Guess where we went...again...

....yummy...
(yes - the Oregon Coast isn't the warmest of places)

Luke's Day

*.......mom, I think my legs are longer.

*.....mom, look I can run faster.

*.....mom, I can jump higher today.
*......mom, when I woke up I became 5!

** the mind of the sweetest little man who turns five years old today**

*....mom! I'm a whole hand today!!

Happy Birthday Lukie!!
We love you, oh so much.
( this is my all time favorite picture )

Blessings.

well hi there!
i thought i would give you an update on all the
fun stuff we've been up to.......

now pay close attention... k ?

first......we got to ride in a fire engine for a parade
in our hometown......
i wasn't sure what to think.....

if you think the seatbelt is a safety issue....that was nothin;
you should of seen me hanging out the windows blowing kisses to the crowd!
i rocked.
my cool daddy-o drove us.......

my brother 'Lukie' scored bigtime on all the candy...
check out his pocket....

okay. did you just see that? he is standing right where cars drive!!
first the seat belt in a fire truck, then they let me hang out windows and THEN
they let Luke stand in the street..........
i might have to take charge around here......
Anyways..
next we loaded up the truck and moved to beverly....

looks like it huh?
funny. i don't even know where that song came from in my little adorable brain.
naw, we went CAMPIN!

at the beach no less!
here is adorable me showing off my load.....

we went to this little light house....

see how excited my mom looks?
she says camping is like being in the city......see the two other campsites behind us?
right behind us?
like, two steps away crowded in behind us?
down below here, my sissy and brother think they are so smart.....but i
see them trying to hide from me!!!!

then - just a few days ago we went hiking in a park that
has all these waterfalls everywhere!!!
you could even go UNDER one!

okay mom, a few steps back and you and i are both gonna be wet, not to mention toast.....
real purdy....
and even more waterfalls that made me smile!


i guess i'm done for now.
i'll leave you with my cute-ness......i know thats why you really stopped by!


Blessings.
My heart is full.
Thank you Lord.
**hugs**

daddy

.....could you even begin to guess what today is????

.... my daddy's birf-day!!!!!!

.... mama likes to call him her 'hunk-o-muffin-fireman-stud'....
i just call him daddy.

Happy Birthday Babycakes!

Hangin' at the Beach...

look at those two cute kids...

Good day!
Kristy here, to say we're taking a bit of a break~
no email
no 'puter
cause we're no home!
BUT.
Ellie insisted that I put up pictures of her wonderful
little friend Abby, from her visit with us......

They are the SAME age.
Amazing huh?
Miss Abby has been home for a year and a half-
Ellie has been home 4 months.......
What a difference.

She's not sure what to think here......

...but no matter what, she's always ready with a smile....

....again....

... and again.....
To stinkin funny.
*~*~*
Blessings on you all.
See ya soon !!

my sister ROCKS

yea, it's me again - my mom has this issue with blogging during the summer.....
she doesn't want to!
so i'm gonna do it one more time.......
okay, okay, okay; i've GOT to tell you about my totally cool
awesome big sister.....

thats her.....

she is so totally cool - not only is she now a teenager cause she
just had a birf-day.....
BUT - i'm so proud of her.
see, we went to this bike derby thingy and she WON
first place for the older kids!!!!!!!!!
i was cheering and yelling and hollar-en
the whole time for her.....
there she is smokin out all the others......BOYS that is!

my cool brother Lukie raced too and got 4th place!
woo hoo!

oh, hee hee - i'm so giddy for both of them....
next on my list to tell you is that i loved my first 4th!
here i am with a bunch of my homies....

the next day we went to see this waterfall....
hey, miss teagarden; i know you and my future buddie
Jane just went here too!!!!

i love given my daddy kisses......
(so does my mom)
(in fact, they do that all the time)
(i mean all the time)

my brother Lukie doesn't like them all the time....

so, mom wants you all to know she'll be back soon.....

(this is one of those looks she gives to my dad)
(all the time)
(whats that about anyway?)
*~*~*~*
Be blessed.

