Beautiful Children

We have been out of town for a couple of days, so I will post more and add more pictures tomorrow. But ... for tonight ... I'll share a photo I just received.

This was in my email inbox when we got home tonight: a beautiful picture of Sarah, Rachel, and Jacob, wearing the clothes that we sent for Christmas. We are so appreciative of all of the photos that we get from Beacon House.

Blessings to each of you in the New Year!

Cassie Gets Domestic

Cassie moved away to Oregon this year, and she has now decided to "Get Domestic". So, we all had fun buying her Kitchen Stuff for Christmas.

(Cassie couldn't come home for Christmas, so we had a "Cassie Christmas" a week early, when she surprised Hosanna and came home (9 hour drive each way) for Hosanna's church Christmas Play.)

Josiah & Elijah gave her Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons.

She got so excited about Joshua's present; she could hardly take off the rest of the wrapping paper.

Josh bought Cassie a Blender, so that she can make Smoothies (a family favorite).

Carissa bought Cassie a Whip ...

... and some Spatulas ... and a personalized Cookbook.

Ben bought Cassie some fancy Salt & Pepper Shakers and Mixing Bowls.

Lindsey bought Cassie Towels and Hot Pads.

Papa & Mama bought Cassie some Cookie Sheets and Cooling Racks.  And, Mama will fill the Personalized Cookbook with all of the Favorite Family Recipes.

(Of course ... when we go visit Cassie we will now expect great things to come from her kitchen.)

The Joy of Giving

Jeremiah looks forward to seeing the smiles of his little brothers as they open one of the games that he bought for them.

Lindsey got unexpectedly tackled when Josiah began to open his present, jumped off of the couch, and threw himself on Lindsey saying, "You bought me exactly what I told you I wanted."

Since he had barely ripped the corner of the package, none of the rest of us had any idea what had brought so much excitement into his little life.

Josiah had mentioned to Lindsey that he would like some books about owls, as he had been studying them in one of his homeschool enrichment classes.  Unbeknownst to Lindsey, she had even bought one of the exact same books that his teacher had read to the class.

Lindsey got so much joy out of being able to meet a simple request that she had heard and remembered.  It reminded all of us to really pay attention to what might bring joy to one another.    

This gift wasn't big, fancy, or expensive ... but it was exactly what this little guy was hoping to get.

Christmas at Beacon House

Jacob excitedly opens the large envelope from our family ...

He looks excited about the crown that he made ...

Sarah carefully peers into the envelope from our family ...

She wears the new dress that we sent her ...

All of the children in their "Kids Place" t-shirts, from our church's Children's Ministry.

(No pics of Rachel this time ... but she is in the group shot, so we know that she, too, was enjoying Christmas.)

Christmas at Our House

We play lots of games at our house ... 

Papa & Lindsey play Hand & Foot w/ Mama & Carissa (not shown) ...

Jeremiah, Ben, Josiah & Elijah play The Great Dalmuti ...

Elijah gets Hungry Hippo ready to play with Josiah ...

Hosanna, Jeremiah, Josh, and Ben play Settlers of Catan ...

Oops ... this game is NOT to be played in the house ...  

Josiah & Elijah are just posing with the new sweatshirts they got from big brother Gregg, in Iraq .  They needed to send him a picture in their new sweatshirts.

The Mission Minded Family

Today, on one of the adoption yahoo groups, a discussion arose about how to help children appreciate how fortunate they are to live in America. Several families were surprised that their newly adopted children adjusted so well to the Christmas focus on presents, when they came from such poverty stricken situations. The families had, possibly, hoped that the young children would comment on the difference between their American Christmas and their Christmases in Ghana. On the other hand, they were thankful that their children had adjusted so quickly to their new lives in America.

