Our White Christmas 2010!

The Brown's had a very Merry Christmas in 2010! Christmas is always a special time at our house because it's full of traditions and sweet memories from many, many years! It really is the most wonderful time of the year! I love the hustle and bustle of Christmas. I love shopping, cooking, decorating and all of those fun things we only do one time of year. This Christmas was extra special because of the snow! I really thought we might see a few flurries but God really suprised us with a 3" white Christmas! In fact, we still have a few patches of snow in our yard today. Darin took the kids outside Christmas afternoon and built a snowman with them. He was so cute!! We're going to be really sad when he's gone, but like the song says... he'll be back again one day!

We celebrated Mia's 2nd birthday on December 23. She had a "Minnie Mouse Birthday" in honor of her new love for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! She was a little overwhelmed with all the gifts between her birthday and Christmas but she survived all the celebrations. Mia continues to be a blessing and continous reminder of God's love to our family. She has been home for five months now and has really adjusted well. She is talking much more and beginning to bond with our extended family too.

Will and Molly had a really good Christmas as well! Will's favorite gift was an airsoft rifle. I'm just hoping no one ends up in the ER as a result of this gift. Every now and then, I hear something that resembles an army attack or something from the History channel, and I realize it's just Will on my front porch with his new gun. Molly's favorite gift was a trampoline. She has been asking for a trampoline for quite a while, so Santa gave in and filled her request this year. In fact, Molly wanted to give Darin a trampoline for Father's Day last year! She just couldn't believe that he wouldn't want a trampoline, LOL!! Anyway, my children were blessed this Christmas but I really hope above all they are starting to understand the true meaning of Christmas.

I can't believe 2010 is coming to a close and it's already time for a New Year! I'm excited about 2011 and I can't wait to see what God has in store for The Brown's... Happy New Year to all of you!

O, Happy Day! Jameson Hayes is Home!

Let me just start by saying.... we had a big ole party at the Birmingham Airport this morning. Gina and Jameson's plane arrived at 8:30 and Jameson had a huge welcoming committee. What a sweet, sweet feeling.... just like it was back in July when we saw Mia for the first time. Jameson is a beautiful, healthy girl and is going to bring so much happiness to The Hayes family. Gina was thrilled to see everyone and Jameson handled the camera flashes, squeals and tears pretty well. She went to her daddy like she had known him from day 1! I think she's going to be crazy about her big brother, Owen, too. I can't describe the feeling you see when you meet these precious baby girls. We can't wrap our minds around what they've been through and where they've been. It's bitter sweet! You feel horrible in one way for taking them from their heritage and country but you know you're bringing them to a life of happiness, freedom and most of all a country where they can serve our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Opportunities they would've never had in China.... are abound here in the U.S.! Anyway, I can't wait to watch Jameson grow and bond with her forever family and I'm so thankful one more of God's children were rescued from that place. God never intended for anyone to be alone and orphaned. I would love to adopt a little girl in our family but that's something that must be prayed over and God must supply many needs in order for that to happen. We'll pray and see what happens...

Jr. High football is over now so everything is settling down a bit in the afternoons after school. I hope we have more family time now and can really focus on the important things in life. I love to watch Will and his friends play ball and I think it's important for them to participate in team sports but it's demanding and much family time is sacrificied. I'm looking so forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. It won't be long before we can begin decorating, shopping, cooking and enjoying the most wonderful time of the year! I'm so blessed and I love my family. I hope all of you have a blessed holiday season! Be thankful and count your blessings....

It's been forever...

Ok, I know it's been forever since I've posted, but life is just so hectic around our house. Monday nights are spent at the jr. high ball football games, Tuesday's are practice and gymnastics for Molly, Wednesday night is church night. I think we stay home on Thursday nights but we're back to the high school games on Friday nights! Wow- makes me tired just typing it! Joyce Meyer says that we go through seasons in life and I think I'm going through one of the busiest seasons right now. I don't want to complain. I know one day I'll miss the rat race!

My good friend, Gina Hayes, is in China right now getting her precious baby. Her name is Jameson Harper Hayes and she's a doll in the pictures. Gina affectionately named my niece Mia the "Chinese Spider Monkey" after an adventurous shopping trip to Birmingham recently so I've got a name for her baby now- "Chinese Chunky Monkey"! LOL! Gina and Jameson will be arriving at the Birmingham airport next Thursday morning and we will be there to greet them. Can't wait to kiss, squeeze and hold that little angel! We love you Gina!

My niece, Mia, is adjusting well. God has blessed our family abundantly with Mia. She is not only a beautiful little girl, but she's smart too! She's a constant reminder of God's love and I love to just hold her and watch her play. I'm amazed at how God plans everything out in our lives if we just trust in Him.

