a wonderful life

I could live in Arizona.

I grew up in the northwest.

I looove the northwest.

I love all 4 seasons that the northwest brings.

I could however live in Arizona for the mere fact that they have much warmer days all year round.

God has been good to us and has let us hold onto summer a bit longer this year in the great state of Idaho.

Thank you Jesus.

Me + hot weather = happy.

I could do 70's. I definitely like my 90+ degree days, but I could settle for 70's.

Outdoor swimming in mid September is just awesome.

We have some really rad friends that let us enjoy the amenities of their subdivision pool.

They are so gracious to invite us over for regular swim parties.

Yes, parties. It's always a party when you have 8 kids between two families.

Thank you ConnConn's. You are truly rad.

Here's the girls. Keeks and Cass.

Hilarious. Love this shot.

Now this just makes my heart melt. True friendship.

Our little bunny rabbits.

Here's our baby girls.

Yemi long legs and tiny Ruby doo.

Cutie patooties.

Brady and Chris.

Thinking they're funny with the comb-overs. Umm, they are.

For the rest of the gang, well this is all I got. 

My boys were pretty impressed with their dare-devil momma. Either that or they thought I was completely crazy for taking my iphone in the pool. Probably true.

Boys and their trucks.

Sheesh these boys are cute!

I stumbled across these pictures today when I was looking through files for an old video.

It made my heart so happy.

I feel so privileged to be a stay-at-home momma.

I am grateful to not have to miss out on moments like these with my little loves.  

These were taken on July 10, 2010. Just 6 days after Yemi came home.

I can't believe how little they were.

Here's Brady boy.

Don't even ask. They were workin'.

I can still hear their little voices saying that.

"Mommy, we're workin'."

My boys are so incredibly creative and resourceful.

I'm serious when I say never a dull moment around here.

Never a day without a huge creative mess.

Thank you J & B for bringing so much energy and joy to my life.

Okay, so these Little Tikes trucks may have been one of the best investments we've ever made. They're still going strong.

Sweet six.

Yemi turned SIX.

It's hard to believe, considering she was just 3 years old when we got her referral.

We celebrated her day with a Sweet Six Rainbow party.

I love all the cheerful, bright colors.

So fun.

I have seen this rainbow cake floating around the web several times and really wanted to make it. I figured no way could I do it. Baking & cooking are definitely not my strengths. My mom-in-law was in town so I figured with her help it couldn't be that bad. We decided to give it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised with how much easier it was than I expected. I am SO happy with the way it turned out. It was totally worth the look on my kids' faces when Keith cut a slice out of it. Surprise! Let's just say the guests were pretty impressed as well. I heard lots of, "Did you really make that?"

We had lots of sugar. Gumballs, lollipops, cake, and cream soda. The kids were in heaven.

Each of the kids left with a lollipop and a mini gumball machine as a party favor.

We created a rainbow balloon wall. Thank you Pinterest. It made the perfect backdrop. How can this not make you smile? I think the kids (and the adults) were secretly wishing we had some darts. Now that would've been fun! Nanna started blowing up the balloons as I taped them to the wall. After she was about to pass out, hubs got the bright idea to inflate them with the air compressor. Much, much faster. Keith is such a great sport when it comes to all my party ideas. He's always willing to do whatever I ask. Thanks babe. I really, really like throwing my kids birthday parties.

Happy Birthday my sweet six year old.

 Make a wish baby girl.

This one just makes me laugh. Keith cutting the cake saying, "Mom, you're supposed to be helping me out!" Uh, not so much.

Cheers to another amazing year.

The gang. 13 kids total.

Yemi and Jake drinkin' it up.

So excited to get her very own Password Journal.

GoGo the Walkin' pup, from mommy & daddy. Finally, a dog she can walk.

Hmm, someone got a hold of my camera. Some surprise pictures for me when I downloaded my memory card. So hilarious. I love my mom-in-law. Never a dull moment. 

I love my girl.

We are so proud of you Yemi and how amazingly you've transitioned into your forever family. You're a strong, sweet, sensitive, giving, independent, loving, humorous, crazy little girl. 

Here's my little diva, make-up and all.

