Give Thanks

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

Above everything this season, we are thankful for our Savior.  We are thankful that God sent His one and only son to die on the cross for our sins and the sins of all who believe in Him and call on His name. 

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His steadfast love endures forever!" Psalm 106:1

We have so much to be thankful for this season. 

One year ago, we were only talking about beginning the adotion process to bring our precious daughter home from China.  During those conversations, Emalyn was born in our hearts and little did we know, she was already waiting for us in an orphanage on the other side of the world.  Today we are thankful that we are so close to bringing her home, to having her in our arms, to showing her what a family is.  We are thankful that one missing piece of our hearts will join us in February or March.

We are thankful for surprises.  Our third daughter that I now carry was quite the surprise, but we are so thankful for her.  We are thankful that God is God and we are not and that He does not let us make our own plans.

We are incredibly grateful for our first born!  Adair brings us so much joy and we cannot imagine life without her.  Through her we see what faith really looks like.

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." Ephesians 1:16

We are also thankful for our sweet families, our amazing friends, and our church.

I had a several sweet converstations with Adair leading up to Thanksgiving Day about what she is thankful for.  Here's a short synposis of what she said:  her lovies (aka "Ribbits) were always number one, Mommy, Daddy, Nona, Joe-pa, Mimi, Grandpa, chocolate milk, gummies, toys, trees, swings, and the princesses. 

It is humbling to me when I really stop to think about all that we have to be thankful for.  We are blessed beyond measure.  May we always give thanks and count our blessings.

Our Delightful Disney Vacation

As our last big trip as a family of three, we headed off to Disney World last week.  We had such an amazing week.  Adair loved everything about it...the princesses, characters, rides, pixie dust...you name it, she loved it!  One of the cutest things about Disney is that everyone who works there calls every little girl "princess" when they address her...from the waitresses to the princesses to the ride operators.  I think Adair decided she could definitely get used to that!

  

We spent the first day at Animal Kingdom.  Adair's favorite attractions were the Festival of the Lion King show, the Finding Nemo show, Kilimajaro Safari and seeing the Tree of Life.  The Tree of Life has thousands of different animals carved into it.  It is an amazing site.  She also loved meeting Pocahontas and Mickey Mouse.

Pocahontas was the first princess we met.   

Our first encounter with Mickey.

Adair and Daddy on the Kilimajaro Safari.

That night we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  This was by far our favorite park.  It is perfect for small children and has so much to offer.  We had so much fun at the Main Street Electrical Parade and the fireworks at the castle.

Cinderella's carriage in the parade.

Fireworks over the lit castle.

Adair loved the rides at the Magic Kingdom, too...It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups were her favorites. 

It's a Small World

Mommy, Adair and Daddy.

Mommy and Adair at Cinderella's Castle.

Minnie, Adair and Mickey

Adair was so excited about the characters and begged us to stay out of her pictures, so you'll notice that there is only one picture of the three of us and a character.

Adair and Daddy on Dumbo.

Adair and Mommy on the tea cups.

Adair and Grace

One day we had the pleasure of the company of one of my best friends, Mary, and her daughter, Grace.  Mary and Grace live in Orlando and popped over to spend the day with us.  Adair and Grace had so much fun together and Adair thought it was so cool that Grace lived so close to Mickey's house.

  

Adair and Rapunzle.

Adair, Princess Tiana, and Grace.

Adair, Peter Pan and Grace.

Adair and Winnie the Pooh.

One of Adair's favorite events was the Street Party.  She loved the music, the characters and the dancing.

Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast.

Adair dancing with Minnie.

Adair insisted on getting close enough to dance with Minnie Mouse during the party.  She slowly worked her way up to her and at the end of the song, Minnie kissed her on top of her head...too bad I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch that sweet moment.

Woody and Jessie.

Aladdin, Adair and Jasmine.

Another highlight of the trip was the afternoon Main Street Parade.

Snow White and her prince.

Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Belle

Dinner with the princess was so much fun!  Adair couldn't eat she was so excited for each of them to come and visit with her.  They all told her how much she looked like their friend Cinderella, which she, of course, thought was so cool.  Cinderella talked all about how much she loved Adair's crown and how she had to keep her crown in the highest room in the castle to keep it safe, but she wished she could wear it more often.  It was really impressive to see them all interact with Adair and carry on a conversation with her. 

