Family Friday, O Christmas Tree, Target Card Drawing etc.

Today was black Friday for most folks but we did not venture out into the crazy fun of all that.  For us today was Family Friday!  :)  We went and visited Bobby's Sister and Brother in law (Noah's Nana Beth and Poppy) and to see our neice and her baby :)  did a couple of errands and headed home to put the Christmas Tree up :)  Here are some pics and all from our day at at the bottom is the Vidoe where I announce the winner of the Target Gift Card!

This was how Noah began the day.  He was NOT in a good mood.  I was quite worried about how things would end up going!  FYI that little pooh shirt he has on was worn first by his big sister! :) 

Noah huggin Nana Beth!

and huggin Poppy!

Noah givin hugs to cousin Emma Elisabeth :)

Me holding my great, great neice!  One of the percs to marrying an older man!  Isn't Miss Emma Elisabeth the cutest thing :)  She has the family birthmark just like her mama too  :) 

startin to put up the tree

Daddy can I help! :)

I think Millie quite enjoyed learning about this tradition :)

Noah was so into trying to help :)  He saw the girls workin on the branches, so he wanted to as well :)

My family workin on the tree :)

Noah and daddy puttin on the first ornament :)

He is just lookin at it :)  so cute :)

ooooh Wow!  LOTS of stuff in this box to get into! :)

helpin Nanny put on an ornament :)

Sooo fun :)  Noah was so amazing to me!  This 2 and a half year old literally helped put up the whole tree and he would walk over and get ornaments and get someone to help him put them up the entire time!  When we were all done he threw a fit because he wanted to help some more!  So cute!  I was amazed he would be so helpful and involved at such a young age.

Putting the star on with Daddy!

look at my tree! :)

The Sisemore Family Christmas Tree!

Tonight was the drawing for our Target Gift Card!  I want to say thank you to all who donated and entered the drawing.  We are so blessed by the generosity of you all :)  So without further ado here is the drawing and the winner announced! 

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Congratulations to you!!!!!!  I can't wait to hear how much fun you have with your gift card!  :) 

Jeremiah sweetie pie, Mommy really felt your absense alot today.  It seems so much harder right now because when we first laid eyes on you I just knew you would be home for Christmas and so now that we are preparing for Christmas and you are not here I am so very sad, but I KNOW that God is in control and you will be home soon!  Catch my kisses in the wind frogie boy!  I LOVE YOU :)

Thanksgiving...

When I think about this day I am so overwhelmed with all I have to be thankful for!  I am so glad I live in a country that has a day to focus on giving thanks to God for our many blessings! :)  I am thankful to be in America where even with its many problems, we are still so much more free than alot of places.  We spent a wonderful day together watching the parade, the dog show, an old Walton's Thanksgiving Specials as a family with Celeste's young man Cory joining us.  It overwhelms me that we have hit our 2nd Thanksgiving with Noah!  This is our first holiday that we have had him twice for!!! :)  Last year I had a special outfit for Noah for Thanksgiving and his suitcase got left behind by accident.  Well, the outfit fit him and he wore it today! :)  So neat :)  Though he took the bib and slung it when I tried to put it on him.  He is getting to where he does NOT want a bib, though he sure does still NEED one! :) 

Here he my little man in his outfit :)  You can't see it but it says Thankful for Mommy!  I sure hope he considers himself thankful for me! :)  I SURE am for him! :)

He loved the turkey and kept pointing at it :)

Here was our turkey! :)  It was a different brand than we have had before and did not have much drippings like we are use to and I was worried it would be dry but it was not :)  It was really good :)

Celeste took an ariel view of the table!  LOL

My amazing family! :)

Celeste and her Cory! :)  Happy First Thanksgiving with a boyfriend Baby Girl!

My mama and my Panda Boy! :)

My sweet hubby Bobby and Mille (our daughter for the year! )

Noah was hamming it up :)  Another cute shot, though he looks SOOO much bigger than he is in this picture! :) 

Before we prayed for our meal today Bobby wanted us to go around the table and say something we were thankful for.  Each person did and when it was my turn I talked about being thankful for my family that was all with me and for Jeremiah that waits in Taiwan for us and then I lost it when I talked about being thankful that this was the last Thanksgiving we would spend separated from Jeremiah!  It amazes me in some ways how long the fundraising and all it taking this time, even though I knew it would be hard, I kept thinking I had things figured out and am so wrong, BUT I can be thankful that God has it figured out and the money is coming!  I CAN trust in that! :)  on that note PLEASE be in prayer for the Target Gift Card Giveaway. We draw the winner tomorow.  If you want to be in the drawaing PLEASE enter :)  I can't wait to find out who will get to have so much fun shopping at target :)  It only takes $5 to enter and that gets you TWO entries :)  see above this post for more details :)  I pray you all are having an amazing Thankgiving and those of you venturing out for Black Friday be safe, have fun get good deals! :)

Jeremiah my sweet angel boy.  I miss you even more this Thanksgiving Holiday that we spend separated.  I know it seems weird taht I can miss you when I have never physically met you but boy I sure do.  I can't wait to have you here with us and to hold and rock you and watch you as you grow and develp as God has for you too.  You are gonna love your big brother :)  Tomorow we will put our Christmas tree up and I can just imagine your face lighting up if you were here to hear the ornamants jingle, the music playing, and maybe seeing enough to see the lights..  Happy Thankgiving frogie Boy.  Catch my kisses in the wind tonight :)

Noah is LOVING the parade! ELMOS!!!!

