Big Red needs a Friend

Thank you so much for all the messages, calls, emails, etc.... We are actually all doing so much better today. Of course, we are aching and a little slow moving, but all in all, we are actually thankful for the aches and pains, as they are SO minor. I am SO glad that aches and pains are our biggest worries physically.

Now that the weekend is almost over, will finally be able to talk to our insurance tomorrow and get an idea of how much they will give us for the car. It is a complete bummer. Our van was new when we bought it five years ago and we didn't have payments anymore. My prayer is that we get a good insurance package for the van that will allow us to get another car that is just as good or in better condition than ours was!

Oh, and while we are praying....let's pray to take care of this quickly-at least faster than the last time we had to look for a car. I think that is a fair request right? It took us almost two years to replace the Jetta(click here to read about that demise). Then, a few months after that, we had more bad luck with our cars. While we were camping at Yosemite, our van got broken into by a bear-seriously!!! You can read about that here, if you are bored. Now, almost two years later, this week, we finally bought a second car-yep- and it is actually a truck,'Big Red', as the kids named it. It is older than my marriage(my new favorite line), but it seats six and we paid cash(and looks pretty good too)! We were very excited about it!...for a couple of days. Wow. The timing of it, huh? We actually had two cars for 4 days! Now we are down to one again, and unfortunately it doesn't fit our whole family-ha!! Oh well, I don't mind walking.

Even if we get another car, there is no story that can beat the last ones, right? I bet ALL cars for sale are actually getting scared we are going to pick them! Honestly though, I hope we live a very dull, boring CAR life for the REST of MY LIFE! I never want to write another blog post about a car! Except happy ones.

No More Swagger Wagon

Wow. Today was not what we were expecting. Most importantly, we are ALL fine and SO THANKFUL to be alive-all SEVEN of us walked away from a very scary crash. Thank you LORD!

Today we got up early to drive up to Vancouver for the day to check out all the Olympic hubbub. On our way to the ferry, while still in town, we were hit by a car that was coming at us from the other direction. We were both going probably 40-50mph(I actually have no idea-just guessing). The car in front of us tried to swerve first, but got nicked and spun into the ditch(thankfully he is going to be okay, too). Then we realized that the car was coming straight at us still when only a few feet away and there was no where to go with a guardrail on our passenger side. The impact all went into the front of the car and the driver's door. The dash and door got pushed in and down and it is amazing that Daron was able move his legs and crawl out the back. That moment before the hit was the worst feeling and during it I pleaded for us to be okay. As soon as the airbags went out and deflated(so fast that I don't even remember it), I turned to Daron and then to the kids after I heard him talk. Honestly, the turn back to the kids was the scariest thing I have ever done-but, they were ALL okay! Wow-tears of joy, fear, shock were unstoppable.

I am so thankful for our safety. I am so thankful for all the people who were there right away to help get the kids out and help 'think' for me. I am so thankful that we were still close to town and the rescue teams were quick. I am so thankful that we could all shiver outside and WALK to a warm car. I am so thankful for all my family and friends that have offered to help(and to those that already have)!

I am NOT thankful for now losing our Swagger Wagon(Toyota Sienna)! Man, it was nice to have two cars for two days! Oh well, maybe we are meant to be a one car family. Either way, we will now wait to see about our insurance on Monday and HOPE that Toyota's really do hold their value so we can get close to what a new one costs. One thing is for sure, the airbags, seat belts, and body of the car really did do wonders to keep us safe (of course I am SO thankful for God's provision in it all too), so I definitely do not want to skimp on safety with our next car. Another Sienna is sounding good-and with the kids being so scared of this happening again, I think I TRUST them

But all in all, our car, my homemade mug, my favorite sunglasses, are NOT important. Sure, it's a bummer, but NOTHING compared to losing a family member or being critically injured! We are so grateful.

We did all go to the hospital to get checked out. Four of us needed x-rays, but they all turned out great. That was another miracle. For the next few days I know we will all be sore and our bruises will become even more colorful and beautiful. Hopefully, we will be back to normal real quick!

Lastly, sorry to close friends and family reading about this for the first time on here(or on facebook). I just didn't feel like calling everyone and talking too much about it. It will get easier, it was just so overwhelming today.

Below are some pics to see of the van if you are interested in stuff like that. Kwame was sitting directly behind Daron and he is actually feeling the best of anyone....except for his tongue, which he bit. ;)

Date with Dad

How cute is this? Our town parks and rec. puts on a very fun and usually sold out 'Daddy/Daughter' dance around Valentine's day. This is the first time that our crew was able make it work, so Daron decided to take Greta and Ella this year and Fia will get her turn with one of the girls next year.
Greta and Ella had a fantastic time and Daron really set the stage so well by literally driving around the block, ringing the doorbell, and bringing the girls corsages for their date. They felt so special! It was so cute to see their excitement build as they got ready(they didn't want Daron to see them until they were READY!) and I also realized even more how awesome their dad is!

