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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Lucy vs. the Duck

We went to feed the ducks today.

The girls fed the ducks.


Lucy got a piece of bread, eyed the duck, looked at the bread...


and gobbled up the bread right in front of the duck. Sorry Mr. Duck.

Cypress


Saw a very long lake with Cypress growing on the banks on our travels. We love Cypress. Tried not to take too many pictures, but hey, it's not like I'm using a roll of film anymore.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Happy Birthday Amy






Today is Amy's 4th birthday. She is all into Cinderella lately so she dressed up like Cinderella and had a Cinderella cake. Took her to build a bear and she picked out a puppy, said it was a boy, named it "Puppy" and put a dress on it. For "cake time" all the girls put on dress ups to eat the Cinderella cake. Amy is so excited to FINALLY say she four, the same age as Angie and Karianne. Last week, I tried to round up and tell people they were all 4 and Amy would correct me and say, No, I just fwee, Angie and Ka-yan are fowa, I fwee." She still trips on it today, trying out the new number, but she is very proud of herself. We are too.



Some people's children...

We just got back from a 2 week vacation. It involved Disney world, beaches and a lot of visiting family. I haven't gotten around to posting about it yet sorry. Anyway, saw some funny characters on our trip. We stopped in a rest area in Arkansas on our way out 2 weeks ago and taped to all the bathroom doors was a handwritten note written neatly on notebook paper that said something to the effect of 'hello, we are the Millers, we are on our way to a family emergency in New Orleans and have run out of gas. If you can help us at all we are in the ugly blue van. thank you.' Outside there was a very ugly van indeed and the Millers sitting around in lawn chairs relaxing with their little dogs. Who takes lawn chairs to a family emergency?? I pictured them packing up their lawn chairs and chihuahuas at the end of the day and counting up their earnings for the day. Not that I am not a skeptic or anything, just wondered. Thursday, we were coming back from our long vacation and we stopped at a rest stop in Oklahoma and Brent noticed a note tapped to all the bathroom doors. 'Hello, we are the Millers, we are on our way to a family emergency in Austin and have run out of gas. If you can help us at all we are in the ugly blue van. Thank you.' Hmmm.

Today we were heading in to our favorite haunt, Walmart and I saw an aged lady leaning on a walker holding a cardboard sign that said something about her being homeless and needing money. As I was trying to read the poor woman's sign, a minivan pulled up to the lady with the back sliding door open and the driver was motioning her to get in. I could just imagine him saying, "Come on Myrtle time to go home." As soon as she saw the car she became very energetic and folded the cardboard down and vigorously waved him away. THAT made me laugh. :-)

I get the freecycle emails and some of them really make me wonder what the back story is. Saw this one today:

GREAT FOR COMPOST!!

Any interest in 12 gallon garbage bags full!!! of ONLY banana peels
thanks

Just now peeling them and will be doing it all day. Let me know how many bags you want

Friday, July 17, 2009

two headed sting ray

Lucy loves Mickey

Orphan alert


Taiwan Featured Child: ZANE

zane

Zane is a healthy 12-year-old boy who very much wants to be adopted. He has experienced American culture on a visit before. He is in sixth grade and has a gentle personality. He enjoys computers, PE and basketball. He is described as kind-hearted and optimistic. A social worker who recently met Zane has this to say: "he is a sincere child with feelings and values his friends...He adapts quickly to new environments. He is friendly, open-minded, not fussy, and hospitable, so other children like him very much. He knows that because of his age, it is not easy to match a family for him, but he still hopes to have a happy and stable family, to enjoy love and to be loved. This is the only desire and hope in his heart for many years. This is the Zane I know - a brave, optimistic, simple, honest and warm child".

For more information about Zane, please contact Vicki at vickib@asiadopt.org. In order to review his file, the family must have a completed home study.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Famous One

Just been thinking lately of what we take for granted ever day. Creation. How many times do we say, "Ya know if it weren't for Thomas Edison we wouldn't have lightbulbs." Thomas Edison is famous. Everyone acknowledges how he changed life as we know it. Lightbulbs wow! Amazing. Just think if one of us mere mortals came up with just one of the things that God created. Yup, if it wasn't for Joe Smith we wouldn't have grass. Can you imagine not having grass? That was pretty important. Or what if someone invented clouds. Every time we look up in the sky we'd tell our kids, "ya know, Jim Clark invented clouds for us. Things would be a lot different around here if we didn't have clouds. Yes he's a famous man..." But none of us did the things that God did. He created everything. He IS the Famous One.

I've been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. In the book he talks about what an amazing God we have that created everything. He is so powerful and set the world spinning, one of untold millions of worlds and also cares for us. Amazing.

Here's an excerpt from the book that spoke to me:
Ps 115:3 reveals, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him" Yet we keep questioning Him: "why did You make me with this body, instead of of that one?" "Why are so many people dying of starvation?" Why are there so many planets with nothing living on them?" ...
The answer to each of these questions is simply this: because He's God. He has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving. A much as we want God to explain himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Orphan Alert: files being returned soon!

Posted with permission:


ASIA is about to return several waiting children to CCAA. I have a really hard time sending back some of these kids---they seem like they must have a family out there.
No one has claimed Wendel & he is basically a healthy 3 year old boy! No one has even looked at Perry's file---is there a family interested in a boy with albinism?
Sherman is a spitfire of a 5 year old boy with repaired chd—no one is adopting him…yet.
And Flynn is a 5 year old boy with corrected cleft lip & palate.
Do any of you have any resources we haven't tapped yet to find these little guys a family?

Sincerely,
Marci Siegel-Kittrell, MSW
Director of Social Services
Associated Services for International Adoption
215 SW Hooker St. #100
Portland, OR 97201
503-224-1860
marcisk@asiadopt. org
www.asiadopt. org