Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Holiday Season

With a wonderful and eventful Thanksgiving behind us we are enjoying a busy holiday season in our new home. We were blessed with a visit from Pop and Grandma Kathie and the Thompson family over Thanksgiving weekend. Followed close behind by a visit from the Swopes. It was so nice to see family and our Gitmo friends (who might as well be family!!) Most of the boxes are unpacked, but I have to admit some things were put away a bit hastily. It will be one of my New Year's resolutions to get it all sorted out. Meanwhile, the tree trimming traditions and shopping abound. We were out and about today for about 6 hours and I don't remember it being so chaotic-people everywhere, traffic, crying kids. It seems 4 years of internet shopping warped my memory!! We are trying to focus our attention on the real gift of Christmas our Savior Jesus and have been visiting different churches in the area. There are many to choose from and we are seeking the Lord's guidance in finding our new church home. Hope you all remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!

Getting Settled In

This room use to be bright red with lots of white metal shelving attached to the walls. Mark spent a week painting and putting up the wainscoting. Not too shabby for a first time do it your self job!!

It has been such a long time since I've posted. We are still alive and trying our best to get settled in our new home. Most of the boxes are unpacked and it is beginning to feel like our home. Our biggest adjustment so far is the weather. We have been fighting off head colds for over 4 weeks. I finally broke down yesterday and went to the doctor where I received a shot of antibiotics. I have never been so happy to get a shot! I am tired of being sick. So far we love the area and find the people here to be very friendly and willing to help in any way possible. We are expecting family in town for Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing some friends coming through from Gitmo. We have so much to be THANKFUL for this year. Mark is loving his new job and is thanking God daily for bringing him into a relaxed and encouraging job environment. The kids are adjusting to stateside life and settling into a bit of routine. However, our conversations often return to "remember in Gitmo when.....". We will always cherish our time on island and the many friends we made through the years.

Teeny Tiny Travel Trailer

Camping in SC

We have made it to South Carolina for Mark's outprocessing. We are hanging out in our new (used) travel trailer that is 25ft. when extended. To say the least, it is an adventure with 6 of us trying to shuffle around. It has been rainy and cold (to us) and we have been very blessed by our friends here who have fed us and allowed us to hang out in their dry homes. It is such an encouragement to us to see our Metro family and join them in worship. We are definitely already missing those sunny Gitmo days!! Please pray for our continuted patience and for those of us feeling under the weather. The kids and I will be taking off next week for TN to close on the house.

Retirement Ceremony

Today, we celebrated the end of Mark's 20 year Naval Career. We all made it through the ceremony without shedding tears, but Mark and I came close as he asked permission to go ashore for the final time. The ceremony was filled with traditional Naval retirement pomp and circumstance to include the passing of the flag (Old Glory), speeches, and the reading of the Watch. The ceremony concluded with Mark being piped ashore with the words"IT1 United States Navy departing" followed by "military family departing." Wow! We are departing a rewarding and honorable season of life. I think I can speak on behalf of our entire family when I say, we are ready to start a new phase in our lives. However, we will always be proud of Mark's service to our country and ours as a military family. We will treasure the memories of far away lands and the blessing of fast and true friendship that comes from living with and depending on other military families. Thank you to all of our family and friends who have supported us as we made our way from duty station to duty station through the years. It is never easy to have family members far from home, but we have always known we are loved and that you understood the call to service. We look forward to making up for lost time and seeing you all more often!

Mark preparing to receive his awards.

Kids and I receiving our appreciation letters for our service to our country.

Forever Family Day a.k.a. Gotcha Day

One year ago today, a sickly, scared 18 month old was placed in my arms in a crowded, loud room in far away country. I had dreamed of this moment for years and felt so blessed that the Lord had called us to be this little girl's Forever Family.
Today, we celebrate this day, as do many adoptive families, to remember the moment our lives changed forever and Joy became a part of our family. She has grown so much over the last few months and is a healthy and vibrant 2 year old in every way. We have had our issues since coming home, as most adoptive families, but we praise God that Joy is attaching along with Mom and Dad. We have discovered this process is a give and take for all of us and that each baby step is a move forward. Watching her over this year has been like watching a flower grow and bloom. Each day she shows us another hidden aspect of her personality. So far, we have discovered she is smart, stubborn, silly and above all a loving child.

Today, we PRAISE and THANK GOD for our precious little Joy Elizabeth Yuhui ! We Gotcha girl and we aren't ever letting you go!

Last Landing

It was strange flying into the island knowing that it was our last time landing here. We have made a lot of memories, a lot of friends and have had a lot of fun. I am forever amazed at the many blessings the Lord has given us. The kids made friends with the pilot who is from Mark's home town.

Joy is happy to be on final approach!

A beautiful view of the island from the air.

A Few Days of Fun

We spent a day at Disney and a day at SeaWorld to wrap up our days stateside while house hunting. The kids got a great view of the parade while we were dining in Frontier Land. At SeaWorld, Matt and Grace were quite courageous and road the Manta with Dad. I was more than happy to "volunteer" to stay with the younger ones. Joy and Andrew enjoyed the shows at both parks. However, at SeaWorld we had a difficult time finding adequate shade for Joy. We also became acutely aware on this trip of the curiosity of strangers in regards to Joy's nevi. Due to the fact that our base here is small and intimate we haven't had to deal too much with the comments and stares of strangers. However, I have to admit on this trip it began to get to me. It is not the glances of interest of people passing by that break my heart, it is the people who make revolting faces or comments that are meant to insult. On several occasions, I just went up and asked if the person had any questions about her condition. Of course, they would say no and continue on. We have no objection to answering questions especially when they come from children. We have found that most children are accepting once we explain that she has birthmarks. It is the adults who we find unforgiving. We know that this will be a ongoing journey for both Joy and our family. We pray that we will be able to model appropriate responses for Joy in these circumstances. We already know God has given her a spunky, loving personality and that He has great plans for her. She is His beautiful Princess and that is all that matters. I pray as she grows and comes to know Jesus that others will see His light shining forth from her.

Successful Journey

Our house hunitng trip was a success with the help of our great realtor, Sheila. It only took us looking at over 35 houses to finally find the one that we think will fit our needs. We are so excited and found the people of Tennessee to be warm, polite and most importantly not afraid to give God glory in their conversations. We can't wait to see how God will use us and grow us in the future.

Anyone who knows our Andrew will instantly know that it will be very difficult to get him to play inside!

Wow! That's what color looks like on a wall! We can't wait to make this house our home.

House Hunting

Joy is being an angel and just going with the flow. She picked her favorite house and said "Joy's Home!"

House hunting is exhausting work! We have a great realtor who is on board with our needs and price point.

Cracked slab- Uummm! Not a great feature

We have seen 12 houses so far and only one is promising. Five more to see tomorrow. Our first impressions of Murfreesboro, Tn is that is family oriented, growing and people are very friendly. I think we will grow to love it. It is truly beautiful country. Please pray we have the energy to keep up the hunt and that the Lord will bless us with the perfect house.