Thanksgiving Vacation

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go.

We had a great time, as usual.

Horses, 4-wheelers, fishing, gardening

All with Nana and Pop.

Love it!

 The first thing to greet us when we drove up.

A powerful reminder NOT to eat too much.

If  I can still see my feet, I didn't eat too much, right?

 4-wheeling!

Loving on Sadie!

Sierpinski's Triangle out of candy corn.

Fishing with Pop.

Hanging of the Green with Nana.

Last but not least, a nice creepy black widow.

(RIP)

Clay-Mation

Judson's First Attempt at Claymation

(just because)

Girlapalooza

Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta descended upon Six Flags today.

Randy took Ansley as a father-daughter thing.

All I can say,

A great time was had by all.

Smiles abound.

Happy National Adoption Month

Did you know that?

It is.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/11/01/presidential-proclamation-national-adoption-month-2012

Obviously, my family is pro-adoption.

But you might be surprised to know that we support efforts to keep families intact.

Because we believe children should be able to be raised by their birth families whenever possible.

Yes, even if the families are poor.

Yes, even if they will not be raised Christian.

Yes, even if....

But there are times when that is not possible....

Do you know the numbers?

In America, there are approximately 500,000 children in foster care.

Of those, about 1/4 are available for adoption.

According to the latest UNICEF numbers I can find,

there are 163 million children worldwide who have lost 1 parent.

18+ million have lost both parents.

Many more children have been placed in orphanages due to poverty or sickness or societal norms.

We, personally, believe everyone should help orphans.

 

No, we don't believe everyone should adopt.

 

But some can foster.

Some can offer respite to those who do foster or adopt, 

especially in situations where the children are medically fragile 

or have other special needs.

 

Some can offer financial support.

Organizations like:

Reece's Rainbow

Help raise awareness of kids worldwide with special needs

Many other wonderful organizations also help with this

EAFS

Help orphans in Ethiopia and also help families in danger of breaking up stay intact.

Connected in Hope

Helps women to have a source of income.

This helps in so many ways.

AWESOME!

 

There are hundreds of wonderful organizations,

here and abroad that could use your help.

Find a cause 

Get involved.

 

Yes, if you want to adopt.

I encourage  you to.

Soul search and figure out what you and your family can realistically manage.

Find out facts.

Search the internet for good agencies.

BUT 

I BEG BEG BEG YOU.

Do not go to an agency and say:
"we want a little girl, as young as possible and healthy"

If your agency does not run from that,

you should run from that agency.

You will be the reason one more country's adoption program is shut down due to corruption.

So Happy Adoption Month. 

Blessings of adoption have been flowing through our family
Long before we adopted our two.