My Lovey Award

My sweet, sweet Lea over at Oh My #6, awarded this very special blog award. She has quickly become my friend, sister, and confidante. I love her with all of my heart and I can't wait to meet her one day. Thank you Lea.


So here is how it all works!

"These blogs are exceedingly charming.
These kind bloggers aim to find friends and be friends.
They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.
Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships will be propagated.
Please give more attention to these writers.
Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly- written text into the body of their award."

Again I love receiving these award , BUT it sooooo hard to pick only a few of my Blog Family members. Just know that you are all loved!! The friends that I chose for this award are all so special and dear to me. They each have their own distinct place in my heart. So much Love and Blessings to all of you.

1.Bailey at The Martin Zoo
2.Catherine at Catherines Chatter
3.Sherri at Journey to Emma Rose
4.Vicki at Our Journey to Jadyn Nicole
5.Gwen at The Oatsvall Team
6.Cyndi at Waiting for Lilly Rae
7.Kirsten at China's Gift
8.Meredith at A Mother Singing (If you have time go to Meredith's blog and read the post that she has for January 29th and the previous one that she links to. It is the most real, raw, and extraordinary post I have ever read. She is an unbelievable writer.)

We've received an AWARD!! (updated)

We have received a "Fabulous Blog Award", from Alyzabeth An's Mommy and Daddy!!!! Thank you so much Alyson and Ford. You both are incredible people and have touched my life in so many ways. You and your beautiful daughter have been a blessing to me. And today 2/5/09 I received it from Beverly also. I love this girl, we think sooooo much alike and her little angel is just precious. Thank you so much B.

So here are the rules to the award and I will try my best to pick 5 of my bloggy friends to reward this to, but it is going to be so hard because I absolutely love all of the people that I have met along the way. So if I don't get to you this time I will get to you the next time.


Here are the rules for this award:

1. Pass it on to 5 fabulous blogs, and include the one that gave it to you (and link them).
2. List 5 of your fabulous addictions.....

#1. Kim at the Byrds Nest...She has such a beautiful family and this lady writes so beautiful.

#2. Denise at Theres always room for one more....This lady is incredible. She has endured a tremendous loss, but she keeps on keeping on with all of her children. She is soooo funny!

#3. Sharon at And Baili makes 3...She is an incredible photographer, and her subjects are just beautiful.

#4. Rebecca at Mother of two wife of one....She is an incredible wife and mother of two adorable little people.

#5. Don and Be at Joanna Mei, Bebe and Home Daddy...These two people have been so good to me over the what seems like years. I have the upmost respect for the both of them and you just have to see their beautiful little Joanna Mei!

My 5 Addictions!!

1. My one cup of 1/2 caff coffee in the morning

2. Blogging (my husband calls himself a Blog Widow)

3. I am addicted to loving my FAMILY!!!

4. I love those big dill pickles..you know the ones you get at the ball park!!!love,love,love, them!!! I get mine at Costco.

5. And I just can't seem to stop chewing ICE...isn't that just weird???? I know it is not good for my teeth, so I buy soft ice!!! lolol

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

With a week of vacation getting ready to begin in China, my prayer is that the CCAA gets alot of rest and relaxation so when they come back to work they are energized to start matching our baby's with their Forever Families a whole lot quicker. And maybe in February they can cover more than the two days they covered here recently.

P.S. Next week I will have some news on my book, "God Made Me In China". Printing is to start very, very soon!! I am so excited!!

ALMOST THERE!!!!!!

OH I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE BEAUTIFUL FACES OF ALL OF OUR BABIES!!!!!!!

Inauguration Day 2009

Although I did not vote for President Obama, I am overcome with emotion today at the thought of our country inaugurating our first African American President. On a September day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to start the process of freeing the slaves. Thank you Mr. President for you are a True American Hero!!!!!!

So on this day my prayer is that President and Mrs. George W. Bush have a safe trip back to this Great State of Texas and that today is the first day of the rest of their lives.

Also on this day I pray for President and Mrs. Obama that all that he does is in the best interest of his American public. I pray that he and his family are always blessed and safe in their new life. I want to be able to put all of my trust in you President Obama. I am so proud of the fact that as an American I am blessed enough to be here to see history being made.

May God bless both of these families always. President Obama may God bless you and the task at hand, for it is going to be trying at times. Your task is quite a large one,so may you always look to the Lord for guidance, and comfort, as you work to get America back on track.

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS,AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!

HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND!

Here we go......

This is my Pantry door and since the CCAA started February 2006, we have had the calendars up here to mark off the days, so here we are with March , and The Red Thread Chinese Proverb and I just can't wait to start marking off days !!! I am so excited!!!! Rumor has it that there is going to be a big batch of referrals, so to protect our hearts AGAIN.....we try not to get to excited, but God is good and I know that this is really going to happen soon! I am so excited for Melissa,Sea Star,Catherine,Lynn, and Christie and so many others. I so want to see the beautiful faces of their daughters...and then its our turn to see our precious Franceska!

