Bob

Sometimes I call J Man Bob, so that is what I have decided to call him in my little blogger world. He is so smart! This picture just goes to show what I am talking about!
What do you think?

Hope that you all have a very blessed week!
Leah-Joy.

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.

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!!

It Is Amazing!

Last year at this time I never would of imagined that every night before we "off the light" as Sunshine puts it, would I read a Bible story to her and then pray with her! It amazes me every night! I get share with her about my Lord, listen to her tell Mommy the babies name in the basket, and listen to her tell Hope and Grace* "Jesus said 'Let the little children come to me.'" It is amazing! Just the other night she was saying the words of the story with me as I was reading them and she asked me about the guards in front of the tomb. I got to tell her why they were there, how they went to sleep because God wanted them to and that Jesus came out of the tomb! It was so awesome. Then we learned what Mary said when she saw her Lord! It is amazing to hear our precious ball of a miracle look at Mommy and say, "JESUS IS ALIVE!" All I can say is that it is awesome!

Then I get to pray with her. We pray for Grandmother, Nana and Papa, and Grandpa, and Noel and Darell every night. She always asks to pray for Mommy and Daddy. She loves them so much. It has been wonderful to see her get more and more confident saying things without me saying them. Not only is it teaching her (i hope), but, it has taught me that I need to be more like her. One night in her prayer (i say it, then she says it) we said sorry for not listening to Mommy. That has taught me that I need to apologize more, it made me realize that when I throw an attitude at Mama, not only does it hurt Mama but it hurts Him and that when I mouth off at Daddy, that hurts Him too! I need to be more honest, tell Him more and ask for something even if I think that He may not care when really, HE DOES! They both have been such a blessing. As Grace* said, "They needed us and we needed them."

I can't imagine our life without them and can't think of a time when they weren't here. They fit in so well. We love them and they love us. We have learned how to even each other out, listen to each other, and discipline each other. We remind them to chew with their mouths closed, if they eat all their food they get a cookie and they tell us to answer Mommy when she calls and to not pout (because we remind them not to). We are like little accountability partners for each other. As Mama and Sunshine say, "It is amazing!!" I hope that this has been encouraging. Thank you for taking the time to read it!

God bless and sorry for being absent from blogger world for so long!
Leah-Joy.

Before and After

(well, i uploaded them backwards on accident, but you get the point. as Miss Anita said "these babies are blossoming" in the care of my wonderful Mama and Daddy!)

God had given us so much. It s so amazing to look at pictures of them while still at the orphanage and then be able to hold them now! It is amazing! He has brought us through so much! At one point in time it seemed as though we were never going to be able to hold our babies, but they are home forever now by the grace of God! Our God is an awesome God!





Thank you all so much for your prayers. They would not be here without them!
God Bless,
Joy.

More Pictures of Our Precoius New Additions!

God has blessed us with an awesome week!
We have had a lot of company.
Here are just a few pics and more to come!

Our paster came by and what was the first thing he taught J Man???

They love the blocks and build such awesome towers!

Aren't they amazing??

They both love Cody!! He so good with kids! It's like he's a magnet!

Buddy's friend, Grasshopper is always at our house so he is like a brother!
They loved him and his sunglasses!

God Bless,
Joy.

Our Babies are Home!!!!

On our way!!!

Looking and waiting

First sighting

J. Man is a little card even after being up for twentytwo hours

Sweet Pea went straight to her Daddy!

Our babies are home!!! I am completely out of words. He has been so good to us. He provided everything we needed and continues to do so, He gave us safe travels, and brand family members. They are such beautiful, amazing, well mannered children. They are so obedient, so loving and so smart! More pictures to come!

God Bless,
Joy.

Something That is Hard to Believe

It is so hard to believe that these two precious little ones will be home Monday morning. God has given us so much; He has taught us so much and the reward isn't even here yet and we all feel so blessed already! It is hard to believe that these two are ours, that they belong to us, they have OUR last name, he is my brother, she is my sister, I will share a room with her. The list could on and on. I just pray that I will be the sister that I need to be to them. I pray that I will a good example. I pray that I will know how to teach them, how to care for them. Sometimes I get to so scared that I will not know how to help them, teach them or have patience with them. Please pray that those fears will go away for I know in my head, "That the Lord has not given us the spirit of fear, but power and of love and a sound mind." And I just need to get that from my head to my heart.

