Florida Trip

On June 29, we went to Florida to visit Jim's mom, Sylvia.  We were there for 6 days and had lot of fun!  The first thing we did was go out to celebrate Samuel Day!  Samuel has been in our family for four years now!

And after dinner we went for ice cream.   Justin ordered a big cone, but they made a mistake and made a little cone.  Then they stuck that little cone into his big cone.  

Anyway, it was yummy!  

We visited Grandma Sylvia's neighborhood pool several times.

Grandma took Justin to practice his driving in her golf cart.

 And when you're in a golf cart in Florida, you sometimes see things like dead armadillos in the road!

Keelan hanging out at Grandma's house.

One day we went to the Brandon Mall, and Caylie took a couple of carousel rides.

A horse AND a kangaroo!

That same day we met up with friends Lloyd and Vanessa, who went to school with me back in Winchester, Indiana.  They live in Tampa now, but also used to live in Colorado.

Another day we went to the Florida Railroad Museum.   We took an hour-long ride on a open-air train.  Very breezy and nice on a hot Florida day!

Some cars at the museum.

 Just a tree I saw along the way!

Circus car!

The train stopped at this old station which is now a museum.

h

And this is an old sleeper car that we walked through.  Very hot and no air conditioning.  I don't think I'd want to travel through Florida on it in the summer!

j

Jim being goofy at me.  

Another day we went to St. Petersburg for a Tampa Bay Rays game. 
Driving over the bay.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Outside Tropicana Field

All of us waiting for the game to start.

I only have one picture of the actual game, haha.
 Inside baseball has a totally different vibe.

Caylie with Mickey.  I feel like I have a shot of her with the one at Coors Field, too.  I'll have to look.

Outside the stadium after the game.
 Palm trees light up are very cool.

Going back home over the same bridge, now lit up and changing colors.

And one day we went to the beach!  A very fun time!
 Caylie didn't like the water much - it was very choppy that day - but picked up lots of shells.  The rest of us enjoyed being out in the waves.

The kids in Grandma's front yard.  🌴

We had a fun time!!  🌞

WHY are these people adopting AGAIN??

Maybe you look at us and our family and our recent adoption announcement, and you think "Are these people crazy??  They are in their 50s!  They have grandchildren!  Don't they have enough kids already?  Don't they have enough on their plates?  Do they think they can adopt all the orphans??"

Well, the answer to the last question is a resounding NO.  There are millions of orphans in the world, mostly ignored by the media and the Church alike; the latter being called and commanded to care for them!  We have prayed much over seven years that Christ-followers would take this seriously and love the fatherless and the least-of-these as our Father does.  Christians, our heart MUST be His heart!  (Psalm 82, Isaiah 1, James 1, etc.)

I'm sure that to many we look more than a little crazy and probably quite foolish.  But God says that He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.  (1 Corinthians 1)  If we are following His leading and stepping out in obedience to this or any other call, it's not always going to make sense to the world!  And probably not even to a lot of Christians.

Yep, we are not so young.  Yep, we are grandparents.  Yep, we have a lot of kids.  But we will not use those things as excuses to disobey a clear call from our faithful Father.  He alone is our strength and sustenance when we don't have any of that on our own.  He has proven that more times than I could count.

Why are we adopting again?

Because of this.  Children in orphanages running to any adult that they see, desperate for affection.  These three photos are kids just like that, in VietNam and China.  They are growing up without the love of a family.  They are growing up without knowing what it is to have a father pick them up and love on them.  How many times does our Heavenly Father mention the "fatherless" in His Word??  His heart is for the orphan!!

And because of this.  Orphanages filled with children who have little hope of ever having the love of a family OR hearing the hope of the Gospel.  Many of these children have special needs that will never be fully cared for.

Because of this.  Millions of children living in places that you and I can't even grasp, in our comfy American lives.  Church, we are NOT to ignore this!

