Schuyler's 13th Birthday!!

Yesterday was Schuyler's 13th birthday!  She has now officially entered into teen-dom and she is VERY excited about it!  I for one, cannot believe that I am now the parent of THREE teenagers.  Wow that makes one feel old.  :)



A couple weeks ago we had her party with friends (pictures are posted below) and then yesterday it was her day with Mom-- out on the town for lunch and shopping and Starbucks!  We had such a nice time.  We don't get to do that often.  Actually she and I were trying to remember when the last time was that we had a day like that together, and it was a while ago.  That made it all the more special.

13 is a special year, and Schuyler truly is a special girl.  She is the "second Mommy" of the house.... ask anyone-- even her father!  She is the go-to girl if something is missing, she knows the ins and outs of running this household just as well as I do, and she wants it to function like a well oiled machine even MORE than I do!  :) 

She is an organizer, a planner, a take-charge kind of girl.  She strives for perfection more times than not (can you say Type A personality?) but when she falls short she just picks herself up and tries again rather than melting into a puddle. 



She got baptized a few years ago now which has developed such a maturity in her and a love for others.  She has a heart for the orphans just about as much as her mama does now, which of course makes me proud. 

She loves animals-- her kitten Henry and horses in particular-- knitting, reading and anything crafty.  She is also developing into one heck of a soccer player!

This momma, and her daddy, are very proud to call this sweet little one their baby, though she is not much of a baby anymore.



She is growing into a lovely young lady who, I pray, always keeps the Lord as the center of her life allowing Him to guide her path in this world.



 

Happy Birthday Schuyler Grace!!!

Check out the pictures below from her fun zebra themed birthday with friends, and her day out with Mom!!

Schuyler enjoyed her party with her friends so much! Some of them she had not seen in quite a while so it was great for her to be able to hang out with them again.

And what lovely gifts she received!  This Vera Weekender bag will be perfect for her trip to Eastern Europe with Mom and Dad, and the World Record book is perfect reading material for the loooooonnnng plane ride!

Here are some pictures below from her actual birthday and our mother-daughter outing!

We began the day opening gifts from Mom and Dad and taking some pictures with siblings.....

Schuyler loves ANYTHING with a peace sign on it!!

opening a present from Nana Sherry and RH.....

A lovely necklace and earring set, and a bracelet!

and watching Grayson making eggs  :)

Then it was out for the day with mom.  The location was a surprise.....

... it was lunch at the Cheesecake Factory!

After lunch the waitress brought this out!

Then they all sang to her too!

We walked around the mall for the rest of the afternoon, and when we arrived home we found these balloons waiting from Nana Sherry and RH!!

And........

the girls had a tea party all set up and waiting for her.  How sweet!

The guest of honor's place was designated by the boa and balloon, and there was tea, plates of cookies and mints!

Complete with tea pots and place cards.

She has such sweet sisters!!

What a fun day we had celebrating.  You only become a teenager once!!







October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Please take a look at the latest post by Adeye Salem at the "No Greater Joy Mom" blog.  The link is here--  http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2011/10/imperfectly-perfect.html

She emphasizes, more perfectly than I ever could, the reasons why we need to increase awareness about Down Syndrome and what it REALLY means for our children.

Children with Ds are capable, beautiful, loveable blessings.  Take a look at her post and see if you don't agree!!

God's Abundant Blessings Through His People

You know, we all have had times in life when people have let us down or disappointed us.  And all we have to do is watch the evening news to see daily glimpses of how cruel, inhumane and sinful mankind can be as well.  So isn't it refreshing when you see people stepping out, lending a hand, shining their light on those around them and showing mercy and love instead??  Well, keep on reading below if you want to see some of that in action!

Our family just feels so extremely blessed right now.  In the past couple weeks we have gotten to have not one, not two, but THREE firsthand experiences of God bestowing love on us through his people!  And let me tell you, it is AMAZING!  Each deserves its own post, because each experience has been so genuine and thoughtful.  So I am going to write about them one at a time.  Here's the first one!  And it's a doozie!!  :)

Remember how I have been posting about our Sacred Selections fundraiser in Lexington, KY this past weekend?  Well, it was held on Friday and it was a hit beyond our wildest expectations!

We got the word yesterday afternoon from Phillip and Tracy Shumake that the grand total raised for the adoption of Masha and Christopher was.... drumroll please!!......

$5800.00!!!!

WOW!!!  I could not believe it!  When Tracy had originally emailed me to tell me about the fundraiser and ask me how much we would ideally love to raise, I told her that $6000 would be awesome, but never in my wildest imagination did I think that the actual number would even be close!  After all, Tracy and Phillip put all this on in such a short amount of time.  They put so much effort into it all, but I just never imagined that it would be THIS successful! 

Phillip and Tracy Shumake

The tables each had a picture of either Masha or Christopher on it, plus another picture of our family, and a card about the silent auction.

