Merry Christmas!

I've been meaning to sit down and blog..... but of course,that hasn't happened in a long time and I now know that those were really very high expectations on myself during the holidays! We started December in El Paso with tons of scheduled events, Army functions, Army fundraisers, a great Christmas play for the kiddos and Joel at our church, some personal support efforts to the missionaries and children in orphanages in Juarez, some dinner parties with new arriving co-workers for Joel, a few Army Christmas parties, and then just throw in the normal stuff like schooling, being an available mommy, cooking, cleaning, errands and shopping and wow--- the time has just FLOWN! The calendar was full and that was just the first half of the month!! HAHA! We drove 12 hours "home" for the Christmas holidays on December 15 and have been nearly as busy here as we were in El Paso!! Agitu, our agency director travelled to visit us again on December 16-18 and met with Fruitful Harvest Ministries to coordinate the medical mission trip that God is orchestrating for October of 2010. Amazing! We are praying BIG for Ethiopia and God is at work! It's been so humbling to watch the Lord use our act of obedience to adopt one child and stand back to see Him work out the details to really impact MANY Ethiopian children through this upcoming medical mission trip!! I am AMAZED at the power of Christ, at the big and small details that He has worked out- and I can honestly say that I so excited to celebrate HIS birth every Christmas because He is so alive and real in our lives!! I love Christmas and I love my Savior and I love what He is doing in our lives!!

Joel and I also celebrated 13 wonderful years of marriage on December 21! We were able to sneak away for an overnight date in downtown Ft. Worth at the new Omni hotel! (Thanks for helping with the kiddos everyone!:) Wow! It was a beautiful hotel and we had a really fun time with our special friends, Joel and Dawn Coleman!! Now, I'm sure the hotel receptionist probably secretly laughed at my husband when he told her it was our anniversary and then in the same breath asked, "What channel is the Cowboy game going to be on tonight?" HAHA!! She did send us a complementary bottle of champagne to our room (maybe she felt sorry for me!!! HAHA!!)and then personally called to let us know that the Dallas Cowboys would be showing on channel 12 in our room!! HAHA! Most of you will think we are crazy but we really did plan it that way! :) It wasn't the most "romantic" anniversary evenings we've ever had but we really did have a GREAT time being together and that whole hotel receptionist scenario did make our date night very funny! Our time together was wonderful and I am super thankful for my sweet husband and best friend!) I love you Joel and I also love watching football with you! ;) Happy Anniversary!

Christmas has been super fun this year with all the kiddos and especially since it was Joshua Nahome's FIRST Christmas with us! He has been super excited! He initially had lots of questions but has really enjoyed all of the "birthday parties for Jesus" that we've been to so far!! :) His favorite gift this morning was the package of gum and the rocket balloons in his stocking. He was excited about all the gifts but after he opened them, he promptly packed them back up and wanted to put them away so they didn't get lost or somebody else didn't take them. I think this tendency is probably a post-orphanage -- or-- a post-living-in-a-third-world-country issue but nonetheless, we worked through it and explained that he could keep the toys, play with them, and no one would take them from him. :) Sweet sweet boy. It has been a really neat time, to be able to say to Joshua--- "This is YOURS now. This wasn't how your life was before but now you live in a good, safe place and we love you and this is just a gift for YOU!" :)

Isn't that just what God did for us? He gave us a new life, He gave us the gift of His son, Jesus, and this is the safest and best place I could be and he did it all just because He loves me! God is so good to just keep teaching me every single day of His love,His grace, His mercy, His patience, His plan for me through the adoption of Joshua. I'm super blessed and I hope that your Christmas has been wonderful also.

(Robbie, I love what you shared with me about the power of Christ being BEYOND BEYOND what we can even imagine or think and today, I am convinced that I am.....

Blessed BEYOND BEYOND-
Amy :)

ICE BUBBLES in El Paso

We've had snow TWICE this past week and yes, we do live in El Paso TX!! It's been a ton of fun for the kids and a really nice reason to "slow down" some over the past few days! Joshua Nahome had never seen snow before and he loved it! He called it "ICE BUBBLES" when he first saw it and only today has begun to call it "snow". I had lots of extra laundry to do after they played in the snow but watching them have so much fun was worth the extra loads!!


We are doing pretty well. Everyone is healthy and happy. Homeschooling is going well but I am really looking forward to the Christmas break soon (kids are too)! I can't believe it's already December!! The time has flown by!! I've had a few pretty rough "mommy days" over the past few weeks. Even though I LOVE my job and the eternal benefits are out-of-this-world; I don't ever "clock out" from my duties, I do get tired, cranky with the kiddos, and I need more breaks than I take for myself. This week I've praying for an extra measure of grace, love, mercy and patience! I really hate it when I become a fussy mommy!! My cup overflows right now with both blessings and many responsibilities! If you happen to think about me during your prayer time and your day, please pray for me!

Nahome is doing well. His language acquisition has really amazed us. We think he understands about 99% of all that we say. He speaks about 85% of all that he wants to say correctly! He has started stuttering a little here and there over the last few weeks but we're going for an appointment to get a consult for speech therapy next week. I think he's thinking so fast that his mouth doesn't produce the right English words quickly enough to keep up with his brain yet!! :) It's not a bad speech problem but we want to make sure we help him as much as we can, early on. Emotionally, he is doing very well- he still has some hard moments but he handles them in a very healthy way (lots of tears and crying!) so I'm thankful that he's not bottling up those emotions! He and Joel Daniel still compete for toys, fuss over turns, and they always want the exact same things but in the same day they also play well together and they are best buddies! They will play at an activity for hours without having any issues at all. The fussy moments just come and go!! :) I am thankful for the good and bad! Joshua Nahome is really doing well, he is a blessing to our family, and we would do it all again! God has taught us so much and is teaching us more and more every day!!



Here are a few photos of our kids playing in the ice bubbles...... Hope you enjoy!



Blessings,
AMY

Psalms 32:2 " You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall compass me about with songs of deliverance."

Psalm 71:5 For You are my hope, O Lord God; you are my trust from my youth."