Oh beautiful for spacious skies.........

me again.

my sissy and i are helping mom.

we are having a shindig here tomorrow....at least thats what

everyone around here is calling it.
this thing needs to be washed.....

look at that. see all the hard work i'm doing??
my sister is just strolling along behind me...sheesh.

so, this being my first 4th of july and all......
my mom keeps telling us how blessed we are to live
here. all the freedoms that we (okay, not me - i'm only 2)
that you take for granted.........

i love AMERICA.

and hey, mrs. ferrill -
so does our chicken!

From all of us,
Have a wonderful, grateful, 4th of July.
Be blessed.

Hey guys.
Whats up?
i'm doin' the post for my mom today.
Here i am hangin out, lookin cool in my moms rig...
Wanna know how i know this is my moms car? Cause my dad says he
wouldn't be caught dead with a goofy lookin' steering wheel cover like that......

Oh yea. Uh huh.

We all decided to take a little road trip, even tho' i wasn't feeling
all that great - i did good. i didn't surprise mom with
any more 'fun' that rhymes with come-and-see-ya
in the ol diaper, while we were out and about.

Big cool mountain behind us.
And my sissy is trying to show me how to put my hands on my hips...

My handsome brothers.
Here's what happens when they tried to get the camera to take the picture all

by itself. Tsk....tsk.....
My pants are supposed to be capris, so i'm told......
So beautiful here in my state.
Thanks for stoppin by my moms blog.
If ya want, you can leave a comment and let her
know how cute i am (and remind her of that the next time i get into trouble).....
**Abby, i can't wait to hang out with you girl!!**

3 months

Three months ago, today, Miss Ellie

stepped off the plane with us and was welcomed into her forever family.

This little girl has changed all of us......

She is so full of joy.

We are blessed.

(some of you have asked; we have talked to 3 specialists
concerning the surgeries that Ellie will need on her hands. She will have her
first surgery this Fall to separate her fingers....)

What are these children so interested in?

...the crazy little chipmunk
(see on the lower railing)
that came to feast on our birdseed....

I'm sure that got you excited.
(ooo la la, will you look at that deck....looks like the person
that stained it really knew what they were doing.....)

How about this then?
Rhody nursery in full bloom.
Amazing.
If you live nearby us, you better grab your camera
and get over here - throw your kids out there in the fields and
get some beautiful pictures.....
(or you can just come by and share a cup or two or three )!
It really is gorgeous right now.
We can sit right here (on my newly stained deck, thank you!)
.....different view...
.... or here!

Isn't God something else??

Beauty.

You really have to see it in person.
Let me know what time to expect you.....!
(I'm being serious)
~*~*~*~
*****Special Announcement:*****


We got our first 'foof' !
(notice the teeny tiny thing on top of Ellie's head)
Excitement to be had by all!!!!

Blessings.

I have been tagged a few times too many! I am sooooooooo

soooooooooooooooo, ohhhhh
bad at getting them done.
BUT LOOK!
I actually got this one done !
The bee-U-tah-ful
Laine
sent this one my way.......
Oh joy, don't fall asleep as your reading:

Favorite person (outside family)? impossible to answer!
Favorite food? anything sweet (mmmmmm.........)
Quirks about you? not sure.......
How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? He'd say; "your hot". 2 words.
Any regrets in life? NONE - I'm saved by the blood of Christ, I am a NEW creation!!!!
Favorite Charity/ Cause? anything or anyone who has a passion for orphans....
Favorite Blog recently? oh, sheesh........once again; too many to choose from......
Something you can’t get enough of? my husband..........;o)
Worst job you’ve ever had? I hated working......I couldn't wait to be a momma!
What job would you pay NOT to have? any job. I LOVE being home with my kiddo's......
If you could be a fly on the wall, where? in our daughters orphanage when she was there.......
Favorite Bible verse right now? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Guilty Pleasure? buying shoes for Ellie......
Got any confessions? I talk to Him about them e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y ........!
If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? ugh. I don't know.......could I use it to build a cool fountain in my backyard?
Favorite thing about your house? my childrens laughter, and my front and back deck: outdoor living rooms!
Least favorite thing about your house? brace yourself.......our mauve carpet...........*gag*
One thing you are bad at? spending too much time on my computer.....
One thing you’re good at? working in my yard.....
If you could change something about your circumstances, what? that I could have lots and lots of energy all day, all the time.......yea....
Who would you like to meet someday? all the awesome people in the Bible, when I get to Heaven........
What makes you feel sexy? the way my husband looks at me.......
Who is your real life hero? my man.......
What is the hardest part of your job? if you call parenting a job.........(it's my life and I love it) then, being more of a patient mama .......
When are you most relaxed? when I'm in my yard....pulling weeds. yup.
What stresses you out? being late.....
What can you not live without? JESUS.
Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists? aren't there more important things going on to worry about......?
Why do you blog? it's fun......and I love the folks that you get to 'connect' with.......
Who are you tagging? whoever wants to do this.....but let me know, will ya?

