Catching Up

I've got lots of random photos to share from the month of October. Forgive the hodge-podge nature of this post!


Last Sunday we were so glad to enjoy our Church's annual harvest party for the youth and kids. Usually we're unable to participate in Sunday afternoon/evening church activities because of our Global Cafe` here at the Center on Sunday evenings, but we had the weekend off for Fall Break. Our pastor has a tradition of painting finger nails each year at the Harvest Party. Ellie was thrilled when we told her she could get her finger nails repainted at church. She chose an interesting shade: orange. Maybe it was the table covering? Or maybe she's showing a propensity to cheer for Illinois over Ohio State?

(Below) That's Ellie's 2nd cousin, Andrew N, helping her up one of the inflatables.

Monday's weather was so gorgeous, Ellie and I enjoyed several hours outside raking up leaves. Ellie insisted on having her own rake which she promptly declared was a 'spider broom'.

On Friday of last week we got a hotel for a steal (thanks, Priceline!) and stayed at the Hilton Suites at Lexington Green. Ellie loved riding the glass elevator and even more, feeding the ducks on the pond, which was right below our window. It was just the get away we needed, even if it was short.

(below) When Ellie was sick a few weeks ago, we read the Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor SEVERAL times. Here she is, in bed, taking the temperature of the Bears in the book.

Earlier this month I traveled to Memphis to shoot a wedding for a former Asbury student and friend, Jessica. (Click here to see some of my favorite photos of the day). I was so glad when it worked out to visit a sweet bloggy friend I've made, Diana (I posted here about her visit with us in Kentucky in 2007). She and her family graciously hosted me the night before the wedding at their home in Jackson. It was so nice to meet the rest of the family, but in particular, their 12-year-old daughter, Dajana, whom they adopted from Albania in December/January!

I got to visit with two other special friends that weekend -- I'm just sorry I don't have photos with them to share. Kami -- I loved the impromptu nature of our afternoon in Nashville! I can't wait to post your head shots! It was a super fun shoot! Kelly -- thanks for traveling down from IL to help me with Jessica and John David's wedding! It's always fun to get together with you. I still think you need to get a Garmin!

(above) with Diana in Jackson

(Above) with Laurie Kjernald

Laurie visited with us a few times during her 2 weeks here in Kentucky. A friend from our college days at Asbury, we've gotten to know each other even better since embarking upon our journey into international adoption. Laurie and Andreas live in Sweden with their sweet son, Samuel, whom they adopted from Nepal a year before we adopted Ellie. They are presently waiting for a referral of a little girl they're going to name Jane, also in Nepal. A visit with Laurie is always such an encouragement!

On Tuesday I joined Ellie's class for a field trip to a local orchard/pumpkin patch. The trip was fun, even though the weather bordered on miserable.




Thankfully the hay rack had an overhead cover to protect us from the rain! Ellie loved it!

Ellie Gets a Package

More Goat Roast Photos

I don't usually spend much time on our personal blog to share what we do at the center, but I just had to share some photos from our African Goat Roast on Saturday. It is the biggest event we do all year, and we couldn't do it without our incredible student cabinet, so I am bragging on them a bit here.

The Steury boys (green/red jersey & yellow vest) were with us the better part of Saturday, beginning with picking up the live goat and employing skills they acquired in Kenya to slaughter it in the Coppedge's pasture (we have photos of that too, but I'll spare you!). The rest came via mail order from a farm in CO. It saves us a lot of work.

We had the help of one of Nathan's former Mathematics profs, Dr. Rietz, on the grill.

Nancy, this one's for you!

I worked with the kitchen crew, churning out rice, stew, hot cider, coffee, and cheesecake!


The ticket line...

This is our box maze (or at least part of it). We black out the windows and doors (and turn off the lights) so it is COMPLETELY dark inside. Students had 10 minutes to find their way out before black lights would illuminate arrows on the bottom of the boxes to show the way out. Until last year we had a 'roof' on the maze but found that 1.) it required a LOT more duct tape, and 2.) got REALLY warm inside.

The day after, Ellie had fun playing 'hide and seek' with Nathan in the maze (with the lights on, of course).

Ellie was SO excited about the bonfire. She had been asking for a fire in the firepit all week long!

Our massive caramel apples are always a draw!

P.S. #1: This weekend is fall break. We've planned a fun little family get away overnight on Friday night for Els. It's going to be a lot of fun and I can't wait!

P.S. #2: This probably doesn't mean much to some of you, but for my photo friends, a lot of these photos were taken with my new 16-35mm lens. LUV it!!!

