His face is so precious. He was in the mood to pose for me all evening. I got several cute shots of this little guy. I guess they have been around "senior pictures" way too often!
When we first arrived at the western round up, Elizabeth had just fallen asleep, so she would have nothing to do ANYTHING or ANYONE for the first 2 hours. She was warmed up, almost, by the time we left. She missed the horse rides because of her mood. At the end, Sam took her to Mommy A who so graciously let her ride the horse.
For some reason, he really likes this pose. I think I asked him one time to put his hand near his chin and from that, he seems to think he needs to put his hand up to his face... not having a clue what to do with the rest of his arm! He is so funny and oh so sweet.
Check her facial expression out. Can you tell she was in one of her moods? She was not going to get out of it for nothing! She eventually warmed up some, and thus, I was able to get one shot of her.
Sarah was having a good time trying to mess with Ri's hat. She was relentless and he tolerated it. They had a lot of fun, though. I really am thankful for the opportuntity we have to watch Sarah one day a week. They are blessed to be going to the same church as well.
I found this picture on Emily's profile for facebook. I thought it was very cute.

"Super Dora"

I love everything there is about fall. I especially love apple picking. Boy did we miss Emily though; this is her favorite thing about fall.

Just a shot of the gorgeous sunset I saw on the way home from a game last night. Sam had another game. He scored! It is always fun to watch them score.

Things are changing a bit for Emily. I was suppose to be bringing Emily and her roommate home today. Her roommate had a doctors appointment in Ohio that she needed to be at, so we decided to make an appointment for Emily to have an MRI taken (we were advised to have one done sooner rather then later) I made the appointment and Emily was VERY excited to come home and see everyone. Unfortunately, somewhat unexpectedly, circumstances changed and her roommate will be moving home today. Please pray for her. She is a beautiful child of the Lord and a precious friend to Emily. Despite her deep desire to stay at BBC, God has different plans. Emily will miss her and I am confident that today is going to be a very difficult day for both of the girls. So my day yesterday changed quite drastically. Instead of traveling to BBC, I traveled to Millersburg and met with Emily's roommates father and delivered "gifts" for Emily. She needed some winter clothes and Mark and I sent a "care package" of goodies/snacks/etc. We are hoping that the "gifts" will bring a smile to her heart.

We are trusting that Erin will make a commitment this week to the college she would like to play for. She has made her decision, now she just needs to let the coach know. I will fill you in when she does.

Jacob has been on a mission trip with his Uncle all week. They traveled to West Virginia and helped build a wheel chair ramp and some other work. He seems to be enjoying the experience. I can't wait to hear all the details.

Yesterday, when I was planning to drive the 7 1/2 hours to BBC, Elizabeth was coming with me and Ri was planning on staying with Mamaw. I was talking with them about it. THey had both chosen what they wanted to do. Then Ri looked, seriously, at me and stated: "I'm staying at Mamaw's so I don't tease Elizabeth". That made me giggle. Elizabeth sweetly smiled and queitly said "he won't tease me". I think she really wanted him to come with us. Elizabeth then said to me "I will stay with Ri so he won't be scared". Ri responded with "yeah, I need Elizabeth so I am not alone". At that point, I was simply blessed to hear them talking about each helping each other. Then I reminded Elizabeth how she really wanted to come with me (she is somewhat in a clingy stage again). She smiled real broad and announced "I was only teasing you. I want to stay with Ri at Mamaw's.". Well, it was settled, they were staying with Mamaw. So for 2 hours, every 5 minutes, they asked me when they were going to Mamaw's house and announced very firmly that they wanted to go NOW! I hadn't decided if I would wait until today to go or if I was going yesterday, so I kept putting them off as to when we were going to Mamaw's. Then I got the call that all plans had changed quite unexpectedly. I told the kids that I wasn't going, but they insisted they still were. So... after a call to Mamaw's, we made a trip to her house and they both spent the night.

It is exciting to watch God work. Sometimes, it is very confusing and somethng I can't figure out... but oh so good when you hold onto Him!

Erin is one of the captains of her team. The black tape is a bible verse she wears while she plays. I think it is very cool. The orange tape represented that she was a captain. I thought this picture was very cool.

Sam is also a captain of his soccer team. We are very proud of him.







Emily has gently reminded me that I have not blogged lately. Old habits die hard, I guess. I have been very busy and haven't taken the time. I am really trying hard to not focus on the computer as much and to focus on my children more. I am finding it much harder to get things done while I am trying to work out details for Jacob and trying to work on school for the kids and babysitting MOndays, and work on programs/pictures for soccer, and clean, and do laundry and juggle water distribution at my house, and ... and...and... the list goes on..,. and on.... and on.

