Bloom Where You Are Planted {Grandma Rose}

Today, my Grandma Rose went home to be with Jesus, to worship Him forever alongside of the love of her life, my Grandpa Sam. She had a long, full life and I was so very blessed to call her my grandmother.

Grandma Rose was born in the midst of some very hard, spare years in both America's story and her family's story. She was one of 7 children and lost her mother at a very young age. She grew through the years into a beautiful young woman with a gentle and kind spirit. She caught the eye of my Grandpa Sam at a young age and their love story is one that I had tremendous privilege to see in person, even well into their final years together.

As I sit and process her passing, the memories are tumbling. 

Snippets of the great tenors and Italian arias wind through my mind. 

Smells of deep red marinara sauce and fried chicken cutlets come alive. 

Her incredibly soft arms are brushing mine while I sit next to her at the table,

listening to the loud, boisterous laughter between the aunts, uncles,

cousins, in-laws and "outlaws" that were always welcome at their table. 

Thanksgiving feasts of turkey, stuffed shells and lasagna 

spread along the two long tables in their basement.

Sitting at her old-fashioned dressing table, pretending to be 

a grown-up "fancy" lady while playing with her hats, pins, and pearls.

Perhaps one of my favorite memories that I replay the most often, even now, is one that took place in her kitchen almost every time I was with them. Grandpa Sam used to pretend to spar with her as she washed the dishes or folded kitchen towels. He was a huge boxing aficionado and he would dance around her, punching the air and saying "Come on, Ro! Have a go with me. Give me your best shot." Her blushing brush-offs and sweet, almost embarrassed and yet tolerant smiles brought me such peace and enjoyment as a kid. Even at that young age, I remember LOVING how they brought us in to their love story with his winks at me when he snuck up on her in the kitchen. With how she rolled her eyes when I would giggle at her "Oh, Sam" responses. As an adult (now that I've learned so much more of their story before they became the patriarchs of this big family we are now), I see so much more. I didn't know it then though. I didn't know how much those moments would come to mean. I just knew I felt loved. By watching their love. 

Grandma Rose wasn't one of those hot-house roses, fragile and easily overcome by the elements. She wasn't green-house born and raised, withering easily for lack of water or care. No, my Grandma Rose was a Knock Out Rose. Yes, she was a beautiful woman. A knockout as they said back in the day. But I'm talking about these beauties. Knock Out Roses are known for their full, lush blooms and for being very low maintenance. They don't require specialized care, perfect soil or optimum sunlight to thrive. They are drought-hearty and their roots spread wide, allowing them to spread and grow well in almost any place they are planted. They bloom where they are planted and then some.

My grandmother was that variety of woman that bloomed regardless of her surroundings. She had a hard childhood. A really hard one. She and her siblings were forced to cling tenaciously to each other, to intertwine their roots and hang on for dear life. And hang on they did. Back then, there was very little special care available to that scrappy immigrant family. They just had to dig in and do life together. When they married, she welcomed my grandfather's even larger family as her own. Together, along with her siblings and his, their love and commitment crafted even deeper roots and lush, full family trees. Their tenacity yielded our close-knit, loving extended family. It was, as I've said before, a wonderful way for a child to grow - connected to generations before me.

Grandma Rose wasn't as loud and boisterous as others in our family were. Usually, she'd be found working quietly in the kitchen, watching the kids playing in the yard from the window over her sink. Or quietly joining the conversations from her spot behind the long counter. She was gentle. Soft-spoken. Humble. Honest. The perfect straight-woman to Grandpa's light-hearted antics. She was steady. Reliable. Comfortably predictable and constant. Along with my Grandfather, her quiet, persevering root system spread its life to three beautiful daughters onward to 10 grandchildren and now to 19 great-grandchildren. Those blooms are beautiful and plenteous and growing still.

We didn't know it when we named her, but our little Mei Mei's personality couldn't really be more opposite from the great-grandmother for whom she is named. But I DID know that the beauty of a Rose, that the joy and life it gives, takes many different varieties so it felt like the perfect fit at the time. In the years since Mei Mei has been home, I've learned that my grandmother and her little namesake share some very similar hard beginnings to their stories. Difficulties that my grandmother overcame and used as a root system to build the life she shared with my grandfather. My grandmother's story and my daughter's story began worlds and generations apart from one another. Nevertheless, their roots are deeply intertwined now. That is the miracle of family, is it not? It is my dearest dream that our Mei Mei will push that root system even deeper, spread it further, and continue the legacy of beautiful, plenteous blooming. That she will carry her name proudly and feel rooted to the heritage into which she is now grafted. No matter the hardships she has faced or will face as she grows.

