Room for 2

This is the fun part….the bedroom!

First, I found an inspiration picture and went from there. I had colors picked out that were very soft. They were pink, brown, aqua, white, and gold. I wanted a soft relaxing space for our girls. It needed to be a special place. So, we have some amazing things added to this space that made it just perfect and unique for our girls. It is a very small office space with NO closet and did I mention there are girls living here! This was a huge concern for me so we are embracing the word SIMPLE!

As we were waiting to meet our girls, we were able to send them a package. In the package we sent them each a doll. These dolls were the first real object they had from us that they started to bond with. They carried these dolls everywhere.

These bears pictured below were just the perfect gift from our pastor! They have the year they were adopted on them. Also, I heard from a bird that he also picked out the clothes for these bears. Can I say that I love my pastor! He is definitely an example of loving people! They absolutely love all the animals they received at the airport!

One of the things I loved about the inspiration picture was the polka dots on the wall. They added the perfect touch! They turned out amazing but we definitely had some frustration applying them. With my lack of wanting to measure anything and our awesome house that is not level….there were some challenges. Thank goodness for friends with a laser level and my husband!

I had this wonderful vision of two twin metal beds…it was perfect in my mind. Then I had a reality check….this room could not fit the beds. (insert some weeping here….I really wanted those beds) The best bed for this room was definitely the bunk beds. The search for bunk beds took a whole day. I wanted them to be sturdy yet affordable. We found a great deal and my family helped set them up!

As soon as we found out we were getting girls, my sister-in-law started working on some beautiful quilts….and they are almost done!! The girls are going to love them!! And of course the quilts will make this space even more special!

To add another touch of love for the girls, one of my  friends added these pillows to  put on their bed. The material is absolutely my FAVORITE!!! And I am sure these pillows are covered in prayers!

There are also two more pillows that are not shown here that they girls LOVE! A sweet teacher friend made pillows with their names on them. They thought it was neat that they had a personalized pillow!

Globes are super popular right now… especially for adoptive families. I had no idea these things are so expensive! If you are adopting, money for accessories are pretty low on the priority list. So, I was beyond blessed to find out that our family had this globe from my grandpa. He also had the perfect gold lamp! In the Skype session the girls were amazed that it was a touch lamp. He passed away recently and I love that he is the light in their room and the reminder that the world is bigger than just where you live. These girls have big dreams and the world won’t hold them back!

The gold quote says, “The first time I saw you, I knew an ADVENTURE was getting ready to begin!”

This flower vase was fun and easy to make! We had everything to make it except the feathers!

Did I mention that there is NO closet……so every space is used for storage!

We only had one picture of each of them before we left, so this frame was perfect. It had two places for pictures and the perfect quote in the middle….

We all know that dressers are expensive and I love projects that turn old things into new! So, my mom gave us her dresser to paint. (insert into your mind a wooden colored dresser, because the before picture was deleted by my precious kiddos) This warms my heart every time I see it because it is a piece of my mom. It turned out beautiful! The handles are my favorite!

Also, those frames on the dresser were made by my mom. She used Washi tape….you can use that stuff for ANYTHING!!!

When we got matched I was overwhelmed with the fact that all of my friends are so crafty!! I love it. So, a friend from church wanted to help out and I had the perfect job that I needed done but couldn’t do myself. I gave her fabric and a little idea and she blew me away with her talent!

While I was trying  to find the perfect pieces to make the room work with our budget, I had this amazing friend blessing the socks off me! It was important that there was some Spanish artwork in the room and she made that happen. It was also important to me that the quotes were meaningful. I really wanted to have MOST of the room done before the girls came home. So, she came over late one night and finished my unfinished work….aren’t these polka dots on this dresser fabulous! I can not say thank you enough for her friendship.

 

The girls love their room and I love that it has so many special things in it to show them they have so many people who love them. Thank you friends for making this space perfect…..and if I forgot to mention you, I’m sorry! There were just tons of you that were involved. I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU!

Chicken Pox

Well, we are anxiously waiting to Skype with our girls. We keep doing paperwork after paperwork to get things moving but we have a little snag in the process.

You are required to Skype with the children. They need to meet us before we arrive to pick them up. I mean really think about it….kinda scary! So, it is important that we Skype with them, so they can meet us and start processing the fact that they have a family coming to get them! It is easy to say that this is so exciting….and don’t get me wrong…it is…but it is also very emotional. So we are praying that when they find out, they have time to process what is happening and have that feeling of peace.

