2011 in Review

WOW!!! I can not even begin to tell you what a year it has been. It has been probably one of the most difficult years, but also one of the most BLESSED years I've ever had. God has been SO faithful and good throughout the year...I can't even describe it. To Him be ALL the GLORY!

I've put together this "snapshot" of our year. I hope you enjoy it! I think it's probably going to get a bit long, but it has been a FULL year. (Any words you see in blue are links to posts for more detail if you desire.) :-)

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JANUARY

Since Elijah and I got home very early in the morning on Dec. 31st, the beginning of January started recovering from jet lag and adjusting to having Elijah in our family. One of the biggest issues we had was his reaction to Rachel. He was used to being in an orphanage, not a family, so he felt the need to establish a bit of "pecking order".  At one point, she would be 20' away from him and she would cry if he looked at her. :-(  But, the Lord is faithful and after a few weeks, they not only tolerated each other, but were starting to play alongside each other. 

January 2nd - he looks so thin here - weighed in at only 23 pounds

Yes, they are playing next to each other without hitting one another! YAY!!!

Besides the transition issues in January, the first three months of the year were difficult due to my "morning sickness"! Yes, I came home from Ukraine with a little stow-away. :-) We were thrilled to be adding a 7th blessing to our family!

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FEBRUARY

The 2nd Annual "Block Party" organized by Sarah
Sarah asks knitters and crocheters to complete 6" blocks and then donate them to the Block Party. Then , several people gathered to sew them together into blankets. These blankets were then sent over to Ukraine to be given to orphans and those that have no hope. She is holding the 3rd annual block party the first weekend in Feb, so feel free to start knitting or crocheting. :-)

Just a few of the blankets sent over. Sarah has such a heart to help those in need, as do my other children. I'm so proud of them!

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MARCH

Celebrating World Down Syndrome Day w/ our local Ds Support group on 3-21 (Down syndrome is 3 copies of the 21st chromosome)

The kids also participated in our AWANA's group Grand Prix! They had lots of fun making cars and racing them. They truly enjoy AWANA and hiding God's Word in their hearts.

Very, very sadly, March also brought the end of Noah's brief life. I posted a tribute to his life here and here.

Our whole family at Noah's memorial service

Even though the post-delivery of Noah was physically (and emotionally of course) horrific, I would do it all again to be able to hold him just one time like we did.

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APRIL

Elijah enjoying his first Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house

On Easter Sunday - my mom and dad, my brother and his wife and their 4 children, and our family of 8! What a crew! 

We announced on the blog at the end of April that we would be returning to Ukraine to adopt this little one, Jonathan!!!!

His profile picture from Reece's Rainbow

I copied this from our announcement post. on April 28th. Don't ever doubt how the Lord works. His ways are the best!

I want to tell you about how the Lord has been so faithful to us over the past month. It was a month ago yesterday that we held Noah James for the first and last time. It was a horrific day both physically and emotionally, but God has been faithful to carry us through. But about a week before we found out Noah had gone to be with Jesus, the Lord laid "Turner" on my heart - very heavily. Just like He did with Elijah at the beginning. I couldn't stop thinking about him. Pat and I prayed and prayed about bringing him home (yes, even though we would be having a baby the end of August). Crazy, huh??? Yes, crazy in the world's eyes (mine too!), but not God's. We didn't have clarity or unity on what God wanted us to do before we lost Noah.  But after we did, it became very clear to us. We obviously know that Jonathan is not going to replace Noah by any means, but we also don't want Noah's passing to be for nothing either.  It is really hard to explain, I'm not sure I even understand it all. But God is God and we are just trying to walk in obedience to what He would have us do in our lives.

On Isaac's 7th birthday, we finalized Elijah's "re-adoption" here in the States.

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MAY

We started May off by celebrating Elijah's dedication to the Lord. We announced Jonathan's adoption that same day. And as the Lord would have it, our friend Max from Ukraine was also visiting  church that day! Pat and Sarah went over to Ukraine on a mission trip to help Max with his ministry in the summer of 2010. Really, that trip is what God used to lead us to Elijah, and ultimately Jonathan. Full (LONG) story is here and here. :-) An extra bonus was Max was able to hand carry our dossier back to Ukraine and save us a couple hundred dollars. Yay!

We chose Max and "Auntie Debbie" as Elijah's godparents. :-) Debbie and her family have been SOOO supportive of our adoptions, and it seemed very appropriate to ask Max as well. :-)

Pat started a new job the middle of May as well. He loves his new company is looking forward to the new opportunities it will bring him.

The rest of May is a complete blur as we prepared to be gone most of the month of June.

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JUNE

We left on June 7th for my 2nd trip to Ukraine in a year, and Pat's 3rd! If you have lots of extra time, feel free to read through my posts in June chronically our adoption story of Jonathan. You can use the side bar at the bottom to help navigate.