For several years now, my best friend has been suggesting to me that I fill the front garden with Knock Out Roses because nothing else has grown well there. This Spring, I will do that. I will plant several rose bushes in honor of The Knock Out Rose that my Grandma was. I will remember and I will tell my children that so very often the most beautiful blooms come out of the hardest of hardships.

Good bye Grandma Rose. Thank you for your gentle, loving ways.

Thank you for digging in and doing the hard stuff and creating

this beautiful family we love. Give Grandpa Sam a huge hug for me.

And maybe just a fun, soft little punch in the arm.

I know you have it in you! I love you.

Miraculous

Like most of the adoption community, I've had the privilege over the last week or so to be praying for little Teresa Bartilinski and her family. It's been a lot of waiting, for them, for those of us loosely connected to them through the red threads of adoption, and for the world who is now watching. The waiting has given me much time to think while praying. Little Teresa's journey to her forever family is miraculous.

Her life since coming home, battle after battle to get some weight on her, to keep her levels stable, to keep her healthy and virus free, to live a normal childhood in the midst of it all. It's all miraculous.

In the midst of it all, our own family was doing some waiting last week. My sweet little nephew, Kilian Edward, was due to make an appearance and when we got the news that labor had begun, the waiting felt intensely difficult. Hours dragged by and I swear that June 19th was the.longest.day.EVER. I was praying and checking my phone incessantly, waiting for something! anything! that would let me know he had safely arrived and that my sister-in-law was recovering well.

The call finally came and the details were sparse at first but really, who cares about details when there's THIS FACE to gaze at instead?!

Later in the week, I finally snuck some time away to talk with my brother and hear all the details that I'd been  wanting to know. And as my brother told Kilian's birth story, I was consumed with gratitude. His entry to our world, to our family, was challenging. Even slightly traumatic - especially for my brother and my sister-in-law. His arrival is miraculous.

Something the doctor said to us early in the process of studying Mei Mei's needs came to mind while my brother was sharing.... the interventions in the early two or three days of Mei Mei's life, before she even made it to the orphanage likely saved her life. Her arrival at the orphanage, her survival despite the harsh conditions under which she spent her first two weeks of life, her overall general good health while we waited to get to her and bring her home. It's all miraculous.

Every single one of these children are such miracles. No matter their birth story. No matter their journey to our homes. No matter the normalcy of their arrivals. Or the trauma they have endured in the getting here. They each are miraculous.

I'm certain that I'm not the only one guilty of forgetting the magnitude of these tiny (and not so tiny!) miracles that walk around our homes, begging for more popsicles, poking their siblings, and leaving dirty socks on the floor. I'm sure that the busy-ness of regular life takes over for all of you as it does for me. And the glory of this calling of parenthood is lost in the grime and the guts of the job. The demands of the daily-ness of it all cloud my vision all too often. The events of this past week have lifted my head and slowed my pace. I'm drinking in these moments more than I did last week. Are you?

While you are joining the rest of us in praying for yet another miracle for sweet little Teresa, stop for a moment and intentionally enjoy the awe of the little miracles in your own home. However they got to your arms, it's miraculous. They are miraculous.

Sister Love

This is what I saw the other day

when the living room got mysteriously quiet.

I'm SO glad I tip-toed in

and peeked around the corner to investigate!

And yesterday, in the car on the way to another round

of testing and studies for Mei Mei,

I had heard her fussing and then quiet reigned.

When I turned around, this is what I saw.

It's taken a bit of time, but I love that we've reached the point where there are more pleasant and loving interactions between these two than there are jealous or unhappy moments. Li'l Empress has had some bouts of insecurity and emotional overload in the process but I think she's settling back in. As expected, the struggles have been mainly on Li'l Empress' side of things, as she's worked through the adjustment of becoming a Big Sister after years of being the baby of the family. The bigger gang members have been awesome at making sure that Li'l Empress knows she is just as loved and cherished as ever. It's been really sweet to see them all working through the adjustment together. And the evidence that Li'l Empress and Mei Mei are falling in love with each other is there for all to see.

Now, when Mei Mei stumbles and falls on the toys in the family room, Li'l Empress is the first to rush and get the boo-boo bear for her baby sister. And when Li'l Empress came in from the yard this week, crying over a perceived offense, Mei Mei would not leave her side and watched the proceedings with great concern. She even tried to hug her and kept patting her arm while Li'l Empress calmed down.