She can seriously make the craziest faces.

One of my favorites. Let that personality shine.

Life with you is so fun. 

 Yemi, I love you bigger than a rainbow and all the gumballs in the world. Now that's a lot.

Happy birthday to my favorite Ethiopian princess in the world.

---------------

For inquiring minds...

How we made the cake:

Prepare 2 boxes of white cake mix.

Divide evenly into 6 bowls. Approx. 1 1/2 cups each.

Use Wilton food coloring gel. Approx. 1/2 tsp per bowl. The red took a little extra.

Pour individual bowls of batter into round cake pans. Bake two at a time for approx. 15 minutes.

Once all six cakes are baked, let cool. 

I sliced a tiny bit off the top of each cake to make it flat for easier stacking. However, I would not do this to the top (red) layer. It made it difficult when icing the cake. 

Start with the bottom layer (purple) on your cake stand. Then apply a thin layer of icing between each layer to adhere together and fill in any gaps. I just used the vanilla frosting we had, but next time I would probably use a cream cheese filling between the layers. The cake was pretty sweet. Once all the layers are stacked, now is the fun part. Icing the outside of the cake. Good luck. No, just kidding...it wasn't that bad. Voila, you have a beautiful rainbow cake!

See I told you you could do it.

Now go impress some people. 

What's going on.

I started this post 10 days ago. Thought I might as well post it.

----------

Last week my mom & dad kidnapped our kids for the week. Okay, not really. It didn't take much convincing of the kids to stay with Nana & Papa for the week. They knew exactly what this meant. Lots of sugar, time with cousins, golfing, boating, swimming, water slide, sleepovers, playing, and spoiling. They were in. 

You know what it meant for us? Yes, an entire week at home just the hubs & I.

It was kind of a last minute decision for them to stay. It came at the tail end of our vacation to the Oregon Coast. As we were about to pull out of Yakima we found ourselves digging dirty clothes out of suitcases to give to my mom. I felt really bad handing my mom a suitcase full of dirty clothes saying, "have fun." This woman never runs out of energy. I think she had all the clothes washed by that night, went to church the next morning, lunch, and made a Costco run by Sunday afternoon. She is turbo. Anything for her grandkids.

It made my heart happy to get this sweet picture of my babies in mom and dad's front yard next to the funky tree. Someone recently told me this looks like a person flexing their muscles. Why yes it does. Funny that I never noticed it.

My kids and the Brownell's enjoyed catching toads at their house. My sister sent me this picture of Brady kissing a toad. Let's hope this was a joke!

When you don't have kids around, your meals may consist of petite vanilla bean scones and iced coffee with coconut & cream. Mmm...this drink is one of my new faves.

Or you may go out to dinner to celebrate ones birthday at Red Robin with a free birthday meal and gift card. Then you may be REALLY surprised when you hear the waitresses and waitors walking your way and clapping. The thought never crossed our mind that they would sing to Keith just because he was using his free birthday meal certificate. We just about died. Let's just say it's kinda embarrassing when you get sung to when it's just two of you at the table with no kids in sight. I think we were both red in the face. Hilarious. Didn't stop Keith from enjoying his birthday sundae.

We had such a fabulous time, just the two of us. Lots of time to reconnect, talk, laugh, eat out, go to movies, just be carefree. It was wonderful.

But...

We definitely missed our kids!

We were so excited to meet my parents in Pendleton to pick them up.

Lots and lots of hugs, kisses, and snuggle time to catch up on.

----------

It was a fun surprise to come home to some goodies dropped off on the front porch by some sweet friends. They were each given a hockey stick and puck. 

They have loved playing some street hockey.

We're now back to some lazy days in the backyard, running through sprinklers and cooling off in our little blow-up pool. Oh the joys of summer. Can't beat it.

Thanks mom and dad for spoiling our kids for the week and allowing them to have some uninterrupted Nana & Papa time. These weeks each summer will be some of the best memories they have. It is precious time and I definitely don't take it for granted. You rock!

Our 2nd adoption.

Here's the story of how our 2nd adoption journey began.

Bare with me as I try to put the thoughts of my heart into writing. Some of it may be a jumbled mess, but I guess that's kind of how my mind works sometimes.

