The Nut Cracker!

I almost forgot!!! But the girls had a wonderful time on their annual fancy Daddy-Daughter date.  Addie had been assuming, since last year, that they would go again and was not disappointed! As for Elle, well I am sure that she had a good time, but we never really know which is more fun... the event or the awe of being somewhere new. :-)

More Christmas Pictures....

I will just keep it short and sweet today and leave you with mostly pictures (because let's face it, that is really all you want!).


Last week we got a little creative (very little) and made snow men.  Who knows these might be the only ones they see this year! :-)

Our next adventure was a trip to the Bass Pro Shop to play and get the obligatory picture with Santa. :-)

 

After the Pro Shop we went with cousins to see the lights at Opryland Hotel.  If you have never been before, it is a MUST see!  And if you want your kiddos to be quiet for two seconds, take them there and they won't have words to speak for first few minutes while they stand in awe of the lights and gardens.

 

And of course no family outing would be complete without a little bit of drama.  Elle was looking at the fish and thought they would look much better with a hair bow on.  I mean... they are kind of homely! Thanks to the friendly hotel staff we were able to spare the fish the embarrassment of having to wear the aforementioned bow.

 

Every year we celebrate Christmas at Great Grandma Blair's house with all the extended family. We so enjoy the time catching up and celebrating together.  This was also Elle's first time to open presents, 

needless to say it did not take long for her to catch on!

And finally, last night was cousin cookie night!  We were insane brave and had the cousins over to help decorate Christmas cookies.  Many cookies were eaten (by Ian) sprinkles were everywhere and not a drop of icing was left off of a cookie.  We had a great time and hope to do it again next year.

 

I told you that we had a lot pictures!  I hope you enjoyed them, we definitely enjoyed the memories that we created.  :-)

Random thoughts and more pics...

I love Christmas songs!!!! I love them for many reasons.  They elicit feelings of joy, memories of childhood anticipation and hopes of snowy white winter wonderlands.  But the thing that I personally love the most is that all the world, knowingly or not, is singing about the Savior, Jesus Christ!  I love turning on the radio or walking into the department store and hearing Away in A Manger, Joy to the World or Noel and whether other people are aware or not, they are hearing the message of the gospel... the true Christmas Story.  At other times of the year when songs stick in my head I get annoyed at the lyrics that just won't go away.  But when "Joy to the world, the Lord has come.  Let earth receive her King" sounds over and over in my head, I am thankful for the reminder during all of the business of what a tremendous gift we were given and what a gracious God we have.
Of course the other part of what I love about Christmas are all of the fun family activities!  This weekend we were able to enjoy one such activity in downtown Franklin, the Charles Dickens Festival (or festibal as Addie says!).  We walked around in the cold and saw Christmas decorations, people dressed up, farm animals and dead squirrels.  Yes... you read that correctly, dead squirrels.  Notice in the picture below that the kids are captivated, not with the life size manger scene, but the small fury creature laying prone on the ground.  Well, I guess we just do what we can as parents to celebrate the season and to make memories, but sometimes it's the small fury things in life that captivate our attention more! :-)  Anyways, I hope you enjoy the few pictures we were able to catch.  We most definitely enjoyed our time at the "festibal" and have other fun activities planned.  Shhhhh....don't tell the girls, but Daddy will be taking them to see the Nutcracker this weekend!!! You can count on more pictures to follow. 

Pictures!!! Plus.....

Finally, I have upload some pics to share with you all.  We had a wonderfully busy Thanksgiving and hope that you all enjoyed your first holiday of this season as much as we did!  I love being able to justify eating tons of turkey and pie. :-) 

OK, now that you have just viewed pics of our adorable children, we are please to tell you that we will have another adorable child this June!  I will admit that my head is swimming thinking about 4 kids all 5 and under, but others have survived and so I am sure that we will too. :-)  On that note... I wish you all a Merry Christmas and will surely post more pics as soon as I get them!

Addiction....

I am admitting that I have an addiction to Sweet Tea!  There I said it.  Four to five days a week I just can not resist the urge to take a long sip of the sweet, brown liquid that is the taste of the true south.  I recognize that I would be better off not consuming so much and make pledges that I will only have one glass a week, max!  But then I go and do something like take the kids to Costco or grocery shopping and my resolve flies out the window. 
If you had to take Ian with you to do your grocery shopping, you would understand why and then you would probably congratulate me for not turning to a stronger drink than sweet tea!!  You see, I have become that Mom in the store that other women have pity for and the men run away from as the huge car cart rounds the corner with the screaming blonde banshee hanging out the side.  Once I survive the ordeal and we are in the car, it not being nap time yet, I just cannot resist the $1 Sweet Tea at McDonald's.  It is a sweet sip of sanity in the midst of the chaos that is my life!  Somehow I can tune out the craziness and actually begin to believe that lady in the supermarket that tells me, "Someday you will miss all of this." 