Adair and Belle.

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Adair.

The Cinderellas.

Mulan and Adair.

Snow White and Adair.

We had a wonderful time and our trip was so easy thanks to the good planning, advice and direction of my sweet friend, Katie.  Katie and I used to work together and one of the first things I learned about her when we met was how much she loved all things Disney (obsessed might be a good word to use here).  Katie travels to Disney quiet often and truly knows the "ins and outs" of the parks, resorts, transportation, dining plans, etc.  If you are pondering planning a trip, please let me know.  I would love to put you in touch with Katie.  She is a great help, so sweet and very affordable. 

Thanks, Katie, for everything you did to help us plan our trip.  Each time Adair and I would talk about anything she wanted to know about Disney World, she would say, "Mommy, maybe you should call and ask Miss Katie."  She quickly realized you were the expert.

Tickled Pink

If you have been around me much at all lately, you might have noticed a bit (understatement) of pregnancy brain, especially if my dear husband happened to be with me, as he likes to point it out every time it happens.  All that to say, it just occurred to me that I haven't shared this exciting information.

Our third child is a sweet baby GIRL!

As you can imagine, Adair and I are tickled pink!  Hank, on the other hand, while excited, is seeing visions of dollar signs...tea parties, dress up, clothes, shoes, and weddings...and is already insisting that at least one of our daughters be a tomboy. 

I am thrilled to think of our three sweet girls growing up in close relationship with one another, enjoying many of the same things, supporting each other, sharing clothes, giggling together, and on and on. 

Here's to girls, daughters, sisters!

Pinecone Turkey Family

Adair and I had so much fun today creating our pinecone turkey family.  My new obsession is Pinterest (if you haven't discovered it yet...google it...you must check it out), and this morning I found this cute and easy craft to try.  Adair loves crafts and I thought making a turkey was the perfect way to ring in Thanksgiving week.  We pulled out the supplies we had and set out to find our pinecones at the park.

One pinecone down, two to go.

Three perfect turkey pinecones.

Hurry, Mommy, let's go cut and glue!

Very focused glueing.

The finished turkey family.  They may not be beautiful, but we had lots of fun!

Halloween and Harvest

Old Baker Farm / Pumpkin Patch

We had a fun afternoon exploring the barn and pumpkin patch with our sweet friends, the Woods, at Old Baker Farm.  Adair loved the animals and choosing her very own pumpkin.  It was late in the halloween season, but there were still some pumpkins on the vine.

Petting a baby goat.

Adair and Anne Fulton playing their new flutes.

Mommy, Daddy and Adair on the hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Is this THE one?

This pumpkin is just my size.

God's House / Trunk or Treat

The church where Adair goes to school held a Trunk or Treat event as their Fall Festival.  This was a first for our family and we all had a great time.  There were some impressive "trunks" and it was a fun, safe environment in which to get candy and have a great time.

Adair's sweet friend, Sarah Kathryn trick or treating with Rupunzle.

Cinderella and Belle (aka Adair and Sarah Kathryn)

Sliding on a pirate ship.

Pumpkin Carving

This year, I waited too late to purchase an orange, traditional carving pumpkin, so we ended up with an oblong, white pumpkin.  Not at all traditional, but your choices are limited when you are pumpkin shopping on Halloween.  We decided our atypical carving pumpkin was the perfect pumpkin for carving a friendly ghost for Halloween night.

Adair was all about the "goo" this year.

Our finished product.

Trick or Treating

We spent Halloween night with our sweet friends, the Beasons.  We enjoyed a great meal together and then headed out to their neighbors houses for trick or treating.

Adair dresses as her favorite pricess this year, Cinderella.  In preparation for our upcoming trip to Disney World,  I splurged slightly on the dress and she embraced pretending to be royalty.

Our little Cinderella

Woody, Cinderella and Obi Wan Kenobi (aka Jack, Adair and Robert)

Inspecting the loot...this girl LOVES candy!