Celebrating 8 wonderful years of Marriage

Like a good wine...it just gets better with each year. I knew I married my best friend and it was great in the begining... but even with each day we become a little closer and God touches us through each other and our children. I am honored and blessed to share my life with such an amazing man.

I made the video below while living in Germany and Michael was deployed to Iraq. Lydia was a baby and I had time in the evenings to scan all our wedding photos into the computer.
I made a video out of some of them....it was 2004 and 4 years later...we are even more in love than ever.
If you don't know us this video will be totally boring. If you know us...it might be a little slow, but if you love us you might like to re-live the happy day with us!
It is 16 minutes long and it would be best viewed if you scroll to the bottom of our blog and pause/mute the music player , so you can hear the music on the video.
( I didn't get to include the color photos or the evening wedding party photos we had in Augusta, it would make it even longer.....but they were great photos too)

It is a little mushy...but from the heart from a military spouse to her soldier while deployed.
Enjoy!

Christmas Photos

What a wonderful Christmas celebration all home together! Praise God!

Please notice...I didn't set the correct date on the camera....obviously.

a few photo memories of Guatemala

here are a few photos of Guatemala that we took. I will post some of our Happy Christmas in the next day or so. I am trying to get my "groove" as a new mommy of 3 and it is a Joy and a privelage as well as a challenge. All is well here and Creighton continues to adjust well. The girls are loving having a little brother and Lydia actully asked me today , when we were going to have more brothers and sisters....funny!

We are HOME!

Our trip to Guatemala was amazing. God truly had His hand on us and protected us the entire time. It was beautiful there and our meeting with Creighton went wonderfully. He is adjusting well. He is eating and sleeping great. He was great the time we were in Guatemala, but I can honestly say he didn't seem at home until he met his sisters. They all get along and Creighton has two "mother hens" to help take care of him. He likes to tackle a lot and even though this will come in handy when he is older and playing American football, it's not exactly what his sisters are use too, but they still laugh.

He is all boy and loves BALLs of all sports . He kicks and throws like a 5 year old. He kisses on the cheek, hugs and smiles us like he has always known us. He is struggling with the word "No" I think in spanish it must translate as lie on the floor and cry, but it's getting better. He is learning and adjusting and so are we. It may be a while before I have my rhythm as a Mommy of three, but it's such a blessing and I am so thankful.

Sorry it has taken me a few days to post some photos. We traveled through Atlanta to Guatemala. The drive to and from Atlanta took two days each way. We arrived safe and sound (thank God) late Tuesday evening. The roads were icy and slick and cars were on each side lined all the way from Kentucky....I prayed the entire time . Much like this entire Journey to bring Creighton home.....it was a long road and steeped in prayer the entire time!
Here are a few photos...we took 412....so atleast 400 are great photos! I may not be able to share them all , but I will try to share my favorite over the next few days. You can also check out our adoption journey below:

Our JOURNEY

WE are HERE!

We are here in Guatemala. We are to meet Creighton tomorrow morning. We are so excited. God is so good!

Our girl are safe in Georgia and we were able to see them online today. Flight was great, food here is wonderful and hotel is very nice.

We will try to post photos tomorrow, but if the internet connection is this slow again tomorrow, we may just post on our "journey to me "site Our Adoption Journey -click here

He will be HOME for Christmas!

Praise Jesus ! Our embassy appointment is NEXT week! We will get to meet Creighton on Tuesday . So....we are busy making traveling plans....as I've said before... "We make our plans, but God directs our steps"! Amen!

We are so excited and will try and post photos from Guatemala. God is so good!

Being Thankful as we wait...

This Thanksgiving was such a blessing here at the Snyder house. We had a nice quiet dinner with friends and filled our belly with all "the fixins"....Turkey, Dressing, sweet potato soufle', mac-n-cheese, green beans and pumpkin pie. Great conversation, warm loving family and so much more to be thankful for!

Today was a fun lazy day. We woke up to snowing, it didn't stick , but it was sure pretty falling from the sky. We put up our Christmas decorations and ate fun food and wore our "house clothes" all day long. Fun , family day with no place we had to be. I was also thankful to get some painting done. I have several commissions to do, but just trying to stay focused long enough to get some of them done.