Clutter...

Wow...was my last post really on the 1st!!  Sorry, I am a little of an over achiever and tend to get too focused on certain tasks.  For instance I am on a serious mission to get our home unpacked, painted, and somewhat decorated before the holidays.  I love decorating for Christmas, but the thought of doing that around an unfinished home unnerves me, because I detest clutter and let's face it, although Christmas decorations are pretty and festive they are mostly clutter! 
The good news is that I intend to get rid of a lot of "regular" clutter in the yard sale that we will be having this Saturday.  I don't relish the thought of people on my doorstep at 6am in the morning, but I am SO excited to be able to fit a car in our garage by the end of the week.  Yippee!  So if you live in the area and don't have anything better to do, come on over and take some of our junk. :-) 

Under the packing paper....

Hello land of the living! We are finally climbing out from under all of the boxes and mounds of packing paper.  In fact, a lot of the boxes will be making their way to the recycling bin today, YAY!!  And sadly as soon as those boxes are moved they will uncover another mountain of boxes and those are the kind that you look at and wonder, "Why do I still have this? Oh....I forgot about this?  Where in the world does this go?  And... I know I don't use this, but I just can't part with it."  Those are the boxes that I hate the mos,t for all the obvious reasons! 
For now, I am happy that when I look around I can see the beginnings of our new home.  And now that I feel like we can function in our home it is time to make a menu and start cooking again, start participating in things like MOPS and Bible Study and generally, find our new routine.  Hey, maybe that means that I will actually blog again more consistently (no guarantees!). ;-) 

Closing!!!

Well... here we are six weeks after leaving Texas and having exhausted my in-laws hospitality (I'm Sure!) and we are finally closing on our new house tomorrow!!!!  To say that our lives have been crazy lately would be an understatement.  More accurately, it has been one crazy YEAR and I am ready for a "normal" pace again, although I am no longer sure that such a thing exists.
A year ago, we were looking forward to the edition of a new child to our family and anxious to know what lay ahead with the Air Force.  We knew that it was likely we would be tackling a job change and move all around the same time that we brought home our new child.  Of course, we had no idea if the job would be in the AF or not and honestly, I think a lot of the changes would have been smoother if we were still active duty.  Although life is fluid in the service there is a good amount of predictability and sameness.  Out here in the "real world" we have a new appreciation for all of the little things we took for granted, such as partial tax free income, food allowance, medical benefits that we did not pay out of pocket, ect.  The up side is that we now have choices were we used to have none!
Everything we have done this past year has been laced with stress, but I feel so blessed to say that God has been faithful and has provided for us when timing, money and circumstances threatened to overwhelm us.  We have survived 4 of the top stressors in a marriage over the past 6 months and are still going strong!  I hope that God does not see fit to do this again anytime soon, ha ha!
Anyways... I am very excited to be closing and moving into our new home tomorrow and actually beginning our new life!  I am thankful for our time in Cookeville, but ready to be out of "holding" and back into a new normal.  YAY!!! We are ready for the boxes, paper and tape to fly! :-)

Dentists.....

This post is really more of a rant, than anything.  We knew that when we brought Elle home we had to get her into see a dentist ASAP.  Although her teeth were pretty on the exterior, we knew that did not mean much.  We saw a wonderful dentist in San Antonio and unfortunately did not have enough time to have them do the work that she needs.  So the Dentist left us with the advice to find a Pedodontist and have them do the work once we arrived in TN.
Elle was complaining enough about sensitivity with her teeth that we decided to go ahead and get her in now while we are still in Cookeville, before we get into our home in Nolensville.  So I get on the phone and find there are 3 Pedodontist's here that our insurance will cover.  I pick the one with their own private practice and can/will do sedation dentistry.  Everything seems great and I am feeling like an attentive mommy when I get the call to confirm our appointment.  The receptionist begins to explain their policies and procedures and tells me that I will not be able to go back with her for the x-rays or any other procedure, but will wait in the lobby.  I tell her that the appointment time is still good, but I will need to be able to go back with her, Elle is recently adopted and does not speak English.  The polite receptionist insists that their policy is for me to wait in the lobby.  I explain that that will not be acceptable and that if they can not confirm my appointment with me being able to sit next to Elle then we will not be coming. The next explanation is that they see children all the time who do not speak English and she should be fine, unless she has a physical or mental disorder that would necessitate me being with her.  I mean, really?!?!  This is not the same as other non-English speaking children who come in with their bio-parents for a cleaning!  I am not going to walk away from my little girl while a stranger leads her back to a sterile room and proceeds to poke around in her mouth.  She has already been left with strangers one to many times in her life and I am not about to do it again anytime soon!
In addition to all the above.... I still don't know if I would be comfortable leaving Addie, the well adjusted bio-kid, with a strange dentist by herself.  Addie is only five and Elle four!  I remember going to the dentist as a child and my Mom always stayed in the room with us until we were in Junior High.  I am responsible for these little ones God has given me and I just don't appreciate any medical practice that tries to exclude me from the care that my children would be receiving.  Does that strike anyone else as odd?!
So the long and short of it is, that I have rescheduled with another Pedodontist who is comfortable with me being in the room and now know that this is not something that I can assume in the future!

