Our first Party-Of-Five Photo Shoot

We are still alive! I knew I'd taken a break from blogging...but I hadn't really realized that my last post was TWO months ago! Hopefully now that school (including our home school kindergarten) is underway I will be back to normal, blog-wise. I have so many blog posts written in my head, I'd love to get them actually posted. And I just moved over THREE HUNDRED pictures off my iPhone. So you know, I'll be sharing some of those.

But for now, I have MUCH better pictures to share.

During our year of adoption waiting I was able to make a lovely blog/facebook friend named Mandie Joy. Mandie and her also-lovely friend Rachel were in Uganda last year, and through a God-ordained set of crazy events, ended up being foster Mommies to a beautiful group of children (all of whom are home with their forever families now, praise the Lord.)  I love Mandie's heart, honesty, and willingness to trust the Lord, and I enjoyed following her foster-mommy adventures. I was thrilled to run into her in real life in Kampala, and even more thrilled to be stuck in the embassy waiting room with her. It sounds so heroic to love children as your own until their forever mommies can get there - and I know that Rachel and Mandie gladly handed their babies (and big girl) over, knowing for sure it was the Lord's plan. But I also know they loved unreservedly, and I know that following God's will doesn't exempt us from pain. And y'all know I'm not that great at surface-y. So I was happy the embassy gave me a chance to ask my hopefully-not-too-nosy questions about how her heart was doing.

Mandie spent part of her childhood in Nebraska, and has family in Omaha, so in addition to sharing a love for Uganda, she shares my love for the Nebraska sky (and loves seeing my little Ugandan Husker). She is back in the states now, and in addition to many other things, has been able to further develop her already stunning photography skills. She has MAD skills, I love her photography. Imagine my joy when in response to a joking comment on one of her photo shoots ("Hey, if you're ever in Nebraska, I'll let you take our picture!"), I found out she was going to be in Omaha in August and was willing to do a photo shoot with us. What a gift!! It was super fun to see her again (in real life), again hear the real deal of how she was doing, AND get some really stunning pictures of our family - the first as a family of 5. Check it out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really love these pictures. I think what I like best about Mandie as a photographer is that she seems to have a gift for seeing people - for capturing their personalities. I saw it in pictures she has taken of people I don't even know, so imagine how much I love it in my very own people? So some of the less formal pictures she took are my favorites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 She got a lot of really adorable shots of Micah. I mean, he's a cute kid, so it's hard to go wrong. But these next three pictures? Priceless:

 

 And these peek-a-boo (or as he calls it, "pook-a-loo") pictures make me smile:

 

 

Micah has started to notice the number of pictures of the other boys, and pictures of us as a family that he's not in. So I'm super thankful to have so many good ones of him to scatter about. You can never have too many pictures, right?

However... some of my favorites are not really print-and-frame worthy. If you are facebook friends with me, you may have heard this story: When we were getting shots of me with the boys, Mandie tried to get one of me holding Micah, with the older two kissing me.

 Micah was having NONE of that. We didn't even get close to getting a good picture of that because he wanted to kiss me too. And then he wanted to have a turn kissing me all by himself. My favorite picture is of him trying to push the other two away so he could get me to himself.

 So then we let him have a kissing picture all to himself. How cute is that?

We got some fun feet pictures, which I love (I don't know what my thing is with feet pics, I think it comes from seeing the cute pictures on my friend Amy's blog, which is called "Feet to our Faith." Love it.

 

 That's probably plenty to share, but I can't stop. We had so much fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankful for every one of these beautiful pictures, and that the kids had the stamina to enjoy it almost right up until the end. We did the feet pictures last, which is probably good. Because by the time we were finishing, and talking to Mandie and her awesome aunt and cousin, this is what Tobin looked like:

Finished. In case you're wondering, that expression is called, "Mom, will you PLEASE stop talking and take me to Sonic for a slushie like you promised?"


You really should check out Mandie Joy's blog, it is GORGEOUS. Just like her heart.

Capture Gratitude: VBS, Weddings, Dentist appointments, and ANSWERED PRAYER

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There is no event so common place but that God is present within it, always hidden, always leaving you room to recognize Him or not to recognize Him.”  Fredrick Buechner 

                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

155. SWIM LESSONS
The younger two boys took swim lessons at Lifestrokes this summer. It was a LOT more expensive than where we've taken them before - but I think Tobin got further in his first lesson at Lifestrokes than in six weeks at the other place. Plus = they LOVED it.