Early on in the "re-entry" process, Li'l Empress came to me in tears and through her hiccuping and sobbing, informed me that she thought we probably brought home "the wrong Mei Mei." Because this one was mean and not sharing her toys at all. And "she hit me with the dolly!"  I tried very hard to take her seriously at that moment, and address her concerns and validate her feelings. I helped her understand that baby behavior wasn't the same as "the wrong Mei Mei" coming home, but was something we'd all have to model and work through with Mei Mei. I reminded Li'l Empress that when she first came home, she hit the kids, too. And she was even known to bite them once in a while. That it was all normal "baby" behavior and her job was to teach Mei Mei how to be part of our family by showing a good and loving example. I got her calmed down and able to pray with me. But man, oh, day, I was cracking up inside. I couldn't believe that she was calling up prayers from LAST YEAR at this time, when we were still asking as a family for the Lord to give us clear leading and direction to the "right Mei Mei;" the one that He had chosen for our family. OMIGOSH - this kid has a memory like NOBODY'S business!

I know there will be seasons, ebbs & flows if you will, of this relationship as it grows and builds, but this week's little vignettes brought such joy to my heart and I've so enjoyed the peace and promise captured in each little picture. I am so confident that the moving forward will continue to be productive and full of sweetness even in the hard moments. I count it an immeasurable gift, that God would grant the blessing of sisterhood to my girls. No matter the age span between them, they have friends for life in each other!

Here's one from last weekend,

in which all three girls were

hamming it up with Daddy's iPhone.

I love this. And can't wait to see

differing versions of it as the years fly by.

(Oh, God. Please don't let the years fly by. Pretty please?!)

Sneak Peek #1

I'm so excited to share this series of posts with you all. And no, before you get all excited about the possibility of a peek at Mei Mei's sweet cheeks, I'm sorry to say that is NOT the focus of this post. I am going to be a good girl and respect my agency's wishes that we wait for the more official approval called LOA (step number 8 on this visual summary).

When we were waiting for Li'l Empress, I didn't wait and my SW at the time gave me a little talkin' to. So I'm gonna be good this time. It's killing me, but I'm trying. I really am.

But I digress. Where was I? OH! Yeah. My series of Sneak Peeks.

So, when I realized I was nearing my 1,000th post, I decided I needed to make an event of it. I mean, some of you faithful few have been here since the very first post, back in May of 2007. Wow. Can you even believe it's been 5 1/2 years together, my friends? I decided we needed to celebrate together. My little corner of the blogosphere has changed quite a bit over these 1,000 posts but what has NOT changed is my deep appreciation for all of my friends and family who keep reading. Whether it is my mindless drivel or deep brewing thoughts on life, love, and family, you have kept reading. And for that? You all deserve to be celebrated.

I dare say you even deserve a prize. Yes, I said it. This celebration includes prizes. I'm so excited. I love giving gifts to my friends.

Before I announce the particulars of HOW those prizes will be given out, I'm giving you sneak a peek at the goodies I'll be giving away. Thanks to some super generous and sweet-spirited friends, I have three outstanding treasures to share. I hope you will be as excited about them as I am!

This first gift is one that is near and dear to my heart for many reasons. You might remember my crazy begging for votes back this past Spring, when my new friend Joslyn entered me into a Mary Kay make-over contest. Though I didn't win a great big chunk of change for my favorite charity or money towards our travel expenses for this adoption, I did gain a sweet friend who has been so creative and generous in her support of our journey to Mei Mei.

Well, she's done it again!

In honor of this momentous occasion,

Joslyn has generously donated

a $25 gift certificate for Mary Kay products

along with a mini Satin Hands gift set for one lucky reader.

That's right. $25 of high quality Mary Kay products, free and personalized just for you and your skin type! That's right - it's all about YOU, my friends! Head here to check out Joslyn's Mary Kay site. She's really good at what she does and is super flexible and easy to work with.

Joslyn Hooker, Mary Kay Consultant

And just because Joslyn and I want to be sure that NO ONE gets left out of the fun, she is also offering 10% off of your Mary Kay purchase if you don't win the big prize package. All you have to do is head to her site, make contact and tell her that The Gang's Momma sent you. See what I mean?!? She's super generous and really excited about helping you look your best. I'm proud to call her friend and I'm excited to see who will score this particular give-away goodie. You'll get to feel as pretty as I did when she made me up all fancy-schmanzy.