African Goat Roast 2009

Here's a snapshot from our photobooth at the Goat Roast. Ellie L-O-V-E-D dressing up.

Ellie Quotes

(Last night as we're getting ready for bed)
"Tomorrow, Jesus is coming!"


(Today, playing by herself)
"Jesus is my friend!"

We survived...

...another Goat Roast. We gave out 290 tickets for free goat (not counting our cabinet and team of student volunteers) and sold another 800+ tickets for our various booths/activities.

Ellie was alternately enamored with one particular African princess necklace at the dress up photo booth and the bonfire pit. It was a bit of a trick keeping her entertained, but all in all, I think she did pretty well in spite of her parents running around like maniacs and having 300 "friends" in her house.

We're wiped out, but will try to post some photos later. All in all, I think it was a huge success!

Big Praise

Thank you for praying with us. During surgery the doctors discovered Leah's burns were not as serious as initially feared and that she would not require ANY skin grafts! Praise God.

Leah's Surgery

The doctors confirmed this morning that they will be doing skin grafting on Leah. The concern is that she is so small that they will have to take skin from a variety of places. Just a reminder, her surgery is at 12 noon (EST)/11AM CST.

Ellie still had a low-grade fever this morning but is doing much better (it was at 103 before going to bed and is was just a hair above 100 before her morning dose of Tylenol). I think the worst is behind us, though she despises taking her medicine. She's been sitting in bed with her Fisher-Price blood pressure cuff, a real doctor's stethoscope, and her new temporal thermometer by her side or on her lap. We've read "Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor" more times than I care to say. I think would could both repeat it from memory.

Tuesday update on Leah (and now Ellie)

One of my favorite all-time pics of the two Waggoner girl cousins from July '08

Just an update on Leah... tomorrow at 11AM (CST) Leah will undergo more debriding on her arm (the worst part is between her elbow and hand). Mom W thinks they are going to put her under for the procedure. She will be in the hospital a few more days if she doesn't need skin grafts. I know Stephen and Rachel appreciate your prayers on their behalf. Leah's hospital in Springfield (which is considered one of the, if not the, premier burn unit(s) in the state) is about an hour or more from their home and the four boys. Rachel's mom is traveling from Virginia tonight to help out.

On our front, Ellie woke up this morning positively toasty. Our famously low-reporting thermometer (which we have vowed for years we needed to replace, but never seem to remember until we need it again) read 100.6 at 6AM so we knew she was probably much warmer than that. Nurse Elizabeth took a couple of tries to get her thermometer under Ellie's arm and succeeded in getting a reading of 103.6. They said it looks like the flu, so Ellie and I are quarantining ourselves in the apartment and she seems content to lie in bed and watch movies. The whole time in the car and at the office she kept whimpering, "I want to go home!" In spite of such a fever, the doctor said she looked pretty perky for someone so sick! As much as Ellie talks about the dr's office and the staff she loves so much, I think it's spelled f-e-a-r!

To all of our friends who were over here last night: We are SO sorry! Ellie didn't exhibit any symptoms of illness before this morning, we promise! We hope none of you or your little ones come down with it!

This weekend we will be hosting our annual African Goat Roast (our largest attended event of the school year). I feel weary just thinking about what this week entails. You might add Nathan to your prayer list as I will be limited in what I can do to help him if Ellie is down for a while.

Thank you for your love and concern for our family!

Special Prayer Request

Please, dear friends and family be in prayer for our niece, Leah (age 4). Tonight Leah had an accident involving a crockpot of gravy (details yet to be confirmed). She has sustained very serious burns to her right arm. The first hospital referred her to a second hospital with a better burn unit, which was at least an hour away by ambulance. The burn is not necessarily life threatening but very, very serious for her arm (a circumferential burn) and the speed in which she can receive treatment is of the utmost importance. We don't know many details but our hearts ache for Stephen, Rachel and the boys, and of course for Leah. We'll keep you posted.

Update: It wasn't a completely circumferential burn as we feared (in which case if the scar tissue/dead skin (?) isn't removed quickly enough can fuse and act like a tourniquet. They cleaned her up last night and are going to evaluate her this morning to see how deep the burns went.

Found Pictures: Chloe and Essie's 4th birthday

You can tell by the clothes Ellie is wearing that these photos were NOT taken today. Try the beginning of last month! As I've share on here before, we live in a community of wonderful families built through adoption. We were pleased to celebrate the birthday of two special little girls, some of Ellie's favorite friends: Chloe and Essie. Enjoy these pics of their party at Centennial Park. My favorite is the last one! It happened so fast, I'm sorry I didn't get a better angle!

It was VERY windy!

