a family to call his...

 

We met Jameson's birthmother once when he was one month old.

I still send pictures and updates through our adoption agency every other month, but unfortunately, we don't hear anything back.

It's a missing piece of my son's identity that I hold out hope will change one day.

Caroline is so fortunate to have an ongoing relationship with her birthfamily.  Not many adoptees have that rare opportunity.  (see our next post...)

Last year, I asked my childhood friend, Tiffany, if she and her husband would serve as "godparents" to Jameson.  I wanted Jameson to have a special family that he could call "his," just as Caroline does.  I want him to have a family that, as he grows, can help him process through his african american identity in ways that I never could. 

I couldn't think of a more godly couple and family for Jameson to look up to.  Thankfully they, too, were thrilled at the opportunity.

Jameson, age 1, with godparents Tiffany & Ebed

So last December, Jameson met his godparents, Tiffany and Ebed, for the first time while we visited Dallas.   

Then, in a surprising twist, Tiffany's job relocated their family to a town just outside of Seattle, Washington!  

Jameson, age 2, with godparents Tiffany & Ebed.  (I love this picture!)

But amazingly, we were still able to come from the West Coast and the East Coast and meet again in the middle (Dallas) this year!  Yay!  

Our families last year

Our families this year! (minus their daughter, Chloe)

We love this family.  And I'm so grateful for their presence in our life!

66+1...

Though it had been 15 years since I'd spent Christmas with my family, some traditions must never die.   

Like sneaking behind Mom's back to change the "NOEL" letters!

It was discouraging when my family wasn't able to celebrate Thanksgiving together (also for the 1st time in 15 years!) due to my dad's struggles with health and inability to travel since his lung transplant.  I'm so thankful we were able to be together for Christmas.

There's a little story behind the "66+ 1" t-shirt he's wearing in the picture above.  I had it made for him after reading this beautiful post he wrote on the first anniversary of his transplant:

The anniversary of my transplant is within 6 days of my birthday. My doctors tell me without the transplant I would have certainly died in 2014. So, I've decided to acknowledge that fact every year and celebrate my 66+1 year of life. Next year it will be 66+2 and so on.

It's difficult to express the impact of a transplant. Physically, it's like going through a controlled train wreck. The body is cut and eviscerated to within minutes of potential death. The multiplied dozens of medications required to keep you alive re-order your life's priorities and change your temperament. Mentally, you struggle to remember as medications wipe out your short term memory.

But eventually with a great team of doctors and nurses, you come almost back to a life you can recognize. That first year was touch-and-go with infection and rejection issues, physical therapy, and weekly trips to the hospital. It's as if that one year counts more than the previous 66 based on struggle and moments of breakthrough.

It feels almost like a new "me." I lost 80 pounds. I had to buy all new clothes. I had to learn to walk again, just as I did as a child. I had to learn to accept help and to be a lot more patient than my previous type A personality was comfortable with. I had to learn to drop the "I shoulds" and "I oughts," such as, "I shouldn't have to get up five times in the night to go to the bathroom;" or, "I ought to be better than this by now." You learn it is what it is and to just let your body do what it must." That is, the mental must support the physical.

And then there's the spiritual change. For believers God becomes much more real. The prayers of others are felt. The visits you receive tell you where the church really is. The joys are inexplicably deeper and the pains able to be born without undue suffering. Honestly, I don't know how the agnostics and atheists can handle it. But God is gracious in his providence to all.

Birth was one transition; transplant another. That's why this year it's 66+1 by God's mercy and grace. 

What a joy to be with my family opening gifts this year.

our nephews, Trevor and Tyson

 For over a year, Caroline had been asking for an American Girl doll.

And for over a year, my mom (aka "Mamie") had been eagerly waiting to GIVE her one.

So it couldn't have been better timing...

 Meet Caroline's new doll, Caroline Abbott!

 Jameson was in complete heaven with his new "digger."  All of a sudden, he's become obsessed with them.

 Uncle Adam got a cool massager for Christmas 

and Jameson absolutely loved it.

(I love this picture!)

My sister gave Dad an awesome cane that has a sword inside.  Dad is looking a little sinister here...

two beautiful Carolines

 And even better than the American Girl doll itself were the matching outfits for Caroline and Caroline.

I'd say this was one happy little gal.

The hot gifts in the family this year were stomp rockets!  The cousins all had a BLAST (pun intended) jumping on them and firing them high into the blue Texas sky.

Where he may have lacked a little in altitude, Jameson made up for in effort!  He loved the thing.

 Pop played some of his original music for us.  He and my mom are in the process of writing a musical chronicling the history of their small town.  (they're brilliant and creative, if you couldn't guess...)

It was so great to see my Dad at the keyboard again.  

And it was so great to celebrate 66+1.

get the wiggles out...

We have one rule in our house about jumping on beds:

You can only jump on hotel beds.

So... you can imagine the joy in my children at the end of a fifteen hour day in the car when we checked into our hotel room at last!

 Yep, unlike beds in our house, hotel beds were MADE for jumping on.

