What does the duck say? "duck , duck"

Before we left from visiting family ..we could not wait to go show Gracie the ducks (geese)...She loves animals and never sees them in person. You ask her what the duck says...and she will say "duck duck".  In this photo she kept saying duck duck and repeating it over and over again...she was so excited she was seriously doing the "happy dance" with her feet in the same place....It was totally sooo funny!

The kids all got a kick out of her excitement! As you can see we were excited too! Amanda, Chungjee (our exchange student) , Gracie, Bailey

Thanksgiving weekend fun...

The day after Thanksgiving we went to view the Christmas Trees, and were surprised by seeing horses..they were giving carrage rides and we were just in time to take the last ride around! Gracie loved the Horseys!!

We traveled to see family this year for Thanksgiving and  also had Chungjee our college exchange student with us which was really fun! The kids all adore her. The two other little cuties are my little nephew and niece.

The Trees where all beautiful!

Me and my sweetie pie...being goffy as usual!!

Hope your all enjoying the beginning of the Holiday season. We love traditions and Im excited for starting them through the month of December! What are some of your traditions with your families for Christmas??

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you Lord For all your blessings you have given our family this year, and especially our 3 amazing kids!  It is amazing to me that as we experience all of our firsts with Gracie it makes us remember where we were one year ago. One year ago we were waiting anxiously for our referral....I remember praying we would get to know who our baby was by thanksgiving, then by christmas...then finally we got our referral in January. That is a day I will always and forever remember. Such a special day! Nothing happend on "my" time of course, but did happen on Gods time. Looking back it was all perfect! We are so thankful this year to experience all the firsts with our baby girl.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Another  huge blessing is how much her big sister and brother love her so much!

It truely is amazing to see and makes my heart beat faster with such joy!

We love you sweet baby and are so thankful you are home forever!!

Heart Test Results...

This week I finally had the final tests done to check my heart.  They did a test called a stress echocardiogram. For an hour and a half I was able to see my own heart...which was amazing to see! I could not help not to be amazed at God once again. The detail of our bodies is amazing and how each part of our body is important. Of course I wanted to hear that my heart was completly perfect. But today my doctor called to let me know that  I have something called Mitro Valve Prolaps. You may ask what is this? ......So here are just some of the details...
Your mitral valve controls blood flow on the left side of your heart. The valve opens and closes with each heartbeat. It works like a one-way gate, letting blood flow from your upper heart chamber to your lower chamber. When you have mitral valve prolapse, the valve closes after blood flows through. But the valve bulges backward a little. It looks like a tiny parachute or balloon as it bulges. This condition is not life threatening, and I can keep doing all the things I have been doing. Later in life a person may need to have the valve repaired. They will watch it every 3 years.  It explains to us why I have had the chest pressure, tiredness at times and migraines can also be associated with this. Interesting how one little thing can affect your body or in this case the central nervous system. I won't post all the details on this blog....because there is alot of information out there on it, so if you want to learn more about this you can visit this site or google mitro valve prolaps (MVP).  http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/mitral-valve-prolapse-overview  
You may ask...How is Tina doing.....Well I can say that right now I'm reading and learning more information about it. I believe being fully educated about it will answer some of my questions and lessen my worry or fears. I am thankful that this is really nothing too serious, but just something to watch and be aware of. ...No it is not the answer that I wanted, but I know as with everything God already has his hands all over my life and He will watch over me. He IS my strength when I am week....and lately..boy have I felt week at times!!!   I have been through alot in my life, and the one thing I know for sure is that God walks with us, and sometimes He carries us!  In everything I praise Him !!
Thank you for your prayers, I have felt them all!

Happy Birthday Sweet Amanda

It is hard to believe that 11 years ago today I gave birth to my second little miracle. I remember it like it was yesterday....Her first look into my eyes was amazing! My how time sure goes fast. It really is true that our kids are only little for a short time! This year for her birthday we had a fun pool party!

I treasure the relationship I have with Amanda so much! Since she is 11, I will give 11 great qualities that I love about her.

1. She loves and respects her mommy and daddy......2. She loves the Lord

3. She is a awesome big sissy to Gracie, and adores her with all her heart......4. She always give 100%

5. She always thinks of others first and herself last

6. She is talented...7. Fabulous...8. Beautiful inside and out..9. She still thinks her mommy is cool.

10. She loves quality time with her family ...11. She is our miracle and blessing from God!

We love you sweetie...Happy Birthday To You!!

Her friends "caked her"....totally unexpected! Very funny!

Even little sissy Gracie got to join in with all the big kids. She never goes with out attention. They all love and adore her and want to hold her.

Gracie even enjoyed eating some Pizza..and cake!

Happy Birthday Amanda! You are truely the BEST!!!!

Look Development Project for Ethiopia....

