A Christmas Letter for 2007

What an eventful year 2007 has been for our family! Here are a few of the highlights (and lowlights).

One of my favorite memories from 2007 will be Sophie starting K-3! She loves going to school and Mama loves to have six hours to herself on Monday and Tuesday mornings! Sophie is attending a Christian school, and has a wonderful teacher. She is a very social little girl and has enjoyed the company of other children during the week. Mama enjoys going to Target and running errands by herself while Sophie is at school.

We have enjoyed the first year in our home. Jill loves living in a neighborhood, while Brian prefers the country. Even though we are 20 minutes away from church, we are in a good location.

In October, Brian was laid off from his full-time job at the cabinet shop because business was slow. However, God opened several doors for him to do side jobs while he was looking for a permanent position. Last week, he started working at a cabinet shop about 5 minutes from our house. We don’t have room to go into detail regarding how the Lord provided this job for him, so you’ll just have to trust us that it was a God thing! Brian is happy that he is still working only four days a week so that he can still do his side work on Friday and Saturday’s. We give God all of the glory for meeting our financial needs during this past month. Brian is still working as the part-time Music Minister at our church and we love being a part of this family of God. We have made many good friends and the Lord has blessed us with incredible support from the people in our church.

Also in October, Sophie had to endure a VCUG test at the hospital. Long story short, the doctor was worried she might have reflux in her kidneys. She didn’t, it was an awful experience, and we hope she never has to go through that again. Not to mention we don’t have health insurance so the doctor bills are a real bummer.

Blah, blah, blah – Now it’s time to get to the best part of 2007 – our Disney Dream vacation! We met Jill’s family (her parents, and her brother and his family) in Orlando and stayed at a Disney resort for four days, then continued the vacation on a Disney Cruise ship for another four days. Our sister-in-law’s parents also came to Orlando, so at times there were 11 people walking around together. We had been planning this trip for 14 months, so by the time we left we were excited! We talked about it all year and it was definitely worth the wait. Highlights included staying at the Disney Resort (none of us had experienced that before), MGM Studios, Cinderella’s breakfast, dinner at 1900 Park Fare, Downtown Disney, cruising, the food, the shows, the food, clean staterooms twice a day, the food, Disney Princesses, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse! To say our vacation was magical was an understatement! Thanks, Mom and Steve, for making this memory possible.

An amazing thing happened at the resort. We met a little girl named Macy who lived at the same orphanage as Sophie, and at the same time! The girls are the same age just a couple of months apart. Macy came home from the Gaoyao Children’s Welfare Institute in January 2005, while Sophie came home in March 2005. Out of all of the people that we have met who have adopted children from China we have NEVER ran into anyone from Sophie's orphanage. It is hard to believe that as we sat there eating breakfast that morning the girls’ paths had crossed before. What an incredible blessing to run into Macy!

Sophie is doing great and is getting so big. She loves to be on the go, loves to listen to music (Walk the Line is one of her favorite CD’s), loves to play with her Groovy Girls, and loves stickers! She has brought us unexplainable joy and we thank God for choosing us to come together to be a family.

We hope you have a blessed 2008.

The Christmas Bus - Melody Carlson

I just finished reading The Christmas Bus by Melody Carlson. It was sorta cute, a little cheesy, and very predictable. It wasn't horrible, but I can't say I would read it again. I would probably give it a 1 1/2 out of 5 stars. But the book I am reading now is AWESOME! Stay tuned for more details...

Girl's Night Out - December 14, 2007

Time for the last Girl's Night Out of 2007! Julia, Trisha and I met at Jason's Deli to fill our bellies with spinach wraps before we went to the movie. Since we had a little time left we went to Tuesday Morning to shop. Then we met Jeannie and Priscilla at Wynnsong to see The Martian Child. First of all, let me just say that we were pretty fired up about seeing a movie that only cost $2.00. Hey, who doesn't want to save money? And everyone seemed to like John Cusak, so with those two factors working in our favor, what could go wrong? Well, the movie itself, that's what. It was sad. And slow. And sad. It was about a single man who adopts a 6-year old boy who has emotional problems and believes/pretends that he is from Mars, and it was based on a true story. Of course, I didn't like it and was glad when it was over. I need to be entertained when I go to the movies and this one didn't do it for me. Then I think that Julia, Trisha and I went to Barnes and Noble to look around, but I can't remember. Too much has happened since GNO! But we did enjoy spending time together even if the movie was stinky.

Yea - Brian got a job!

