Please Pray For This Young Girl--

One of the ladies in our Tuesday prayer group shared this story/prayer request: about a girl who lives in another state:

Last Friday a 15 year old girl went to an abortion clinic to abort her baby.  She did not want to go through with the procedure, but she lives in an overly crowded house with relatives who cannot affort the money or space for a baby.  They wanted her to make a choice:  the baby or your home with us.  So the teen did go to her appointment at the clinic.  She tried to follow through.  But she ended up running out of the place without having an abortion!!! 

I was and am deeply moved at this amazing show of courage.  This girl is in such a difficult situation and faces losing her home...yet she bravely chose life for her unborn baby!!  All of us ladies found ourselves weeping as we spent several minutes in prayer for these two precious lives.

The director of the local crisis pregnancy center opened her home to the teen for a few days until they could figure out what to do.  She (the director) has asked us to pray for God to intervene in this situation.  The young lady has been in much physical discomfort and had an ultrasound which showed the baby has a very weak heartbeat.  Please pray for her heath and the baby's.  But on the positive side, the relatives are now possibly reconsidering their initial untimateum.  It looks like may be able to stay with them during the pregnancy.  There are still many unknowns, however, and anything could change. 

I will be seeking updates about this young lady and will let you know how things go.  Just please, please pray for her and for God's best plan.

Taiwan Adoption UPDATE

Stop by our other blog for the latest news posted today:
www.johnsonfamilyadoption2.blogspot.com

Chattanooga Cupcakes - yummy yummy!!

Eric and I had a rare Thursday afternoon date today.  My parents volunteered to watch Noelle, so Eric took part of the day off from work so we could have some 'quality fun'. :-) 

The fun included exploring downtown Chattanooga on foot...  Which brought us to a brand new shoppe: Chattanooga Cupcakes on Broad Street.  The sign in the window said they would be opening on Monday.  But the lights were on and we saw scrumptious looking cupcakes on display! 

http://www.chattanoogacupcakesonline.com/

The door opened at our touch, so we ventured inside.  The gal behind the counter introduced herself as Sonia.  She said they we not open for business yet, but would we like to try a free cupcake...as a sample?

Would we!??!  Of course!!

She was giving the delectible treats away to test them on the public.  We were quite willing to be test subjects.  The choice was difficult, but Eric went with the carrrot cake with butter cream frosting and pecan bits.  I chose the chocolate cake with white chocolate truffle frosting.  She packed them carefully in a to-go box, and we walked back to our car.  Eric thought we should drive to another destination to get something to drink and then eat our treats at the park. 

Thing is, my cupcake didn't last that long.  It was gone before I got out of the car! 

Ohhhhhhh people! Our taste buds were in heaven!!  You've got to try some of this lady's moist, decadent cupcakes.  Stop by her place at 500 Broad St - Chattanooga, TN.  These are tough economic times, but I sure hope her business thrives.  Everyone needs a sweet pick-me-up from time to time, right? 

BTW-- Eric said he would pay 5 whole dollars for one of these babies.  That is high praise, indeed. ;-)

Noelle Pix --- for your viewing enjoyment

Just a bit o' news from our life lately...

I had a special treat for Noelle when I picked her up from preschool Monday...

Candy!!! 

As a reward for participating in gymnastics class that morning.

And yes, bribery was involved.  Sweets are always a good incentive for our munchkin!

Cuz even though standing on her head was fun, ish...

...THIS contraption scared the heck out of her last week (her first gymnastics class).  Her buddy, Teagan, was just ahead of her in line and performed some fancy whirly twirly technique (Teagan has been taking evening lessons for some time).  Noelle watched and decided being a future olympian wasn't "all that".

 

Bouncing on a mini trampoline into a somersault is extra fun!

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Squeaky-clean and oh so cute!

Our silly girl!

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"EEERRRRR UUUGHHHHH!!!  If I turn it juuuuust right, I should be able to lift this thing..."

Noelle had been asking for several weeks to get a "jack-o-lantern pumpkin". 
Last week we obliged and drove to Linda's Produce a few blocks from our house.  It's not a pumpkin farm, but Noelle enjoyed it.
The pumpkin farm came that weekend (pix to follow)...
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After finding a pumpkin, we spent some time at the local bookstore.  Eric and I took turns reading kids books aloud.  And you can see that Eric is really getting into it. ;-)

  

 My big cutie and my little cutie

Noelle:  the growling voice of the Big Bad Wolf
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Grammy's scarecrow isn't very scary.  Noelle thought it was a big doll and wanted to carry it around.

