A Little Bit of A Proud Momma and an Airport Party!

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:13

This weekend has been such a blessing to me. Friday mid morning, Grace and I sat off on a small getaway. Just the two of us armed with a great book on being an ever growing girl and a nonstop supply of goofiness. Hey, the goofiness comes easy to us! We headed to Nashville, TN. Me with the hopes of creating some great memories and sharing some special talks. Grace with the excitement of missing a little school and being sibling free. As the oldest of three, it doesn't happen that often for her.

Our pic taken with the self timer. The camera was a little low!

I often refer to Grace as our "test child". Sounds endearing, right? She is the oldest, like I said, and therefore the child that we have tried out all our parenting skills on. She has survived them thus far! So we get points for that, right?! I am just joking!

She is very special to Josh and I. We were only married about 4 months when we found out we were pregnant with Grace. We were set on the 5 year plan, marriage and then 5 years until we would have our first child. Obviously God had other plans for our lives. We were young, very young, still in college and just trying to adjust to married life and here came miss Grace. She broke us in to parenthood really well. She was a colic baby that cried most of her first year. After all the fussiness finally disappeared, asthma soon showed up. She was about 4 1/2 when she began sleeping the whole night through. She was also a very determined toddler and preschooler. I'm not sure strong-willed fit her level of determination! She tested us many, many times. She also amazed us with her cleverness. She was always one step ahead and thinking about her next move.

Now she is an 11 year old, 5th grader, sweet, smart, still clever, and still very determined. Her determination shows up in different ways now. She is very persistent with her school work, sports, and helping others. Grace is the type of child that doesn't like to see someone else being left out. She is a fan of the underdog. She doesn't necessarily run with the crowd. She is who she is and she isn't ashamed of that. We are so hopeful for her future, as we are for all of our children, but we have already seen her heart at work for the Lord and others. We give thanks for the privilege of parenting her and for having a front row seat to her life.

Ok, ok....... I will quit being sentimental and move on to our Friday afternoon and the airport party!!!

This was our first airport party! We were there to welcome home a sweet couple with their new son. The Darlings are from Kentucky. They are one of the closest families to us in AGCI's ET program. Let me tell ya, they have been blessed with the most adorable little boy, Cohen. He is such a cutie! Grace and I were so happy to be there at their arrival. It was great to see all the family, friends, adoptive families, and youth from their church there to greet them.

After the airport party we headed off with the some friends to eat dinner. Cris, Tally, and Tissy led us to a restaurant near our hotel. Grace and Tissy have been pen pals since last summer. They met at the AGCI picnic in July. They hit it off right away and that is how I met Cris. She is a great momma and I am glad to call her my friend. She and her husband brought home two boys last February from ET. Good food and good company for sure!

The rest of our time was spent just Grace and I. Laughing, shopping, ice cream eating, talking, a movie, reading, staying up late, sleeping in, and she even treated me to a nice meal before we headed home. *I told she was sweet!*

~ANDREA