I live with a daily reminder of Africa. It comes in the form of a beautiful, brown eyed, soft brown skinned little girl with the most adorable afro. I cannot go a day without thinking of all the orphaned children around the world. I will never forget what my eyes saw in Africa. My heart breaks the poor & needy, orphaned & widowed. I have been blessed with SO much. I often wonder why God chose to bless me so abundantly. He has filled my heart with so much love for the people of Africa. It feels like it could just burst at times. I really wish I could just adopt all the precious little children that need a family. That's what my heart wants to do. In reality, I have to come back to what exactly has God called Keith and I to do. As I daily reflect on these things, although sometimes stubborn & selfish, our journey continues to unfold.   

During the early months of this year, God really began impressing on my heart to seriously pray about adopting again. In all honesty, this is something that I always thought about in the back of my mind. You see, during our first adoption we were open to adopting a sibling group. We later found out that this is not what God had planned for us. He knew our family needed a little 3 year old girl. I couldn't be more grateful for our sweet Yemi. God knew exactly what our family needed when giving her to us. It has been proven over and over again. I am amazed at how our family dynamic changed and how absolutely crazy the other kids are about having a little sister. They adore her. A year and many months went by and we had our ups and downs. When things were hard it was easy to say, I think we're done. As God began more strongly impressing on my heart, or maybe I just began more strongly listening, I started earnestly praying. I have to say, I was a little, or should I say a lot, hesitant at first. It felt like we were finally starting to get into a groove with adjusting to our new family of six. We have worked through many attachment/bonding issues. I was content. I have four beautiful, healthy children. 2 boys, 2 girls. Our family is an even number so when we go places they each have a buddy (ya know, the really important things in life). It works out nicely. They all get along so well. They are all so close in age. They were happy. I was happy. I felt my life was manageable. Isn't that how it works? Just when we get comfortable (or selfish), God likes to stretch us. As I said, I began praying A LOT about this. All the fears I experienced the first time began flooding back to me. Fears of the unknown. The bottom line is, adoption is hard. It is incredibly beautiful, but incredibly hard at the same time. I would be lying to say we haven't had our struggles. We have come a long way. I have grown tremendously in my walk with the Lord, which has helped a ton. Yemi has done amazing through it all. I just needed some serious work. Our family has experienced love like we never have before. God has been so good to us! I love adoption and I am a huge advocate for it. It's just that there are definitely challenges that come with it. Kind of like there are challenges that come with most anything in life. It's a matter of how we're willing to deal with it and how we allow God to grow us through it. It truly is a beautiful and miraculous thing. I feel honored that God chose our family to live it. My family and I are changed people because of it. I can't think of a better way to see the heart of Jesus than through adoption. It's awe-inspiring.

As I continued to pray, I began randomly mentioning it to Keith. He was like, uh I'm not sure if that's what we're supposed to do. We had talked about it many times in the past, just not so seriously like, this may be the time. So, I begain praying more specifically that if this was something we were really supposed to do, that God would reveal this in Keith's heart as well. And He did, rather quickly. Fast forward to Mother's Day. It was a beautiful day spent with my loves. Everything from church, lunch, paddle boats, and time spent at the park. I came home after a fabulous day to handmade gifts from my kids. My favorite kind of gifts. They were precious. After opening each of them, Keith handed me a card.

It read, "Chrisanna, You are more than a great mom, you are the best! The only thing that would make you better would be ONE more...I trust you & God's call in you & I'm ready to start praying and seeking His perfect will for us & our family. Here we go...  I love you, Keith"

I just about dropped to the floor. My eyes immediately welled up with tears. I was in shock. It was totally unexpected. I love how God works. The kids were just looking at us like, What in the heck just happened? We obviously weren't ready to share with them yet. We were both so excited, but anxious at the same time to take this next step of faith.

Keith knew my heart at this point and how I felt God was leading us to pursue this. Because we've done this before, we know that it takes a loooong time. We filled out the application to our home study agency right away. We wanted to get the ball rolling.

Here's me dropping our application off. The first step into our new life journey.

