...HELLO..... IS ANYONE OUT THERE???? ...

This is a special post. For a SPECIAL friend. A friend that we pray for each and every night... right after Shelby and Mr. Tommy... and right before Bobby Sue. At the risk of causing any embarrassment... we will call her Miss Fruity-Patooty. We sure wish we knew how Miss Fruity was doing. Last we heard... she was heading to the beach. Maybe she was eaten by a shark... or perhaps she was carried away by the dophins? Who knows???? For all we know... she ran away with Fabio - and forgot about all her friends. :)

As for our "other" friends: Shelby has been healthy for quite some time... and we are so THANKFUL for that. We pray each night that God will continue to keep her strong and healthy...she is such a blessing to our lives! We love her dearly. Mr. Tommy had his second surgery last week... and I assume he is doing well... since I passed him driving on the road!!! He's really a trooper and a very special friend. Bobby Sue just completed her Chemo - and albeit for the fatigue, she is really doing very well. We are so grateful for all of God's blessings on all of our friends. Then... there's Miss Fruity. Perhaps Miss Fruity needs a little incentive... you know... something that might "prod" her along to share the progress of her incredible journey with all of us sitting on the edge of our seats wanting to know: Did you hear the waves roaring on the beach? The crashing as they slammed into the sand? The birds flying overhead? The screams of the swimmers as they spotted the dorsal fin of the shark...???? Anything?

So... here's a little snippet of a photo... Hmmmm I believe this is the early 80's based on the lovely "do". Maybe I'll post another snippet tomorrow... or the next day? Maybe, since I have known you for...hmmmm.... 30+ years I can find an even better photo to encourage a post on your blog???? (I can't find the boxes... but remember the bras and the ice machines on mission tour? I think I have a photo...)

Yes, I am evil. But if it makes you feel any better... we love you Miss Fruity-Patooty! POST ONE FOR US SOON!!!!

It Takes a Village...

OK. I spend so much time talking about my family... and don't get me wrong... they are the light of my life and the apple of my eye.

However, we have an extended family that is a very big part of our lives. That is the family that makes up Hi-Tech Enterprises... Tim's official first "baby". Tim started Hi-Tech in 1986, and while he won't make a big deal about it... I think it is a very big deal. It is how we make our living, how we pay our bills, how we have managed to afford to adopt our children, and it has allowed me the opportunity to be as much of a Stay-At-Home-Mom as you can be when you own your own business. (This basically means that when I go to work, the children go with me.) If I am there the kids are there with me... and they have their own area to play, with toys, a TV and yes, some old phones. They spend a lot of time on the "phone" with their own version of playing Hi-Tech... or they play their other favorite game "Honey and Tim". I won't tell you who Honey is... but I can tell you... she sure does talk a lot. ;)

OK, so back to Hi-Tech. This year instead of doing the Christmas Dinner out... I wanted to get the families together. So, I opted for a Pizza Party on the Friday before Christmas - at our office. It was really fun! We got to get everyone together... which is a huge feat since we have some people that work in the mornings, and some in the afternoons. I wasn't aware that a few of our staff people hadn't even met one another. It was really nice to get everyone together - and be able to say THANK YOU to them and their families for all that they do for US!

Like I said... it takes a village... and we know that we are only as good as the people that we have working with us each and every day. I think that we have a really wonderful team in place... and Tim and I both feel very blessed to have each person working at Hi-Tech. It's a wonderful thing to have a team that works well together - and still has fun. So here is the other part of our family - the family at Hi-Tech Enterprises!

Do You SEE This Sweet Smile???

Our God is so GOOD! I am overwhelmed with tears of joy... and shaking with excitement!!!

"LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O, LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known, in wrath remember mercy." Habakkuk 3:2

Every time I think I have seen an awesome miracle... God just "Wows" me even more. The judge on Lucas' case SIGNED HIS CERTIFICATE OF ABANDONMENT TODAY! You don't understand.... this is HUGE! This sweet boy is going to be able to come home. His case will be able to be filed before the end of the year, meeting the requirements for the new Law that just passed... and will be able to process through under the old law. I am so THANKFUL to everyone that took a moment of their time to say a prayer for this little boy. He is truly such a sweet little boy - and this is such an amazing gift for his entire family. The weight has been lifted... Thank you for your part in helping Lucas come home!