Family Injera Night....

So last night we had the opportunity to finally take Elle to an Ethiopian restaurant! It has been 3 months since Elle has been home with us and this is the first time that she has had Injera. Until now we just have not had access to any ethnic food, time to go out or even been together as a family. Thankfully Nashville has several different Ethiopian restaurants and a much larger community of people, unlike San Antonio. We were anxious to watch Elle's reaction to eating Injera and Tibbs again and she did not disappoint!
Her first look at the Injera and she did not know what to do with it, crazy! Then she took a bite and made the funniest face, but did she stop eating?! NO WAY! She ate it all while continuing to make a face that to most people would signify disgust, but to her it must mean something different because there was not a crumb left. :-)
We all enjoyed our dinner and the smells and music took us right back to Addis. And the best part is that some of our family was able to enjoy it with us! In fact, we were quite surprised at how much the kids ate. I think the next time we will try another Ethiopian restaurant that is down the road and I hope that we don't have to twist Mark and Lindsey's arm to get them to join us! ;-)

Birthday Bash!

Our other big adventure this week was attending Asher's 5th Birthday party. This was a treat for all of us as Elle had not yet met Uncle Jeff, Aunt Whitney and her cousins. In addition, over the past several years we have only been able to celebrate birthday's together a handful of times... so we hit the road and headed to Columbia, TN for Asher's big sand party! The kids had a blast and had we not known better we would have thought that they had spent the last month in the Sahara, for there was sand in places we did not think possible. In fact, Ian is still complaining that he has sand in his eyes, of course Ian likes to complain about lots of things, but that is a different story for another time. :-)
Happy Birthday, Asher! We loved getting to celebrate with you!

A day at the farm!

Last week we inaugurated Elle and took her to visit Great-Granddad for her first ride on the tractor!  All the way there Addie kept telling Elle that, "she could go first to ride the tractor and that she had to be brave, because it was lot's of fun!"  Elle figured this must be a bad a thing, because Addie was going to let her go first and insisted that she did not want to ride the tractor.  But low and behold, once we arrived and Addie was hoisted up onto the seat with Great Granddad, Elle was over eager to get on that seat!

"You say tomato, I say tornado"....

For some reason Addie has a fascination with tornado's right now and often asks MANY questions about where they come from, how fast are they, can they pick up people, ect.  We were having one of these conversations at breakfast this morning and after about 10min of hashing out the finer points of tornado theory, Elle decides that she wants to participate and blurts out, "Tomato!"  Addie and I snicker and I try to help her pronounce tornado, "TOR.....NA....DO."  She exclaims enthusiastically (as if she fully understands what we are saying), "TOMATO!"  So I try again and have her repeat, "TOR."  Elle says, "TOR." I say, "NADO."  She says, "NADO."  Then I put it all together, "TORNADO."  Elle says, "TOMATO!!" with a triumphant grin.  Addie and I can not help but laugh and as it strikes me that this might be a good little blog post, Addie begins to explain very seriously that a tomato is red and a tornado is black, one you eat and the other is scary and so forth....and I continue to try and stifle my giggles! :-)

(And just as I am getting ready to post this I hear Addie from the living room, "Mom, can tornado's see us?"  Elle responds, "TOMATO'S!")

We found it!