Another positive note...he is helping to set the bar high for how they should be treated when they are older and really go on a date. Hopefully they won't settle for less than they deserve.

Home for a Year!!

Last February 6th, Fia and Kwame arrived in Washington with my mom and I. They left everyone and everything that was familiar to them and came to a brand new place, with brand new everything! Looking through the pictures from a year ago today were such a mixed bag of emotions. Ghana is a beautiful place with beautiful people. I am not sure how much Fia and Kwame remember of it unfortunately, as much as we try. As hard as their lives were, they also had so much love. Just looking at the pictures remind me of that and my heart aches for their loss, even in the midst of all the joy. And the JOY, wow, my heart is full now that they are home with us. Here are a few pics of our last day in Ghana and our first day in America.

Giving hugs and saying goodbye, for now. These four kids are actually ALL now in America!

This beauty, Miss M. stole my mom's heart and she has been in the orphanage longer than anyone else so far. There is a family that is paper chasing for her now, so PLEASE pray with us that it works out-her heart's desire is to have a family that LOVES HER!
Miss L became a fast friend of mine and I SO wish we lived closer to each other. She is a woman of faith and I truly look up to her. I pray I can see her another day soon. Her little guy is just the sweetest, huh?

Saying goodbye to the staff and kids was almost unbearable. I fell in LOVE with everyone there and wished our countries weren't so far apart. I knew they all loved Fia and Kwame and it must have been so hard to watch them go. I think only 6 of the kids in the picture are still there, and 5 are coming to WA soon. Of course, there are many more kids at Eban House that need forever families. Currently, there are a few boys ages 2-8(I think) that are referral ready and just need families to call their own. Of course, they are beautiful! Please let me know if you are interested or email anita@adoptionadvocates.org

My mom took this picture as we left Eban House....

I was SO blessed to have my mom along on the trip-she was amazing and it was so special for the kids!Here we are. Waiting for the plane from Ghana-via Nigeria-to Frankfurt. Relaxed and past all the check points. Ahhhhh.....
They were so happy to see daddy once we came up the escalator.

First family photo of the seven of us in WA.
Lounging around...ready for bed on our first night home together.

February 6th-it will always be a special day to remember!

A Year Ago....

It was just a year ago that my mom and I went back to Ghana to bring Fia and Kwame home. I can't believe that it has already been a year and then at other times it feel like they have always been here. I already blogged on this over at Shopmama.com 's website, so I thought I would connect you over to ADOPTIONmama if you were interested.

A Grade School Apology

Wow. I am truly blown away right now. I know that facebook is usually not about anything deep, but today I was so surprised to get an email from an acquaintance from grade school. What is even cooler, is that this wasn't the first one of this type. I received another one like this a few months back. What kind of email was it? An apology.

To give you all a little background about me you may or may not know, I lost my hair when I was in kindergarten and we were living in Seattle area. I didn't get it back fully until around the 4th grade. When I say 'lost my hair', I mean all of it. Everywhere( ie.- no hair on my arms, legs, eyebrows....)! It stemmed from an auto-immune disease that I got called Alopeica and it just means 'hair loss'. Most people who have Alopecia, don't ever get their hair back, so that was my reality. Honestly though, for me and my family, despite the diagnosis, we all hoped and prayed and believed it would be different.

Soon after I lost my hair, we moved back to the Chicago suburbs and we ended up living there for over 20 years. We moved into a community that we had already lived in a couple years back and our church family was definitely what I attribute, along with my family, my confidence, hope, self-worth and that God didn't 'mess up' with me(the story of how I have my hair now will be for another day).

You see, when you move into a new school during 1st grade with no hair, no eyebrows, and wearing a Snoopy baseball hat, you aren't the 'cool new girl!' I was always jealous of those ones in the years to come; they seemed to have it so easy! Ha! Anyway...I remember being teased, having kids either knock my hat off purposely, or stealing it until the recess aides would help. I did find friends in a couple girls, but usually in boys(they thought I was pretty good at kickball, chase, and riding our dirt bikes), so they would stick up for me when they were around. But of course, I got teased and so did they for playing together with the opposite gender. I laugh now, but I remember getting some Valentine's cards from my boy 'friends'in my mailbox that said, "I love you,"and it was obvious they weren't from them. Of course, the ones that wrote them were right there and laughing-gosh, kids sure get a kick out of being mean! Ugh...one of the worst cases though(because an adult did it) was a substitute teacher that would NOT let up about me taking my hat off since kids weren't allowed to wear hats in school. I remember some kids stuck up for me and others didn't and it eventually came down to the teacher sending me down to the Principal's office since I wouldn't take it off! Needless to say, the principal was definitely behind me, but it was humiliating to me as I was a straight and narrow kid(for the most part-at THAT age)!

