THANKFUL

The only difference between me and a murderer in a jail cell is 

JESUS!

But for the grace of God that could be me.  
His love, His transforming power.  
I am amazed each time I think on the fact that God loved me... a wretched ugly sinner.  He left His throne in heaven to come to earth and die for us!  Redeeming us through His precious blood that we may go to heaven with Him if we accept His gift of salvation.

When you think on that fact, if you have accepted God's gift of salvation the only reasonable, natural response will be THANKFULNESS!

An overflowing, grateful heart!

My heart is overflowing this Thanksgiving with gratitude to my Savior!

He is loving, just, faithful.  
He is always available, listening and answering my prayers.  His answer will be yes, no or wait but... He always answers!  Sometimes I may not like the answer or understand but His will is ALWAYS best!

My sweet Savior provides not only for my needs but also so many of my wants.

I am so thankful for my wonderful family and spending time with them this thanksgiving.  "Stuff" will one day be trash!  Nothing on earth lasts except people.  Precious family and friends, that's what is important, they can go to heaven with us one day! 

Hoping you are enjoying your family this Thanksgiving.  
I fall short often but, may praise be continually on my lips!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Complete!

My big boy got home last night from college!

YIPPEE!

When I laid my head on the pillow last night that was how my heart felt....

COMPLETE!

All my babies in the nest!

Looking forward to the next few days of family!

SURPRISE!!

Andrew drove down to visit Taylor and was able to pull it off as a surprise!

Lots of selfies to document the visit!

 Taylor was surprised and Andrew loved spending some time with Taylor!

 Andrew was able to see a soccer game and ...

 they went downtown to a great pizza place.

 Andrew was also able to visit the campus while school is in session and visit some classes, as he continues to decide which school is for him.

Preparing to say goodbye.

They both enjoyed the visit!  The benefit of homeschooling is that these boys have been buddies since Andrew was born spending every day, all day together and being apart now is not easy! Love, love, love my big boys!!  Counting down the days until Thanksgiving and I get to see Taylor!  :)

Happy 13th Birthday Abby!

Our sweet Abby girl is 13!

 My parents came for lunch and brought Chinese food and a cake.  She had looked forward to her special visit from grandma and papa!

 When we asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, she told us she wanted a minion pinata.

The picture below shows the "posed" picture of our kids.

 This is the more normal, goofy, real life pose of my sweet kiddos(minus Taylor-it still seems odd not having him home on special days, like birthdays!) ready to bust open the pinata. 

 This picture is very blurry, but I love how it shows the pure joy on her face as she whacks the pinata!

 Oooo a weak spot on his bottom!

 Andrew planning his hit.

 The littles enjoying watching Andrew take his hit.

It is hard to believe it has been almost three years since Abby came home.  Her choice of foods is definitely changing!  This is the first birthday that she has not requested Chinese food for her birthday dinner.  What did she choose?  Roast beef with gravy(what my kids call "cow juice"), mashed potatoes, carrots, baked apples and homemade rolls.  Hmm, what do you think, I think her food choices are becoming a bit more like American comfort foods. :)

After dinner she opened her presents and....

...had her dessert.  Cake is not her favorite so she chose peanut butter bars with ice cream.

  

We didn't do much, but that night as I tucked her into bed she squeezed me tight and said, thank you so much, I love you mommy!

She has come so far, love you sweet girl!

Pensacola

Andrew and I flew down to tour Pensacola Christian College.

The campus church

Water park in the Sports Center on campus

Rock climbing wall in the Sports Center on campus.

I would love to say that the whole trip was great and for the most part it was.  But... it was also stressful!  My happy-go-lucky, joyful, glass is half full boy has found deciding on which college to attend is not an easy thing!

We did have fun touring the area also!

Love that sweet boy!

 We would eat breakfast on campus, attend classes and chapel and then head to the beach in the afternoons!

 Pensacola has a really pretty downtown area.  We enjoyed walking through the streets of that area.

Downtown waterfront

 We also found some great eating spots.

 We had a great view from this seafood restaurant.

 Andrew loved his seafood platter!

 We found a fun pizza place...

 and a great outside eating area with four food trucks in the downtown area where we walked.  The food was great and it was a fun area.

 We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  This picture does not do it justice, the sun was blinding as a huge fire ball that seemed so close and then seconds later it was down out of sight.  Absolutely beautiful!

We are glad we made the trip, it is much different to read about a college and experiencing a college.  Simple things such as how welcoming and friendly the place is makes a huge difference!

Praying for my sweet boy, for God to give him absolute peace on which school to choose.

Apples, APPLES, Apples!

We had a wonderful day in the mountains picking apples.

It had rained and was very muddy but we still had a great time.

 Of course we sampled a few!  Yum, nothing better than an apple right off the tree!

 We went with a group from our church and Mr. O challenged the teens with a great devotional.

Lots of yummy, fresh apples of course means lots of baked apples and apple bread at our house! Yum, yum!!

The Zoo

Our home school group went on a field trip to a local zoo.

We had a great time!

 It was a beautiful, warm October day! 

 The little guys loved seeing all the animals.  We went to a zoo in China on our adoption trip and they had fun remembering that day and telling me what they remember seeing.  It was fun listening to them talk about that day since in China we couldn't communicate yet.  Seth was especially inquisitive, wanting me to read every sign to him, as he soaked it all in.

 Carrie Anne's favorite animal, the giraffe!

 Abby LOVED the goats and didn't want to leave this area.

 Hmm, must be time for an afternoon nap!

 Our own little wild animal! :)

A great day spent with friends playing and learning!