Shirts for Shoes, Be an orphans Valentine!!

About a week ago for Valentines day I ordered my family these shirts and I can't wait to get them in the mail. To know we are helping and orphan in some way means alot to me, and I know some children across the world will be smiling when they walk across the feilds or roads with comfort on their feet just because we took 5 minutes to place our order! If you are interested I encourage you to check this out. You can Order your shirts here and change a life of an orphan! Shirts for Shoes Hope Chest Project. For each shirt that is ordered a child will recieve a new pair of shoes. Order by Feb 1st.

Check out what  Tom Davis with Hope Chest project is doing for so many children in Africa.  Leave us a comment if you have decided to join in!! Can't wait to hear from you! Better yet take the code from their site and spread the word on your own blogs as well!!! Lets make a difference!!

Wordless Wednesday

Our Favorite Korean Dinner Recipe

Bulgogi

Today I thought I would share our favorite family Korean Dinner with you. Bulgogi and Rice. This is definetly our families most favorite meal of all time! Our friends always talk about it too :-)
You will need: A Wok pan
1 1/2 lbs of Steak (we prefere Ribeye)
Veggies (we prefere, green bell peppers, red bell pepper, onions, carrots, asparagus)
This is definetly a meal that is best if prepared the night before, then cook it the next night for dinner.

Marinade recipe:
2/3 cup sweet soy sauce (see homemade recipe below)
1 small apple grated..skin on
1 TBS minced garlic
1/2 cup minced green onion
2 TBS dark sesame oil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Sweet Soy Sauce recipe for marinade: 1 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white wine,
2 TBS water
Combine ingrediate in a sauce pan, bring to boil, then remove from heat and let sauce cool. You can keep unused sweet soy sauce in the refrig for up to two months, then you will have this all done the next time you make this meal.

Cut Beef into thin stips or slices, combine beef and marinade refrigerate over night

Next day..The night of your meal...
Place beef and marinade in Wok pan, include or put veggies of your choice in the wok and cook on medium to medium high heat until done!

Rice Recipe: this is seriously the best rice with this meal.
Cook 1 cup dry rice (as instructions on back of rice package say) then...
In frying pan add about 1-2 TBS of Sesame oil, then add chopped (very small)red and green bell peppers, add about 1 TBS of sesame seeds, 2 TBS of soy sauce (this can be any soy sauce), fry all of this until peppers are tender. Now add cooked Rice, Fry over medium to high heat for one to two minutes. Then mix in one egg continue to stir and fry until done. Serve with your Bulgolgi it is absolutly wonderful!!!

Of course our little sweetie loves this meal and is also learning to use her Chop sticks...Don't forget the chop sticks...Enjoy this fun and delicious Korean Family Dinner! Please write me if you try it and tell us what you think!

Holy Discontent...

Holy Discontent..."A phrase describing an innter turmoil brought on by something you see or hear that you can't stand idly by and do nothing about". Sitting in church on Sunday I could not believe it when I heard our pastor give this feeling a word. I have never heard of this before. But what a relief to have a word for what I have been going through. What God has been doing within me....

 I felt once again that through everything I have been going through with this inner stirring from God, this pushing from God..that this sermon was just what I needed to hear. Don't you love when this happens. If you read my post from Jan 22 you will see what I am talking about. Acually I have written posts several months ago where I was talking about this same feeling I was having. So today he gave different examples of people who had this Holy Discontent..this feeling pushed them into action, pushed them into changing something. I too know for a fact..to the depth of my core that I am suppose to be doing something that has to do with orphans... to be a part of something, somewhere...This is what I am waiting to hear from God on. I know in His wonderful time he will show me what exactly it is. It may not be a awh ha moment, it may come as bits and pieces, but He will show me! My husband said tonight "I can really feel God is moving, I can really feel he is working in our lives".  It was amazing to hear he has some of the similar feelings as I .  I really do not feel it is something small in fact it kind of scares me that it may be something big. Big is good right! I also feel we are to adopt again, and in talking to my husband tonight he feels the very same way. I guess this also confirms things more too. Im not sure from where, Im not sure how, but I know my heart seems to go to Ethiopia. Or how can it not be pulled to Haiti now with all the devastation that the children of Haiti are experiencing. So many of them will be with out families. It breaks my heart into pieces to watch the news and see the pain that they are experiencing there.

