Halloween, Garin-Style

1. Have no fear.

2. Always remained focused on the goal.

3. Let no one and nothing stand in your way.

4. When you trip and fall, stop, pick up your candy (plus a few leaves) and move on.

5. When you trip and fall, stop, pick up your candy....see #4.

6. See #4 again and again.

7. If they don't answer quickly, check the door yourself.

8. Anyone who opens the door is inviting you for a visit. Feel free to barge right in and check out the living room.

9. When offered the chance to go home, always say, "More house! Tick-a-tick-a teet!"

10. When they do take you home, grab some candy and run! There's more tick-a-tick-a-teeting to do!

See below for examples:

Karl and I dressed up this year too. You'll notice his creepy costume in the video when he answers the door at the last house, which is ours. I was glad when he changed out of it!

NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH

November is National Adoption Month, and November 15 is National Adoption Day!!! Click here for some great ideas on ways to celebrate and advocate for children who are waiting for their forever families.

Garin never just says, "please." It always goes like this: "Say? I say pweez! THEEEETHE!" It's so funny, and he is quite sure that it will get him anything. Tonight he didn't want to go to bed, so we heard it several times.

Matt had a fun day! In his Trig class today, the teacher said that she had a couple of her juniors on the Math Team who couldn't make the meet today and asked if any juniors in the class would be interested in filling a space, so the team could compete. Matt volunteered. He had considered trying out for the team but decided his schedule was already full enough with band and cross country. He went to the meet and took 5th place out of 18 people on the individual test, and he received a ribbon. His team took 4th place, but he got every question correct on the team test, and was, therefore, the strongest member of his team. He was so pleased, as is his math-loving mama! He is going to be allowed to compete again in the last meet of the season and will be on the team next year. YAY MATTY!!!

Something for the Grandparents

I've been negligent in taking and posting photos. I thought the grandparents might need a fix, and Garin REALLY wanted a photo shoot yesterday. He brought the camera to me and said, "CHEEZ!" After each shot, he'd say, "Another one?" This and the previous post have the best photos of the bunch, plus one that Karl took when we got home Tuesday night. Overkill, probably, to post eight photos. Oh well.

Garin Pics

6 Random Things

My blogger-friend, Amy, tagged me about two weeks ago, and I'm just now getting around to posting! Sorry, Amy. Life just gets away from me sometimes! I've just returned from spending several days in Illinois and am doing the usual post-vacation catch up. So here are six random things about me and the six people I'm tagging:

1. I have undergone a 180-degree personality change as an adult. As a child and young adult, I was incredibly messy and unconcerned about neatness, and I spent all my time inside with my nose in a book. Now I cannot stand clutter or dirt, and I want everything in its place. And I get cabin fever very quickly...let me outside!

2. I used to be smart. I was a National Merit Scholar and actually qualified for MENSA membership, but I am too lazy to apply (plus it seems like the only real value of joining is to put it on a resume). These days, I can't even seem to remember where I was headed when I walked into the other room.

3. I still haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up.

4. I went to junior high and high school with Matthew McConaughey. (We called him Matt back then!)

5. I always had the best time in my class on the "flexed arm hang," which was one of the requirements for the Presidential Physical Fitness Test in elementary school.

6. I had to take appetite pills before meals as a child because I didn't eat and was underweight and anemic. (Haha! Why can't I undereat now?!)

And, tag, you're it: Jill, Bethany, Nerissa, Kellie, Karen and Tricia. Love you guys!

We're Back in Business!!!

For those of you who haven't already heard me screaming and squealing with excitement, I am pleased to tell you that we are back on the road to our children! We spoke with our caseworker yesterday and learned that our dossier was accepted by the Adoption Committee. There were, however, three documents that need to be updated before they will issue our invitation to travel. We spent last night and today working on getting them done. The ones Karl and I are responsible are already notarized, and I will have them apostilled tomorrow. There are two documents that our home study agency will update for us, and we should be able to have them completed and apostilled next week. Hopefully everything will be in Russia two weeks from today. Then we will wait for them to be translated and submitted, so that we can get an invitation to go and finally see our kids! God is good!!!

If You're Happy and You Know It...Finally a Performance!

If You're Happy...Sneakier Take Two

If You're Happy and You Know It.....Take One

Hope and Longing

Emotions are strange things. It's confusing that so many of them can coexist in the same moment, infusing (or perhaps bombarding is a better word) the soul all at once and rendering one completely incapable of processing them in a dignified way.

This morning after set-up and rehearsal but just before worship, I was standing in the hallway talking with my husband and some friends. I glanced up at a family walking toward us, hand-in-hand, all six of them. In that instant, my mind began processing who they were and where they'd been and who that extra little beautiful Asian face was. A precious family in our church went to China three weeks ago to bring home their 10-year-old daughter. And there she was, with her older caucasian sister and two younger Asian sisters, all in a row holding hands. She had short hair, the front pulled back in colorful little barettes, and suddenly all I could see was K.

The joy, hope and love I felt at the sight of her were overwhelming enough, but there was also that heavy, aching longing from the deepest part of me that exploded again like a volcano. At times, I have felt guilty for not being able to fully give myself over to the joy, as if it is somehow sinful to long for something I do not have. After we lost two babies in a row, I felt it every time someone announced a pregnancy or birth. But I do not allow myself that guilt anymore. It is not jealousy or even envy, but simply longing. I quickly buried my head in Karl's chest to gain composure, but composure was nowhere to be found. Sobbing, I said, "I want my babies home!" I walked away to get it together. I did not want that family to feel that they were the source of my pain because they are not. Our friend Sarah, a young wife who does not yet know the joy of children herself, came and found me and prayed with me. Such a blessing. And then I went to the mother of that precious child who just finally came home after 10 years without a family. I shared with her what a blessing it was to see them and what hope it gives us. I know that she probably understands what I was feeling better than anyone.

I found myself wondering during worship if God had given us such encouragement today because we will be getting good news soon and will be able to go see our children or if He gave it to us because He knows we will need it to keep fighting some battle that stands before us. Only He knows, but either way, we will follow Him and hold on tight to the hope that is in Him.

God gave me hope today. He gave me new motivation. He always gives us what we need. I just hope that soon my children will be the hope-givers....

Look What I Did Today!!!

I had the incredible opportunity to take a flight in a C-5, the jet my husband flies! Our squadron allowed all of the spouses the opportunity to see a small part of what our loved ones do when they have to leave us behind. We had a blast! We behaved like a bunch of 13-year-old girls, laughing and being silly, but we also had very serious and awestricken moments when the reality of our husbands' work really hit us. It is something to watch these guys manage gazillions of buttons, knobs and gauges while manhandling a jet that is almost as long (and almost as wide) as the length of an entire football field and is filled with precious and expensive cargo. They carry anything from armored vehicles and helicopters to a load of porpoises trained to detect underwater mines. And, of course, their most somber duty is to return the remains of fallen soldiers to their families. It is a big job that these guys do, and they often do it for 24 hours at a time.


This was the most amazing moment of the day: watching through the cockpit window as our jet approached a KC-10 for refueling. What you see is the boom from the KC-10, which transfers the fuel into the C-5 once the connection is made. I kept thinking that I should be terrified to be 10 feet away from another jet full of fuel, but I was so enthralled and thrilled by it! I guess, too, that I just trust these guys so much because they are so well trained and focused.

Me (in hot pink, in case you don't know me well enough to pick me out) and the girls in the courier compartment (behind the cockpit).

Here we are in the cargo bay before climbing the ladder to the cockpit.