Christmas Memories

I know that Christmas 2012 is long past and this blog post is way overdue.  We did not receive the Christmas miracle we were hoping for, but we had a great time with family and friends nonetheless.  We started the week off at Kyle's parents' home.  One night we recreated a "Rustic Tuscan" meal we had enjoyed at the Rolling Pin for Kyle's family to enjoy.  We had a great time together eating good food, reminiscing on funny things my brothers did as kids, and laughing until we cried...

Roasted Pepper and Goat Cheese Crostini

The Newlyweds, Kari & Neale

Spinach, Sausage, and White Bean Soup

Kyle with Isaac & Maddie

Beef Short Ribs & Pasta with Tomato Ragu

Mom & Dad laughing at Neale

Tuscan Pine Nut Cake

Mom & Dad still laughing at Neale...

Christmas morning was spent at the Smith house opening gifts and enjoying my mom's fabulous cooking.

For the boys from Kari & Neale

Kari got Isaac this shirt since he almost won the limbo contest in the DR

Dad opening gifts-A Christmas Story is always on in the background on Christmas at the Smith house!

Perry with his Bear Blanket-too funny

Mom opening her gifts

Mom and Dad preparing Christmas dinner while Kelsey is hoping she drops the steak on the floor.

Kari & Neale with Perry

Dad and Isaac

After Christmas, we drove up to Lexington to visit Isaac's family and celebrate Christmas with them a few days late.  Isaac and Daniel picked up with their wrestling match where they'd left off at Thanksgiving...

Abby & Jonathan opening their gift from Daniel

Daniel and Uncle Isaac goofing off

Mark, Sammy, Alyse, Daniel and Jan

Isaac didn't hold on to his new iPad for long...Daniel was more than happy to help Uncle Isaac beat Angry Birds.

Aunt Leah and Uncle Owain had sent Daniel an Angry Birds balloon game, so we went on a date to fill up the balloons and for frozen yogurt. 

Daniel and Isaac at Orange Leaf

While in Lexington, we also got to visit with the birthday twins, Hudson and Kate, and their parents Mark and Traci.  We had a minor miscommunication about the day we were coming over and showed up to their house a day early, so I promised Traci I wouldn't post any pictures of her in her sweats!  But, I love that she told us to come in anyway, a true friend!

Kate had the hang of opening presents after celebrating her birthday and Christmas

We also enjoyed spending time with our college friends and kids during the UK vs. UofL game.  I was not a good historian that night and didn't take any pictures.  My BFF from high school Bethany and her son Britton came over for a visit our last night in Knoxville, and again, no pictures.  With or without pictures, it was great seeing our friends and family for the week before starting back to work in the new year.

3 Years...

Three years have now passed since we started the adoption process.  While we have many wonderful memories from the last 3 years, getting a referral, traveling to ET, meeting our children and bringing them home are not a part of our memory of the last 3 years as we would have thought.  I'm not going to lie, it is kinda depressing.  We do have hope that this is the year in which we will make these memories.

Over the last 3 years, the Lord has been so faithful to send me encouragement through many avenues, but He often speaks to me through songs while I'm in the car and praying about our adoption or for our boys while I drive.  A song by Plumb recently came out that really expresses my recent attitude towards this long journey we are on towards our forever family.

"Need You Now (How Many Times)"

Well, everybody's got a story to tell
And everybody's got a wound to be healed
I want to believe there's beauty here
'Cause oh, I get so tired of holding on
I can't let go, I can't move on
I want to believe there's meaning here

How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this"?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.

Standing on a road I didn't plan
Wondering how I got to where I am
I'm trying to hear that still small voice
I'm trying to hear above the noise

How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this"?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.

Though I walk,
Though I walk through the shadows
And I, I am so afraid
Please stay, please stay right beside me
With every single step I take

How many times have you heard me cry out?
And how many times have you given me strength?

How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this"?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.

I need you now
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.
I need you now
I need you now

Looking forward to seeing how our story unfolds and God knits our family together.  We are ready to bring our babies home.

Arbonne 30- Day Detox Week #1

In an effort to get healthier this year, I jumped on board with the Arbonne 30-day Detox Plan.  

