MCAS Miramar Air Show "The Sound of Freedom"

God bless America, land that I love! You can't help but be inspired and proud to be an American watching these guys show what they can do.

The Super Hornet, Hercules, Super Stallion, Osprey, Oracle Challenger, and Sea Knight planes and jets are so exciting to watch. We knew that Jackie would go nuts here, but Ricker and Marg were thrilled, too, especially during the Patriots Jet Team demo. Margie couldn't stop talking about the stunt plane pilot because this guy was an absolute kook! We couldn't believe he actually lived through his act. Crazy! Evangeline spent the day pointing at every "ay-pay" (airplane) she saw and saying, "wow-wow-wow!" Soooo cute.

My personal favorite is always the Harrier. It's incredibly cool that it can take off vertically, stop in mid-air, and fly backwards and sideways. We heard that there's a new Harrier coming out next year that's even more agile in flight, so I can hardly wait to see what that one is capable of.

Michael's favorite part of the day was the USAF Thunderbirds demo. OK, even if you can't stand Celine Dion, you must admit that her rendition of "God Bless America" is a heart-burster!

Jackie is enamored with all the arms of our military.

Thunderbird

Thunderbird diamond formation

Sister snuggle

F/A-18 Hornet

Loops in the sky

Red Barons

Kisses

The Harrier stopped in mid-air and turned to face the crowd. So cool!

This Wall of Fire blasted heat over the crowd during the Marine air-ground task force assault demonstration. All Ricker could say was, "Awesome!"

Warming up in the jacuzzi

Prayer request: Poor Elianna Ray has a nasty fever today and a stomach bug! Marg felt icky on Sunday night and Monday, Evangeline felt the same way on Monday and yesterday, and now Ellie has it, too. Please pray she feels better soon, and that no one else catches it. Thanks!

"Ditsy Squirrels"

aka the Dead Sea Scrolls are on exhibit at the Natural History Museum in San Diego and are a must see! I don't know why the kids and I started calling them the "Ditsy Squirrels" or why we found that so funny, but that nickname brought down the house every time. Still does.

Anyway, if you get a chance to see them while they're there, don't miss it! The photographs of Israel alone are worth the trip. Truly stunning. Remember to bring a sweater, though, because the entire lower level is kept very chilled to protect the artifacts.

Trent & Michael and the boys at

the San Diego Natural History Museum in beautiful Balboa Park

Claire, Marg holding Evangeline, Ricker, Jackie & Carson

Sandy looking lovely

and Elianna Ray giving me a raspberry!

a sailor playing taps at a memorial ceremony at the Midway

The Adamses

May I please have all my photos taken with the new filter???

I think we should all be viewed in soap opera vision!

Isn't it beautiful outside? I'm thanking the Lord all day for this gorgeous fall weather. Have a blessed day!

Off to San Diego

YIPPEE! We've been counting down the days for the last few weeks, and now, woo hoo! we're loading up the car and heading to SD for a long weekend. Yea!

Practicing The Presence

My little Sweet Pea

The days just fly on by, don't they? Wow, I can't believe how fast the last 7 weeks with Elianna Ray have gone by. It makes me want to press the pause button to enjoy it a little bit longer. I don't want life to go by in a blur. The purpose of life is not tackling our to do lists and ending the day with a clean counter top and an empty laundry basket, although as a housewife sometimes it feels like that. I want to savor each day and thank the Lord for every precious one of them. Grandmother reminds me, "I will rejoice in the Lord enthusiastically all the days of my life." That's the deal right there!

It's so easy to be so busy with the daily grind and miss Jesus in the midst of it all. But, where is Christ in the middle of all my wiping noses and bottoms, teaching school, doing dishes and laundry and housework, and errands? How often I forget about the Lord walking alongside me when I'm checking the kids' chores, or supervising piano practice, or managing schoolwork, or grocery shopping, and yet He is present just the same. He's there when I read my Bible, and during worship, and when I pray, but also when I'm writing thank you notes, and driving the kids to tennis, and sinking into a hot bath. He's here for it all. And it's not a blur for Him. I can feel Him wanting more from me... more of me.

Maybe no one else suffers from this, but when I get over-tired I'm a sucker for the enemy telling me that the Lord doesn't really love me all that much. When life goes pear-shaped I'm dead meat for that particular lie. That nasty ol' devil gets me every time with whisperings of old sins that the Lord has long since made clean that surely count me out of the grace of the Cross. And that only serves to rob me of full hearted rejoicing. Which is the point of his efforts, right?

