Our place

We spent the day yesterday at the beach...I know... what else is new : )  We love the beach so much. It was a very special for us though. Pretty surreal and emotional. Before we had the little ones Rob and I spent many Sundays at the beach in Bay St. Louis. Our big kids were teenagers by then and not all that interested in hanging out with us so Rob and I did this quite a bit. We always ate at our favorite restaurant that was right on the beach. It's the kind of place that makes you think of Jimmy Buffet.  The doors and windows are always open and the breeze blows right through the place. Lots of great artwork on the walls. Actually right above our favorite table was a picture of Jimmy Buffet fishing with the owners, the Trapanis. The music was always just right. The seafood was always delicious. It was beachy. It was romantic. It was the perfect lunch place on a Sunday and more importantly it was "our" place. During the spring and summers months after lunch we'd go to the beach a few blocks down right across from Our Lady of The Gulf church. We loved when the clock at the church would strike on the hour. It was such a beautiful sound. Many days I lifted my arms in praise with the sun on my face, the wind in my hair and my toes in the sand and thanked the Lord for giving us such beauty. Our favorite spot on the beach. Our favorite restaurant. With my favorite person in the world. I have such great memories of those days.

Then on August 29th of 2005 it was gone. Completely gone. Hurricane Katrina took it away. Two weeks after the storm we made it to Bay St. Louis finally. The roads leading to the city were cleared and we were able to go see what had happened.  We stood right there where our place had been and wept. It looked like there had been an earthquake. There was no building. There was no beach. The roads along the bay were gone. The bridge that spanned the bay was wiped out. I have never seen such devastation before. I felt so selfish that I was crying over "our" place being gone. Knowing that the Trapanis and everyone else in our area had lost their homes and their businesses. But still I couldn't help it. I felt like I had lost a piece of us. It was heartbreaking.

For a long time it was too painful to even go down there. I couldn't do it without crying. Well ever since the girls have been home, every time we would go to the gulf coast we'd drive by this area and we'd tell them about our place. About a year ago (six years later) the infrastructure was finally complete. With the roads back and the beaches filled in the businesses started rebuilding and about a month ago Trapani's Eatery in Bay St. Louis reopened. Yesterday, we took our girls to eat there and walk along the beach.  We got to talk to the owners and tell them how happy we were that they were back and briefly share with them what their place has meant to us. In fact we got to tell them that in our cupboard is a plate that we found that day seven years ago. It was the only thing left from the restaurant. One plate and we brought it home and Rob uses it all the time. They thought that was so sweet that we found a plate in the rubble and that it meant enough to us to keep it and use it to this day. It was truly good for the soul to spend the afternoon in Bay St. Louis and take our girls to Trapanis. It's different than it was before. Some of the things about the new place we like better and some of the things we really miss about the way it used to be. It's still perfect though and it's still "our" place.

5 and 18

That's where we stand around here....constantly counting down. We have two sets of countdowns going on. The second number is the number I'm hanging on.  The first number I don't like at all : ( I don't want Rob to go to China without us, but at the same time I want him to hurry up and go get our boy.  So, the 18 days is what I'm looking forward to : ) In 18 days my husband will be home with our son and we will rejoice and life will be...I was going to say peaceful and back to normal, but chances are it'll be a crazy roller coaster.  What a sweet ride it will be though. 

I had a feeling riding lessons were in her future.... : )  She is quite smitten with her new friend Tobey and her new teacher Miss Julia.

That's my girl....

There is nothing she cannot do. My Marianna, you never cease to inspire me !

