onelessbroken
Just another WordPress.com siteArchive for April, 2011
Easter Pics!
So, we went away for Easter weekend. Works out well since we have off Friday, but the only negative is missing out on our church service Easter Sunday, which I heard was fabulous. Plus, we missed out on welcoming home two Ugandan princesses on Saturday. I am so happy for this family and these girls are just precious!!!! Can’t wait to get some pictures of them with Kai 
Happy Easter!!!
Happy Easter everyone!!!! LOVE remembering and celebrating what makes what we believe remarkable, true, powerful, and amazing-Christ’s resurrection. We had a wonderful weekend at Jacksonville Beach and enjoyed spending time together as a family and relaxing. Pictures to come soon!
For now, here are pics from the CALEB and Josh Wilson concert we went to last week. It was an amazing time and a small venue, which meant great seats for us and meeting all the guys after the show
Happy to be right up front!
So much fun with Jayce!
We really enjoyed CALEB (and he looks SO MUCH like his dad!)
Josh Wilson is awesome in concert! We have seen him two times now and think he is great! He doesn’t have his band perform with him and is able to do it all with some sort of petal (LOL, NO IDEA what its called.)
Jayce and Will Chapman (plays drums for CALEB)
Jayce with Caleb Chapman and the other band member (can’t remember his name 
)
Josh Wilson and Jayce
Toby Mac concert
We had a blast the other night at the Toby Mac and Diverse City concert. If you get the chance, go!..Awesome music and very entertaining…the dancing was incredible. Our kids had a blast. It was Beckhem and Kai’s first concert and they both did great!!!!
He had so many compliments on his shirt
Beckhem ready to go in his Toby Mac shirt!
Now that she is walking, she won’t stay still for a pic. But she also had a TobyMac shirt on
Trying to get a cute pic while we wait to go in…
me and my silly boy
Jayce and me
Kai and mommy
Kai kept staring at his hair…bass player from Diverse City!
Beckhem and Bibby
Daddy met us there right after work.
Kai fell asleep (don’t worry she woke up again and was dancing and walking all over!)
Dancing!
Kai’s friend
Cupcake sale success!
We had an amazing time selling cupcakes at Guardian Angel Preschool on Friday. We had parents, teachers, students, and friends make cupcakes and bring them in. Then we had parents, teachers, students, friends, family, and even a random stranger donate money to Sixty Feet and enjoy yummy cupcakes at the same time We were surprised at how God blessed this sale and allowed us to make over 700 dollars in one day! The children had so much fun participating in raising money for those in need. They helped make signs, collected money, and had such a blast! What a great way for them to learn about loving others, serving, giving, and sharing. I was completely blown away by the generosity and helpfulness from so many parents and friends. It was a GREAT day, and I know the money will be a blessing to so many!
With one of my students, who also ordered a shirt to wear for our big sale!
Beckhem enjoyed his cupcake!
Parents bought cupcakes when they dropped their kids off and when they picked them up.
Some parent’s bought a bunch of cupcakes so their child’s class could have them at snack time.
Ethan, Graysen, and Shreeya helping collect donations.
Jayce and his friend Cayden were happy to help Grandpa Bobby.
The little girl who helped us fall in love with Uganda and is inspiring many to get involved and do more!
Thanks to everyone who baked and helped with our cupcake sale. Thanks for coming out and supporting our sale and raising so much money to help an amazing organization do great things in Uganda for those that truly are the least of these. I was greatly blessed by everyone’s generosity and so truly amazed at how God blessed.
Exciting week ahead…
First off, I am so excited about what is happening here. I have posted the last few times about a sweet little guy who is just dreaming about the day when his family will come for him. His fund is growing and growing, and it is so amazing to see how many people want to be a part of this story. As far as I know, though, Vanya still needs a family. The money is a huge blessing (and help) to Vanya’s family, but they still need to find him. Please let others know about Vanya. You might be the person God is going to use to share his story to his family. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Can’t wait to see how this all unfolds…
I am also VERY excited for the big cupcake sale this Friday at Guardian Angel Preschool. We are so excited to be raising money for Sixty Feet. After the sale at the school, we are having a Thirty-one and Tastefully Simple party. My amazing friends are going to donate a portion of their profits to Sixty Feet as well Can’t wait for these events because not only can we raise money for a great cause, but we can raise awareness for the MANY needs around us. I definitely left a piece of my heart back in Uganda and am happy to give back in any way I can to the beautiful country where my sweet little one is from.
