Electrician team

At the beginning of the month, Nathan worked on replacing several receptacles. . . and Abigail helped! She was fascinated by his work and by his tools. She's also coined a new term which we hear regularly now. "Relectical" is a combination of "electrical" and "receptacle."

Local visits the next week

We were delighted to have family come to town over the next few days! Jon and Ellen drove through with Stephen on their way back to Florida and Mom and Dad Mee made their trip back in a hurry so we could all have lunch together at a local deli. Aunt Ellen and Abigail happily shared winking contests and ice cream cones and kept us laughing. Stephen was headed for a brief visit at Jon & Ellen's before returning to Wisconsin for the spring semester of college - we don't get to see him often!
And the next morning, Tom and Lydia and Gabriel, Lydee and Bella drove in for the day. This was actually the girls' first visit to our condo! I was also keeping one little girl that day, so we had a full house. . . at least hopping with five little ones present. =)

Family visits on the way back

Sunday after Christmas we headed south again by way of Farmville. We enjoyed a yummy meal at a riverside restaurant with Aunt BA, Uncle David, and Emmalee. Afterwards we went to Uncle Chuck and Aunt Faye's house and got to visit with Julia's cousin Kristen and her family there too. "Baby Amaya" is one now (just an infant the last time we saw her!) and she and Abigail were happy to play together. The camera Abigail got for Christmas came up in conversation, and so Abigail demonstrated her photography skills - see the pictures of Jason and Aunt Faye and of Uncle Chuck and Daddy.

Christmas In Virginia

Christmas Eve, Caleb, Abigail and Julia picked Nathan up from work at the airport at 3:30 p.m. and we headed to Virginia! We'd planned to spend Christmas this year with Julia's mom and family in Tennessee, but Mom was spending the holiday with her mom (a year after Granddad died last 12/21). After getting in late, we slept, and woke up to share Christmas morning with Tom and Lydia and girls as well.
Caleb read of Christ's incarnation from Luke 2. Abigail could've recited verses 11 and 14, but she was too shy to do more than whisper a few phrases. After we exchanged gifts (which we took a long time doing!), the ladies got to cooking for a late afternoon meal. It was special to have this portion of the family together (first time in six years that Mom, Julia, Caleb, and Lydia had all been together for Christmas). And of course, the three little girls kept everyone entertained. Bella and Lydee are developing so much personality (six and a half months old at Christmas) and Abigail's always ready to exercise hers.

A family just ahead of us

This video clip left Nathan teary and me weeping. I think you'll understand why. It's overwhelming to consider the (horizontal) implications for a family and the(vertical) implications of God rescuing and adopting us. As Jason Kovacs said, "In it you can catch a glimpse of Zach and Kim’s heart to make much of Christ in adoption and in their lives as they live out the Gospel."

Glorifying the Father of the Fatherless

Nathan and I read this post from DesiringGod.org last summer as God was moving our hearts toward adoption. The author, Jason Kovacs, has been an encouragement to us through his writing and as part of the Together for Adoption conference we attended in November (where we got to speak with him for about half an hour). Please read this portion of his story which ends, "The question will never be whether you should care for orphans. The question is how you will care for them and in doing so reflect the compassion of God for the least of these."

Our little girl's three!

This was one greatly anticipated birthday! We celebrated the night before and Uncle Caleb joined us. . . and if Uncle Caleb comes, it's definitely a party in Abigail's mind. =) Afterwards, I recorded a few laughable moments.

Before we ate the birthday supper, Uncle Caleb was asking Abigail what her presents might be. “What do you think I got you?” he teased. She finally replied, “Did you got me a debit card?!”

Abigail was very happy to open her gift from GramMee and Grandpa – a new baby doll complete with a diaper, pajamas, a teddy and a book. She was mothering her new little baby very sweetly and asked Uncle Caleb if he’d like to hold her. Like a good uncle, he said he would. So, Abigail replies, “Can you sit on the couch and I’ll give her to you, ‘cause children need to sit on the couch to hold babies.” Yes, Mommy.

Playing her new game “Hi-Ho Cherry-O,” when she finally got all her fruit into her basket, she happily announced “Hello Cheerio!”

And as I just left Nathan tucking Abigail in for the night, she was bouncing on her bed exclaiming,

“Yay! I get to be three in the mor-ning! I get to be three in the mor-ning!”

Mom's 60th birthday

Saturday the 29th, Mom and Dad Mee came to Greenville for a special birthday lunch. . . celebrating Mom's 60th. Several of us enjoyed a fun Japanese steakhouse meal and then Tom and Lydia asked Mom and Dad to run an errand with them before we met up again at Caleb's condo. Evidently, Mom was rather impatient about all the time "wasted," but it was just enough for us to make preparations and welcome the other guests. When they "finally" arrived, SURPRISE!! (And she really was.) We were delighted to have a number of Mom's friends from church and work in this area join most of the family for the celebration. We made memories and got some fun pictures - including one of the clan.

Who's Adopted?

This post is a must read! =)