But most of all - Thanks be to God for this wonderful blessing!

ONE BIG PUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need your help....

OK... so I was planning to post about Ali's birthday... because let me just say... I HIT ONE OUT OF THE PARK THIS TIME... YES I DID. I will post about that later. Today we have more pressing issues... and it will need the help and prayers of everyone out there. This is very urgent... and vitally important! OK... if you have read the blog for long, you will remember LUCAS. We need prayers and we need them RIGHT NOW. Specifically pray that the judge will sign off on the Certificate of Abandonment this FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14th...so that Lucas' case can be filed with the Central Authority. This is very important. Many of you know that they did pass the Ortega Law this week. They have made provisions (supposedly...) for those of us that are already in process. For Lucas, however... this is not a good thing. THIS FRIDAY - DECEMBER 14th IS THE LAST CHANCE FOR THE JUDGE TO SIGN OFF ON THE COA. Please pray that the judge's heart will be softened... that he will see that unless he gives over the COA... that this new law could prevent Lucas from being able to come home. It is a terrifying thought for any parent. We have had to deal with those thoughts the last few months. I wouldn't wish this stress on anyone. Please pray for Lucas, pray for the judge... and pray for my dear friend, Jane. As a mother - I can't imagine a more difficult day than this Friday will be. Please join me in asking God for a miracle for this little boy! God is good! He has already worked so many miracles for so many of our friends... and this is Lucas' time for a miracle!

Going... Going... Goodbye Mr. Spalding!!!

OK - we are backing up to December 2nd now... I had a few posts about a friend of ours that had some really excellent news from DOWN SOUTH... but I decided to remove those posts becuase of the privacy of his family. So it appears I have let myself get WAY BEHIND in posting. Besides that...we have had 6 houseguests over the holidays and a 130 pound St. Bernard visiting. No offense to the humans... but that sweet dog is a breeze to care for. She is kind, gentle and loving... and she sleeps a lot. :) So for those of you that think I fell off the face of the earth... I have only been MIA.

Ali's birthday...it's such a tough one. It's not at a great time of year. You kind of get lost in the shuffle when it's right after one holiday... and yet everyone is gearing up for a new holiday. But still... we want birthdays to be a special time for each of our children. We set aside the entire day to spend with them - and if it is during the week... we take off the entire day to honor them and the blessing they are to our lives and our family.

Ali, however, has been a tough nut to crack. She always wants exactly whatever Rachel has gotten the month before. So I never have a new and unique gift idea for her, or she's upset because it wasn't what Rachel got. This year I began to look early for a gift that I thought would please her. I decided I finally found something! Ali's big day was on a Sunday. I could NOT WAIT until we had her party at home. I was so excited about her present. I just knew that I finally found something that she would like actually USE. (She liked the "I Can Play The Piano" for less than 10 minutes. She has never played it since.) We had our dinner... and we had her birthday cake...she wanted ANGEL CAKE (aka Angel Food Cake). She was thrilled. I( made the wrong icing...which she told me AFTER we had already started to eat the cake... but overall I think he was pretty happy with that part of the party.) She began to open presents... Rachel and McCaleb got her Bath and Body stuff... she was over the top excited over that! They also got her some art supplies. She is very talented, and she was excited about that, too. Then it was time for the "big" present. She opened her gift... and went totally NUTS! We got her the Nitro Notebook... which is like a kids version of a laptop. It's also pink. I wish now I had been taping with the video camera. She screamed... she jumped up and down... and I got the THUMBS UP. It was a great moment for the Mom that never seems to get it just "right"! I was tickled to death. She was out of control... she did a happy dance and began bragging right away.

It Speaks for Itself...

Sometimes... there just aren't words that can adequately describe a photo... so we will let Sara's NOVEMBER UPDATE speak for itself.

Note to self: Ask her when she gets home... Did she like the bonnet better, or the giant paper collar????

Bless her Sweet Heart!