156. WEDDINGS
 I mentioned before we had a lot of dear friends getting married this weekend. On July 13, both Tobin and I got to be in this beautiful girl's wedding. What a joy.

 And have you EVER seen such a cutie ring bearer?



157. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
I'm sorry to all of the other volunteers at VBS, but I have the BEST job. I get to teach the Bible lesson to the 4 year old class (and to the 3 year olds, who are all children of volunteers...including my own little 3 year old this year.) I was so intimidated the first year I was asked to teach - I'm used to college students, but teaching the Bible to FOUR year olds?? As it turns out: I love them. Getting to tell them that they have a Father who loves them, who will never let go of them, and encourage them to trust Him? Gold.

 I also loved  driving a van full of crazies every day:

 And the kids had a super time. Micah enjoyed his first experience ("Go go Micah's class?") Luke volunteered with the Rec teams (and especially enjoyed the shaving cream day.) And Tobin was with great pals.

 We had an awesome closing program, with the tractor train, and tons of bounce houses. My kids would have been happy staying there all night.

158. BISCUIT DONUTS
Matt was out of town last weekend, and we had a VERY busy weekend as Luke's basketball team played in the Cornhusker State Games (which means his brothers got to watch the CARS movie all the way through more than 2 times as we drove back and forth across town.) We celebrated with a fun Saturday morning breakfast, carrying on a tradition my mom started. More on these coming soon!

159. BROTHERS
Brother practice is working out pretty well, as long as I'm consistent in implementing it. And some brotherly love comes naturally. Here's Micah "helping" Luke mow the lawn.

 And of course these two are best buds.

160. FACING MY FEARS: AKA Taking Micah to the Dentist
Y'all. I have been dreading taking Micah to the dentist. An hour before we went, I actually got on the Ugandan adoptive parents group (my support group!) and asked for prayer and encouragement. I think I was having some post-traumatic stress from the blood draw we had to do on Micah the first week home. Plus, I knew that (without dental insurance) it was likely to hit our budget pretty hard too. Micah had visible cavities, though, so I knew we needed to bite the bullet.

Good news and bad news: The good news is that Micah LOVED the dentist. It helped a lot that he got to watch both big brothers in the chair first. And I should have known that my little oral-sensory craving boy would enjoy all the sensory input at the dentist. He especially loved the suction thingy (I'm sure that's its official name, right?) He actually liked that so much he wouldn't let go, the hygienist had to turn off the suction before he'd open his lips. :)

The bad news: I was correct about the amount of terrible going on with his teeth. That's the result of 2 years of no dental care, but mostly: volunteers who visit orphanages bring candy. The dentist said the damage was all done long ago, no amount of brushing and care we've done since then could have helped. Sigh.

I actually CRIED in the dentist office when they told me what all we need to do, and how much it's going to cost. (cue: embarrassment. I'm used to crying, but this was not an appropriate place or time!) I prayed with the boys as we left the office - thanking the Lord for the privilege of providing for Micah, that I'm attached enough to him to really worry about surgery and all that's coming his way, and especially reminding myself (and thanking the Lord yet again) that God provided almost $20K for M's adoption. He hasn't stopped caring for Micah, and He hasn't stopped providing for us.

I have NO reason not to trust Him. Speaking of that...


161. ANSWERED PRAYER

When I was in Uganda the first time, I met a precious little girl named Esther. We had prayed about being her family, but felt like the Lord said no. But I prayed and told Him that I didn't know how I could leave her there, so asked Him to please let her family come forward before I got there...otherwise, we would assume that compassion trumps feeling, and begin working toward her. Then we got matched with Micah...and a family did come forward for Esther, so when I met her a year ago this week, she was spoken for. As I predicted, I fell in love with Esther and was glad she had a family, so I could know for sure she was not ours. After we came home with Micah, this family went to Uganda for court, and for the first time faced the reality of Esther's needs. It was devastating, but they walked away from her.

