Look who lost her very first tooth!

Sarah Lu lost her very first tooth this evening! I was at school taking a test and mommy was at a Bible study. Sarah and Chayah went out to get ice cream cones with daddy and that is when it happened! According to Sarah, it went like this, "I bited into my ice cream and bited on my tooth and I spit it out!" :) Sooo cute! Her first tooth was lost biting into her ice cream (from what I can gather, it was the ice cream that she was biting into, not the cone).. As she was telling me about it she asked me about the tooth fairy and asked, "Can I have four dollars or one? Either is fine.. But, I can I have four??" .. You see, she is currently raising money to buy a p*illow pet. She has wanted one for sometime and is always asking for one- which makes the perfect opportunity for her to have to earn it through doing some extra little chores around the house to earn money for it. (As I was posting this, she just came in to my room and tried to sell me a brownie. for $1. yeah, she's a little salesperson now ;) But this little salesperson now has one less tooth in her mouth and is super excited about that!

see the little gap? its on the bottom and super tiny, but there used to be a tooth there!!

ps. watch the video of Sarah explaining how she lost her tooth. soooo cute :]

Winter

Today Chayah started telling me about how excited she is for winter to come. When I asked her why she was so excited for it she replied, "'Cause we get to push Micah down in the snow and put snow in his face!!" (last winter, she did this. evidently it was the highlight of her time playing in the snow)... I then decided to ask Sarah what she was most excited to get to do once it is winter again.. She replied, "We get to eat ice sickles! ... And I have one more- we get to have snow ball fights!!". Chayah also had to add in, "Oh, we should make a snowman too", but of course, that was only after we had discussed pushing our brother-in-law into the snow, putting snow in his face, and having snow ball fights... this is comforting ;) Sounds like we are going to have a great winter this year!!

note: picture is from last winter..but it is oh soo adorably cute! i may be a bit biased, but my little sisters=prettiest little girls on the face of the planet :)

Just a stop on the road

As we were driving back from a fun Historical day where we were visiting one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, we saw this adorable church along the road and just had to stop to see it. It is so cute, and with all the trees around it, it really is just a beautiful spot.. also, did you notice the amazing blue sky in this picture? I love the sky when it is bright blue with puffy white clouds, I just adore it. It's beautiful!! Anyway, we all got out to stretch our legs on the trip and had a very fun time walking around and seeing this gorgeous little spot.. which I of course decided was the perfect photo op for two certain little girls who were looking especially cute in their little matching dresses that day (despite the fact that a certain someone decided to eat her lollipop and have a sticky blueish green face.. ;) Just makes it all the more Sarah-like and authentic!

Sarah and Chayah in the wagon

Two gorgeous girls in the gazebo.Beautiful Chayah.

I love how this picture turned out. So grand, yet so simple. The grandeur of the setting ..take a look at that archway! it's amazing! and huge!.. with the simplicity of barefoot little girls in white dresses smelling flowers :)
Smiles :)So sweet.

Sisters :)

Love this. love those girls!

Sweet Sarah

Remembering those left behind..

Adoption is an amazing miracle. It is beautiful and it is hard. But through it all, it really is a miracle. I'm so extremely blessed to have been touched by the miracle of adoption. To see and experience your family growing from across the world is amazing. To have Sarah and Chayah home now, after waiting, praying, and dreaming about them being home for so long is amazing. There are really no other words to describe just how awesome it is. And it is all by the grace of God that He showed us His plan for our lives and the lives of these two little girls from the other side of the world and gave us the courage to follow Him even when it seemed impossible.

our family of seven..
most recent picture: from my graduation, May '10
(not pictured are my older sisters' husbands)

One thing that completely amazes me about adoption is that before you step out and are touched by it, you don't realize everything that you are missing. There are 143 million orphans around the world right now. They don't have moms, they don't have dads, they are orphans. So many of these children are available for adoption. So many could be adopted into a forever family of their own, if only the family would step forward and have the courage to press on even when things got tough to bring a new little person home and love them forever.

China. Ethiopia. Uganda. Russia. Haiti. Ghana. Ukraine. Korea. United States.
These are just a few of the many countries that have adoption programs. And many have waiting child programs.

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend their not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes."
-From the book Radical by David Platt

Right now, one of Sarah and Chayah's friends is waiting to be placed with a family. She is from their same orphanage. She is now almost five years old. She came to the orphanage when she was baby. I met her in December 2006 when we traveled to bring Sarah home. She was a baby then. My parents met her again in January 2009 when they traveled to bring Chayah home. She was about 3 years old then and wanted to be held. She is now almost 5, and is an absolutely gorgeous little girl. She is described as being very smart, talkative, and happy."You are not told that children of the orphanage are all coming home with you. That these kids with their wan smiles and growling stomachs are going to follow you across the ocean, move into your house, and inhabit your dreams."

-From the book China Ghosts by Jeff Gammage

She is in the front, middle.. with the pink pants, orange shirt, and cute little yellow shoes :)

She is on the shared list. She has been on for a long time and no one has stepped forward to call her their own.

This beautiful little girl and literally thousands more little girls and boys are waiting around the world today.. I checked China's shared list to see how many more are waiting today and there are 2088 other children just on China's shared list alone. They don't have mom's or dad's. They live in orphanages. They are orphans. Today, I'm remembering those that are left behind. Those children who have not yet been touched by the miracle of adoption. What will you do to show those children hope?

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' . . . 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "
Matthew 25:35-36;40

Flying!

Sarah and Chayah's school had a Young Eagle's event at our little local airport. Each of the girls got to go on airplane ride and they both absolutely loved it!! They even cried a little because they wanted to go up again so much.. but there will be another Young Eagle day in the Spring, so they can go again then. ;)
Sarah flew by herself with her pilot and Chayah went on with a friend from her class, another little one, and her pilot. Sarah flew first, and then Chayah and her group-- but in different planes. It was crazy to look up at the sky and not even be able to see where they were.. a little nerve wracking for sure, but all is well and they are both safely down on land again :)
They had a blast though and I'm so happy they got to go up and have such a great time!!

Sarah and her pilot, walking out to the plane

A little blurry, but so sweet :)

Sarah and her pilot almost to the plane!

Getting in and getting ready


Starting to taxi!
If you look in close, you can see a little Sarah head peeking out from the window!

Going out to the runway!
Getting pretty far out there..

And taking off!! (the plane in the background, not the one closest up)

Yes, that is SARAH up in the plane wayyy up in the sky!!!

Landed!

Sarah and her pilot safely back down :)


Sarah adored her plane ride!! She even got a button (that she has on) and a certificate for flying!

Chayah and a friend from her class, hanging out, helping to work the food booth, and waiting to fly.. right here Chayah was saying to him "Hello Husband!" and he was saying back "Hello Wife!".. haha, they're cute ;)

Chayah and another friend from her class, meeting their pilot.. almost time for them to fly!!

Going out to their plane!

Chayah and her group getting in the plane!

All in.. almost time to take off!

Starting to taxi..

Going to the runway..

Going farther... and then they were off!!

Finally-- landed!!

Safely back on the ground :)

Coming back

Chayah and her friend very excited to greet us all again and tell us about their amazing ride!

Sarah ran out to meet Chayah and greeted her with a huge hug! This was the sweetest moment ever!

Chayah and her friend, with their certificates from flying! What big girls they are!! (1st graders are pretty big, after all ;)