Well, it's getting late and I need to get the kids in bed so we can get up and do it all over again. I promise that I'll do better with my updates. Until then.... count your blessings!

With Love,

Allison

Terrific Thursday!

We had a great day yesterday! Will, Molly and I started the morning off with a trip to Cracker Barrel. We're trying to "practice" our routine of getting up early again, so I managed to get them up and we headed out to breakfast. After breakfast, we went to WalMart to begin the dreaded school shopping trip. I know, I know, I shouldn't be like that but... I know for the kids it's great fun but for the mamma- not so much! We got separate shopping carts so that we didn't have to sort the supplies again when we got home and I think that helped a little. Molly got her a tacky little lunch box that she was MEGA proud of and a new backpack too. For Will, it's not that much fun anymore but he was a trooper and helped me get most of the supplies on the list. When we got home, I went to school to work for a while and they stayed with Mimi. Molly took her backpack to Mimi's house and they decorated it really cute! I'll post pics on the 1st day of school- that's a family tradition! Yesterday afternoon we went for a swim. Nolan and Mia joined us and we had so much fun swimming with Mia. She loves the water and the pool. She was even getting out of the pool and jumping to me and Will yesterday. What joy it is to see her laugh and giggle! Ashley cooked supper for us last night. She said it was our "thank-you" meal for helping out with the kids while they were gone. She grilled shrimp and made homemade salsa and key-lime cupcakes. She's always a great hostess and a great cook so we really enjoyed eating dinner together as a family. The pics I posted today of Will and Molly with Mia were taken last night. We are making up for lost time and spoiling that little angel. We just can't resist! Will spent the night at Ashley's house with Cole and Molly and I came home and snuggled in the bed. It may be summertime but I'll snuggle with Miss Molly any chance I get.

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend. I think we're going to meet some friends at the mall for lunch and maybe see a movie. Other than that, I don't have a clue what this weekend has in store for us. Until then, enjoy this beautiful day God has given us and count your blessings!

With Love,

Allison

Monday, July 26th

Good morning everyone! Let's see.... what is there to tell you since I updated last Wednesday? Not alot of anything! Life has settled down a little bit since last week and we actually had a relaxing weekend. The kids and I have been going to visit our new niece and cousin each day and she is adjusting to her new family so well. She is a precious little angel and we are all so in love with her! She loves Will and Cole which I find a bit interesting. I was thinking she would like Molly and Nolan since they're closer to her size and still really, really wild ( I guess I should've said "energetic") but not so. She prefers her mommy but if she can't find Ashley, she'll gladly go to Cole or Will. We went on a shopping venture Saturday to Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart and Chick-fil-A. She rode in her carseat and was a good, little girl. We've taken her swimming at mom and dad's several nights and she loves the water. She'll put her face completely down in the water. Ashley says that she's sleeping better at night and beginning to play with her toys. Everytime I look at her, I'm amazed. Not only because she's an absolute doll but I think about how hard it must have been for her birth mother to leave her that day. I wish that her mom could have a glimpse of us playing with her and kissing her, and see her beautiful home, clothes, family, etc. I think her birth mom would be well pleased. She loved her enough to give her up and God protected Mia until His plan was fulfilled. I can't imagine what Mia's mom went through on the day that she left her, but I'm glad she did what she knew was best for her baby. Otherwise, we wouldn't have our little angel right now in Alabama.

We're just enjoying these last few days of summer. We're in between sports right now so we're not rushing to some type of practice each afternoon. We may go swimming this afternoon but I guess I need to get off this computer and do something productive before we do.

Have a great day!
With Love,
Allison

What a Reunion!