Noah is havin a fit over the parade, and this part was even more exciting!  ELMOS!  lol and big beak!  LOL 

For some silly reason that is what big bird comes out sounding like! :) 

Still pics weren't enough because he was sooo cute :)  See the video :)  and listen close, you can hear Noah TALKING!  Granted it is Noahease!  but still :)  Huggels to all :)

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More to come later :)  Enjoy your day!  Happy Thanksgiving!  TOM is callin me, gotta scoot!

4 Funerals and...

Today Bobby, Celeste, Noah and I went to Bobby's Aunt Virginia's Funeral in Campti, Louisiana.  (LORD, send me a van please!, Millie stayed with my mother because of not enough room in the car.)  Anyway, This is the 4th funeral Noah has been to since he came home 14 months ago :(  I am big on liking to take pictures and Noah and Bobby looked so handsome and Celeste so pretty I asked Millie to take our picture before we left town.  You would not think it would be so hard to get a good shot of 4 people, when only 1 of those is a child!  LOL  Anyway, this was the best of the bunch of all of us :) 

The Sisemore's November 25, 2009  So what do you think?

I also got a very good shot of Bobby and Noah

Aren't they so handsome!? :)

It was neat to see family we have not seen since the reunion and also to meet some family Celeste, Noah and I had never met!  :)  Aunt Virginia was some lady and her funeral was a testament to the impact she made on the world.  It made me think about what things would be like at my funeral.  Have I made an impact on the world and those in my life, would folks have anything to say about me? etc  One thing to that was so neat was the comparison to the proverbs 31 woman that was made today of Aunt Virginia.  What an amazing testimony to be able to be compared to that :)  I must way I fall way short of Aunt Virginia and the proverbs 31 woman, though I do strive to be better, and have been working hard on becoming a better wife, mother, friend, homemaker, etc  Lots to think about stirred up in me tonight. 

Here are a few shots of Noah at the funeral.

Doesn't he look handsome :)  He is soooo active!  I feel like I have been in a war after this day!

We had Samuel today :)  Aren't they some handsome babies?!? :)

This is a strange but cute shot :)  heehee He pulled his legs up like that for some reason.

Thought I would share some other photos

This is Millie chowin down on an ice cream cone!  She, Noah and I had a special lunch just us one day :)

This is Noah one day when a miracle took place!  NOAH WOULD NOT EAT!  I just knew he must have been getting sick, but he didn't ever get sick.  He would not eat anything, even his favorite mac and cheese or chinese noodles.  It did not last too long and we never did find out why.

This is Celeste and Cory at the lunch out with Cory Sunday.  They were cutting up and havin fun!  We so enjoyed our lunch with him.

Here is the posed picture :) 

Celeste got very tickled!  heehee

and laughed so hard she fell out of her chair and she ended up ON THE FLOOR!  LOL

I so wish I had a bunch of pics of Jeremiah to show you as well :(  But as he is still waiting in Taiwan I can't just snap shots of him  It is so strange how you don't think what a blessing it is to be able to take whatever pics you want when you can do so whenever, but when you are waiting for another glimpse of your child an ocean away pictures take on such a new meaning.  I take so many pictures of Noah and Celeste now, it is a way to hold a place in time!  I LOVE pictures!!  Anyway, here is an older photo of Jeremiah for you to oh and aw over in place of something new.

This was one of the first pictures I ever saw of Jeremiah! :) 

Hand on frogie boy!  We love you more than you will ever know and this Thanksgiving you are one of the things we are thanking the Lord that we have!  Mamma loves you so much and I am sending extra snuggles along with my kisses in the wind tonight!

BLESSINGS ABOUND!!!

Ok, so BLESSINGS ABOUND!!!!!!!  I just got word that a $300 grant is being sent to Heartsent towards our adoption of Jeremiah!  Is that not cool!! :) 

And on top of that we now have THREE Turkey's! LOL

So we will not need to buy any meat for a good while!  I am searching for Turkey Recipes everywhere to give variety because we will be eating turkey every night in a row for a good while!!!!  PLEASE keep up the prayers everybody!  I can't wait to see how God is gonna show off next! :)

 Please remember the Target Card Giveaway will be drawn Friday and pray that the entries will pick up enough to at least pay for the card and prayerfully enough to make a profit for Jeremiah.  Some lucky person will have a $50 target Gift Card to shop with! :) 

Also, as silly as it may sound to some of you PLEASE pray for update pics of Jeremiah!  I sooo want to see new pics.  One because my mama heart just aches to see him and how he is doing!  And I want to see how his hands and everything look to see if I can determine how he is doing and all.  I know in the midst of needing still about $2100 to pay this behind payment that this sounds like such a small silly prayer need but it is  something that would do my heart so good!

