Happy Thanksgiving

Busy, wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Most of the Jordan clan was at our house for the day. That put 17 of us around the tables.
What a lot we have to be thankful for.
~Salvation
~Family
~Friends
~Food
~Shelter
~Love
~and so much more
If you find yourself taking these things for granted look around at all those whom are missing these things and you will find a new appreciation.


Our two newest treasures, to whom many of these things were not a given.

So during these days of Thanksgiving, I challenge you to remember those living without these basics with your time, your money and most of all your prayers.

God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Danielle is home

Danielle and Ryan made it home for the holiday. Drew wasted no time! He got right in to teasing Danielle, just like old times!?!
We thank God for his traveling mercies, as they traveled all night to get here.

Grandma and Grandpa are here!

Darryl and Becky Jordan made it home from Papua New Guinea for their short furlough. Caleb and Hannah meet their paternal grandparents for the first time and Grandma Mae was glad to see her son once again.

Elmo in Iraq?!?

Erinn and I found this cute little Elmo chicken at a garage sale this summer and just knew he needed a change of scenery. So off Elmo went to brighten up the days of some lonely soldiers in Iraq! Erinn's friend, Mike, and his bunk mates have been having a little fun with him! Oh, by the way the sings and does the "Chicken Dance". Here Elmo is practicing his patrolling and checking out this MRAP!
This is just a quick reminder for you all that there are lots of soldiers all around the world, who will be spending their holidays away from family this year. Maybe you can be the one to brighten someones day. If you need ideas, just ask me and I will help you out best I can.

A Busy Day

Today will be a busy one getting ready for the Thanksgiving weekend.
~Erinn started the day excited about only a couple of hours of classes before the long weekend.
~Caleb is now VERY sore and was told to slow down, as he had a lot of bleeding from his incision.
~Hannah of course is dancing around in her pink slip!
~David is very excited to see his parents tonight after 2 years or so.
~Drew is just back from work and is teasing his siblings before getting started on his school.
~Danielle and Ryan will be leaving today to come enjoy the family fun.
~Liberty (the dog) still has swollen eyes from the large dose of horseradish she ate last night!
~And I am just trying enjoying the chaos!!!
Isn't life good!!

It's Out!!

So, if this had been David he would have passed out! But not Caleb!! I had to tell him to lay down and let the doctor do his work. Yep, he watched the whole numbing process, then saw the lump before it was out of his leg and then wanted to see the hole before the doctor closed it!!! And I was afraid that he would complain a bunch about it.
For those who do not know. This lump has been in his leg since he arrived home from Liberia 3 years ago, and we were not to worried about it. Through another adoptive mom's blog I was made aware of the possibility of it being something else, so we had it removed today. It was about the size of 3 nickles stacked on top of one another. It seemed to be contained and whole. Now we wait for 2 or 3 day to find out what it was.
I am sure Caleb will be very proud of his scar.

Grandma's Dresses

David's parents, Darryl and Becky, are on their way home from the mission field and look what we found in some old boxes we had to pick up of theirs. (Sorry for peeking Becky!!!) Hannah would not leave me alone till I showed her one of the "pretty skirts". To be correct about it, this is the slip that goes under the round dancing dress, but to Hannah it is just a great big puffy pretty!!! She even wanted to wear it to the doctor's office today!

Border Clash 10

Just got home from the Border Clash 10 meet on Nike's beautiful campus. Sorry to say Washington took the title this year. But we all had a great time.

A big thumbs up to Nike for their encouragement to these young athletes!!

Congratulations Drew on all your many athletic accomplishments this season! Continue with your dedication, we look forward to seeing you keep speeding on by in the future.

Hair Day

It is hair day for Hannah! That means starting about 8 this morning, taking a lunch break and just now finishing at 2pm. This smile you see on her face is that she is SO VERY HAPPY we are DONE! I am thankful it will stay in for 2 weeks or so. Now she is begging big sister Erinn to take her shopping. In true girl fashion, it is one of her favorite things to do. And since sister has the day off school and work she must want to go too!!
We will be off for the big Border Clash race this weekend. Go Oregon!!