OK, I've really fallen down on my blogging job! Sorry, but the last week of my life has been a real blur to say the least! We left last Thursday for Montgomery. Will's baseball team was playing in the sub-state tournament. Our boys from Glencoe made us really proud! They played their hearts and souls out for Glencoe and made us proud to be Yellow Jackets. We really wanted to win and advance to the state tournament in Greenville but God had a different plan for us and He touched his with a sweet, sweet story. Let me share it with you... We played five games from Thursday night to Saturday. The 1st game was Thursday night. We had a rain delay and didn't start playing until almost 10 p.m. so the game wasn't over until after midnight. Our team did great- had a big win! So, we played again on Friday and won. We were supposed to play on Friday night but it was rained out so we had to start playing on Saturday morning. We were facing "THE GIANTS" of the tournament- Opelika!!! Our boys have a history of being intimidated against some teams, so we were really encouraging them to give it their best. Well, they made us proud. They gave it 110% and should've won the game. I know, I know- you don't want to hear bad umps but guess what? We had some really, really bad calls. In fact, I bet if I had checked the umps driver's license it would've said Opelika, Al. If you've ever spent anytime at a baseball park you've probably heard the phrase "home cookin' " well, we went to Grandmother's house for lunch that day! LOL! Anyway, we lost in the 6th inning. We played another game around 11 and lost that game in the 6th so we had to play another game at 3:30. It was about 100 degrees in Montgomery with a heat index of 300 degrees so we were all zapped. We had to play Crenshaw Co. and that was the same team we had played on Friday and beat. The game was back and forth but one of our boys hit a homerun and we were up 7 to 4 so we were thinking we had this one won. Well, remember I said earlier that God had different plans? A player for Crenshaw Co. got up to bat and hit a grand slam! Yes, a grand slam which made the score 8 to 7 and they won!!! We quickly started hearing people say "oh, my goodness he's never hit a homerom much less a grandslam!" We were all down and upset and then we heard this.... That little boy lost his 17 yr. old sister in a car accident two weeks ago. He told the coach when he stepped up to the plate that he said her name and this one's for you and he hit a GRAND SLAM and WON THE GAME!!!!!! Wow, who can say there isn't a God? He is everywhere ya'll- He was even in Montgomery, AL at a Dixie Youth Little League game! God does care- he cares for all of us. So, like I told Will on the way home.... we were all winners Saturday. No, we didn't advance to the state tournament in Greenville but what an awesome memory for a hurting family. God is so good.... ALL the time!

So, we came home Saturday night and prepared for the reunion on Sunday. Family and friends started gathering for Mia's arrival at the Birmingham Aiport Sunday night around 7:30 p.m. Their plane was supposed to land at 8:18 p.m. We got there and found out it was a little ahead of schedule and would be there at 8:07 p.m. When we saw Ashley, Griff, mom and Mia coming everyone started clapping and cheering. What an awesome moment! Cameras were flashing and tears were flowing. You could tell they were exhausted but the boys ran to their mom and it was such a sweet, sweet spirit there. Guess what? God was there too! We could feel HIS prescence! Prayers had been answered. Ashley, Griff and Mom had traveled around the world and now we were actually able to touch that sweet little girl. They got everything loaded up and headed home. They're still recovering from jet lag and having a new 18 month old around but overall, I think they're doing really good.

We've seen Mia a couple of times since Sunday. We ate dinner at my Grandmother's house on Monday night. Mia let me take her outside and hold her, kiss her and feed her egg drop soup that Aunt Kay had brought. On Monday night, we went swimming at Mom and Dad's house. Mia LOVED the water! She laughed and giggled and even put her face down in the water. So far, she's really attached to Ashley and Cole but she's warming up to all of us. I think she's gonna like her new family! We just praise God everyday that he chose us for Mia and I hope we can raise and teach her well.

Well, I've gotta get going. I'm going to school today to plan a workshop that we're doing on August 2nd. It's almost time to go back... I can't complain, it's been a great summer. I'm kind of looking forward to school starting back and Fall. I love the fall- the leaves turning, cool days, pumpkins, Halloween and most of all AUBURN FOOTBALL!

Enjoy this beautiful day God has given us and remember to count your blessings!

Allison

And We're Off....

Well, I've fallen down on the job for blogging and I'm afraid to say this might become the norm. I wanted this to be my daily journal, but we haven't slowed down long enough to do that lately. We're leaving today for Montgomery. Our boys play tonight at 7:30 and the outcome of that game determines what time we play tomorrow. They've worked so hard, but our sports are overlapping now. We had to have football pictures made yesterday and today it's back to baseball. Wow, I wonder about this sometimes? However, I think that sometimes Will does better the busier he is. He's so well-rounded- he makes good grades, he loves playing sports, he loves cooking, gardening, playing video games, etc. so if he can handle it, then I can too!

My sister comes home from China in 4 days! Yeah!! We can't wait to be at the airport Sunday night. I don't have huge expectations for Mia greeting us with a smile, but it will be so wonderful to touch her precious, sweet face in person. I know she's going to have a big "welcoming committee" so I think I'll have to get in line! She's defenitely warming up to Ashley, Griff and Mom but she's about to meet sooooo many more family members, a new home, a new dog, etc. Please continue to lift them up in your prayers. God has seen them through his far and I know He will continue but they still need our prayers.

Well, gotta go wash some clothes, take Will to get a haircut, pack some suitcases, and head off to Montgomery! I hope all of you enjoy this beautiful, summer day our precious Lord has blessed us with!

With Love,
Allison