OUR PLANS MULTIPLIED

In the beginning, JD adamantly only wanted two children. I thought that four would be perfect. Once we caught God's vision of putting orphans into families, our plan was multiplied by God. We are currently blessed with 12 children; five biological, six adopted and one more waiting in Ethiopia. Our first adoption was from the U.S., the next three were from Liberia, West Africa, and our last two were from Ethiopia. We are supporting our 12th child in Ethiopia after her adoption could not pass court.

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Plural Trips

Doesn't feel too springy outside today, but it's been spring break for us. Alyssa, Tori and Oliver flew to WA State to visit Gabriel and family.  Oliver is a month away from turning 2 and Samuel is 2.5. They had a great time together! 



Toddler picture overload - 






Tori is an excellent photographer so I had to request a picture of her with the boys. Samuel fell asleep in the car on the way to this outing but it's finally a picture with Tori and Nathan along with Oliver. 


Gabriel and Alyssa in the beautiful northwest. Gabriel and Alayna love the area and it's not hard to see why. I'm anxious to make my trip out, which was delayed until May.




While they were gone, Elijah and I made a trip to Lynchburg, VA. His state basketball tournament was in Richmond two weekends ago, and only one parent was allowed in, so I did that one. We were hoping for two parent attendance at the Lynchburg tournament, but it was zero parents, only staff. I quickly assumed the role of "team manager" and was able to attend the three games. They came in second in state (homeschool teams) and we placed fifth in Lynchburg, but it also included NC and TN teams. 




The college we played at was about 30 minutes from Liberty U. but our hotel was right on the edge of the Liberty campus. Since three of us have attended Liberty online, I was pretty excited to see the campus. We saw three colleges that weekend of playing and Liberty is by far the most gorgeous campus, with the mountains and the buildings. We hit up the bookstore for some Liberty gear. 


Historic home that was on the property when it was bought and turned into the chapel. 



The sun was in Elijah's eyes, but here he is - 

 


The divinity tower was closed, but it has a platform to overlook the campus and far beyond. 



Being sports motivated, Elijah was excited to see the stadiums and the traveling team that got off the bus to play Liberty last Saturday.



When Alyssa dropped Tori off at 1:00 a.m. from the airport, Oliver was upset that he didn't get to come see everyone, so they came the next day. By afternoon, he was so tired that he was requesting to go to bed. He slept from 6 p.m. to 9:30 the next morning; jet lag is rough coast to coast on a toddler. It is good to have our baby goat visitor back to duty though. 



This is Gabriel and Elijah exactly 11 years ago - he looks a lot like Oliver to me. 



Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Oliver, Finneus and Fern

Storm, the goat, had the first two babies of the season on a cold, stormy night, true to her name and history. We are on the letter F, so these two are Finneus and Fern. They are about three weeks old now and Oliver loves them. 



Lady is the next due - in fact, we have been thinking any day now for about a week. Elijah and I are out of town this weekend for his basketball tournament, so Lady and I are discussing that she needs to go before or after! 



Oliver a farm boy through and through, as most boys would be if given the exposure. He loves the baby goats. Yesterday may be the last time he can hold these two, they are growing fast!


He's good about making sure they get equal attention! 


Oliver is heading across the country today with his momma and an aunt to visit his cousins. I'm excited to see if they enjoy playing yet. Hard to know with 2 year olds - Oliver will be two next month and Samuel is 2.5 already!