Christmas Eve 2011

and then I gave up:)

we got this blown up into a 3by2 and they did a great job! its over our fireplace and its beautiful!!!

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Ferrell Christmas Card

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Wow has this been a year of change at our house. We now have a young adult in our home, a college student (UT for elementary ed) and working man (He takes care of 16 kindergartners from 2-6 every day) that we only see in passing for the most part. Luke still finds time to be a Jr. high sponsor on wed. nights and to be the lead teacher for large group Sunday school every Sunday. so glad he isn't to big to go on a family vacation or out to dinner for his moms birthday.....and be kungfu panda for Halloween:)

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Abby is home schooled this year and is taking classes at Lourdes which she loves, she now has a drivers licence and I have to admit it is wonderful to not have to drive her to her hundreds of babysitting jobs, college classes and youth group events:)  I have even stooped so low to send her to the store for eggs... She and Ellie have become best friends this year and it has been so fun to watch them take dance together and hang out together....since last year they couldn't stand each other! She is great with the little girls, they love her to death!

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 Ellie has grown up this year, she is no longer my little girl but a beautiful young lady. She loves dance and leading worship for the kids at church and is doing so well this year with her home schooling. She has improved so much and we are so proud of her. One of the biggest blessings of this year has been watching her and Abby become best friends and Ellie taking the little girls under her wing ansd begin helping them and encouraging them instead of just teasing them!

Lily has grown so much this year. and I mean GROW she has gained 18 pounds and 5 inches. she had a hard year but has come through it like a trouper. her strength and resiliency never ceases to amaze us. She broke her arm VERY badly in may and had to have surgery and still has lots of nerve damage that has limited the movement of her hand even more then it was. We are making trips to Cinci childrens to see if there is anything that can be done and will start PT and OT in Jan. after the nerve has had time to heal. She has such a beautiful spirit and is so thankful to have a family she tells us almost every day. We are so grateful to God for his sweet gift to us.

Emma has become quite the gymnast, just last week she got her back handspring down. She is the one that has had the hardest time adjusting to having a new sister. Its not that she doesn't love having a sister its just that its a rude awakening when all of a sudden you are not the center of the world. She and Luke keep us laughing. she is always doing a hand stand, back walkover or the splits in our family room and if your not careful you will get kicked! did I mention that we are still working on self  control:) she is a spit fire and will change this world once that energy is channeled in the right direction!

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as for Paul and I we are kept very busy running after this crew that God has blessed us with. I love being on stage teaching kids every week and Paul likes to be behind the computer...shocking I know:) We loved taking the kids to florida this year, it was so much fun! we celebrated 20 years in oct.

Home schooling the 4 girls takes most of my time, taking them to lessons, cooking and cleaning take up the rest:) I am on a blog bible study with Dee Brestin and some other woman to keep me growing it the Lord. Paul and I have also loved reading "a praying life" this year

the years go by faster and faster... I wish I had more time to spend with each of you. I have loved facebook this year because I have felt like a part of so many of your lives. I pray that this year will bring you and yours much growth, joy, hope, laughter and Love.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

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Lily gets to see her best friend from China!

It  took a while for them to warm up to each other but once they did they really enjoyed thier visit! Annalyn also has AMC but she also has it in her legs. Amy and I laugh because they can do anything. they just find their own way.

Lily's first visit to the ocean

Lily has never seen the ocean or been on a vacation before. what an amazing privilege to give her this amazing trip. We are so blessed with giving friends! We could have never had this kind of vacation without the generosity of a wonderful friend.

 Poor Lily is very traumatized by the jellyfish sting Luke got. she will not go back in the ocean. but she is having a blast in the pool. all of the kids are sleeping right now, they are playing hard!

I have enjoyed this vacation so very much. We have had such a busy, hard year and this has been a wonderful time of renewal.

the kids have been so helpful and have entertained themselves for the most part and I have actually got to rest....a first for me on a family vacation:)

update on Lily's arm

We found out today that Lily will need more surgery to remove the plate and screws in her arm on sept. 1st. there has been extensive nerve damage and she has lost almost all function of her right hand. not that she had a ton to begin with but since she uses her hands together this has really made her much less independent.
this is so hard on her! she is so proud and wants to do things herself.
she needs help dressing, getting drinks, reaching high things, washer herself, making a sandwich, you get the idea. its much like having a 2 year old but she is not trying to kill herself every 5 sec. :)
please pray as we make decisions about going out of town to specialists, her care here, just everything, this is so new t o us and we want to give her the best care out there but we don't want her life to be all about therapy and dr's.
re breaks are a real danger, it is so hard to know how to limit her and how much to trust God to protect her. just falling out of a chair could break a bone....so why not let her do fun things that  could break it????? as you can tell, its just a hard balance of being over protective and being wise and careful.

One year....what a wonderful God we serve!!!!

first day home!

I would NEVER say this has been an easy year or that adopting an older child who does not speak your language and has  dependent disability is an easy thing to do...that would be a lie:)
BUT I would say that it is worth every tear, every Dr. apt. every dark mood, every button unbuttoned so she can go to the bathroom because she is to stubborn to wear elastic pants, every swim wing put on and off and every cast removal....one smile and its ALL worth it!