As I tuck my kids in tonight I will say an extra prayer over them, kiss them a million times more, hang on to them tighter, and Tell God again how thankful I am for my family, my children, His blessings, and His dedication and patience he has with little ol me!  :-)

My prayer: "God I know your stirring my heart to the point of where I can not think about anything els anymore. I can not sit still anymore!! I feel you are pushing me towards something with orphans, and to be involved and help them in some way, I feel your leading me, I feel your pushing me....Father Show me , show me where, with who, with what! Bring me in contact with the right people! Lord I am your hands and Feet! To all Glory be to You Lord!"

Are you also experiencing Holy Disontent? Remember it is us that can make a difference! Let God take your hand and lead you ...lead you to make a change for someone...for something..to help make lives better!

Of course I can not post with out a photo can I?? ...So I leave you with this sweet moment....This is the first time Gracie was finally in my arms. The day she came into our lives is the day God changed us forever! "Our eyes are forever open"! She looked at me for the first time and she smiled as if she was saying.."I'm home mommy, I am home"!!

17 months & going Potty...

I can not believe my little girl is wanting to go potty on the big girl toilet. I was totally not ready for this at all. But over the past month, she will tell us "poop poop". I will check her and nothing, but then 5 minutes later she goes. I did not think she would be ready to use the toilet, but I was wrong. One day I put her on our toilet and bam..she went. So we got a little girl toilet for her yesterday and she has gone many times in her big girl toilet. She gets so proud of herself too and claps and says "Yeah"!! Her big sissy has been helping and also encouraging her alot!  It is crazy to me at how young she is and telling us she has to go. The other kiddos were at least 2 years old before I decided to tackle that one. Now Grace at 17 months is telling me she is ready to go....So I guess...Wish me luck!! Here we go................ :-)

God is pushing....

My heart has been stirring for a while now for the other orphans of this world. At first I felt God pushing me gently in this direction, but now I feel a much for forceful push from Him. Have you ever had this with something, but you don't know exactly what to do? I know I can not save them all, but I can help spread the word. I also secretly would love to adopt again.  I guess If I am posting on here is it not a secret is it?   Please watch this video and tell me your heart is not moved to do something.....
Every Child deserves a home...Featured Video clip!

I feel I need to get plugged in somewhere...I just don't know where yet. God is leading me to be a voice for the orphans...I feel it.  I have tried several times to express my interest in a couple different organizations, but they don't seem to need my help.. I guess. Sometimes I think people think I just don't have the time or something. But do they realize that if you have passion for something...We All find the time! I want to do something BIG! I feel it from the depth of my soul. I pray God will lead me to the right people, group, organization, what ever it may be.......

Remember I posted a little while back about feeling a need for change...maybe this is it...maybe this is what God was doing while he was stirring my heart up.
What is God doing in your life....Are you being stirred..nudged, pushed....what direction are you going? What is your passion? What makes your heart beat faster with excitement? For me it is the children of the world that are not being tucked in bed at night with a mommy and a daddy..a family! ....What is it for you????  We can make a difference..I believe this with all my being!!

One year ago.The call came....You have a GIRL!!

One year ago January 13th the call finally came that we were waiting for. We did not know if we would be placed with a girl or a boy, but when the call came on this winter morning it was the best news we had ever heard. I remember it like it was Yesterday. I was dropping the other two kids off at school when just before they got out of the car our social worker called and said I have good news for you.....You have a girl!!  I think I was in shock because I had to tell her to repeat herself. Her name is Gyeong eun (this means shinning Grace). We named her Grace! She is 5 months old. ...and she went on to tell me more details about our baby girl we had waited so long for. The kids were so happy and I know it was hard for them to go to school that day. I then drove to my husbands office to share the news with him ...I walked in with a huge smile and said well daddy we have ourselves a sweet baby girl. He was in shock and thought at first I was kidding. Then realized very soon I was serious, and we hugged and cried together! By the time I got home there was an email from Holt with all of her information, past history, birth family history, and health history....along with her photo. This photo became the next thing I could hold on to and look at for many hours of each day. We were all so happy and that night we made a zillion phone calls and made a Korean dinner to celebrate. It was so great to finally see who our baby is. ...and now the rest of the wait was so difficult. We wanted to hold her, love her, and kiss those sweet cheeks. This is the only photo we had of her for another 3 months. I believe I got a care package ready that same week and shipped it to Korea to our daughter. I filled it with clothing, a purple bunny, some other toys and a photo alubum of the family she would soon have. Later we did finally get about 5 updated photos...I remember just crying when I saw these because I just wanted to hold her so badly, and the joy of seeing her holding the bunny I sent to her was so cute! 

