Name Change??

Okay...I'd love anyone's advice (only if you agree with me HA!  Although I really don't know what I think...sigh).  We've got quite the discussion going on over here about "changing" Karleigh's name.  I have always loved the name Caroline, and thought for years that if I were going to adopt, I would name her Caroline and call her Carlie.  My other two girls names are Katherine (Katie) and Alexandra (Lexie) and so Caroline (Carlie) would follow the "girl name rules" that I had planned.  Here comes the challenge for me.  For those that do not know, my husband's name is Karl.  That is Karl with a "K".  He is also a Jr. and so as a kid he was called "Karlie" (shhhhhhh!).  My problem is is that I like the name Caroline spelled with a "C"...but not Carlie.  Karoline with a "K" is growing on me...especially since it's a feminine form of "Karl".  But what about the spelling "Karleigh" that we have fallen in love with!?  Oh my....What a tangled web we've weaved!  I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts!!!

Orphans Of God

I found this wonderful video that a jie jie (big sister) made on orphans.  I have been personally blessed by this sweet girl.  My daughter, Lexie, has been friends with her for about a year now and she has been such a blessing to my girl Lexie. This family is in the process of adopting their 2nd child from China~~both girls from the Waiting Children program. My prayer is that for ALL the Christians who watch this, that the Lord stirs them to do SOMETHING for the plight of orphans worldwide~~be it praying for them, supporting them financially, or finding room in their own homes for them.  The Lord has CALLED us ALL to do SOMETHING!!

Faithfulness

This journey to our Karleigh Mei has been an amazing path.  We are trusting and putting our faith in the Father in ways that I've not imagined before.  The emotions that I have felt have been like a roller coaster.  Although the emotions that I have felt have not been new.   Even though I'm not carrying my darling girl around in my belly, she is just as ever present!  I cannot feel her moving inside of me, but she is still stirring in my heart!  My imaginings and dreams of her are the absolute same as any of my other children before their birth.  The excitement, anxiety, fears, unbelief at times, and incredible overwhelming love for someone I've not yet met---all of these emotions I have felt before with my other children.  My thoughts of her consume my every waking hour (and sleeping too!).  I love it when others ask about her! So if you see me and are afraid to ask, please do not be afraid!!  I love my girl so very much and it's about all I really want to talk about! Also, please remember to be praying for her.  It breaks my heart that I cannot be with her and her with me! Pray that the Lord continues to keep His hand on her! I can sense that the time is drawing near that we will see her precious face. 

I was listening to praise and worship music this morning and I heard "Great is Thy Faithfulness".  Our Father is so very faithful to us and I'm so very thankful!!

"Great is Thy Faithfulness"

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

20th High School Reunion

This past weekend we traveled to Karl's hometown (and my old hometown!) for Karl's 20th High School reunion.  We had a lot of fun seeing old friends and talking about "yesteryear".  :o) As always, I wish I had taken more pictures of the weekend festivities.  Here are a few that I did take.

This first one was at "Field Day".  Karl thought he'd give it a whirl at the potato sack races.

He was pretty good at the "Hula Hoop".  He won first place in this!  :o)  Got to love those "Field Day" ribbons!!

Like father, like son...Garrison also placed in the "Hula Hoop" contest.

After field day, we went and had lunch with old friends.  

I LOVE these people!!  I lived next door to them growing up and they are the sweetest and dearest people!  Shannan (far left) and I were good friends when we were little bitty and I am so blessed that we are still close.  Her parents are awesome too!  I love that our families are still so close! God is so good!

And I have saved the best bit of info. from the weekend for the last.  :o)  Karl, my love, got the  "Hottest After Highschool" award.  Oh my goodness....I loved this!!  He is NEVER going to hear the end of it!!  Hahahaha!!  Here he is with the "Sexiest Bald Classmate".  :o)

Summer 2008 Olympics Countdown!

6 Months Lid Anniversary

6 Months waiting.

I'm so longing to see her face....

New Shared Referrals

I just received an email from AWAA.  The CCAA has posted a new group of shared referrals today.  It is stated that most of the children are older and with more severe special needs.  Please be praying for these children and the families that are reviewing their files.