"A father to the fatherless... is God in His holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families."
Ps. 68: 5&6

Matt & Amanda DeSarro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imN5pY4SkEQ have began a huge project in Ethiopia called Look Development. We had the privelege to spend the afternoon with them, and hearing there story is absolutly amazing. God literally has opened the doors for this project to happen! Do you ever sit in awh at times when hearing someones story? Well today that was me. The passion that the two of them have is amazing to me. Even though sometimes they don't know how all the details will work out, they obey God and go forward. God has worked out all the details and continues to work out all the details for this project to open a Christian Orphanage, to provide health care, housing for families, education, love, a well for fresh water, and agriculture supplies to many in so much need.   Today I was so inspired in so many ways to listen to the two of them tell their story, I feel I can not sit still.  My heart is being stirred up in so many ways!!

Tonight as we got the kids down for bed and my husband and I had some time to talk a little, and as many of you know we both have been really searching for God's direction in our lives. After hearing such amazing stories today your mind can go in a million different directions. What can I do to help....or you may ask yourself.. what am I doing in life that is making a difference...having a impact!  We all want to make a difference in the world right?  After hearing a story from Amanda about a father and his legacy that lives on....I was surprised tonight when my husband said "what is my legacy teaching my children".  "What am I doing to make a difference in life".  He wants to be a part of something other than the every day grind!  We both have already been having some of these similar thoughts, but after today they are much more prominent now.  This is a good thing!! I will continue to pray for Gods guidance and direction....and I have said Im waiting on God to show us, but now Im beginning to wonder if God is really waiting on us...to be in the place he wants us to be!  Either way...it will be interesting to see what He does. We wantn to be involved in this project...and I can definetly see myself one day taking a trip to Ethiopia.... I also know Terry can see himself doing something with children and ministry.....When and Where...and How is all up to GOD!!


Please check out more about what Matt and Amanda are doing. This is a great project to be a part of in some way if possible. Here is there web site http://www.lookdevelopment.org/ Most of all please cover this wonderful family with your prayers as they will also be bringing two more children home from Ethiopia.

Here we gathered around Matt and Amanda to cover them in Prayer...

It is a blessing to know this family and to have spent the afternoon with them. What passion this great woman of God has!! Thank you Lord for this Angel!!

 And...I am thankful that my heart has been stirred up....sometimes that is what we all need to go out and make a difference....to seek God...and to open our eyes!

He will lead you along the road of life.....

Sometimes when we are on the "road of life"..... we may experience many ups and many downs...some rocky roads....and some very smooth roads.......we may find ourselves wondering ...are we on the right path.... did we take a wrong turn......or we may find our selves wondering where will this road lead us to. Will it lead to a field of beautiful flowers, or a valley.  Most the time we don't know where the road leads until we find ourselves in the middle of it!  Sometimes we may choose to keep everything inside and no one really knows our struggles along our road in life...sometimes we are traveling it alone, or so it may feel that way sometimes. But it is during these times that I have to remind myself I am not really alone..and that God is with me where ever I go. On each turn in life I will grow, and I will learn, and I will be formed into the woman He wants me to be.  I have to stop thinking that I can do it my self, because when I do, He will remind me that I can't! Tonight I need God , Tomarrow I need God, forever I need God to be my partner, my guide, my teacher, my father, my friend! In Him is where my peace will come from! He will lead us all along the road of life...if we let Him!

Heart Doctor apt.

Today my appointment went good with the Heart specialist. He will schedule just one more test for me to have in a couple of weeks. I will get a Eco Gram with a stress test. This will give them a better look at my heart, and also see how it does under hard excersise. He was a great doctor and Im just glad to have his guidance and input. I am trusting that all is going to come out great, and that is the attitude I choose..I am going to try to not let worry set in. I have been feeling much better also with less chest pain so this is some reasureance to me as well. Please pray all goes well for me..I appreciate it alot. My next apt will be Nov 24th. Have a blessed weekend!

Do you ever feel...

Just a little burned out.....Or wonder.....Where you are suppose to be....what your suppose to be doing?  Lately I will have to admit I have been struggeling with wondering and seeking what God wants for my life and where he wants me to be......I guess you could say I have hit a little burn out with work and home and not getting that break once in a while to refresh.  Terry and I have been married for almost 16 years now..and with so many great memories and building our family.  But, we also have never taken time for just us. Partly because we never have had anyone to help with our kids and stay with them. We have no grandparents around which make any kind of date night or get away impossible sometimes!  We have recently talked about taking a trip together, and we both desire to do that so much, but honestly sad to say Grace would not know her grandparents if they did come and stay...I think she has just seen them maybe twice,...so for now...once again, we will have to wait! Seems that is the theme of our lives the last few years. Just hang on and wait...

