Picking apples

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

For the past 6 years, I have belonged to an adoption support group. We meet monthly and the people in our group have grown to be called family by one another. Over the years, we have gone on many field trips. There has always been an abundance of children I could "borrow" for the day and call mine but today, I was able to go on my first field trip as a mama! How sweet it was!


Jade and I on the children's wagon ride

Jade was super! (as long as we don't talk about the lovely ride with her screaming all the way in the car seat) She went on the wagon ride with me after I was able to squish myself in and pry myself back out. I was blessed to have this all documented in pictures. Thanks Gary! She loved it. For those of you who know me, I love to sing and what would a field trip be without a little singing. Yes, we sang as we rode! The young man driving the tractor looked back and laughed at us a few times but my daughter loved it and that is all that matters!


Jade and Carol James

Since I have grown to love so many of these children, it was very hard for me to share my time with them and my daughter. Meaghan was one of these special little girls. Meaghan has been home for 4 years and she is my lovie! Each one of these girls has been waiting for my daughter to come home so they could play with her. May they all grow to be good friends and know that even though I am Jade's mama, I will continue to love them.


Meaghan and I

We took a wagon ride out to the orchard. They gave us bags to fill. I was so excited as I haven't done this since I was a teenager and getting paid to pick fruit. Jade was quite content. She enjoyed walking through the orchard and was all set once her hands got full.


Jade and her two apples

I kept trying to convince her to put her apples in my bag and get more but nope...that was not her plan. So she ate and I picked. We all joked about whether or not they were going to give us an apple breathalizer when we got back to pay for our apples. They were so good. Nothing is better than a crisp apple right from the tree, well, except maybe the apple crisp and apple sauce made from them later in the day. :)


"Ok Mama, my hands are full! I'm ready to go!"

This was not only my first field trip with my daughter but Karen Pickard has also recently brought home her daughter Maya from Ethiopia. This was an exciting moment for both of us and one we have both waited for.


Maya-one of our newest additions to the AWAA family

The Kulps were in China while I was. We were both getting our daughters at the same time. It was such a blessing to be able to see people you knew and watched walk through their journey get their daughter, Danielle.


Danielle-our other newest family addition

I so love our support group. No one is afraid to say they are having challenges. No one pretends to be the perfect parent. Though my best friend has been telling me that all parents make mistakes and we all feel dumb sometimes, it was good to hear other people telling you this too. So many other families have experienced my car seat issues (and it looks like it could be a long ride until she is comfortable in it) as children in other countries often don't use car seats and haven't traveled much.

As we went through the day, we shared stories of our children. I was sharing how Jade has started to sing the chorus of a worship song and raise her hands in praise like mama does (Monkey see...monkey do). Each mom shared a song their son or daughter did the same thing to. Each song was totally different but it totally matched the child's personality. I love how you do this Lord!

After a wonderful day, we journeyed home. Later on, Jade decided that all the plastic containers needed to come out of the cabinet. She decided to create a masterpiece with them. She also realized that they can be used for art AND to make a lovely hat!


Jade proudly displaying her new "hat" and artistic creation of plastic containers