Hang on my little frogie boy!  Mommy loves you and is sending kisses in the wind!

National Adoption Day..My Day and feelings...

Today is National Adoption Day!  I had such great dreams for this day.  We are working on our 2nd adoption at this point.  Adoption has touched my life in a way that I could NEVER have imagined even when I had such great dreams about it, they do not compare to the miracle of our lives!  We had a fundraiser planned today at Sam's Club.  Now, It's the Saturday before Thanksgiving AND National Adoption Day, what better day to hold and be hopeful of an even better than ever amount being raised.  Well, this day did NOT turn out at all like we thought it would.  We arrive at Sam's today mindful of how things went last week, and that we had been moved to an area that was far from the door and had affected our sales, We set up at that location anyway, knowing that it might affect things, but praeryful that God would make up the difference.  Well, not ten minutes into the sale someone comes out and informs us we have to move.  UGGGH ok, now if you remember from last week, we were moved multiple times that week each time further away so I was not excited to hear yet again we have to move everything again.  They moved us to a point that noone could see us and the only folks even possible to hear us was like 1/20th of the parking lot as they walked from that area.  The girls were REALLY mad about it and were like why not just tell us to leave.  I thought this as well, but thankfully I did not voice it.  I did ask if there was a way to get something in writing to let us know once and for all WHERE we were suppose to be so that we could make sure and be in the right place and figure out a way to draw attention to us if this was where it was.   That request was never granted.  But we stayed at the place we were told though it made things very difficult because this place had no way to block in a safe area for Noah, so hence having to hold a squirmy 2 year old.  On top of all this it chooses today to get BONE COLD!  and rain and mist off and on!  After almost 3 hourse we had raised only $20.  Bobby sent me, Millie and Noah off to do errands for Thanksgiving and he stayed.  He said he did not want Noah and I sick.  Celeste went to her boyfriend's family Christmas and Noah and Millie and I did our errands and Bobby stayed and froze for hours more.  In the end the final total raised was $99 and 9 cents.  NOT the $520 or more we had so hoped and prayed and anticipated.  I am extremely thankful for hte $99.09 we did raise, but to say the least I am disappointed.  BUT, I have to trust that God has a better way!  My earthly eyes cannot see it, but I KNOW it is there!  I know the Lord gives folks the gift of giving.  I KNOW he leads folks to give and I will trust that he will do that in this case or he will lay it on someone's heart to offer a personal loan or something.  I HAVE to trust that HE has it in control.  God wants me to depend more on HIM in this and not on ME!  In my mind when we scheduled last Saturday this Saturday and Tuesday I had it figured at about $500 each sale for $1500, half of what we are pass due on payin the agency.  I was so excited that we would not have to worry about that half, Well, apparently US selling candy was NOT where it was to come from because it has not.  I need to remember that this is about God and how HE chooses to help us do this!  I need to think outside the box.  It is not fair of me to put God in a box and say to the Father of the Universe basically, umm Father I have scheduled these sales to get this money and this is how we are raising it.  umm NOPE.  Forgive me Lord for taking control here.  What we made today is a blessing from God!  If I trust my God, then I trust that HIS WAYS are the perfect ways.  Anyway, thank you for letting me share this lesson I am learing today!  I hope it makes some tiny bit of sense to someone.  I have NO CLUE how we are going to come up with the rest of this $3000 in time, but GOD DOES!  I am going to spending ALOT more time in prayer asking God what HE wants us to be doing to raise the money!  We have a sale scheduled on Tuesday.  Noah, Sam and I will not be going with Bobby.  It is not safe the way things are for the boys to be there for any length of time.  Whatever Bobby is able to make in the time he is there we will be so thankful for and we are praying for direction of our next steps here.  So yes, this day did NOT turn out the way I THOUGHT it was suppose to, but that is not necessarily bad.  The Lord promises to work ALL things for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to HIS purposes!  We KNOW God called us to Jeremiah and to orphans, so we will count it all Joy.

 In the midst of all this we had a JOYFUL day with our Miracle of Adoption Noah WesLee Sisemore!  He is such a Mr. Personality and brought joy to us and everyone in his path today, at the sale, at the stores on my errands, you name it!  I can't tell you how many loud laughs he brought out of me today!  When I think of National Adoption Day I am reminded what an absolute miracle it is that the country of Taiwan would give me this bundle of Joy that is MY SON!  WOW!!!!!  Now, I will copy what my friend Judy did on her blog today!

This is my Panda Boy Noah Nov 20, 2007 waiting in Taiwan.  This is the closest I could get to this date!  You would havethought that hair was gonna be curly!

Panda Boy today, November 21,2009

THANK YOU GOD FOR THE GIFT OF ADOPTION!!!!!!!!!