Really over the past year in all the business of life, I have managed to neglect myself and I have found myself just taking care of everyone els, and not taking anytime out for myself.  I think this is the story for many moms and wives! It gets easy to get caught up in. I know I seem to be good at it. Im either taking care of kids or working...trying to run my business.... ..only to wake up and do the same thing again the next day..I love my family more than anything in the world, I have and will do anything for them all....so I am not complaining about my family, but somewhere in there, I have realized more than ever that I need to take time for myself! If we neglect ourselves then we are seriously not good to anyone. So after a huge burn out hit me, and I had a mini melt down..... I planned a day for myself!  Saturday, I left the house at 8am and did not return until 9pm.  It was a great day....I took a fun photography class, went shopping for the afternoon, then to a chocolate and candle party at night that a friend was having. Im telling you just that little bit of getting away was so refreshing for me. I thought ..wow why do I not take time for myself more often.  I have a husband who definetly encourages me to go take a break when i need one.  As Im talking to my husband about my feelings and struggles, I come to find he has been having some of the same similar feelings too, of course in a different way though. He is also seeking where God wants him, or what he is suppose to be doing in life.  We both know how important good friends are as well, and we are really needing that support!  We don't know what God is doing. But the one thing I know for sure is that God is in control, God will guide us, and God will grow us during this time of wonder, and seeking....He is forever and that never changes and is always constant!

Finalization Date Set

Finally, the date is set! The special day will take place on December 14th at 11:30am.  We are so excited to finally be at this stage of the adoption and give our daughter her forever last name! We were hoping to have a Friday so that family and friends could come with us, but it is on a Monday and we had to take what we could get since they are really booked up. All we know is this will be a really special day for our family.  Also being finalized two weeks before the end of the year means that we will be able to claim the adoption tax credit. Yeah!! 

Gracie is now 14 Months old...and a busy 14 months at that! Home for 6 1/2 months now. Some of the things she is doing are...
*She will take a toy to use to climb up onto things...Like the other day I caught her on the top of the piano, she also climbed up the kitchen stool...you know the ones you sit at in your kitchen.
*When Im getting ready in the morning she will make my bathroom look like a tornado went through it. She takes everything out of the drawers, and then climbs into the cabinets and drawers. It takes me longer to get ready since Im always telling her no. Yes she has been given her own drawer, but that is not good enough.
*She is attempting to climb out of her crib now..Dear Lord don't let her learn this one yet!!
*She babbles alot to the point where we think she is speeking Korean to us and we will agree
*She calls us all by name, or her own form of our name or nick name she give us.
*She loves to be by her mommy's side 24/7
*If we are sitting (which does not happen often), she will come and grab our hand to take us somewhere if she wants something like out of the refrig or something to drink..and sometimes she takes us  really no where, just on a little walk around the house.
*She loves to give kisses and hugs-very affectionate
*She loves to play with her farm animals and ride on a toy princess car she has
*She will let us know when she has a poo poo
*She loves loves loves her bath time, and has since the day we got her.
*She still only has 6 teeth. Im sure more are going to arrive soon though.
*She eats pretty much anything we do, her favorite is spagetti, or goolash
*Speaking of eating, she eats alllllll the time!! Where does it go?
Gracie is a blessing to our whole family, we love her soooo much!

Hold on test

I did hear back from my family doctor late yesterday, she said there was no reason to order the test other than the heart doctors require it to be done before I see him. So I called the heart doctors to ask, turns out they say they do not require or ask for that test to be done before I go see him, they recommended that I see him first and go from there. I guess that is some major miscommunication between doctors.  So for today, I will cancel the scan, and wait to see the specialist on the 13th of November. Oh my gosh, Grace was just whinning and she was up on the top of our piano...OH MY!!! She is such a climber it is scarey.  Thank you all for your prayers...I really appreciate each one of you, and your sweet comments and prayers keep me going on days like this...

Lexiscan...

Last night when i came home from dance classes, Terry said that the doctor called and said she ordered another heart test for me and also will get me an apt with the heart doctors soon. The extra test she ordered is called a lexiscan. Have any of you ever had one done before?  What bothers me is that I don't know why she ordered it. I don't know if something came up in my blood work, or if she is just doing this as an extra precaution for me to just double check things. My apt is scheduled for 1 on Wednesday. They inject a drug into me and it enlarges my blood vessels so they can see if there is any problems at all. This would detect it. So please pray for me tomarrow that I have no bad reactions at all to having this test done and that all goes great!  Thanks prayer warriors!

Korean Cook off...

Our friends from Korea came and cooked a huge Korean dinner for our family last night, I was so touched by all their hard work, and the food was so great! We love spending time with them all, and have grown pretty close to them also. It will be sad to see them leave back home which will be just before Christmas time. It is so touching to see them love our kids, and of course they spoil Gracie lots! I love that we are building friendships that will last a life time and friends we will go see one day when we take our family to Korea!

all are at work in the kitchen preparing this great meal!