Come back later and check out Sneak Peek #2.

I promise, you'll love it. I sure do!

Get Beautiful And Give Back {Correcting The Error}

My deepest apologies to anyone and everyone that has been trying to vote for me in the 2012 Mary Kay Makeover contest to "Get Beautiful and Give Back."

If you click on this link HERE, it should take you right to my gallery. Yeah, I'm the one with the splotchy red skin and red nose. And no, I was not drinking. Sigh. It's just me. And my rosacea.

Please be clear, you will be asked for your email address and to enter a verification code. Even if the instructions might say to leave a space between the "two words" in the verification codes, there is only one word, do not leave spaces.

I am so very, very sorry for the inconvenience. I've contact Mary Kay and my consultant and we are trying to track down the source of the other post's technical problems but this should be the fix you need for now.

Don't forget, you can vote 5 times a day, per personal email address. And you can share this post and the one I did earlier with folks to help them understand what I am doing. I'm working on making sure all the links work.

Thursday, I'll tell you about the charity I will be giving the winnings to, should I win. I think you will all agree it's worth fighting through the link failures to get to vote!

Again, my apologies. This is the link you need:

Get Beautiful and Give Back.

In Which I Humble Myself and Beg... Among Other Humiliating Activities

Those of you who are fortunate enough to know me in real life (ha, I'm feeling cheeky today!) know that I'm not really a glamour, diva, high-fashion kinda gal. I stick to a fairly simple routine of drying and pasting up the hair, medicating the rosacea (ugh), brushing a little bit of color on my eyelashes. I throw on my jeans and a tee, slide into my Nike flip-flops and I'm a happy gal. A happy gal with a minimalist's attitude about skin and make-up routine. But recently a bit of an opportunity dropped into my lap and I just have to share it with you.

Remember me telling you about the F@cebook yard-saling that I've been doing? Well, a gal saw some of my stuff and came over to purchase things for herself and her sister. We just clicked. She was intrigued by our adoption journey. When she heard about our "actual" yard sale, she donated a bunch of baked goods to the efforts. Man, did she make the baked goods! They sold out by the middle of Saturday morning, and I think Shaggy and Dr. D were her biggest customers.... as if I never feed them around here or something.

She contacted me to see if I'd be interested in a somewhat humbling creative opportunity to raise  funds for our adoption expenses. Seems that she is a Mary Kay consultant and thought I might enjoy entering their "Get Beautiful and Give Back" Annual Make-Over Contest.

Heh. See, she's a new friend and didn't really know about my aversion to a make-up routine.  But you know what? I did something pretty out of character. I said, "YES."

I said "Yes" to a make-over. I know. What on earth? I almost NEVER wear more than a touch of mascara. Occasionally I add a little eye-liner. But always, always, I stick to the browns and olives. Simple. No fuss. No muss. Matches everything. So I said yes.

THEN she gave me the rules. (She's a smart cookie, this new friend.) Allow her to photograph my "Before" look and my "After" look for the contest and write out a little description of why I enjoyed the Mary Kay make-over session. Then spread the word to win the most votes.

So. Now, I'm entered into the contest.

And now you have to vote for me.


Vote 5 times using your email address.
Then vote five more with another email address.
Or your mother's email address
(Kidding, I'm kidding... I used my husband's!)
Voting runs from noon (CST) on Tuesday, June 5th
through June 15th at noon (CST).


You can vote up to 5x per person, per day.
Click away, my friends, click away!

It's amazing to me the things we will do for our kids. I actually agreed to allow my completely-naked-of-any-products face appear on a nation-wide website. On the internet. All for the chance to win $2500 for our adoption journey. And $5000 for our favorite charity. Wow. What can I say? I love that little girl God is picking for us.

You have to help make the unveiling of my splotchy red embarrassed face and invisible eyelashes count for something. You have to. Please. I'm begging. Yes, that's right. BEGG.ING. I ain't too proud to beg. For heaven's sake, I've already bared my nekked face to the whole interwebby world. There's nothing left to be proud about.

Go. Vote. Tell others to vote, too. Just don't look too closely. Please?! Thankyouverymuch.

Simple Beauty

After a pretty hectic week,

kicked off by a stomach virus responsible for

stealing time away from my dearest friends

and then dominated by juggling skills I didn't know I had, 

a morning walk through my gardens re-adjusted

my heart and my mind.

The simple beauty is soothing and restorative.

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

Words by Maltbie D. Babcock

God Made You Beautiful! ~ The Repost ~

**REPOST with corrected/repaired link. My apologies for the error.

I've been having problems with some links for a while now.