One mom responded that she wanted all of her children (bio. and adopted) to know how fortunate they are to live in America. I, then, responded with a note about some of the things that we have done to help our children not only realize how blessed we really are by our "typical American lifestyle", but also to desire to help those who are less fortunate, not only in Third World countries, but also for the less fortunate here in America. The following, was my response to this discussion ...

This has been something that my husband and I have always focused on with our 10 bio. children, and will continue to focus on with our 3 blessings from Ghana. There are several things that we have done over the years, that may encourage some of you.

First of all, we have always been a very missions minded family ... talking about missions, supporting missions, etc ... One year, when our older 5 children (now adults) were in upper elementary and middle school, we decided to read the series "Christian Heroes Then & Now" for our homeschool history curriculum for the year. It was great! Our kids really enjoyed reading book after book about how God had used ordinary people to do extraordinary things for Him. This gave them an early passion for missions.

As soon as our children hit the teen years, they began to "go out into the world" on missions trips. Our eldest son started with a trip to Mexico at 13. It was quite an eye opener for him. Our eldest daughter followed, with a trip to Haiti at 16. She continued to pursue missions through YWAM, and has since traveled to West Africa (Senegal and The Gambia) and to India. Our next 2 daughters (twins) spent the summer they were 17 going on two missions trips ... to Costa Rica and to Mexico. One of them will be heading to Argentina in April, for a 6 month bilingual missions school with YWAM. And, our 21 year old son is planning to travel to Jordan next fall for a 2 year Arabic language school.

As a family, we have spent our vacations exploring other cultures (Mexico and Canada) and our own country (road-tripping to 35 states already). We have also done in-country missions trips. We spent Spring Break '01 ministering in inner-city Los Angeles with all of our children. We stopped in New Orleans to work for 3 days on our 2006 road trip. And, we spent 2 weeks in New Orleans last Christmas, with all 10 kids.

We are thrilled to see the Lord calling each of our older children into a missions filled world, and pray that the younger children will follow on the same path. I hope that the above ideas will help some of you, as you train up your children to follow the Lord's leading for each of their lives.

If you would like more ideas about raising a mission-minded family, you might like to read a book written by a very dear friend of mine: "The Mission Minded Family" by Ann Dunagan. She is an amazing homeschooling mother of 7 children, who has also (along with her husband) established an orphanage in Uganda.

Blessings!

Where Is Our Focus?

As I stated in yesterday's post, Christmas at our house is simple, but special. I shared with you many of the things that we do to make Christmas special, but I failed to share with you the things that we don't do (that most families do do).

Because we have always wanted Christmas to mean so much more than presents, we have purposed to keep our children away from the commercialization that society has created around this sacred holiday. What does that look like?

#1 We don't watch television, so our kids are not bombarded with advertisements for everything that they might "need".

#2 We buy the Sunday newspaper, but we do not allow our children to spend hours perusing the advertisements during the months of November and December (when the advertising pages outnumber the news pages 3 to 1).

#3 We limit the children's shopping exposure during November and December. A trip to Wal-Mart brings with it serious over stimulation and greediness. During November and December, I do my Wal-Mart shopping at midnight, when my children are all tucked into bed and the crowds have gone home for the night.

#4 We don't have any extended family members that give presents to our family. (The presents just stopped coming after 5 or 6 kids.) This, obviously, has its pluses and minuses. It would be very nice if our children had grandparents or aunts and uncles involved in their lives ... but they don't.

Of course, some of you may be thinking ... "But, you don't know our kids' grandparents! They fill our house with presents ..." Back when we did get presents sent from several extended relatives, we started our "6 days of Christmas" tradition. On Christmas Day, the children opened presents from my dad, who always spent the day with us. The day after Christmas, they opened presents from us. The next day they got to Aunt Donna's gifts, etc... It was wonderful! The children really enjoyed the 1 or 2 presents that they opened each day, and we got to celebrate Christmas for a full week. So, even if the relatives give more than you might ask for ... you might want to try something new next year ... keep Christmas Day focused on Christ, and spread the presents out for a week or so.

