Fun Fall Days

We've had lots going on over the past few weeks.  Here are a few of my favorite memories from early fall...

Elvis and Priscilla only seemed fitting for our first Halloween in the birthplace of the king of rock and roll!  They had so much fun at their first FBC Trunk or Treat.  And no, those aren't wigs, just lots of teasing, hair gel, and black hairspray!  My sweet husband got to wash and comb all of that out while I was at choir and ensemble practice :) Sorry baby!

My two favorite guys at Deuce's FBC Day School Fall Festival.  My man is shrinking!  He's lost 45 pounds in 2 months!  So proud of him for getting healthy!

This is my sweet baby girl at the Panda Pride Celebration at her school.  She was the Panda Pride Award recipient for being positive, prepared, and polite.  I love how excited she was...can't you see it in her little squinty eyes?

And this is the fun they got into as we were moving out of the house we rented when we first moved to Tupelo.  No televisions to watch so they had to ride the stick horse around the yard and found some interesting accessories in Mommy's closet!

This is their first night in the new rental house.  I am proud to report that they have spent every other night in their own beds!  A miracle indeed!  God has so blessed us with them being such troopers with all of the change this year.  Yes, another rental house, another temporary home.  I'm so thankful that this world is only a temporary home for us if we are in Christ Jesus.  I try to remember this every time I get down about still having a house for sale.  That none of this "stuff" down here really matters.  As I was eating off of my paper plate at lunch today using my giant bottle of Morton's salt as my impromptu salt shaker, I was thinking a lot about this.  Just how silly "things" in this world are.  I'm often reminded of this old gospel song that goes like this..."This world is not my home I'm just a passing through.  My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue."  Although we have lived almost a year with all of our stuff one state away, we have had everything we need.  Just shows me how much of what we have is a want, not a need.  So for now, we have settled in to another temporary home!  Hope to be here until our house sells!

As a birthday present to her Daddy, Annlee performed at halftime on the field at MS State.  She had a blast at the mini cheerleader clinic and her Daddy loved watching his girl cheer for the Dawgs!

Posing for the finale of the dance they did to Ghostbusters!

These boys love their Dawgs!  GO STATE!

I think we may be singing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" :) 

Annlee just had to make a pallet the night before Deuce's birthday party.  Chad, Mama, and I had gone up to the church late that night to decorate for the party.  Don't worry, Papa was at the house with the kids!  We came home to find that she had gone to get her favorite picture to help her sleep better and laid it on the floor beside her.  It's a picture of her and Chad at the beach.  Of course that made me cry.  I'm such a softy!

During his second year of life, our sweet boy has become OBSESSED with Disney Pixar Cars.  He has more than I dare to count, and can call each one by name.  He loves to line them up in a particular order (I'm afraid he may have a touch of my OCD :).  He can sit for hours playing with them, creating dialogue between them as they fight each other or help one another out...so hilarious to watch.  This boy cracks me up!  What a blessing he has been to our lives.  He is such a lover, always ready to give a smile and hug to anyone he meets.  I also especially love his cute little deep voice!  It's so funny.  Happy Birthday Deuce!  I can't believe my baby is 3!

Deuce loved his birthday cake with the piston cup on top!

This is what Annlee drew in church on Orphan Sunday.  Notice the I heart orphans she wrote.  So precious!  I heart that baby girl and her precious heart :)

Orphan Sunday

Sunday, November 7, was Orphan Sunday throughout the world.  We celebrated at FBC Tupelo through worship, preaching, and videos that increased awareness of the orphan crisis our world is facing.  Chad preached two very powerful messages on our call to care for the orphans and living in total obedience to God's call on our lives.  You can listen to them here.  You will be blessed, but beware, you may be convicted at what God may call you to do ;)  You can also watch any of his other messages on our church website or by searching iTunes podcasts for FBC Tupelo.  I'm so blessed to have been chosen to live my life with a man who loves God so passionately and inspires me each day to love and live for Him even more. 

We were sporting our adoption t-shirts for Orphan Sunday!  My shirt was designed by my precious friend Amy and was sold to support their Ugandan adoption.  Amy's awesome husband Matt is our Student Minister.  You can follow their journey at http://embracedinlove.wordpress.com/.  Chad is wearing a shirt from 147 Million Orphans that I talked about in my very first post. 

What an amazing day this Sunday was in the life of our church!  I cannot even begin to tell you of how many have contacted us to let us know how the Holy Spirit is convicting them to be a part of helping decrease the orphan population.  I hope to do a post soon with excerpts from some of their e-mails.  We will be hosting a Mercy Conference at FBC Tupelo this weekend along with New Beginnings to educate the public about adoption, foster and orphan care.  This conference is free to the public.  Registration begins at 8:30 and  the conference concludes at 12:00 p.m.  So excited about this day!  Please come learn how you can be used to make a kingdom impact!

Let the waiting games begin!!!

YAY!!!  Guess what this is?!?! 

 It's our completed and notarized copies of our home study and our I-600A that was mailed off TODAY :)  Can you tell I'm excited?

And this is our A-MA-ZING social worker, Marcus.  He did a phenomenal job with our home study, and painted such a precious picture of our family.  He has been such a joy to work with!  We received a call from our case worker last night at European Adoption Consultants and she told us that this was the first time she had ever reviewed a home study that didn't need any corrections.  And again, Marcus ROCKS!  We are so very thankful for the way God has directed our steps thus far.  So what is the I-600A?  This is the Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition that goes to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.  Sounds fancy, huh?  To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what it is, I just know it's the next big step towards our sweet baby!  (I'm not much of a researcher HA!) And I've heard all of the adoptive Mamas talk about how this is one of the things you really have to wait on.  Once this is processed, we will get a FBI fingerprint appointment in Memphis.  In the mean time we have tons of papers to gather for our dossier completion.  I'm so excited to wait!  Sounds silly, I know, but this song I love keeps popping into my head.  It's called While I'm Waiting by John Waller.

While I'm Waiting :
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

Oh how I long to worship and grow in the Lord while I'm waiting!  It's definitely gonna be worth the wait!

"I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry."
Psalm 40:1