Thirteen!!!! Happy Birthday Mary-Michael!

My Dear Mary-Michael, 

My baby girl is now a teenager. Wow, what a treat and still shocking to me that you are this old. Your years left in our home are dwindling too fast! 

You have blossomed into this beautiful young lady with a lot of spunk, a lot of friends and a lot of brains and ideas. You love life and therefore add a lot of life wherever you are. You are thoughtful and love to give gifts to others. You take after your daddy and his generous spirit. You're still Benaiah's best mini-parent and have such a tenderness for him when he's upset. You'll drop just about anything to read to him upon request or tend to him when he's hurt himself. I love and appreciate this about you, and I know you'll be a great mother one day.

Like most young ladies your age, you think a lot about your looks and have therefore become quite the fashionista. Armed with a hair straightener and a curler, you frequently take over the bathroom in the mornings, and since we FINALLY let you use mascara (Merry Christmas gift!), you now take even longer. And frankly, you look much too old for my liking, but that's how it goes, I guess. You still don't have a phone and hardly ever complain. It will come soon enough, but we want to make sure you're ready for the responsibility. 

You really love hand lettering cards and papers of all sorts and have quite the knack for it. This month you were paid to do the hand lettering at a Chick-fil-a for their community board. So neat! Speaking of making money, you've also started babysitting and dog sitting the neighbor's dogs. This is necessary given the love for fashion mentioned above!

You continue to excel in school and love your Grace family. English continues to be your best subject after socializing and gym. You are still a voracious reader, and I pray that never ends. 

Daddy and I truly enjoy being with you (except for when you're sassy), and we know we will have a deep friendship when you are older. You're so much fun, so caring and easy to be with. At your neon-themed birthday party, your friends all took time to share what they loved about you, and the same things echoed: she never leaves anyone out and makes sure everyone is included; she's thoughtful and caring; she's fun and funny. All true!

We love you, we see amazing potential in you and we are proud of you!

All my love,

Momma

Happy 5th Birthday, Benaiah!

Dearest Benaiah,

Wow, 5 years old! What an incredible young man you are. You light up a room with your smile, your silliness and your affection. You give wonderful hugs!

You love all things Spider-Man and anything on wheels. When you’re not outside digging holes or shooting nerf guns, we will find you inside building Legos with Frazier, looking at books or wondering if it’s the weekend so you can watch Spidey and Friends.

You have mostly adjusted to preschool (there are still some mornings you want to stay home), and you have learned to write your name pretty well. Your teachers say you are a wonderful role model and a great helper. When we brought cupcakes to your class for your birthday, you were so excited, and you had me read “Even Superheroes Have Bad Days” to your and your friends.

Daddy is definitely your favorite person in the world, and you are the only one he has allowed in our bed when you have bad dreams. That’s what happens when you’re the baby! Frazier is likely your second favorite, and he is a champ playing just about anything you want to. 

You continue to be a good eater and enjoy cheese, fruit and macaroni and cheese the most. Green Eggs and Ham is definitely your most requested book, and you love music with a good beat so you can dance.

This year, you realized your skin color was not the same as mine, and you also made a statement when looking at some old pictures. You said, “That’s when I was in your tummy.” While we’ve been telling you since you were born about your amazing birth mom, having you make the connection felt very hard. I pray you will not resent us or her for the choices we’ve made.

Benaiah, you truly make our family complete, and we love you so much. No matter what comes or what others say, I pray you always know this.

All our love,

Momma and Daddy

Happy 18th Birthday Leila!

Dearest Leila,

Wow, you are officially a legal adult. You have grown into this beautiful young lady, and you have come so far from the 43 pound, timid 10 year old we brought home 7.5 years ago. 

You have transitioned to high school, and a large one at that, and while it hasn't been all roses, we are learning together what it means to work hard and earn your grades, how to discern good friends from not-so-good ones and how to do real grown-up things and take responsibility. It is good!

