one year!

One year ago today we received

our beautiful gift from God.

We have spent hours this week reminiscing

about our trip, and being almost

giddy with praise to God Who can perform

miraculous transformation right in front of our eyes.

We are all forever changed by this process.

Happy Gotcha Day Gracie girl!

We've put together a video that attempts to

highlight this past year for our family,

and serve as a keepsake for Gracie to

one day have this piece of her unique story.

~I'll warn you...it's lengthy!~

( pause music @ bottom to hear the video!)

our adoption journey from Brian Woodard on Vimeo.

unbelievable

one year ago today
we boarded the first of two flights
to bring us one day closer
to meeting
this sweet face

father's day

We love our Daddy!

I love this picture of my Dad with Gracie!

Father's day here was very low key

and relaxing. I think we all needed that.

I'm truly so grateful for my Dad.

He's one of the most humble humans on this planet,

and is a huge prayer warrior -

There's literally two worn spots on their

living room carpet from hours that his sweet knees

have spent there as he kneels in prayer for his family.

That legacy is worth more than any financial or

material thing - no question.

I also couldn't ask for a better father for

our children than Brian.

The kids have loved caring for him over

this past week, and showered him with

some heavy duty Father's Day love yesterday.

He's feeling better every day, and we

are so grateful for God's healing.

The girls left for church camp today.

sniff-sniff

They are excited, and I know

God has some divine appointments with them

as they spend time under some awesome teaching,

worshipping with other teens, and

participating in some service projects in the

city where they're headed.

It's too quiet around here already...

dragon boat festival

today the kids and I gave our patient some
quiet time here at home while we attended
the dragon boat festival (Duanwu festival)
sponsored by our local
Chinese cultural association

the heat combined with the scents of
Chinese food and people all around us speaking
mandarin made us all want to go back to China!

Gracie's dragon boat

Quinn's dragon boat

Gracie love the traditional "zhong zi"
( a steamed rice dumpling filled with bean paste
& wrapped in bamboo leaves)

getting ready for a game of "red light, green light"

guess who won?!!

another traditional food served at the festival!

waiting for the dragon boat race to begin

Gracie & Quinn's boats each came in second
in their individual races

didn't see that one coming...

tuesday afternoon - my honey Brian was
at the doctor for stomach pain

dinner time - sitting with Brian as they conduct
various tests including a CT scan at the hospital

10pm my honey is having emergency surgery
to remove his appendix

we are home & so grateful to God for many things...
Brian's appendix had not burst although
it was full of infection

our children were well taken care of by my sister

my brother & his wife sat with me during the surgery

our incredible pastor, one of the awesome elders,
and our amazing children's minister & dear friend
spent time visiting and praying
with me during the surgery


so this will be a very low key father's day weekend

the patient has some lovely pain medicine
and is resting today
he'll be chomping at the bit to get back to work,
but, alas, the surgeon said at least a seven day break
for someone who is a "doer", this will be tough
(yikes)
i'm thinking i will be
nurse/prison warden for the next week!

"He who dwells in the
shelter of the Most High,
will abide in the shadow
of the Almighty...
under His wings
you will find refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield."
Psalm 91:1,4

the livin' is easy

why head to the neighborhood pool

when you could hang out in your own

top-of-the-line-back-porch $7.00 pool?

(sorry, no lifeguards on duty or vending machines)

outer banks

well, it's back to reality!

we had the best week at the beach,

and we are so grateful for God's provision

for our much needed time away!

gracie didn't skip a beat

and loved every second.

we road bikes everywhere,

ate ice cream for lunch a few times,

got a few sunburns,

ate seafood,

slept in,

stayed up late,

laughed a lot,

and made some great memories!

contrary to popular opinion,

this mama loves summer time

and having the kids home.

no schedules,

no homework, no practices, and

hours spent at the pool...

love it!

Happy summer!!

(turn music off @ the bottom to hear the video!)