Christmas Eve 2009

Our family is blessed enough to have both of my Grandmother's still alive!!! The photo of my children and "Granny-great", is my Dad's mom. The one with my children and many cousins is "Grandma White", my Mom's mom. We love both of them so much and we're so glad they're still with us!
It was snowing and icy! We almost made it home without incident, 2 miles from home and we couldn't make it up our hill, slid in a ditch, but thanks to God, a tow truck and neighbors we made it home safely!

Christmas decorations

As I begin this post, I just want to say: I hope no one is offended by the picture of Jacob with no shirt. He was in his sleep shorts and so excited about untangling the lights!





































Decorating for Christmas this year was a whole new experience! Thank you to all those that prayed, donated and help raise funds in order to get us to Russia and make this new experience possible! Jacob and Losha were so excited about the lights and the nativity scene! They said "America really good!" We take so much for granted! We heard so many "wows" and "really goods" while getting the decorations out, it was unbelievable!

Geography fair 2009

Guess what country we chose for the Geography fair.... You got it....Russia!

18 and 10

November 2009 brought a sad, yet joyous time for us. Our oldest turned 18! Josh turned 10 (double digits, are always sad for Mom). Garrett is a wonderful, compassionate guy ready to spread his wings. So, he needs much prayer in making wonderful, right choices for his future. Josh is a quiet now 10 year old who loves the color orange and really likes the OSU cowboys. He will need prayer to speak up when needed. They both continue to need prayer to be able to grow spiritualy, mentally, physically and emotionally in the path God wants them to go, as do we all.

Christmas funny

I asked the children to make a Christmas list, my requirements included - it needed to be written in English, must be legible and not be greedy. Lists included jeans, shoes, video games, MP3, then one stood out! Jacob wants a milk cow! I couldn't believe it. We explained to him that it wasn't just the cost of the cow to think about, it's the feed and the every day, twice a day milking. He understood, he let us know that he took care of the milking at his orphanage and he really liked the milk!!

New family pictures

We had family pictures taken, since we have new family members this year! Take a look if you like: http://vickimadden.zenfolio.com/paytonfamily

We were able to attend a Christmas party with a few of the other Tulsa area families that have adopted from Russia. The kids looked forward to seeing their Russian friends and had a great time visiting!

Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for!!! Sometimes I think we take the Thanksgiving season for granted or at least don't think about what it truly means to be thankful. Thinking about missing so many of Losha(Jeremiah) and Jacob's first's, saddened me a bit: their first words, their first steps,their first birthday, etc. Then it hit me, I have so much to be thankful for! We've seen so many of their firsts, without even thinking about it! Their speech in the past (almost) 4 months, has grown exponentially! Their interest in learning about Thanksgiving and the first time they've eaten turkey, happened this season! The excitement of Christmas decorations has been exhilarating and brought my heart to such a thankful point.
My Mom has finished chemo, had her petscan and we go Tuesday for the results. I'm thankful we will now just be going for checkups!
A lady backed into me and totaled the mini van a couple of months ago. I'm thankful we have the big van! Although, I did enjoy the gas mileage of the mini van, I'm still thankful!
As of tomorrow, we will safely have been home from Russia, with our boys for four months! That is news to celebrate!