I did it!

Our little fighter continuing to conquer anything she puts her mind to...one hill at a time...

Servant

I have a friend who keeps a blog and she shared on her blog that each month her family picks a focus word to talk about and practice...then at the end of the month, they conclude with a kind of celebration or family activity focusing on that particular word. 
Well, our family tried that this past month and it was such a blessing!  I picked the word "Servant" because I thought it was important to teach Ava that others should come first.  It was also great for James and I to remember that we are to serve each other, others around us, and the Lord, at all times.  There were several nights at the dinner table when we shared examples of how Ava acted like a servant throughout her day and she was very proud that her actions had made Jesus happy!
When I decided that our first focus word would be Servant, I didn't realize that it would overlap with the Easter holiday.  How perfect!  Jesus, the ultimate servant, was God.  He was the King of all Kings and yet he came to this earth to serve others and pay the ultimate price so that we could have life eternally.  Mark 10:45 says, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  How beautiful to think on that verse at this time of the year.    

Our family activity to celebrate the ultimate Servant!

At the beginning of the month Ava and I made this sign.  Tonight we hung it up for our special night.

Swimming lessons, dinner, and then out to pick flowers to decorate our crosses that we made earlier in the day.

 

Waiting to get started 

 

Ta-Da!  One of our very beautiful crosses

We are so thankful for the perfect example of servanthood that Christ gave us.  Don't forget that while, yes Christ died on the corss for our sins, he rose again three days later and conquered death!  That is what the Letterneau family will be celebrating big time on Sunday!

Two Hearts for Hope

I am honored to be on the board of directors for an amazing ministry called Two Hearts for Hope.  The non-profit organization is dedicated to helping the orphans of Kazakhstan and has done some pretty incredible service projects over the years.  God is doing some wonderful things within this group and we are now expanding to Russia!  We are also in the middle of a HUGE project to replace windows in a Kazakhstan orphanage that are in bad shape.  Money is tight and many of you have already helped contribute to this project financially.  I just wanted to remind you that you can visit the Two Hearts for Hope shop and purchase an item that will benefit the window project as well.  We are now selling reusable grocery bags with the Two Hearts logo.  They are cute and cheap and an easy way to help orphans in Kazakhstan.
www.twoheartsforhope.org

 

Gotcha Home Day and Baby Boy!

April 15th 2010 we landed on American soil and our adoption journey was COMPLETE!  Some days I never thought it would be.  Some days I never thought we'd make it home with her.  We have grown and learned a lot in this first year home with Ava.  She has blossomed into a very independent, smart, funny, confident, beautiful little girl right before our eyes.  We decided to celebrate with a princess makeover at Disneyland b/c Ava loves to get all prettied up and she also loves Disneyland...great combination!  Here are some photos from our magical day...

 

We almost skipped out on the photo shoot option but are so glad we decided to do it!  I think they turned out so cute and Ava has them proudly displayed in her room now.


We found out on the 8th that we will be adding a little boy to our family.  We are all so excited.  Here are some pictures from our 20 week ultrasound...

Smiley skeleton. Kinda creepy and cute at the same time.

So next year for Gotcha Home Day we will have a little prince along with us.  It's bound to be another year of change and wonderful new beginnings.  

Every good and perfect gift

Well,today was a gift from God, no doubt.  There was no miraculous progress with Ava, I wasn't feeling super duper fantastic, we didn't win the lottery, or book a great vacation.  I went on a walk with my daughter.  Yep, that's it.  That's what made my day so spectacular.  After lunch Ava asked to go to the park and so we did.  But once we got there, she didn't want to play she just wanted to walk around the neighborhood with her Mama.  We held hands, looked at leaves, attempted to fly (but came to the conculstion that only real fairies can fly), rested in the grass, did a little ballet, and literally smelled the roses.  Yea, it's cheesey, but it was just a perfect, peaceful stroll with my girl and I loved every second of it.  Peaceful times have been hard to come by with the craziness of the move, my horrible morning sickness, and the difficult time that Ava has had adjusting to her new environment.  So, today was such a blessing.  Thanks Lord.

Dress ups by Mama

Ava is totally in a dress up phase.  She loves when I put on a movie with dancing so she can change into her fancy clothes and copy their moves.  It's very darling. So, last weekend we went to a Princesses Ariel party and I was desperartely searching for a dress up outfit for her to wear.  I wasn't going to pay the Disney price and I couldn't find one anywhere else that wasn't a complete piece of junk so I decided I'd try to make one.  Didn't turn out too bad.  I couldn't find a clean white shirt to try it on with but I think it would look better with that underneath.  I am with Ava today and no preschool this week so I tried to do it quickly as to not take too much time away from her.  Not too bad.  She loves it!

 I plan to add some embelishments to the top and to the crown when I have more time.

Equally exciting is how she has that right hand raised.  Go girl go! 

Moving

We've finally found our new home and are all moved in.  James and I were on the look out for a new place ever since we got home with Ava a year ago.  We just never found the right fit.  I cannot count how many places we strongly considered and how close we were to moving several different times.  We are so thankful for God's protection and guidance that finally brought us to this home.  It's perfect.  Ok, it's not perfect...there is one set of outside stairs which we were really looking to eliminate.  But other than that there not a thing we didn't like about this house. So, we decided to go for it and we are so glad we did.  The landlords are amazing.  They are a Christian family and totally understanding of our adoption related debt situation.  I really really really wanted to stay in our same area but couldn't find a thing in our price range other than other apartments :-(  Then, this place (which is clean, bright, adorable, and in a great neighborhood) comes available and WE get it!  We aren't totally un packed but I can post some pictures once we are.  Again, we are just thankful for this blessing.  It was definitely the LORD.  Oh, and the first neighbors we met have a little boy adopted from Vietnam who was born in the same city that my sister has been teaching and living in for two years!  God is good.