tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16000610813474228802024-08-31T09:13:25.470-04:00Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.comBlogger285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-12589311059526936922016-01-05T10:05:00.002-05:002016-01-05T10:05:20.188-05:00

Oops.  Well over a month ago I think I remember finishing up a post with something like "Next week we'll talk about what you CAN do."  And what do you know?  Next week came.  And next week went.  And it's been several next weeks and I'm finally getting to the post.  I think it's an important one.  I think it's needed...but I really don't feel like writing it.&

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-89548048658472638192015-11-08T15:59:00.001-05:002015-11-08T15:59:42.405-05:00

Today is the day that has long been termed 'Orphan Sunday'.  It's a day set aside to educate folks on the millions of children who are longing for a family of their own.  It's a day where churches all across the country have slide shows presented showing orphans 'then' and 'now'.  It's a day that is highly beneficial. But I have to wonder.  As much as I 100% agree with the

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-40866281444565954412015-11-03T15:13:00.000-05:002015-11-03T15:18:20.996-05:00

Every November, you begin to see multitudes of articles regarding adoption.  Many of them state how many orphans there are in the world or how many children in foster care are waiting and waiting and waiting on a family to step up and claim them.  That is all very real.  It breaks my heart. I spent a day at school last week with Jack and Rainey.  A little guy in Rainey's

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-58165296215757992122015-04-21T15:15:00.000-04:002015-04-21T15:21:17.959-04:00

I can't believe it has been five months.  Five months since God stretched us far, far beyond what we ever imagined or wanted.  Far beyond what we thought we could possibly handle. Cause we were settled and happy right where we were.  Our family was getting more normal every day.  We could finally consider stealing away, just Jason and I, for the first time in six

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-91029908972085341812014-11-18T15:55:00.000-05:002014-11-18T15:55:04.057-05:00

....this thing of bringing half grown children into your home. We've heard lots of comments over the past six years.  Lots.  Ranging all over the board. But the one that always strikes me and leaves me with no words is... "It looks so fun!" It is fun.  The getting to know a new child.  Learning little quirks about another family member.  Listening to giggles erupt out

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-37251738021561518742014-11-09T21:52:00.001-05:002014-11-09T21:58:02.925-05:00

...you catch it.  And then blog about it.  :) It's been a while.  So much has happened.  I thought I would post about the privilege we had of traveling to Idaho this summer to help on the ranch, Springs of Hope.  I thought I would post about the rest of our trip West.  I thought I would do a 'first day of school' post.  I thought I would advertise the soap and

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-20907141290011766072014-07-13T17:28:00.002-04:002014-07-13T17:28:49.425-04:00

I signed in today to write a fun post.  A post the highlights the happenings of our lives since I posted last time.  The highlights only as it's been so long I can't possibly remember all that has happened.  Instead I saw that I had started a post about six months ago that never got completed.  A post that isn't really funny.  It isn't really fun.  It really doesn't

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-36016544104741865362013-11-04T15:08:00.001-05:002013-11-04T15:08:34.156-05:00

This, November, is National Adoption Month.  Yesterday has been dubbed Adoption Sunday (or something like that)...a day in which churches all across America took the time to bring more awareness to children who are floundering in orphanages, or children who are stuck in the foster care system with little hope of finding a forever family. All children, no matter the age, feel deep within

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-16093876037098505892013-10-01T12:55:00.000-04:002013-10-01T12:55:26.336-04:00

Oh my.  A whole summer has flown past and I haven't posted one single time.  Not one time. I am officially classified as a bad blogger. Once upon a time....a long, LONG, time ago....there was a woman who blogged every single day.  And then she and her husband added a third child to their family and the blogging started to reside on the middle burner.  And then she had

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-69671505454111679622013-06-21T17:22:00.000-04:002013-09-12T15:37:16.520-04:00

How do five years go past so very fast?! At the risk of making me sound like a grandma, it just seems like yesterday that this little lady joined our family. What a five years it has been. Today she is a lively, exuberant little girl of eight years old. She loves horses. She loves spending time with others whom she knows were adopted. She loves playing babies. She loves

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-70690344748679833892013-06-20T10:31:00.001-04:002013-09-12T15:37:00.662-04:00

I could talk all day about all that we’ve been up to in the past two months, but today I have a more specific point. Today we are celebrating the five year mark of Addie and Will becoming part of our family. (We actually got to pick up Addie and take her back to our motel with us. Will had to stay in the baby home another ten days.) Today we celebrate the loss of two orphan statuses and

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-21738302350965493332013-04-08T16:11:00.002-04:002013-04-08T16:11:53.843-04:00

Sunday afternoon we had some friends over. And two boys the same age will come up with all manner of fun boy things to do. Need a bike ramp? Find a piece of ply wood and prop it up on the deck. Works well. Most of the time. Sunday night there were no wrecks that we heard about. Cade did it. And Will did it. Jack was too nervous and they could only convince him to run down it...which

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-34618541931719864992013-04-08T15:51:00.001-04:002013-04-08T15:51:48.267-04:00

