As promised...

As I said, our life has had many changes lately. Obviously, the girls came home. Then we decided to walk away from our partnership and Jeremy went to work for Frontier Kemper. After that, we decided to put the kids back in a traditional school environment. Needless to say, this has been quite a whirl wind, but we are all doing great!

Here's a few pictures for your enjoyment.

First day for Ali, Camden & Mia! They were really excited.
Mia got a little nervous, but she loved it!

Camden had homework on the first day. Welcome to school, buddy!

Mia, well, apparently first grade is hard work. It's a good thing she didn't have homework!

Can you tell Ali was a little happy being back in school? She came home stating she made 6 new friends.

Hope misses the kids, but she is settling in nicely to the idea of having me
all to herself for several hours.

Jordyn started school on Monday, returning to the Christian school she went to for K-3. She was pretty excited to be back with her friends. She had a great day!

Her first day happened to be "Crazy Hat Day" for the others. Ali wasn't quite ready to be "crazy" so she sported my "Forgiven" hat. She looks WAY better in it than I do. I hope everyone read it!

As for me, I'm trying to catch up on laundry, cleaning, and sorting through 5 kids worth of summer clothes as we prepare to pack them away and bring out the fall/winter supply. I hope to get to mine and Jeremy's soon, so I can stop dropping off at the bus in my bikini.
Sorry, no pictures! ; )

still here.....

Just a quick note to say, "We are still here!" Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. I have lots of changes to tell you about, but time just doesn't allow. I hope to post soon! I hope you haven't given up on us!

Here's a couple of pictures to show how far Hope has come with Daisy. She used to just scream when Daisy was in the room. Now she does this......


She also said the other day, "I need a big doggy." My how far we've come!

Time flies....

We have been home from Haiti for almost 3 months now. It is crazy how time flies! I'm amazed at the transition the girls, and our whole family, has gone through in that time. I had always prayed for a smooth transition. I prayed that the Lord would prepare all of our hearts for the arrival of our children. I prayed and He has answered!! Although I had prayed for all of this, I still expected a few issues. Who wouldn't expect some issues when bringing two children into your home? In all honesty, I thought it would be harder than it has been. Praise God for answered prayers! He has given us strength and joy! He is so faithful to us!

Don't get me wrong, we are CRAZY busy!! ; ) It is just as I said prior to them coming home, "glorious chaos". I have more work now than ever and I rarely have a moment to sit, but I wouldn't change a thing. I force myself to sit at the computer occasionally to check e-mails and obviously post an update. I do more laundry than imaginable, but I'm reminded of the blessings who wear all those clothes. I cook; I clean; I teach; I read; I pray; I kiss; I wake up and do it all again, and I wouldn't change a thing. Oh, maybe I would hire a maid, but other than that, I wouldn't change a thing. ; )

The other day we went to Pump it Up, a local inflatable play land. The kids had a "Back to School" party with their friends from church. I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but they kind of had a good time.

Race day better than ever....

Well, I didn't run.

Before you think, "WHAT!?!? All that talk and no action?!?!" let me explain.

On Wednesday evening I received a call from my mom and she had decided to join me in the race. She had just registered and would drive down Sunday morning. Knowing we would be walking, I asked Jordyn if she would like to join us. So, this morning at 7:00am we set out for our Race for the Cure. Three generations of girls joining the efforts to raise awareness and the finances needed to find a cure for breast cancer.


The morning began with the Parade of Survivors! It was such an amazing sight to see 1100 survivors from less than one year to over thirty years cancer free! I'm sure I'll never truly understand the feeling they had as they marched along knowing there are many women unable to join them; women who, unfortunately, lost their battle. We were overwhelmed with emotion as Mom walked by in celebration of the life she has!












We also were able to walk in celebration of Jeremy's grandma who had a fight of her own against breast cancer and won. Grandma Butus, we all thought of you today too!!

So, I didn't run, but I have to admit that race day was better than ever! It would not have been the same without Mom and Jordy there. Yes, I would have run. I would have burned more calories. I would have walked away with a nice time to celebrate, but today I walked away with my mom and my daughter by my side, celebrating the simple fact that we were alive and well.

Missing a few things......

I love having my girls home, but I must admit I am missing a few things. One, actually, but in that one...so many others.

Like times like this....

And most definitely times like this....

This face....

And these little toes....

I miss doing simple things like this...

And seeing silly things like this....

Oh, and how I miss that smile....

Noah,

I miss you from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. You are missed by every member of our family. We long for you and pray for you; we remember all the funny things you did. We think of your laugh, your smile, your voice, the funny sound you made when you would chew your food, and even your fits. We search for the strength in the Lord to go through each day without you and Noah, our God is faithful. He brings us joy in the midst of our pain.

If there was a way to tell you in this moment how much we love you, I would. I would tell you about all the amazing moments the Lord gave us together, and how in each of those moments He would confirm time and time again that you were our son. Noah, I think it's important for you to know that we have never and will never give up hope that you are going to come home to us. We are just as sure today as we were in September of 2005 that you are indeed our son.

We praise God for you, and we continue to trust in our faithful God to bring you home to us.

I love you, son, with all that is within me,
Mommy

In Honor of My Mama!

On September 21, 2008, I will be running a race in honor of my amazing Mama! It's only a 5K which doesn't even come close to being hard in comparison to what she endured. Thankfully, her diagnoses was great and after treatment she was cancer free!! We thank God for giving the doctors the wisdom and knowledge to treat this horrible disease. We rejoice in the fact that she went to a doctor that used a special type of mammogram that would see the spot. We were told an ordinary mammogram wouldn't have shown it and it would have had more time to grow before being detected. We praise God for this!! The Lord has been so good to us!

