FOOTBALL AND FALL IN TENNESSEE!!!

Did someone say that it is almost Fall??? Tomorrow is the official start of Fall.
How can it be here so fast??? It is also hard to believe that we are getting ready to do our 1 year post placement visit and report for Russia!!!! We got the call in October of last year about our court date and also our second trip to bring Alyssa home. The LORD has blessed our family sooooooo much!!! Alyssa still brings tears to my eyes almost daily, and we cannot even remember our life without her now. She is doing amazingly well. She is really starting to speak alot of new words on a weekly basis. She is learning her letters and numbers also!!! She can recongnize about 6 letters of the alphabet using her magnetic letters on the refrigerator. She loves to count to ten and she loves to sing the alphabet song!!! A very interesting fact that we find simply amazing is that she still recognizes Russian words and phrases when you say them to her, and she tries to say them back. Also, some of the pictures that we have showed her from Russia she recognizes also!!! I have started working on her Life Book also, which is an album that she will always have just for herself that tells her the story of her adoption. We are going to instill in her that she should be proud of her heritage, and that mommy and daddy are proud to have such an amazing little princess in our family and our lives. If anyone out there that reads this blog is thinking about adoption, I just want to tell you that it was worth every worry, every document, every tear, every sleepness night, every low, every high and everything in between. The LORD brought us to adoption, and HE continues to show us amazing blessings for our family. I often ask myself how I can be so lucky to have been given this child to love and to raise??? She is everything that I could have asked for and sooooo much more!!! When she smiles her little face just radiates such joy, and as a mother, I wish no more for her than complete happiness. Adoption is so much more that bringing a child into your family, it is
LOVE......The LOVE of the LORD......The LOVE of being called MOMMY..... The LOVE of everything great in this lifetime!!!!! I continue to learn about myself, learn about Alyssa and grow closer to the LORD just because of this adoption!!!!
We know that we will adopt again, hopefully within the next year or so!!!! We just know that Adoption is just toooooo important!!!! These children need homes, and we feel absolutely honored and humbled by the love of this precious child. Thanks so much for stopping by. Please enjoy a few pictures of our little Alyssa...
Blessings.....
Julie