Alright, so what does all of that mean for my daily life? The Lord calls me to abide in Him and to rejoice in Him. That means I have to slow down and practice the presence of the Lord on a daily basis. I must also have the wherewithal to recognize the lies and distractions of the enemy and consciously tune him out. God's challenge to me while I'm raising my babies is to love them with all my heart, and teach them the love of Jesus. His exhortation is to desire Him more, to carry on a running conversation with Him throughout the day, to not let life go by in a whir of nothings. Those are my prayers today. I want to abide in Christ, and make each day matter. I want to be pliable and conscious of His voice. Change my heart, oh Lord!

I want to be like my grandmother, Anne Ortlund, reaching the sunset of life having chosen to rejoice in the Lord enthusiastically all the way through. So, with that in mind, as the days zing by without a pause button in sight, I want to spend them praising the Father for all His good and perfect gifts! Amen!

Elianna Ray's Dedication Day

On Sunday, a week ago, we dressed Elianna Ray in her gorgeous traditional Ethiopian gown and dedicated her to the Lord! It was beautiful. What a precious day! After church our family and friends gathered at our home for a Welcome Home party. Here are a few of my favorite shots:

Poppy wept in thanksgiving as we dedicated Elianna Ray to Jesus Christ. We all did.


Grandmother & Elianna Ray

with Alexa & Jordan

Mother & our niece, Charlotte

Grandmother & me

with Papa & Grams

Our friends, the Clarks, who are awaiting their two new children from Ethiopia any day now!

with my dear sister in Christ, Ange, who jokes that we should trade babies because my youngest is black and hers look white! (That's her daughter Jordan in the background.)

Alexa, Jessica, Sandra, Becky, Lisa, Kristi, and Carlie

Lis, Grandmother, Grams, me, and Becky

What a happy day!

This last picture just makes me smile. Thank You, Lord, for the incredible gift of this wonderful little baby. She is such a joy to me!

It's a Riot!

Sweet baby kisses

"His way is in the whirlwind..."
from Nahum 1:3

Today is one month since we met our youngest one, and we are so in love with her. What a blessing Elianna Ray is to our whole family! Elianna Ray is both cheery and extroverted, demanding and vocal, so she fits in perfectly around here. No one can escape from falling in love with her. She's just such a little lovebug. She's quickly learned that she's got to use her winning personality and her determined will to survive being the baby with four older doting siblings. No worries, folks... She knows exactly what she wants and how to let you know about it in a big way and then to explode into glowing smiles to win your heart 10 times over again. She's an absolute peach! We are so blessed!

Sorry I've been absent these past couple of weeks. Yessiree, it is crazy busy around here these days, but it's also been a really happy time and I feel like every day gets a little smoother, too. The theme for this month is "Coming Up For Air", I've decided. Funny story: Ricker was apparently listening in to me respond to a friend on the phone recently who was asking how I'm doing that I know a new kind of tired now and suddenly he broke in to an old fashioned southern gospel spiritual singing, "Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord..." while he clapped in syncopation to his own little ditty. So, no complaining gets by Ricker without a joke. That boy just kills me!

Elianna Ray meeting two very special great-grandparents, Papa & Grams

I was talking to another friend yesterday who was asking if we've heard any odd comments or questions from people since bringing Elianna home. You know, I think I was prepared for (and ready with over-defensiveness) little slights and even smidgens of prejudice, but I'm glad to say it hasn't been that big of a deal. My dear friend, Ange, who is black and has been such a fantastic source of advice and encouragement, mentioned that in the years to come REAL issues about race and adoption prejudice will arise and have to be dealt with. So, until then, especially with random people, just shake it off and move on. What great advice that I'm taking to heart! We've heard a few quirky remarks like thanking us for our "humanitarian effort", or people saying "how good of you" to adopt outside our own race, and yeah, we get some funny looks. But mostly I think that's from having two babies so close in age who are obviously do not have similar skin tone.

What really cracks me up is how often people ask, "Are they twins?" We've even heard, "Oh, one like Papa and one like Mama" when Michael and I were both right there! Oh dear, we are very confusing to some people. It's a crack up!

The other day we had a very funny interaction. We have a special affection for people with Downs Syndrome because our nephew, Lincoln, who is a phenomenal kid has Downs. Anyway, this 10 or 11 year old kid with Downs saw me and shouted, "Her husband must be a BLACK man!" It was so precious. I explained to him how I have one caucasian baby and one African baby and then he said, "Wow, that's COOOOL! She even got to fly on a plane I bet! She even had two mommies and no one is GAY!" I nearly died laughing!

So far this month we've had some special celebrations. Here are a few shots from our birthday party for Marg, our brother Buddy, and our nephew Johnny 5.

