The Wedding, Part I

It occurred to me that I've never shared the wedding pictures, shame shame.

Here's a teaser...

Ruined? A Bio Kid Speaks on Adoption

It's a well known fact that I (and my husband!) can talk adoption all day long, but what do our bio kids have to say about it?  You might be able to tell how much they love their siblings by the way they care for them, play with them and communicate with them.  But when one of them told me his Comp I instructor allowed him to choose a topic for his paper, and wrote about adoption, it touched my heart.

This is significant to me on so many levels.  When we started adopting 11 years ago, and had three biological children, ages 6, 7 and 14, one criticism we got was, "You'll ruin your family.  You won't be able to pay for your kids' college or buy them a car."  

*news flash* My parents didn't pay for my college or buy me a car, and they didn't adopt.  

We've got one college graduate, one college freshman and another entering college next year.  All three have vehicles, and... you guessed it, we didn't buy those either.  They did.

Nine adoptions later and we still hear similar arguments.  What it boils down to, for us, is... what are we living our lives for?  Who are we living for?

Adoption isn't for everyone.  Adopting doesn't make one family any holier than another.  It certainly isn't a way to get into heaven.  For Clayton and I, it is a way of living out Christ's love for us by loving others.  When He redeemed us 13 years ago we surrendered everything to Him.  Willingly. joyfully, completely.  It's not always easy, and we constantly have an inner battle with our selfish flesh.  But every aspect of adoption, from the paper work, the thorough home studies, the waiting, the faith for provision and the transition has built character in us and our children.

Here is Kolton's Comp I paper.  As an English student, I will tell you it has a few grammatical errors, and he changed some of the facts ~ (you know, names have been changed to protect the innocent:).  But evidently the content and subject superseded the flaws because he got a 100!

So, maybe my kids are ruined.  And that's not a bad thing!

 10/28/14 

Little Bundle of Joy 

A group of short women wearing the same outfit walk into the room, each one with a little dark haired baby wearing way too much clothing for the temperature in the building. Everyone in the area is sniffling and wiping back tears of joy as the women with the little bundles of silent babies, line up. 

There are about 60 million orphaned children in all of Asia. The cause of most of the orphans in China is their one and two child policies. When a family is only allowed to have one child, they are forced to desperately try to conceive a boy so their family name can continue to survive. 

So, what happens when a family has a girl? Girls are simply dumped in alleys, left on doorsteps, put in drainage ways, or dropped at bus stops. These cruel means of abandonment are due to the fact that it is illegal to put your own child into an orphanage. 

There is hope for these children. On a normal summer morning, my older brother and I, gone, my sister playing in her room, my parents sit silently reading their bibles in the living room. The silence is broken by my mom’s voice, “Have you ever thought of adoption,” she says to my dad. “Yes, I have actually, all week I have been thinking about it,” he replied. 

Without them even knowing it, the Lord had stirred both of their hearts for the same cause. “I have been thinking about China and all the orphaned girls there,” my mom says. “I was also thinking of somewhere in Asia,” said my dad. 

At that moment they both knew what they were supposed to do. Whenever my mom had spare time after that she spent it on the computer researching international adoption. She poured over detail after detail on every single adoption website. She eventually found blogs from adoptive families which turned out to be a great resource for learning the steps of the international adoption process. 

After my mother read many blogs, she found that she needed to talk to an adoption agency, Dillon. Dillon is an international adoption agency out of Tulsa, that my mom got hooked up with to get even more information. She talked to a very nice sounding lady that gave her all the minuscule details that she had so desperately dug for. 

My parents decided to travel to Tulsa to meet with this faceless bearer of all good information. Upon arriving at Dillon they walked into the nicely sized building and met a receptionist. The lady at the door sent them back to an office where they met the rather wrong image of the woman my mother had talked to on the phone. The voice on the phone had come from a large statured, red haired, almost burly looking woman. Despite her appearance, she was the nicest woman someone would ever want to meet. The nice sounding lady helped them tremendously and my parents actually left that day with the information of a baby girl. 

Many months, fundraisers, sleepless nights, and endless prayers later, my parents and my older brother found themselves in the middle of the densely populated country of China. While in the great country, my family took warm muggy boat rides down ever-flowing rivers with steep jagged limestone walls on each side, reaching up toward the sky. 

The giant white people walked through extensive market places that were set up for a much shorter person. The smell of the thick, grungy air followed them everywhere they went, even to the little city in which they were to obtain their baby girl.

 My family members arrived with several other families at the building that their guides led them to. Inside the building all the families were instructed to stand in this blank room and wait patiently for what was to come. 

Then, out of nowhere, a group of short women wearing the same outfit walk into the room, each one with a little dark haired baby wearing way too much clothing for the temperature in the building. Everyone in the area is sniffling and wiping back tears of joy as the women with the little bundles of silent babies, line up. In that moment, the moment every single one of those families had been waiting so long for, my mom and dad were united with their own chunky little bundle of joy. 