And, for a really different twist to the holiday season, you might like to plan a Christmas mission trip. Last year, we spent 2 weeks, with all 10 children, serving the needs of the New Orleans community. As a family, we chose to spend our Christmas money on the trip, and not on presents for each other. What a joy it was to watch our children delight in giving gifts to the children of New Orleans, without ever complaining that they themselves were not getting any gifts. Even our little guys (ages 4 & 6) loved to spend hours giving away stuffed animals to the children at the local grocery store.

Yes ... Christmas for our family is truly about giving,rather than receiving. We thank the Lord for continuing to show us how to train up our children in His ways, rather than in the ways of the world.

Missing My Kids

While I had a wonderful day with my dear husband and 8 of my precious children, I would be remiss to leave out the fact that this mama's heart was also sad today ... as 5 of my children were unable to be here.

Gregg ... serving in Iraq ... a 15 month deployment is just plain too long. While we couldn't be more proud of our son, as he serves his country without complaint, we miss him dearly. And, to top off the heartache of not having him home ... the US Postal Service did not deliver his packages before Christmas. I shopped and shopped, filling 8 boxes to try to make his Christmas merry. But, instead, he sits in Baghdad without one present to open from his family. Late packages might not mean much to the postal service, but they mean everything to this mama. Yes, he will eventually get his presents ... but it just won't be the same. I'm sorry Gregg!

Cassie ... enjoying her new life in Bend, OR. ... yes, it is only a 9 hour drive ... it's not 1/2 way across the world ... but 9 hours is just a bit too far for a quick trip with 10 people ... especially when the drive involves a snowy mountain pass. Not only could the snow add hours to the drive, but our big red monster van is just not a snowmobile. We keep it parked when the snow falls. Oh how I wish that this dear big sister could have been home with us today. She came home a week ago, for Hosanna's Christmas play, so we did celebrate Christmas with her by exchanging presents ... but, it just isn't the same. We miss you Cassie!

Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel ... waiting patiently in Ghana, for Mama and Papa to come bring them home. When we first saw their pictures in June, and new instantly that they would be joining our family, we were told that the adoption would take just 4-5 months. We looked forward to an October homecoming, but knew that delays might result in a Thanksgiving homecoming. We had no idea that Christmas might come and go, with our hearts still longing to meet these precious children. A New Years homecoming was not in our "plans". We've sent them Christmas cards and presents (with Phil & Amanda). And, we are sooo.... thankful that the adoption was finalized before Christmas .... but, it just isn't the same as having them home. We love you Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel!

Christmas Blessings

We are often asked what Christmas is like at our house. Most people assume that, with our large family, it is crazy, busy, and filled with presents. Actually, we try to keep Christmas pretty simple at our house ... simple, but special.

Decorations ... I love to fill our home with the sights and sounds of Christmas, for as long as I possibly can.

We went to a friend's tree farm a few weeks ago, and picked out 2 beautiful Christmas Trees. I get a small tree in the living room that I decorate with simple red and white country ornaments. The children get a very large tree for the Family Room, that they cover with all of their treasured ornaments. This year, we actually tied the tree to a hook in the ceiling, as the last 2 trees have come crashing down, breaking many of the children's ornaments.

My wooden Nativity Set takes center stage, on the mantel, with a spotlight directed onto Mary & Joseph and the Baby Jesus.

The lighted Christmas Village covers the piano top and the top of the game cupboard.

Traditions ... neither Jim nor I came into our marriage with any special family traditions. So, it has been very important for us to establish many traditions for the children.

Ornaments ... every year I purchase one special ornament for each child. I am on the lookout for ornaments all year long, trying to find just the perfect thing for each child. Each child has a plastic box with their ornaments, and I keep a list of which ornaments are purchased for which child each year. I have all of the original lists, started the year each child was born (Gregg ... 1984). Tree decorating is a family affair, with each child reminiscing about the memories that go along with the ornaments. (Jeremiah has a "Grinch" ornament for the year that he played the Grinch in the high school musical.)

