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.

I Heart Faces...Hilarious Outtakes

This is the documentation of the downward spiral which should have been a lovely photo shoot in a picturesque setting with my 4 cherubs:

Hunter (the one holding the dog) started the ball rolling when she picked up the dog and refused to allow Kate (in white) to walk her on the leash. Note Kate's expression and Hunter's oblivion to the ensuing meltdown.....

Because Kate cannot shake her attitude and Hunter was the cause , Hunter is now grounded for decreasing our chances of even getting one good shot. Now note Hunter's new expression. Kate continues to stew...

Kate can no longer hold back and completely looses it while her sisters look on....

And,voi-la, the photo session is over. Kate is leaving, picture or no picture....(sigh)Are we having fun yet?????
Any other photographers have days like this? Right now I can see the humor in these shots. At the time it was anything but funny! For more humorous photo outtakes, head over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus...

Wow! Another Christmas morning has come and gone. We all had visions of sugarplums dancing around here to be sure. Everyone was overjoyed with thier gifts. Even Muffin, who has been steadfastly guarding her gift bag of bones for weeks now. Happy Birthday to you, Jesus. Thank you for coming to this Earth to rescue us. You were not content to allow this planet to remain a gigantic orphanage. You left Heaven to restore a right relationship between the fatherless and thier Heavenly Father. You said you would not leave us as orphans. You were true to your Word as always....

Christmas Memories....

A dear blog friend of mine asked me to pen my fondest Christmas memories and then ask 5 more blog friends to do the same. I have to admit that my first thought was...how can I fit this in with everything else I have to do??? But now, with a few more things crossed off my list, I am excited and ready...

My childhood memories of Christmas are wonderful and warm!!! Everything about Christmas was Currier and Ives at our house. My mom loved to bake so there were lots of baked goods around the house. My mom would bake cinnamon buns and purposely let them remain undercooked so that the ones in the center were gummy, just for me. She made creme cheese danishes that would melt in your mouth and we had them the whole month of December.Also homemade eggnog. I would awaken to the smell of coffee and the sounds of Johnny Mathis singing Christmas songs, songs that I still love today. We lived in New Hampshire and Idaho before that. In those days you hiked into the nearest wood and cut down the tree of your choice, trudging through the snow I might add. We always had white Christmases in those states. Mom and I would make homemade ornaments for the tree a lot of times and we had those large, colored lights that I loved. (As soon as small white lights came out, my father opted for them, but I always loved the colors!) We always were involved in church and Christmas services, singing hymns and carols in a little church nestled in the valley. Sledding and hot cocoa were a constant around the house. I always left a note and cookies for Santa and started Christmas Eve out on the couch in front of the fire place. Somehow I always awoke in my bed on Christmas morning. My stocking was always filled and every year it contained chocolate covered cherries and an avocado. Because I was an only child, my mom and dad and I took turns opening gifts and our Christmas morning would take glorious hours! But, you really got to see the expressions on each face as we opened our gifts and I still prefer this way today? Jesus was the center of life, at Christmas and everyday before and after. In our house , Santa did not diminish Christ's birth. He simply aided in the tradition of gift giving which we did in honor of the ultimate gift of Jesus Christ given to mankind. I am sure that I am forgetting many aspects of my childhood Christmas, but I do remember crying at the end of the season, year after year, because I longed for it not to be over. It was magical. The whole Earth was decorated for the birthday of Jesus, whether it acknowledged it or not. The soul seems lifted during the Christmas season, then and now. I am sure this is God's doing, quickening our hearts and minds to be mindful of him.
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!
Now to pick 5 more friends to share thier Christmas upbringings:
Jody
Karin
Joanie
Nicole (who just returned with her newest daughter from China)
Mary Beth Chapman (couldn't hurt to try asking)

Here is the blog address of my friend in Colorado. She has a very unique Christmas upbringing in South Africa. http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/ Stop by and pay her a visit!

