Just a few pics

I actually had my camera with me the other day. I decided I needed to get a few pictures of the family. You can see that these are very exciting pictures. but at least you know we are still living and breathing.





And on top of that, of all days to have my camera...

I present to you......

My dream car.....

James 1:27

Ever wonder how you can put James 1:27 into practice? Lets talk about the orphan side of that verse.

Well, there are several ways. But I warn you! Searching out a way to live James 1:27 will make you responsible.

1. Know an adoptive family? Support them. Pray for them. Hold a fundraiser for their adoption. And please don't question their sanity.

2. Go! Actually find a group that supports an orphanage and go visit them! Hold them! Hug them! Be the hands and feet of Jesus in their lives!

3. Shop meaningfully. Find a website that supports orphans or adoptive families and buy their products. They make cute gifts and they will change a life.

4. Read this post. These are not "photo-shopped."
This is real life in a real orphanage. This woman's blog is a perfect place to start learning about the least of these. She knows. She has been there. She heard the call and walked right into the perfect will of God. And while you are there please click on the links to her other posts. Like this one, or this one, and please read this one.

Jenny...this is for you!

A new post! After 5 months!

We've got our first snow of the year, so I thought this would give me a great excuse to come back here and update everyone.

First! Here is my baby, who is 7 going on 17. And my adorable husband who won't smile to save his life! This Im sure is a side effect of the Marine Corps. Its part of the brainwashing.
So next we have snow. These pictures are from today, so you are really getting a recent update!
Liberty has been waiting to try out her new sled.



This picture didn't turn out. But if it were actually daylight you would see that we are up to almost 7 inches. This makes me happy.

Our house still isn't finished. I know. Maybe that is why I have not wanted to update. Because I keep saying the same things like "Our house still isn't finished." You can only say that so many times before it gets super boring. Darrell is working hard though and its coming along. We do keep getting one delay after another. I feel this is the work of the enemy. Satan knows that when we move in we can move forward with our plans to adopt. Is it any wonder that we are 10 months into this and still not done? Please pray for this to happen quickly.

In other news, we have decided to home school next year. Liberty and I are both excited. She absolutely loves her class and teacher this year, but things will change for next year. As for me, my class is going great. I love teaching. It is truly one of the hardest things I've ever done. Plus I teach 2 grades. The Lord has taught me a lot about relying on Him when things just seem impossible. I have grown as a person and as a Christian from having this teaching position. But I will gladly pass this along to someone with a little more knowledge and experience.

The Lord is still at work in us. We are being stretched and taught more than we ever thought possible. God is preparing us for great things to come. We don't know what that is, but we are truly doing a lot of growing and soul-searching. We are seeking truth and wisdom like never before. Please pray for us as we feel we are in a super natural battle. Its always hard to see the other side when your in the midst of it.

I do hope to be able to have some different updates here in a few months. And I am going to try really, really, really hard to at least post some pictures here and there. And Jenny, you need to hold me accountable!

I will leave you with one last picture that is still on my camera. This was Christmas at my parent's house. It was so nice. And no, all those presents are not Liberty's. Unfortunately for her, she is having to share things with her new 2 year old aunt. It will be good practice for sharing with her little sister someday. And this child needs all the practice she can get!

School is In!

We've been busy, busy, busy with school starting this year! Im teaching third and fourth grades and it is wearing me out! Liberty is loving 1st grade. She is learning cursive and its better than mine!
Here are some pictures from things that have been going on lately.



My new sister!!! Her name is Olivia and she is 2 years old. My parents adopted her this past weekend and we got to be there for the ceremony. Her shirt says Got Love? Adopt. I have a friend who sells these among other items with the slogan and if you'd like to have one please visit her site. She is raising money for her own adoption. www.gotloveadopt.com

This is my amazing nephew Lleighton. He's 2 also. Isn't he a doll?

Our house still looks like this. We do have a new septic. We are getting a new roof and windows hopefully in the next week. Not especially exiting, but we are getting somewhere.
All dressed up for Chapel Day.
First day of school.
Sunrise from my dining room table.

More Ballet Pictures

I'm not sure how I missed these photos from her recital.

Our life in pictures

Praise the Lord we received our building permit in only 1 try!! This means getting serious! This means praying harder for our property to sell ($)! This means getting moved in asap!! This means Darrell breaking out in hives. Seriously.
These are a few pictures taken from our apartment balcony. While the apartment itself isn't great, how can you complain when you have these views 24-7.

Liberty's first year of ballet has come to an end. Her recital went great! She did fantastic and we can't wait to sign her up again next month.

I think she looks just like Jacob in this picture.

Prehston leaves for Afghanistan today. Please pray for his safety. He won't be on a ship this time and in my head I feel like being in country is so much more dangerous.

I've been running (jogging, fast walking, slow running?) for around two months now. I started alternating running and walking to build up. I soon found out that I loved it. A few weeks ago I moved from a treadmill to a track. Still not very exciting, but I enjoyed it and soon found that I could run longer than my mind would normally allow. One day we went to a local paved trail that is over 6 miles long and runs through 2 towns. Its very hilly and I was dreading it. Well, we aimed for a total of 3 miles and I did very well. I actually ran up every hill. Two days later I ran for a full 3 miles on the track. I was so proud of myself!! Then my ankle started bothering me. I stretched a tendon and havn't been able to run in 5 days now. I went to the Dr. yesterday and she gave me the go ahead to start walking again. Walking?!?!? I have to start with walking?? But I will run again soon. And eventually I'd love to run a 5k! I just need more time and find a running buddy. Darrell would probably do it with me but Liberty probably wouldn't do too well standing on the sidelines cheering us on!

I am looking forward to fall this year again. Especially being able to watch the leaves change on the mountains from my porch. One thing that I still can't get used to is going out in the morning somewhere and having to wear pants because its chilly. I love it.

Washington DC

A few weeks ago we had an opportunity to spend the day in DC. I have not been since I was a child and since I've recently found a love for history I was excited! Liberty was even more excited because she had been watching those National Treasure movies and wanted very badly to go see the "declaration."
Unfortunately we had about a zillion kids with us and it was hot so we did not get to do a whole lot. We did get to see the declaration though and bought a copy to hang in our future home.

Here we are in front of the Washington Monument

Arlington National Cemetery
Liberty is not liking the noise of the metro very much. This was when we first got into DC. All I could think of was that this was going to be a long day. Fortunately she got over it really quick and had a great time.

White House in the background
Since Darrell was not able to join us we'd like to go back sometime around November or December.
And every year they have the Marine Corps Marathon that I would love to go see. I've started (very slowly!) to run and I'd like to eventually enter one of their smaller races they have in addition to the marathon.

Hoping that the next post brings a big picture of our building permit!