March 2014 Recap

Kwero 2014...

 

Snow day sledding with cousins...

 

Winter Jam...

Random Asher Pics...

 

Asher learned to ride his bike (with training wheels) and now he doesn't want to take his helmet off!

Yes, he wore his helmet into Target. We had a little explaining to do with passerby's ;-)

 

Asher was in the Oklahoma Biker magazine. "The next generation"? I think not. ;-)

Project 1:27 Service Project at Owasso Community Resources...

 

Spring Break...

Abby did a Back Handsprings Clinic at Owasso Elite Gymnastics

Visit with my sister and nephews

Asher's Gotcha Day!

Today is Asher's "Gotcha Day"! We can't believe one year ago today is when we met him for the first time. I can remember pulling into the babies home in Uganda and all the children were playing outside. We opened our van doors and they jumped inside and gave us hugs and were so welcoming. Then we saw little Asher standing off in the distance a little ways. The girls saw him first and immediately went to meet him. I didn't want to scare him so I waited a little while then I couldn't stand it anymore. I went to him, bent down on his level and our eyes met. He looked so sad but his eyes just spoke to me like he needed love and wanted to be held. I picked him up and he just melted into my arms. It wasn't long after that that he started telling the other kids, "My mama way!" ("my mama"). It was very clear that I belonged to him and he was not going to share me with anyone else, lol!

When I first chose the name "Asher", I looked it up and it means "happy" & "joyful" - but that boy was anything but happy & joyful when we first met him. He was so sad looking and malnourished. He had only been at the home a short time and had already gained a little weight but there were so many children to take care of and nothing substitutes for one-on-one-attention. I'm so thankful to the home's director and our friend, Sharon Nyanjura, for the care he received while there. I can remember chatting with Sharon before she matched us with Asher. She was asking if we would like to be matched with a boy or girl. I told her either but we preferred a boy - then I added nervously, "but a girl would be just fine with us, too!" She said, "Oh, I believe God has a boy in store for you." A boy?! Are you sure? I'm used to girls & don't know what to do with a boy! Somehow God knew what He was doing & Asher was the perfect fit for our family.

That boy used to also throw the biggest crying fits and had quite the temper- but not anymore. I think most would agree that he is very happy & joyful. We've loved seeing the change in him over the past year and so look forward to what God has in store for his life. I've said it many times before, but he is such a blessing to our family - much more to us than we could ever be for him. We love that guy so much & are so thankful to God for taking us down the adoption path. And we thank all of you who have supported us along the way. Adoption is a BeAuTiFuL thing!

From Ireland to Oklahoma

Bellarive & Rend Collective in concert...

Project 1:27 Update

Our girls and some of their friends are part of a ministry they started called Project 1:27 (formerly known as Girly Me Missions). They make and sell crafts at local shows to raise $ to support an orphaned girl, named Nelly,  through Project Hope Worldwide. Any additional money they raise goes to the babies home that Asher was adopted from and to help pay Ugandan children's school fees. Kind of a neat story - the girls won a contest a few years ago & won enough $ to buy 9 cribs for the babies home - 1 of which was Asher's! ;-)

 We have monthly meetings to discuss upcoming fundraisers & shows but this past month, the girls did a fun outing in place of their meeting. They split up into 2 teams and did a scavenger hunt at a local shopping center then ended their time together with some yogurt at Cherry Berry...

 

This year, three of the girls in Project 1:27 chose to enter the Ambassador Program through Project Hope Worldwide & they fund raised to collect $ to support orphans in Uganda and Mexico. A few weeks ago the girls held a fundraiser at Cherry Berry and were able to raise almost $300 that went towards their team's fund...

Their team was able to raise about $2,000 in 6 months and some of the Ambassadors were recognized during PHW's annual fundraiser last night called "Kwero"...

This group of girls are so amazing and have such huge hearts. I love what one of my friends called them recently - "world changers". Wow - that's huge. And I believe they are world changers! I expect great things from them in the future & look forward to what God has in store for them! I've seen an amazing movement among youth today stepping outside of their box & serving others in various ways. It's so great! Go World Changers! :-D