Pictures

A Year Later

So much has happened in the past year since we brought Emma home. She has grown leaps and bounds physically and emotionally. She is strong, beautiful, and loving. Emma began Kindergarten in August and Isaiah started his first grade year. They are both so much more settled at home and school. Blake is a Junior and still being homeschooled.He is still hunting at every opportunity and showing steers. Brittany has graduated and is now in Uganda, Africa until May. She left in September and will be working with A Helping Hand in Uganda. I promised her I'd be better about blogging so she could keep up with what is going on back home.
We were able to visit Brit in Mexico before she left for Africa and took her and the other kids to South Padre. We were so blessed to have that time with her and meet her teammates. They all have such a heart for the Father and what concerns Him...the orphan and the broken.
We had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. We all missed Brit, but the kids made letters and some goofy snapshots to brighten her days as she transitions into her life in Africa. I'll post as many pictures as I can.

Catching up!!!

I really don't know where the time has gone since my last post...well, maybe I do, but who has the time to go into all of that!? I do want to post some new pictures and give a brief update for those who have so faithfully prayed and wondered "how is Emma?".

Emma has made such huge strides since she came home. I've really been made aware of just how far she's come as I've looked back this week. She started pre-K on Monday and is loving it. I almost lost it in her classroom as I watched this beautiful little girl embrace her new surroundings with such grace and courage. She was a little shy at first, but within a matter of moments she was joining in and blessing my heart beyond words. She told me "good-bye" and after school ran to me saying "thank you mommy!" Oh, how I love her embraces and cherish watching her heart open.

We've had some pretty tough days, but we've had even more good days. I still ache when I see her "cope" by withdrawing and crying or banging her head on her door, but she comes out of those places so quickly and now knows a little bit more that she's truly loved and has a home. I have so much more to share, but my time is short and I want to get the pictures up.

I'm going to try to post some pictures from Thanksgiving, Christmas, and her first day of school.