Life is not easy for our family. Thankfully, I sense that there is a new work in all of our hearts that I am loving We all have our moments of selfishness and heartache, but lately I have noticed that many of the issues we are dealing with are just boys being little boys and parents being imperfect people and not about the pains of adoption. I would say that means we have taken several steps forward. YAY!!




Um...everyone being pretty compliant to Mom's request for a Monday picture



OK. never mind i think we are finished.

This was supposed to be a 30 minute quiet time
Guess he was a little tired today.
Kellye, notice we are still enjoying this book!!



This girl has got some skills.
One of her favorite things these days is pushing the ball across the floor.
Her Daddy has already said that football is out of the question,
and basketball is a maybe as long as she doesn't play feisty like her Momma ;).



She has got some great big bubba's. They sure love little G...and boy do her eyes light up when they give her attention.
Notice that adorable little hand holding his shirt
Makes my heart smile.



I love how hard he works and the creativity he uses when building Lego's.
I am never in question as to what he might want for a gift.

Family Pix!

For those of you who will not be making a visit to our home.  Here are the pictures we will soon be putting on our walls. Today we got our curtains up and some deep cleaning accomplished, so I am hopeful that day will be soon.

Thanks to my wonderful big sis we were able to capture some sweet moments on camera. Getting family pictures taken was one of those things I had in my heart, but knew it was one of those things that would be hard to get done. I don't think I had even spoke it but of course my sis is just like that. We are connected.  She knows me well.  During one of our visits she surprised us with having one of her friends come over in between the swim party and steak dinner. It was our family, my parents, my sisters and their families...and just some of my favorite memories EVER!!. I heart my family!

NINE years baby!!
Love this man!

a few favorites

These were from our time in the States!

Sweetness.

A little glimpse into our life.
Beauty.
Peace.
Rough Waters.
Stronger Family.
Repeat

Daddy Love
Sidenote: Notice the vest on Nime. Now i may not have the best taste in style but I would not have put these two together. We are not sure how this vest got on him becuase when we dropped him off at Sunday School  he was not wearing this. Either--
A. He wore it the week before and took it off for some reason, so his teacher had it there for him the next week

                                    B. He thought this looked like hia new vest and told his three year old friend to hand it over.  

                                    C. His parents were way too tired and stressed and don't have a clue as to what actually happened.
                      As I was packing I am pretty sure I counted 5 vest... we were only supposed to have 4!      

We LOVE the beach.
Even if the wind was so strong we could hardly stand up.

Getting healthy

We are currently in the States getting "healthy". It was completely unexpected and not exactly in our plans for this summer. As we all know His ways are different than ours and even though we did not foresee this detour He is using all things for His purposes. Of this we are certain.

 Anyone who has walked the road of adoption knows that there will be days of great pain and loss mixed with many days of great joy and healing. Adoption is needed because there are orphans. It seems like such an obvious thought, but to grasp the depth in which a child has had to suffer is seen on a daily basis only by the family who welcomes them into their home. It takes time to take away one's own personal status of fear and abandonment. They are no longer on their own but those chains take time and love to willingly be released. Adoption is beautiful but at times its just ugly. Jesus has redeemed each of them and even though we must walk this difficult journey...He is the reason why these precious boys are in our life. It is Christ who sets the lonely in families and it is He who will restore each of their hearts. Refinement for hubs and myself seems pretty high up on the agenda as well during this season of healing.

Our family is hopeful that we will return to EA with walls  rebuilt and hearts set securely on the Lord. This detour has been trying at times yet as a family we are aiming to laugh a lot and enjoy being in Creation as much as possible. Notice the green in every picture.

Best buds

These boys are too much

Letting Mom enjoy a day soaking up US history spots

Last Mother's Day we had two children at home,
a year later there are five!



Love them.

 

This week

 Just a few days shy of five months.

  I really can't believe this...she is growing up way too fast.

 Our Ayi (Aunt) spending some time with the boys.

Zeke would spend a whole afternoon working on these if I would let him.

 I guess I am the kind of Mom who says, "Go play some basketball, you need a break from all that thinking."

Cause you are only three once!!

Thanks Grammy for all the fun, educational toys!!

Some old and new friends.

Let's just say going out to dinner with friends sure is different with five sweet ones!!

Nime was present for this function but decided to opt out of the picture taking.

Vacay pictures to come.

Get ready to see 5 little cuties enjoying the

BEACH!!

Three months

I absolutely love having a baby!!

It's a unique and wonderful thing experiencing the newborn stage

 for the very first time with your fifth child.

I am so thankful for these moments with sweet Gloria. 

These days are intensely sweet as we watch her change and grow.

The Lord is so good in His ways to give us this gift at just this time.

Daily we are amazed by her miraculous life.

She is such a peaceful and joyful little one.

All bundled up.

Twister with her brothers.
She was glad that they said she only had to play on the yellow and green circles.
Am I a silly Mom to think of taking this picture?? I think so!!  I am trying to laugh more these days and this made all of us laugh during this family fun night.

Dancing with Daddy
This little girl just loves her Daddy.
I am not sure how all of this works?
 You spend months with them in your tummy,
feeding them about twenty-one times a day,
 taking care of all their needs each day...
but it's their Daddy that captures their hearts with just a look.
 Honestly, I think its beautiful and just the way our Heavenly Father intended.

Oh, those beautiful eyes

Laughing at Daddy

TJ making Gloria laugh
All of the boys are such great big brothers.  They are so tender with her and so willing to help me take care of her.Very thankful for this.

Our big three month old

This little girl spent the first two months of her life sleeping...



NOW she is like this during most of her waking hours.



Nime would hold her all day everyday if I would let him.

memories

We have lived a lot of life these past few months. 

We had a baby.
We experienced the holidays with our family in the States. Oh, how we miss them.
We had...worms, fungus, parasites, bed bugs (in the hair), threat of a serious illness.
We packed 8 suitcases and only lost 1 carry-on. It disappeared somewhere from the last airport to the van that took us home.
We traveled for three days to return to our home in EA.
We (all the boys got haircuts
We hosted 20 people in our city.
We had a big, big party.
We experienced Christmas as a family of seven.

Most of all...we have become family.

We are still daily learning what this means for each one of us, but we are all making great progress.  There are so many lessons we are learning about life, love and contentment.  We are in the trenches. Getting a little dirty but choosing to embrace with a heart of thankfulness all that He has given us. 

I will not be able to post a ton of pictures from the past few months so I will just begin again with pictures from the Christmas season.  These are the memories I will cherish in years to come.




The boys sitting at the table working on a puzzle together





staring at this sweet face and experiencing so many of the
 first that comes with having a newborn





The boys putting together some goodies for our visitors.
They got the assembly line down, except for Nime wanting to eat all the chocolates





Seeing the boys getting to play with their toys they hadn't seen for months.
Does this tell you just a little something about his personality.





Hours and hours of seeing and hearing the boys act out the Christmas story





His fascination with the story of Christmas
If you look closely you can see
Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus and a donkey





Making Christmas cookies together and sharing them with friends





All of us laughing as we see baby girl try to smile





Letting the boys put out my Mammar's nativity



Learning to be OK with a mountain of sprinkles on the cookies





The many friends who stopped by to welcome our newest members of the family





Our traditional Mexican Fiesta on Christmas Eve
We actually had to celebrate it a day early, so technically I guess it was
Christmas Eve Eve





the boys deciding to form a band so that our Christmas carols would be a little more lively





His excitement over receiving His very own Bible



Treasuring those few moments where its just the two of us.