Poppy is cracking up because Elianna Ray is displaying her gift for
smiling like the sun until a camera comes out.
No camera - smiling ear to ear... Camera - blank stare.
No camera - Infectious giggles.
Soon she's learn mugging for photos, but for now
you've gotta get sneaky to catch a big smile from Ellie.

Margot, Uncle Buddy, and Johnny with their birthday cake

This is what can happen in Nana's pantry when you take your eyes off

of a busy 12-month-old for 15 seconds.

Here's a shot of Marg showing that her jumps just get higher and higher!

Our gorgeous 13-year-old

Elianna Ray also had her first trip to Disneyland for Marg's birthday!

Disneyland fun

The birthday girl getting some giggly baby nibbles

Elianna Ray decided to spend her first ride on a carousel licking the pole... Yuck!

Lorena, Daniela, Ricker & Jackie hamming up being totally soaked

Evangeline sounded like the Finding Nemo seagulls, "Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine."

California Screamin' is our favorite ride

This is her adoring look -- killer cute!

Our Cup Runneth Over

A Quiverful


Ricker and Miss Googly Grin

Whew! What a week! We're so thankful to finally be feeling more normal and getting adjusted back to our own time zone. It is great to look out our windows in the morning and greet Catalina and the sparkling Pacific Ocean. Home has never felt so good!

Like many other families we've heard from, we came home to chaos. Isn't that the way it goes? Right before Jackie was born we moved into a new home and installed hardwood floors throughout and then had a huge flood which destroyed those brand-new floors and a great deal of our belongings. And then Jackie decided to make his debut a month early, so we left everything in complete disarray, flew to meet our new son, and came home a couple of weeks later to live in a hotel until our floors were restored. Talk about cuckoo!

This time wasn't quite that extreme of an ordeal, but it has been a challenge getting back into the right time zone with two infants not knowing what on earth time it is. Then both of the babies got sick with intestinal yuckies. In one particularly memorable moment I was changing both babies' diapers and had Elianna Ray on the changing table and turned to see naked Evangeline walking away from me holding a poopy diaper. She definitely knew what she was doing was naughty since she was saying, "No No! Here! Icky icky!"

Thankfully, it IS getting a little easier every day. Elianna Ray slept a blessed 11 hours last night, which is a huge improvement from our first couple of days home when she was ready to party all night long. And, I'm slowly learning how to manage caring for two babies. I now have a brand new respect for mothers of multiples. Just feeding two babies at the same time makes me feel like I need supplemental arms. Bathing two requires a healthy sense of humor and a willingness to get sweaty and soaked. Pretty much every activity is hysterical. At least I don't have any problems falling asleep at night!

7 Months Old!

Elianna is adjusting very well. The babies are still learning how to play together. I've caught Evangeline taking Elianna's hand off a toy and saying, "No no, don't tuh!" (No, no, don't touch) a few times now. Too funny. Elianna is developing before our eyes. Playing with toys was at first very overwhelming, but she's quickly learning to enjoy them. She's rolling all over the place, sitting up more, doing better in her car seat, and loooooves the bath. She started solid food, which she is not at all opposed to. Papa is definitely her favorite person in the world.

Marg, Ricker & Jackie are incredibly helpful and want to care for her as much as possible. We had heard war stories about how tough it can be for the older kids to adjust, but they have made this week much, much easier for me, so for that I'm very grateful.

Also, we officially started our homeschool year this last week. Marg is now in 9th grade, Ricker in 7th, Jackie finishing up 2nd in a few weeks and starting 3rd! How did my babies get so grown up so fast?!? God bless Miss Briana who is such a huge help to me.

Jackie

Marg

Ricker

Miss Briana

Another shot from today's water party

We're so blessed.

We're Home!

As we were landing at LAX, I found myself singing with Andre Crouch in my head...

Thank You, Lord
I thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord
I just want to take a little time right now
And thank You, Lord, for all You've done for me.
I just want to take a little time right now
And thank You, Lord, for all You've done for me.

After more than a day of flying from Addis Ababa to Khartoum, Sudan, to Frankfurt, Germany (where we hugged and kissed the Redmans and little Grace, the Belchers and little Caleb, and Schneiders and Hope goodbye until we meet again), to Los Angeles, Michael and I were so grateful to hit ground and be HOME. Then after passing through Customs (through the New Immigrants line) and collecting our bags, we were greeting by a wild bunch of screaming friends and family! What a fun homecoming for us!

Thank you, everyone, for all your phone messages, emails, and cards. We are overwhelmed by your expressions of love. We are so blessed to be home now with our FIVE kids! Give us a few days to recuperate and get back in the right time zone and then you can come over for coffee. Lord knows we've got plenty!

We love you,
Michael and Laurie, Margot, Ricker, Jackie, Evangeline & Elianna Hausam

(pics coming)