Referral Day!

I will never forget this day in 2008.  I was working as a Teaching Asst. in a 2nd grade class.  We had recently switched to the SN program of China.  We were hoping for a match.  On May 19th the teacher I was working with sent me to the copy room to copy a map of China.  I remember looking at the map wondering where, in that vast counttry, would our daughter be from.  I walked back to the room.  Laurie said that there had been a phone message while I was gone.  It was from A Helping Hand (our adoption agency)  I called right back, got Dana our advocate, on the phone and heard the long awaited words "Kathie I think we have a little girl for you".  I remember crying and saying something about the timing.  You see, my good friend Christine had died on Friday May 16th following a courageous battle with breast cancer.  She had so wanted me to get our match.  Some how I knew it was all part of the plan.  I ran home to pull up Dana's email and this is what I saw:

We accepted the referral and the rest is history as they say. What a day and what a joy we have in Sierra!

Please remember Chrissie's family in your thoughts and prayers.  It was announced on their blog this morning http://www.allarepreciousinhissight.blogspot.com/

 that Chrissie has gone home to dance with Jesus.

Flowers and faces!

This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is flowers.  I love this picture of Sierra and the tulips.  We planted these tulips the day after Sierra's friend Grace died with the hope that in the spring these flowers would be a reminder of Grace's bright life!!  We call it Grace's Garden!

Happy 40th Birthday Scott!!!

Scott,

Today is your birthday and I hope it will be a special day.  Every day with you in our lives, is a gift.  You are the best husband I could ask for and the best father to my boys and to Sierra. I look foward to a long and blessed life with you, although you are getting old now!!( Ha Ha )  Have a great day!!

Love

Kathie

4 Reasons!

The 4 reasons I love Mother's Day!!

Jump on it!!

Could not resist sharing this with all of you. Sierra , her oldest brother Tim and his girl friend Sara dancing the Fresh Prince of Bel Airs "Jump on it"

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So much life around!!

Wow this has been a terrible week..... My last post mentioned a friend who died from complications from surgery. Well since Sunday night our small rural community has lost 3 wonderful people...all too soon and all suddenly. Our former school secretary had a massive heart attack while walking the beach in Florida and early this morning another dear friend died from a massive stroke after a seemingly successful surgery. It has been tough to come to terms with it all. Last night I was majorly bummed. I knew Alice had irreversible damage and her family was by her side. I thought""Enough already!" Enough sadness and death. And although I know death is not something to be feared, it is still hard on the families and friends who are not expecting it. I woke up this morning feeling like I got punched it the stomach.. I kept asking" Why so much death now??" I took my usual walk out along the field. It was not long before the answer became apparent to me. Yes , there has been alot of death this week, but as I walked along, listening to the birds chirp, watching the turtles sun themselves on the log in the swamp, seeing my dog Emma chase a chipmunk, noticing the new tiny beginnings of corn popping up in the dirt rows and thinking of my beautiful little girl asleep in her bed with her awesome big brother in the next room, I realized that there is so much more life around then death. The problem is we don't always take the time to notice the things that are right there in front of us. God's beauty and light fills our lives every single day..it's there and although death often takes our breath away, so too should the life all around us. Goodbye Robert, Donna and Alice...I know you are all in a better place. I will miss you all but I will try to remember to notice, not only the death but LIFE. Thank you for this gift!

Another tough day in our community...

Shortly after 9/11 we had a new family move into our community and our school. It was a family with 4 young children who used to live near NYC in Brooklyn. They are actually relatives of friends of mine. The father, Robert, was a New York City Fireman. He held the rank of captain. On Sept. 11th he had taken the day off to work on his kitchen. The men, his men, who worked that day, all were killed when the towers came down. Robert moved his family upstate, hopefully away from such tragedies. He continued as a fireman in the city,working long hours at the site, cleaning up the aftermath of that terrible day. Just a few weeks ago Robert was diagnosed with a very rare lung cancer.His family was told it was very possibly from working in that junk! Last night Robert died after complications from the surgery to remove one lung. Almost 9 years later
the atrocities are still happening. People are still dying from that single day of terrorism. Please keep Robert's family in your thoughts and prayers. He was a great guy who so loved his family. He was to retire in August and was so looking forward to it. Tell your family you love them.