Don't be alarmed....

I know I already posted once today but this just absolutely requires a second.

See that beautiful girl in the pink t-shirt? That would be my 16 year old daughter Heidi.

She just did the dishes WITHOUT  being asked and made me a hot cup of tea.

I checked her for a fever but she appears fine.

Miracles are indeed possible folks.

Look what just happened to me.

This should instantly restore your faith.

A Grateful Heart

Sunsets....

reunion with Lilly's "sisters"....

friends....

Lilly's own bed.....

My oldest child graduating from highschool.....

memories of trips to the beach when the older kids weren't old.....

The sweetest, oldest dog in the world....Belle.....

flowers.....

the best cat ever......

happy dogs and happy girls and sunny days.....

new friends that feel like family.....

road trips with my girls.....

my dream house.....

my extended "Chinese" family

A very grateful heart indeed.

Getting Closer............

This was three years ago.....

This is three weeks ago.....

It looks like we really will move in January.

It seems kind of surreal to have a life long dream about to become real.

I love houses. As a child I would love to see the inside of any house, I wanted to see how people lived.

Let's get real...I wanted to see how they decorated and even as a very young child I would silently redecorate the homes we visited. In my mind I would move the couch, change the curtains, hang family photos, paint wooden floors and on and on. These decorating 'dreams' would even be what kept me up at night. I just love to rearrange, choose paint colors, shop for curtains, take something that someone else has thrown on the trash heap and transform it with soap, water and paint but most of all love.

Yesterday as I started to pack I got so emotional at the thought of truly leaving the place I have called home for the past decade. Not so emotional that I want to stay, but still tears were flowing. When we moved here Josh was 8, Heidi was 5 and Greg was 4. They were still so little that all of their clothes fit in one dresser. Now they are 19, 16 and 15 and have a sweet sister Lilly from China. We are about to decorate our 10th and last Christmas tree here in this tiny little house. We have celebrated in this house. We have mourned the loss of loved ones inside these four walls. We have argued and made up. We have laughed and cried, lived and loved. And now we will bring all the people and pets that we love the most and fill up our dream house. There will be joy, there will be sadness and by God there will be DECORATING!!!!!

My Hero Lydia

She did it!!!!

Lydia's faith was so strong that in 8 days she raised $26,550!!!!!!!!!!!!! They only need $20,000 to adopt Darya and they have friends who have delayed adopting because of lack of funds...no more! Anything over the $20,000 goes to their friends so they too can adopt a baby.

I was obsessed with checking their blog to see if Lydia did indeed get her Thanksgiving miracle.

Can you imagine the joy in that house tonight???

What a wonderful Thanksgiving that I will always remember.

Sleep tight Darya, Mommy and Daddy are soon on their way to bring you home FOREVER.

What Thanksgiving is all about....

This is one unbelievable story so fix some tea or get a snack but get comfy and prepare to be amazed.

 This morning I stumbled upon a blog. I believe this story has moved me beyond words but I am going to try to explain. Lydia is the 11 year old daughter of some amazing parents in Tennessee. Her parents have instilled such a trust and belief and faith in God inside of her that she came to her mother with the dream of adopting sweet little Darya. Darya is a litte girl living in an orphanage in the Urkraine. She has Down Syndrome but this does not daunt Lydia's parents because they have already
have two children with Down Syndrome. Hope is biological and Charlie is adopted.

I told you these are amazing people.

Simply amazing.

So when Lydia came to her mother with this idea her mother told her that if she could

raise $20,000 then they could adopt Darya and possibly even another baby with Down Syndrome.

Is the word amazing coming to mind? 

Did the number 20,000 stop Lydia? Nope. She quickly did some math and said this is only 200 people giving us $100.00. Smart girl. Break down a big number and suddenly it doesn't seem so scary. So she was off and running and in the past few days she has raised more than half of what they need. $10,000!!!!!!

In something like 10 or 11 days.

ONE GIRL.

One AMAZING girl, with some AMAZING faith.

I want to be just like her when I grow up.

They have washed cars, baked cookies, painted wooden candy canes...you name it.
They are willing, willing to go all out for God.
And Darya.
Lydia has been asked to be on the local news Thanksgiving morning and tell her story. I am praying that she will have all the money when she is interviewed.
Visualize this!

God can do this THROUGH us so go here. Find the DONATE button and pledge what you can.
Five dollars makes a difference. Skip some part of your traditional

Thanksgiving meal if you have to but please help bring Darya home to a loving and forever family.

I just heard about Lydia and her family this morning and want to do my part.
So I am spreading the word and the LOVE.
This is what Thanksgiving is all about isn't it?

Lydia, you amaze me and I am inspired and uplifted by you.

 I can only begin to imagine the greatness in store for you as you continue to demonstrate such devotion and faith. To those of you who come visit here from time to time or those of you were led here today for the first time,please, please, please help change the course of Darya's young life.

Go to http://www.the30dayjourneyforhope.blogspot.com/

RIGHT NOW!

If you are inspired by this please just take the few minutes to do this. If you are like me you might be so moved by this but think to yourself..."I will donate later, tomorrow, next week" and then you forget.You don't mean to you just get busy.Please just do it right now.Whatever is waiting for you can wait five more minutes.I am so thankful for your big heart and generosity.

Go Lydia!!!

Go God!!!

xo

Kimberly

You know what is really weird???

Well, let me tell you......what's weird is when you have a friend considering using match.com to find a man. You help this friend sift through the options (this is not an easy job). You see several possibilities. You see several no ways and even find yourself uttering words like "Are you kidding me? Is this guy for real? and What was he thinking with that picture?" You wonder why men aren't smart enough to take off their sunglasses for their photo. That just screams creeper. You find yourself shocked at how many man are in their 40's looking for a 20 year old girlfriend. Ewwwww. Super gross ewwww. So after reading about fifteen profiles you see a guy and say...he's not bad and your friend says "I know I already read his profile before, he's cute, seems okay." Upon closer inspection of the photo (and a quick call to my mother for verification) you realize this "cute, okay" guy is actually your childhood friend. The one you built forts with, played in the creek with, the one you had a crush on - (think early, unrequited love), the one who lived next door to your grandmother, the one you had sleepovers with until you were 12 and then your mothers sat you down and told you that you could no longer sleep in the same bed and because you were such late bloomers you just cried and thought they were mean. Yeah, that very same little boy is all grown up and on match.com and your friend clicked his profile and he stood out from the sea of faces to me as a pretty cute guy.

Yep, that was really weird on a random Sunday night.

Really weird.

This is Lilly's high chair which I LOVE.

She is a big girl now and sits at the table.

:(

I can't wait to see our next daughter eat her meals in this sweet chair.

I really love being a mother, it is such a blessing and a privilege.

I take delight in something as simple as folding Lilly's little clothes or watching her focus intently on her sticker book or when she hears music and says "Mama, dance."

Her latest thing is noticing how many people are in public places.

She says "lots of peoples mama", not sure why this makes my heart soar but it does.

She just climbed onto my lap as I type this, book in hand and said

"ead mama" - translation: Read mama

So I guess this means goodnight to you all.

Sleep tight wherever you are.

xo