MK asked to play soccer this year....

 and we all thought she would tear the field up....

 after all, she is our girl who does not like to lose! 

 However, the experience has been comical in every sense of the word....and it has been fun to see a shift in her personality, her shyness peeks out on the field.

 We are so proud of this little one and her willingness to try new things!  

 Wednesday we all took a break and headed to the park with some of our favorite peeps, the Wileys!  Little Sophie turned 5 and we were all smiles knowing that this little one is home forever and loved beyond measure!

Concerts, Reading and Magazines!

Each morning we awake, the boys go for their daily run, the children have breakfast while I read to them and then the morning concert begins.  Who needs a radio when you have two boys who can play the piano so well?!  The songs of current are....

Pachelbel Canon 

Bagatelle in G

Star Spangled Banner

Fur Elise

Kum Ba Yah

LOVE!  I often beg them to keep on playing:)  We are thankful for their teacher, my dear friend for life, Shauna Kenney.  She has known each of them since birth and has a magical way of placing music close to their hearts.  And she added MK this year too!

On a reading note, we are currently diving deep into The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.  The Sound of Music is a movie that the girls and I could watch over and over and over.  Reading the book, their history, is proving to be a different account from the movie and one that we are all learning from.

And, lastly, I have to say that the word of the day is MAGAZINE.  It is at this moment in my mothering that I must take note of this word, a difficult word for all four of my children to say.  It was so funny to hear Colin, our well spoken child at an early age, our "man" trapped inside a child's body - his vocabulary was always extravagant yet the word magazine threw him for a loop and it always came out "mazaline."  And then came Pryce, our child who spoke early and had so much to say!  He called it his "mazagine."  MK, who always seems to favor Colin in personality, told me just this morning, "Mommy, I am going to give Maddox a picture from my mazaline."  So, just for entertainment, I asked Maddox to bring me a magazine and then asked her to tell me what it was...."Mom, it's a mazagine!"  So there you have it....all four and their vocab hangup!

Seabrook, our peaceful pre-Fall getaway....

The children wasted no time getting their game-on for castle building and

fishing - P caught many crabs in the net, while the fishing poles caught a stingray, a flying fish, many whitings - he was in his element and loved each moment as he casted out the next line.

And then there is Maddox....yoga?  We are often amazed at what this little one can do....split?  no problem; fold in half? no big deal; no way have I ever seen someone as flexible as she!  

And there was this moment, totally unstaged.  It began with the two boys, then MK joined in followed by Maddox.  I watched in pure delight for what seemed like hours as these four played together.  And I prayed that they will always remember and cherish these moments with one another.

Maddox LOVES the beach.  If you listen closely, you can likely hear her squeals of delight as she runs zig-zag across the shore.  

MK....beautiful girl has lost all interest in bows and the like.  Hair down ready to feel the wind and she is good to go.

P...boogie boarding, skim boarding, fishing, body surfing, searching for shells, football throwing - all in a day at the beach with P.

C....honestly, he is 13.  And I am learning that 13 year old boys care about one thing....EATING.  A huge thank you to G-Mom and G-Dad for supplying this kiddo with some good eats, his favorite cereal Red Berries Special K.  In just two days, C ate the entire box!  

I say it often but I must say it again, I am so very thankful for my family.  I do cherish these moments we have together, the moments where we can all rest in each other and not have a care in the world except being with one another.  

DTC....Dossier To China, September 13, 2013!  A huge step forward in our current adoption.  We are officially a waiting family!  While this is such exciting news, it is also the beginning of the unknown.  The "paperchase" is a busy time in any adoption, a time where you are busying yourself with all of the sometimes overwhelming processing of documents to prepare them for their final submission to your agency.  Once it is all done, the busyness suddenly halts and you are left to a quiet time of questioning when your little one will be revealed.  Let me reminisce....

Our Colin....I took pregnancy test after pregnancy test, all negative, all within days of each other.  We went on our annual beach trip and I specifically remember an afternoon walk with my sister and mother where I told them something was definitely not right and I was going to go to the doctor upon our return home.  Of course, on our drive home, Ryan and I made one last stop at a drugstore to purchase yet another pregnancy test, we even debated on buying one or two and decided two would be best since we just knew it would be negative.  The following morning, I took the test and it was positive.  Finally, the answer we had been anticipating.

Our Pryce....in many ways he was our "surprise."  I just knew that it would take me forever to get pregnant with our second child - no reason for me to suspect this but for whatever reason, it was set in my mind.  However, with cereal cravings galore, I decided early one morning that a pregnancy test was in order.  I didn't even tell Ryan my suspicions.  With Ryan at work, Colin and I set out on an early morning WalMart run, purchased a test, and boom, there was Pryce, our joyful surprise.

