Divine Appointment with Santa

Rewind to a few weeks ago.....we attended an adoption conference put on by North Wake Church. It was such an encouraging night of hearing the difference adoption has made in so many lives. The emcee of the night was a man that looked strangely like Santa Clause. He assured all of the kids in the audience that he was in fact not Santa, but that his mom and Santa's mom were sisters:) He was a precious man that was adopted through the Baptist Children's Home and is now extremely involved with the children there. He also has adopted children and grandchildren!

So yesterday, we were out running some errands, stopped by the mall, and realized nobody was in line to see Santa since it was the middle of the week and 11:00 in the morning. We took the kids over and I could tell he was very interested in Aven. I left her in the stroller, knowing she would want nothing to do with him:) After he talked to the boys for a minute, he asked them "is that your sister? Let me see her." So I brought her over, and he began telling us how adoption was such an amazing thing, how he had adopted children and grandchildren, and had just attended an adoption conference a few weeks ago. Putting the pieces together, I told him that we had seen him at the conference! We stood there and talked to Santa for probably 30 minutes about adoption, church, and the Lord. With a few random questions stuck in there from the boys about reindeer and the North Pole! :) He told the photographers that he wanted to use one of his free photo packages for us. And asked only that we give him one of the pictures with our names and information on the back. THEN, before we left, this man sat down, pulled the boys in close, and reminded them of the TRUE meaning of Christmas being Jesus coming as a baby to be our Savior! What a precious moment!

 

There were tears in my eyes when we left. Every time we meet someone who has a heart for adoption, it is a special meeting. But THIS was extra special:) Nobody else came in line for the whole 30 minutes we talked to him. The Lord gave us such a gift in that time with this dear man! It was a divine appointment with Santa for sure!

Brody is SIX!!

My firstborn is 6! What a blessing this kid is! Brody is a joy to parent. He is so tenderhearted and kind. He is an amazing big brother. He is super smart and has the best imagination! He is rocking Kindergarten and has made our transition into homeschooling so easy and fun! I am cherishing this time we have together! Happy Birthday to my biggest boy! You are my HEART!

We celebrated Brody's birthday with some of his friends at the Bowling Alley! It was so much fun and Brody loved having all of his friends with him!

Halloween '13

Exchange Church Launch

Exchange Church launched from Rolesville Highschool on October 6th! It was such an exciting day! This church plant has been officially in the making for almost 2 years and to see it finally happen was amazing! The Lord has blessed Exchange Church with an incredible group of people that have a heart for the Rolesville community and a heart for seeing others come to the Lord. We are so blessed to be a part of this!

 

Pool

We joined a pool this year, so we have spent many summer mornings and evenings there! Brody became such a great swimmer,  Levi enjoyed the water slides and spray ground, and Aven had absolutely no fear of the water! Several of the families from our church joined the pool as well, so the kids had tons of fun meeting up with friends there.

Levi turns 3!

Levi is THREE!!! Happy Birthday to the most fun-loving, hilarious, and sweet three year old I know! This year Levi went from being the youngest child to the middle child! He has taken it like a champ! He adores his little sister SO much and has not shown even a second of jealousy at all of the attention she has needed this year. Levi makes it impossible for himself to be overlooked....like most middle children complain of:) He is always the center of attention and the life of the party! He is our JOY! Life would be boring without this kid!

 

We enjoyed celebrating Levi's birthday with Brian's family in Virginia! The weekend of his birthday we took him on a surprise trip to Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, NC. He loved it and we had a great time as a family!

Beach

This summer was the first summer of my entire life that I have not made multiple trips to the beach! It felt weird. My family is in the process of selling our house at Topsail and it is so bittersweet. The beach house was rented out the entire summer and so we were only able to make it down for a day trip this year. When it got to be August and I had not yet felt the sand between my toes, I couldnt take it anymore! Mom and I packed up the kids and went to Topsail for the day. It was a PERFECT day! Perfect weather, pretty perfect kids, and tons of fun in the sun! It was Aven's first trip to the beach and she did great!