September 18, 2009 -- WE MISSED IT!!!

AND THE ANSWER IS:
As of September 18, 2009 Noelle has officially been with our family longer (by one day) than she had been in orphanage care without a family.  Amazing!!  Eric and I are so honored to be the ones God chose for her parents. :-)

Some dear friends of ours celebrated this milestone with their daughter last year.  We actually were priveleged to help them celebrate Reagan's important day.  Eric and I thought it was a very nifty idea and planned to copy it for our family.  But darn it, with all the sickness and "other stuff" we've been dealing with recently, we both plum forgot!  I'm bummed. :-(  It may not have seemed significant to Noelle, but it means a lot to us.  We cannot go back in time, but I'm wondering if there is some way to recoup what we missed.  Hmmmm....  My fortune (cookie) says there is a Chinese meal in our immediate future!

******************************************************
QUESTION:
Can anyone think of what the significance of this particular date is???
You win a *GOLD STAR* if you can guess correctly...

bummer

*EDITED BELOW

After all of us being sick the past couple weeks and spending waaaaaaay too much time in the house and with each other, I was looking forward to preschool today.  I mean really.  A lot.  I was look forward to preschool really a lot.

(come on, moms! who's with me!?)

In my defense, Noelle was too.  She loved her '1 day of school' from 2 weeks ago, and was excited to attend her first gymnastics class, and to see Teagan and the Rodrigez kids (friends from church).

BUT Chattanooga is under water. 

And I mean that almost literally.  It has been raining for days and days and many areas are flooded.  Eric and I feel blessed that our cosy church parsonange home is high up on Missionary Ridge and not in the numerous small valleys across the area.

So we were shoving food down our kiddo with 5 minutes to spare before I tossed her and her Dora backpack in the car...when the phone rang.  Eric grabbed it, read the caller ID out loud and we both groaned.  (My groan might have been a bit louder and longer than his.)  "Cancelled due to flooding."

I love my kid more than life.  But I'll say it again.

BUMMER.

(Note: The building was not flooded. Just the parking lot.)

CAT-astrophe!

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

The mirror is missing. 

A large one that covers the wall and most of the window. 

(Ok, you probably noticed that this is poor placement for a dresser with a mirror, but in our bedroom there is literally no other place to put it.  Between the 2 awkwardly placed windows, the 2 closets, the door to the hall and the door to the bathroom, there is no other available wall.  I feel lucky that we were able to get our bed in this room!)

While in the shower I heard a terrible crash.  My first thought was that maybe the cats had knocked the tv to the floor.  My second thought was, "That had to have woken Noelle.  Grrrrr, those cats better not have woken up Noelle."  I dashed out of the shower to investigate and immediately noticed the dresser mirror was not in it's usual place.

It was here, on the floor.

So much for the mirror I've had since I was a girl.

 

I guess I won't be checking my outfits or putting on jewelry here any more. 

 

My antique jewelry/music box also bit the dust.

And so did my (previously) unbroken last collectible figurine given to me by my husband.

Here are the culprits.

I found them cowering under the bed.  When they did eventually slink out, there was narry an apology for the mess and destruction they had left behind.

What led to the cat-astrophe?  They had been up in the window behind the mirror watching birds and squirrels.  Evidently something spooked the kitty-girls during their vigil. 

 

We have a large tree so close to the house that the area wildlife, from the wooded area behind the parsonage, frequently leap from a branch and race across the roof then back again, all day long. 

The cats love it.

As indooor felines, they find this amusement a wildly entertaining way to spend an afternoon.

I never did love it.  Even more so, NOW.

Noelle's First Japanese Steakhouse Experience

The fire scared her so much she jumped into Eric's lap.  Each time our cook lit something on fire, she screamed a bit and either hid in her daddy's shoulder or covered her eyes.

Showing more interest in the process...

You can practically see her mouth watering over the steaming chicken.  She cried out, "MEAT!!MEAT!!" when the chef tossed the pink breasts onto the sizzling grill.  (Our girl does eat fruits and veggies, but she is quite the carnivore.)

The hostess loved chatting with Noelle and noticed her struggling to eat with the huge fork.  So...she brought her a pair or training chopsticks instead!  Just moments before, Noelle declared she was "All done!" and wanted to get down to play.  But, when she got those chopsticks in her hand, her focus suddenly changed to cleaning her plate.  And she almost did just that!  She had quite a knack for picking up even bits of rice with this new tool.  Our table-mates were quite impressed.  (Unfortunately we forgot to take them with us when we left the restaurant.  Noelle was sorely disappointed and wanted us to turn around.  Eric consoled her with, "I can make you some chopsticks just like that at home!")