Our Mason-Kate....we completed our paperwork for a healthy child under the age of 12 months in October, 2006.  At that time, we were told to expect to wait 14-16 months for a referral.  So we settled into life in the present and prayed for our daughter.  10 months into the wait, we realized our expected wait time would be much, much longer.  In fact, 7 years later, we would STILL be waiting for our Mason-Kate had we not switched to the waiting child program.  We switched in November, 2007, and we were matched with our MK just 5 weeks later.  The call came late one afternoon, a call that I missed.  The message from our agency stated that they had a question about our application and to please call them in the morning.  I honestly thought they had a question and I was anxious to answer it so we could be matched with a child.  With that in mind, I called them first thing the following morning.  No answer.  I was playing tennis and a friend said, "I bet they have a child for you!"  And I shrugged it off thinking there was no way they had a child for us yet, it had only been a few weeks since our change in programs.  The call finally came around lunch and our beautiful MK was referred to us, a day I will never forget.  She was 10 months old and waiting for us in China!

Our Maddox....Maddox's story parallels Pryce's story.  We began the paperwork to adopt and we calculated that the process from start to finish would take 2 years.  We began in May, 2010, sent our dossier to China in September, 2010, and miraculously got a call in the middle of the night in September, 2010, that our daughter was waiting for us in China.  We held her in our arms for the first time on March 13, 2011, just 10 months after we began the entire process.  A sweet surprise!

So I write all of this to say that we are in that phase of the unknown.  We know our paperwork is in China and we know we will likely get a match in the upcoming months.....but when?  We have NO idea.  And I will admit that I am not a fan of the unknown.  Maddox reminded me last night to relish in today and look forward to what is to come.  She shouted, "I am a FAN of God's PLAN!" So we wait and pray for our precious little one in China while we trust in His plan for our sweet Mary-Gentry.  We can't wait to know your face and hear your laughter and wipe your tears.  Our prayer for you today is that you know love and that your heart is being prepared for your place in our family!

Our Adoption Testimony and Matching Grant Information

"It may take place in a foreign land or it may take place in your backyard, but I believe that we were each created to change the world for someone.  To serve someone.  To love someone the way Christ first loved us, to spread His light.  This is the dream, and it is possible."  Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie

Dear Family and Friends,

Our quest to adopt has been a fabulous journey, one that began for me in childhood and sought my heart as an adult.  Our story began after we suffered two miscarriages yet still desired to parent another child in our home.  While I researched agencies and countries, Ryan prayed fervently for peace with adopting a child into our home.  God stood strong and held our hands as we embarked on our first journey down adoption lane right into the arms of our beautiful Mason-Kate.  What began as a non-special needs adoption with the two of us hands-down saying “no” to correctable special needs, ended with us having our eyes wide opened to the orphan crisis that is more real than we had ever dreamed.

Two years later, with a stirring in our hearts, we began the chase to bring home our second daughter, Maddox.  We plugged forward through the paperwork and received her referral late on a Sunday night during the month of September, 2010.  Where Mason-Kate had been born in a very prosperous province in China, Maddox was born in the poorest province.  She was tiny, a mere 5lbs at birth and suffered from the same special need as her big sister, cleft lip and palate.  Our travel confirmed what we had been told, Guizhou was far from a prosperous province.  Our drive to the orphanage is forever in my thoughts.  Mud.  Filth.  Beggars.  And, yet, we learned that our Maddox had been placed into the arms of a Christian foster family and cared for by them from birth.  We were fortunate enough to meet the foster family and the happiness they expressed towards her and our family on Gotcha Day was insurmountable.  

To say we were wrecked by seeing the suffering in Guizhou would be an understatement.  We came home with an even larger passion to help find homes for children left behind.  We have made it our goal to guide others through the process of adoption, be it a domestic adoption or an international adoption.  We see the look in a person’s eyes when we mention those two daunting words, “special needs,” and then we invite them to our home for one of our adoption gatherings.  These “gatherings” take place in our home every six weeks.  One stands in the presence of God when he looks on at the children from China in our group - the children with clefts, the child with bilateral microtia, the child literally left to die yet saved by a missionary who was not scared of his intestinal deformities, the children with a heart defect, the child born prematurely, the children born with meningocele, and the children who are still waiting to come home to their families (and our group!) forever.  Twelve families, twenty one children, a true testament of faith.  

