Our Christmas

WHEW! What a wonderful Christmas we had! We celebrated Jesus' birthday 5 different times with different parts of our family. It was so much fun to get together, visit, laugh, eat, open presents and just be together with family. We started with Milledge's family on Friday December 21st, then my family on Sunday before Christmas, just the four of us on Christmas Day, with my daddy on Friday afternoon and my mother's family on Friday night.
We took down all of our decorations today, which was somewhat bittersweet. I am very glad to have my house back to normal but I love Christmas and all that goes with it, so I hate to see it go....plus my house always looks so bare after a month of all those decorations! But, we have lots of memories to last us a lifetime or at least until next year! We hope all of you had a safe and happy holiday as well!

Merry Christmas......

....from our family to yours! May your Christmas be filled with the true gifts of the season....Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy, all of which we know only come from Jesus, who is the reason we celebrate today!

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

The stockings are hung....

.....on our mantle with care! Aren't these the cutest stockings?! My friend, Caryn, gave me Ruthie's stocking for Christmas. Well, once I received it, the boys stockings didn't match, so I ordered them one as well! :) It is hard to tell in the picture but Ruthie's is hot pink, Anderson's is green and Jon Milledge's is red. I love seeing stockings for all three of my babies on the mantle. Even though Ruthie isn't home with us this Christmas, she is certainly in our hearts. I wonder if Santa will leave anything in her stocking??!


This is a new nativity that I received from Forest and Caryn for Christmas. Forest, aka Dr. Pagett, is the dentist that I work for and his wife, Caryn, is one of my dearest friends. Anyway, we had our staff Christmas party on Thursday night which was full of food and lots of fun. We played all sorts of games that had us in stitches and even had a run to Walmart for a scavenger like game! The nativity was hand made by one of our patients who does amazing pottery, sculpting, and metal work. The detail on it is wonderful. Isn't it beautiful? Thank you Forest and Caryn!! I love it!



This is a picture of our tree that I took today before my family came over for Christmas. I should've taken one when it was dark outside so that you could see the lights better but once everyone arrived, that was the last thing on my mind!

Prayers for Lily....

I have met so many wonderful people through our adoption process. People that I have so much in common with and now think of as lifelong friends. One of those people is Leslie. Leslie has two beautiful daughters...Ella, adopted from Ukraine and, Lily, adopted from China. Lily is having open heart surgery tomorrow to correct a problem that the doctors found once she was home in August. Please say a prayer for Lily and her Mommy and Daddy. Surgery is scary anytime but open heart surgery on a two year old has Larry and Leslie somewhat nervous. Please pray for the nurses and doctors that will be caring for Lily. Also, pray for a quick recovery and healing for little Lily so that she can be home to celebrate her first Christmas with her forever family.

Larry, Leslie, Ella and Lily....Milledge and I are praying for all of you. Please let us know if there is anything we can do from here. I still think I just need to come up there! ;)

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. James 5:15

****Update****
Lily's surgery was a success!! She is in ICU and they are just trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. She is doing so well that they think she will move to a regular room tomorrow if they can remove her chest tube! Thank you for your prayers!Leslie said that they were certainly felt.

*****Update #2**** Friday December 21
Lily was moved to a regular room last night and had her chest tube removed this morning. I just called Leslie and when her cell phone rang she said that Lily started dancing to the ringtone! If all continues to go like it is right now, Lily will be released to go home TOMORROW!! She will be at home with her family for Christmas! YIPPEEE! Thank you God for your many, many blessings!

*****Update #3**** Saturday December 22
Lily is HOME!! She was released this morning and is now at home playing like she never even had the surgery. I talked to Leslie and Miss Lily on the phone earlier this evening and she was running around, climbing and acting like a typical two year old! Thank you all so much for your prayers for this little girl! They were heard and felt by her family.

More Christmas Favorites

This is a nativity that my mother gave me and Milledge as a wedding shower gift before we got married. We love it!


This is our Rudolph that greets us when we walk in the door. The boys have always enjoyed him and fight over who gets to plug him in everyday. They even turn him on and off every morning before school just so they can see him lit up for a few minutes!

13 Months and Believing...

As of today, we have been waiting 13 months for our Ruthie. We would like to say that we have waited those months patiently but that hasn't always been the case, some days are just plain hard! God spoke to me recently in His still small voice and really helped me through one of those hard days. When I was down about the wait, wondering if Ruthie was ever going to come home and basically just having a pity party for myself, I felt Him very close to me saying...."Do you really think I don't understand what you are going through? Do you think I don't know what if feels like to wait? Do you think I don't know what it feels like to be separated from my child? I do understand, I have waited much, much longer for some of my children to come home to me and actually some never do and I know how bad it hurts to be separated from a child. Please just be still and know that I am God and working during your wait".
I had never really thought about Almighty God having to wait on anything. I mean, He is all knowing, all powerful, why should He have to wait on anything? But, probably the one thing He doesn't want to wait on, what pains him the most is waiting on us, his children, to come home to Him. He does understand what I am going through and because I am learning to lean on Him more, He is bringing me closer to Him through this wait! How wonderful is that?! Thank you God for your patience and for waiting on and believing in me.


My friend, Leslie, and her family recently sent us a care package and this ornament was in it along with several other very cute things. This little ornament meant so much to me and made me think about what I believe during this Christmas season.
~I believe that God sent His one and only Son to earth to live and die for my sins.
~I believe that because I believe this and have accepted it, I am a child of God and will live with Him forever in heaven.
~I believe that He has blessed me beyond measure with a wonderful family and great friends.
~And I believe that Ruthie WILL be home some day!

Thank you Leslie! I believe that I am blessed to call you my friend.

Favorite Books

These are two of my very favorite Christmas books. The first one, The Christmas Story, was one that I loved as a child. I couldn't wait for the Christmas season to come around because my mother would read this to us and we would sit listening, anticipating the next page and enjoying the wonderful pictures. My mother moved recently and I found this book in her basement and she was kind enough to let me bring it home. I wonder what two little boys will be listening to this great book in the next few weeks?!



The next one is a newer book that I had not read until a couple of years ago. I'm not even sure how old it is but it is very cute. If you have not read Olive, the Other Reindeer, it is a must holiday read!



Happy Holiday Reading!