the rills #2: September 2009

I've caught up on my posts so pour yourself your favorite drink and enjoy. T.

why did we have to wait?

I've been thinking about this post for a while now and want to get it right. Waiting, that is it's theme. This word had continually come up again and again in Davids and my life, he waited 3 years for me to finally date him, we waited 7 years to get married,had 2 kids but then waited 4 painful years for the next 1 to come along, waited 3 years to be hired as a fireman, waited as we watched life be taken from my mom, 2 year wait for healthy baby #4,which by the way I was "supposed" to only be able to have 1 because of my diabetes another story,Then comes baby #5. We had decided together I would not give birth to this one God would give her to us another way and in April of 06 we began yet another wait. 8 to 10 months they told us , Mei was just about to turn 5 then.

"while I'm waiting, I will serve you while I'm waiting, I will worship while I'm waiting , I will not faint , I'll be running the race, even while I wait" John Waller.

I can't say how many times I have cried while singing this song, it talks about being patient , confident, obedient, peaceful, hopeful and bold and while I can not say we were all those things still we waited.

So Why? why the wait? why over 3 years? why did she sit there alone waiting for us, we were right here the whole time.I wish I could say after all these times of waiting we have it all figured out. Truth is we do not. I have so many questions to ask God when I see him, why didn't my mom live 47 more days to see our first daughter , why didn't I get pregnant when we wanted so she could have seen them all? why did a mother have to give her tiny baby girl up and why did it take her 8 years to get to us? why now that we finally have her can't I be free of pain to care for my kids the way I wish I could?

" I waited patiently for the LORD. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the sticky mud.He set me on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many people will see this and worship him. Then they will trust the LORD." psalms 40:1-3.

He has put a new song in our mouth our wait is over and as you see those big brown eyes in the photo above I hope you hear our praise to God. It is because of Him we loved an orphan even before we knew her name, because of Him she was chosen for us, His grace brought her to us. I hope you will see and hear our worship and trust Him as we do!

This one thing we do know for sure, our God is in control of this horribly sinful world . we do not understand it or Him, Thank goodness or He wouldn't be any smarter than we are! What do we do now that this wait is over? well like the song says worship and serve. We are really nothing special just a couple who selfishly wanted another girl. So why do we have a life of waiting, I don't know but I do know who does and we will keep on trusting Him.

the rest of spring hill fun

this rest stop was really for me to stretch, the kids just got in on it too.

once we were all at camp the fun really began, no we did not buy these hats, really who would?

riding the tram (that's how big the camp is)

look close only 1 hand is holding on. easy to say which parent he gets that from

this is my favorite picture of the weekend and frankly I think it should be on their brochure, that is liv enjoying the sprinkler park. I told wendy she should build this in her back yard, I know a plumber...

tram again

we had 2 cabins this super cool one is the fort

more sprinkler park good for all ages

craft house

tie dye is a hit!

ice cream social

yes an indoor pool, this is really non-stop fun. the pool was open from 9-11 pm a great way to end the day (and get the kids clean)

this is the other cabin "the powerhouse" because this one had electric and plumbing we cooked and ate here.

liv's an old pro at reaching the top. Notice the bare feet kyle and chuck, this is the non-rules camp,I can't tell you how many times i found myself asking the kids where their shoes were or telling them not to throw stones.I could not get used to it.

blow up water jumpies can you believe this place? It was so great our kids were the only ones there for a long time. It also took Mei 3x asking me if it was ok for her to get wet in her clothes, she thought we were crazy for saying sure why not!

paint ball for the older kids, finally Al had someone to play with. I am proud to say we had 2 girls play too, Kendell and Tristan nice job ladies!

this was cool too, they had make your own ice cream for snacks here are K and G shaking theirs. Mei didn't like the cold and was not happy about shaking it for 5 minutes

delicious

this was one of our lunches at the fort, dogs on the fire

THE BLOB, it is legendary fun

Kendell being blobbed by a grown man (who we didn't know)

mei blobbed sky but then slid right off so not to get blobbed herself

Tristan blobbed by Sky

and the winner... B being blobbed by wendy I wish I had a video so end our fantastic labor day weekend of non stop fun!

the rills play hard

almost sure she didn't play like this in China

brookes baby shower (this was over a week ago)

pregnant sisters, this was hours before courtney delivered

the great grandmas

this was Meis first gift given. she was confused at why we would put paper over the thing she picked for "Brookes bebe" most people voted the baby to be a boy, mei must be expecting a girl (however in China color has no gender)

some of my girl friends, I'll endure the pain for these cuties

Brooke and all her wonderful helpers

thanks to kendell for taking over the photography for me today great work.

a new look for liv

yep another tooth out, she tried to wait to get up to camp but no luck it literally just feel out. she looks and sounds so cute I think I'll have a portrait taken.