden: I want there to be two boys and two girls. I don't want there to be more girls than boys because they will be mean too.
Mom: But Mia and Hope love you.
Camden: How?
Mom: Mia has seen your picture and she always asks about you. She loves you!
Camden: And Hope too?
Mom: Sure, but she is pretty young so it's harder for her to understand.
Camden: So can I play my computer game now?

Kids are great!!

Our sons.....

The day we met.......





















At bathtime.....














While they're sleeping.....















At the beach......














One day, these boys will finally get to play together!

Lord, I thank you for our sons. They are the most incredible boys. I pray you equip us to raise them to be the men of God you created them to be.

We're out!!!

We're out, we're out, we're out, we're out!!!!! We are out of IBESR!!!!! I'm so excited! I have been dancing, jumping, praising....... God is so faithful!!! Praise the Lord!!!

Look what the Lord has done, take two!!!!

To the Cundiff's home.......Noah, Mia & Hope






















To the Burnett's (Todd & Kristina)...... Jonas & Ellie














To the Collins'...... Steven & Belle














To the Burnett's (Troy & Cathy)....... Manthania & Isaac














To the Almon's........Glory













To the Brown's...... Samendia & Jefferson














To the Koenig's......Samara, Shakira & Caleb
















To the Olson's ......... Isaiah













To the Yunker's...... Richecard













Well, if you counted you will see that makes 17!! God is so awesome!! 17 TAs children coming to the Evansville area!! Praise God!!!

"You are the light of the world."

What makes everyone watch fireworks?

I realize it is tradition to watch fireworks during special Holidays, especially Independence Day. However, I bet most of us could probably admit that when we notice fireworks going off, we stop and watch, at least for a moment. Is it because of tradition? I don't think so.

I believe it is because that in the midst of darkness there is a beautiful light shining. In Matthew 5, Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world. We are suppose to be that beautiful light in this dark world. We should shine with the light of Jesus enough that people notice. Not that they see us, but that they see the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Do they see the light of His love, His joy, His peace, His compassion......

I pray today you are the light of the world, that you allow Jesus to shine through so all will stop and watch. I pray they will be drawn to your light and in that moment they are drawn to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to be Your light.

My baby!

Well, as most of you know my baby, Jordyn, raised the money to go on her trip to Haiti. She worked hard and not only raised the money for her flight, which was all we asked for, but she raised enough money to cover almost her entire trip. I was so thrilled that she was able to experience God's provision in that way.

She was AMAZING!! She never one time complained of the conditions. She ate the food she liked, never complaining of the stuff she didn't. She didn't one time tell me she was hot, not one word was negative!

I told her before we arrived that anytime we were at the O, she could do what she wanted. If she wanted to play in the nursery that was fine, if she wanted to play downstairs, fine. I wanted her to know she didn't have to stay with me, that she was free to do what she wanted, and that is what she did. However, if I couldn't find her I pretty well knew where to look. I almost always found her in the nursery. I think it was her favorite place. In fact, one day it was time for us to head back to St. Joe's and I was looking for Jordyn. Everyone else was downstairs ready to go, so I went to the nursery and sure enough the nannies pointed to the middle of the room where I found her sitting, playing with all the little ones.

She was an awesome big sister!! She helped me soooooo much. At meals she would beat me down to the kitchen and fix her 3 siblings plates before she fixed her own. If they needed anything she wanted to get it for them. I kept telling her she didn't have to do all that. I wanted her to enjoy her trip, but that is what she continued to choose to do. She played with them, loved them, held them and slept with them. They are so blessed to have her.




One more thing I want to share, Jordyn has her favorite as people usually do at the O, but what impressed me about her though, was her favorite is not the cutest, healthiest, most desirable. She even at one time said to me, "Mom, some of the other kids didn't want to hold him because he looks different, but Mom, he's my favorite." I'll let her share about him on her blog, but I did want to share that because I saw her heart of love and compassion in such a great way!

Jordy, I am so proud of you. I knew you would love Haiti, but I didn't know you would love it like your Mommy does. I saw in you what people have told me, "You are so happy here. You literally glow." Now I don't know that I glow, I think it's the sweat shining in the pictures, but you Jordyn, you glow! God's love was pouring out of you and I want you to know how very proud I am of you. I love you baby doll!!

Just a blur.....

This last trip was so busy for me it feels like just a blur. There was so much work to be done and meetings to attend that I felt like my babies and my husband had to miss out. I think every time I walked past Mia she said, "W'ap travay, Manman?" "Wi, Mia, M'ap travay." (You working, Mama? Yes, Mia, I'm working.) I am so accustomed to being a full time wife and mother that I found I don't handle it well if that is not my main focus. Lord, thank You for allowing me to be a stay at home mom. I wouldn't change it for the world. Having said that though we did get a ton of things accomplished and the group did a fabulous job getting the jobs done.

As you know Jeremy and Jordyn were on this trip with me. Upon our arrival, he and Jordyn were out of the van and trying to wait for me(again working), but Mia saw them and came running. I heard, "Papa!!" and when I looked up Mia was running to him and jumped up in his arms. She was followed by Noah who ran to Jordyn. Last but not least Hope joined the crew and we were together at last. I don't have any pictures of this moment unfortunately. Hindsight, I should have asked someone to catch it for me. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20, huh?

I did want to post some pictures though of our our times spent together. A family almost complete.

Family

Well, we are back and we had a great visit with the kids. We were able to meet Mia & Hope's Mom and two brothers. I had seen their mom before but we had never been able to talk as Mother to Mother. She is an amazing woman! She wants the girls to have a good life. We were able to talk a little bit and she said she was really hoping the girls would be able to go home before she delivered her baby. She has no idea how much we would love that too! I told Jean Nathan that he had a lot of work to do. :)

She told me the girls were happy with me and loved me. I told her we are all family and the girls would always know who she is and how much she loves them. I am so happy to have this picture for them. I believe it will mean a lot to them. So without further ado I would like you to meet more members of our family....

M'ap vini pitit mwen!!

It's getting so close, but sometimes feels so far. One week from right now I will be in a Hotel in Miami, anxiously waiting for our 10:25am flight the next morning. Thank you Lord for providing yet another opportunity to be with my children as well as serve in a country that you have so deeply placed in my heart! I'm coming my children!!