I know that it's not about me - but my heart was broken. I tried to convince Matt that we needed to go back for Esther immediately - and he pointed out that we were in the throes of adjustment with Micah, and still had a ways to go before paying off his adoption. He was pretty sure we were not God's answer for Esther. I was comforted to know that the Lord cares FAR more for Esther than I do, and that others who were much more involved than we were had the opportunity to work behind the scenes toward another family for this precious creation of God.

Boy did the Lord have this COVERED. He wrote such a better end of the story than I could have guessed - beyond what I could ask or imagine for SURE. He brought the PERFECT family for Esther, and they are in LOVE. I'll let you go and meet them for yourselves, because my descriptions can hardly do them justice: Meet Esther's family here.

I've been praying daily (and at times moment by moment) for Jenny & Esther (and Jenny's oldest son, Sebastian), as they've waited on court papers, passports and visas. Last week I came home from VBS and did my daily facebook stalking...and saw that they were on a PLANE.

On July 25 I was THRILLED to read Jenny's facebook status...

We are HOME!!! Esther is still sleeping and slept through the entire airport reunion but her siblings had a blast kissing her and telling her about all the good times they will have!!! I feel like I'm in a dream! And my dream of avoiding the ER has come true too....the hospital can wait...we're having a family slumber party!!!!

Here is Esther a year ago when I first met her...

 And here she is now. :)

Seriously. Go check Jenny's blog to see Esther with her precious family (once they come out of the jetlag + I'm so happy to be back with my husband and kids = no blogging phase). It's amazing.

Words fail me. I am so thankful to get to see the end of the story - which is just the beginning for Esther. Praise Jesus!

What a difference a year makes...

A year ago today, I was on a plane to Uganda, to meet Micah for the first time.

On the day before I left, my dad was diagnosed with Colon cancer. Today, he has completed his treatment and surgery to put his insides all back together. He is cancer free, and looking forward to starting the school year as a healthy man again. Praise the Lord.

I'm also REALLY thankful to be sleeping right where I am - as much as I appreciated my friend Amy's couch that first night in Kampala... I woke up that Sunday morning feeling SO SICK, lonely, tired, and cut off from everyone that I know. Looking back, I remember:
- Being picked up by a stranger, in the middle of the night, on the other side of the earth. Giving myself a STERN talking to on the hour drive from the airport to Amy's house. My two instincts were to fall asleep, or burst into tears, neither of which would have been appropriate.
- Having lunch with Amy and Jesse and their family at the "mall", and experiencing Kampala traffic for the first time.
- Driving to the baby home, meeting the awesome guest house manager (who I've since come to know very well), and then being taken over to the babies. Being called "Mama Marvin" for the first time.
- Seeing Micah for the first time, with his flowery purple and pink shirt on :). He had just woken up from nap, and  he buried his face in my neck, the way he still does now when he first wakes up.

Here's the message that I sent out after my first full day in Uganda, meeting Micah.

*****

Hi Friends!
Thank you all so much for your precious words and encouragement and prayers!! I see that Matt sent out a message that I'm here and met our little M. He is a CUTIE. I am thankful for the sweetness of our first moments, I'll treasure that memory (especially the fact that - since the kids are dressed from a stack of clothes, whatever is on top - he was wearing a pink and purple flowered shirt. :D)

I was very weepy and emotional my first night - it was harder than I expected to arrive here alone. But I've settled in, and made good friends with some of the other volunteers at our babies home - there is one American girl, the rest are British and Dutch, and they've been delightful to me, helping me learn the ropes (and bringing me to the internet cafe this morning.)

Meet with our lawyer later today - and probably get to postpone my first boda (motorcycle taxi) ride, since the meeting is late enough that it wouldn't be safe (...or it would be EVEN LESS SAFE than the very unsafe-ness it is anyway. :D)

Would you pray...
...for my heart. The kids here are very well taken care of, but you can see how starved they all are for personal attention. They compete to get on my lap, yesterday I had 6 kids climbing all over me, with M right in the middle trying to push everyone else off.
...for our legal process. The reality that the end of this journey is unsure is really in my face, now that I've seen our little M. Pray that I'd trust the Lord no matter what, and not live in fear.
...for extra capacity to love and serve, and wisdom as I interact today with the babies home administrator and our lawyer.

*****

Here we are a year ago:

And now:

Saying thank You Jesus hardly seems to cover it.