God has blessed us with an awesome friend who is bringing the babies home Sunday. You can read all the story here. She went through so much!!!! Thank you Auntie Kami!!!

God bless and thank you all so much for all your prayers and support through this past year! Hopefully by Tuesday I will have new profile picture!!
Joy

I'm Late!

As you all know, J Man has his passport!!!! PRAISE GOD!!! I would of done a post sooner but we were at a youth retreat (which I will be doing a post on later in the week) when we got the most amazing call from Mama saying Joha had the passport! And when Joha got word that the passport was done, it was after hours. He didn't HAVE to go get it, but he wanted to have it as soon as possible. What a chivalrous act! He went above and beyond!

As I think that you all know, all the youth come to our house on Sunday nights for Small Groups. Mama gives a devotion and then we break up into small groups and pray for each other. Well, all of the youth have REALLY been with us on this whole thing. It was so awesome to see a bunch of teenagers so EXCITED about a little boy's passport whom they haven't even met!

God has given us so much! Without Him these babies woundn't be ours.
Thank you all so much for your prayers, support and encouragement!

God Bless,
Joy.

Not What We Thought...

As many of you know, the passport we thought was ours turned out to belong to another little fella with same African name as J Man. Even though we are very sad at the fact that we still have no idea when our babies will be home we are rejoicing at the fact that another little fell can come home. In the past couple months I have found much comfort in this verse:

Zechariah 4:7

Even a mountain of problems WILL be smmothed out by Him.

When the temple is finished, He will put its most important stone in place.

Then the people will shout,

"God bless it! God bless it!"

The reason being: He WILL smooth out our troubles and right now during all our waiting He is putting in place the most important things. We may not even know what those things are, but, whatever they, they are God's will and we will need them. A building will fall apart without a cornerstone and I really think that that is what God is putting in place right now.

Thank you all for your prayers!

God Bless,

Joy.

FIRST EVER TEARS OF JOY!

HEY EVERYONE!!! WE HAVE JUST GOTTEN WORD THAT JESSE'S PASSPORT IS FINISHED AND WILL BE PICKED UP MONDAY!!! PLEASE BE IN PRAYER THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE IN ORDER THAT OUR BABIES CAN SOON COME HOME!!! tHANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!

ps. please read the post about Daddy below. because of him and his obedience we can adopt these precious babies and raise the up for him!!!

Hard Times and Patience

Psalm 70:20

You have given me many troubles and bad tmes, but you will give me new life again.

James 1:2-4

2My brothers and sister, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, 3because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. 4Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you be perfect and complete and will have everything you need.

Leviticus 25:10

"It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan."

Thank you all so much for your prayers!

The babies will soon be return to their "own clan."

Easter...

Hello to one and all! How was your Easter? God ahs blessed me with such an amazing family. Every Easter my daddy's side of the family gets together at his mama's house. We always have such a good time, LOTS OF GOOD FOOD, and anEaster egg hunt. This year little Man was the only one hunting and he really had to hunt. Babby Girl, the wto cousins her age and the new in0law had a great time hiding them. But, next year Little Man will have to share the hunt!! WoW!! To look back on this year and see all that God has done for us and all that He has brought through is amazing!!

Dear Lord,

Please continue to work in our family.

And please continue to let verything go well with the adoption.

Thank you all so much for all of your prayers!

Well, since it is 12:17am I think I better turn in! Please leave a commant and share how your Easter went!

Love,
Joy.

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

I JUST WANTED TO LET EVERYYONE KNOW THAT J MAN HAS HIS PASSPORT!!!

GOD IS SO AWESOME AND HAS BEEN SO GOODDTO US!! tHANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!

THEY SHOULD AVE THEIR VISA'S BY ARIL 24TH!!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY!!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Our EXCITING life!!!!

As you can probably tell, this title is ery sarcastic! To most, I am sure that our life would drive them CRAZY because it seems we do nothing! But hey, we go five miles every Tuesday and go watch American Idol at our Aunt and Unlce's house, we go to church, people are always at our house, we go to town, (sometimes) we milk the cow! (as below)

One Saturday evening us girls were eating super together.

Then I got the idea that we should go to town and get a cookie ( there is a bakery in town and you can get cookies "the size of your head" according to Mama for just a dollar.)

