Our Fun Faith Filled Family: Still Alive in Washington... :)

My kids are giving me a hard time that I have not posted on this blog since last Christmas. One might say we have fallen off the face of the earth.

The truth is, I am not sure that there are many people out there reading this, as I originally intended this blog to be a living scrapbook off our adoption story and our lives after we became a family of eight.

Since last Christmas, a lot has happened in our family. But much of it was very hard to work through and not really blog worthy.

Now that we are on the other side of some of the "awful" I can say that God continues to be faithful and is definitely in the business of forgiveness, redemption and restoration. Each day is a step of grace and faith that God is on the throne and madly in love with each one of us.

If you are reading this and are wondering what we have been going through... I might write about it later. But for today... please keep our family in your prayers. As always, God knows what's up and will hear your prayers and move in response to them. Please know that any prayers lifted up on our behalf are pure gold to us. Thank you.

Because it has been an eon since I wrote I'll try to do a short update on the kiddos.

Elsie: Not quite a kiddo anymore. Almost nineteen. Loving her online college courses to become an ASL interpreter. Spent a month in Colorado this summer for schooling. She went on a short term mission trip to India and fell in love with the culture there. She is a lifeguard, swim instructor and Bible Quiz Master in her spare time.

Cate: This is her Senior Year!!! She is taking courses at the local Junior College to complete an Associates degree and hoping to enter into a teacher education program after graduation. She is just completing a job with our church as the first ever summer intern in children's ministry. She is loving teaching swim lessons. She has also enrolled, with Elsie, in a discipleship training course offered at our church.

Sweet Pea: She is our newest High Schooler. She had an amazing time volunteering this summer at an event that raises money for Ultrasound Machines for Crisis Pregnancy Centers. She has also become a mother's helper to a sweet family at our church. She is maturing beautifully every day and is showing a deep desire to serve God in all she does.

Bookworm: He is in seventh grade this year and has officially grown taller than mom by TWO INCHES! His shoes are size 11. We can't wait to see how tall he is when all this growing stops. He is enjoying Boy Scouts and attended camp for the first time this year. He enjoys playing guitar and beating dad at foosball. He is quickly growing into an amazing young man with a soft heart toward God.

Sunshine: She is entering the sixth grade and seems more like a teenager to me. She is just now eleven, but has matured by leaps and bounds this year. Her most exciting challenge this year is the opportunity to be a part of our Bible Quizzing Team. She just completed her first meet today and scored first in the rookie division. She is a very determined individual. We believe that God has gifted her in this area and constantly look for ways to steer that determination towards Him.

Little Buddy: He just turned nine and is in the fourth grade this year. This has been another challenging year for our little guy. He has been a part of adoption/attachment therapy and has been working on his past to get a chance to focus on the future. It is a hard process. The phrase "Old Habits Die Hard" would describe the struggle we see daily. Our love grows for this boy daily and we wait and pray in anticipation to see a miracle of transformation in his life.

Our time is filled with homeschooling, practicing law, college courses, facilitating parenting classes, swim lessons, piano practice, date nights, Bible quizzing, Boy Scouts, AWANA, etc. But our greatest pursuit is to know God more each day.