Youth group (or any church activity), listening to music, reading and hanging out with friends continue to be your favorite activities. What a blessing for you to have your Niger friends still active in your life. It is so sweet seeing you, Zalika and Sakina together. You have a special connection and bond that goes back farther than us!

Your sister is the one you turn to the most for advice on clothes, friends and the cute boy on the bus. I know sharing a room with someone messier than you is not always easy, but I think it has been so good for your friendship, and I'm thankful you are tidier than her and pick up her slack. You excel at keeping things tidy and organized, and are faithful to do your part around the house. Thank you!

You are starting to spend a little more time with me in the kitchen, and you still love rice the most. Your new favorite hot sauce is seasoned with Old Bay, which is your favorite dry spice when you don't have African spice. 

The other day you called your prescriptions in for the first time (on your own!), and I can see you are making real steps toward adulthood. We will get you driving soon enough!

For your birthday this year, we enjoyed dinner at Arby's and rides at Kings Dominion during Winterfest with some friends and family. I believe you rode the Dominator rollercoaster 5 times! You love crazy rides, and you had so much fun. 

We are excited for what this next year holds for you, and it will be a real joy to take you back to Niger as a family this summer. You haven't been since we brought you home, and I think it will be good for all of us. We love you, Leila!

Momma

Christmas Time!

It was a sweet season of Advent and preparing for celebrating Jesus' birth at Christmas. Fun gatherings with reverent moments and daily readings by candlelight filled the month. It felt a little different being in a new home, but we adjusted and kept one of our longest traditions on Christmas Day of delivering boxes of goodies and gifts to homes the Lord led us to. Actually, the kids are the ones who pray and ask the Lord to show them. It never fails to amaze us and wow them - God does speak in the middle of our days if we will just listen!

For several years we've enjoyed Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree readings each day of Advent. She's so good to take us through the lineage and prophecies of Jesus.

It was Leila's turn to put the star on this year. 

We enjoyed making hundreds of Christmas cookies with Nonnie this year. 

The next generation learning how to make delicious goodies. 


Leila performed in her first choral concert at MHS. 

Mary-Michael was invited to the Holly Ball at her former school (Aylett). She looks too grown up!

She had a wonderful time at the Holly Ball with Addison. 

Two little hams!

I love this group of ladies in my small group. We had such fun wrapping up an amazing book (Experiencing God) and doing a white elephant gift exchange. 

We had another occasion for dressing up. The girls are involved in a program called That Dance Thing, and they learn the classic ballroom dances, as well as etiquette. They enjoyed a lovely Christmas Ball, and Daddy even attended part of it to join them in a Daddy-Daughter dance. 

Frazier sung a Christmas song in front of the congregation at church, though his passion for these sort of things has waned in his 5th grade year...

We enjoyed our annual Christmas dinner with some dear friends. Great friends are a true gift from the Lord!


Here are the families we get to do so much life with. 

Happy birthday, Jesus!

Celebrating Christmas Eve after Candlelight Service at Mimi and Poppy's house is always a treat. 

Poppy and his 2 granddaughters. Here's to a very thoughtful and intentional grandfather!

Christmas morning in matching PJs!

Nonnie joined us a little while later for Christmas fun. We missed Granddad who was still recovering from being sick. 

We packed and wrapped the boxes and went out for our giving adventure on Christmas Day. We weren't sure what this would be like in our new community, but after doing it, I know we were able to bring joy and Jesus' love to those who needed it. 

We did enjoy celebrating with the Lawrences on 12/26, but unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. I was sick and in bed during all of the festivities, and Geoff was too busy with the 4 kiddos. I hear it was a great day!

We rested from the Christmas fun with 5 days in Nags Head. Zach, Christina, Emerson and Luca joined us from Charleston, SC, as well as our dear friends, the Kells. 

We had beautiful weather and took many walks on the beach. 

We created vision/dream boards for the year ahead with the big kids and took turns sharing them. So fun!


My crazy husband and son taking a dip in the ocean. It was a good substitute for the ice barrel he uses at home. Yes, we subject ourselves to icy cold water for the sake of health. I hope it's worth it!