J.Man and SunShine's first CHRISTmas!

WoWW! a lot has happened since my last post. Sorry I have been out of blogger world for a long time )it seems like every time i post i say i'm sorry i haven't posted in so long). We had an amazing time with Cousin's, a blessed CHRISTmas, and a fun time with an Aunt and Uncle ringing in the new year. I would to do this post about CHRISTmas morning and then another about the afternoon and then our visit with the cousins!

We got up at 8:00 and did the usual wake up call (stomping on the floor above Mama and Daddy's room to wake them up and caroling at the top of the stairs).

Then we came down stairs, took the annual "children on the stairs" CHRISTmas picture.
Before we opened the gifts, Daddy read the CHRISTmas story. It was so peaceful.

J. Man was so excited! He didn't know what to do with all his gifts!

Sunshine woke really fast when she saw her first very own doll house!
And just her Mother, she put as many tables in one room as possible!!!

IT was so awesome to see Little Man excited about getting books about animals!
He loves them!

It was amazing to my little big brother excited about getting his new Bible!
This morning it was awesome to sit with him in the foyer and read the Bible.

How many 13 year olds would do you know that would excited about getting a hard, all one, Narnia series?
MY SISTER!!!!! She is so insipiring!

I know, I. AM. CRAZY!
I was so excited to get a pretty apron!
Hope said that I picked out the loudest one!

Hope is so cute when she gets excited!
I got to help Mama do a lot of shopping for Hope! It was a lot of fun!

And MARIGRACE GOT A GUITAR!!!!!!
She was really excited and so were we!!

Thank you all for stopping by! I hope that you a have peace in your soul about the this new year that surpasses all understanding! God has blessed me beyond words and I am so grateful! Thank you again for stopping by!
God Bless,
Leah-Joy.

The Cousin's are coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those you who don't know who the Cousin's are, they are our awesome family who we don't get to see a lot. Well, there are 10 people in our family, already houseful you would think, right? Well, with cousin's there are 24 people in our house and it is an awesome party!!!!

At times there are peaceful moments with Gomer Pyle... then crazy moments with hide and go seek. It is pretty awesome!!

then crazy moments with hide and go seek. It is pretty awesome!!

I am really sorry...bad blogger person!!

I have been the worst little blogger person! I am really sorry. I am not going to make an excuses, I have just been a really bad blogger. Thanksgiving we all had the flu and we are all now getting better. School is going good and Christmas is just around the corner! WoWW!!!! I am so excited about Christmas. I have been able to go in with Baby Girl on a lot of presents and they are awesome!!! I can't wait to give them to everyone! The house is full of Christmas cheer, school is almost over and there are going to be partys!!! HOORAYY!!!!!! I love dressing up and going to peoples houses. This Christmas is going to be really special. This time last year, we were all longing for the little ones to come home and now if youi ask them where they are they will say, "Ome for Christmas!" (they don't say their h's) THEY ARE HOME!!!!!! It is amazing to think about. This time last year Mama couldn't listen to a song about a family going through an adoption and their children weren't home and then its Christmas time again and now their home. And now, that is us!! They are home and we are all together!

The man at the pack N ship we used to mail all our important adoption papers owns a place with blow up toys and gave Mama two tickets for the little ones! They loved it!

This is me and my wonderful *favorite* aunt! I am her name sake which she made very well known at my 16th surprise birthday party! It was great!!

Cody and Sunshine! He came over the first day they were home, stuck his huge hand in her face and she has loved him ever since then! We were all just treating them like they were egg shells but Cody just played with her like any other little kid!

Thank you all for stopping by! I hope that you have an amazing Christmas!

God Bless,
Leah-Joy.

PS. Fun Fact: Merry Christmas! Merry=mighty, Christ is Christ, Mass=celebration, so when you say "Merry Christmas" you are telling them that you hope they have a Mighty Christ Celebration!!

Picture Perfect

The Lord blessed us with a lot of food, fellowship, laughs, joy and much more this CHRISTmas!
There was some sadness because of the two missing. Please keep them in your prayers and thank you for all the prayers that you already have said for them!

Mama cooked an awesome meal on CHRISTmas day! Thank you for always cooking for us and never expecting anything in return! Well, one thing and what you always say sums it up,

"You eat you clean!"

Thanks Mama for teaching us how to cook with such patience and helping us learn to clean as a team!

God Bless,
Jot.
"There are two things I know. That I am great sinner. And Christ is a great Savior."

Our Blessed CHRISTmas!

Here are a few pictures from a very blessed CHRISTmas!

Buddy was very thankful for the new flash that he could use when going to the barn!
It is awesome see what he was content with!Little Man got his Tractor Supply toys! He was so EXCITED!
It was a wagon holdup (what we found funny about this was that there was an Army in the middle of it!).

Baby Girl is growing up SO FAST!
Isn't she GORGEOUS?!

Noel and her Florida winter clothes!
She is so happy!