A Promise in the Sky!

Genesis 9:16 "The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

What a beautiful site in this mornings sky! A wonderful promise of God's faithfulness to us.

The joy of being 5 and trying to catch a rainbow! (Hannah)

The California Fires

During the week of the opening of the gallery Danielle looked off the balcony of her building to this view! And yes, that is the direction of her home. She was able to get to her home and retrieve what she could in 5 minutes. She went to bed believing her home was gone. What a blessing to find the next morning that hers was one of the homes still standing! Fourteen others in her neighborhood alone were not so fortunate. She is hoping that once the repairs are done to the home she and her roommates will be able to move back in this week. The bottom picture is an photo of her subdivision. We are thanking the Lord for His mercies and praying for those whom are starting again.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, thought the mountains shake with its swelling. Psalm 1-3

Happy Adoption Day!!!

A father of the fatherless... is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families.. Psalm 68:5a,6a
This is our "gotcha" day!!! Yes, three years ago today, this small, scared Liberian brother and sister stepped off the plane and into the arms of their "new" FOREVER FAMILY!!!! Today Caleb told me he remembers being excited about being in America (notice that he did not say family), but was also scared. When I asked him why he was scared, his answer was: "You all looked funny and were talking a different language. Now the looking funny part I understand, I bet we did look very different from what he was used to. But the talking funny part is interesting since we both supposedly spoke "English", but that just shows that Liberian English is definitely its own dialect!!

To watch my children go from quiet, sickly and scared; to healthy, happy and energetic is an amazing thing. Little Hannah has grown 14 inches!! Caleb has grown 7 inches. But more importantly than growing in stature is the growth in wisdom. We pray that they both grow in their knowledge of their Lord and Savior and choose to follow Him with their lives!

Adoption--what a blessing to our family.

So during this National Adoption Month as we contemplate the meaning for thousands of orphans around the world, let us also contemplate the beautiful way that we have been adopted into the Lord's family.

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15

Marathon Man

As I am still trying to catch up the news from the last month, I wanted to post this great accomplishment by that wonderful man in my life. After his AS diagnosis none of us thought he would ever have the opportunity to complete another marathon, I am glad we were wrong. Watching him delight in the opportunity to run again was an amazing thing. The title for this blog came from one of our favorite verses and the one David has been meditating on for the last 6 months or so.

Psalm 27:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Witnessing David follow through with seeking the Lord even in the pain of loosing his running was a great testimony to many around him. What a joy to watch the Lord give it back to him after a time. To make it even better, he was able to complete it with 4 men from church as a fundraiser for disabilities ministries.

The Big Hunter!

Last week Drew was blessed to find this great buck on the last day of hunting season! A beautiful black tail with at 22 inch spread and 4 points. We are thankful for the meat in the freezer too.

An Engagement!

Yep-Danielle is engaged!!

Danielle met Ryan while attending Corban College and have been seeing each other for over a year. Due to Ryan's deployment they will be looking at a wedding date in 2010. We are very excited for them and looking forward to what the Lord has for their future together.

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord." Proverbs 18:22

May God bless our oldest blessing abundantly in all her years to come!

State Champion!

So lets go back a couple of weeks and catch this blog up. On November 1st we had the wonderful opportunity to watch our son win the state championship in cross country! Way to go Drew!! Being runners ourselves, we know the hard work and dedication that goes into an accomplishment like this, and we are so very excited for him. Drew ran a personal best (PR) of 15:55
over the 5K course. You can find a link to the article at the link below. Rejoice with us in his amazing accomplishment and let it remind us all to "run the race that is set before us!"
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081102/VARSITY/811020339

Welcome to the world of blogging!

We have discussed for a while starting this blog. Hopefully this will be an easy way to keep family and friends all updated on what is going on in our lives. I am not a writer, nor am I very computer savy, so be patient with me as we get this on the road!