Since that awesome point in time my parents have adopted seven more of my wonderful brothers and sisters and are in the process to bring home another. My mom has kept a blog through all the adoptions of my siblings. Through my mother’s blog, and other outreach programs, she has mentored, and encouraged many families through the adoption process. She even helped start an adoption fund grant foundation. From that one single bundle of joy branched countless precious lives saved.

TO HIM BE GLORY!

Time Flies!

As much as I'd like, I can't slow the pace of life!

We currently live by a schedule of events.

I guess that happens when there are teens in the house.

But this teen of ours has grown up much too fast!

He hasn't even graduated, and I'm already thinking of how sad I will be when he moves to college.

He is the Krew member hardest to get pictures of because he's on the go!

He's a hard worker, a dedicated athlete, and a loyal friend.

Here are a few of the pictures my friend Lori captured of our second oldest, Kolton Tee:

*Pictures by That One Girl Lori Photography*

*You can be sure this mama will get more pictures in the coming months*

And Somewhere Along the Way He Grew Up!

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of my now 18-year-old, Kolton Tee!

Precious!

 

I don't know where the time has gone, but this sweet boy has grown into a young man.

Kolton and Allie Joy

We ask the kids what they want for their birthday dinner.  It's too bad he wasn't interested :)

 

This guy is becoming such a godly young man!  We were so blessed for him to share a message of Truth at our last 5th Quarter.  God has great things in store for him!

 

He is an awesome public speaker, athlete and leader.

 (photos by Morgan K. Photography)

 

On the tackle!

On the carry!

 

With big bro and little sis. 

 

Always Sometimes a wise guy ;-)

 

 

Kolton Tee, we are so proud of you, and we look forward to what God has for you!

Happy 18th birthday, son!

They're Home ~ Airport Party

Airport partay!

There they are!!!

The signs

The Dad

 The Sister

 The Girl

 The Team

What's wrong with these people :)  It's 11:30 pm!

 Coming in for landing...

 The many faces of Kenzie

The Ride

Can't wait to hear The Report...whenever Kolton wakes up :)

Celebrating Seventeen!

Two of our boys turned 17...within the last 2 months!

Kolton Tee!

This makes me cry happy tears :)

Kooper Joe! *I'm sorry your mom is such a dork and we didn't get a picture without my stupid expressions*

Good food and good friends!

Happy birthday, boys!  
We love you!!!

You Haven't Really...

... passed a driver's test till you've passed it in one of these...
...with a bunch of these! *it made for interesting conversation with the exam officer*

Way to go, KOLTON TEE, you farm-boy-can-drive-anything!

Happy Birthday, Kolton Tee!!!!

Number 16!

Some days we didn't think you'd make it to 16 :)

Then again, it took us 4 years to have you ~ but that's a story for another day.

Anyway, we are so proud of you, son!

Frogmore Stew...

...an ordinary roll of toilet paper...
...with a whole bunch of green rolled up inside. That mighta sounded wrong.
...an incredibly scary gift...
...with very explicit instructions.
And one proud mama!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, indeed!

Released for Play!

One of our doctor's visits netted great results today!

Kolton has been released to play again!

We are praying the muscle continues to heal without further injury...

and the bone chip repairs itself.
Let's go, 25!

She's Gonna Do It!

I am confident our Joy will walk one day very soon!

Last night she made it to a squatting position...then stood up for a second!!! Of course, I missed the photo, I was so excited!

Tuesday we meet with PT to outline the therapy plan. I'm excited to learn ways to encourage, strengthen and teach her how to get upright. She's already gotten so much stronger in the three months she's been home.

Thank you for praying for Kolton. Got a call from radiology today that when his muscle tore, it pulled a bone chip with it. We'll know more tomorrow when we see ortho.

)))))Pinch Me((((((

We are so ready to go - NOT! But at least we're throwing stuff in the general direction of the luggage.

But we still have a crazy schedule and a lot of reality to live this week before we leave.
Pinch me, please!!!!

Oh, to answer your question ~

Yes, I will be blogging while in China!!!

Happy Birthday, Kambry Hope!

Warning: The following pictures are in random order because...well, frankly, I've lost my mind!

The last two weeks of school are insane with 573 banquets and every other activity we can cram into a 10-day time span. With 8 days till we leave, I still have 2,852 trips to W*l-Mart, 1 graduation banquet, 2 graduations, 1 video to prepare, 1 book summary to write...ah well, you get it. All this craziness leading up to the glorious homecoming of our girls. I'm sure things will settle down once Kasidi and Kennah are home - bahahahahaha.

Way to go, Kolton Tee, lettering in football, basketball, baseball and track!

Kambry wanted her ears pierced for her birthday. And ice cream for being a big girl.
We managed to squeeze a celebration into our weird schedule, even if it was at 9 pm. Kambry Hope, you are a joy!
Just what she wanted, another pillow pet and purple earrings.
How do you really feel about that?


I hope you have a wonderful day! I need to book flights...and run to W*l-Mart...