Candy Cane Sweet Bread ... every year, on Christmas Eve Day, we spend 5-7 hours baking braided, cherry-filled, sweet bread, in the shape of a 12-15" Candy Cane. (This year we made 20 of them.) Then, Jim and I spend a few hours in the afternoon delivering them to all of our close friends. It's a special time for the 2 of us to say "Merry Christmas" to friends, and to give them a gift in appreciation of their friendship. Before we moved 8 years ago, we had friends who had planned their Christmas breakfasts around our Candy Canes for over 15 years. This, too, teaches our children the joy of giving. This year, with Cassie living in Oregon and Carissa and Lindsey both working at Safeway on Christmas Eve, it was time to pass the baton. Josh, Ben, and Hosanna stepped up and did a great job chopping cherries and helping with all of the other tasks.

Christmas Eve ... we always attend the Christmas Eve Service at church. This year, we offered to help staff the nursery during the 5:00 service, before attending the 7:00 service. Jim, Hosanna, Elijah and I got to play with the babies, while Josiah helped with the toddlers, and Ben and Joshua played with the 2 year olds. We did this a few years ago, also, and I think it will become a new tradition.

The Christmas Eve service was made all the more special this year, as Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel's pictures were included in the slide show of all of the babies and adopted children added to our church families this year. (I didn't send the pictures in until the adoption was finalized on the 14th, so we hoped they would be included.)

Pajamas ... after the Christmas Eve service, we have waffles for dinner and then everyone gets to open one present ... a new pair of pajamas. These pajamas will be worn all morning on Christmas Day (or ... all day for the little guys). Even Papa gets fun pajama pants (that he is always threatening to wear to the grocery store) such as Super Man. This year, he got fuzzy yellow pajama pants with Peanut M & Ms all over them, and the phrase "Surrounded by Nuts". I thought them very appropriate for this family of nuts.

Presents ... while we certainly do not want presents to take center stage at our house, we do want to acknowledge the gift that God gave us ... Jesus Christ. And, we want to help each of our children to become givers ... we want them to know the joy of giving. But, they can't learn the gift of giving, unless someone is on the receiving end, also.

One thing that we have never done is to have the children write wish lists. We believe this encourages a "me ... me ... me ... " focus, rather than a "what can I get for someone else?" focus. About 10 years ago, my dad asked the children what they would like for Christmas and they were very uncomfortable even with the idea of telling someone what they wanted.

Jim and I purchase 2 small gifts for each child (in addition to the ornaments and pajamas). These are often very practical gifts (clothing or books), but may also be fun focused (games, baseball glove, toys).

We have never required the children to purchase things for each other, but as they have gotten jobs we have encouraged the practice. (Some have needed a little more encouragement than others.) This year, however, the 5 older children living at home, decided to pick names. Thus, rather than purchasing four $10-15 gifts, they could focus their budget on one $50-60 gift. They really enjoyed being able to make a significant purchase that the other child would really appreciate, rather than just buying something little for the sake of buying a gift. It worked well. (For those 5 children, we did suggest/allow a "Wish List", in order to be able to focus their giving. But, the younger children did not hear anything about the wish lists.)

Gregg & Cassie (both living out of town) purchased gifts for everyone, so we encouraged each of the other 5 to also purchase gifts for them. Then, everyone purchased gifts for the 3 youngest children.

Stockings ... after many, many years of wanting stockings, but not being able to afford the stockings, much less gifts to put in them, last year I secretly purchased 12 beautiful stockings. Our family was spending our 2 week Christmas Break working in New Orleans, so we had all agreed that we wouldn't do presents (we would, rather, pay for the mission trip with that money). So, I had fun buying stockings and a lot of little presents to go in them, and surprising everyone on Christmas morning.