We are still waiting to hear from the embassy. We didn't hear anything from Lab-corp. Seems one tech is out on sick leave due to surgery and the other decided she needed to burn some vacation days before the end of the year. So we wait. I didn't receive a tracking number so I don't know if the embassy has received the results yet or not. We were expecting to hear something by this coming Monday or Tuesday, but if they haven't fed-exed the results yet, it may be later in the week when we hear some good news. I know it's all in God's hand...I don't doubt that, but I have to say it's hard to know when we will be leaving. We can't book flights or hotel rooms until we hear. Trusting , waiting and thankful that God has brought us this far! He is faithful!

Birthday Celebration

Marilyn Grace is almost 3 years old. We celebrated yesterday at the Carousel museum yesterday with our neighbors and friends. It was such a special day and I'm so glad we were able to do it a little early this year. With the holidays approaching and Creighton's homecoming, we wanted to make sure that Marilyn had her very own special day. We are so thankful that we were able to do that and we all had a blast! We are so blessed with great friends and neighbors and the carousel was a perfect place for a big birthday party on a cold winters day....LOVE IT!

Marilyn's favorite things to do these days is draw and dance. She often sleeps with her magnadoodle and her many baby dolls that she lovingly calls "Ji-Ji". She is a very loving little girl who we have nicked name sun-shine not only because her favorite song is "you are my sunshine" but also because her smile holds the warmth of the sun and always brightens up our days. We thank God for entrusting us with Marilyn Grace and blessing our lives with her smile.Our prayer is that she will learn to always seek God first for all of her days, whether she is 3 or 103 may she always know HIS love in her life.

Almost HOME!

Won't be long now! We received an email from lab-corp in North Carolina and they said:
"We received specimens for Creighton just a few minutes ago. Testing will begin this weekend. "
Praise God!!! we are so excited...so when they finish the testing they will send the results to the embassy and the embassy will then contact us by email and tell us when our appointment is the following week!!!!!
we are so thankful. While we are so thankful for all God has given us we cannot forget those who are not so fortunate to know they have a Mommy and Daddy coming for them. We still remember all the orphans that are still in need for the very basics , formula, bed, heat and most importantly love. See our post (below)from yesterday to see how God can work through you to help these special children.

thankful Thursdays

Today is Thankful Thursday....I am thankful for heat and a warm home, a clean bed to lay my head at night, the love and attention of my family, the closeness I feel with my children, food on our table and shoes on my feet.

As I think about how very blessed I am my heart is full with thanks and yet it still hurts for so many who are not blessed the way we are.
In this season of giving that is fast appoaching us let us not forget the less fortunate, let us not forget our brothers and sisters who do not have heat, or food, a bed or even someone to love them.
I am speaking of the orphans, specifically an orphanage in China in such need right now.
Read below the letter that was sent on their behalf....Please consider contibuting to providing them a better life, whether it's your prayers alone or other contributions...please don't forget them.
EMERGENCY ORPHAN BASIC NEEDS RELIEF ~2008

Love’s Reach International recently visited orphanages in northern, rural China.
In one particular institution there, the situation for the children is extremely bleak, as they are literally struggling to survive in their current conditions. Sadly, they are not receiving relief or aid from the government or any other source. They have many needs, however, the most urgent that they have are for the following:
* CAREGIVERS-This orphanage desperately needs more workers as there are presently only three caregivers to every 40 children. The approximate annual salary for one caregiver= $1,500.00 USD.
* BABY FORMULA- Recently, baby formula produced in China was found to be contaminated. Thousands of babies were sickened and some died. Consequently, good formula is now too expensive to afford. The babies are currently being fed rice water. Needless to say, it is extremely deficient in the nutrients that they babies need to thrive and grow properly.
* HEAT- As of right now, the orphanage is unable to afford heat for their building. When we visited them in early October, the temperature lows at night were already in the 30’s. So, you can understand that these precious children are in urgent need of warmth immediately, especially with even more frigid winter months approaching. The approximate cost for one year of heat= $11,500.00 USD
*BEDS- The beds that are currently being used for the orphans there, are very old, dilapidated and barely functional. They are literally falling apart. At the very least, every child deserves a good and decent place to sleep at night.
~These children clearly need your help to survive. Give them the gift of hope today. ~
Love’s Reach International http://www.lovesreach.org/
P.O. Box 413
Cumming, GA.30028