Astrud's Sweet Sixteen Dinner

Sixteenth year in a row of covering her ears, when singing Happy Birthday!
Our Family
Our Kids
Nonny,Poppy and Astrud
Daddy,Mom and me!
Christopher and Amy
Steven and Megan
Craig and Traci
"Sisters"
Astrud's Protectors...her Brothers!
Papa's girl!
Mommas Angelbaby!
Jena, Emily and AstrudMe and the Girls!!
Soooo Pretty!

Astrud and friends
Just having fun!

Astrud and Kelsey got the Driver License!!!! Help us!!!
TOO MUCH BIRTHDAY!!

Just some Saturday Sweetness!!!

I just had to share this little piece of Heaven with all of you!!! Jessica gave me these little socks for Christmas, she got them at JCPenney's and let me tell you something....Once you put these little babies on , your brain just tells you to cuddle up on the couch and not do anything ALL DAY!!!! They are soooo comfie and soft! I love them!!!
These would be the Cadillac of all heels for me! They are Michael Kors peeptoes and although I would never pay $200 for a pair of shoes for me, I can dream!! Aren't they Fabulous!!!!

p.s. Today is Astrud's Sweet Sixteen Dinner , her and all of her friends are SOOOOO excited so there will be pictures soon!!

p.s.s. Are any of you having trouble with Blogger posting pictures???? It takes me a minimum of at least 7 or 8 tries to post pictures, and it is sooo frustrating!!!

Happy Sweet Sixteen Astrud!!!

Free Comment Graphics by ShoutPix


Dear, Astrud Alise

The day you were born the Angels in Heaven danced....You are the light of our lives. We love you so much and want so much for you. You are a young lady of integrity, loyalty, compassion, and you are a girl after God's own heart. Your thoughts and ways amaze us everyday. We admire the relationship with your Creator so much, knowing that we weren't there at your age. Our prayer for you is that God wraps a hedge of love and protection around you as you enter this new season of your life, that you always grow in HIM, that you always try to make the right choices and decisions in your life. May your dreams always come true Angelbaby. We love you so much and we are so proud of you. Even in the normal rough "teenager" spots of our lives , we hope you always know that you are our beacon of light that drives us to want to be better parents everyday.

We love you,
Mom and Papa

Just some pics and thoughts!

The first 3 pictures are my parents and are so special to me and bring out so many different emotions. The 1st one I will titile "THE KISS" , if only my Mom knew what she was doing when she was doing it. BUT I will treasure this picture forever.

The 2nd one is my Daddy and as I look into those eyes, I see such a tired, troubled man that is and will always be my Hero. He is so so good with my Mom, but yes it is taking its toll on him. He takes care of her everyday, with the only exception being when he lets us take care of her so he can have some down time. I love you Daddy.

The 3rd one is my Momma, and at the very moment this picture was taken, she really was making no sense in what she was laughing at, but we have learned to just go along with it, even the kids do it. Rayn, my 4 year old neice will just shake her head and say, "Nonny you are so silly"! It is just priceless. But I will always love this picture because this is how my Momma used to look when she would be cracking up at some dirty , nasty joke she or someone else told, or this is how she looked when she was just being herself, always laughing , joking and picking on someone. OHHHHHH how I miss that lady. Alzheimers is no fun. I love you Momma.





These are some of the most special people in the world to us. These are our PARENTS! From lt. to rt. My Momma and Daddy, Aunt Ida, Uncle Freddie, Aunt Joyce, Uncle Richard, Aunt Margie, Uncle Bob, Aunt Mary, Uncle Bill and Aunt Sara. Now that our grandparents are all gone, these are our "leaders' , our "examples", our Matriarchs and Patriarchs, and it is soooo scary that they are the "old people" now, but I thank God everyday for them. We are a close family , that loves hard and that argues hard, but at the end of the day we always know who and what we belong to and we always know that we are FAMILY and that we are always here for each other.





This is just a few of my cousins, my sisters and I with our signigficant others! There are about 25 ot 30 more! But as we were taking pictures we were recognizing that we have all really "GROWN" through the years!!! Dangit!!! That's me the tall wide one in the middle!!


And here are "OUR" kids...the great grandkids, it may not be all of us, but all of these cuties are quite a handful and we would not know what to do without them. We only wish that our grandparents were still here to see them.


My prayers for all of these people are for God to put a hedge of protection and love around all of them , and for each and everyone of them to ask God to reveal himself in their lives everyday. And for them to always Trust in their Lord and Savior.

Jacy and her family gave Franceska this ladybug cup/place and saucer set, and these precious bows!! (see the ladybugs..too cute)



Aunt Kerry gave these panties to Franceska, she bought them in 3 sizes, aren't they just too cute!!! I love ladybugs!

WARNING WARNING!!!! This will be a long post!!

I have alot of Christmas pictures that I want to catch up on, and I have soooo many and I can't seem to pick only a few, so bare with me in this video there are 41 photos and then more seperate pics (when Blogger lets me) so I apologize ahead of time, it will be a long post!

e

This is our year, the year of FRANCESKA!

