on a lighter note

While we wait to hear from Xiao Fu (Daniel is back home with us, by the way, and has almost recovered from his emotional, exhausting mountain/mourning road trip), I decided to post some of the lighter, happier details of our life.  

Jubilee's orphanage haircut is finally growing out.  Is it just me, or are we getting a glimpse into the future here?  She's a doll, that for sure.

I am excited to share that I have kept the "I birthed three babies in four years" weight off now for over a year!  I never thought I'd say it, being the wannabe foodie that I am, but smaller portion sizes as a lifestyle really ain't that bad.

Bright, who is just 6 1/2 years old, is reading at a 5th grade reading level (I promise I'm not exaggerating), and he reads with better inflection than me.  Zion, who is just 4 1/2 years old, is reading at a late kindergarten level.  We've got a couple of real bookworms here at Cambridge Garden 3-2-1202.

Brave Ransom eats more than almost everybody at the dinner table...that's something, right?

My grandmother, pictured here with my mom, turns 80 this week.  Happy Birthday, Grandma!  I love you.

And Daniel is doing a bang-up job raising our little men. Here they are fixing the desk chair that pops a screw every time I sit in it (so much for feeling good about my weight).

While Xiao Fu grieves, and while Glory fights, and while Jubilee grapples, and while Daniel shares The News day-in and day-out, and while I train up the children in the way they should go, there is One who is sovereign over it all.  It is His strength, in us, that keeps us keepin' on, and He is waiting for us on the other side of the finish line.