For those of you that didn't hear, Brian got laid off from his job at the cabinet shop the day before we left on our dream Disney vacation (October 30). Brian's boss had told him about 3 weeks before that business was slow and that he needed to look for another job. Well, he didn't find a permanent one, but he did line up several side jobs for when we returned. So Brian spent the month of November doing side jobs for people that we knew and God met our financial needs lovingly and kindly. Not to mention our awesome church family gave us a love offering when we got back from vacation. From day one, Brian knew that God was going to take care of us and had faith that the right job would come along at just the right time. By him modeling this attitude (hello, spiritual leader!), it was easy for me to stay calm and remain at peace. Despite the fact that he talked to several people nobody was hiring. There were a few times that I wondered, "Why hasn't he found something yet?" but I didn't get anxious. God was in control.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. A friend from church named Kenny was out eating lunch one day. In walked three guys that had their company name embroidered on their shirts, but Kenny couldn't make out what it said. Finally, after staring the guys down, one of them turned to Kenny (I guess to see what he was looking at). Kenny said, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to read what's on your shirts." Well, it was the name of the cabinet shop they all worked for. After a little polite conversation, one of the guys said to Kenny, "Hey, we're looking for a good ole' boy that's a Christian to be our 4th man and come work for us. If you know anybody like that who can build cabinets, let us know." Kenny said, "As a matter of fact I do. A friend of mine was just laid off from the cabinet shop he was working for because business was slow." The other said, "Well, how do you know him?" Kenny said, "He's the Music Minister at our church." The other guy said, "Well, tell him to give us a call."

So, Brian left a message. They called him back last week. And his first day was last Thursday. WOO HOO!!! Brian is still working four 10-hour days, which leaves Friday and Saturday to get his side jobs completed. He is making the same money, but doesn't have insurance coverage. But there are other ways they try to make it up to the guys for not having that coverage.

Anyway, we are very excited and I just felt compelled to give a shout out to our wonderful Lord and Savior who is abundant in mercy and grace. Thanks, Lord, for taking care of your children!

The Judge Who Stole Christmas

Bahumbug. That's how I felt reading this book. When I finished it, I thought it was a waste of my time. The bottom line is The Judge Who Stole Christmas is boring. I didn't care for the story line and was extremely disappointed that I read another mediocre book. I like to read a Christmas themed book in December to help me get in the holiday spirit, but this one definitely didn't do it for me. I'm not even sure why I made myself finish it except for the fact that I paid for it, and I'm tired of buying books that stink and wasting my money. Oh well, maybe the next Randy Singer book I read will be better. (I have about 3 others.) Man, am I ready for a great book! Maybe it's just me and I need to lower my standards.... Naaaah!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

BubbleShare: Share photos - Cheap Hotels Vegas

Last Monday night (12-3-07) we finally put up our tree. Trisha came over and we had a feast before we got started. We ate submarine sandwiches with sausage dip and chips. Also, peanut butter M&M's, Little Debbie Christmas cakes, chocolate chip cookies, and candy. Then it was time to put on the Christmas music and decorate! Brian did all of the set-up and the girls did all of the adorning! It was so much fun and Sophie was really into it. (Notice the picture of her grouped ornaments.) When we finished, it was time for hot chocolate and more treats. After plenty of sugar and Christmas spirit, it was time for Trisha to go home.

Girl's Night Out - November 30, 2007

FINALLY, we saw a good movie on Girl's Night Out! Julia, Trisha, Jeannie and I went to see the new Disney movie, Enchanted, and it was really cute. I had heard from several people that it was worth seeing (mainly my parents) and they were right. Amy Adams plays the lead role and she was not only delightful but had a very nice singing voice. However, my favorite person in the movie was the very manly Patrick Dempsey who has transformed into a dream boat (as my grandmother would say) since his 1987 movie, Can't Buy Me Love. Think I'm lying? Google his name, find an old picture, and prove me wrong! Seriously, I was distracted during half the movie because he was such a cutie pie. Of course we ate at Jason's Deli before the movie - all of us ordered the spinach wrap - and even though Jeannie couldn't make it because of work, she arrived at the movie while the previews were playing. Then we had about an hour before Barnes and Noble closed, and it was the first time that we didn't sit down in the cafe to talk. It was fun just looking at books together. Then, we caravaned to Wal-Mart because I needed milk and didn't want to go by myself at 11:30pm. Suprisingly, Wal-Mart was pretty busy for 11:30pm on a Friday night. I got my milk and peanut butter M&M's, Julia got the CD from the movie, Trisha didn't find a Christmas tree and then it was time to go home. This is my favorite night of the month. We had so much fun! Oh yeah, and I stopped by Taco Bell on the way home. Why? Why not?!?