So Close!

I have so much to share!

This week our youngest son hit the double digits. He is a whopping 10 years old now. Oh Benjamin, you melt my heart. You keep me on my toes. I love your zeal for life. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for you. You definitely live life to the fullest. I love that you still like to cuddle. I love that you love others with all your heart. I love that you are a bundle of energy. I love that you are a Child of the King! Serve the Lord and honor Him. That is all we ever ask of our kids.

We had family come in for the holiday. For the first time in many years we stayed home for Thanksgiving. My mom and dad came on Thursday and brought the entire dinner....turkey and all. Our plan was to enjoy Thursday and the men would work Friday then we would have our Thanksgiving meal that evening. My mom is the best cook I know. She made a delicious meal and Tammy and I helped just a little.

Mom, I hope that I am half the cook that you are. Your six pies were delicious and the meal was equally good, as usual.

Friday and Saturday the men-folk started working on building a closet for our older boys' bedroom. What a job! It gave us a few problems but we are well on our way to having it finished this coming week.

After lunch on Saturday we had a small celebration for Ben.

He was afraid that he would breathe and blow out the candles!

Nothing like celebrating with a few cousins.

We also have all of our decorating completed. I admit we scaled down a tad. We have a large tree in the living room and another in the family room. The kids have small trees up in their bedrooms and Jeremy put lights up outside. Some of the village pieces are out. 

I don't have a fancy tree. We have a ton of ornaments on this tree and the white lights that I prefer. I really do love this tree.

This is one reason why we scaled down a tad....a toddler changes things.

I usually do not take great photos but I thought this one was worthy of my blog.....

And of course I had to get a photo of Selah's stocking with all the others...

We sent a care package to Selah a few weeks ago. We wanted to send things that we thought she would enjoy yet were age appropriate. I think the hairbows are a bit too young for her but we allowed them to be sent regardless. We also sent money for a fruit basket to be sent to the foster family. Somehow I am missing the photo of the Barbie we sent.

We sent a few newer photos of our family. The bunny to the far right is for the other foster child living in their home.

Since she does not read or speak English we asked for some books for her to read that had good moral themes. I only can hope they are appropriate!

Evidently the service that purchased the care package for Selah also asked the orphanage for photos. Last time we did not get any so we did not even ask. To our surprise this is what I found in my email this morning!

Jeremy and I both think she will be very cold here. I better buy that electric blanket I've been debating about. There is not much to her.

These were taken at the orphanage.

I already bought her some lip balm for those dry lips.

I am not certain what this photo is about but she has such a sweet face.

We cannot wait to see a full smile on her beautiful face. I know she has come from very difficult circumstances. We ask that you pray for us as we meet her in just a few weeks. 

God is good! What a wonderful Christmas gift He had planned for us this year. 

As I think back just two years ago when we were considering our first adoption, I remember telling Jeremy that there is no way I could adopt an older child. I am so glad that God opened my eyes to this beautiful opportunity to be Selah's mom. I know it will be unbelievably difficult. I do not feel qualified. And honestly, I'm not. I will lean on God even more. Selah will teach me more about myself, likely things I probably do not want to learn.

We are called to this lot in life. It is ours and we proudly own it! God will equip us.

This week we are trying to raise funds for our adoption. Keep checking back and I'll keep my blog updated as to the progress. Airfare is looking very expensive yet we have no choice. Jeremy made a beautiful video to share as well. The link should be up and running on Monday.