Meet the Pack

Today was "Meet the Pack" day at NC State. We went with our kids and my brother, his wife, and their two kids. I cannot describe just how excited Riley was. This child is a diehard Wolfpack fan, just like his dad.

Riley has been stalking the mail lady while waiting to get our season football tickets. One day I walked into his room while he was supposed to be napping and I caught him looking out his window through his blinds. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was looking for the mail truck in case his football tickets came that day. He is constantly talking about the season opening game and every day when Michael gets home from work he begs to watch old NC State football entrances, fireworks, and game footage on the internet. While shopping in Sam's the other day he decided it would be a good time to do the "Wolf/Pack" cheer. You could hear his voice echoing through the aisles.

So, all of that to say that today was a very exciting day for Riley! That boy could not wait to step foot into the stadium. As soon as we got off the highway and pulled into the stadium parking lot Riley yelled, "WE'RE IN WOLFPACK TERRITORY!!" Oh, my!

Here are some pictures from our fun day! Only 5 more days until the season opener! GO PACK!!! :)

Sweet Karoline

Tomorrow my sister Karoline makes the big move to Boston for graduate school! I am so proud of her for stepping out there and doing what she feels God leading her to do. Karoline has taught first grade for the last 3 years at an inner city charter school and is now heading to grad school to get her masters with the hopes of one day being a principal in an inner city school. We are definitely going to miss her being only an hour away, but we also are so excited for her! And, we cannot wait to visit!!

Here are some pictures of Mary Kenzie in some new OWL pajamas that made me instantly think of Karoline! (Love you, Karoline!! Hahahah!)

Smiling MK in her owl pjs!



Turning her head so that her cute face doesn't get in the way of the pj picture!


Worried that she's going to fall out of her rocking chair!

Mountains and trains and guns....Oh, my!

We took the kids to the mountains for the weekend to try to squeeze a little more fun out of the summer. It was our first family vacation with just the four of us and we enjoyed the time away. We walked around Boone and Blowing Rock on Friday night and then Saturday we spent the day at Tweetsie Railroad. The train ride itself terrified Riley because of the cowboys and Indians shooting at one another and jumping onto the train. But, other than that Riley had a blast! He rode a ferris wheel for the first time and he rode the Scrambler at least 5 times.

The whole way home he just kept saying "thank you so much for taking me there! I had so much fun and I love my gun!" Now every night he sleeps with his gun (purchased at the Tweetsie toy store) and every night when he prays he thanks God for his gun and his bullets. Oh, my! (I think I do better with pearls and hairbows!) ;)

During our drive to the mountains, Riley said that he and Mary Kenzie wanted to hold hands, so I turned around and sure enough they were holding hands as best as they could across the aisle from their car seats.


Here are some pictures from our weekend away and a few shots of the kids at the waterpark where we spent most of the summer!

Mary Kenzie's Tol

Believe it or not...I am actually updating the blog!

Mary Kenzie turned 1 on July 16th. Riley woke up the morning of her birthday with a super high fever so our plans for celebrating that day were cancelled. We ended up celebrating Michael and Mary Kenzie's birthdays the following week with Michael's family.

Then last night we had Mary Kenzie's Tol (Korean celebration) and cookout with some friends and our families. We actually got to have a joint birthday party for Mary Kenzie and her cousin Laila who is 17 days younger than MK. It was a lot of fun!

Click here if you want to read more about what happens at a child's first birthday tol.

During Mary Kenzie's Tol we had friends and family write out blessings and Bible verses to put in Mary Kenzie's scrapbook. Michael also prayed a special blessing over her. Then we had the Toljabee event. Mary Kenzie chose the Bible (signifying ministry) and then she went for the thread (long life) and the scissors (good with her hands) simultaneously.

It was a fun night and once again I felt so overwhelmed that God would allow us the privilege of having this sweet girl as our daughter and as a part of our family.

Enjoy the pictures!!

Journey

I am just an ordinary girl living life, trying to follow what God has for me. I have seen God turn hopeless dreams into realities. In 2004, after being married for 2 years, we began trying to have children. After miscarriage, infertility testing, infertility procedures, and still no answers about why nothing was working we began researching adoption.

In September 2006 our son Riley came home from Korea and in April 2009 our daughter Mary Kenzie, too, came home from Korea. We never felt that adoption was a last resort or a plan B. While we know that adoption is very complex and involves loss, we feel incredibly blessed to have the joy of being adoptive parents.

Just when we thought we had God's plan all figured out and pictured all of our children of Asian descent, we were surprised to find out we were pregnant. In January 2011 our daughter Annalise was born.

We view all of our children as miracles. He has given us immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine! To Him alone be the glory and honor forever!