We have now been in TN a full week!!! It is hard to believe, as in many ways it feels like a month with all of the driving, exhausted whining kids and crazy schedules.  Last Monday we began our search for a new home in the Nashville area, particularly Smyrna.  From Texas we had determined that Nolensville would be an ideal location, but as we looked we found that there was not much there in our price range and would be available for "immediate" move-in.  So we focused on Smyrna.  As of last Tuesday we had narrowed it down to two options, both of which we were smitten with, but something just kept nagging us and did not sit right about being in Smyrna.  The town itself is great and it's location is excellent for Brandon's work, but the church we hope to attend and some of our siblings are all further west and we desired to be closer.  So Friday we began our home search again with renewed vigor!  Our options were more limited, but we were willing to sacrifice some of what we wanted, to be where we wanted (location, location, location - right?!).  Friday afternoon we had exhausted our options and were ready to put in an offer on a home.  We called our realtor and told him the details, now all we had to do was wait 24hrs to hear back.  But hold on...... He gets a phone call from someone in the sales office at a new neighborhood in Nolensville and we had overlooked a home.  So we jump in the car, it's 5pm and they close soon, and head over to see what we had missed.  Our hopes were not very high, as we thought we had seen a similar floor plan, but when I walk into the kitchen from the garage, I hear angels sing!!!(Not really, but you get the point.)  Trying not to squeal, I make my way through the rest of the home and know that this is the one - Yay!!   I mean, this is meant to be...it's my birthday, this must be the house!  I am sure at this point you can guess the rest of this story....
The builder should be done on October 20th, which is the same day we plan to close on it.  I am absolutely thrilled to be boosting the Nolensville population with 5 more people!  The town was aptly described to us as "quaint" and we think we will love it.  I know for now, I will love getting to use my design skills (if you can call them that) to DECORATE!!!

 ***Brandon is going to have a hard time topping this birthday next year! ;-)

Good-bye...

Here I sit, exhausted, in the hotel room.  Our last night in San Antonio.  A little more than a week ago we were calling our friends and family telling them of our big move and now our home is empty, our cars are full to the hilt, our bodies are tired and our hearts are a mix of excited and sad.  

This week as I have had my last swim in the neighborhood pool, my last run around the block and said my farewell’s to dear friends, I keep thinking, “Have I appreciated it enough?  Did I soak it all in?  Am I going to remember all the details, sights, sounds, ect?”  We are very excited to be going home to Tennessee, but I don’t want to have overlooked or missed out appreciating all that God has provided us here in Texas.  So… I know that my mind will be swimming with thoughts and emotions tonight, as I lay my head on my pillow and tomorrow as we drive away our hearts will be full with warm thoughts and cherished memories from San Antonio! 

Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.

Happy trails to you,
Until we meet again.
Happy trails to you,
Keep smilin' until then.

Who cares about the clouds when we'ere together?
Just sing a song, and bring the sunny weather.

Happy trails to you,
Til we meet again.

Happy 5th, Addie!!!

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On the move...

Well friends, we have an announcement!  We are very excited to say that we are moving home to Tennessee!!!!  Nashville to be exact.  It has been 7 years since we have lived in the good 'ole South.  We have enjoyed our assignments in New Mexico and Texas, but it is time to head home.  Over the past couple of years we have begun to feel the subtle call of the Smokies and the longing to be closer to family.
We have been blessed with three children, good relationships with our parents and siblings and 5 nieces and nephews.  Cultivating and growing friendships with our siblings and seeing our children love their cousins in the same manner is a gift God has given us that has no price tag and we want to take advantage of it! 
Of course, it is hard to say goodbye to the friends that we have met over the course of our time here in Texas.  Thank you for being family to us while ours was far away.  Thank you for bearing with us and supporting us as we journeyed to Elle.  Thank you for fellowshipping with us in Christ, as a church body.  Thank you for making this home.  We will miss you dearly. 
For now if you will please keep us in your prayers for safe travel and ease of transition for all of the kids.  Moving is stressful and I know that Addie in particular, does not really understand what saying goodbye will entail, even though she is excited about it.  Also, we have no clue where we are going to be living and will be searching for a place ASAP!  Please pray that God will provide a good home in a good location.  It is always hard to know where to live when you are not terribly familiar with a new city. 
The movers will be here on Tuesday (that sucking sound is me catching my breath!!!).  We knew that if we were able to go home that things would happen in a hurry, but this is a little head spinning.  The good news is that we will be escaping the South Texas heat and be home in time to see the trees begin to change color.  I promise I will try to update as much as possible in the midst of the craziness which is our life! :-)

Do you understand me?!

One of the questions I am asked the most in reference to Elle is, "How is her English coming?"  Well, she has been with us for 2 months now (Yippee!!) and I would say that her langauge is coming along just fine.  And as an example of her progression I have a little story for you that happened something like this....