(ha ha)

Jump your hearts out, kids!

Until you're all worn out.

 And at that point,

hotel beds become wonderful for snoozing away

right next to the one you love.

Sleep in heavely peace.

school yule...

Happy 2015!  

We've traveled far and wide since our last blog post, so we've got lots of pictures to share in upcoming posts.

We'll start with pictures from the last day of school before Christmas break...

Caroline and her art teacher

Aside from it's outstanding education, one of the main reasons we picked this school for Caroline was because of Mrs. Mays, the art teacher who also has alopecia!  She's taught there for so many years (I'm putting the pressure on her to continue for many, many more... ha!) and is an amazing woman.  It's been a joy for me to serve as Caroline's classroom "art mom" and get to know her as well as observe all the funny dynamics between the first grade classmates I always hear about at home. 

The last day of school, the grammar school (K-4th grade) had a Lessons and Carols program.

 Caroline was one of four people selected to play the xylophones and accompany the first-graders' song.  

 Jameson enjoyed visiting her classroom after the program.  As you can imagine, he's quite the popular guy among her classmates now.

A few weeks ago, we brought lunch to eat with Caroline at school and the kids begged us to let Jameson stay for recess.  We agreed, and it was so funny and sweet watching this group of seven little girls hovering over him showing him every playground activity.  He sure didn't mind the attention, either.

This girl came home singing "Joy to the World," "O Come O Come Emmanuel,"

AND "O Come All Ye Faithful"

in LATIN!!!

Her teacher said she's reading around a fourth grade level (!!  Language has always been her thing!).  She's a strong leader in the class, and we're having lots of talks at home about how good leaders serve others, let others lead, etc...   

Caroline's doing so well in school and loves it to pieces.  She only has 14 in her class, and it's amazing to see how much they love and support one another.  I'd guess almost all the kids in the school know her (thank you, alopecia), and so many of the older kids often give her hugs in the hall, etc.  I'm so thankful God has provided such a great environment as this for my daughter to thrive, learn, find acceptance, and grow.  

a fulfillment of the dream...

DC bound!

It was a trip I'll never forget.

Just before Thanksgiving and the horrible stomach bug, we packed up the kids for a quick getaway to DC.  (about 3 1/2 hours)

View of the Washington Memorial & WWII Memorial

 In school, Caroline had been learning about the presidents, and we thought it'd be fun to take her to see some of the memorials and such.

 Our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial!

Now, Lincoln is great and all,

but for our family,

the Lincoln memorial has an even greater significance.

Because it was here, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,

where in 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr, gave his "I Have a Dream" speech to over 250,000 listeners.  

It was a defining moment in the Civil Rights Movement.

It was a defining moment in the history of our country.

And who knew, it'd be a defining moment in my own little family:

 "I have a dream that one day little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I can't tell you how magical it felt

to see my children on those steps.

To see a real fulfillment of MLK's dream

in my own children.

It blows me away.  To tears.

Our nation still has a long way to go

in combating systemic racism 

and improving race relations,

but 50 years ago,

who'd have believed this could happen?

God is so good.

Jameson had dreams of his own that day...

And if that wasn't exciting enough, from there we walked over to the White House, where security suddenly began heightening.  We saw snipers appearing on the rooftops of all the buildings surrounding the White House!  (you can see them getting into place in this photo)

We had no idea as to what all the hype was about.  Tourists were being asked to stand back, cops on horses were parading the field in front of the White House, and firetrucks were lining the streets.

And then it made sense.

As we were walking back toward our car, just 100 yards from the Washington Monument, we suddenly heard the loudest sound.  We looked up and saw three huge presidential helicopters heading directly toward us!  They soared RIGHT above our heads (I was too much in awe to think to get my camera out), and as they approached the White House, the middle helicopter began descending to the ground while the other two flew off.

The President had just come home!  The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA had just flown in over our heads!  HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!  (please spare me the snarky political remarks here.  Regardless of what anyone thinks of his policies, it's kind of a BIG DEAL that the first black president of the United States flew over us!  And the same evening we visited the place of the "I Have a Dream" speech, nonetheless, too.  It was AWESOME.  All four of us were going crazy with the excitement!)

 The next day is what the kids will remember as their favorite.

The Metro.

They got the full experience by sitting at the front.

Forget all the museums we visited.  

"Mom, when can we ride the train?" was all I heard.

 We took a quick visit to the National Zoo.  This (pictured left) was nothing short of cool!

 Riding the carousel!

 His first time.  He was in HEAVEN.

Love this boy.

What an amazing trip.

checking in & checking up...

Well, hello again!

It's been a crazy busy few weeks with the Christmas season upon us.  I know it's crazy regardless, but when you're a worship director and local musician, it's the busiest time of your year!  (whew)

I hope to be back to blogging soon, but in the meantime, look who had his two year old check up...

25% in weight
50% in height
100% in cuteness

Proud of his bandaid

...and didn't cry one BIT with his shot or his finger pricking!?!!  (who IS this kid?!)

Way to go, my Jameson!!!