Oh, What an Adventure!

     After we left the CAS Adoption Event we headed to Asheboro to stay the night and go to the Zoo on Sunday.  On our way to the hotel we stopped at the Pisgah Covered Bridge, which is one of two remaining covered bridges in NC.  It was so cool and I got some pretty good pictures.  But, from the time we got to the hotel everything was an adventure.  We unloaded our bags and as we were unloading I realized that mine and the girls' cosmetic bags were missing.  Mine had everything I needed except my clothes including my heart medicine, which there was no way I would be able to walk to Zoo without it.  The girls' bag had all their hair stuff and toothbrushes.  My pharmacy at home was already closed for the day, so I had to call Duke and try to get the cardiologist on call to call me in a prescription to a local pharmacy.  I thought it would take forever and be a major pain, but the Dr. on call was awesome and so was the local pharmacy.  It only took about 45 minutes from the time I called Duke to the time I left the pharmacy with my medicine and all other necessities that us girls needed.  We then went to eat dinner which was nice, everyone behaved and we had a good time.  Then when we got back to the hotel we decided to go get in the indoor heated pool and hot tub.  When we got down there the water was freezing, Daniel wouldn't even get in with John Mac, so just the girls swam and only for a little bit.  We got back to the room and settled in for the night, at 9pm I cut out the lights and everyone got in their beds.  John Mac was in the hotel's Pack-N-Play, he was NOT happy.  He is our best sleeper and usually falls right to sleep, but I guess being away from home was not his idea of fun.  We let him cry for 20 minutes, then got him out and put him in our bed, he would not settle down, so I put him back in the his bed at 9:42pm and at 9:52pm the front desk was calling to see if there were any adults in the room, we had been reported for a crying baby.  Daniel was not happy, he told us all to get up and start packing, he was not going to torture John Mac or others with his not being happy.  The girls were upset, but they understood, I promised them that we would come to the Zoo another time.  When we got downstairs the front desk clerk was begging up to stay and telling us that the call they got was not a complaint, but a concern that there may not be an adult in the room since the baby was crying and not stopping.  I can completely understand this, what I cannot understand is the fact that they had 8 cars in the parking lot and put all 8 people/families in rooms practically side by side.  I know for cleaning purposes it's easier, but I know of at least 3 families that had small children, so you were bound to get some crying.  Anyway, the clerk convinced us to stay and gave us another room away from people.  We finally got settled back in and about 12am John Mac was asleep, he woke and stirred at 3am and then was up for good at 4am.  He then dosed back off for 30 minutes between 5:30am-6:00am.  He is usually our 11-13 hour a night sleeper without waking up.  I just knew he would be a mess at the Zoo, but he was so well behaved.  We ended up having a fabulous time on Sunday despite all the drama in Saturday. 

Pisgah Bridge and Hotel Pictures

Zoo Slideshow

Adoption Event

     On November 13th we went to our adoption agency's Fall Gathering to celebrate adoption.  For as long as we've been going it's always been held at Camp Walter Johnson in Denton, NC. It's such a wonderful place and there's lots of things for the kids to do.  At this event we get to meet all the babies/children that were placed in the past year.  It's such a special time and such a joy to see all the happy new families.  Even when you are waiting it's nice to go and see such happiness, knowing that one day this will be you telling your story.  We were able to see lots of old faces and get to know new ones.  Our agency placed 49 children over the past year(domestic & international).  Oh, what a happy day!

Successful Bazaar and a little Celebrating this Weekend

     Well, our church's first annual craft bazaar was a hit.  We raised over $6,500.00; the Lord is good.  He was upfront and center throughout the whole planning process.  When you put God first, all things are possible.  My Annie Mac Creations booth also did very well, I have a lot of orders to fill and have already had 2 contacts today with orders. If you're interested in ordering anything, I'm taking Christmas order through December 1!  A friend of mine through adoption was also at the bazaar selling her fabulous homemade soaps, all the profits go toward her family's adoption, they are currently waiting through Christian Adoption Services.  You can visit her Blog, Joy for the Seasons to find out about her journey and to get a link to her etsy shop where she sells her soaps.
     Of course we celebrated our church's success, but on Sunday we celebrated my 35th birthday and the 1 year anniversary of John Mac's Adoption Finalization.  Read all about the Adoption Finalization Day in 2009 HERE.  We went to church on Sunday and then to Daniel's parent's house for my birthday party.  Daniel's family always celebrates birthdays, so I got to choose what we had for lunch and dessert.  I chose Spaghetti and Chocolate Eclair'.  My mom-in-law really knows how to cook!  It was a great weekend!

My Booth at the Bazaar

Adoption Finalization Day November 21, 2009

Birthday Party

Crafts, Crafts, and More Crafts......Come Visit Our Church Bazaar

     This coming Saturday, November 20th from 8am-2pm my church will be holding it's first Church Bazaar in our new church facilities.  It's going to be awesome.  God has truly blessed this event.  We have over 30 vendors coming to sell handcrafted items.  Our Women's Group will also have a large booth selling homemade jams, jellies, pickles, salsa, breads, cakes, pies, crocheted items, sewn items, and much, much more.  Breakfast, Lunch, and snack items will also be available to purchase.  We will even have a Secret Santa Shop where the children can shop for their parents, grandparents, and siblings.  Nothing in the Shop is over $5 and No Parents are Allowed.  Our Youth Group will be helping in this area as well as the wrapping area.  There will be free wrapping of the Secret Santa gifts the kids purchase and wrapping will also be available for items purchased in the bazaar area.  Proceeds will benefit different areas of our church, but most of the money will go toward purchasing additional electronic/technical items we still need for our new facility.  I will have a booth selling my Annie Mac Creations.  I hope you will be able to come out and support this wonderful event.