Sunday we took a little time to snap a few pictures. By a little time, I mean a LITTLE time. Company was waiting on us so we took about five minutes, maybe ten, to get a few pictures to update our wall. Things went well til the baby got a little heavy so we had to switch to a sitting pose. And then baby wouldn't look cause the grass was far to annoying.... When baby finally did look

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-55715270340547210722013-04-08T12:43:00.001-04:002013-04-08T12:43:54.787-04:00

The long awaited day finally arrived and not a moment too soon. A birthday. Not just any old birthday but the day in which she would turn into a way-grown-up big girl. I guess 8 must be the number that transforms a person into the big girl in the dreams. With the attitude she sported in the couple weeks prior to the big day, I was slightly fearful that I would wake up the morning of the

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-36510999786853784102013-02-09T16:37:00.001-05:002013-02-09T16:37:19.946-05:00

While I'm not a huge one on asking for money, this is one organization that I won't hesitate to ask for support for. Orphans at Play This spring OAP is sending two doctors to Vlad to introduce a curriculum to orphanages. The curriculum is aimed toward getting more grandmas into the orphanages...and with the current ban on Russian adoptions, this is highly necessary. The grandmas play with the

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-54005358260010391412013-02-09T10:58:00.000-05:002013-02-09T10:58:00.526-05:00

How can a child possibly sleep in so many different positions....and at so many different times? Too bad he doesn't sleep like this at night. :) Seriously? He makes me laugh. Most of the time.

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-16881385308101196722013-02-05T10:49:00.000-05:002013-02-05T10:49:37.080-05:00

Where have the past six months gone? Back then, our little guy looked like this. Now he looks like this. Still cute as a button. Likely a little cuter than he was six months ago when I deemed him not overly cute. :) He's a generally happy baby, though the past couple weeks have been far from pleasant. I think this is the cause. If you can't see it in the picture, his second sweet little

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-16256763071628976572013-02-03T14:40:00.001-05:002013-02-03T14:40:43.133-05:00

I can't believe it. First I can't believe that I forgot this important date...and second I can't believe that Jack has been in our home for two years. Okay. Make that two years and two weeks. Yes. Jack's family day came and went and it took nearly two whole weeks until I realized that we had missed it. Two weeks. That's like forgetting your child's birthday until two weeks after the

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-7751207329793113702013-01-25T14:52:00.000-05:002013-01-25T14:52:42.762-05:00

Ever had the feeling that life is like a long, curvy, mountainous road? You drive along. The road is good. You see a sharp curve sign ahead and think...oh, now surely it's not quite as sharp as the sign infers. Surely I can take this curve at 45 rather than 25. There's a few little pot-holes here and there, but nothing that is deep enough to do any damage. Then you head up a very long

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-36157434894614709362013-01-14T12:22:00.000-05:002013-01-14T12:22:30.200-05:00

We made it through that batch of sickness and are starting in on round two. Yes. You read that correctly. We're hoping that we can contain it to Addie....the only one with anything at this moment, but hopes are not very high. She is on the couch with a sore throat, fever, earache, and pinkeye. :) Fun stuff. She's taking Emergen C, garlic chopped up in honey, eye drops, and gargling with

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-17265564404708739442013-01-03T14:00:00.001-05:002013-01-03T14:00:58.980-05:00

The time has come. It's time to catch up. I could regale you with the happenings of the past month or two. I'm sure it would be riveting and you would be perched on the edge of your seats totally enthralled with the next round of Christmas gathering pictures. But I think I'll skip over all the nitty-gritty stuff and just start in where we're at right now. Right this minute our house smells

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-46296815693585868432012-12-27T15:25:00.000-05:002012-12-27T15:25:55.963-05:00

I know it's been a very long time since I've updated this thing. I know. You all probably think we've fallen off the face of the earth. You all being the two or three who possibly still check in on us. We haven't. We're still here. Still pluggin' away. And here in the past couple days, keeping a close eye on the Russian orphan crisis. That trumps our family update that hasn't been

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-32001126847014719802012-11-05T17:27:00.000-05:002012-11-05T17:27:17.373-05:00

I've written this post multiple times in my head. Sadly, trying to get the thoughts out on 'paper' doesn't always work out as planned. I open up the 'dashboard' of this blog, click on the 'new post' button, and think, "Okay. Now what exactly was I going to write?" I sit here and stare at a white page. I start typing. I hit the delete button and erase the first few sentences several times.

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-8484286084373948562012-10-30T06:21:00.000-04:002012-10-30T06:21:57.828-04:00

The little fellow turned six today. (Now yesterday. Oops.) Six. I have to wonder if his birth mom allowed herself to think about the one child that she dropped off at the maternity hospital never to see again. I wonder if she sits and daydreams about how her life would be different if she had kept him. I wonder if she would have kept him in her care had she the chance to have a re-do.

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1600061081347422880.post-48339854324835083122012-10-16T11:57:00.000-04:002012-10-16T11:57:13.448-04:00

If you hadn't noticed, there is now a new widget (I like to use that word) on the right hand side of my blog. It's to be used to donate money to Orphans at Play, a non-profit organization that is working mainly in Primorsky Region, Russia to get 'Grandmas' into baby homes and orphanages. Primorsky Region may be better known as Vladivostok, the area that our three oldest children were born in.

Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16425155946455986356noreply@blogger.com2