Four Years Old

Happy Fourth Birthday, Maddox Ren!

This child of our hearts, we will love and cherish your forever.  

The things you have learned this year from your siblings - I blame them for your crazy face making:)

At the age of four, you love your family and often say, "Hey, I have an idea, lets have a family day! YAY!"  And you love your mommy - you bring a whole new meaning to the phrase "Mommy's Girl" -   mommy is smitten too.  The boys bend over backwards for you and even go as far as playing Pretty, Pretty Princess with you just to see you smile.  And MK, your beloved "Mei-Mei"....the Barbie playing, the dance show creations, the doll dressing, the book reading, the song singing, the gymnastics teaching; she is your best friend.

Maddox Ren, you have touched the lives of many in your four short years.  Your sassy, spunky, charming self, coupled with your bright smile, is endearing to all. 

"From the moment they placed you in our arms, you snuggled right into our hearts." - Unknown

New Beginnings

Meet Miss Chloe Hope

Precious.  Wanted.  Loved.  

This child will always be in my heart.  Her face, that beautiful smile.  Two years ago as I sat on my computer looking through lists of available children, I saw her.  The face you see here is not the face I saw.  The face I saw was bleak.  She had deep, brown inquisitive eyes, eyes that reminded me so much of my own MK.  She looked all alone and so sad.  Fast forward two years and this baby girl is FINALLY coming home FOREVER!  Follow along on her journey as her parents travel to China to pick her up!  www.ourhope7.blogspot.com

AND, another one of our favorite families is in Ethiopia right now (hopefully getting some rest!) to bring home their three sweet kiddos, Samuel, Sophie and little Titus!  Can I even tell you all how giddy I am to see FOUR less....and here is the kicker, the four less live on the same.exact.street!  How cool is that?!  Follow along www.threeitwillbe.blogspot.com

And pray for both of these families as they begin their new lives with their new additions.

Pray for peace, healing hearts, safe travels, smooth transitions....

AND, in our adoption news (Ryan announced today he just likes the name Gentry so we are back to square one, Mary-Gentry or Gentry, who knows???).....we walked in early today for our fingerprinting and now we will wait some more:)  With fingerprinting behind us, we all chose to celebrate with a trip to the Georgia Aquarium followed by.....

Cheesecake Factory.

Love.Their.Burrito

Oh, and the cheesecake.  The Reese's kind.

Yummo.

Seabrook 2013

A stroll on the beach.....

 MK - I adore the fact that she is so "girlie" by nature hence the holding of the dress:)

 Three handsome brothers....little do they know the impact they have on their sisters lives.

 The new trend, a jumping pic.  Pretty hard to capture but we tried.

 Precious Maddox Ren.  

 Giggly girls.  Love that Chloe's laugh is still the one I remember from the time that we met her in China as a baby.

 Sisters.  Maddox is squeezing like she never wants to let go!

 The windy beach look on Maddox.  

 A picture break.

 Ring Around the Rosie beach fun.  Love these three little girls and the journey they have taken our families on.

The Mohrs came to town and our crew was beyond excited to have them all to ourselves for a week at the beach....

 the girls took some time and reconnected during their first few hours on the beach....

 the boys were inseparable the entire vacation - they swam a bit, played a bit of MineCraft, watched a few movies, played on the beach, swam some more and they were always up for a snack....

 and Miss Maddox....well, this was pretty much her stance the entire week - full on, welcoming whatever was up next....she was delighted and kept saying, "Hey, I can touch!"

 a day of rest came and the girls were off to paint.....

 meanwhile, the boys participated in a fishing tournament and, with a last minute catch, Zack won!!!

 a day of riding along in the boat proved to be yet another adventure....

 Maddox was our navigator....

 and P pretty much sat back and relaxed the entire afternoon out....let's just say he was living the life!

 We all fell in love with "Lord Willin" and decided next year we may just give her a whirl!  

We are so thankful for the Mohr family!  From China to Nebraska to Georgia, we are all knit together.  

More Swimming:)

Summer swim team is not an option in our home.  So, thankfully, my children accept this and humor me by getting up super early during the bright summer mornings and making their way to our neighborhood pool.  At the end of each season, all of the swimmers are given an award certificate, some of which can have a little humor behind them.  For example, Colin's award this year....he received the Most Unpredictable title due to the fact that he left swim practice one week on top of his game and returned the next week to announce he would be unable to complete the season due to his shoulder injury....

 And then there are some swimmers who get awards for their character....for example, Pryce.  He received the Most Encouraging swimmer award for his happy spirit that often pumped his teammates up during a tough practice....

 and, to not be outdone, there is Maddox.  Maddox is only 3 and therefore, she was unable to swim this year.  Quite frankly, I truly believed she was going to be my child who would refuse to go under water.  However, she has taken us all by surprise and is now actively diving into the pool and swimming all over the place.  She even has a good-for-her-age freestyle stoke that is not too far from being right on target.  

MK is quite impressed by Maddox's success.  She has said more than once, "Hey mom, Maddox is swimming like the little kids on my team!"  

Our Swimming Sensation

Our swimming sensation was a bit apprehensive going into her big finale.  At the beginning of the summer swim season, MK had her mind set on one thing - "I want to go to that meet that I went to last year that my boys didn't go to."  AKA Allstars. 

 So all season, she worked HARD.  She swam HARD.  And she was very proud to tell others that she swam with the big kids during practice, the only six year old to do so.  She meant business.  And not once did she complain.  

And her hard work paid off.  Out of 190 Freestyle female swimmers, age 6 and under, MK placed number 5!  AND, drum roll, out of 154 Backstroke female swimmers, age 6 and under, MK placed FIRST!  

(It is also good to note that MK placed first in both backstroke and freestyle in our divisional meet that includes four teams.  The Allstar meet includes all area teams, a total of 21 teams, and takes the top 20 swimmers for a final competition.)

NOW,

I must continue....it got me last year and it got me this year, the emotion.  

I look at her, her competitive spirit, her determination to succeed, her goal-oriented mindset, and I can't help but tear up thinking of what her life would have been like had she not been deemed adoptable.  She would have never been given the opportunity to shine or even try to show off her capabilities.  Ever.  

Yet, today, at the age of 6, she is already defying the odds.  

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

NC Mountains

 The best of both worlds....my parents have a mountain cabin and Ryan's parents have a beach house.

 And each year, we spend a long weekend in the mountains, soaking up time on the ATVs, playing in the streams, tubing, strolling through the cute little town, eating at our favorite pancake house.....

 but this year was a bit different.  RAIN set in and our plans as we knew them were shot. Instead of doing the usual, we did the unusual and just relaxed.  

 Prior to the rain, our girls decided to give their seashells a bath....

 and Maddox cooked a bit with Pop's rocks and grass....her concoction was known to us as Rock Soup and she was more than proud of her invention.

 Sisters through and through....they are truly becoming the best of friends.

 And these four....our boys spent five days in the mountains with Gran and Pop prior to our arrival.  Oh how I missed them!  I have an admission to make....my boys are 13 and 11and in all of their years, I have never put them into a car for more than a thirty minute ride with someone other than me or Ryan.  Ever.  Maybe I am a bit protective.  Maybe.

The memories.  Yes, we are fortunate to have two homes to retreat to throughout the year.  But even more so, our children have two vacation homes to build a lifetime of memories in as they grow.  I am pretty sure their days of Mexican Train and Solitaire and just everyday fun are going to sit with them forever!