Sweet Home Alabama.

Randy and Dinah are headed "home." Back to where they came from...to their families, well, most of it anyway...they are leaving me behind! They didn't even ask me if it was ok, although Randy did assure me that they have a bed for me...at least until Jessi starts sleeping in it! As a last hurrah, a few hundred of their closest friends (ok, not that many) got together for a little dinner, a little dancing and a little more...we had a really good time and so, I will let the pictures speak for themselves...Best wishes for a happy future guys, we love you dearly!

************************Kid's farewell play-date at the beach...





Ellie's first cowboy.

Flip, Gracie, Ruthie, Jessi, Brannon, Rusty and Ellie

Cruisin'

So obviously I am a bit behind and I need to get caught up. Adam and I had the chance to take few days and get away. His company offers each employees a paid vacation every year. (and, it doesn't count against his PTO)This year it was a four day cruise to Cancun...been there done that...but, why pass up a four day getaway for half price? So, we planned to just stay on the boat and enjoy it while everyone else got off...enter swine flu...the boat was detoured to the Caymens which I have never been to so we decided on a beach excursion where Adam got to ride this giant banana (no comments please) that was pulled behind a wave runner. I just laid on my chair soaking up the skin cancer and enjoying my drink that was included:0) Afterward, we had just enough time to hit the Swarovski store where we treated me to a very pretty necklace and some ear rings...happy birthday to me. It was very relaxing, fun to hang with some of his friends from work and just a little too short...I'm hoping for an extra day next year!

BTW, I still can't believe Gwyneth Paltrow sings this song!

Mama Says...

"There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child." Henery Ward Beecher

Mother's Day fell on the coat tails of our girls weekend. It took some doing but we were able to convince Meagen to join us at church. It was such a blessing because although Chris was not there, we (the Stofers, Us and Meagen) were able to pray with Randy and Dinah. We got to take some cute shots of all the kids together and with Meagen who was without her children for the day. After church, we went and had lunch and then headed home with our own crews for a restful afternoon.

Mother's Day is a strange "holiday" for me. Although I love all the little gifts and cards my children make and are so proud to give me, I rarely stop on Mother's day and think about the wonder of the four children that make up most of the chaos in my house. Usually I reserve these thoughts for each individual child and they usually hit me around their birthdays as they get one more year older and seem to need me just a little bit less. But this year, I looked at the four children and I realized God really loves me and He must really trust me (and Adam) to have given me custody of such precious beings. They amaze me wholly. And this year, I have a new appreciation for my own mom, who I do not need any less than I did at Ellie's age or even Ruthie's. I just need her differently. Happy Mother's day, Mom, Andy, Marie, Meagen, Dinah and all you other mamas reading...I know you feel so blessed to have had the privilege of raising your babies.

This is the Time...

GIRLS WEEKEND!!!! WE had the most fun! It was supposed to be a scrapbook weekend. Well, Dinah called me in the afternoon and she says, "I'm not bringing my stuff, I'm just gonna chill and I have some news." I was like , "whatever, tell me now!" and she says, ya, I think you should hear it first so she drops the bomb, "we're moving back to Alabama." "WHAT?!?" Devastating. I cried on the phone, she cried. Later, we got the other two girls picked up and hit the grocery store for our crap food. (I use that term affectionately...there was some fruit but it was out numbered by the Krispie Kremes) I cried in the grocery store. I had to wear my sunglasses because Marie and Meagen didn't know yet so Dinah turned that into a game and we were all walking through Publix with our shades on. (it was cool-at least in our minds)

We get back to our very nice 2/2 corner unit on the beach and get all the groceries unloaded and then head out to dinner...without the key to our very nice 2/2 corner unit on the beach. Of course, we didn't notice until we got back. Got the guy to come...pretty sure he was driving drunk, nice. We settle in...get all the scrapping stuff positioned, sit down to chill and Dinah drops the bomb on them. I cried, and I do mean, sobbed. Are you getting the picture? I'm gonna miss her.

So, the weekend went on, we laid on the beach, we drank daiquiris, we laid on the beach, we went out, there was a peircing, we laid on the beach, drank some more daiquiris and all too soon, it was over. I think Meagen got one page done, Marie may have finished a few. I got my book out and looked at it, then, put it away. Just being with my girls was more important. THese are the times to remember....

