When it RAINS it POURS!

I have SO MUCH to share with everyone.  First of all, I’ve been a little bummed lately because we wanted to see pictures of Mackenzie so badly from her birthday party and it appeared we weren’t going to get any and THEN…20 pictures came through!  Thank you, thank you Ladybugs N Love!  Angela and Kelly are angels and managed to get the orphanage to forward a whopping 20 pictures from her special day.  According to our adoption agency, this is an unheard of amount of photos!  Here is my favorite:

This all came after we also received new photos and an update from Lindsay and Mark, who just traveled to China to pick up their little girl, Julia. 

Mark is a PA, and he did a quick assessment of Kenzie’s eyes and gave us the great news, that in his opinion, she does not have nystagmus but probably estropia (crossed-eyes).  This is totally treatable and just became the least of our concerns!  So YEAH, right?  Not so fast…the pictures have raised a few eyebrows around here and we are doing our best to stay upbeat and positive and believe that the Lord put this little girl in our lives because we can handle whatever comes our way.  Her little clenched fists, lack of muscle tone and floppy head have us wondering; what actually is her special need?  Regardless…we LOVE this little girl and we think she is AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL!  (P.S.  I totally forgive Mark for thinking she was a boy – in his defense the outfit and hair are questionable.)

Here are some more birthday pictures – Happy 1^st Birthday Baby Girl!

I’m not sure she is enjoying this!  It sorta looks like she is being “cake boarded.”

Funny note about the pictures – notice the little one in the walker?  Oh yeah!  It’s the photo bomber again!!!  Turns out, she’s not our baby – she just resembles our pumpkin and obviously has a real issue with sabotaging pictures at the orphanage.  Sam says, “Someone is a little narcissistic.”  But we’re sure there’s a family out there who will love that about her.

So, while we were blessed with a deluge of pictures, we were cursed with downpour of rain.  Check out Lake Gregg on the patio:

We’ve had thunder, lightning and rain every day this weekend.  It makes for a nice muggy mess.

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In other news, I had the honor of being able to deliver a huge care package to our friend Brian and his daughter, Sierra.  As I mentioned before, Sierra is beginning her fight against Stage 3 ovarian cancer.  Angie, Michelle and I went over to the house to bring gift cards, cash, snacks and gifts to the whole family to help support them through this trying time.  Sierra’s smile touched my heart and filled the room with light.  It was the strangest thing, I thought I would leave sad, but I felt stronger after visiting with her.  Please say a prayer for Sierra and her family.

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Hope you have a wonderful week!  I know these two girls sure will....

 Love,
Marlo