Thursday evening we are heading to a Toby Mac concert! This will be very fun because Jayce LOVES Toby Mac. Plus it is going to be Beckhem’s first concert. I am a HUGE fan of Christian music because of the amazing impact it has had on my life, and I love introducing our kids to it as well. On Saturday, we will be going to see Josh Wilson. It is kind of far away, so it will just be Jayce, Jayson, and me. We saw him when he opened for Matthew West and really liked him.
I wanted to let everyone know of a giveaway. Visit here for details. I love the items they are selling! It is basically the market in Uganda over the computer You can buy these beautiful items and support a great cause. Check it out!
And, just for fun, some pics:
Don’t miss out!
Okay, a lot of progress is being made for little Vanya’s adoption fund. Already at 6,500 dollars! Unbelievable!…But there is still a quite a bit of money to be raised. Hoping to reach 20,000 by April 13th. So, we need to get moving. Haven’t been able to chip in yet?…Head over to this blog and join in the fun. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to help Vanya find his forever family. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to bless someone else, and maybe you will win a really cool prize in the process! If you can’t help, maybe you know someone who can. Please spread the word!!!!
Being doers and not just hearers!
So, the Bible tells us to actually do what we have heard. It isn’t enough to read the Bible and know that we are to love the poor, visit the orphan, give everything we have away, and love others as much as we love ourselves (which we all know is A LOT!) We are actually supposed to do those things. Faith without works is dead. We often, though, have good excuses for why we aren’t really doing much about all the needs in the world. The main one is that we just don’t know how to help or where to start or what to do.
Well, I figured I can share Vanya’s story with you and then you will know who you can help and how. Then it is as easy as donating money, getting the word out, or maybe even opening up your home to a child. Vanya is an eight year old boy who is desperately waiting for a family to call his own. He has seen many other children being adopted by families, and he is just waiting for his turn. He has two factors that are keeping families from adopting him which just breaks my heart. 1. He is an older child. 2. He is HIV+. HIV+ children can live normal, full lives and many of these children are being adopted (check out projecthopeful.org and positivelyadopted.com.) Vanya needs a family and deserves a family and we can all help. There is a huge giveaway happening here. All you have to do is donate to Vanya’s adoption fund (that way when his family finds him they will not have to worry about coming up with all of the necessary funds-because lets face it, adoption is expensive.) By donating to help Vanya and his forever family, you will have the chance to win a bunch of cool prizes!
Please donate, please get the word out, and please consider if Vanya could be waiting for you. He is waiting for a family. Is he waiting for you???? To read more and see his cute face go back to this amazing blog!
This week…
Tuesday, March 5th, is one day without shoes for TOMS! So, be sure to go barefoot and bring awareness about the many people around the world who do not have a pair of shoes and are at risk of infection and/or injury. Also, if you are close enough please join me at 10:30 as we celebrate both TOMS and 147 Million Orphans at my house. Come barefoot, learn about 147 and their awesome merchandise, purchase from their new spring stuff online and receive a beautiful multi-colored necklace from Uganda for FREE (same as the ones I sold before we brought Kai home.) If you are not in the area and want to order something check out their stuff online (you can go to 147 million orphans straight from my links.) I ordered their new all read necklace and LOVE it
We wrapped up Hunger Week at our church today. After fasting and adjusting our diet this week (our family did rice and beans Monday-Friday for dinner), we all went shopping as a church today for the local food bank. So fun to crowd out Publix as a church!!! Then we got to celebrate with a meal together.
Please keep a family from our church in your prayers! They leave tomorrow afternoon to go get their two baby girls from Uganda! I know they are a little anxious (as I was at one point too) about leaving their two girls here while they are gone. Pray for safety while traveling and a quick and smooth process in country. I so wish I was going with them! I truly do miss Uganda and am ready to return soon.
Here are some pics from last weekend…We took Jayce and some of his friends to a movie to celebrate his birthday (even though we already had his family party a while back on his actual birthday.) The kids also enjoyed running through the sprinklers!
