A Birthday, Weekend Getaway & Orphan Annie

Angela Grace opening a birthday present October 2009...

Saturday, after James' Upward Flag Football game, the kids and I loaded up for a weekend getaway to New Orleans. We were blessed to be able to stay on the campus of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Saturday through Monday...

Saturday...

kids played for an hour or two at Sunshine Park on campus...

we met friends, Dana & her son Joshua, for dinner at Casa Garcia in Metairie...

sang "Happy Birthday to Angela" over ice cream and a sombrero...

Then took an evening stroll in the cool breeze back on the seminary campus before bed... (we had to work off all that food!)...

Sunday...

we enjoyed morning worship at First Baptist Church of Kenner with dear old friends... lots of memories... the Lord blessed us with the honor of serving at FBCK as our first church pre- & post-Katrina... much love for our church family there... it was also great for introducing them to our kids...

Afterwards, we changed and went for an afternoon picnic at City Park in New Orleans... met up with friends, Stephanie & Karla... good times... after a 30 minute nap, we headed to visit with friend, Ashley & her two girls for dinner in (pizza of course)...

Monday...

we rolled out of bed, packed, picked up Ashley's two girls and headed back to Sunshine Park for a couple hours... there, another friend, Caroline, with her precious 9 month old came to visit for awhile... I told Caroline, "Hey, I'll be the bum in blue with 7 kids"... LOL... it was fun... my big kids love to help with the little ones....

Angela pushed Thia and Eyasu pushed Karis on the swings...

We took a Kool-aid break back at the apartment before taking the girls back home... the goal was to provide mama Ashley a little quiet time to get some work done... I hold her in high regard - the wife, mother, as well as professor whose sweet husband will finish one year of deployment this December... I know they look forward to having him home!

We got home sometime early Monday afternoon, and let me just say, I was exhausted... but, filled up...

Tuesday (October 12, 2010)...

Sweet friend, Amy, came to visit with and keep the girls while the boys and I went to parent/teacher conferences... I decided to splurge and break the family budget in honor of Angela's 9th birthday today! We all met at Seasons Restaurant for lunch... yum... After Skype-ing with Tony in Israel, I let Angela open a few gifts she'd received in the mail...

then, we loaded up for another splurge = ColdStone Creamery!

Just for fun, here's what was on the menu for my crew:

James - chocolate ice cream with Twix

Eyasu - strawberry ice cream with Gummy Bears

Victoria - cotton candy ice cream with Gummy Bears

Jana - cotton candy ice cream with Heath Bar

Angela 'the Birthday Girl' - chocolate ice cream with Twix

I think I gained 5lbs this weekend...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL!!!

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When I was younger I loved the movie "Annie" and even had my own Orphan Annie locket like the one pictured below...

Several months ago my mom purchased the movie for our kids and they chose to take it to view during the car ride to New Orleans this past weekend. As I listened from the drivers seat, the first time in about two decades, I couldn't help but be 'affected'... I used to treasure my little necklace without any real thought to who 'Annie' represented. As I listened to the movie and heard my kids react to different scenes with laughter and suspenseful sighs, and as my baby girl turns 9 years old today, I couldn't help but reflect... so, here are my hurried ramblings recorded in my journal which I hope make sense amidst my frazzled mental state (ha ha)...

"In October 2001, I had just begun my masters degree at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina. It had been one month since 9/11 and I remember being engrossed in my studies, as well as frequenting home back in Northern Virginia. Unbeknownst to me, a woman halfway across the world, whose name I would begin to dream about in the coming years, was giving birth to a beautiful little girl... a child she named, Angela.

Today, I often weep for Lydia, knowing how much she must have loved her babies... such gifts from the Creator... but tragedy would have its way... All the while, God had a plan to bring good out of bad... a plan that still blows my mind... one I'm so humbled to be a part of... I know He cares more for children than any mother ever could... and despite tragic life choices and ensuing consequences back in Ukraine, God our Father was gently preparing the heart of a young woman trying to find and follow His way... He was bringing Tony and I together... preparing us for marriage... He was keeping me up at night dreaming about having a daughter... and I was telling my sisters not to name their children the name God was putting on our heart: Lydia... Little did we know, God was knitting our hearts together across the miles...

Though we were worlds apart, God in His grace was making a way... Isn't that what God has done? He has made a way for us... through His Son He has reconciled the world to Himself that if any would believe, they would have life... rescued... redeemed... Adoption is the Gospel... I am not the savior, to be clear... Adoption, like marriage, is a shadow of things... they should point us to Christ Jesus... the High King of Heaven, our victory won! Thank you, God, for the gift of salvation... thank you that there even is a way! Thank you for reminding me of Your grace each day as I look in the face of my beautiful children... the five little gifts You have entrusted to our care... I can not get over the Gospel... Lord, I pray I never do!"

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:4-10)