We waited a few weeks before telling the kids. We had our first home study visit scheduled and we knew we couldn't keep it a secret anymore. Here they are right after we shared the news with them. They were SOOOO excited!!! We caught their reactions on video and it is so cute.

Once we made the big announcement to all of our family and friends (amazingly the kids kept it a secret for a week), we celebrated with an evening trip to Krispy Kreme. 

They next day the kids put on their Ethiopian outfits and danced to some Ethiopian music. Adorbs.

They wore these outfits for two days straight.

So, where are we now you ask? Well, we turned in ALL of our home study paperwork on July 5th. I can't even tell you how good that feels. On Monday of this week we had our home inspection and fingerprints done. We each have one final home study interview. Then the home study can be completed.

Our international agency is Lifeline Children's Services. They have been so great already. Love them! Our next step is for me to get my booty in gear and get our dossier done. I get a headache just thinking about it. So.much.paperwork.

Oh, and in case you are wondering.....We are adopting a toddler boy from Ethiopia!!!

Soon to be a family of 7. I can hardly even believe that I am going to have FIVE kids!

Thank you God for allowing me to be their momma.

Back from Kansas.

We are home from a fab vacation in the beautiful state of Kansas.

It was so, so good.

This is my fourth summer taking the kids (Keith's second summer coming with us).

I love every minute of it.

Our days usually consist of going to the farm, the pool, Sonic, then back to the farm.

This year we switched things up a bit.

We were so blessed to be able to be there for the last two days of wheat harvest. Sweet! It's such an amazing experience. We also took the rv out for a spin and went "camping" for two nights. Lots of fishing and swimming in the lake. The kids each caught their very first fish. Yay! We took a tour of the Dalton Gang Hideout in Meade, KS. I bet most people can't say they've done that. Marked that one off my bucket list! We visited grandma in the nursing home. Spent one of the nights at Grandma & Grandpa Harrington's farmhouse. We made many trips to the "big" pool. We did some 4-wheeling on the farm. Caught many more lizards and mice. Got Sonic treats almost daily. Just plain wore ourselves out, in a really good way. The kids literally fell into bed every night, asleep as their heads hit the pillow. So many more fun memories made. I cherish these days.

I am incredibly grateful for my in-laws who make this trip possible. They are so good to us!

----------

Could these kids be any cuter? I don't think so. I mean just look at them. Melt my heart. I always tell them they are so stinkin cute I just want to eat 'em. The boys can't seem to understand that. They just look at me with a confused look and say, "Um, why would you want to eat us?" I guess only a mom understands that feeling.

Um, yeah.

I'm crazy about them. 

We are happy to announce...

More on our journey tomorrow.

As you can see, we are super excited!

Gettin' wiggy.

Cheesy title, I know.

Some little peeps discovered the halloween bag full of wigs

...in the attic...which they're not supposed to be in without permission. Ah-hem.

How could I resist mullet boys, dorothy, and well I'm not quite sure what that is? 

Cuties.

I just have to share this funny little story that has nothing to do with wigs.

The other day I was cleaning out Yemi's clothes. Doing a little purging, getting ready for our yard sale. I asked her to try on a few things to see if they fit or not. She put on a shirt that was a hand me down from Keanna. I could tell by the look on her face that she was not too down with it.

Me: "Yemi, do you like it?"

Yemi: "It's kind of yaggy," as she's pulling on it making a really funny face.

Me: "Yaggy?"

Yemi: "Yes, ya know, yaggy!"

Me: "Do you mean baggy?"

Yemi: "Oh nards!"

I about died. I was on the floor laughing so hard. I think this is evidence of some major brotherly influence!

The weekend.

Oh my, this past week seems to be one of the busiest that I can remember!

It was literally something every day and night. Lots of good stuff though. 

Birthday celebrations, haircut, yard sale, BBQ's, My Favorite Things party, church picnic, RH leadership meeting. Basically, lots of time with family and really good friends.

I am so blessed by the amazing people in my life!

I was so happy on Friday to have some peace & quiet as I snuck away for a haircut.

Iced coffee and some good gossip to read while sitting under the dryer. Ahh...

I was invited to my first "My Favorite Things" party.

