Christmas

 A photo of our family before going to Christmas Eve Service

 Little Miss before church

 All the kiddos

 The boys opening gifts

 Look!!!  Lips gloss!!!

 Here she is cooking us some breakfast!!

 Addison got a new kitchen & shopping cart!  She loved them!

 Jack opening gifts

 Nick was relaxing in his new sweats

 Drew got his long-awaited golden headphones!!

 Ahh!!!  gold headphones. 

 Drew & Nick got new shoes

 Jack chillin with his new necklace & sweatshirt

 Addison playing with her kitchen

Dad helping Addison open gifts

Highly Favored

Luke 1:28: "And having come in, the angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!'"

Most of us have heard this passage taught or read. It the very familiar passage where the angel tells Mary she will carry the Jesus who will be conceived by the Holy Spirit. It is remarkable to think that this young girl had an angel appear to her and tell her she was "highly favored" by God. How would that make you feel? How you react if you were told you were highly favored by God? Wouldn't that be an incredible thing? Wouldn't that change your perspective on life, yourself, your future? How would you react? What would you say in return? Would you sign for joy, fall down in worship, or just allow the precious words to resonate in your mind? Well, God has said that to you - to anyone who is His child – anyone whose life is hidden in Christ through faith in His completed work on the cross. He said it in Ephesians 1:6: "to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." You might be thinking, why that doesn't say the same thing, but it does! You see the Greek verb that means "highly favored "is "charitoo." This verb is only used on other place and that is in Ephesians 1:6. Here the verb "charitoo" is translated "has made us accepted." Although our English translations don't same the same phrasing, it is the exact same verb in the Greek. It is the exact same tense, same usage, and same meaning in both Luke 1:28 & Ephesians 1:6. Think about that. You, if you are a child of God, are highly favored, just like Mary - highly favored in the eyes of God. What an awesome thought. Merry Christmas.

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Cor. 9:15)

(Thoughts borrowed from Dr. Erwin Lutzer Moody church – Chicago)

Foster mom gifts!!

Addison's sweet foster mom in Korea mailed her some early Christmas gifts! 

 Here are two Korean books for her!

Here is the letter she wrote us.

Addison was going through all the things in the package.

Here is the letter..need a translation though?!

She sent her these cute hair things. 

You put them over little buns on either side of her head and the little braids hang down.

Here she is looking at her books in her room.

Thanks SO much!!!  We love the gifts!

Basketball

 So, we have offically entered Drew's favorite season...basketball season!  His team actually started playing in October.  Here are a few shots of one of his games! 

 This is his favorite shot...the one of him running with the ball.

 Here he is making a free throw.

 Here he is with his entire team.  His coach is great!

 Here's Addison playing at the game.

Her she is coloring..she even found a friend to color with her! 

Update on Avery!!!!

I was thrilled to see an email entitled, “Medical Report and Photos” from our adoption agency!  YAY!  Avery is doing absolutely fabulous!!!  She has completely caught up developmentally.  She was assessed to be at a 13 month level, which is the first time we’ve seen her developmental level match her chronological age!  This is definitely an answer to prayer!!!   She has also gained tons of weight and now weighs 23 pounds!  She is only 5 pounds lighter than Addison!!!  This too is a miracle as she was very much underweight when we were matched!!!  God is very good!  I have prayed that her developmental issues would be healed and God has been very kind to hear my prayer!  Praise him! 

In addition to that, she is quite possibly, the cutest baby in Korea!!  I mean look at these photos!!  Could she be any sweeter?!?!? This was a great encourage especially as we approach 8 months waiting to travel!  The wait is so long, but God is faithful and our baby is perfect!

 Here she is with the hat we sent her.  I don't think she likes things on her head

 Here she is with the Christmas care package we sent her.

 I don't know where she got the headband, but she doesn't seem to like it!

This is my favorite!!!  She's SO big!!!

sweety!!

Halloween (Yeah..its a bit late)

Ok, so I'm very late with the Halloween post...but here it is, I guess better late than never!