So, the reason we have not Skyped yet, is because one of them has the chicken pox. They have to be really careful with her because she has been contagious and there are many children there that could get it from her. So, that being said, please pray that she is healed and we get to Skype next week with them. After that happens ….things will be moving quickly!

I know that God has perfect timing and He is our healing…so join in standing in agreement that she is healed and they come home soon.

Thank you friends!

Gifts and Greetings

Our life is in a season of change or adventure as I like to call it. We are trying new things and allowing our eyes to be opened to a life that is a little uncomfortable but  hard to explain how amazing it is.
My husband and I love to try new things and enjoy crafting together. Our newest hobby is working with leather. He began making some really neat things and it started to inspire me to try it out. He is definitely more advanced than me, however I love working on any project with my husband. We are a good team. No, we don’t always see eye to eye but we can complement each other to come to a fantastic result.
Although the leather work is fun, I am a person that has a desire to try new things. So, that isn’t the only hobby I’m working on. I also love capturing memories on my camera. I am a beginner but enjoy learning!
So, one day after talking with each other, we came up with the idea to have an open house that provided people with a place to buy jewelry for Christmas or have their family photo made for a Christmas card. We were so excited so share this day with others and sell our crafts at the same time.
So here is a little of what the day looked like:

 

This family was a fantastic blessing and full of laughter. Those boys will just melt your heart!   

This beautiful couple will do anything and everything to make sure you are taken care of . They have raised me to care about others and enjoy life! My mom came to our open house and made sure that every visitor had a sweet cookie and hot apple cider to drink!   And this smile…..well, I just can’t say enough about her beautiful personality.

These are my second set of parents. And they came also to support us during our open house. He is photographer and used his knowledge to help me take some great pics for our friends!

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Here are a few samples of the leather jewelry. We enjoyed making each of these.

I had so much fun talking with friends and taking pictures that I forgot to take pictures of our newest jewelry.  I am very excited about it. It has pieces of tagua that are from South America. That’s another blog for another time.

This open house was a huge success. And was another thing we are adding to our confirmation that God is providing. This Saturday was the day AFTER we had an adoption fee due. It was a time that we just had to trust that God would provide when it was the right time. Sometimes you may think God is late….but please don’t give up. Keep the faith and God will always provide. This open house provided exactly what we needed for the next fee. Sometimes God just wants to see you keep your faith even when you don’t see how something will happen. I feel for any family who is adopting or going through the cost of infertility. KEEP THE FAITH….DREAM BIG…..DON’T GIVE UP

Lillian’s 1st Birthday

Our little grand baby, Lillian, is one! This year has flown by. We have enjoyed every moment of it. She has brought so much laughter and joy into our home. Our family and friends were able to come and share in this amazing celebration of life! We are so blessed to have such a huge group of people that are always there for us. I would like to share some very precious pics of the birthday girl! She wasn’t very interested in my idea for a photo shoot…..sooo….this was a little tricky but she is a doll! I love this girl to pieces!

This precious bear was given to her by her Grammy. It is too cute! It sings Happy Birthday!

She has learned how to hold up one finger when you ask her how old she is. So during this picture, I asked her and she held up one finger on both hands! TOO CUTE!!

We covered rubber ducks with gold glitter. Her favorite toy is the rubber ducky! It is so cute when she says duckeeee!

YUM! A party must have food! One of Lillian’s favorite things to do is eat!

  This child has an exciting future in front of her. I can’t wait to watch her enjoy life!

Goodbye Summer…Hello to a year full of blessings

Well, tonight is my last night of Summer break. As I look back, I am very pleased with the time off. Tons of …..

pool parties, friends, food, church, finished our HOME STUDY, filled out our immigration paperwork, vacation with the hubs, reading great books, blogging, enjoying every minute I got to babysit, organized some things around the house, stayed up late, got up early (thank you internal clock), studied the Bible, vacation with my parents and brother’s family, late night coffee dates, watched my daughter study everyday for her first college classes,practiced Spanish, saw friends who I don’t usually see,  took a picture everyday to document my summer (which is pretty good for me…I usually quit that kind of stuff by day 10) And last but not least…..I just enjoyed the little things in life.

There were times that we were a little stressed and as usual we didn’t get everything done I had planned. I even started to get frustrated about that. I sometimes put such high expectations on myself that I only set myself up for disappointment. We had a wonderful break from work and those little projects will still be here at another time. And as usual Jesus backed me up on this today. I love how he speaks at just the right time. Here is what I read today after feeling a little defeated.

“Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God ’s Decree. “Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people Israel: “They’ll rebuild their ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables. And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land. They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them.” God , your God, says so.

Amos 9:13

Amen….this is going to be an amazing year!!!!