All Moved In!

A rainy day in Ringgold

Derek, Eddie and Ramon came over to assist.  You guys are AWEsome!

Much of the sorting of household items will take place in the garage

The Master Suite

The Great Room

My tired sweaty dad, taking a well-deserved water break

That's the last of it, guys!

Hi, handsome fella ;-)

Hey, where did this cute lil' squirt come from??  Was she in one of the boxes??  Can we take her home with us?? :-)

My Parents!!!

Are finally, officially, moving down to the Chattanooga area from Knoxville -- TODAY!!! They have been living half time at their new condo, doing flooring projects, painting projects and such, while waiting for their house in Knoxville to sell. Unfortunately it still has not. :-( But we are trusting and praying for God to bring the right buyer along.

Anyway...this evening they are heading this way with their moving truck with the remainder of their belongings. Please pray for their safety as dad drives the truck and mom follows behind in the car...with a freaked-out, car-crazed feline in the front seat. eeeeekkkk!!! (I'm hoping they put Spanky in well-secured box - he's been known to escape!)

I've been trying to reach their cell all day to no avail. Sooooo we are not quite sure when they will arrive. We just want them to get here safe and sound. I am SO excited to have my parents here full time! It's been a long time coming. Thanks, God! :-)

icky sickies around here

***Thursday Evening Update***
We are all doing sooooo much better. Noelle and I even got out of the house today. And the Tamiflu I started taking yesterday seems to have helped.
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Please keep us all in your prayers. Noelle and Eric still haven't quite beaten the flu (since last Thursday and Friday, respectively), and Noelle actually developed a concerning rattle in her chest this evening. And the bug finally caught up with me yesterday.

Many, many folks all over are struggling with the same thing. We are praying for all of you out there, even as we pray for a quick end to our illness.

{{{Air-hugs}}} (anything else would spread germs),

Jen

~The Blessing Place~

On Wednesday, Noelle started her first day of Mom's Day Out.  The Blessing Place is a program run by a church in our community for preschool aged children.  It is a Monday / Wednesday program that follows a regular preschool curriculum.  The kids are divided into classrooms based on age, and they have bible lessons, crafts, music, basic Spanish, field trips (that come to the school), etc. ...and they even have a gymnastics class once a week (super cool!). 

Noelle really enjoyed her first day, and she didn't cry, which made me very relieved, as this was a new school.  I think checking out the room and "inspecting" each and every toy at the open house the previous week helped immensely.  She seems to like her teacher, Mrs. Heather, and enjoys her 5 other classmates.  Only one boy, poor kid - or maybe not!  He seemed to not mind the girls teasing and giggling all about him! lol  Noelle also has a buddy in her room-- Teagan from our local Families with Children from China group (her mom is Terri of Our Hearts' Desire blog).

Here are a few pictures:

Noelle, Teagan and 'the one' boy (I'll have to learn his name)

You might be living with a toddler if...

...you can rattle off the words to the Barney theme song or the text of "Good Night Moon" but can't seem to recall your social security number or zip code when asked.

...you scream in the shower because you see a gaping wound on your leg...thankfully it's only the red Elmo sticker your child stuck there last night.

...your cupboards and drawers are filled more with sippy cups and Dora or Cinderella flatware sets, than with dinner plates or ceramic mugs. And you value these plastic and rubberized items more than your fine china.

...you find you've come to prefer the kids' menu (i.e. chicken nugget meal and apple juice) to your grilled chicken salad and water with lemon.

...your discarded containers, boxes and bottles are confiscated from the trash can and used as toys.

...before leaving the house, you ask your very manly husband, "Do you need to go poo-poo before we go?"

**PAINFUL ADOPTION NEWS!!!**

Please visit our Taiwan adoption blog for the details I posted tonight. Thanks.

www.johnsonfamilyadoption2.blogspot.com

Our Girl Is 3!!!

Happy, happy birthday, precious Noelle JiaZhen! How did you get to be sooooo big? We are so very proud of you and the lovely little girl you are becoming. We LOVE being your mommy and daddy and look forward to many, many birthday celebrations with you in the years to come!!

All our Love~
XOXOXOXOX
Your Mommy and Daddy
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