Celebrations-

Nicholas singing Frank Sinatra last weekend!

This kid never stops amazing me... I know, I know, I'm a bit biased, but how often do you see a three year old go up to someone and ask for the microphone so he can sing?? Nobody prompted him either. He got quite the laughs and really turned it on after that. We couldn't get the guy to stop asking Nick to sing.

But back to the title of this blog, Celebrations - We, my fathers side of the family all got together to witness the re-exchanging of vows by my cousin Anthony and his wife Lynn. I was their flower girl! After the church, we all met for a small reception at a nearby restaurant. It always amazes me to see how different things are, but are at the same time, exactly the same. Faces we haven't seen in years, look the same but more "distinguished".

It made me think of this snapshot of our lives and how soon every picture will feature a new family member. This new family member may not know all of the same relatives that I know, but Nick and his new sibling will have tons of these wonderful memories to share together. People, traditions, celebrations, milestones, and of course, tribulations. This child is not going to remain a child, but rather, grow and mature alongside their brother all the while and hopefully one day be celebrating their own 25th wedding anniversary.

There is so much to celebrate about this gift we are about to receive. We will celebrate life, culture, family, country, faith, giving, the kindness of others, their mom and dad, the ability to receive this gift, commitment, strength, community, support of others, love, and most of all God.

I read on someone's blog a while back that adoption was always their second choice. They couldn't achieve a viable pregnancy, and always thought adoption would be "plan B". They too, adopted from Ethiopia. Her post was about how now they truly feel like this was "plan A" all along, but they just didn't know it yet. Well, at first it didn't mean much because we were early in the process about learning Africa/Ethiopia. Now, I know exactly what she was talking about!! I would be so disappointed if I learned I was pregnant! The feeling of absolute certainty that this is what should be is overwhelming at times and I praise Him for guiding us to this path. This won't change the world, or eliminate the currently 5 million orphans in Ethiopia, but it will make a miracle in my family and it will be a miracle for this little child to be given the opportunities and unwavering love that we will all share as family.

I can't wait to celebrate!