Wow! It certainly has been a while since I have posted to our website. Long gone are the days when there was time to journal each and every detail of our journey while sharing my heart and my inspirations. Not that this portion of our journey is less miraclous or life changing, I simply do not find myself with the time to absorb the details of our life with Emily. There are nights when I lay my head onto my pillow exhausted and I think of how incredibly normal life seems with Emily and how beautifully she has blended into the fabric of our family and I have to remind myself that she has only been with us 7 months. Her presence with us continues to spark such deep emotions within me despite the difficulties that are related to her short time of knowing her mommy, daddy, brother and sister. I try to remind myself every day of how blessed I am to have her as my daughter and how God has come near to me through my receiving her as my daughter. It was a process that ushered me into a more intimate knowledge of the Lord’s heart and I have to admit that the daily caring for Emily’s needs coupled with all the other duties of being a wife and a mom have left me longing for more of those intimate moments with the Lord. As I have mentioned in other updates, I continue to struggle with managing life with 3 children and continually maintain a hope that one day I will operate in a more proactive mode as opposed to a reactive one. Much of my struggles stem from the fact that Emily continues to display much neediness. Although, she does cycle in and out of degrees of neediness. We find ourselves at good places and think "well, we have arrived" and then something unexpected will set her back. She has come quite a long way emotionally as well as developmentally in the 7 months that she has been with us but each time she experiences a set back I am reminded that there is still a lot of processing her little heart and mind have ahead of her. There are wounds and scars that exist which I know are reminders of the hurt of abandonment and not knowing the love of a mommy and daddy for almost 2 years of her life.

She is separating from me much easier now and will allow me to leave her with a number of different people mostly family members. She maintains a great need to know where I am throughout the day and will follow me throughout our condo saying "mommy, hold you". Her verbal skills continue to explode as she has become quite chatty. There are very few things that I am unable to understand and we are constantly amazed at how well she has transitioned into her English speaking culture. In addition to her language she is so observant and has grasped so many concepts of everyday life. I am in awe of the high degree of her sensitivity to different sights, sounds and smells. She notices so many details regarding her surroundings and is incredibly observant. She has a beautiful laugh and we love it when she gets tickled by something and laughs uncontrollably. She is also very polite and is so quick to offer "thank you’s" and "your welcome’s" at all the appropriate times. As she has settled into her life as a Minot her strong will has become apparent and we have seen just how assertive she can be. The most enjoyable thing about Emily is her expression of love. She has a heart that is so full of tender love and she seems to truly enjoy the expression of that love. She frequently verbalizes her love for us as well as showing us that she loves us through big hugs and kisses.

The correction of Emily’s feet has gone well despite the brief interruption of having broken her leg in June. Yes, she broke her femur when Grace accidently dropped her while attempting to help her get out of bed one morning. Emily was a trouper and endure her casts throughout the summer along with a small out-patient surgery called a tenotomy where the tendon on the back of the ankle is snipped. She is now sporting her corrective shoes which look a lot like a small snowboard. She wears them all day and night and will have this schedule for at least another 4 weeks and then we are hoping to only have to wear them at night. She is attempting to stand and can walk with us holding her hands. The muscles in her legs and ankles are very weak and we have recently noticed what appears to be something unusual with her knee so we are certain that she will need some physical therapy as soon as she is able to have some daytime freedom from the shoes. She loves her new found mobility although she is so good with her "Emily scoot" that walking is not attractive at the present.

As school ended and summer began our life was a little more relaxed and Emily enjoyed having Cody and Grace at home. Grace began tolerating her new sister a little better although we continue to see outward expressions of frustration with having to share people, toys and just about everything else from Grace. Most of the time Grace enjoys playing with Emily and we are thankful to those of you who have prayed for Grace’s adjustment to having a sister. The summer months brought a few morning camps for Cody, swimming lessons for Grace as well as quite a lot of inside time because of the Florida heat and humidity. The Minot’s enjoyed our yearly vacation to Callaway Gardens in Georgia where we were amazed at how much Emily enjoyed our traditional vacation. This year we were joined by Mike;s cousins from Atlanta and Housten among other additional extended family members and Emily truly enjoyed being surrounded by so many new faces who obviously delighted in her. Cody received lessons in the performance of magic tricks from Mike’s cousin Mark and treated us to nightly magic shows and Grace and her cousin, Allison loved being "silly girls" with Mike’s cousin Paul. We enjoyed much rest, relaxation in the form of long bike rides, strolls through The Garden attractions and of course yummy food. Speaking of food, one memorable event was a trip to the vegetable garden tasting where Miss Emily thought she was in heaven. We were all shocked as she sampled every single raw vegetable offered with raw beets being her favorites.

After returning from Callaway Gardens it was back on the road....this time to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with my parents, my sister and her children and my grandparents, Nana and Granddaddy. Again, we were amazed at the ease by which Emily adapted to yet another new environment and new faces. She enjoyed Nana and Grandaddy and developed a special attraction to my Granddaddy. We enjoyed all the touristy sites in Gatlinburg despite the continuous rainy days and of course more good food and ended our trip with an overnight stop in Cartersville, GA on our way home to visit with my grandmother, Mee-mee..

I have to admit that as the summer ended I was eager for school to begin and we are now in full swing with the school schedule. Both Cody and Grace are loving school with Cody being in 5^th grade and Grace in Pre-K 4. We are thrilled with both of their teachers and are looking forward to a great school year. Emily is a little lonely in the mornings without Cody and Grace and can’t wait for them to come home. In addition to the busyness of school, Mike and Cody enjoyed a weekend to Colorado a few weeks ago for the FSU/Colorado game and some precious dad/son time. The girls and I hosted Nana and Grandaddy for a weekend visit to celebrate Grace’s 5^th birthday. We are planning a North Carolina trip at the end of the month and in November Emily and I are looking forward to spending a weekend with my "chatty girlfriends" and their daughters at Disney. This is a group of girls with whom I connected last fall after we all received the referral of our daughters. We have maintained our friendships online for over a year and are finally all getting together in Orlando. I am staying busy with the kids, Mike, the condo and am throughly enjoying a weekly Bible Study at the home of a friend where I have had the opportunity to meet some wonderful women as well as re-connecting with a few old friends as well. Mike has had a busy few months but is looking forward to cutting back on his office hours in the very near future. This is something that he has dreamed of for quite a while and we both are so thankful for the blessings that have allowed him to fulfill this dream. We excitedly await the celebration of Thanksgiving and Christmas with Emily. I can’t wait to share in her excitement and awe over the things surrounding those holidays. Things to which we have grown accustom will be new in her eyes and I can’t wait to experience them afresh with her. An now as I bring this update to a close I am reminded of how quickly time has passed. It was in August that we marked the 1 year anniversary of receiving our referral of Emily and I find it absolutely amazing sometimes in thinking of how rich and full our life is because of her presence with us. God has accomplished such great things in our family through her and I still stand in awe of His work of bringing her to us. Sure life is so crazy and full of organized and disorganized chaos on most days. There are days when I feel that I am lost in a sea of laundry, dirty dishes, messes scattered throughout our condo and whiny children but I try to look past all those temporary things and see these three little lives that are depending on me to provide for them a glimpse of the Lord who knew them before they were created. It is when I focus on that fact that clarity comes to my purpose in life and what a great task I have been called to do.

I wish for you and your family a fabulous Fall. I pray that you will enjoy the beauty of this season rich with traditions. It is my favorite time of year and I hope that you are able to have many special moments with your family during these few months. As always, thanks for checking in with us as please let us know how you and your families are. We do love hearing from you.