Garrison's EEG

Last week Garrison was a real trooper and had a routine 24 hr. EEG done.  He's had EEG's done before, but never one that was this long.  He was nervous about getting it done, but it turned out to be not that bad.  :o)  I think the worst part was having to sleep with it and then the terrible "hair day" he had the next day.  :o) We are still waiting for the results from the doc.

Here are some groovy pictures of him:

Trip To The Beach....

Last week we made a trip to the beach.  We made it early this year for fear that we wouldn't get the chance to make a family trip with all of our kids this summer.  Katie will be doing an internship this summer in another town.  So...off to the beach we went for several days.

The weather was perfect, warm and a little cool breeze.  I enjoyed sitting on the beach doing absolutely nothing!!  It was wonderful!!  I had a book that I began reading called "The Shack". I'm still not done with it yet.  Very interesting...

Besides reading a book and doing nothing on the beach, I was constantly dreaming of Karleigh Mei!  Praying she can make the trip with us next time!!  She will have so much fun building sandcastles with big sis Katie.  Splashing in the waves with big brother Garrison.  Feeding the seagulls with big brother Gannon.  Looking for shells with big sister Lexie.  Flying a kite with Daddy. Eating some cherries with Mama.  :o)  Yum. I can already visualize her with us!  She SOOOO belongs with us!!

We ate all of our meals in our condo that we stayed in, except we did meet my cousin and her husband for dinner (they live nearby) one night.  It was so good to see them!  My boys (big and little!) are in awe of her husband.  He races porsche cars!  How cool is that!?   :o)  Of course I didn't get pics of them.  Bum.

Below are some of my favorite (unedited) pictures of our time on the beach.

My boys.  :o)

Katie and her sandcastle.

Pretty Katie!

Gannon LOVES that he's taller than his big sister!

Showing the sisters a little bit of love!

Family picture.  Going to have to photoshop this.

My sweet Garrison.

My guy Gannon.

Beautiful Lexie!

My darling girl Katie!

I am soooo blessed!!!

Wordless Wednesday~~Yippee to Summer!

17th Wedding Anniversary

Today, June 1, 2008, is my 17th wedding anniversary to my Knight in Shining Armor, Karl! Here we are all those years ago at the tender age of 21!  Yikes!  Don'tcha' love my dress with the big, poofy sleeves?  It looks kind of like the Little Mermaid's dress when she got married--which was about the same time!

But our story of "us" began many years before!  The first time I saw Karl (chasing my best friend on the playground in the 1st grade!!) I was in love!  I mean....who wouldn't fall in love with this face.....

Too cute huh?!?  :o)  I mean who doesn't love a man in uniform!?!?  Ah, Yes....I was in love...but this was just the beginning of what was yet to come.

I continued to be awe-struck over this boy.  He was a true gentlemen even all those years ago! His Mama taught him right!  He was always so kind....and he put up with me and my bashful, batting eyes.  :o)  Here is a picture of him I think in the 5th grade. There was a bit of a mishap with a girlfriend of mine and it was accidentally ripped.  Nothing a little bit of tape can't fix though!  

Karl was also sweet and sent me little "love-notes".  I saved this one.  It was given about the same time as the above picture.

     

When I was in the 6th grade though, my family had to move away.  I stayed somewhat in contact with Karl through a mutual friend of ours.  He always remained in the back of my mind and I even continued to write in my diary that I was in love with him---I had even named my diary "Karl" so that I could "write" to him.  :o)

The years past and four years later the youthful days of childhood came to a stop.  At the end of my sophomore year in high-school and at the age of 16 I was pregnant.  My parents were incredible and stood beside me with strength and love, supporting me with a decision that some people believed I was too young to make.  To keep my beautiful baby.  So, a month before I turned 17, I was a mother to Katherine (Katie) Mary Alice.  Oh how I loved her!  It was then that I realized that the decisions I made in my life, not only would affect me, but would affect my darling girl.  This is when I began to search out God and ask (or better....plead, beg!) for direction!  You hear what others say about young, unwed mothers...and the picture is never painted too peachy.