I have a sweet little gem of a book to share with you all today. Written by a fellow adoptive momma, it's a celebration of the unique beauty with which God has created each of us. Each page is a lively, fresh, and engaging picture of a pretty little girl with reddish blonde hair. (Yes, I'm partial. I love me a red-headed heroine!). This darling little girl is doing all the most favorite-est things that little girls do: playing princess,  dressing up, enjoying a spot of tea with teddy bear friends, swinging at the park with her friends, and thinking about her world. Each page is an encouragement to be proud of who she is, just the way she is. I love the pictures and the emphasis that each girl is made so differently and yet so similarly beautiful. But my favorite thing is that each page is summarized with a Scripture that speaks TRUTH over our girls. The TRUTH of their inherent beauty as they are made in the image and likeness of their Father above. The TRUTH that who they are is exactly how God created them to be and being His image bearer makes us special. This book is simple, sweet, and direct with its message: God Made YOU Beautiful. Just the way you are.

Stephanie Farley has recently become a personal friend, through connections made in an online adoptive moms group that has formed in our region. At the beginning of the month, I hosted a huge brunch for these moms here at The Gang's Headquarters and Stephanie graciously offered to share the ministry of this book with any of the moms who were working to bring home children via adoption.

I am VERY excited to tell you that for every purchase of this book with our family name designated in the on-line order form, Stephanie is donating $5 of that purchase to our "Adoption Jar."  How cool is that?

You can find the story, available for sale here, at Stephanie Farley's website. If you wish to order this book and you desire to support our efforts to raise the travel expenses for our current adoption, we would be so very grateful.

You will need to make sure that the order page (via Pay Pal) indicates that this is for The Whitney Gang's adoption, so that our efforts get the proper credit. Here's how:

You will see a note under the "Shipping Information" after you load all of your payment/contact information that looks like this: (only smaller!)

Personalize? How did you hear about it?  

Simply click the "Add" link (it's blue!) and enter "The Whitney Gang's adoption" or something similar to indicate to Stephanie that you intend for our adoption to benefit from your purchase.

You can also order the book by "snail mail" and pay by check. The address and information is on the website link above. Again, you will need to indicate "The Whitney Gang" in the memo portion of the check.

Whether or not you actually purchase the book with the intention of supporting our fundraising efforts, I highly recommend this book for the little girls in your life. We can't start pouring The TRUTH of the Word over them too early and this book is a sweet and engaging way to do just that. LadyBug and Li'l Empress are hooked and have read it together several times already. And in this culture of the lies that get thrown at our girls every day about what beautiful looks like, I am thrilled to have one more tool that points them to the source and the Creator of real beauty.

God Made You Beautiful!

**REPOST with corrected/repaired link. My apologies for the error.

I've been having problems with some links for a while now.

I have a sweet little gem of a book to share with you all today. Written by a fellow adoptive momma, it's a celebration of the unique beauty with which God has created each of us. Each page is a lively, fresh, and engaging picture of a pretty little girl with reddish blonde hair. (Yes, I'm partial. I love me a red-headed heroine!). This darling little girl is doing all the most favorite-est things that little girls do: playing princess,  dressing up, enjoying a spot of tea with teddy bear friends, swinging at the park with her friends, and thinking about her world. Each page is an encouragement to be proud of who she is, just the way she is. I love the pictures and the emphasis that each girl is made so differently and yet so similarly beautiful. But my favorite thing is that each page is summarized with a Scripture that speaks TRUTH over our girls. The TRUTH of their inherent beauty as they are made in the image and likeness of their Father above. The TRUTH that who they are is exactly how God created them to be and being His image bearer makes us special. This book is simple, sweet, and direct with its message: God Made YOU Beautiful. Just the way you are.

Stephanie Farley has recently become a personal friend, through connections made in an online adoptive moms group that has formed in our region. At the beginning of the month, I hosted a huge brunch for these moms here at The Gang's Headquarters and Stephanie graciously offered to share the ministry of this book with any of the moms who were working to bring home children via adoption.

I am VERY excited to tell you that for every purchase of this book with our family name designated in the on-line order form, Stephanie is donating $5 of that purchase to our "Adoption Jar."  How cool is that?

You can find the story, available for sale here, at Stephanie Farley's website. If you wish to order this book and you desire to support our efforts to raise the travel expenses for our current adoption, we would be so very grateful.