Pat and I with our most awesome facilitator, Vanya in front of the State Dept of Adoptions in Kiev, Ukraine

One of the many very ornate Orthodox churches in Kiev

Meeting Jonathan for the very first time!!! I couldn't believe he was actually real! LOL 

I can't believe how much he has changed in 6 months! But what a little love!

He was so serious...at first, we often had to work for an hour to get a smile out of him.

We could see him getting stronger and stronger everyday. It's amazing what lots of love and one-on-one attention can do for a child.

On the mile walk from our apartment to the orphanage it was ALL apartment buildings. I think I counted 30 of them that I could see. Kramatorsk is an industrial city, not too far from the Russian border. The Soviets had all of them built. If you look real close, you can see the stars and sickle in dark bricks in the upper right hand corner of the building.

Once again, Max blessed us tremendously! He traveled by bus (trust me, these are not Greyhound busses!) overnight to visit us just for a few hours. What a joy it was to have him visit with the nannies for us and translate all of the questions they had. Max truly has a tremendous heart for "the least of these".

Love those beautiful baby blues!

On June 25th, 3 months after losing Noah, we were officially named Jonathan's parents by a Ukrainian judge!!! One less orphan in this world! Praise God! Pat and I then traveled home for the mandatory 10-day waiting period.

While we were gone, Anna went to Bible camp, the 3 girls had fun at Grandma's house, Sarah, Isaac and Elijah spent time at a friend's house, the 4 oldest attended VBS, and Sarah had a blast helping leading songs at VBS with GREEN hair?!?!

I'm SOOO very thankful to my parents who not only gave up their whole month of December last year to watch our children while we were adopting Elijah, but also 3+ weeks of time in June to care for our children. We love you so very much!!!

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JULY

I left on July 4th to bring Jonathan home. Pat and the kids headed off the parade and a fun-filled day at the Gibson's home. I don't think they missed me too much!!!

Beautiful Anna - day before her 9th birthday!

After Elijah realized he didn't have to throw the candy back, he had fun collecting it in his hat. :-)

Isaac and Rebekah catch some AIR!

Sarah and her BFF Rachel

July 6, 2011 is the day Jonathan left the orphanage FOREVER!!!

Jonathan's Gotcha Day!

What a wonderful homecoming celebration on July 9th!! I was so privileged to have so many friends and family there. What a relief it was to be home after 20+ hours of travel.

Too cute! Rachel kept asking to hold Jonathan. Well, Jonathan is now currently 3 pounds heavier than her! :-) She might get a bit squished!

I think he is so happy to not be forced fed anymore and fed something that he likes!

My three beautiful "littles"

 We now have 3 birthdays in July!

Jonathan turned ONE on the 14th

Anna turned NINE on the 5th

Anna's friend party

And I turned...well...something with a "4" in it on the 29th

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AUGUST

The month started off with the 4H County Fair.

Isaac talking to the judge about his crocheted scarf he made

Sarah getting her award winning dishcloth set judged

Anna first crocheting project was a dishcloth!

It's official! We have a teenager in the house!! Wasn't she just born yesterday???

No, my writing isn't that messy...this is supposed to say "Happy Birthday Sarah" in Russian on her "dirt" cake. :-)

Sarah and Big Rachel spent a week with my mom and dad and got to go kayaking!

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SEPTEMBER

First day of school!

Pat and Isaac were so blessed to receive free Packer pre-season tickets! Isaac was THRILLED!!!

Isaac played flag football this fall and Pat helped coach. He LOVED it!

In the middle of Sept.,  Pat ran a half marathon!  He continues to amaze me with his strength, endurance and perseverance!

We celebrated Elijah's 4th birthday and Jonathan's dedication to the Lord on the same day in September.

Lots of yummy cake!

One of Elijah's favorite birthday gifts. This boy is serious about his guitar and LOVES music. 

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OCTOBER

Our Ds group held a walk at the beginning of October. We had the privilege of meeting and chatting with THE Rachel Coleman of Signing Time. Awesome!

An unseasonably warm October day when we skipped school to visit the Little Farmer...one of our favorite fall visits!

Rachel and Rebekah celebrated their birthdays together at the end of October. Rachel is 2 and Rebekah is 5.

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NOVEMBER

Hmmm....not sure where all my photos are from November. Did I take any? Must still be on Sarah's camera. Pat and Sarah went deer hunting and he got a big doe. Oh, and the boys had LOTS of appointments. Their vision is good. Their hearing is not so good. They both got tubes placed in their ears in December. It seems to have helped a little bit and we will find out in January how Elijah's hearing has hopefully improved.

Just hangin' out! :-)

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DECEMBER

Not many photos of December on the computer yet either. We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on December 17th. 

Grandma and Grandpa with their ELEVEN grandchildren. Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine they would have that many!

Whew...that was just the hi-lites of the year! If you made it this far, you get a gold star!

Merry CHRISTmas to all of you and I pray you all have a very Happy New Year too! Love to you all!

We are so very thankful to all of you that have shown us so much love and support this last year and held us up in prayer. We would have never been able to "do this" without you. May the Lord bless you and keep you in this new year!