Our adoption road has led us down many avenues. First and foremost, our growth in faith with our Lord Jesus Christ. He was dealing with two parents who clearly had their own plan for their family yet He stood stronger and meticulously shared His plan and, oh, how much greater His plan always is! Second, our girls and their lives.  We look at them daily - they are both amazing! They would have been shunned had God’s plan not been revealed in their lives.  Lastly, the many friends and acquaintances we have been allowed to share our story and personal testimonies with.  Adoption is our calling, His calling for us, and we are humbled by his gracious blessings as we continue along the path.

Today we find ourselves answering God’s call for our family once again as we dutifully pursue to adopt a waiting child in China.  She is known to us as Mary-Gentry.  With the help of our friends, we were able to raise $8000+ in our initial fundraising efforts.  This amount was used to prepare our dossier.  I am happy to report that as of Saturday, August 31, our dossier is en route to CHINA!  We have concluded the first “trimester” of our third adoption!

As most of you know, the adoption process is costly.  We estimate that our current adoption costs will total $32,000.  With this in mind, we are thankful to announce that our church family at Warren Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia, has partnered with Lifesong for Orphans and committed an Adoption Matching Grant of $5,000 to help pay our adoption expenses!  Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us meet this matching grant and cover the remaining adoption expenses to bring our baby girl home?  Our goal date is October 30, 2013! 

IF you feel led to give, checks can be made payable to “Lifesong for Orphans.”  In the memo, please note our “family account number - 3885” as well as our “family name - Drafts” to assure it goes to the correct account.  No amount is too small. Please mail your donation to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, Illinois, 61744.  Lifesong has been blessed with a partner that underwrites all U.S. administrative and fund-raising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners).  100% of your donation will go directly to our adoption AND will be matched dollar for dollar up to $5,000!  

Another option is to give online.  Please visit www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate.  Select “Give to an Adoptive Family.”  Complete the online form and fill in “Family Account Number-#3885” and “Family Name - Drafts” fields.   

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each of you for your continued prayers and support!  Please continue to pray as we proceed.  We will likely get a referral (a child match) in the next six months.  We pray daily that her heart already knows our love for her!  

In Christ, 

Ryan, Beth, Colin, Pryce, Mason-Kate, and Maddox

Labor Day Celebrating Jay

Pre-parade activities....balancing acts and the writing of short stories while the boys were busy tossing the football and snacking on a few morning treats!

 These are always my favorite pictures, the anticipation can be read on their expressions....the parade is coming and the candy, oh the yummy sweet candy, is about to be thrown....Jay developed a fine art this year by catching the candy with his bag.

 Dear Maddox Ren, so glad to look back and see this smile on her face.  It wasn't too long after this that I began to notice a warmth about her face and a tired look in her eye, thus the beginning of our week of illness:/  Thankfully, the boys and Ryan were spared, but as for me and the girls, there were a few rough patches.

 Emma and Jay, 8 1/2 and 6 years old.  Time is flying but we sure are having fun watching these two grow.

 Jay is a baseball fanatic and the mention of the Braves swings him into a complete rundown of players, skills, records, etc....and he is playing Fall baseball so we felt a necessity in his lineup would be batting gloves.  I am pretty sure he slept with them on his hands that night!

 And while we are on a note of celebration, Colin celebrated his "half" birthday.  13 1/2.  Each day with him leads me to a new level of disbelief that he is growing up right before our eyes.  

What a true blessing it is to parent this young man!

A Much Needed Day

Sometimes we just need to sit back and take in a day just being us, our little own family.  And today was one of those days.  

 We began with worship at church.....and then we did something we truly have not done in quite a while - TARGET after church;  and Target after church means only one thing - a pizza/breadsticks combo divided amongst our four, it is the "must have Sunday snack."  

 And once our outing to Target was completed, it was home to just veg....we pulled out the inflatable pool, drug out the good ole slip-N-slide, threw in a few toys and sidewalk chalk coupled with a bit of football....and there you have it, a FABULOUS day!

 Our sweet Maddox Ren.  She simply cannot wait to get her little hands on her baby sister, Mary-Gentry.  She asks daily if she can hold her when she comes home and she does not want any help what.so.ever, she has told us this fact more times than we can count.  Her heart is golden though - today she was seen praying and I asked her what she was praying for.  She said, "I pray dat I get to see Mary-Gentry real soon, you know dat, right?"  

 Day turned to night and there was a celebration to be had!  Being that is is September 1, that could only mean one thing - we can have dessert again!  All is well in our home now!

 Oh, dessert, how we have missed thee!

Next up?  A month without going out to dinner!