Loves Reach

Today is National Adoption Day and November is National adoption month. Eventhough I know not everyone is called to adopt, we can all have a part in helping the hopeless and caring for the orphans.

God has put a special place in our hearts for the orphan. May your heart be touched as you see these precious faces with eyes filled with wonder and hopelessness.

James 1:27:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

When viewing this video please pause music at the bottom of our blog so that you can hear the beautiful song on this Video.

Favorite,Family Photos,Friday...

I decided I would post some of my favorite photos from both the recent and not so recent past. Michael likes to tease me because I take so many photos, he always says "it didn't happen, if we didn't get a photo". Well, when I'm old and gray ,one of the things that will help me remember that it all truly did happen, will be these photos...here are a few and more will follow in weeks to come...and such is the beginning of " favorite, family photos friday".

Veterans Day

As we celebrate, remember and show thanks to our Veterans may we honor their sacriface and their service to our great country. As we know Freedom is not Free and many have paid the price of sacrifice and dedication. Above are photos of a couple of my favorite Veterans and below is a video dedicated to our Veterans ( made in 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom II ). You may want to pause my playlist/music at the bottom so you can hear the music in the video. Either way..it is a moving video.

Passport

God is so good!

We are so excited to share that we received a copy of Creighton's passport. God is so good and Creighton is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!
Can't wait to hold him forever!!!
We should be getting DNA authorization this week and hopefully submit the DNA to lab corp. Once they have the results ( most likely beginning of next week) they will send them to the embassy and then they will contact us with our appointment date to come to GUATEMALA!!!!!!!!!

follow our adoption journey: HERE

Thankful Thursdays...

I have a wonderful friend that I have never really met. I discovered her families Journey on line as they were in China meeting their precious son Isaiah for the first time. This was the same time period that God gave us Creighton's referral. The first time we had ever seen his sweet face. Through this year plus, my sweet friend Lin and I have developed a relationship through email, phone calls and following eachother's journeys. God truly touches our lives through their family, their journey and their dedication to the Lord.

Linn started "thankful thursdays" on her blog and I am "adopting" her idea. I think it's an awesome thing to be thankful, but not just on the inside....to share your thankfulness with others. To be thankful for the big things and the small.

so here are a few things I am thankful for :

1- my wonderful husband and precious children

2-Creighton's NEW birth certificate that we received YESTERDAY!!! (Praise God!)

3-Blogger buddies that share their hearts

4-The praise group at Chapel, God truly blesses my life with the joy of singing HIS praises.

5-The blessing of knowing God is in charge no matter who is in office.

Yes...you read #2 correctly!!!! we probably will be in Guatemala the 1st week in December....we shall see what God has in store for us! So much to be thankful for!

Leaves are still falling....

The Leaves are still falling. Kansas sure has beautiful fall colors. They almost make you forget how hot the summer was or how harsh the winter will be. It's the perfect life lesson...enjoy today, this minute. God wants us to live in the now, not worrying about the future or even thinking about what happened yesterday...Today is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it!!! Amen!

Always a Treat!

Last night was the army post wide "trick or treating extravagaza". I am not a big halloween fan normally, but when you live on an army post, it's so fun and friendly and the kids always have a blast. It was a great time full of fun, candy, chili, candy, friends, candy and laughter..oh and did I mention the candy????

I have a booth at the Holiday Bazaar today so I have to get to it....just wanted to post some photos of our little "Dorothy" and "Marilyn the good witch". I of course was the "bad witch".

We are still expecting Creighton's new birth certificate anyday now....we are so excited we should be travel about a month out from receiving his birth certificate and then we can bring him home forever! Praise God!