This gets me back to the two facebook messages I have received from two classmates during those years. The first one said that he remembered first meeting me and drawing attention to the fact that I was wearing a hat and telling me that I couldn't wear it in school. I have no recollection of that incident, but he remembered it in detail, down to what hat I was wearing! He said he carried it with him throughout high school, and every time he passed me in the halls, he felt bad about not apologizing for drawing attention to me that day. Wow, I was so impressed with him! Isn't it crazy how long we carry things if we push them aside and not deal with them? I was so thankful that he did finally say something and was able to find out that I either don't remember it or it wasn't that big of a deal. I just thought it took a lot of guts!

Today, I got another email apologizing for being a bully to me and others in grade school (again, I remember incidents, but not the people involved, which I think is good!). He said he remembers teasing me and trying to embarrass me. He wanted to apologize after all these years, but didn't want to sound weird. Weird? I was so humbled! I wrote back that I honestly don't remember him as being mean to me, just a 'tough guy' on the outside, but could tell that he was a teddy bear on the inside(I actually didn't say teddy bear for fear of embarrassing him, but said I could tell he was different on the inside-ha!)

How cool is that though? I was so happy to get these emails. I do remember the hurt, but not the people, and it felt good to have the apologies. What was even better was find out that even those that are considered the 'bullies' chose a different path as an adult. These are also good lessons for my kids to learn and I am definitely going to share them. I am honestly thankful that I lost my hair when I was younger for a variety of reasons, but in regards to this discussion, it has given me a heart to seek out those who are outcast and also look deep into the hearts of the bullies. And the piece of asking for forgiveness...that is hard, but it is healing for both parties!

P.S. My scanner is on the fritz, but when it is up again, I will post a picture of my grade school years in case you are curious.

(bugle sounds)Bum-ba-da-BUM...ADOPTIONmama!

I got my first writing gig! Check out ADOPTIONmama @ http://www.shopmama.com/ ! It is the online site for Hot Mama, a fantastic women's clothing boutique that now has 14 stores, mostly in the Midwest(but I keep pushing for one to come out west). When they opened their first boutique about 5 years ago in Edina, MN, I loved it and so did my kids! My hope was to visit all of them when they opened(as my dear friend is the owner), but they have grown so quickly to 14 and I think I have only made it to six. Oh well... if you are ever in the area of one of these, I can guarantee, you will have a great shopping experience, with or without kids in tow. They have a computer station for the kids to work on, a train table to play with, and even some animal crackers to munch on, while you browse around. The clothing is stylish and sassy, with a price range for many, and they also carry trendy maternity clothes too.

So, I am excited. I have been going around my house declaring myself ADOPTIONmama in a regal sort of voice, also implying I may be some kind of superhero or something. Surprisingly, my kids are unfazed and have not started bowing down...YET!

In all honesty, I feel very blessed to get this opportunity to blog for this company for a few reasons: 1)the heart and vision behind the company has always been to help women feel better about themselves and be confident, 2) I can share our adoption story and possibly encourage others along the way or even educate on adoption issues, and 3)I get a discount now-yippee!!

A blog from Haiti I follow

I am not quite sure when I started reading this blog, but it was one that has touched me for the last couple years as we have been in the adoption process. They seem so real and I connected with them in an online blogging sort of way. Anyway, this familiy has been in Haiti for the last four years. Thankfully, they are all okay, but they have seen and lived through this last week of the unspeakable. Here is their website to see things through their eyes and pray along with them and others, as they are being the hands and feet....

Christmas Card 2009 & Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I just wanted to add this onto our blog for two reasons: 1), www.ChristinaKoonPhotography.com did an awesome job of capturing our family and designing the cards and 2), I didn't order enough!! Oops! I thought I bought plenty, but about two weeks ago, I realized I was going to be short, so I stopped addressing them and just waited to send them to people as we received theirs(probably not the most Christmas-y thing to do, huh?). The bad thing about that, is that we still had about twenty cards in our mailbox after we got home from Minnesota. Oh well, hopefully for those of you that did not receive one that usually does, you will read this and forgive me-sorry!! :)