Because of this.  Our Samuel has a story of deep loss and trauma.  I will not share it here; it is his own story.  But by God's grace and redemption, He is bringing healing and hope where there was none.  Samuel is no longer alone.

Because of this.  Our Caylie had an undiagnosed special need that we can now care for and help her to lead the best life that she can in a home filled with the love of family and the hope of Jesus.  She is no longer alone.

Friends, this is why.  Our Lord Jesus calls us to care for the fatherless.  Ask Him what He would have you do.  His heart is for the orphan.  
 . . . . . . . .

Note:  all photos are my own.  I have many more that show the vastness of the need for orphan care, but since they have other people's children in them, I will not post them here.  Ask me, if you'd like to see. Also, google "Chinese orphanage photos" if you want an even greater taste of this great crisis and need.

A New Journey!

We've thought for awhile that God had another child for us.  As He continues to make us aware of the plight of the orphan and His command to care for them, He grows that desire and love in our hearts.  One of the reasons we moved to our bigger house three years ago was for that purpose.  It has been four years since we brought Samuel home, and we've needed time to allow healing and growth and understanding in all of us since then.  But this past spring God began to show us that it was time.  💜



We have completed our home study, thanks to the quick work of our awesome social worker, Jane!  She has been with us for seven years now, since we began our adoption process for Caylie.   And we are again working with AAC Adoption in Berthoud, Colorado.  (Link at the top right of this page.)  Two weeks ago we sent our Letter of Intent to adopt this sweet girl in the photo, and yesterday we received our Pre-Approval from China!

Our sweet girl is 8 1/2 years old; about a year and half younger than Caylie.  She is from Guangdong Province, the same as Samuel, but from a different city.  She has cerebral palsy with hemiplegia on her right side, but none of that stops her at all!  We can't wait to meet her and bring her into our family.  What a blessing she will be!   Look at the adorable videos below.  💜

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

These photos are from a few years ago, but they are adorable, so I can't leave them out!

Please pray for us as we trust God for funding and for the timing of each step of this process.

. . . . . . . .

"The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it."  ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:24

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
~ James 1:27

Busy June!

As soon as the first marching band camp was over on June 1, we got even busier!  First on our list were a few graduation parties!  Rachel and her brother Benjamin were both my students at Meadowood Christian School, and Justin was a student of their mom!  Rachel's party was a mini-Meadowood reunion!  I just wish Keelan could have been there. 

Rachel, Amber, Rebecca, Benjamin, and Justin, all grown up.

The kids playing some corn hole.  

We had a very rainy and cool beginning to summer!

Caylie had her quarterly appointment with Dr. Koontz, her endocrinologist.  She is the bravest kid I know!

j

Justin took two weeks of in-class driving school. 

 At the end he got his driver's permit.

And we began the task of completing 50 hours of practice driving!

One day I made him get out of the car and take this photo in front of his school. 

 He didn't think it was as cool as I did, haha.

Caylie sitting by the fountain at Park Meadows Mall. 

 She's looking way older, don't you think?

Our neighborhood has food trucks every Tuesday!
Yummy and fun!

Caylie and Tessa went to VBS at our church, Calvary Aurora.  They did an awesome curriculum from Answers in Genesis.

j

With our children's pastor, Michael.

One night there was In-N-Out Night at Calvary.

  (Not really, but it was fun!)
Sam and me with our friend Jeff.

One Saturday we got to hang out with our friends the Soleckis from New Mexico!  Melissa and I have been online friends for several years, and only met in person once before this.  This time it was a fun time with both our families there!  

Sam went to football conditioning four mornings a week, and had his first camp.  Doesn't he look great in his pads?  This was an old practice jersey, but I like it.

Brittany turned 30.  We went out for dinner and had cake.  But all I managed to get was this goofy picture of Brad and Sam.  I'm not sure how that happened!

And it was Father's Day!  All the kids pitched in to make a yummy dinner for Jim and Brad.  But of course I have no photo of the actual fathers.  😂😂

And this is a family picture we took in the back yard, to be used to announce our newest journey!  😁