St. Anthony's Bi-athlon

There has been some mad dog training going on around here...no, not me, Adam. He has been working very hard at getting himself ready to do his first Olympic distance triathlon. He's got the gear. He's got the really cool outfit (that he modeled and got 20% off). He's got the very latest and greatest shoes. He's got the body:0) Sorry, had to throw that in! (obviously he is man enough to wear my pink lined warm up jacket while waiting to que for the race)

So, we put the kids at my mom's and we get out to the venue really early. Adam has done the swim portion of this particular triathlon before. As he is in the transition area, chatting, getting all his tri-paraphernalia set up, we begin to hear announcements that the there is the possibility that the swim portion of the TRIathlon will be cancelled. and sure enough, due to high wind and large surf, they cancel it for all but the pros. Now, for a first time triathlete who is really a swimmer, this is just a teeny, weeny bit disappointing.

I'm sure that this blow to his mentality played a bit of a role in his overall performance on the bike and run but I like to find the bright spot and so, since I know he's an awesome swimmer, I see it a dress rehearsal for the bike and run as well as the transitions. It was an eye opener for him in the sense that he realized afterwards, that his body was capable of so much more than it gave that day and he has rebounded with a new attitude toward his training and is looking for his next first triathlon...

Braggin' on my kids.

Recently, I have had the privilege of attending a poetry reading for Rusty's class. Rusty read a poem that he wrote about me:

My Mommy

By: Rusty Jerger

My

Mommy

is

My

Best

Friend

I

Love

My

Mommy

So Much!

Now, I'm not sure what kind of poem this is but it pretty much says it all...and to top it off, about 3 or 4 of his classmates wrote poems about him. It was completely adorable!

Also of late...a few field trips: One to Lowery Park Zoo with Rusty and the other to Heritage Village with Ruthie. The highs of these two trips were feeding the giraffe, petting the sting rays, putting out a fire the old fashion way and sitting in a one room school house.

The school year is wrapping up and we have had an awesome year. Ruthie stayed on the Principle's list all year and won a lot of academic awards. Her reading and writing has continued to be a passion for her and her teacher has really encouraged her along this path. It was perfect fit and we are so blessed that Mrs. Rasmussen will be looping and Ruthie will have her again next year. She competed in the 3rd grade spelling bee and Addition speed race and got second overall in both. Also, I am told by her very impressed teacher that she got a perfect score on the reading portion of her FCAT. Ok, I'll stop bragging.

Not really...Rusty has been a total surprise to me this year. Of course he had an awesome kindergarten teacher and we went into Mrs. G's class completely blind as the teacher we hoped to have for 1st grade had decided to teach second. Turns out that the relationship that developed between Rusty and his teacher was perfect for him as well. His reading took off and he was reading well above grade level within weeks of starting the school year. He was asked to join super-star math and is testing really high on all of his cycle/state tests! This from a kid who hates to read! I found that he does however take his school work seriously. He comes right in from school and begins his homework without being asked and he panics if he needs to complete something and feels like it won't get done...what a conscientious little student...

Rusty has begun his orthodontic trials and has joined Ruthie in the ritual of turning the torture rack. So I now find myself sitting int he waiting room while they both go back and get refitted and readjusted to their hard ware...oh well, we knew that having both worn braces, our kids didn't stand a chance.

Summer is here.

One Year.

Time goes by. So fast. I am finding it harder to update my blog as the busy-ness of life with four children and their schedules consumes most of my time. When I do have a moment to sit down, I usually don't want to spend it rehashing the day. However, a year has gone by. As I read over the blogs of many we met through out our adoption process, all of them focused on their gotcha day. For us, that day was important...but not as important as the day we landed in Tampa and walked off the plane to the faces of our family and friends there to meet our little girl for the first time. April 13th.

Ellie's birthday is March 31st and her gotcha day is April 4 but this year we celebrated on April 13th. Nothing big, just everyone from the airport, all together again, one year later. We went to The Olive Garden and the kids all sat at one end of the table, talking, yelling, fighting and as I sat there and I watched Ellie interact with what amounts to her siblings and cousins (because she has none, none of my kids do) I was amazed yet again at the changes this year has brought.

I find that God has worked in my life in little ways...just filling in the holes left by the loss of my brother. He has given me and more so, my mom little gifts along the way to make the days that should be painful more bearable...First He gave us my Rusty...on my mom's birthday. Not amazing in it's self but something special to look forward to rather than just another birthday without her son...and then on my brother's birthday, He gave us Ellie...home forever...what an amazing blessing and again something to celebrate on a day that otherwise would bring only pain. And so, I find it difficult to sit here and think over the last year without thanking God for all the blessings in my life that sit side by side in myheart with the pain of losing my brother

I wanted to sit and reflect over this time but they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

November 2007: Our first meeting. Ellie is skeptical and afraid but allows me to hold her. We coax a few smiles from her and discover that the way to her heart is through her feet. (smile)

February 2008: I fly over to visit because I simply cannot stand being so far from her. I am allowed to see her on two days for two hours each day. Ellie is a bit older and understands the ramifications of my visits...she's not pleased.