Here is a small glimpse into our summer….check out how I documented our summer daily on facebook.~Rebekah Lane

My Very Creative Husband

College Bound

Here I am VERY excited to attend a ceremony to watch my beautiful daughter graduate High School!

CLASS of 2014!!!!

 

Graduation is such a special celebration for families! As I look back at the path I followed, this graduation just couldn’t make me prouder! I was a young mom….no I don’t recommend this path for anyone!!!! (it’s HARD!!!!)  However, I am here to tell you that if you find a friend going through this or you are a young mom, there is a great and exciting path in front of you! Never give up and keep positive people around you! My daughter graduated this year and I’m so excited to see what the future holds for her. She has big goals and is very determined!

She just loves her mom’s kisses!

It’s official!

These are my parents that NEVER gave up on me! They are here to celebrate!

This was the cute dress under the Cap and Gown! She is my little fashionista!

My girls!!!!

She surprised us with a grandchild this year and brought a lot of mixed emotions with it. Going through this myself, it brought back some of the feelings I had when I was in High School. After prayer and conversations with her, we chose to enjoy every minute of this blessing God has given our family. It was hard at first because those earthly emotions come over you and it would have been easy to be negative towards this situation. I was heart-broken for her to have to go through this hard journey and was also  sad that we had to put our adoption on hold. But those are the feelings that we should not cling too. Satan will take some beautiful things in your life and tell you that they are negative. Making you miss out on the most precious parts of your life. If you look at it from God’s perspective you will see the beauty in the unexpected turns life takes. When we chose joy it made our world turn around. I can’t express the blessings we have had since then. Our daughter is absolutely an amazing mom and our granddaughter makes us smile every single day!

So, today is my 3rd day of summer break and I have the most awesome opportunity! I get to babysit my granddaughter two days a week while my daughter goes to college!! We are going to have so much fun! And my daughter is beyond excited to start college. Actually she just called me on her break and couldn’t stop talking about how she loves class! I love seeing God work His plan. When I look at my path I see the times that I have fallen and not understood what was happening. However; I also look back and see miracles happening and things I just couldn’t see when I was right in the middle of them. When you choose to take the positive road, your life will have some unbelievable surprises. Love the ones around you …even if it is hard! My parents never gave up on me and I will never give up on my daughter!

2013 Christmas

I am so thankful for my family. We had a fabulous time during Christmas. We got to visit Rhees’ family on Christmas day and my family the day after. This was a little different than our usual schedule. We usually try and fit everyone in one day. That makes for one busy day and just not as much quality time. So, this schedule was much more enjoyable. We both have families that we are so blessed by. I really love the quality time of Christmas way more than the gifts. But I do have to say, when you find a gift for someone that they have really been wanting or needing, that is fun! This Christmas there were more little kids around and that always makes the day much more entertaining. Here are some fun pictures from our family Christmas.

Enjoying the Christmas lights

And of course….we thought and prayed all day that our children that are waiting for us were being blessed that day too. It is funny when you just know that something is missing from your family. We pray that next Christmas we know the faces of those sweet children. 2014 is going to be an awesome year for our family. We pray your family is also truly blessed.

Do you have a home?

This December has been so rushed. I feel like we are barely keeping up. It is now our Winter break and we are finally having time to catch up and enjoy some family time. One thing that is different this year is the answer to a question many have asked me. This question is usually something I really have to think about and usually don’t have a real good answer for because my love language is not gifts. The question is “What do you want for Christmas?” This year is not the first year that we have been trying to expand our family however; it is the first year that the answer to that question is….”I want to see my children’s faces.” I have been very emotional and eager to meet them. I feel that we are approaching the day when we get a phone call. So, as I was sitting in the church service today, I just thought…how perfect! The message was about how we should all have a home. We should all have a place where a stocking is hung with our name on it. Of course, all I could think about was …do our kids have a place they call home…do they have a warm meal…are they given encouraging words,hugs,and anything they need to succeed? The list could go on and on.
Our pastor gave each person in the church a stocking and had everyone write their name on it representing that we all are family…we all have a home if we accept it.
In my mind…I was just thinking I can’t wait until my children can be apart of our wonderful church that makes everyone feel welcome. However, my husband went above my wishing and just did it. He took a stocking and wrote on it for our children. Together we hung the stocking to represent that our children do already have a home. Yes…if your wondering…..there were lots of tears of course!
So, I have no idea when our sweet kids will be with us but they are already in our hearts. We pray for them daily and will be overjoyed when we see their sweet faces.

There is a place for everyone at our church!