Belated Valentines Day!

I'm beginning to think that the word "Belated" is the story of my life! :)  Since my honey is away in Mexico on a mission trip over my least favorite holiday of the year, just thought I would post a few pics of my other 4 honies! 

 Getting their Valentine surprises! (Julia is a little confused about her fingerpaints and Bella wants to note that it looks like she is holding a Princess & the Frog book, when in fact, it is Carmen who is holding it!)

 The man of the house! Love this son of mine!

Julia says "Yes, I took this balloon from a creepy person dressed up like a bear at Wal-Mart and I may be scarred for life, but I do love me a helium balloon!" :)

Pure Joy!

This little girl, who was SUCH a surprise when she came along, brings me so much happiness!  Those giant blue eyes on such a tiny little thing are always full of joy or mischief! Just look....

And to my medium sized girl: Your strong will and infectious laugh make you a force to be reckoned with!  May you never lose the desire to plow straight into everything you do.  You are a gift!!

SURPRISE...We're adopting!

Okay...since I am the only one who reads this blog, I don't really need to make such a proclamation, but since I have made an Adoption Timeline along the side, I figured I might need to clarify! :) 

After over a year of consideration, research, family discussion, and much, MUCH prayer, we have decided to pursue the adoption of a little boy from Ethiopia.  To many, becoming a family of seven may see like insanity, but in reality, it is simply our family taking a leap of faith and being obedient to the call that God has placed on our hearts.  He has opened our eyes to the needs of the world and has fully shown us that we have the capacity to love another child and the room to welcome another into our home and lives.  If God is for us...who can stand against us?  It is our greatest hope that with God's abundant grace, this journey will be one that takes us to places we have never been physically, but most important...spiritually. We are so excited and scared out of our mids to begin this very long process to making our family complete!

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do.  God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

She totally gets it!!

Be still my heart!!  My sweet Bella is such a compassionate, mature, wise-beyond her years young lady and I just have to brag on her!  She spent several months in the fall making cute flower hair clips and selling them to friends.  She raised enough money to buy 8 pairs of shoes to send to an orphanage in Ethiopia, along with $140 donation to World Vision for the Emergency Food Fund.  She is always thinking of ways to make money to give away. She is my shining example of how to give with a joyous heart rather than a reluctant, fist- half-clinched giver.  Thank you Bella for who you are and thank you God for creating her in your image.

Family Photo Op

New Years Resolution- Chronicle these Blessed Days of Life

A New Year calls for some new changes!!  It's no secret that I fall far from a Type A personality!  I don't have a day planner, weekly planner or calendar of any kind.  I kinda keep it all stored in my head, which works well for me... most of the time.  I also have a terrible habit of just buying new camera cards when they fill up insead of uploading pictures to my computer and actually printing them and enjoying them.  So,  this will be my attempt at chronicling (I know I spelled that wrong) the Blake family adventures.  The last few years (especially 2010) have been a time of growth and change for all of the Blakes as God has been melding our hearts and truly changing us from the inside out.  The journey is really just beginning.  My goal is just to have a place where we can look back and see the daily experiences that shape who each of us become and for our kids to really see how much they are loved and cherished! 
We had a family discussion during dinner at Hideaway on New Year's Eve.  When asked what we could do as a family in the coming year, these were the responses-
Drew- get closer to God, Bella-give more, Carmen- try new things, Randy-spend more time together and Stretch :), me- live in the moment, and pray for His will, not ours
I'm pretty sure God has some amazing things up his sleeve for us for 2011!  Now to end my very first blog post is a quote that I want to remember each day of my life with all of my heart:

“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible.

What a pity when we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.” -A.W. Tozer