Let it snow!!!

Our first snow for 2010! Started falling last night around 10:00pm and went all night long. We all awoke to a winter wonderland. Did I say early??? Hunter and Logan spent the night with a friend in the neighborhood so Randy and I just had the little girls last night. Even so , they didn't make it to bed before 10:00pm and Randy and I finally hit the hay at nearly 1:00am. Ugh!!! Then , because her girls were gone, Muffin (our dachshund) just could NOT get settled. She was in and out of our room, whining, pacing the hall and agitated ALL NIGHT LONG!!! Now 7:00am rolls around and Kate and Olivia are jumping on us ready for a snowball fight. UGH again!!! We sent them back to bed and tried to recover from our very active, sleepless night. Eventually we did make it out. It was a lot of fun. Quite cold and crunchy! We did it all...roasted marshmallows and hotdogs over an open fire, wonderful sledding , hot cocoa and snow cream. Hard night...great day!

I Heart Faces entry...Texture

This week's theme is texture. This is a shot of Kate peeking through the gates of a courtyard in Antigua, Guatemala. Her face is a mess, but I decided to leave the crumbs .(There's a story there.) To get your hands on more textures go to http://www.iheartfaces.com

And the winner is....

the Ferguson family!!! They have now embarked on this wonderful journey that we call adoption. With all of its ups and downs and ins and outs and highs and lows and endless opportunities to trust the Lord, Jim and Kristin are in it for the long run!!! They have picked a little pumpkin off Reese's Rainbow named Nadine. They had decided that her name should be Nadia, in keeping with her heritage, and then , as only God would work it out, found out her name really is Nadia! She is perfect for them and it was really no surprise to me that she was the one that God was leading them to. She is a spunky looking ,blue-eyed beauty who looks as though she is interested in everything. I am still walking on the clouds over this amazing miracle. It has been nothing short of fun and excitement since Kristin made their announcement. Hang in there, you two. There will be storms to come, there always are, but I believe that when God opens eyes to the need of the world's orphans , He really lets us SEE HIM in a fresh and new way. It will change you forever....You are the winners! You get a precious lamb! You get the untold blessings that adoption brings. You get to serve God in this very tangible way and save a life at the same time! You win!

I Heart Faces...Best Face

Happy Birthday I Heart Faces!!! What a fun first year you have offered to so many who love the art and sport of photography! This is my entry for best face. This is Kate goofing off in her sister's new black blingy hat taken a few days ago. She is quite the ham.... For more beautiful, interesting, sweet and sassy expressions visit http://iheartfaces.com/ and wish them a Happy 1st Birthday!!! Click on Kate to see photo enlarged.

An "I Heart Faces" Photo Challenge!

Here are my three attempts at embedding the I Heart Faces logo into my photos. Great homework assignment! For other embedded logos click on http://www.iheartfaces.com

I am submitting these photos into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website. Please click on each photo to see it enlarged.

One of my best gifts ever....

Our family had a very nice Christmas this year. I am thankful for all that we received from those around us as well as the opportunities that we had to give. This was Kate's first real Christmas with her family. (Technically she was home the week of Christmas last year, but she wasn't even 2 yet and her mother was a raving lunatic with all that was going on so I am not counting last year's experience.) This year she was right in the mix though. She found opening gifts and eating sweets galore very agreeable. Surprise, surprise!!! Anyway, Christmas morning was a lot of fun. My husband really shocked me with photography software. Never saw it coming. Such a sneak! And I love it!!! Anything to feed the PHOTOGRAPHER WANNABE BEAST within.
All this aside , I didn't receive my sweetest gift until 2 days after Christmas when one of my closest girlfriends emailed me. She said she was sending me an email and then she wanted to talk. I thought I was in the doghouse over something...so.... imagine my delight... when.... I opened the email to find the faces of 2 little girls in the Ukraine that she and her husband were considering ADOPTING!!!! I was speechless!!! This particular friend and her husband have desired a 4th child for over a year now and have struggled with infertility issues. Having 2 adopted daughters myself, I would ,now and then, gently,lovingly (Kristin, are you on the floor laughing??) try to plant the seed in their hearts of allowing God to bring this 4th child into their family in the same way. Her heart was open, but her husband had a lot of reservations about the whole idea and process of adoption and had for years. And I knew that. I had spent many a shower and middle of the night insomnia moments questioning God over this. "Lord ...why don't you just change his heart????" This was a family in want of a child and the world is full of children in want and need of a family!!! Seems like a perfect fit!!!! "God...why aren't you moving in this???" Well, obviously God was and is always at work whether we can SEE it or not. So....looks like a precious girl somewhere is going to get a precious family after all!!! I could not be any happier for both sides!!! Yipppppeeee!! One of the biggest blessings of this situation will not be given to the family or the baby, however, but is reserved for the rest of us. We all are allowed to see,once again, the hand of God at work. We all are privy to the softening and opening of a heart to the call of caring for" the least of these." We all get to observe the purest form of religion play out. We all get to witness the miracle of the unwanted becoming treasure!!! We get to watch a man and his wife rescue a lamb from the pit. We see our own adoption into the family of God play out on Earth as this helpless child is taken in and given new life. It is humbling to the core of our hearts and spirits. I give all the glory to God...great things He is doing and great things He has done!!!
I will post more as I know it and once the child is chosen I will put her picture up. Please pray for this couple and their family as they move forward...Jim and Kristin and their children..Allen, Josi and Micheal. Pray for God's wisdom and discernment to cover their decisions. Cannot wait to post more: )
ps-I don't want to embarrass anyone, but some of you that will read this post should know that God used you and your examples to bolster this family's decision to adopt.