Hope got a J.Crew sweater!
Our little fashion bug!

Mama has been needing a coat, but, as you all know, she would NEVER buy one for herself!
So, Daddy asked Hope to find one online and she did!
I think in this picture she is saying,
"YOU DIDN'T?!?!?"

The Lord blessed us with a lot of sister time!
Baby Girl and Noel are very close!
Their relationship is so sweet!

The Friday after CHRISTmas, Noel and Darell had super with our AWESOME aunt and uncle!
They are such a blessing!

I don't know what I would do without Hope!

CHRISTmas dinner!
Thank you Mama for always cooking so selflessly for us all!
You are the most wonderful mother that anyone could EVER ask for!

And next year we will have two beautiful faces around the table!
Little Jesse is so cute!It seems as though Jubilee is going to fulfill the meaning of her name!

I hope that you all had a very blessed CHRISTmas and that the celebration of our Savior's birth will not end when what we American's call, "The CHRISTmas Season" ends. May we keep this season in our hearts all year and never forget nor take for granted what our Lord has done for us!

Thank you,
Lord for all that you have blessed us with!
One blessing is immeasurable and you have given us countless blessings!
Thank you again and again!
Amen.

God Bless,
Joy.

“There are two things I know. That I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior”. Amazing Grace

Thoughts From a Thankful Heart That Runneth Over...

The Lord has blessed our family with many friends. Some we hear from and see often but some we see only on occasion and might receive a CHRISTmas card from. Today, some treasured CHRISTmas cards landed in our mail box. Yes, they were late but why should we call them late? I have always wondered why when Christ gets here we STOP celebrating? He is here! Why not celebrate even more? Any way, back to the CHRISTmas card. The one I would like to talk about was from a friend we haven't seen in quite a while. They are a wonderful, godly couple. They waited very long before they met each other and now are very happy together! You can see Christ in them when they smile it seems! They are wonderful people, but have had a hard year. They have no children of their own and long to be parents. They would be such wonderful parents. They were then called and told that there might be chance they would be able to adopt a newborn. They were oh so very excited! But, they then received word that they would not be receiving the baby. When I read this in their letter it broke my heart. Why God has done tis, I do not know. But what I do know is this, that the very same thing could of happened to us. We could of been told "no", your family is to big, any number of things could of been told to us. But the Lord said, YES! They are yours! How I wish this couple could of been told yes, but after I read what had happened to them, it showed me something. What they have experienced in being told 'No, you cannot adopt this child," is like what Christ is told all the time! He wants to adopt each and everyone of us into His Kingdom, but countless times He is told, "No! I do not want you to adopt me!" I have no idea how it would be to be told no, adopting in our world when you just pay with money that you have had to work for, but to be told no when you have paid the price with your son's life! I cannot imagine either situation, for the Lord has granted our adoption of these two little ones and no will ever be able to imagine the agony that God goes through every time He is told no!

In closing, I want to thank the Lord for allowing our family the privilege to adopt these little ones and thank Him for even wanting to adopt me! I cannot imagine after going through all that Christ went through and want to save me! A great sinner!

Thank you Father,
For allowing me to become a part of your family!
May I be a light for your kingdom.
May I be able to help raise these two little treasures that you have allowed us the privilege to adopt!
May they be two more brought up to worship and honor you!
Amen!

God Bless,
Joy.
“There are two things I know. That I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior”. Amazing Grace

Two things...

“There are two things I know. That I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior”.
Amazing Grace

Thank You Father,
For sending your Son as the Savior of the world!
May we never take the gift that you have given to us for granted!

Do you realize that we as Americans could have saved the world four and a half times in one year?

May we all forget about the ways of the world and do as Christ did! GIVE!

God Bless,
Joy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My precious daddy's precious mother,
my awesome grandmother!

Hopefully all of us are not afraid to say Merry CHRISTmas to anyone, but most of us don't realize what these words really mean. And first of all I would like to say something that I find quit comical. All the stores can play "The First Noel" but they can't say"Merry Christmas!" Well, "Noel" means, Christmas! So everyone just say "Happy Holidays!" Well, holiday means Holy Day! We can't and won't ever get away from the fact that this date is all about CHRIST! Well, back to merry Christmas (even as I was typing this I forgot to capitalize the C and the computer told me that I spelled it wrong, even the computer knows that He is to praiseed and honored ALWAYS!)! We all (hopefully) will, with no problem, say Merry CHRISTmas to everyone! So here it is,

• Merry: MIGHTY
• Christ: Christ
• Mas: Celebration
  
• MERRY CHRISTMAS!
  

So, when you say Merry Chirstmas, I hope you think of that! I hope that I may tell more people Merry Christmas then I did last year!

And God Bless you and may you have a Mighty Christ Celebration!

Luke 2:11
Today in the Town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord!

Dear Lord,
We cannot thank you enough for giving us your perfect Son! May your Name be forever praised!
Amen.

God Bless,
Joy.