I was "brushing" Elle's hair after bathtime recently and caught a tangle.  She scrunched up her little shoulders and said, "Owww!"  I apologized and said that I had caught a tangle.  I continue brushing and Elle begins to repeat, "Rafunzel, Rafunzel." (Yes... that is how she say's it! P's and F's are somewhat interchangeable to her.)  Well, as I continue to detangle her hair I ask, "Rapunzel? What about Rapunzel?" She emphatically exclaims, "Tangled!"

Now how is that for understanding English?!  First of all I have now idea how she knew that the name of the movie was Tangled, as all it is ever called in this house is Rapunzel and secondly that she connected the tangle in her hair with Rapunzel's!  I think she is grasping the languauge just fine, in fact maybe a little to well, because I sure do listen to a lot of questions about wearing dress-up, matching pink clothes and braiding hair.  But all of that is another story for another time! ;-)

Bittersweet...

I should probably be letting Brandon write this post, but he is not here right now so I will try and tackle it.  I just returned home from Brandon's farewell lunch.  Today is his last official work day with the Air Force here at Lackland.  For that matter, it is his last work day as an active duty member with the USAF.  For those who may not be aware, Brandon is separating from the Air Force.  This decision has been one of the biggest and toughest that we have had to make in our married life and just putting the words down in black and white is hard.
When we entered the service, 7 years ago, everyone told us that the Air Force was like family and was a small world.  Of course people say that a lot about a lot of things, but for us the service has proven to live up to this.  We can not imagine life now without the friends we have met, most of whom live all across the country, the experiences we have gained, and the places we have been.
God has used the Air Force to provide for us when we could not fathom how we would make things work with Addie's premature birth.  The kindness and compassion of a commander who allowed Brandon to remain with me in Albuquerque for the 3months Addie was in the hospital, the orders that allowed him to receive per diem while we were away from our home for that time and the warm reception once we finally were able to bring her home will NEVER be forgotten nor will the thankfulness we have lessen. 
We have been able to travel to places I never imagined seeing outside the pages of a book!  Brandon was able to participate on the USAF swim team and compete in Germany, which opened the door for visits to Holland, Ireland,  and England.  Our travels this year took us to our daughter in Ethiopia, where once again we were blessed beyond belief with travel orders and finiancial assistance through the Air Force.
It is hard to imagine what life will be like apart from the service.  I wish I could tell you all where we are headed next, but for now God is chosing to withhold that information from us a little bit longer.  I guess He figures that we are not done with our lessen in patience yet, although I have told Him multiple times that I have learned it!  (Hmmmmmm....)  Hopefully He will reveal His plan for us SOON, as we are down to the wire and our time has come to an end with the active duty part of Brandon's military career.  This is very bittersweet - bitter to say good-bye, but sweet because of the memories and friends that we will always cherish.

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

Ethiopia/ Rift Valley Tour at OneTrueMedia.com

I have finally gotten around to organizing some of the pictures and videos from our 1st trip to Ethiopia. As you might remember, Brandon and I were able to travel through the region of Ethiopia that Elle was born, Wolaita. This was after our initial meeting with Elle and we spent 6 days venturing out into the culture and countryside. (I am using the word "venturing" rather loosely since we had a guide!)

If you are patient enough, because the video is a little long, you are welcome to watch the highlights of our trip! We were very impressed and pleasantly surprised to find that Ethiopia is nothing like we imagined and we have high hopes of taking the whole family back one day! :-)

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Bonafide!

It is here... Elle's proof that she is indeed a United States Citizen with the full protection and rights that our Constitution affords!!  I knew when we went through Customs coming back into the U.S. that she was a citizen at that moment, but having the written document to prove it is such a relief.  I just feel like it is one more thing that solidifies that she is ours.
Now, the next "big" thing, that will give me even more peace of mind, is having our adoption validated.  The Court date is already set for August 23, our Anniversary, so we will have to doubly celebrate that day! Eight wonderful years and three beautiful children!  :-)

A beautiful girl from Ethiopia...

Rahel, Heart 4 Hearts Girl

I am pleased to introduce you to Rahel!  I was just introduced to her about 5 min ago and just had to share her with you all.  She is a beautiful Ethiopian doll that stands about 14" tall and comes with a hair comb, a girl-sized heart charm bracelet, and a mini storybook about her life.  And the coolest part is that World Vision donates a portion of the proceeds back to Ethiopia to help with childrens needs!  (You can find out more about World Vision under our Orphan Crisis tab.)  I love that this is a trustworthy organization that is committed to sharing Christ's love in a tangible way.  Normally, when there are products like this I hesitate because I am unsure of whether the money will actually be used accordingly.  Anyways...I am pretty sure that this beautiful doll is going to find its way under our Christmas tree this year, I hope it makes it under some of yours too! :-)