(Disclaimer: I'm not an Arbonne representative, just a consumer.  My friend Megan introduced me to this healthy eating plan.  I'm blogging about the plan because I found very few consumer reviews online and if this plan works, I'd like to share my experience.  The science behind the plan made perfect sense to me on paper-we'll see how it translates to real life!)  

The plan is basically two protein shakes per day instead of breakfast and lunch with added fiber, two snacks consisting of fit chews and energy fizz drinks, two Metabolism Boosts supplements per day, and detox tea.  I am eating a healthy, sensible dinner nightly.  The first week I completed the 7-day Body Cleanse in addition to the rest of the products to jump-start the detox and weight loss.

At the end of Week #1, I am down 2.5 pounds.  I do feel like I have more energy especially in the afternoons when I am usually ready for a nap after lunch.  I've also been able to increase my weights during high-repetition weight training workouts from 5 to 8 lbs.  Overall, I feel great and looking forward to seeing more results in the next 3-4 weeks.

In addition to the Arbonne plan, I've been rereading through Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst and going through the devotional with the accountability of a close friend.  I have always been an emotional eater, and I know that I need to take those emotions to the Lord instead of drowning my sorrows in a bowl of ice cream, or whatever my craving is that particular day.  Overeating is a spiritual battle for me, it's not just about the calories consumed or the number on the scale or what size I wear.  Although, I do desire to be a skinny Jesus-loving girl!

Merry Christmas and Goodbye Gladney

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our latest adoption news includes an official goodbye to the Gladney Center for Adoption as our adoption agency.  We've been with Gladney for almost 3 years, and after coming home from Africa this summer God made it very clear to us that it was His time for us to move on (my time would have been much sooner, but we believe that His ways are higher than our ways).  To make a very long story short, we had to redo all of our paperwork, and once our new dossier was ready to go we said goodbye Gladney and hello to a new agency...

And we are happy to announce...

Christmas in Ethiopia is celebrated on January 7th, 2013...please pray with us for our referrals for our boys by Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving we convinced most of Isaac's family to come to FL for the holiday.  Everybody in the stateside family minus one in-law was able to make it down for the long weekend.  We had a full house and had a blast.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving Eve Isaac started to come down with a stomach bug.  At first, we thought it was a one-time freak bathroom incident because he felt "fine".  I woke him up Thanksgiving morning to get the turkeys going (yes, plural-one for the oven, one for the Green Egg) and he sat up straight in bed, launched out of bed and into the bathroom for round #2.  Suffice it to say, it. was. ugly.  Isaac had to miss the golf outing he had planned with his brothers and stayed home in bed with Gracie and Shadow.  He managed in between trips to the bathroom to start the Green Egg.  I got the turkeys in the oven and on the grill while finishing up the side dishes with the help of the ladies and tending to Isaac.  Thankfully, the bug only lasted 24 hours and no one else got sick!!!

Isaac firing up the grill

The Green Egg and the turkey ready to be smoked.

Family hanging out

Abby and Donna

Jan with the grandsons, Caleb and Daniel

Playing cornhole while waiting for the turkey to finish

Daniel and Donna with Jack

Gabe and Sammy

Isaac and Alyse

The delicious smoked turkey...it definitely won the turkey contest! 

Eating Thanksgiving Dinner

Aaron with child, Kyle, Katie, and Isaac playing Euchre

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Isaac feeling much better and loading up on leftovers!

The day after Thanksgiving we had planned on going to the beach but it was just too cool.  Daniel told us that he had never seen a manatee before and we knew just the place to take him to change that.  We all went down to the Manatee Viewing Center at the Big Bend Power Plant for a manatee adventure.

Manatee Daniel with Manatee Isaac

Daniel and Abby

Kyle and Isaac 

Gabe and Donna

Sammy and Alyse

Aaron and Katie

Isaac and Daniel checking out the manatees

Daniel learning all about Manatees and the way that God created them. 

After the manatees, we took the family to Circles for lunch, one of our favorite restaurants when we lived near Apollo Beach.  We enjoyed their awesome crab and spinach dip and grouper bites-yum!

Caleb and Kyle chillin' on the bay 

Donna, Sammy, and Alyse

Alyse, Katie, Aaron, Daniel

Katie and Aaron with cutey Caleb 

Jan enjoying her grandbaby

Thanksgiving was a great time spent with family.  We hope to have everyone down to FL again soon!