I Heart Faces...Pets

So here is our little munchkin, Muffin, when she was just weeks old. She is actually chewing on a bone but the photo doesn''t show it. Couldn't you just eat her with a spoon? Check out all the sweet , wonderful and exotic pets at: http://www.iheartfaces.com/

Olivia Turns 7!!!

All of Randy's girls....whew!!!

Decorating gingerbread men.

Yummy!!!!!

Unbelievably, my little Olivia is turning 7!!! Today we threw her birthday party with her friends. The theme of this year's celebration was "Sweet Shop". So much fun to fill these sweet party girls up with sugar and then send them home:) Weren't we just getting home from the airport with this little 10 month old bundle??? Where oh where does the time go??? Thank you ,Lord, for bringing this little lamb into our home. Olivia, you are such a blessing to your family. Happy Birthday, sweet pea!

I Heart Faces Sweet Dreams...

Yes, our daughter is asleep in the dog house! She crawled in there to play one night and the next thing we knew she was asleep! Poor Muffin was out of luck! Couldn't really make out her face so we placed her picture nearby. Sweet dreams Baby Kate! Please click on the photo to see larger version. Check out all the other sleeping beauties at :http://www.iheartfaces.com/

I Heart Faces ...Tooshies!!!

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is tooshies of all things! Normally I buy my girls swimsuits with skirts beacause they are a little more modest. However, when you spend half of your time upside down, a skirt is pretty useless! No idea who the little boy in red is but I like the splash of color he adds to the photo. Check out all the bottoms at : http://www.iheartfaces.com/

Counting My Blessings

Our family was treated to the mountains this Thanksgiving! The area was so beautiful. We slept 50 feet from a waterfall and left the windows open all night so we could be lulled to sleep by the muffled roar . I happened to awake about 4 in the morning one day and peered up into the sky. The stars were so big and so bright i woke Randy up to share them with me. I never knew stars could look like that! It all started my thinking about how richly blessed I am. And so I thought I would post some photos showing my greatest treasures on Earth. Lord, I pray that I am always the one healed leper that returns to say thank you.
PS...Lord, the snow on Thanksgiving day was icing on the cake! Loved it!

I Heart Faces Sun Flare

Katie and Kate at the park in the late afternoon. My attempt at sun flare :0)

Go to I Heart Faces to see more sunshine. http://www.iheartfaces.com/ Please click on my photo to see it larger.

I Heart Faces entry...Autumn Beauty

This weeks's theme is Autumn Beauty so I took Olivia up to the commons area in our subdivision where the kids all like to play in the trees that line the pond. I do not know what type of trees these are but this time of year they literally look like they are on fire! For more fall beauty check out http://www.iheartfaces.com/

Today was Orphan Sunday!

This link will take you to a very moving video about the plight of millions of children around the world. Check it out and think about what you can do to help:)
http://vimeo.com/6317258

I Heart Faces entry...Balloons

This photo was taken in the ancient city of Antigua , Guatemala last December. Kate had been with us for 2 days at the time. What better way to break the ice with our new daughter than with a balloon? After all, when you are 22 months old, balloons are sheer magic!!! (The stains around her mouth? ...our 2nd attempt to break the ice with chocolate ice cream) Click on Kate's photo to see full size. For more magic balloons, check out I Heart Faces this week at http://www.iheartfaces.com/

Kate's First Fall Festival

Last night we dressed up the kids and took everyone to the annual Fall Festival at the local Baptist church. Hunter did not come this year due to a stomachache.(I think she may have outgrown this aspect of childhood.) This was Kate's first experience with dancing and playing games for candy. Urekah! She likes this crazy American custom. Everytime I turned around her little face was peering into her bucket for another treat. All the girls entered in the cake walk and won multiple times. Nothing like home-baked goodies from the ladies of the church! Ran into a friend with her two daughters adopted from China. Gosh they had grown! She introduced me to another woman and her 4 Plilippino daughters. All 4 girls adopted last summer at one time! This family went from 1 child to 5 overnight! All the girls were precious and beaming! So fun to see. Love it when God encourages me through other people's adoption journeys. Happy Fall, y'all.....