Emma is still having a hard time with being "de-throned" as Paul calls it:) But she has learned how to help and be a servant, to help Lily get dressed every morning and to pour her a drink or to help her with her swim suit. I am reminded that it is not the easy stuff that grows us, its the hard stuff...and as I try to help Emma with all the emotions a 7 year old has with not being the center of attention anymore I am reminded that it is the times Im stomping my feet at God that he grows me the most.....when I stop stomping that is:) Im really praying that she stops stomping soon:)

the growth that we have seen in our sweet little Lily has been nothing short of miraculous....truly miraculous! ONLY GOD COULD HAVE DONE THIS! please understand that all Paul and I did was pray and listen HE ORCHESTRATED IT ALL. Lily has learned enough English to make people who hear her gasp when they find out she has only been here a year, She has learned how to love and be loved, she has done 3 grades of math, she has learned to swim, with a broken arm not less!!, she has gone from a pouty, moody, sullen child........ to a bossy:), cheerful, wise beyond her years young lady and I stand amazed!

a year of growth in pictures....

I do not understand why God has entrusted me with such a gift, it is beyond me...but OH am I sooooooo very grateful and humbled and promise to do the very best I can to help her to become the woman of God that he created her to be, HE has something amazing for this little girl.....Im just along for the ride!

and now...thank you JESUS!!

Lily's broken arm

Lily fell off of a picnic table and shattered her arm. The arthrogryposis leaves her bones much like bird bones and this break was one of the worst I have ever seen. she had a 3 hour surgery on Thur. night/Friday morning that installed a plate with 4 screws. there is some nerve damage and a lot of muscle and soft tissue damage. Her pain had not been manageable until tonignt but tonight after a VERY long apt. at the orthopedic surgeons where they removed  the old cast, cleaned her wound and put a new cast on and changed her pain med she is doing WAY better!
I am so amazed at all of the wonderful people who have blessed us during this trying time. so many prayers and gifts and phone calls and help with Emma and rides for the big kids.....more things then i can ever write. I am humbled by the love shown to us....thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

fun at the Zoo and art museum!!

wow! I can not believe how blessed I am, I have enjoyed the Toledo Zoo and art museum with all my kids for over 18 years!!

little footprints

Leaving footprints on this earth.
I am amazed at how God can use ordinary people. There is NOTHING special about me, and  that's OK, I have come to terms with the fact that I will never dance in the nutcracker, speak at woman of faith, sing for a living, make a lot of money or......its OK!
perhaps you are like me, just a lot of ordinary. Well, I have great news, God uses us ordinary people. God let me give birth to 3 children, and he let me have 2 more through adoption, He entrusted ME with them! this is amazing to me, I can be the most selfish, impatient, unkind, foolish person on the face of this planet and yet this imperfect vessel placed in the hands of a perfect loving God has been allowd to do wonderful, simple, loving things that I pray change my little corner of our world!
just today I was able to celebrate with a Friend who has worked YEARS to get her GED as she got the news that she passed, sit with a friend as she grieved for a son who was lost as an infant, take a friend a very simple meal, read Bible stories to my little girls, play a game with my girls, pray with a hurting friend, take a drink to a  Friend on her birthday and tell my mom that I loved her.
and then there are the footprints left on MY life by all of you. A kind word, a hug, praise for a job well done, a smile from a stranger or shared tears with a friend, a phone call to share with me your heart, a secret shared, cookies, meals, parties, help in so many ways......I am blessed!
WOW, God uses us all in so many ways! every day we do little acts of kindness that will change the world.
Isn't that so exciting?!?!?! us ordinary people get to change the world, one little footprint at a time....

Luke's Graduation party

 On June 5th we will celebrate Luke's graduation from high school. Please join us anytime between 2 and 7 on Sunday June 5th at our home 4923 Cranston, Toledo OH 43615

lily riding a bike, painting, gymnastics, and making friendship bracelet. this little girl can do anything she puts her mind to:)

The BEAUTY of a grateful heart

My heart breaks for the orphan, anyone who knows me, knows that. I think I must seem nuts to most people....if I could find the money (and talk my husband into it:) I would bring 5 more home. Sooooo I was looking at a post of a friend who was advocating for a 8 year old with dwarfism and innocently read it to my sweet husband...Lily overheard. "yes daddy yes!! he no know Jesus and we need to tell him" ( Lily is our special needs 10 year old that became a part of our family 7 months ago) Well at this point I'm getting the death glare:) Poor Paul, He has 5 children and a crazy wife and he is an introvert....he really does put up with a lot! :)  Anyway, Paul says that He can't handle the 5 that he already has...to this Lily answers "I'll go back to orphanage so you can bring him home and tell him about Jesus"

need the tissues yet?
She is very happy with us, she loves her family and America and her life, she did not mean "I want to go back, go get some other kid" she meant "I have felt what its like to be loved and have a family and I want this child to have that to!"  WOW! there are not words....
The need is so big, and we are so small, but together, we can change the world for a waiting child! If you would like to know how YOU can be a part of giving a child a family please contact me, or America World Adoption Agency, or Hope for the orphan....

better then a halllelujah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD_pCr_Xrnc

this is my new favorite song. God loves ALL we have to give him, our broken places, our praises and our frustrations. What a comfort to know that HE loves us when we don't feel lovable.

Reflections of HIS wonder.

a picture does not do justice to the beauty of this day! the ice acted like thousands of prisms and the sun refracted through them to make everything look like a crystal wonderland......the beauty was breathtaking.

I HATE, HATE, HATE winter, I hate being cold, I hate being inside all day, i hate driving in the slush, I HATE WINTER......just like I hate the winters in my life. No one likes the hard, scary, lonely, messy times of life. But I think those are the times that, when I let the SON shine through me, people can see HIS majesty and beauty the best.

The dark, gloomy days of winter are long and hard and I can not wait for spring to come, but I think instead of wishing these days away, I will begin to look for the beauty in EVERY situation..... It won't be beauty that I can create, but beauty that I can reflect.