What?
Your still here?
Well. Well. Well.
Thank you so much for reading a bit more about lil' ol me.
*~*~*
Blessings.
Have a fantastic weekend!!

how you see it

Good day!
So, here's what I was doing this time last week.... (when the weather was 90, right now this morning it's only 47....ugh)...
Staining our deck.
Oooooh yea.
It's going to look soooooo good when I'm finished.
If that ever happens, because I live in Oregon
(which I love with all my heart)
We just see a LOT of rain!

This side is done....

This side is not.....
Everything in life is how you look at it, you know?
So in talking about ALL the rain we see around
here - look at the beautiful result;

Rhododendrons bursting with blooms!


See what the Lord does?
He gives us glorious rain to water the earth, or our nursery for that matter -
yes, I said glorious - remember, it's how you look at things...
"I don't care what the weather is mom, I love yooooooou...."

We can always make a choice in how we view life and our circumstances.
I choose to see the glory in it all.
Come on now, just try it - it will put a smile on your face.....not to mention,
brighten others up around you too!

"we choose to see what trouble we can get into next...."

"oop. just kidding mom..."

"hey, she's not looking - lets EAT one...."

Had to throw in open duck mouth picture....
(actually, they're letting the dogs know their gonna get it...)

Love. Joy. Peace.
Patience. Kindness. Goodness.
Faithfulness. Gentleness and Self Control.......
The fruits of the Holy Spirit;
that's true beauty in a womans heart (and face!)
*~*~*
Make it a beautiful weekend.
Pray for someone else today.
Smile. Even if you don't feel like it.
Blessings ~

(ps. lets continue to lift up the Chapman family.....)

speechless

AP. May 21st- Tennessee authorities say the 5-year-old daughter of contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman has been struck and killed by a sport-utility vehicle driven by her brother.

No words..........please pray for this precious, precious family........oh how my heart hurts...

Love.

Cuteness all wrapped up, even down to her favorite farm boots......
Thank you Jesus, for my children.

Blessings ~

Okay. So here's me looking at what used to be a lake.
Probably not terribly exciting to you, I know.
But, this lake, Roslyn Lake, has been part of my childhood,

teenhood, and adulthood....is teenhood a word?
I'm not going to make this post all sappy on ya, don't worry.
The powers that be (huh?), say that the lake is no longer needed, so
they've decided to drain it and ......well, I'm not sure - build houses

or something on it.....

There's a lot of memories out there....

**sigh**

Time to insert cute kid picture.

Our oldest two walking around in the lake bed hoping to find
someones lost treasure....

Another cute kid picture....

This post is going no where really fast!
So, Ill leave you with this mornings view of our nursery.
*~*~*
Joys:
memories
life itself
the weekend
nice weather
that you all still read this blog, even when it's lame......
**smiles**
Choose to make your weekend beautiful.
Blessings ~

unthinkable

Please pray for the people of China...

Beauty

Can I brag on my hunk-o-muffin?
I'm going to anyway.

He is the man.

THE.

The.
T.h.e
Man!
Oh, how I love this guy.
Oh, how this guy loves us!

Look what he brought me yesterday.....
Not just one, but two - two beautiful hanging baskets!
Ah, the beauty....
Yummy.

AND, and, and, and
he brought me a hanging bag too.....

I'm sorry, but what girl doesn't LOVE flowers?
If you don't - don't tell me, I don't want to know.
Yum, yum, yummy.

Some of our nursery stock starting to bloom.....
Lovin it all.
*~*~*
Make it a wonderful day.
See the beauty all around you.
Choose to see the good in your man.
Don't always focus on his faults, YOU probably have a few yourself!
Don't we all?
Give your kiddos an extra hug.
Say a prayer for someone else today.
*~*~*
Blessings ~

b.u.s.y.