Some of the attendees enjoying a fun-filled evening!

The guests were invited to watch a short presentation about Sacred Selections and how they help families like us adopt orphans both in the US and abroad.

Phillip and Tracy had asked us to make a video about our family and about Masha and Christopher to show at the dinner.  I have that video posted below......

(Please click pause on my playlist below so that you can enjoy the song on the video)

Tracy said there were FOUR tables set up for the silent auction items, and they STILL had to squash everything together to make it all fit!!

We can't express well enough how amazingly THANKFUL we are for everyone's efforts in this!  For Tracy and Phillip who orchestrated it, for Dana Corozza who started Sacred Selections for orphans in the first place, for all those who donated the 100+ items for the silent auction and for the over 50 guests who attended the dinner on Friday ................  Thank you  Thank You Thank You!!!

Thank you on behalf of Masha and Christopher, who although they can't thank you in person... yet!.... are going to be so grateful to get home to a family who loves them and will take care of them in ways they have never yet known in their lives!

Our Fundraiser Is Tomorrow Night!

First of all, I would like to offer a HUGE thank you to all the people who have spent so much time in putting our fundraiser together, and to all who have bought tickets, donated money, or donated items to the silent auction!!  Your generosity is overwhelming to us and our appreciation really cannot be adequately described!

Sacred Selections is a wonderful ministry with an incredible heart for the orphans of this world, no matter where they might live-- here or abroad.  We are so grateful for all the people associated with this mighty work of helping families like us to go and get our children, gathering them from the East and the West just like the Bible says.

If you are planning on attending the fundraiser tomorrow in Kentucky, I hope you have an awesome night with some really fabulous people.

If you cannot attend, but you can make a contribution, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!

Remember, you can donate in two ways-- by clicking on our FSP button at the top right of my sidebar, which brings you directly to the donate button on Reeces Rainbow, or by going to the blog that Sacred Selections,KY has set up for us:
http://sacredselectionslexington.blogspot.com

Thank you again for helping provide a loving home for Masha and Christopher.  Every time you donate towards our fund, that is what you are essentially doing-- helping provide them with the love and security of a home.  You are bringing them one step closer to coming home to our family with every dollar, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!! 

Hate To Wait

I can't stand waiting.  I know most people can't.  But especially when it is for something really, really important....... I hate it. 

Patience is a virtue, I know, I know, but we have been waiting since July now.  July!  Still the special needs list that we are waiting on in our children's country has not been released.  Still we are anxious to find out if Masha's needs are on that list so she can be adopted before she turns 5.  Still we pray, and still we wait.

The list was supposed to be released today.  It wasn't.

Please pray that it comes out sometime this week before I pull all my hair out.  Please pray that when it does finally come out that one of her needs are on it.  And lastly, pray that we can still travel soon to get our children.

When we committed to them, Christopher was just 7 months old.  Now he is 15 months old.  Time does fly, whether they are in your arms or not.  They are growing up without us, their family, and they are missing the love of a mommy and a daddy every day. 

Please pray we are able to leave to get them both very, very soon.

Our Fundraiser

Just a reminder that Sacred Selections in Lexington, KY is hosting a fundraiser on our behalf Friday October 14th.  For all those interested, they have started a blog and have info about us, our children and the fundraiser as well.  They also now have a donation button set up so that even if you cannot attend on the 14th, you can still donate if you feel lead to do so.  Here is the link:
http://sacredselectionslexington.blogspot.com/p/donate.html

Thank you to everyone who is helping us to bring our sweet little ones home!!  There is a lot going on behind the scenes to put this whole fundraising effort together, and we are so completely grateful for everyone's generosity!!

Buddy Walk!

This past weekend, our family along with the Miller family, had the honor of representing Reece's Rainbow at the Charlotte NC Buddy Walk in Freedom Park.  It was a beautiful day, cool and crisp and very Fall-like, and the place was packed!

We had a great table set up with lots of information, a wonderful poster made by Carol Miller, and a ton of cool freebies like calendar magnets, bumper stickers and pens!

We also had some pretty great helpers.....

They were awesome at walking through the crowds and handing out information!  Especially Gideon, I think he handed out the most!!

(which given his limited English is pretty impressive!)

We also had a sweet little helper with us....

Mr Quinton Miller himself!!  He is a Reece's Rainbow baby!

The walk was great, we had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed being able to share the mission of Reece's Rainbow with everyone.

"Everyone deserves the blessing of a child with Down Syndrome"

Thanks to Andrea Roberts for beginning this wonderful organization, thanks to all the people who came by our booth and inquired about our organization with such great interest, and most of all... thanks to all the mommies and daddies who have stepped out in faith and adopted these precious children! 

Tim and I are proud to now be counted among you!

Tim bought this hat at the Buddy Walk and it says

 "Dads Appreciciating D.A.D.S -- Down Syndrome"