April 13, 2008 Atlanta Airport Waiting for our connection to Tampa...we have made a tentative bond but there is still much work to be done...

April 12,2009 Mommy's little girl.

March 31, 2008 Celebrating Ellie's 2nd birthday in the orphanage...just a few days before we carried her out of there forever. She was frightened and confused.

April 13, 2009 Celebrating Ellie's 3rd birthday and the anniversary of our Forever Family.

Ellie has made some really good friend's in just one little year...what a wonderful little year...

More on Easter.

There was a lot more to Easter than Ruthie's Baptism. After the beach, we went home so She and Adam could shower and we all put our Easter clothes on. This was Ellie's first Easter so I was excited for her to see her basket but we held to our usual Easter and Christmas morning rules in which we focus on Christ first. So, when everyone was ready, I took them all out front and posed them in their Easter clothes in front of the usual Gardenia bush which is blooming right now.


Getting my pictures of the kids is always such a chore. Rusty can't look into the sun and Flip is a total pain with it...I usually have to threaten him into submission and this morning was no different. I think he is finally realizing that if he just gives me what I want and I get one or two good shots he can get it over with and retreat back into whatever world he lives in when he is not actively engaged with the rest of us homo-sapiens. Ellie and Ruthie are as usual perfect for the camera.

So, we head to church where we were joined by my parents. Adam's mom & grandpa and my grandmother. After we went to lunch with everyone and then headed home to get into our Easter baskets! And then...the egg hunt! Ellie got into this like you would not believe! I did it a little different this year...each kid had to find their own eggs and if they came across someone else's, they had to leave it and couldn't say anything...of course, there was some cheating. Their father was probably the worst offender of the rule...perhaps I should have hidden some eggs for him as well...all in all it was one of my top 6 days right up there with the day I got married, the 3 days I birthed my children and the day we brought our daughter across an ocean to her home with her family. He IS risen...and all for ME!

Baptism

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4

We had a wonderful Easter. We started the morning at 5:30 by waking all the kids and throwing them into shorts and flip flops to head out to the beach for the Sunrise baptism. This year it was really very special to us as our own little girl was being baptized. Ruthie accepted Christ about 2 years ago but was really unsure about being baptized. So, we waited. We wanted her to have the time to question it, to understand it and to WANT it. She has over the last 6 months or so been asking a lot about baptism; the symbolism, the importance, and the obedience of the action. And finally, she told us she wanted to be baptized.

Our Pastor believes that the person who is most involved in the process of bringing someone to Christ should baptize that person if they are willing and able. So, on Easter, at sunrise, surrounded by family, friends and other new believers, my husband baptized my daughter in the Gulf of Mexico. And now, her journey begins anew as a disciple of Christ as she has taken the first step in obedience and now will walk with Him in truth. Praise God!

Basketball, anyone?

Dinah had it in her head to get tickets from a coworker and take ME to the SEC basketball tourney for my birthday (as a surprise). It didn't work out for her and she couldn't go but she got the tickets for me anyway (for my birthday). Good for her, because I think Adam would have killed her if I took off to watch AU basketball while he sat home with the kiddos. I decided to surprise Adam and take him. I asked him the day before if he wanted to have lunch with me and I called his boss to let her know he would not be coming back. We drove to the restaurant and just as he was about to open the door, I pulled out the tickets and asked him if would rather go there. Duh! He had been hinting about getting tickets but to be honest, basketball is about the last sport I would willingly submit to watching, next to golf. So, I brought a book with me:0)

He spent the drive over filling me in on all the senarios...yada, yada, yada. He was excited!

We sat through the first session which was two games. Surprisingly, I got into it a little bit and didn't read at all. I took pics of all the mascots and watched the coaches and cheerleaders. There is just something about being in the college sport environment. After the first session, we had a break so we walked down to some restaurants and got some dinner and then headed back to the arena for two more games. Ours was the 9:45 PM game against Florida and we were sitting in the Gator section. It was an awesome game and we won it close. So, even though we didn't make the tournament, we beat the Gators and that, my friends, is worth it!