If you want to read more about these moments you can click here:   January 2009  I know for me to read others journeys to there babies helped me tremendously! God bless!

Exchange program..

This week we met several other Korean Exchange students attending the college near us. I think about 13 more are here for the next half of the year. They all pick an American name and so he wants us to call him Eric. For those of you that remember and have been following our journey for the past year or so remember that we met an exchange student named Bi a couple months before Gracie came home. YOu may remember how close we became to him and how he is now a part of our family forever! Well..Eric is acaully a friend of Bi's! I think this is just awesome, and we love meeting students from our daughters country. I know one day when we visit South Korea that we will have a community of family welcoming us with open arms! Im sure I will have more fun things to show you as we get to know Eric more this next semester! Our girl student CJ is coming back for this next semester, so we are glad we have not had to say goodbye to her yet.

Have a blessed weekend!

First Ballet Pointe Shoes..

Today was a big day for Amanda. She finally got to get her first pair of pointe shoes! Since I have been running our dance business for the past 10 years, Amanda has literally grown up in the studio, her first ballet sheos were when she was 1. The same age as Gracie. (and yes Gracie has ballet shoes too) Amanda has a huge love and passion for dancing, and says someday she is going to be a teacher too. For now...I just love seeing her enjoy herself! Here are a few pics of her special day...Notice her little sissy was in on the action too!!

Grace picked out a cute little tutu she thought she had to get too. :-)

And that is our fun shoe day!!

9 months home and 17 months old.

Gracie 9 months home and 17 months old! What a fabulous and funny baby girl she is! She loves to try to keep up with her big brother and sister all the time. She wants her own computer, her own colors, her own books, Ipod, what ever it is that they have, she thinks she is big just like them. If we try to feed her at all ...forget it, she tells us no, and she wants to do it herself. If she could sasy the words "i can do it , i can do it" trust me she would be saying it all the time. Speeking of words...oh my goodness she is talking alot all the sudden. Every day every hour she is saying and repeating words we use. It is so fun!! She loves to walk around in my shoes..especially the high heeled ones. She loves books and cuddle time, and playing catch with her puppy. Most of all she is ours and we love her to pieces!!How blessed we are!

Grace loves to color in her color books. Here she is totally concentrating..looks like her big sissy when she is studying for a big test or something..haha!

Ooops mommy is watching me..haha!!

Wordless Wednesday...

Too Sweet For Words....

Snow Sledding fun

With all of the recent snow we have gotten it finally warmed up just a bit to get the kids to go outside. Daddy took Gracie sledding and she loved it! The big kids tackled more big hills in our area...so i did not get any pics of them. :-(. 

Hang on Gracie!!  She is such a little trooper. The other two kids did not like the snow at this age. She is such an easy going baby and wants to do everything that the big kids do!!

Hope Now...

Sometimes life can take turns that seem to be unexpected or catch us off guard....things that weren't planned! Things that just happen and we wind up hurting over them, or hurting others in the process. This week this has been one of those weeks for me. I need guidance, peace, and understanding! I know others too that are hurting right now and need to turn to God...I epecially am praying for one of my friends that is stuck in loneliness right now, and needs direction in life.  I know only God can bring the comfort that is needed. This friend is a person I know I can trust, and those friends don't come around often. This song reminds me daily that God is here for all of us all the time! This song is called Hope Now by Allison Roads. I hope this song will bring healing to any of you that may be hurting today. To know that we have hope with God. I am holding onto his promises today. I need Him and I need His love that can only fill the empty place in my heart today!

If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours

(PRE-CHORUS)
I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm
You've become my hearts desire


I will sing Your praises higher
Cause Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free