I loved this...

Rescuing Yulia....

The same blog that helped Yuri and Wade get adopted is now campaigning to save this little sweet heart.  I feel like I have a pretty good idea of the 5 people who look at my blog :)...but just in case God sends the right person, randomly along, to my page I couldn't help but pass this information along.  
We met Yulia while in Ukraine in April, and she was one of the kids we scooped out of their beds to just hold for a few minutes.  You can read more about this sweetie and how we can help raise the MONEY that it will cost to adopt this sweet girl here!  She is one that will face moving to an institution, and it's almost certain she won't last long there.  That's a hard sentence to type, but a true sentence.  

Couldn't help but add the picture we have of her.  Makes it seem very real knowing that we have seen her with our own two eyes!   

On a good note....They have already raised around $15,000 of the $25,000 needed for someone to go and bring her home!  That's pretty amazing, and nice to know that her family will have the financial burden lifted so they can focus on just bringing Yulia home home!  I love, love, love seeing people work so hard to bring kids to families and homes that are all the way around the world.  It's a comforting thought to know that God knows every single child in every single bed bed, in every single orphanage around the world.  I am happy that I can do just one small, tiny, tiny, tiny thing by posting her information on the blog.  Please join me in praying for Yulia and her journey to finding a family.    

Sunday Afternoon Fun!

We went and rode 4-wheelers Sunday afternoon.  We started at my Ma's and then ventured over to check out JB/BW's hunting spots.  They hunt very near my Grandparent's farm.  It was nice to spend an afternoon outside!  It was a little hot, but still very fun.  I loved riding 4wheelers and being at my Ma and Papa's while I was growing up, it's so nice to spend time there.  We packed a cooler with some leftover pizza and waters and ate in the great outdoors.  It took about 10 minutes of riding before we stopped and Bryan ate the first piece of pizza.  I had an encounter with seed ticks and Kati came inches from stepping on a snake....it was about all the excitement we could stand.  

Loading up and heading out!

Bryan and I 

 Bullington's!

Two of the best parts of the day I didn't take a picture of.  The first was, Kati hopping down the trail behind the 4-wheeler in rubber knee high boots and her helmet.  She really looked like a space alien.  It makes me laugh just thinking about it.    And I love anything that makes me laugh repeatedly when I think about it! :)  The second was ending the afternoon with homemade apple cobbler at my Ma's.  I hope to be half the cook/baker she and the other ladies in my family are!

NYC Trip...better late than never.

Recap from the girls weekend! :)

Mariellen and I headed for our annual girls weekend to NYC in May this year! My sweet friend Jeane and Mariellen's cousin Karridi both came this year as well! We had so much fun, and established our first annual "sister's trip!" Mariellen's MIL and Karridi's mother do a sister's trip each year...so we are following their footsteps! :) Our running joke for this trip was that we were all 4 sisters, it was so funny.

We had such a fun time together and enjoyed talking, walking, people watching, EATING, shopping, LAUGHING, and solving all the worlds problems.  :) One fun fact about our NYC posse, is that Mariellen is on the east coast, Jeane and I are in Arkansas, and Karridi is west coast....we literally cross the entire continent.  Just some fun trivia about our trip.

It was also a very exciting trip because Karridi got engaged the night before we left! So we definitely had to celebrate that! We were just 4 "not single girls" out on the town for the weekend!

We enjoyed some excellent food at Dos Caminos and Buddakhan! We also had lunch in Little Italy, Heartland Brewery and some random places in Greenwich village. Yummy!

It was also fleet week while we were in the city. Here's Jeane and I's new friends, some fellas from The United States Navy!  We have been in NYC twice during fleet week, and since last time we nabbed a picture with some navy fellas...this time we just had to keep up tradition.  It IS tradition.

This is one of my fave spots in the city, Hotel Gansevoort.  They have a decent view from the top!  

Our last meal in NYC was at the steak place in the Time Warner Building. We enjoyed a beautiful view of the park and columbus circle AND New York cheesecake! The perfect way to end a VERY fun trip!

And some VERY exciting news....

Mariellen, my new york city lovin' best friend is having a B-A-B-Y!  I am so excited for their little family to become a family of THREE!  God truly blessed me when he placed Mariellen in my life, and I'm so excited to watch her journey into motherhood!  I know she will take on this new chapter with grace, and I have no doubt it will be a blessing to watch her and her hubby raise kids to love God, family and others! (Mari- I used kids in the plural form, I must just be thinking you'll have more than one! )

Myself and the little-momma-to-be!
And, in the words of Rachel Zoe, this is going to be SO MAJOR.

Play Ball!

Miracle League of NWA's first game was this past Saturday, September 11th!  I will say that there was no better place to spend the anniversary of September 11th than at a ball park, watching kids excited to play baseball!  I definitely had a "choke back tears moment" while the national anthem was sang looking around at all those sweet kids, totally geared up for some ball.

I expected major chaos, but it wasn't!  We had lots of help, great coaches and buddies for the kids, and people who were there to just serve these kids in a way that allowed them to be successful, have fun, and play some baseball!  Many of these kids have never played on a sports team, or experienced a bleacher full of fans clapping for them!  It gave me chills!  We of course weren't without a few meltdowns and unhappy campers.  But it's new, it's busy....it will take time to get into the groove of this for some of the kids!  And that's fine!  Persistence pays off....so we'll keep trying to show them what Miracle League is all about....them having fun!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day!

Blowing up balloons!

The crowd!

First pitch thrown out by Mr. Harp!

Some serious cuteness!

The field and covered dug out.  It was hot, I was super glad the dugout had some shade!

Taking a quick picture break!

Devon looking cute!

Playing the field!

I love this little ball player!

My buddy Mike! 

Mike and I trying to hit the ball.  I wasn't really much help, he had it under control!

Matchy-matchy.  

Two Miracle League fans getting some sun burns and Bryan!  

Amber and Sam!

Amber getting a workout running with this little guy!

And here's Christie getting her workout! :)

I'm looking forward to this season and watching the kids get more confident and even more excited about their ball games!  Go Miracle League NWA! 

Labor Day Weekend!

We had such a busy, but fun weekend!  It started out with dinner with two of my sweet friends Friday night at Mojitos...and I didn't even take a picture.  I wish I would have!   And then I went to Shakey's with Bryan, Liz and Chad for dessert!  

On Saturday we tailgated before the game, and had so much fun!  The weather was amazing, and the food was SO good!  We had everything from buffalo chicken dip, to deviled eggs, to crab dip to pork loin!  I snacked all day!  

The girls tailgating!  So fun!

Chad and Bryan  

They took a break from giving me a hard time to take a picture!

Woo pig sooie!

On Sunday, Chad and Liz left and my Dad and Kay came!  I managed to clean up, regroup and plant mums all before they arrived Sunday afternoon!  I didn't take any pictures, but we grilled some good food and got the bright idea to drive to Cherokee Casino!  We played slot machines (my dad and I won $200 dollars, that we split) and we came back home.  I was SO excited about my unexpected cash flow because I wanted a new pair of boots, I have already ordered them!  haha. 

On Monday, we did some stuff around the garage which included yard work, cleaning the garage (no pictures of that mess!), and I hung my pictures finally!  I have been trying to talk Bryan into hanging them...with no luck.  So I got a measuring tape, laser, hammer and nails...and got to work.  I thought the project might turn into a disaster...but they are still all on the walls and fairly even!  YAY!

This next weekend starts the Miracle League season!  We will be there all day helping!  I am so excited to see these cuties play ball, make friends and have fun!  Pictures to come!
www.miracleleaguear.com