Summer...

We've been gone ALL SUMMER LONG!!!! Or atleast it seems like it anyway. Time is really flying by and the longer we have Grace the more I realize it's just only gonna go by faster. Funny-some things you never realize until you have children. So what have we been up to this summer? First there was our family vacation to the beach...

Grace on the beach...

Grace and her daddy...

This one is scary...

Mine and Grace's footprints...

Then we were home long enough for VBS...(Grace and my niece and nephews)

Then we were back to the beach for a girls trip with all of our China girls!

Grace and Addie "Laying Out"...

Our beautiful Jiangxi girls...Addie, Katie Lin, and Grace...

And my favorite...

There have been many other things we have done, but they will have to come later! We are incredibly blessed and I thank God everyday for the miracles he has done and is doing in our lives...Check back soon for installment 2 of summer fun...

Things You Just Don't See Everyday...

I have really been seeing random things lately. So-I just decided to start taking pics of them! Now-we live on 12 acres that border the wildlife refuge on three sides so we are very use to seeing all kinds of wildlife. We've seen coyotes, bobcats, A LOT of deer, racoons, oppossums, you name it. We've never seen geese. I walked out our door the other day and BAM! There they were! So I snapped a picture because I figured Brandon wouldn't believe me. Here they are! Wonder what we'll see next?

Hidden Treasure...

If you are the parent of an adopted child you will certainly understand what you're about to read. Unfortunately, children who are institutionalized in an orphanage or even still in foster care are terrified of what I call "not having". Not having enough to eat, not having enough babies to love, not having anyone to love them unconditionally. We have struggled with some of these issues with Grace. Even though we have had her for two years, we're just now seeing the light at the end of some of these "not having" issues. Our biggest "not having" issue was with food. When we first came home with her, Grace would hide food. Behind the toilet, the curtains, in her bed, in her toy box, in the dog's bed, it just went on and on. At the beginning of March I was cleaning her room when I stumbled onto something interesting. I can't tell you the joy that filled my heart when I realized that Grace was no longer hiding food, but she was now hiding her treasures!

Notice the stool on the floor beside her bed...

This is what I found under it! This picture was taken around March 5th. She had these pumpkins for her birthday party. On October 16th. That pumpkin had been there a long time!!

Notice the green pillow...

This is what I found inside of it! She is on a mermaid kick lately. Everything we get has to be a mermaid or mermaid related. She even wants to name her sister (who we will begin the process of adopting in August! Woo Hoo! Yea!!!) Ariel. I haven't found a way of breaking the news to her that it's just simply not going to happen! Hopefully, she will forget about that by the time we travel. She has about a year to a year and a half to forget!

Notice the curtain...

This is what I found behind it! It's the pig that Grace bought with her $5 budget she had at Wal-Mart. It actually cost $3.50.

This fear of "not having" is something that we have always dealt with. I feel like the hard work has been done in this area although I feel like it will never be completely gone for Grace. I know repair work will need to be done periodically, but I am so glad we have turned the corner!!!

Snow! In March!?! Only for Like the Second Time EVER!!!

I love this picture....

We tried several times to get her to come eat breakfast, but she did not want to leave the window! She said she was scared it would stop snowing when she wasn't looking!

The dock and the pond... Trying to hit daddy with a snowball...

One of Grace's MANY snowballs...

What's more fun than just throwing snow up in the air? Not a lot!!

I've Changed My Playlist!!!

Okay, most of you who know me well know that I love music! My seasons of music change as quickly as the weather does. My closest friends will tell you (including my husband) that I can listen to the same song 100 times!!! Over, and over, and over again! I am a firm believer that God speaks to us in individually and specific ways. Music is my way. I can study my bible and the same passage for months on end and still struggle with its content. Boy you put that same content in a lyric and set it to music and I've got it!!! Right now, the Lord is really using the music that Chris Tomlin has written to speak to my heart. As it says in the hymn, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" (which is my favorite hymn by the way!) my heart is prone to wonder. Moreso these days than others. The music you will find here helps refocus me and bring my heart back to where it needs to be. Enjoy!!!

Lifeline Picnic...

I am quickly becoming known for doing five or six different posts at one time! Things sometimes just pile up on you don't they? Anyway, here we go! At the end of June Grace and I, along with Sonya and Katie Lin Hodge, as well as Melissa, Steven, and Thomas Ross attended the Lifeline Picnic. It was sponsored by Lifeline Children's Services, the adoption agency who helped us bring Grace into her forever family. We all piled up in our van and headed to Monte Sano State Park for some hot, summer fun!

