January 2014
When FatherWinter and I started this journey on January 1, 2014, we were a family of three. Today, on December 31, 2014, we’re a family of four trying to make it legal and permanent.
It’s been a year full of ups and downs for sure. We started the year with such a low. We’d received yet another call that a potential match had fallen through. We were stressed and it was frustrating to say the least.
Still, we were able to come together with grins and giggles for Valentine’s Day when this happened….
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| Superbug gets baptized! |
Imagine my surprise when I drove up and saw a snowman holding a candy bouquet with a Happy Valentine’s Day sign around its neck. That was pretty awesome. I couldn’t possibly be outdone lol, so I countered with the home cooked meal with spectacular display as shown in the middle. But, my favorite picture of the month had to be number 3, when SuperBug chose on his own to give his life to Christ. It meant so much more because he knows what it means! It was a day full of happy tears and I was so proud and blessed to be there.
Shortly thereafter, we were celebrating FatherWinter’s birthday with the entire Winterclan and developed food poisoning from one of our favorite restaurants. Yeah, that wasn’t a good day. No fun at all.
March 2014
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| Preparing to meet our Honeybee.. |
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| Honeybee had her first church service this year. |
Just as sure as things were not fun, spirits were lifted when we received a phone call from Ms. Care and were told of a beautiful little girl who was waiting for her forever family. We met her four days later and her heartbeat became ours. Our daughter was here. We discovered later that her birthday is the day after FatherWinter. The standard joke now is everyone was having labor pains as a birthday gift 🙂
Pretty soon, we felt a sufficient amount of time had passed and decided to make her debut in church. She was perfect and slept nearly the entire time. Superbug was so proud and told everyone who would listen that the baby in the carseat was his sister.
April 2014
She received her first Easter Egg basket (it held a book, bunny, and two sleepers—oh and an Easter Egg full of coins). I made a set for FatherWinter and Superbug too.
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| Honeybee’s first Easter Egg hunt |
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| A first Easter basket |
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| Easter Baskets |
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| The aisle on our wedding day |
FatherWinter and I celebrated a wedding anniversary, too. Instead of doing our customary out of town couple trip, we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary as a family. We stayed at home, watched our wedding video with Superbug while holding Honeybee, and ate good ol’ fashioned soul food from the restaurant down the street.
May 2014
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| Honeybee and Superbug had a blast! |
There, they spent time in the water. Superbug got to slide down waterslides and play games with FatherWinter and his cousin, who accompanied us. We all ate scrumptious food and we enjoyed each other’s company.
June 2014
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| SuperBug about to take the plunge! |
July 2014
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| Happy Birthday, Mommy! |
And then came July….We celebrated Mommy’s birthday and held a fundraiser to offset some of Honeybee’s adoption fees.
And then came August.
August 2014
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| Honeybee’s August fundraiser |
September 2014
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| First day of school |
It became a welcome distraction for September to roll in as SuperBug started his first day of third grade. It was a beautiful day and he really enjoyed himself.
But there were current events in the world that added pallor to our thoughts and gave us pause for communication.
Then finally, we saw the last quarter of the year marching in. October through December have kept our family rolling.
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| Harvest in the Trunk |
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| Marlboro Man meets Foxy Cleopatra |
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| Wolverine! |
Honeybee went to her first Harvest in the Trunk and then afterwards went to her first costume party. I can’t show her picture here, but she was a cute strawberry. It was adorable. SuperBug decided to become Wolverine!
November 2014
As has become the tradition these past three years, my husband and I have hosted Thanksgiving at our home. With FatherWinter’s large family, we usually have 28-35 people in attendance. This year was no exception! We cooked several main entrees and desserts and had our families help with potlucking items. In the end, we have a feast for days..and visitors too 🙂
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December 2014
After such a great holiday of fellowship and faith, we couldn’t forget the reason for the season. Honeybee attended her first Christmas concert at our church. I enjoyed singing praise to God and thanking Him for being the reason for the season.