Today I cooked the meal for the soccer team. I took it on to help out all the parents. They each paid money and I will be providing the meals. It is an undertaking I am realizing I might have chose unwisely! Today was my dad's birthday, so I made a trip into town and made him and mom breakfast. THen I flew home and made dinner for 33 kids, flew back into town and unloaded the van with 2 sleeping kids (no fun). Fed the team, cleaned up, and met Mark at my parents to give him dinner. We went to Sam's game and discovered it delayed so we headed back to mom's only to get a phone call 10 minutes later that it was cancelled all together. Oh well... the life of a mom & dad.

Emily is beginning to feel twinges of homesickness. Please pray for her. SHe loves school more then anything and does not want to come home, but she is missing seeing us.

Today, Elizabeth told me she wanted to tell me a story. She had one of those boards that you can write on and then slide the button all the way to the side to erase it. She curled up right beside me with a twinkle in her eye. The she began to tell me a story. I wish you could have been there. She began to draw. First, she put a dot and told me that it was the Israelites. Then she drew a cirlc around the Israelites and told me that was an army surrounding them. She told me that the army was going to attack. Outside of the the circle, she placed a dot and said it was King Saul. Then she drew a squiggly line and crossed it and said that was his house. On the other side of the army, she drew another dot and said it was David. And then placed a house for him. Then inside the army, she drew a big dot and said it was Goliath. Then she drew several jagged lines and told me that God sent a big storm. Then she drew lightning and told me that God was sending thunder and lightning. And lastly, she drew rain (straight lines) all over the army. It was so cool to watch her draw things to represent everything. THere was serious thought behind every mark she put on that picture. In the end, the picture was unrecognizable to anyone who would have looked at it. But to me, I saw an entire story line. It was amazing! It ended up a beautiful picture and I so wished I had had the video tape running!

Ooops... I haven't updated since Thursday. Guess time has flown by. We have been busy. The weather has been gorgeous lately, so we have been taking many walks. These pics are from the field.

Elizabeth and Ri began AWANA last night at our church. They are officially Cubbies... and absolutely thrilled to be a Cubby! We are excited to see the program. They have wonderful leaders who truly do love them (Vicki... that's you, you know!)

Sam and Erin are just as busy as last week. Monday, Sam had a game and then went straight to band practice. Erin has practice and then stayed in town for band. They got home at 9:30. Tuesday, Sam and an away game and Erin had a home game. It took Erin home at 9:30 only to get a call from Sam on my way home to let me know he needed a ride home as well. A good friend on his team, who has helped out with Sam's rides, was injured. They thought he might have torn his ACL, but after going to the doctor yesterday, it may be his PCL (I think that is it and it is better to tear then the ACL). Please pray for him. It is his senior year and he had lots of high hopes for colleges to see him play. He is also the kicker for our football team. Anyway - I droppe Erin off and turned around to get Sam. We got home after 10:15 or so. Elizabth adn Ri went to both the JV and Varsity games. By 9:00, Elizabeth was more then ready to go home and whining quite a lot. As I stood talking to a good friend/coach, she fell asleep on my shoulder. The game still had 15 minutes to go! My arms and back were very sore by the end! Yesterday, Erin and Sam had practice and then went straight to church. Erin had a bible study with some friends before church and Sam just hung out. They didn't make it home until 9:00. Tonight, Sam has a home game. Erin will want to stay and watch the games; so another late night.

Emily is doing well. She is realizing how much work comes with college classes. I am so proud of her and how hard she is working at keeping up. She is even trying to work ahead! Way to go, girl! This morning, she posted on facebook: When did things change? :( So.... something is up... just pray for her. God knows whatever it is that she needs or is struggling with. She still absolutley loves BBC!

I am thoroughly enjoying Jacob being home this school year. I see so much more joy in him and I feel like he and I are finally beginning to be like we use to be. I think we both needed this special time together! I praise God for that... but I need prayer that Jacob can learn what he needs to learn. I realized yesterday that some of this is so far over my head (or at least it will take so much energy to learn it all over again) that it kind of scares me. His intellect is far greater than mine!

Oops.. I missed yesterday. We began our first Monday of officially "babysitting". We have the joy of watching a little girl from our church (also adopted from China) every Monday this school year. It will be a great thing for all 3 kids. It may take some time to work out the dynamics of the three, but I am confident they will do well.