Here we are on our way...

Here is Katie Lin with her mom...

Our beloved Karla...

Karla was our social worker when we were working to bring Grace home. She endured many phone calls, crying spells, and yes, even fits from me when I wasn't understanding God's perfect timing! All the time being patient and encouraging me to hang in there. Hopefully, whenever we decide to do this again, Karla will be willing to put up with the same!!! We love you Karla and you will always hold a special place in our hearts!!!

I love this picture of Grace... This is Steven with Grace...He is such a great helper with her and treats her just like his little sister. I keep telling Melissa that he's going to be a great big brother one day. Hint, Hint, Hint...

For some reason, this picture makes me want to call him "Turkey Thomas". Generally, we just call him "T". I can't believe I caught him still long enough to take his picture!

Katie Lin kept wanting to climb this really tall jungle gym and Sonya wouldn't let her!!! Doesn't she look like she wants to climb it really bad?

More posts to come!!!

Father's Day...

My two loves... Brandon and Grace. It has been amazing to watch Brandon grow into the father that he is. Grace wanted nothing to do with him when we first got her and it hurt his heart. After all, we waited so long for her we wanted her to want us too! Boy has she changed! She loves him with all of her heart, and when he's home she's quickly on his heels wanting to do everything he does. We got him a sprayer for the four wheeler, and Grace picked him out a hat for him to wear while he mows our grass. Happy Father's Day to Grace's favorite man (even though it's late!)

Meet Reynolds Warner Ratliff...

This beautiful child was born June 16th, at 9:26 P.M. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and has beautiful hair! Reynolds has been prayed for about two years now. Her mom, Amy, is a good friend of mine and we belong to the same prayer group. Reynolds is a daily reminder, to her parents and anyone else who prayed for her arrival, that we serve an awesome God who always shows up right on time!

By the way, when we left the hospital, Grace looked at me and said, "I want one of those!" Hmmm.....

Know, Speak, Live-God's Unshakable Truth!

This past week was VBS week at our church. The theme this year was, "Outrigger Island". We had an absolute blast! Whitney, our children's minister, did a great job of getting this together. I helped a friend of mine with preschool snacks. I've never actually "constructed" snacks before but I might start now! It was really fun getting to see the kids faces when they showed up at the "snack shack" for their snack for that day! Grace particulary likes the VBS music! It sounds very Hawaiian, and we have been listening to it now for almost two weeks. Lifeway always does a great job putting the music together, but this year they outdid themselves! The verse this year was Psalm 86:11 which says, "Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, that I may honor you."

Here are Whitney, Anna, Briley, and Madison getting ready to lead worship during the worship rally...

Sarah and Abigail helped too...

It looks like Grace is having a blast!

My nephew, Joseph, went with us this year...

One of our "constructed" snacks! We followed this with a fruit kabob that had bananas, grapes, and marshmellows, along with some pretzels. They had lemonade to drink!

Our Beach Pictures of Grace

This year I decided to take some pictures of Grace to hang in our bathroom. They turned out great! I took 309 pictures of her on the beach late yesterday afternoon. They were all good, but these are just a few of my favorites!

This is one of my favorites! She's just standing there checking everything out!

In this picture she was drawing in the sand with her finger.

This one is sweet

There are those sweet, little feet again!!!

This is her true smile! It's sometimes hard to catch on film. I'm glad we got this one!

Random Pics...

Here are just some random pics that I couldn't really fit in anywhere but still wanted to share with you! Enjoy!!!

TA DA! That's what Grace was saying when I snapped this picture! Lately, when I tell her I'm going to take her picture she automatically wants to pose. Some of her poses are absolutely hilarious!

A couple of days ago I opened the door to our room at the condo so the noise would wake up Grace from her nap. About five minutes later we heard Travis talking but we couldn't find him. We found him in our room just as you see him now. He was saying, "Wake up Gracie Bug". It was so cute!

They are awake and ready to go! Travis and Grace have a unique, love/hate relationship. They will be loving on each other one minute like they are in this picture, and then they'll be screaming at each other because they want what the other one has. This has made for an interesting week!

How Many Pictures Do You Have to Take to Get the Perfect One?

With these kids there's no limit. We never did get one of them all smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. Here's a sampling of our shoot...

Actually, now that I'm loading them this one isn't so bad! This was attempt number 1!

Attempt number 2. I don't really know what Grace is looking at.

Now we're just being silly!Travis, Jay, and Grace talking...Our beautiful Grace!!!These are two of my nephews, Travis and Jay. They went with us to the beach this year.

Walking down the beach with Jay