Kids

Kids

Monday, July 20, 2015

Life Part 14

Happy 13th birthday to this amazing, wonderful, talented, sweet miracle! You amazed us from day 1 with your ability to survive and we're still amazed at you every day. We're so proud to be your parents and love seeing God work through you. We love you Abi-cakes!! Happy 13th!!

 I have to shout out one of my friends who doesn't have FB (but I'll go ahead as tag Eric N Aimeeso I know she sees it). Abi has been one of my closest friends for quite a while now. She knows how to cheer me up, make me laugh, and even what my biggest (and strangest) fears are. She might be pretty different from me, I like t shirts and ponytails whereas she would curl her hair everyday of the week if she could. But today my friend turns 13 and I wanted to make sure it was special for her. Happy 13th Abi! ‪#‎teen‬

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Life Part 13

So what do you do when your son cant sweat or swim on July 4th? You kidnap your great aunt, go to a drive thru safari, Fuzzy Taco's, and Fresh in Tyler! Its been a great day!

 Thank you to all of our friends and family who've been praying for Peter, have brought gifts and goodies, stopped by, stayed at the hospital with us and have called or texted. You make our boy feel loved! (His parents too!) A very big thank you to Andrew, who went above and beyond his big brother duties. Abi was so supportive and encouraging. Peter ate some homemade Mac and cheese for dinner and some sautéed veggies. He asked for seconds! It hurts to talk and smile so he's laying low. His stitches come out next Tuesday (lip construction surgery-July)


Last night, after telling the kids good night, (translation: go to bed) I could still hear a noise. I was yelling (cause I'm an awesome mom like that) at whoever was making that noise to stop and go to bed. Peter came to me and said, "but I'm dancing mom because I'm just so happy!" Dance on, my son, dance on.
And THIS is reason #5,678 why we choose adoption and 'large' families.

 As I think back over the last two weeks, I think about how the passing of a great man and his sweet son has changed us. We want to spend more time with our families, laugh more, enjoy life, take advantage of opportunities, take pictures. And then I think, a Man has already died for us to show us this. He left us His words in the Greatest Book ever. He died so we could have eternity with our friend and his son who've gone before us. We have the example to live by. Tom would be honored that we realize these things but he would want God to get all the glory and honor

 As you consider giving to help the Eynon girls, I do want to share a story that just gives a small glimpse into the Eynon family. Peter had an appointment with Tom and after Tom had pretended to be peters sparring partner and telling him jokes AND refusing to charge us, we witnessed something beautiful. An elderly woman left a store right by Tom's office. It was raining & she couldn't walk well. Tom ran straight to her, grabbed her umbrella, and escorted her to her car at her pace. He opened her door, made sure she was situated, started her car, then gave her umbrella back before dashing back to his office. Peter was mesmerized, wouldn't leave until Tom had gone inside and asked me why he did that. I told him because that's what real men of God do. I texted Caroline, his wife, and told her that she has no idea the impact her husband has on my son. Tom was a real man of God. I could share countless other stories testifying to this fact. Please consider helping Caroline, Kiera, Kennedy, & Ashlyn. Easing their financial burden is something we can all contribute too.

Life Part 12


Thank you Abi for giving up your evening and spending it with Grace to celebrate her birthday! You made her feel so special tonight! Grace looks up to you in so many ways! Thank you sweet girl!
— with Eric N Aimee.

When we are young we have best friends that we make all kinds of plans with. We plan weddings, babies and life. Rarely do those plans work out or those friendships last. Our oldest boys will be 15 very soon and will be going into high school.😳 I am so fortunate to have a friend that has walked through every life experience, both good and bad with me!
— with Eric N Aimee.

I love seeing God's hands in things:
-Our log in date for some very important paperwork is Jan. 2nd-Peter's birthday!
This is not the first time that important dates have coincided. Coincidence? Nope! That's God saying, "I've still got this! Stop trying to take it back!"


When we do not lovingly go to a person whom we have an issue with, we instead turn to petty gossip. What if your doctor told you that you had three weeks to live due to a deadly brain tumor? Oh and he's known for a year but didn't tell you but told everyone else? That's exactly what gossip does. It's deadly, it spreads and it ruins lives.
When we are so hurt and down about life that we do not see the hurts of others, that's not good. We're called to be a community and to bear each other's burdens. We're not called to do life alone.
*This 5 minute sermon from a wise, Godly young woman yesterday was exactly the church that I needed. I was humbled by her Grace and humility
 
 Conversations with 12 year old girls today:
Me: She got a swing! (referring to a gift)
Abi: A what?
Me: A swing!
Abi: Whaaaat? What's a swing?
Me: Are you serious? "Making swinging motions"
Abi: Oh, I thought you meant a dance.