This year, however, not only did I have to (get to) buy three more stockings, but I, then, had to ponder "who is going to buy all of the little gifts to fill the stockings?" Since we are saving our pennies for our trip to Ghana next month, I decided to start a new tradition, and all of the kids thought it was a great idea. Each of the kids purchased something little to put into each stocking. It was great! We got candy, lotions, juice boxes, socks, hot wheel cars, etc... (depending, of course, on who's stocking it was).

Our Schedule ...

9:00 We all slowly started waking up, with the help of 2 little boys.

10:00 A simple breakfast of eggs and Candy Cane Sweet Bread.

10:30 - 11:30 Opening Presents (saving some of the little guys' for later, as they were having such fun with their new G.I. Joes)

11:30 More Candy Cane bread, snacks, and sandwiches for the little ones.

12:00-2:00 Games:

Jeremiah, Josh, Ben, and Hosanna - Settlers of Catan and

The Great Dalmuti

Papa, Mama, Carissa, and Lindsey - Hand & Foot

Josiah and Elijah - Hungry Hippo

2:00 Papa put together dinner (lamb, beef roast, yams, mashed potatoes)

3:00 Carissa whipped up her yummy yeast rolls.

Mama (with the help of Josh and Hosanna) put together 4 pies

(2 Pumpkin Eggnog, 1 Apple, 1 Apple/Raspberry)

4:00 Jeremiah and Ben set the table. Jeremiah's friend Ryan joined us.

5:00 Dinner

6:00 The little guys opened the last of their presents.

We all opened our stockings.

7:00 More Games ...

Jeremiah, Ryan, Josh, and Ben are still going strong 7 hours later.

Josiah & Elijah spent more time with their G.I. Joes.

Carissa & Lindsey excitedly packed for their trip to Cassie's tomorrow.

Papa got some quiet time to begin reading one of his new books.

Mama enjoyed some quiet computer time to work on our

Family Christmas Collage picture.

Phil & Amanda are home!

Our friends, Phil & Amanda, arrived home from Ghana this morning at 3:00 a.m., after 30 hours of traveling with Kathryn (4) and Isaac (2). Wow! We are thanking the Lord for safe travels, happy children, and connecting flights that did not get missed. Yea!

Amanda phoned this morning and asked if we wanted to stop by to meet the children and to pick up the stack of letters and pictures that our children had sent home with them. We were so surprised and pleased that Amanda called, as we didn't know if they would need a couple of days of adjustment time before welcoming company.

As we drove to their home, I mentioned to Jim that it was a little odd for us to be meeting our children's friends, before meeting our children. :) But, it was sweet ... the children are precious ... and we were once again deeply touched by the messages of love that our children sent to us.

Phil and Amanda have many stories to tell us (and videos to show), but Amanda did take a minute to tell us about the good-byes with our children. As Phil and Amanda and their children headed out to the taxi, our little Rachel (6) jumped right in and declared, "I am going to America with you ... now!" Amanda tried to coax her out of the car. Jacob tried to coax her out of the car. No luck ... Rachel was adamant that she, too, was coming to America with her friend Kathryn. Amanda finally had to pull her out of the taxi. I'm sure that Jacob spent some time explaining that it wouldn't be long before they, too, can come to America.

Thanks Phil & Amanda ... for loving our kids while they are waiting patiently for us to come for them.

When will the children come home?

As we are rejoicing that our adoption has been approved, the next, obvious, question that everyone asks is, "When will the children come home?" We wish we could answer that question.

When we were told that our case would go to court on December 14th, we were told that there would then be a few weeks processing time for the official court paperwork and for the children's passports. Therefore, we had been hoping (planning?) to travel to Ghana shortly after the 1st of the year. However, what we did not know until this week, was that Romana, the orphanage director and "Professional Paperwork Pursuer" had a trip planned for this week, and another trip planned for the first part of January. Therefore, it now looks as if the next steps of the paperwork process will not take place until Romana returns from her 2nd trip on January 8th.

