Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a day that I so miss those not with us, my parents, my grandparents, Scott's Mom,..... but I can not help but me thankful for all the blessings that have been bestowed on me.  The love of God our Father, who is there through it all: my husband, who is my friend and confidant:  my 3  older sons who are maturing into men that I am sooo proud of:, the girls in their lives, who have added more happiness into our lives; my sweet Sierra who has filled my days with the most unimaginable joy;  my brother and sister, who are the 2 people I can count on for ANYTHING; Scotts family who has become so much more than "in-laws";friends who really know the meaning of friendship; an employer who has let me take  a 2 year leave of absence and has given me my old job back(come January); health insurance which right now is still good with very little cost to us; continued good health for Sierra; a roof over our heads; enough food to eat; a free preschool program for Sierra; and a country where men and women are willing to risk their lives, to save it all for us!!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all and I hope your lives are filled with abundant joy!

Sierra's Baptism and a Celebration of an Engagement

Sunday wa a very emotonal day for me.  We had Sierra baptized at our church  Since she was older then the infants my other children were when they were baptized, I really wanted her to understand what it was aboutm hence why we didn't so it sooner.  She was excited, especiallly to have all her brothers and Pop Pop and her Aunt and Uncle and cousin, and other friends who came to witness this special event. The moment where I stood and promised to raise this child as a believer in Christ and all He stands for , was a special moment indeed.  4 other children were baptized and our Pastor had tears in his eyes as he laid his hands on eavh child's head.  He has always said baptisms were his most favorite..  Sierra looked beautiful and even sang a duet with the pastors wife.  Sierra has always said she wanted to sing with her and we thought Sunday would be a good time.  She was nervous but stood up in front of the entire church and sang Jesus Loves Me.  It brought tears to many eyes, including my own.  It is not lost on me that if she had stayed in China she may never have learned about Jesus at all! 

In the afternoon we attended an engagement party held in honor of my son Paul and his fiance Jenn.  Again it was a wonderful time.  A day spent with so much family is always top notch in my book.  They radiated happiness and we are so excited for them.  The wedding will be next October..a fall wedding...my favorite!!
 
Here are some pics

 Pastor Paul

 Our friends the Kelly's who are Sierra's godparents

 My favorite 'from the back" photo

 Paul and Jenn

All the boys and girls!

Thank you!!

We went to Lowes today and they had these stickers at every checkout.  Nothing on the back, no advertisments, just a simple thank you.  And so I send .....to all my bloggy friends who have sons, daughters, husbands, wifes,brothers and sisters serving and defending us.....my heartfelt and sincere  THANK YOU!!!!

Black and White with color!!

I have been playing with a new program that I downloaded free.  Its Paint.Net.  I have always loved this kind of picture and did not know how to do it.  Paint.net uses layering to create this effect.  So much fun!!!
Still learnign how to use the magic wand effectively  but am having a great time learning!!

Leaf Waxing

I was reading through some of my favorite blogs and came across this neat idea. http://4ourkiddos.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-candy-fun-project.html   So today I stopped at the hardware store and bought some wax. When we got home Sierra and I went leaf picking. We chose our favorites and brought them home. we melted the wax dipped the leaves in and laid them on wax paper to dry. I tied them on thread and hung them from 2 windows!! I can't wait to do this agian next year when the colors are at their peak. It was great fun and Sierra loved dipping the leaves! Special thanks to David who ran and got me more wax paper !!!

Still some beautiful color!

Taking a walk to look for leaves

Finding and choosing

Melting the wax

Carefully dipping

Leaves waiting to be dipped

 Drying

 Hanging in the window for all to see!

This was a great activity...can't wait to do it again earlier next year!!

Happy Halloween!!

I hope everyone had a great Halloweeen!!  This day has a new meaning for our family. 2 years ago after months of waiting, we finally received, on Halloween the final approval for us to go and get Sierra.  So now it ranks up there as one of my favorite holidays.  On Friday Sierra had her preschool celebration.  It was awesome!!  On Saturday she attended a Halloween Party that her Mimi puts on. And Sunday she went trick or treating and then to Jenn's parents hourse who really do up Halloween!!  Of course there is now way too much candy at our house and no one wanted to get up this morning, but we had a blast!!

My favorite Halloween Cat!!

From Jenn's parents' yard

From one of the haunted rooms at pre school