Telling this conversation at dinner:
Danielle:Why would grown people want a swing?
Allison: Not a kids swing!
Danielle: What are you talking about then?
Me: Danielle, what movie did you pick?
Danielle: I picked up.
Me: No, you don't have to pick up. Pick a movie.
Danielle: I picked up.
Me: Danielle! Pick a movie! Not pick up!
Danielle: I picked the movie "Up!"
Me: Oh....
I love life with girls! Girls that remind me of me when I was 12~

 When life seems a bit sad, my sweet hubby brings donuts home for us. It's the small things in life. Celebrate life and love your family. Enjoy the small victories and look for joy and Light. It's there even when darkness tries to hide it.
Fifteen years ago on this day we welcomed Andrew into this world. Fifteen years! We're enjoying watching him grow into the young man God is molding him to be. He's passionate about Christ, a loyal friend, a fun brother, and for the most part the peacemaker in the family. We love you Andrew! Happy birthday!

Life Part 10



And Peter says wazzzzzaaaaapppp !!!
— with Eric N Aimee.



We are in a room and he's doing great! He's sleeping soundly and is doing good off oxygen. (His oxygen always drops after surgery so were used to this) Thank you for the prayers!
Now, more good news! We have travel approval!!! We could leave in a week and a half but as we said before, we want to be home for Christmas and Peters birthday. It will help all around if we wait. We're waiting on our consulate appointment to be confirmed but were praying that we fly out on January 9th and Gotcha Day will be January 12th! (Cool God moment...Peters is the 13th) Here's a picture from our final update. We can't wait to see her smile! And the hand picture is Peter grasping my hand, he wouldn't let go for almost two hours, and he kept telling me thank you for being here. And y'all, that's why we do this crazy thing called adoption. I can't wait for Elise to trust us the same way.

Life Part 9

 omeone's just a little bit excited about the package he just received! We hope to see y'all soon! — with Art-Jen Powell.

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes!! It means so much. I had a wonderful day! I slept late, talked with family and the most precious Grace Cornett, (she stole my heart the moment her mommy told me she was going to have a baby that December) Andrew took me to lunch and went shoe shopping with me, (he's going to bean incredible husband) shopped with the rest of the family, and finished off the day with watching Malificent (must buy it!) And Gremlins. (Eric and I are going g for the best parents award this year. Gremlins and National Lampoons Christmas. Sigh) And I can't forget my peanut butter cupcake! It was great hearing from all of our adopted kids. I love my life!! And I love that you're all in it!! Jesus, thank You for what You have blessed me with at this moment. On to Christmas at mom's tomorrow! (We rocked Peter's world when we said we weren't going to church!)



Whew! We're here! I've tried several times to access my blog and it doesn't like me right now. The plane ride was uneventful (well besides my dream that Mr. Ken Moore was our pilot and whenever turbulence started, he would fight off demons) for the first leg. We finally figured out what was going on in Shanghai (you're flight was cancelled, you don't have a seat, what?) and we arrived with our luggage and a guide met us as planned. Thank the Lord! We went to bed by 2 a.m. Today we toured our little surrounding area with our guide and another family then enjoyed our first Chinese meal with our new friends. It's been a great day! We're heading to bed (Aunt Jessica, please tell the boys we will call tomorrow and to look on WeChat) and tomorrow we get Elise! Thanks for updating everyone Chels!!


Testimony time: At lunch today, we still needed around $4200 (ok, maybe more) to be fully funded. We had asked some friends to specifically pray about what we needed over the last month. To travel, we need $4000 in our hands. When we woke up this morning we had $2000 and we have $4200 on the credit card for flights. At this moment, we have $4,150 in hand, $1,000 to go towards flights, and a promised $2000 more to towards our flights. We are $1200 away from being fully funded. How amazing is our God?! We are beyond excited! To whomever came over today and was our angel, THANK YOU! (You're also great at avoiding security cameras and barking dogs. wink emoticon!) We are in awe of how God answers! The devil has tried so hard to break us down this month but he has not succeeded! Please keep praying for us as we prepare to travel, especially this mom's nerves! We love you all and appreciate you more than you know!
P.S. Peter had a GREAT birthday!!!


Happy 12th birthday Peter!! You bring so much joy into our lives! You're silly, witty, crazy and fun. We love how much you love Jesus and we know He has great plans for your life. We're so thankful that God chose you for our family. And what a treat to celebrate all your birthdays with you now. We love you! (And no, he's not up yet family. Give him another hour. )

Life Part 8

The first day home is in the books! It went very well. Elise woke up at 5 a.m. but played in her bed until 8 a.m. when Andrew took over so I could sleep a bit longer. She loves being outside, despite the cold. She played with the dogs a lot and she LOVES Peter. All of the kids are doing very well with her! Easing into our new normal...Praying for many new friends as they travel home to their new normal tonight!

 We are overwhelmed by the love we were shown tonight! We were so excited to see a full driveway when we pulled up, cheering for Elise! There were signs, pictures, food and hugs all around. I wish we could have invited you all in for a party! Thank you for understanding and showing up for a 15 minute welcome! And my house is SO clean! All of our kids are under the same roof, some talking at the table with dad about the Bible, some playing in their rooms, all smiling and happy. My heart is full! We love you all and cannot thank you enough for the love you show our family!!


Our ETA is about 8:30!! We hope you can come say a quick hi to our new daughter and the newest American citizen!