The way it works is everyone picks out one of their favorite things, around $5 and buys 5 of them. At the party we were given 5 tickets. One person at a time stands up and shows their item, why they love it, and where they got it. Then 5 tickets are drawn from the jar. If one of your numbers are drawn then you get the item. 

I racked my brain for ideas of what to bring. I love Target and I also love Starbucks. So gift cards to one of those places was an easy choice. As I thought more about it, I wanted to be creative and unique. I love framed typography. There are so many awesome prints on pinterest and etsy right now. I love all the sayings. My sister, Sam (thank you so much sis!) recently made one of Psalm 45:11. It was a pinterest inspired idea. I would love to frame this for my girls' room. I literally drove all over town to try to find affordable white frames, but had no such luck. I finally resorted to clipboards. I've used clipboards before as a part of a gallery wall. They work perfectly and add a different and fun element. I was kind of bummed that they had "office depot" stamped in the metal, but by that point, I was done. 

I think they turned out pretty cute.

I walked away with a Starbucks cup, morrocan oil, 2-pack of burts bees lip balm, bath & body works candle, and a scrub brush for dishes.

Pretty darn good, I must say.

As we were leaving, I noticed this picture on the wall. I loved what it said, so I snapped a quick picture of it to remember in case I wanted to make my own version. As I was downloading the picture later that night it made me laugh as I saw the reflection of Jen and I. Love it!

Just a fun picture of me and my girls. We LOVE our Toms!

So comfy and such a great cause.

Yemi's legs desperately needed some lotion after playing at the park all day and rolling in the grass. She begged me to not have to stop what she was doing and go put lotion on. I decided to let it go.

God's Girls Club.

This is a story of my Kiki and a dream God gave her.

God impressed on her heart to start a club for a group of friends to get together and talk about Jesus. She wanted it to be a time of praise and worship, learning about scripture, discussing Bible virtues, praying for one another, crafting, making snacks, and just spending time together. She came up with the name, God's Girls club. The idea actually stirred in her heart a couple of years ago. When she first told me about it I thought it was the sweetest thing ever. Well, life sometimes gets in the way and I didn't take the time to actually sit down and look at our calendar and plan it. After many nights of tucking her in bed and her asking, "Mom, when can I have my club?" I finally just picked a day. Yesterday's club was the third one she's hosted. The goal is for her to meet with the club every couple of months or so. She does everything to plan for it. She makes the invitations. She comes up with a theme and virtue for the day. She puts together a schedule of events. She searches the Bible for the right verses to share. She makes posters. Her brothers are so sweet to help her out with this. She plans a time of worship. She does it all and it is so very precious. 

This month's virtue was Faith.

She described faith as, Believing in something you cannot see.

The two verses she shared were:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

and

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

 Praising Jesus!

Kiki really, really wanted to have a real live pet at her club. Since we don't have any pets, she was hoping one of her friends could bring her dog. That wasn't going to work out so Keith secretly planned a surprise for her. She was a little distraught over this. I mean how can you have "Pet Day" with no pets? We assured her that it would all work out. When she was having signs of doubt we asked her, "Kiki do you have faith in us? Do you trust us?"...and she did. I'm sure it was hard, but she did. Little did she know that Keith asked one of our friends if he could bring his brand new puppy over for the girls to play with. When he walked in with little Ruby in his hands, the girls freaked! It was priceless.

Here's Kiki and Ruby. Oh, she was so cute. Almost makes me want a dog, almost.

 I have been wanting to make this fun recipe and the club was the perfect time.

Party Popcorn.

It was delicious.

I used Orville Redenbacher's Natural, simply salted microwave popcorn. Melted, CandiQuik white baking bar, and sprinkles.

It was a huge hit. I mean, everybody loved it and that doesn't usually happen. I will definitely be making it again. So good and so easy.

 

Kiki says it was the best club E.V.E.R.

Everything about it. She loved it all.

I would have to agree. It was pretty special.

I am so proud of my girl. She has such a tenderness for the Lord. It blows me away. She is so confident of who she is in Christ and is not afraid to share it. I pray that is something she carries with her always in her life. She genuinely loves Jesus. And she wants to share that love with everyone. There is nothing greater.