It's November 22nd Already!?!

It amazes me that it's been a month since my last post. Life has been incredibly busy and just when I finally said "enough" I look at the calendar and realize that it's Thanksgiving, Sierra's birthday, and the Christmas season! Well, maybe I'll take it break in January!

October flew by and we finished it up with a trip to New York City for a David Crowder Band concert. Wayne & I went with Sierra, Andrii, Wayne Jr. & Kerri, Missy, Curtis, Aaron & Becky (Wayne's bro/sis-in-law), and Linda & Shannon (Kerri's mom & sister). The weather was wet and cold, but we had a great time. We saw the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit at Discovery Channel, ate at Pete's Tavern, and enjoyed the show. The next day I came down with a cold which ended up as the flu. It was a rough week especially since our homeschool group hosted an art camp for 50 kids that I had organized. I'm so very thankful for the moms in our group who really took care of things while I was out of it sick. That same week I'd planned an evening of facials for my Missionette class. My sister-in-law, Bree, came in to teach my 13 5th-7th grade girls about skin care while I was flat out on the couch at home still sick. God was very faithful to take care of things during a very busy week.

This week I've been feeling very sentimental. On this very day last year we picked up Slava from his orphanage in Ukraine. The whole month I've been revisiting my journal where I'd documented our adoption adventure last year. God is faithful and amazing; He has done (and continues to do) amazing things in Slava. He has grown into such a loving, cuddly, little boy. He walks around all day saying, "I love you," "I love God." I make sure he knows that we love him and God loves him. He's still a lot of work, but I wouldn't trade him or our experience for anything. November also happens to be National Adoption Awareness Month and our church celebrated Orphan Sunday on the 6th. Wayne & I have become members of Christian Alliance For Orphans which works to inspire, connect and equip Christians to "defend the fatherless" through effective adoption, foster care, and global ministry rooted in the local church. I encourage you to check them out at www.christianalliancefor orphans.org

Yet again I loaded the pictures on backwards, so they start with the most recent ones.

Here are a bunch of the kids at my niece's wedding last Saturday. From l to r around the table: Missy, Jonathan, Sierra, Andrii, Curtis, Julie, Kerri, Wayne Jr., Shane, and Jed. Not all ours but mostly!

Homeschool Art Camp with Visual Manna

My precious Missionettes class.

I love teaching these girls!

NYC!!!

The weather was so cold and wet that we decided to hail a cab (or 3) to take us the 20 or so blocks to the concert. Amazingly, a limo pulled up and said he'd take all 13 of us for $100...he even made our dinner reservations for us. It was so much fun that we called him back after the concert. He picked us up and took us all the way back to Grand Central Station!

This week I've been savoring the Thanksgiving holiday. Last year we arrived home from Ukraine just after 6pm on Thanksgiving Day. My mom had made dinner for us at our house and it was wonderful to come home to that delicious American meal after 4 weeks in a foreign country. This year I'm in the kitchen again, and I'm loving the shopping, baking, and cooking...especially with all my Ukrainians running around the house! God is so good, and I'm so thankful for all the abundant blessings He's poured out on my family!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!