Happy National Adoption Month!

November is National Adoption Awareness Month and this is the last picture we have as a family of five before Angie left home to be an adult. Who would have thought that Christmas picture would be our last, but I am very glad we were diligent about taking them every year. Our adoption journey over the last ten years has definitely been a mix of blessings and challenges, and we say now looking back that we adopted with love blinders on. We felt called to give a sibling group a forever family that may not otherwise have that opportunity. I have learned that following in obedience on something we feel God calls us to do may or may not equal happiness. Happiness may be our plan. God's plan may be bigger than that. James 1:27 NIV says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Each year is always a little different as the kids have grown older, and I have learned to just go with the flow and be very flexible! I have also learned to have little expectations and do everything myself and then I am not as frustrated, upset, or disappointed. Because both kids now have jobs and were off of school on Wednesday-Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday, I just planned on doing all the cooking.  It was so much better than planning on their help and then being upset when they didn't want to eagerly participate. We had my parents over for dinner on Thanksgiving evening after both kids got off of work and enjoyed our time together. We made a big turkey and had all the traditional favorites of mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, spinach casserole, and seafoam salad. My mom made the stuffing and mashed potatoes and everything was delicious. We celebrated my dad's 75th birthday together after dinner over pumpkin pie!

Decorating the Front Yard

We decided to get a head start on our outside Christmas decorating for the front yard. The day started out with just Dainis and I with both kids busy at work so we joked we better get used to doing things alone as this is what it will be like when we are empty nesters! Jacob came over in the afternoon and he and Ingrid both helped, which we appreciated! We have two big inflatables, along with our Nativity scene, in the front yard representing Dainis's two passions. One is a pickup truck because he is currently restoring a 1956 Ford pickup and one is an airplane because aviation has always been a big part of his career. I jokingly said now that I am an author, we need to find a big inflatable book to represent me!

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

Even before adopting the kids almost eleven years ago, we participated in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox drive. The year before we adopted, my mom and I got overzealous and put together 50 boxes!  Since adopting the kids, this is a tradition we have carried on most years and our church participates in the program as a local drop-off location. We also try and participate most years in the angel tree program. We wanted to teach the kids compassion and the joy of giving from the beginning. We hope it is something they will carry on and continue when they have their own families one day. 

This year, I took Ingrid and her boyfriend, Jacob, shopping for our boxes. They picked out hygiene items, school supplies, and toys for both a boy and a girl ages 5-9. This was Jacob's first Operation Christmas Child event experience. I meant to take a picture of them shopping together but got so involved in helping with the gift selection that I forgot all about pictures. So instead, we just have pictures of the gifts they chose. We have a tracking number and can follow where our boxes go!

Juan The Pool Guy

Juan started helping my parents take care of their pool each week, and it has really built up their relationship. He has a shorter school day on Wednesday so he goes to their house in between high school and technical school every Wednesday afternoon. My dad has taught him how to check the pool chemicals and properly clean the pool. Juan is more willing to listen to advice from my parents than he is us at this time so we are grateful that they have invested in him and they have that relationship!

Special Date Night

 To celebrate the accomplishment of my book, Dainis took me to the Michael W. Smith concert. It was a three hour long concert of him singing all of his worship favorites. I generally pay all the bills so it was a great surprise for Dainis to pull this off. We enjoyed a nice dinner before the concert at the Tortilla Factory in Scottsdale. It has been a long time since we have been there, and it was a nice night!