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

Hello to all of you !!!

First I want to say that I pray all of you had a wonderful Christmas!!! Second thank you soooooo much for all of your comments and encouraging words, you people are beautiful and I thank God for putting each of you in my life. Third, I have been gone because my computer has been at the Doctor!!! I will do my best to catch up on all of you in the coming days!!! Happy New Year!!!

If you can go here and look at Claire's beautiful face!!!

OH AND ANOTHER THING : THE STORK LANDED AND GUESS WHAT???????

THE CCAA IS FINISHED WITH FEBRUARY 2006!!!!!!!!!!!! ONE MONTH AHEAD OF US!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

Love and Blessings,Kristy

HERE'S THE REASON!

I have deleted every single post about my sister Kim and her life. She was demanding I do that and at first I was not but tonight after I watched a video over at my friend Christies blog, I decided to do so. There was a lesson in that video and that is that whether you have done someone wrong or if you have been wronged, we are never guaranteed tomorrow, so make a mends with those people, so I am doing as my sister wishes and what she does with that is not my responsibility.


The reason for this is that I have been told by her and her friend, that I am not truly a christian woman nor am I Godly in any way, because I try to portray that my life is perfect, I try to portray that my kids are perfect,and because I am also a hypocrite. I have also been told that the reason God is makimg the wait for Franceska so long is because of the "real" kind of person I am. The reason for all of this is because while I was being there for my sister, taking her to appointments, changing my hours at work, and trying desperately to encourage my sister to heal inside and out,and simply asking all of you for prayer, I have been told that I selfishly was just airing her dirty laundry for all the world to see. This is how she sees it and I apologize for that. So many of you have been praying for my sister for two months now and I am forever grateful for that.


As far as me trying to portray my life as perfect, I have a right to defend myself. First of all by airing "dirty laundry", I don't think that is trying to portray your family as perfect.

As far as my kids, I have a poem taped to the wall that I look at while on my computer that reads:


"I didn't give you the gift of life, but in my heart I know the love I feel is deep and real, as if it had been so. For us to have each other is like a dream come true. No I didn't give you the gift of life, Life gave me the gift of you "
Author Unknown


I would assume all or pretty much most of you know that I gave birth to NONE of my children, but on January 8th , 16 years ago a babygirl was born that was meant to be mine, we named her Astrud, she is forever and truly my angelbaby, and so it was...then I met , and fell in love and later married a man 10 years older than I, that had children...a few to say the least!!! At that time Steven was 10 years old and I am his Mom, I raised him until he moved out, fought in Iraq and got married, I love him as if I did gave birth to him myself, there is absolutely no difference in the love I feel for him even if the blood that ran through our veins were exactly the same. My oldest daughter, Chastity (we don't say "step") is only 10 years younger than me , and yet not only is she one of my best friends, she is my daughter, then there is Christopher in which I feel such a complete , magnetic, and unbreakable bond with, he has taught me so much about perservance and more, then there is Craig, that when I see him, or when he looks at me this special way that he does, I feel such complete and utter love and pride. Every one of these incredible human beings make me want to be a better person than the person I was the day before, they each have their own unique qualities, and inner beauty and yes all of them have their own relationship with their Lord and Savior and YES that makes me beam.


I also have two daughter-in-laws , Megan and Amy, and a soon to be DIL, Traci. I am totally in love with these young women, first and foremost because they are totally in love with my sons and as a mother, that is the most important thing to me. It was brought to my attention that while I am trying to portray my life as perfect, my relationship with Megan is not the best, well you know it is not right now, but I do know that I pray that one day all will be healed and that there will be no animosity there, but I do know how much she loves my Steven because all she has to do is say his name and it is written all over her face.


We have a grandson , Joshua and three neices, Jade, Lily and Rayn that are the light of mine and Frank's life, and we look so forward to watching them with Franceska, and so many other older nephews and neices that we love so much.


So with all of this said, even though in every walk of life there is always negative, and bad things that go on I guess these people are right , I guess I do portray my life as pretty perfect, because GOD has blessed me beyond belief, and I do love to share my life with you. I love my God, my husband, my children, my family and my life. And I make no apologies for that.

Thank you each of you for listening, God bless each of you, and again thank you for becoming family to me. I love all of you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS
Love and blessings, Kristy

32 And COUNTING!!!!

Even if we are looking at another 6,7, or 8 months at least we have 32 behind us!!!! We have survived that so what is another few months!!! We ARE coming Franceska!
We love you, Mommy and Papa

Congratulations Megan and Marsha

Our DIL, Megan and her mother , Marsha both graduated from U.T.S.A. last night. Megan graduated with a Bachelor's in Education and her mom , Marsha received her Masters in Education. I think it is really special for Mom and Daughter to achieve a goal and then graduate together. Congratulations to both you! We are very proud of you Megan and excited to watch the start of this new season in your life.

Steven and Megan!
Here is Megan and Marsha!
Only in San Antonio a Mariachi band plays the recession music after the graduation. lolol