I've decided to run this race and try to raise awareness and money, so there can be more daughters with stories like mine. Daughters who will be able to say, "My mom is a breast cancer survivor!" I love you, Mom, and on Sunday, September 21 @ 9:00am I'll be running for you!

Click here to help!

1 down, 179 more to go......

Not that I'm counting down or anything. ; ) Today was our first day of school. The bell rang at 8:00 and in they came so excited to begin their first day. They had all been sitting outside the classroom for half an hour waiting for me to be ready. I don't imagine that will happen everyday, but it was great to see them so excited to get started. Here's a few pictures we thought we would share from our first day!

This was actually taken last night. Hope was pretty happy to finally have her own desk! Not sure if you could tell that or not. ; )


Camden, bright and early this morning, sorting through his supplies. As you can tell, it's a very serious job!

Check it out, I happened to catch a moment when they were all working on something!!

Jordyn hard at work! It's hard to believe my baby is in middle school! Where does the time go?

Here's Alexis sporting her comfy capris, pink tank and brown jacket.
Dressed for success? For sure!! Fourth grade looks great on you, Ali!

Mia was pretty excited the entire day. As you can see from the blur of the pencil, she was definitely all about doing the work! When we were finished she asked if she could stay at her desk and color for a little bit. How long do you think it will take for her to not want to stay in school longer than she has to?

All in all, it was great day!!

You might remember....

....a little while ago I posted about a site my husband, Jeremy, had created. It was our desire to provide a site that would provide as much information as possible to help people like us with their adoption process. When we began our process, it started with a good year of research. If we could provide most of that information in one site, we felt that would be a blessing to many, and, hopefully, it would encourage more families to adopt.

In my husband's typical humble fashion, he deleted my post. He didn't want the attention brought to him, but I was proud of all the work he had put into it. So, I have asked if I could post about it again. Finally, he has agreed. We do not want any focus to be on us, but would love for you to take a look and pass on what we believe to be a great resource for international adoption.

While Jordy was away.....

As some of you know, our oldest daughter, Jordyn, was in Florida with a friend for a week. Well, while she was away the fun times didn't stop. I will say, though, that everyone cried when she left and we were jumping for joy upon her return.

We had fun, Jordy, but it still wasn't the same without you.

The Collins came over for a play day before school started. The kids had so much fun. Steven and Camden played really well together(sorry boys I didn't get a picture). As you can see, you can take the kids out of Haiti but you can't take Haiti out of the kids. ; ) They had a blast teaching Alexis how to wash clothes.


Madelyn went on a small adventure, but quickly decided it wasn't as fun as she anticipated.


Alexis and Mia got to have a girls' night out with Aunt Linda. I took their picture before they left for the CD signing of Mission 6. Such beautiful sisters aren't they? As you can see, I relaxed Mia's hair. I had no idea it would be so straight, but it is darling on her and she loves it!!


Hope is our little comic. She is always cracking us up with something she says or does. At the same time, she is just so beautiful. She is the queen at Crenglish right now. Things like...."M' pa cry" and "I'm grangou."
We are still picking. Hope LOVES to pick green beans, but doesn't LOVE eating them so much. We have picked grapes, made grape juice & jam, we picked apples and are planning to make apple butter, appie pies, and maybe stewed apples. I have 3 apple trees and they are loaded, so if you can make it with apples we are going to try. ; )


Jordyn was home, obviously, for this last shot. Fortunately, she made it in time for the apple picking or we would have never been able to reach those good ones. You know the ones that are higher than 4 feet. ; )

My Helpers!

Ali and Mia are my garden helpers. Occasionally they come in with the latest find! This was what they brought me a couple of weeks ago. They were so proud. We made some fabulous Zucchini Bread and it was a HUGE hit!
Hope helped me pick and break green beans the other night, but I didn't get any pictures. Other than the ends getting thrown in the bowl, she was a big helper! Camden helped a little too. I'm not sure what I would do without all my helpers! Thankfully my big helper, Jordyn, will be home from Florida tonight! We are all very excited around here awaiting her return!!

Have you ever watched 'RV'?

We took a weekend camping trip with my family. We are not campers, we as in Jeremy. ; ) I love to camp, him, not so much. He agreed because he knew I wanted to. I don't really know that you could call it camping. We borrowed an RV with ac and 3 televisions. Yep, you guessed it, we were really roughin' it. Here's a few pictures from our adventure.

Looks like a pro, huh?

Camden loved the front seat!

So much to see, so little time.

Meemaw and Camden skipping rocks.

Loren & Jordyn...a little too cool for playing in the water. ; )Ali surprised me! She was all about playing in that muddy water. Turns out Princesses really do like to play in lakes.

Camden and Haigen horse racing! I'm not sure who won.

Meemaw watching her babies play!
Papaw Doug found a little peace and quiet. Not sure how with 7 grandkids running around.
It's ok Rich, I think Mom can get it!Everyone loved the day on the boat! Well, Hope's a little nervous, but she ended up loving it.

Mia & Daddy tubin'!

Mommy & Hope jump in for a swim. Hope was happy as long as she was being held.

Uncle Richie watching the tubin' action.

T.T. & Ali showing off their tubin' tricks!

Uncle Brent looking for the perfect place to throw the tube in.

Mommy & Jordy comin in from tubin. We had a blast!

Hold on!!

It was a great weekend! As we were leaving Hope said, "Bye camping!" Mia is convinced we should do it again. Daddy, well, he's not so convinced!