Oakland Presbyterian Church Bazaar

Saturday, November 20th, 2010

8:00am-2:00pm

 8927 Cleveland Road

Clayton, NC 27520 

National Adoption Month

    Our Family at the CAS Gathering in 2009

      November is National Adoption Month and last year I had just started my Blog, so I posted several posts about our adoption experience and how we came to adoption.  I will include links to those posts below.  This weekend we are heading to an Adoption Gathering hosted by our Adoption Agency(CAS). I can't wait to see everyone there, new and old faces.  I can't wait to meet the new babies that were placed over the past year and to be an encouragement to those who are still waiting or are just starting the process.  Last year when we went to the gathering we were able to introduce our Little Joy, John Mac to everyone and tell our story.  I just love hearing the placement stories, I always cry like a baby. 
     Our adoption continues to be a wonderful blessing in our lives, not just because we have John Mac, but because I have found so much joy in talking about adoption and all the positive aspects of it.  You could say that I've found a new passion.  I know we'll have a great time on Saturday with our adoption family.  When we leave there, we're heading to Asheboro to stay the night and then spend the day at the Zoo on Sunday.  I'll try and be good about posting pictures in a timely manner.

Our Adoption Story Posts:
#1: The Beginning of Our Adoption Story

#2: Our Adoption Story Continued

#3:  Adoption Story Continued Again

#4:  Whay We Chose Adoption to Grow Our Family

We have other posts related to adoption; to get to them, just click on Adoption under Labels on the right side of our Blog.

Our Beach Vacation.......3+ Months Later

***I wrote this post back in August, but never posted it because I could not get my slide show to work.  I have now figured it out, Enjoy!***

     In July we went to the beach for 2 weeks.  The first week it was just me and the 2 younger kids at the beach house.  We dropped Edi off at camp on our way. Daniel came down on about day 5 and then we picked Edi up at camp on day 6.  The first weekend we were down as a family was relaxing, we cooked a lot and went bowling on Sunday.        

     Monday morning Daniel went riding as he had done every morning since coming down.  About 8am the phone rang and it was the Fire Chief telling me that Daniel had been in a accident.  He said he appeared to be ok and was talking fine, but the ambulance was there and they were checking him out.  As soon as we approached the accident the ambulance was pulling away with Daniel inside.  He called me from the ambulance to tell me he was ok, and get this, to tell me to get his bike!  I got his bike and headed to the hospital, 22 miles and 45 minutes away.  He had run off the road on his road bike and instead of riding it out into the soft sand, he over corrected to pull it back on the road because a road sign was in front of him.  He knew if he hit the sign, he’d get hurt.  Well, when he pulled the bike back it didn’t want to go over the shoulder of the road and he flipped over the handlebars.  The kids and I arrived at the hospital about 9am, most of us had not eaten breakfast and none of us had brushed our teeth, it was not a pretty site.  After lots of tests and scans, they found a broken jaw, lacerated ear canal, and a cut on his chin that required stitches.  The hospital where we were could not handle the broken jaw because they were sure it would require surgery.  After checking with a couple of hospitals they sent us to UNC-Chapel Hill, 3 ½ hours away.  We weren’t due to go home for a whole week.  I made some calls and my mom and brother came down to stay with the kids at the beach while I met Daniel in Chapel Hill, he went by ambulance.  Daniel arrived to UNC at around 4:30pm and I arrived about 6:30pm and at 10:30pm we were on our way home, no surgery required.  He was so lucky, they are still watching his jaw and some procedures may be needed in the future, but for now just a soft diet.  We slept at home that night, headed to the dentist the next morning for them to file down some chipped teeth and were back at the beach by 4:30pm on Tuesday to finish out our vacation. 

      We pretty much hung around the beach house, going out on the beach, to the pool, cooking, going out to dinner and such.  We did have guests stay during our last weekend for a bike training ride that Daniel had organized to help with a charity ride he does called Ride Without Limits, he of course did not ride.  We also had some friends from home that were down at their place for the weekend and we met up with them a couple of times, once for dessert and coffee at our house and then for a scenic boat tour and lunch.  All in all our vacation was great and there’s nothing like being away from the regular routines and schedules of home and being with family.

***Update on Daniel:  He is doing good.  He did have to do a couple of months of physical therapy and that seemed to help a lot.  His jaw will never be just like it was and he is always making it pop, which is really annoying.***

My Goodness, Time Does Fly

     I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted anything and even before then I was getting longer and longer between posts.  The last 2 months have been a little extra busy and crazy for us.  We have had a lot of things going on and several of them are Blog worthy adventures.  I'm going to try and get caught up over the next several days so you guys can get a glimpse of what we've been up to.  I hope everyone is doing great and having a wonderful Fall.  I love this time of year, it's my favorite!