Be Still My Heart

My cowgirl

A couple years ago she told me that she wanted to be a cowgirl…actually it came up when Rob surprised me Mother’s Day 2010 with a Skype visit with Mari while she was still in China and we were waiting for our Travel Approval. I was completely tickled by this silly little thing. She was so silly, but my goodness she was so smart. I was telling her about her bedroom and I told her that I picked out a beautiful pale blue color for the walls and that her room was finished and waiting for her. She asked me what color blue and I told her it was “Cowgirl Blue” and she said “oh, because I love horses?” I said “sure”. I had no idea that she loved horses.  In fact I thought to myself when in the world would you have had the opportunity to have seen an actual horse, but either way she said she loved horses and her room was a beautiful pale “cowgirl” blue. Perfect !
Well over the last year and a half Mari has told me at least 100 times that she wanted to be a cowgirl. It’s always accompanied by a doctor, a surfer, a mommy or something else, but cowgirl is always the common thing that she wants to be when she grows up. We have stick horse for Josiah that she gallops around on which is hilarious because between the wood stick and leggie it’s not easy to navigate, but she does it.  
So this weekend we spent time at the farm and Marianna finally got to ride a horse. Actually he’s a cute little pony named Forrest that Rob’s mom bought for the girls and our grandson Jacob. He’s full grown and the cutest little thing. Perfect size for Mei Mei. She could not have been more at home on Forrest. She seemed to know what she was doing. It was so sweet to watch her. She rode him and then she brushed him and she hasn’t stopped talking about riding him and brushing him : ) We forgot “handy” at home which we’ll have to bring with us next time. She didn’t need her hand, but it will be a big help with holding on to the saddle next time. She was so proud of herself. I was so proud of her. Mari often gets swept into Izzy’s shadow. It just happens sometimes when you’re the little sister, but this time Izzy wasn’t too interested in riding Forrest and Mari was all about it. She just shined while she was riding him. It was HER thing and very important to her. I’m thinking they’ll be some riding lessons in her future : )

Everything is possible for one who believes... Mark 9:23



Day 23 and counting...

So today is day 23 of our countdown...the girls are in serious count down mode. They can't wait for Rob to leave for China. What I don't think they get is that after he leaves we have 13 more days before he comes home with Josiah. Those will be very long days for us. My heart is still a little broken about not being in China. Not being there for his Gotcha Day. I've never been away from Rob for that long. The girls will be missing their Daddy something fierce. It's just going to be tough. So, trying to keep my mind off of that I'm constantly thinking about what Josiah is doing. Is he sleeping right now? I wonder if he's cold? Does he need a blanket? Is he healthy right now? Does he really get to see our pictures regularly? Does he have an idea that we are coming ?  I'm praying so fervently for the Lord to prepare his little heart for us. This will be very different for us. I know this is more of a typical adoption from China, but it's not what we are used to. Both Izzy and Mari were "prepared" for us. They both knew who we were before we got there. They both knew English. They were so loved, cared for, prayed over...I couldn't have asked for more. Their transition into our family went as good as could be expected. So yes, I'm a little anxious. I know that I shouldn't be. I've seen God's grace in these circumstances. We've been with other families as they've gone through this transition and after a few days an amazing thing happens and the family just gels. They become a family. It's beautiful and it's all God's grace ! I think the anxiety is more about me not being there more than anything. My husband is a great father and I know God will show him exactly what our sweet boy needs. I really do trust that. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. There is something really special about Rob going on this adventure alone to bring his son home to be with his family. I can see it in Rob's eyes...he is excited in a different kind of way. Like it's a mission that God is sending him on. He's serious as can be about it. He and his boy alone in China. Oh yeah...this will be quite an adventure : ) 23 more days...

Sand Angels

Inspired...

I'm not an artist...wish I was, but I'm not : (  So I don't totally get the sudden inspiration to drop everything that you are doing to draw something, but I'm learning.  You can learn a lot from your children if you're open to their teaching.  Finally in my forties...I am. So when Bella says "Momma, I've got to go outside and draw...please...can we go outside Momma, please...right now." unless it's storming or freezing I'm game these days. So, I said sure, let's go. So out we went sketch book in hand and she began to draw...

 

 

and draw...

and draw...

 

 

and draw...

 

 

 

 

and draw...

and draw....

and draw...

and draw...

 

 

and draw...

 

 

 

 

and draw...

 

 

 

 

and draw...

 

 

 

 

and draw...

 

 

and three and a half hours later...she was done : )

Warrior Princesses