November 28th, 2016
Smiling in my new Christmas PJ's!  Grace loved all things Christmas including the tree and decorations!!  Thank you Fidler's for the cute PJ's!!


November 29th, 2016
Spending the day with Mimi today while mom works.  She took me shopping and got me a cute new outfit!!  This was my first day to stay with Mimi.  I had a great day!!


November 30th, 2016
We are still having trouble sleeping.  Grace will finally just pass out due to exhaustion.  It happens at least 1-2 times a week.  She literally passes out while she is playing!   


December 2016
Claire got a special award at school for Compassion!  She definitely deserves this one.  She has shown it this year so many times with her little sister!  She has stepped into the roll as Big Sister without any complaints or problems.  It is tough giving up the roll as the baby of the family, but she has done amazing.  We are so proud of the her and the amazing person she is becoming!!


December 2016
Grace had her 1st visit with Santa with Jude Wall!  I thought she would be terrified of him, but she climbed right up and sat next to him!  Beyond thankful to be celebrating with our precious girl this year!!


Grace and Jude!  Jude is so sweet with her and enjoys playing big brother!! 



December 3rd, 2016
Here is Grace and her friend Kenzee!  We had the honor of attending an adoption party celebrating Kenzee joining her forever family!  We love you Sims family and thankful we get to be a part of your journey!  We know you will agree that Adoption Rocks!!


December 5th, 2016
Sydney had a special day today!  She got chosen as 1 of only a few students from her hall as an Antler Achiever for the 2nd 9 weeks.  She continues to amaze us with her heart for Jesus and others.  She is responsible, loving, kind, and amazing with her new sister Grace!!


December 2016
Grace tried a gym class today and loved it!  She was adventurous and tried everything with mommy by her side!

December 2016
Grace loves playing at the mall on the toys as you can tell by the BIG smile on her face!!


December 10th, 2016
Happy Wedding day Tyler and Madi Gruenbacher!!  We love ALL the Gruenbacher like family.  We are beyond blessed that God crossed our paths!!


Nicole and Audrey we love you and miss you both dearly!!  We still pray that you will find your way back to OKC one day!!  Until then we will cherish every moment we get to spend with you David and Austin!!


December 16th, 2016
Grace had a dermatology appointment today!  Apparently she has been watching her Big Sisters pose for pictures because when I asked her to look at me and smile she posed!!  We just love love love this sweet baby girl!!


December 2016
Grace having fun at Chuck E. Cheese!!


December 23rd, 2016
Sydney got a special visit to Tulsa with her Mimi.  She got to go the Nutcracker and meet the cast!  She loved every minute of it!!


Claire, Grace, and I held down the fort in OKC with a little fun at the mall!!


December 24th, 2016
Christmas Eve!!  We took the girls together to see Santa!!  I am one BLESSED momma!!


This picture is very special to our family this year!  I just keep looking at the mantel and wanting to pinch myself.  Seeing all 5 stockings and knowing we will all be together to celebrate our Risen Savior is beyond special this year.  My heart was broken in two last year knowing one of my babies was missing.  Praising God this year that we are all together!!

  
December 25th, 2016
Happy Birthday Jesus!!  What a glorious day!!  Grace was not sure of everything, but loved coming out and finding toys!!  She also loved unwrapping presents!!  Thankful as she grows she will know the true meaning of Christmas as she learns about Jesus.  



December 27th, 2016
We are back at Baptist again.  This makes 5 procedures in 5 months.  Today we are just getting tubes again (1st set only lasted 4 months) and an ABA, which is a hearing test.  It was a tough morning because our 2 year old knows what a hospital is.  Despite getting up early she was all smiles.  Once the nurse brought in the hospital gown she started shaking her head no.  She also had to take her blood pressure several times because it was elevated.  It breaks my heart to know my 2 year old knows what a hospital gown is.  She is much braver and stronger than I am.  The surgery ended up lasting over an hour.  Both her ears were blocked with wax, she had a hole in one eardrum that needed patched, and they replaced both tubes.  The good news is that her hearing looked good (thank you Jace).  There will be more testing to come, but so far it looks great.  We were concerned with this due to her not having any medical care in China and probably having multiple ear infections due to her cleft.  Praising God for her normal hearing.


December 31st, 2016
How can 2016 be over.  Part of me feels like the year has flown by and part of me feels like it has been several years.  I can honestly say this has been one of the hardest years of my life.  With that God has done things in me, John, and the girls that only he can do during extremely difficult times.  I praise him for every hard day.  When you are on your face in the floor you see him the clearest!!  

We drove to Tulsa today for our annual New Year's Eve celebration with the Toole family!!  We made a stop at the aquarium on our way!!


We celebrated at the Toole house!!  We always have the best time!!  Thanks for having us again this year!!  


January 1st, 2017
Hello 2017!!  We started of great with lunch with everyone!!  We love you Toole family!!


We are looking forward to 2017!  We know it is going to be a wonderful year!  Praising God he has completed our family!  I am going to leave you with a quote that I think sums up our 2016! (and part of 2015)!  We thought our family was complete and life was really good.  God called us to something big and it completely changed our path, who we were, and where we were going.  I can honestly say although it was tough I thank him everyday for choosing us.  For sending us the hard.  For allowing us to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.  It has made us who we are today!!

One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time!!  Andre Gide







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