 Look at Addison's finger..Grandma gave her a green pointy finger!  She was quite fascinated!

 Jack..too cool!!

 My kids with my brother's kiddos!  (AKA: cousins)

 Just the pretty little girls

 Angie with baby Owen...trying to convince him to wear his hat.

 Success!!!!

All the cousins on Mark's side!

Valerie...day 3

Valerie is on day #3 in the hospital.  Here where things stand.

Praises: 

·         Her memory is intact; she remembers everything up to the time she blacked out. 

·         She can eat & drink

·         She can sit up.

·         She can talk.

·         She has full function of her arms.

·         She was able to get out of bed, use the restroom & even sit in a chair (Odd praise, but a really big deal!)

·         The doctor is very, very pleased with her progress.
·         She is concerned about her looks, hair, makeup, where her phone is…and is really ready to leave the hospital.  Which shows her personality is still intact.

Prayer requests:

·         That she will start eating

·         The pain will lessen (she is in so much pain)

·         That she will stop throwing up and be able to stomach the medications

·         That her aneurysm would not leak blood again. (very dangerous and very real risk)

·         That she wouldn’t have any more swelling on the brain.

·         She won’t have a seizure or stroke (both huge possibilities still)

·         That her blood pressure would stop sky-rocketing

·         That she would know God personally as her tender Father each day, and grow to love him dearly despite the horrible circumstances

BIG prayer:  She is at very high risk of stroke right now.  She can't have any mental stimulation at all.  She isn't even allowed to look at magazines or have visitors.  Pray she gets through this!

Psalm 17:6a

I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me,

  

Miracles

Admittedly I know little about brain aneurysms. I tend to get overwhelmed when doctors told to me so I know very little, but here's what I do know: there different stages of aneurysms: Stage I, being the least severe and stage VI being most severe causing death. Valerie has a stage V aneurysm. It was leaking blood into her cranium, which caused her to pass out and lapse into a comma. The doctor said she's lucky to have made it to hospital alive. That's the first miracle.

The emergency room staff was able to stabilize her and she lived through the first twelve hours. Miracle #2.

After being stabilized, she underwent a procedure called an aneurysm coiling. This is procedure where tiny platinum coils are threaded through a microcatheter and pushed into the aneurysm. The coils are flexible enough to conform to the aneurysm shape thus stopping the bulge from filling with blood. The risks of this procedure are: Weakness or paralysis of an arm or a leg, difficulty with speech or understanding, vision impairment, confusion, memory loss and/or seizures. None of these things happened, even though she was very fragile and still in critical condition: Miracle #3.

Then, Monday afternoon, She woke up. Miracle #4.

After waking, she talked, knew people, could remember pretty much everything but recent events. Miracle #5.

Now, I know she is not out of the woods. I know Valerie is very fragile and still has SO many hurdles to overcome. She is still at risk for seizure, swelling, so so much…its kind of overwhelming. I've also heard the neurologist talk about mortality rates etc… so I know the risks are real. But I also know that God is in complete control. Valerie is His child and the odds don't matter, because He doesn't base His sovereign decisions on odds or data. I know God is good. I rest in His care. He created Valerie, He's written every page of her life story, and she is resting in the palm of his hand.

Please keep praying. She needs so much prayer. There is still so much to overcome, but God hears our prayers and the prayers of his people avail much.

Psalm 5:1-3
Listen to my words, LORD,
consider my lament.
² Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

³ In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.

Pray For Val

My best friend is Valerie. I've known her since I was nine. We've been through pretty much everything together. I just went her for lunch last Monday…we talked for two hours. We went to prayer meeting together Tuesday, and were starting a Bible study (once our books came in), and were planning to go out of town next weekend. Early Sunday morning she had a brain aneurysm and was rushed to hospital unconscious. She is now in a coma in the nuero critical care unit. She is in very, very serious condition. She has two daughters; 15 & 8. She is only 37. I'm heartbroken and really don't have any words. Please pray for her. Pray for her daughters.  Pray for her parents.  Just pray.