You will need to make sure that the order page (via Pay Pal) indicates that this is for The Whitney Gang's adoption, so that our efforts get the proper credit. Here's how:

You will see a note under the "Shipping Information" after you load all of your payment/contact information that looks like this: (only smaller!)

Personalize? How did you hear about it?  

Simply click the "Add" link (it's blue!) and enter "The Whitney Gang's adoption" or something similar to indicate to Stephanie that you intend for our adoption to benefit from your purchase.

You can also order the book by "snail mail" and pay by check. The address and information is on the website link above. Again, you will need to indicate "The Whitney Gang" in the memo portion of the check.

Whether or not you actually purchase the book with the intention of supporting our fundraising efforts, I highly recommend this book for the little girls in your life. We can't start pouring The TRUTH of the Word over them too early and this book is a sweet and engaging way to do just that. LadyBug and Li'l Empress are hooked and have read it together several times already. And in this culture of the lies that get thrown at our girls every day about what beautiful looks like, I am thrilled to have one more tool that points them to the source and the Creator of real beauty.

One of Those That Makes Me Think

I mentioned last week that I enjoy reading blogs and books and essays that make me think.  This post is certainly one of those.

It's not the easiest read in the world - it's gritty and compelling. Vulnerable and searching. I found myself bookmarking it and coming back to it for several different readings after it first went up.  I really think you'd enjoy it.

Though I don't know the author well at all, she is one of the few adoptive-mom bloggers that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting in person. We met in the early days of Li'l Empress's home-coming:  I had bumped into a great friend from our agency's community and this sweet young mother approached the two of us as we were trying to catch up a bit and still manage our three little empresses who were chattering and climbing all over both of us like little monkeys. We connected in that "I've been where you are" kind of moment and I so appreciate that she shared her blog address with me that day.

Skip around, I think you'll enjoy some of her other writings, including her most recent.

My Happy Girl

Today, my LadyBug is 10. While I'm still reeling at the idea of my precious, chubby-cheeked, red-headed baby girl being in the double digits already, I'm also extremely cognizant today of the utter joy and sweetness that she brings to our home. And has brought with her since the day we found out about her microscopic tiny presence in our lives!

In honor of her special DOUBLE DIGIT DAY, here are the
Top TEN Things
that I love about LadyBug:

1. She is joyful and exuberant about her life. She wakes up with a smile EVERY DAY!
2. That smile lights up our rooms and changes the atmosphere in a flash!
3. She has a caring, nurturing spirit about her. I can already tell she's gonna be a fantastic mommy.
4. Her sense of humor and silliness brightens our day. Her antics and silly words make us laugh.
5. She is a wonderful, loving sister to all her siblings.
6. There is a tenderness, an innocence if you will, about her that stirs my heart.
7. She loves to jam to my country music with me!
8. I love that she is easily pleased and very grateful for so many things.
9. She is a very hard worker and eager to please.
10. She loves Jesus, has become very quick to repent, and desires to be like Him.

Thank you, Lord for our lovely LadyBug.
I rejoice that she is as beautiful inside as she is on the outside. Thank you for who you are creating her to be as you grow her. Thank you for the covering and protection You have over her life. May she always be as tender and sweet in Your Presence as she is today. Thank you for the miracle and the blessing that she is to The Gang and all who are privileged to know her.
And thank you, Father,
for the honor of parenting this sweet girl.

The birthday girl and her new bike!

Oh the JOY!

My favorite thing about May is my lilacs. The fragrance, the delicate blooms, the memories they evoke. One of the first things we did when we moved here was to pull out all the overgrown shrubbery and plain green foliage in the front gardens. We replaced it with 6 lovely lilac bushes. I can't think of a more fitting way to say Happy May Day to you all.

This is one of two traditional lilac-colored bushes.
This year is the first year that it's yielded
more than a couple little blooms.
They are the most fragrant of my collection.

This white tree has the most profuse, lush blooms.
It's been a great producer since the very first season.
I love the crisp purity of the blooms.

Ah, my favorite little trees of the whole bunch.
These bloom a bit later, and the flowers are
a deep, dark purple.
I searched for these for a long time.
Ironically, I finally found them at my favorite nursery
back in my old town.
After I'd lived here for a year.
With a store credit and a major coupon,
I was able to buy two!
And now I have mementos from
my lovely times at Ashcombe's, too.

My Miss Kim miniature bush hasn't bloomed yet.
She's ready, just hanging in there for some
bright sunny afternoon to bless me with her beauty.
I'll be sure to share the joy when it happens.