School 2012-2013

Our weekend revolved around preparing for the upcoming school year...upcoming as in Tuesday.
We spent Saturday doing our own things and just relaxing and taking in family time.
Sunday we went to church, had a family lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and then headed to walmart for a little shopping. We finished at Walmart to see the movie The Odd Life of Timothy Green. It was absolutely amazing and so recommended for any family. Especially if you are an adoptive family. It portrays things perfectly and in such a wonderful light.
After the movie we went for ice cream and headed to the Elementary, Middle and High school to pray over each school. We prayed for the upcoming school year and each of the students going.
Monday was spent shopping, packing, crying, preparing and sleeping! We kissed summer 2012 goodbye and began our 2012-2013 school year with open arms.
This is a big school year for our family.
I am officially a Junior in High school {you can all gasp...and or cry..with me}
AND Anna Grace and Andrew began KINDERGARTEN.
Unbelievable.
We have been blessed with an absolutely FABULOUS Elem school and both of them have wonderful teachers. I cannot wait to watch the year unfold. Tuesday was our first day and so far it has been very smooth and uneventful :)

Junior Year

 Eighth Grade

Fourth Grade

Kindergarten 

Kindergarten

Happy School Days, Y'all! 

Eight Months.

We are approaching our 8 month gotcha day of Miss Ainsley Ting and I can't lie that my emotions are completely out of check with this date.

Exactly; 7 months and 27 days or 240 days.

In that amount of time, we have been blessed to see the promise

Behold, I make all things NEW 

                                        -Revelation 21:5

and He does.

Ainsley is living proof of that promise. He made her new. He worked miracles in a tiny little girl.

Eight months ago, Ainsley lain in an orphanage desperate for hope, desperate for love, and desperate for a family. When Ainsley was placed in our arms. We were scared. Actually, terrified. She was tiny. Oh-so-tiny. She weighed 12lbs exactly and was 2 1/2 years old. She made no noise, my hands fit around her waist easily, and she made no effort to use her legs at all. She was a two year old in a newborn baby's body. It was heart wrenching and on the bus ride from the civil affairs office to the restaurant, I sobbed. Ugly tears. Our time in China was tough. Ainsley was sick and pitiful and we were desperate for home and doctors and security of getting our girl the help she needed.

When we sent PA for Ainsley and as we waited for her to come home we knew that there were no promises in her health or in her needs. It was open ended and that was okay because she was ours. We knew that.

Once home we were amazed at her progress. She was going to be okay! Every day for the past 240 days she has made progress. From holding a bottle on her own to feeding herself to learning to crawl then to walk and now to talking. Every single step was HUGE. Every little milestone of something we were told she would never do we rejoiced.

And this weekend while on family vacation we reflected over the past 240 days. At where she has come from and where she is going and we are simply thankful. As she runs around with Andrew and Anna Grace laughing loudly and energetically with her sweet belly laugh. As she yells "No Ashton" because I am trying to keep her from doing something that would hurt her we are overjoyed. In love and looking forward to the next 240 days and MANY, MANY more to come. Ainsley is going to have a story like no other and we cannot wait to shout it from the rooftops and proclaim what HE has done! For He has done GREAT things, things planned LONG ago.

Thank you, Jesus for your beautiful redemption and for making things NEW. Thank you for blessing us with the miracle of Ainsley Faith Ting. 

We love you so, so much sweet love and look forward to seeing God's amazing plan for you unfold. 


Happy Sunday, Y'all. Check out more Sunday Snapshots @ NiHaoY'all

Wordless Wednesday

...because sometimes words just won't do.

Sunday Snapshot; Shoes.

I adore shoes. I am obsessed with them and I probably own way too many. I buy them way too often and take the for granted way too much.
When I was in Uganda my opinion on shoes changed, drastically.

Not thinking, I brought a few pairs of cute-not practical shoes to Uganda. I spent almost every day in Uganda wearing a black {now red with dirt} pair of converse, the sandals below or some old Gray TOMS. 

In Uganda, to have a pair of shoes is a LUXURY. Can you imagine? I have 40 pairs of shoes in my closet and these children are lucky to have two mismatched shoes that are torn to pieces. My heart broke with each pair of bare little feet I saw as I walked through the streets. 

Shoes are such a big deal. Without shoes these children are opened up to all kinds of diseases and parasites that can get into their feet. Some of the parasites/diseases can cause these children to lose their feet/legs or even die. THAT is how incredibly important shoes are! It's a sad reality. 

One thing to know about me, I LOVE Toms. I wear TOMS all the time and I love what TOMS does even more. For every pair of shoes you buy, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need somewhere around the world. Awesome, right? Now, not to say I didn't believe this buy a pair, give a pair deal. I did. I loved looking through pictures of sweet children with new shoes that supported their feet and kept them safe. LOVED it.  

But, I honestly never thought I would see TOMS in the middle-of-nowhere, Uganda. never. So, you can imagine my surprise and JOY when I saw a tiny little girl, walking with me to get water wearing a black pair of TOMS. my heart leapt! How exciting, I thought. A little girl in Uganda is now wearing a GOOD pair of shoes that will protect her feet and keep her safe. It is such a relief for these children and parents too. Unimaginable. 

Her shoes were by far the best shoes of any child I saw while in the village that day. She was a beautiful darling little girl who I am so blessed to have hugged, loved, and painted her finger nails. 

I am constantly overwhelmed with the amazing God I serve and the amazing LOVE He has for the child-for the Orphan. 

Now, go buy a pair of TOMS and give a pair to a darling little one somewhere around the World. If you can't do that, pray for these children, for these people and for the ones who are not as fortunate as you and don't have the luxury of a pair of shoes.