Lucy

Ok, so I like this new ap. :-)

Camping in Prescott

Karianne has been begging to go camping for months now. So we finally got out the old pop up camper which hasn't been "popped up" in 2 years and got it ready to go.  We went to Prescott, AZ which is only about an hour and a half from us and we chose it because it was the least likely to rain there as well as having cooler temps than Phoenix right now. It doesn't generally rain in AZ but this is the rainy season, or Monsoon Season as it's called, and if it's going to rain, there's a better chance of raining now. We packed up and took off and as soon as we got on the highway we saw a dark sky in the distance. Within 15 minutes it was raining on us and it continued to rain on us for the next 2 days. Since rain in AZ means you may get one one hundreth of an inch in a good shower, it wasn't so bad. We had to get the rain off that was puddling on top of our camper just twice. We had a great camping spot that was right next to some great rock climbing that the kids had a blast playing on. There were lots of hiking trails from our camp site. Hiking is what we love best so we were happy. We hiked a lot, when it wasn't raining. There was a really neat lake near our campground that we hiked to on our last day. It was a lake right in the midst of lots of big BIG rocks that were fun to climb all over. It reminded me of the old TV show, "The Land of the Lost." It looked so prehistoric. Lots of fun.

Lucy and I had fun poking crayfish. When we realized the other girls were terrified, we had more fun!

Our fearless leader.

Prescott is the old capitol when Arizona was still a territory. We walked around the historic downtown while it was raining and saw some neat old shops. It reminded me of the town I was born in in Michigan, a very old downtown surrounded by old victorians and other old houses over 100yrs old. There's a street called "Whiskey Row" that was nothing but bars and saloons back in the mining days at the turn of the century. The whole strip burned down in a fire in 1907 and within days the saloons were being rebuilt and many of those still stand today. Really neat buildings, they aren't all bars now though, the girls had some home made taffy in a candy shop there, and they got some western souvenirs in another shop.

Here's a man offering my girls some candy. Hmmm

Evening consert gearing up in front of the courthouse. I love how people just hang out downtown.

The guy riding this bike has a t shirt that says, "Postal for Jesus".

 Anyway, that was our first trip to Prescott. I read that it is one of the top 5 places to retire in America, I can see why, I'd love to retire there, nice weather, nice views; I love the old houses and the trails. Our old camper needed a few more patches, it looks like some sort of gypsy wagon on the inside. But overall, less catastophies than the last time that we pulled out the old camper; or even the time before that.

Phoenix Zoo

We took the girls to the zoo last week. It was not very crowded. Probably because it was around 110 degrees outside and anyone who loves their kids would not take them to the zoo in that kind of heat. Something I didn't realize about the Phoenix Zoo, because it is so hot here in the summer, their summer hours are from 7am to 2pm. So to get out money's worth we had to get up way earlier than we are accustomed to on a vacation day. Anway, we had fun, did the zoo. My favorite part was a savannah setting of several acres in which animals of the savannah wandered. There were benches set up so you could just sit in the shade and watch the animals. So peaceful. An exotic bird, (sorry Uncle Karl, I do not know it's name) was sitting on some eggs right next to the fence line. That was fun.

Hmm, I had some cute pictures of the kids but I can't find them on my computer, Enjoy the pic of the giraffe.

Thoughts for Amy's Birthday

I got a special treat in the mail this weekend. A friend sent me a long lost video of my first meeting with Angie at the airport. My friend had recorded it on a now out of date camcorder and we never got the tape for it. So if you are reading this Becky, thank you!

As I watched it, and of course cried over those precious memories of seeing my daughter for the first time, all the girls started asking questions about when I first saw them. They were all babies and it was very precious. Except for Amy. I've been thinking a lot lately of when we first saw Amy. Amy was older. Amy was almost 3 when she became a part of our family. Those of you who have adopted older children, particularly internationally, know what a ride that can be. I have friends in China now adopting a little girl close to Amy's age and it just takes me back.

   As a parent, I already loved Amy before I even met her. I had decided to love her and to adopt her before I knew her. I could not wait to get my arms around her and squeeze her and kiss her. I had been waiting for that day for a year.

Now from Amy's perspective, she didn't know me, she had a routine, she was unaware that life could be different. She was an orphan relying on caretakers to care for her needs, I don't know, but I certainly hope they did. But she had no parents. She didn't know what parents were.

Then the day came when we entered her life. Brent and I were so excited. Amy was not. We met her in our hotel lobby. She eyed us as the translator told her briefly, "Look! your new parents!" It only took her a moment to decide, "no thanks." The guides are very professional and know how to do 'the hand off'. Amy started crying and clinging to the driver of the car that drove her there from the orphanage. I have no idea if she knew him or he was just preferable to us.  Our guide and translator told us to get in the elevator and then she pushed Amy into our arms as the door closed with us inside.

Heartwrenching. We knew she was grieving. We knew we were strangers and couldn't even communicate with her because we didnt' know her language. We could imagine what she was feeling.

We also knew we were the best thing that had happened in her life thus far. We knew we were giving her a name and a family and love. We knew it was worth the grief.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11.

Don't you just love that God is our parent and sees what is best for us as well? He understands our grief and resistance when we don't understand, but he also knows the plans He has for us and it is worth the grief.

Fast forward 3 years. Today is Amy's 6th Birthday! She knows that day was the best day of her life. Well, if you ask her, she thinks every day is the best day of her life. But she laughs when we tell her how scared she was at first. Because now she knows that it was worth it.

Glitter

Amy was creating with stamps and markers.
She asked, "hey mom, do you trust me with glitter?"
No.

Good game.

Karianne was playing with a toy golf club.

She'd swing and yell, "HORE!"

Brent quickly said, "Karianne it's fore, not hore."

Karianne said, "But I want to say hore."

"Don't say hore."