Katie, I love the 'encouragement' ;-)

GROUP HUG!

Special Delivery

The box was opened with excitement, then a hush fell over Ellie as it began to register what she was holding in her hands. She clutched it to her chest and spun in a circle on our porch exclaiming, "It's SO pretty!" But the bus was coming soon so she would have to wait until after school to don the lovely garment.

After returning home later in the afternoon, she ran quickly to her room and promptly ran back down the hall with her palms upturned and a worried look on her face, "Where'd my pretty dress go?"

We pulled it out of the closet and quickly dressed her. She grinned and grinned at her reflection in the mirror, then she began stroking the smooth skirt. "It's beautiful! It's shiny! Look at the sparkles, Mommy!"

She would proceed for the next couple of hours to play differently than before. Instead of her loud, boisterous way, she walked more daintily, spoke in a more hushed voice, and had a perpetual soft smile on her face. One would think she had worn nothing but rags until the hour she put on that costume dress. Soon enough we had to change back into clothes for the real world (a trip to the grocery store) and she complied, but as soon as we were back home, the dress was back out and on again. And requested again before so much as even a 'good morning' and roll out of bed this morning.

Nathan and I have to marvel at the transformation. (We're still getting used to this new sense of awareness she has assumed regarding her personal appearance.) She has become so "girlie", we can't help but shake our heads at the change. "Night gowns" will be on her Christmas list as she now also requests to wear a 'night time dress' to bed every night and she only has one (but plenty of other kinds of jammies).

To Ellie's benefactor: thank you! I hope you can tell from this recounting how much she loves this gift! You hit the nail on the head!

It's October!!???!!

I'm sensing it's time to post an update on adoption #2. Before anyone gets their hopes up, we don't have any news. I suppose I'm bringing it up because it's been so long since I've mentioned it on here, I thought such an 'update' might serve as humble plea for your prayers. We do covet your prayers in this. We have felt a strong sense of God's timing in so many areas relating to this second adoption journey, that we want to trust Him and be patient for His timing in this next phase, yet have a sense of anticipation so we're ready and prepared for the big transition it will be.

I suppose I'm mentally 'visiting' these adoption thoughts because the anniversary of our phone call about Ellie is approaching in a few days. I wonder how long we'll continue to associate fall and the approach of Thanksgiving with our excitement and preparation for meeting and bringing her home? If the 'wait' for our second child follows the same general timeline as the process/wait for our referral of Ellie, we would hear something this soon. Yet my mind reminds me that this is wildly unrealistic. After all, we're still waiting with our friends, the Gezons, for their older child referral that's going on 30+ months. Praise the Lord, a sweet adolescent girl has been identified for them and she was to be eligible for international placement this month. Now we wait to hear if the AAC had their September meeting and if the referral became offcial.

Yes, it is possible that they might also refer us a child at this meeting, but again, we're trying to be patient and wait. In the mean time, Ellie brought home 'homework' this week. It's a large sheet of white paper that we're supposed to fill with words and pictures about a place where Ellie wants to travel and how she's going to get there (this week's unit is on transportation). Of course, we're planning to draw the biggest airplane on it and surround it with photos of Alb*nia. We've talked about it with her in the theoretical sense and it's impossible to know what she's grasping and what she's not, but we believe she's at a place now with her confidence and attachment to us where bringing in a child won't be detrimental to her continued development but should enhance it. I think she will be extremely excited when the time comes and we can't wait to share this experience with her. Though we not so naive to think that excitement won't wear off...

In the mean time, we're treasuring our time with her and this current stage of life. It seems that the prince and princess thing has not worn off. This morning it took 4 tries to find a shirt that was 'pretty' enough for her (this makes 3 days in a row of struggling to find clothes that are pretty enough -- we suspect she gets special attention at school when she wears dresses). She finally told Nathan, "No, [not a regular shirt from the dresser but], up there!" Pointing to the closet. Of course! ALL pretty clothes are stored on hangers and would never be folded up and stuffed in a dresser drawer! Fortunately Nathan found a shirt that wasn't too fancy for school yet I had for some reason hung it up with her church clothes instead of storing it with her school clothes in the dresser.

Last week Nathan picked her up from school a few days in a row without me. I was tickled to hear her come in the door each time and holler, "Princess Mommy! Where ARE you? Princess? Princess?" Today I picked her up solo while Nathan was at home working in the yard. As I buckled her in she asked, "Daddy? Where's the prince?" So funny. This coming from a girl who still prefers cars and trucks and baseballs over dolls and toy kitchens.

Sorry no pictures this time. I'll try to do better next time. ;-)