I asked Romana if there would be anything that I could help with if I were to fly to Ghana next week, but she told me that many of the government officials are on vacation the next 2 weeks, so not much will take place whether she or I are there, or not.

So, to answer the question ..... at this point, it looks as if it may be February before we bring the children home. Please continue to pray for the paperwork to move smoothly and speedily through the process.

Dear Children ....

I just sent this email off to our children ...

Dear Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel,

My precious children ... oh how I want to hold you in my arms right now. I have spent the last hour, with tears in my eyes, sending emails to all of our friends to tell them that you are now, officially, our children. You cannot imagine how happy we are. One of our friends is already planning an Adoption Party for us.

You are, officially now, Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel D. I am, now, a mother of 13 children.

I wish that I could pack my suitcase and get on the next plane to Ghana, but we still must wait patiently for paperwork and process.

We are so glad that you have been able to spend time with Phil and Amanda. It is wonderful to know that when you come home, you will not only have a large family that loves you, but close friends, as well. Amanda tells me that you are making lots of plans for all of the fun things that we are all going to do together. We are already planning our sledding trip to Mt. Baker.

We love you children, and can hardly wait to be with you. Please pray that all of the paperwork will be completed quickly and smoothly, so that we can buy our plane tickets.

Be blessed today, and know that all of your brothers and sisters and that your mama and papa love you very much!

mama :)

We are REJOICING!

Hello Friends,

We are rejoicing today, as our Final Adoption Order has been granted! Yea! As far as Ghana is concerned, "The children are ours." We are the official parents of 13 children!!!

Thank you all for your prayers, as we have walked this new journey. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, as there is still paperwork and process to go through before we can bring the children home. We are hoping to travel in early January.

Laurel

Another Prayer Poem

Just as I was about to head out the door to face a difficult day, I received a true blessing from a friend.  Once again, my friend Linda heard from the Lord and responded at just the right time.

Here are her words for today:

Dear God grant favor in the judges eyes,

Not to get caught up in family size.

But to see the extra Love is true,

Awaiting them in their family anew.

Give Peace and Joy and Comfort, too.

As intently everyone waits on You!

To lead and guide in the time that's right,

Covered gently with your great might.

Prepare the hearts of everyone,

To be blessed with victories won!

To erupt with joy and blow open the doors,

When they hear the news, "The children are Yours!!"

Bless, Bless, Bless all who hear

Some from far and some from near.

Of the miracles you've imparted

to Jim & Laurel, so Kind Hearted!!

Thanks Linda!

Please Pray!

For 6 weeks, we have waited for Dec. 14th to arrive.  That is the day that we are hoping our case will go to court.  That is the day that we are praying we will hear the news, "The children are yours."

Please join us in prayer this week:

#1  That our case would, indeed, get heard by the judge this Friday.

#2  That the judge would be favorable towards our large family adopting these 3 precious children.

#3  That we would finally hear the news, "The children are yours."

Thanks for all of your love and support these past 6 months, as we have travelled the adoption road.

The emotional roller coaster has been something that I never could have imagined.  Please pray for God's amazing peace to wrap around us these next 2 days, as we wait.

Play Time and Lunch Time

 The children have many opportunities for quality play time at Beacon House.

                  Rachel likes to jump on the trampoline.

                               Jacob likes to jump rope.

                             Jacob and the boys love to play "football".  

                                     (Looks like soccer to me.)

Lunch Time at Beacon House

looks a lot like lunch time at our house.

New Pictures

I discovered a website from a woman who visited Beacon House and posted quite a few pictures of the children there.  We always enjoy seeing new pics of the kids, and hope you do, also.

                                    The first set of pics are of Jacob and friends.

                                  The 2nd set of pics are of Sarah and friends.

                          And, this 3rd set of pics are, of course, Rachel and friends.