To busy to even blog - but, in order to keep my readers
( all 2 of them - haha )

hap, hap, happy -
I thought I'd do a quick update;
As promised, we got our snow a couple of weeks back......
Rhodies and snow....hmmmm, our poor plants think it's time to bloom - well, it IS time
I don't know what IS UP with this weather here in Oregon...

....this was just a dusting on this particular morning...

WHAT month is it?????

...and, also as promised - we played games...
( I got beat by a 4 year old )

Okay. This is too stinkin' funny.
This little nut can make up the FUNNIEST faces.
Oh.my.word.

Classic.

Pure joy.
(actually, she was just caught in the act, when she thought no one was looking!)
Oh yesssss!
This past Saturday, my cutie-pie friend gave us an
Adoption Celebration
party!
It was wonderful.
Her daughter made this adorable fruit centerpiece!
She spelled out Ellie's name in watermelon!!!!

Her she is with her masterpiece.
Yes folks, she's only 11 !
(Erica!! These are the ONLY pictures we took of the entire party...AHH!)

Thank you friends.

**Joys**

Jesus
friendships

that we received DIAPERS as gifts!!
woo hoo!
laughter
our rhododendron nursery that is about to BURST with blooms!

life
*~*~*

Enjoy your week.
**hugs**

Worship

Blessings.

Smiles.

Have a beautiful weekend all !
( it's supposed to SNOW here in Oregon...waaaa!)

No worries.
We'll just be having a book readin', hot chocolate w/whipped cream, playing
baby dolls -kind of weekend around here!
You can always find Joy.....!
Blessings.
xoxo

Hello there.
How is your Monday?
I didn't feel much like bloggin' over the weekend......anyway ~
( thank you so much for all your 'love', guys! )
*~*~*
Okay.
So I have this really fun, really cool "secret sister"-
will ya look at how she spoils me??
She sent lots of cuteness in a box.
It was like Christmas, with a Spring time flavor.....yum!

Even jelly beans!
Well no, sillys - not just one....
thats all there was left to take a picture of.....

Miss Jelly....er, Ellie LOVED everything too!
She really 'dug' the adorable flower.
(she also likes to chase the others with it!)

SOOOO....
we decided that we just had to have two more laying chickens to add to our brood
(this can really become addicting)
And will ya look at what just HAD to come home with me??
SHE is a goose (gosling) and her name is 'Gussie'.
She is so stinking cute that I can hardly stand it. Whenever she sees me
she pokes her little head up and peeps/chitters/whateveryoucallit at me.
We are handling her a LOT because I won't have an ornery goose chasing all of us......
(I'm attached, but not THAT attached!)oh hey. Just for fun.
Dirty duck feet.

*gasp*
I almost forgot!
Miss Ellie wanted to show you she still has it, baby.

**smiles**
~Joys~
living life
being able to work in my yard
loved ones
red nail polish ;o)
friendships
Blessings ~

Savor each day.

I was there, when you went to be with the Lord.
I wonder what it was like.
Did you run up to Him and fall at His feet?

Did you gasp, taking in all that was around you?
Did you toss your head back and laugh joyously?

I wonder.

I was there.
I saw them working on you.
The kids and I prayed.
We watched Lifeflight come, and then land right in front of us.
They stayed for a bit, and then they left.
Without you.

Were you already in His presence?
I wonder.
We prayed for your wife and your family.
For some reason it felt wrong that I knew before she did.
But, I knew that someone was on their way to her.
Lord, be with her right now.
*~*~*

Not really being able to go into all the details;
a dear man to many suddenly, tragically died this morning -
Please pray for this family.
Blessings ~

I wanted to share with you all how we spend our days homeschooling.

We love this way of life SO much!
My kids get so much out of each day.
Here's a sample from today.......

I know.
We are the only family around that is this strange.
I won't be sad if you don't want to read my blog anymore.
(But we sure have FUN!)
**smiles**
Joys
my kids, who always make me laugh
*~*
Blessings ~

New babies

Good day!
Big excitement around here; we have 35 new little baby's.
I was going to mention something about them ending up in our freezer - but that sounds awful.
Oh.
Anyway, my ducks aren't all that impressed....

So, at the risk of making a CERTAIN unnameable PERSON
cringe, because I haven't posted an Ellie picture yet....and OregonA