We now have a week of school under our belt. .. for all the kids. It seems we are back into some kind of normal routine again. I sooo enjoy that! Yesterday was sucha gorgeous day. I sometimes just sit in awe of the gifts that God has given us and that I taken for granted. One of those is the weather and the gorgeous colors He has "painted" throughout our world. WE spent a lot of time outside yesterday. It has been a long time since we have done that. Elizabeth doesn't enjoy the heat very much and Ri doesn't seem to do very well in heat (physically)... so we haven't spent more then 1/2 hour outside (unless we are near water to cool off) in a very long time. It was so refreshing.

Emily is still doing wonderful. She is growing in the Lord so much! What a joy it is to watch. I am so very, very envious! :) She sent Elizabeth, RI and Jacob letters yesteday. You should have seen the delight in Elizabeth and Ri's eyes when they actually saw their name on the envelope. And when they opened it up and saw a picture that Emily had drawn with her holding their hands... they both smiled so broad and just had to call her. They were thrilled. They held onto the letters for a very long time. This morning, one of the first things that Ri asked for was his letter from Emily.

An update on our water situation. We opted not to drill deeper simply because the cost was so great and the chance of finding water was not definite. We felt that at this point in time, we still have water and can adjust our water usage to hopefully maintain the water supply. We replaced the pump only ($1500.00!). Our water supply is the same. We have only run out one time since we replaced it, so I think we have made the right choice. WE put a special valve on the pump so that if we run out of water, the pump will automatically shut off. That way, we won't burn it out (that is what might have happened to the last pump). God is good, He is faithful... and He will provide what we need. That doesn't mean that I will have all the water I want at the moment I want it, but He will provide what I need. The confusing part, sometimes, is knowing my need versus my wants. My wants always seem to be much greater then my needs :).

Sam found a turtle just after he got off lifeguarding and I was taking him to band. He made me turn around to get it (so it wouldn't be run over). We took it and released it at the creek. The little ones loved it. After the release, I convinced Jaoob to take a few pictures for me (practice for senior picture that I am going to be taking soon). Elizabeth was reluctant at first then really got into it. Ri did as well.

Erin made the paper again. It is always fun to see the girls on the team make the paper. Here is the link for her picture. http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/08/26/image-gallery (she is the last picture, so click the arrow on the left to get there quick)

It has been awhile, but a few weeks ago we took the kids (minus Erin and Emily) to Kings Island. It is always fun to see the excitement in the kids eyes as they ride the rides. They were both big enough to ride an "big kids" roller coaster (well... big for them!).





(a little tuckered out)

I thought I would share a sample of Erin and Sam's schedule. This week it went like this:
Monday - In early for an officer's meeting (left at 6:30am). School until 2:30, Erin had practice at 2:45 - 5:15/30. Sam had to be at the field by 4:00 for his game at 5:30, so he stayed after school. Erin came to Sam's game. Sam had to stay for the varsity game and Erin wanted to stay. They left at 9:15 but we had no water, so they went to my parents and showered. They walked in the door near 10:00pm and finished up homework.
Tuesday - In early for another officers' meeting (left at 6:30). School until 2:30. Sam had practice after school until 5:30. Erin had to be at the field by 4:00 for her game, so she just stayed after school. Sam joined us at the game, after practice. We all stayed until Erin's game was over (9:15 or so). Then we headed to my parents for the kids to shower (still no water). Got home 10:25.
Wednesday - In early for another meeting (6:30 again). School until 2:30. Erin had practice after school until 5:30. Sam had to catch a bus at 4:00 for an away game, so he stayed after school. Erin then went with a friend to grab something to eat before heading to church at 7:00. Sam go home at 7:45 and went to church where both had a SALT team meeting (leadership). They didn't pull into our drive until 9:15/30 (we finally had water for them to shower here).
Thursday: another meeting, so in early. School until 2:30. Both had soccer practice until 5:30. Then they had marching band practice from 6:00 - 9:00. They pulled into our house around 9:35. Finished homework and showered.
Friday: (today's schedule). They got to sleep in (until next Friday when FCA begins). School until 2:30. Soccer until 5:30, at 6:00 they have to be at the football field preparing for marching band. They won't be done until close to 10:00.

Don't you all wish you were teens again and able to keep that kind of pace?????!!

Finally, please pray for Emily. She LOVES school so I am not requesting prayer for homesickness or anything like that. She just needs prayer. Lots of new things in her life. One specific is that she begins work study soon and she is a little overwhelmed with the idea of all the homework she is experiencing and fitting in work.

Jacob is enjoying the time we have here at home. I see some real joy in him. That is worth more then words can say.