So said that she would help milk so we could leave sooner! It was GREAT!!

The same evening Marigrace thought os a great game! We each got three index cards, (WARNING:this game is for single women only)

on #1 you descibe a guy, crazy, dreamy, however you want,

#2 you describe your house

#3 you desribe where you are going to live.

Then you mix them all up and everyone gets a #1, #2, and a #3!

It is SO FUNNY!!!

Hope also loves to find fun movies! We all can't wait for this to to come out:

Night at the Museun Two.

The Trailor is really funny

This is the same night when were playing the game and Hope described her dream life and she was holding on to them as a joke and said she couldn't let go.

IT WAS HILARIOUS!!
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3

See, we have an exciting life full of God's awesome blessings!!

Thank you for giving me this awesome life and family, Lord!!

Perfect Pictures

Thank you all so much for all of your prayers while we have went through this adoption process and while Mama was in Ghana. Please continue to pray that the Lord will give J Man and Sweet Pea and swift homecoming! Thank you all so much! We cannot thank you enough!

Update from Mama!!

Hey everybody! Mama coundn't email today b/c all the computers were down but she was able to call!!! YaYY!!! She said that J Man and Sweet Pea call her Mama! That makes her so happy!! sHe said that she is teaching J Man how many brothers and sisters he has and how old he. She will ask him how old he is and he will hold up three fingers, "No," she will say b/c ne is four, then she will ask him how namy sisters he has and we will four! She is having such a great time!!! She said that Sweet Pea is pretty quiet and will not ask to be held but if you ask to hold her, she will ask to be put down. SHe also said that J Man is an out going little guy, but, loves to be with you anf hold your hand!

Thank you all for your support and especially all of your prayers!

God Bless,
Joy.

Day 1 for Mama in Ghanan: They are just BEAUTIFUL!!!

WOW! A long flight, no sleep, freezing cold plane, great company on the plane and nice conversations - it is all like a dream. The attendants were very kind. Maybe it was just me, but the whole world was happy!! We arrived in Ghana to 75 degree temp with a nice breeze. Our driver is Donny,and is just great. We got some bread and water, and then came straight to Eban House. We interrupted school. I held Jubilee first, and Uncle Bobby held Jesse. Then we held them both, took lots of pictures, said lots of "I love you" s and just tried to actually believe that we are here. In less than 5 minutes, Jesse had my sunglasses on his head and knew how to operate the camera. Jubilee never left my lap, and I could feel her little arm around my back. She seems lighter but taller than Jesse. Jesse has a twinkle in his eye that reminds me of Levi. He is smart and active, and loved the books, Hope. They all did. Jesse brought the books out one at a time to the wooden table to his friends. He really shares well. the driver had to take us to the Guest House to unload our bags, and then we walked back. When I walked through the living room area to go to the office to email home, I heard a little voice saying, "Mama...." and Jesse and Jubilee were walking towards me. Uncle Bobby smiled and said, "That was sweet!" And it was. There are so many things that are so different. Lots of markets out in the open. Lots of people walking around with baskets on their heads. The main thing is that I am with the babies. They are so beautiful. They are so sweet. We are very blessed to have these two precious ones in our lives. They keep looking at the pictures over and over. Jubilee likes the upstairs dormer windows. Muna showed Jesse the picture of Eben and Daddy, and Jesse pointed and said, "MY Daddy." Jubilee loves to be held. Jesse likes to be close, too, but he is a busy boy. This is a wonderful day. I'm in Africa. It is a beautiful place. The people are so sweet. Jesse has been sitting by my side while I use the office lap top. He told me he wants a biscuit - it's from seeing the cooking pictures. He is tired of waiting, so I'm going to go for now.

Prayer

Please keep Mama and her brother, Bobby in your prayers. They will be flying to Ghana at 1:00pm tomorrow afternoon! They will get to hold, hug and kiss Sweet Pea and J Man! Please pray that all will go well with the papers that need filing and please pray that Mama will have confidence she needs at the interview. They say that the officials can be quit intimidating! And thank you SO MUCH for all the times that you have made the prayers bells ring oh so sweetly! We serve an awesome God and He will continue to carry us through!

Isn't she gorgeous?

He seems like a little goofball!
I wonder what their personalities will be like?
Thank you for all of your prayers!!!
"Oh, the Prayers how sweetly they ring!"