It was when I began searching and asking the Lord for help, that He came through in  FULL FORCE! The only way that a MIGHTY God can!!  My Sr. year the Lord sent an amazing and godly friend who was on-fire-for-Christ!  Her name was Frankie.  Frankie loved me unconditionally and was a true testimony to the love of God.  She made me believe that I did deserve all the happiness in life, the love of an awesome man, a story-book romance, and a house one day filled with children!  There was a knight in shining armor out there for me...and he would come into my life and sweep me off of my feet and love my darling girl as his own.  It was during this time that I began to think of my first love, Karl.  I dreamed of the simpler times.  The love notes and hand-holding at the skating rink!  I remembered his family, who was awesome, and I not only wanted that for myself, but for my beautiful little girl.  It was during one restless night that I could not sleep, that I poured my heart out to the Lord and out of desperation to somehow "make things right" I handed my life over to Jesus.  And I asked one request of Him.  Could He please send me a husband and a father for Katie, like what I remembered Karl to be like.  Karl was the complete package I dreamed of.  If I could have someone who was just like Karl....

So I began my new life in Christ.  Totally trusting that He only had good things in store for me. During my Sr. year in high-school, I got word (from a mutual friend) that Karl was also on-fire-for-Christ!  He was also walking and trusting in the Lord for his future too.  I told my friend Frankie what I had heard about him, and she encouraged (okay badgered!) me into calling him! This was TOTALLY out of my character to do!  But I felt the Holy Spirit leading me....and so I did.  Our conversation was short...but he seemed genuinely happy to hear from me.  :o)  We got off the phone and I had no idea that the Lord began working on Karl then.  Two days later he called me as he was passing through town on a ski trip. And six days later I got a postcard from him while he was on his ski trip.  :o)  This began our "courtship".  After we graduated from High School, Karl went to Wyoming to work for the summer.  We sent each other letters all summer long.  In the fall I began college in my hometown and Karl began college in his hometown.  We started writing about meeting again at some point.  Karl decided to come and visit me and Katie.  On October 14, 1988, Karl came to visit us.  He has said that the first moment he laid eyes on Katie he was taken by her!  Totally in love!  As any father is when he first lays eyes on his child!  I LOVE this picture...it was taken that first weekend he came to visit us.

The next two pictures were also taken that weekend.  Karl was so good and sweet to Katie.  He played and played with her!  She loved him too!!

On Karl's trip back home after that first weekend, he said he knew that the Lord had just introduced him to his wife and child.  When he came home, his mom asked, "You're going to marry her aren't you?".  :o)  Karl has said that he stayed in prayer, seeking direction from the Lord and the following morning he heard a song on the radio by Paul Overstreet called "Love Helps Those".  The last bit of the song just floored him and he knew it was the Lord speaking to him.  It went like this: 

A little helpless baby child was born into this world
She didn't have a daddy and her mother was just a girl
But there came a young man willing to give both of them a home
The girl he married the child he cherished as though she was his own

We of course, continued to see each other and write letters to each other (which we both saved!).  Karl moved to my hometown his sophomore year of college to go to college and to be close to Katie and I.  :o)  And finally came the day that we were to wed!  We were two young college students, with a child already and no money.  But we trusted in the Lord because He had been so faithful. I love this next picture.  It's of us kissing on our wedding day and if you look closely you can see my little Katie in the middle of us!  For years she has called it "our wedding".  :o)

Now it is 17 yrs later and our love for each other continues to grow more and more. We've not been without trials and challenges.  As long as our focus has been on the Lord, He has continued to keep our marriage strong.  In those early years we talked about having more babies and we also dreamed of adopting a child one day--Karleigh Mei has always been planned!  The Lord continues to breathe on us His awesome grace and mercy and our story is not yet over!  For this I am so eternally grateful! I cannot wait to see who and what He has in store for us and our sweet, incredible family!

I love you more than life, my Karl!! We've got a "Groovy Kind of Love"!!!