Our First Christmas together...

~ Christmas morning...modelling their prairie bonnets ~
Christmas morning...Best Buddies in the making! Mercy, Mommy K and sweet Felicia!

Jenkins and Odesco- This picture makes me smile!!


"And man shall live forevermore, because of Christmas Day!!"
Out of the mouth of babes such rich truth :).... these are the words to the song Mercy sang to us early Christmas morning as we all attempted to get a few more minutes rest on our bed before venturing downstairs! The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity in the B household!!

Saturday, we hosted our annual polyanna festivities with the Hayes side of the family.It was a fun (and loud!) time as 12 adults and 17 kids (under the age of 13!) crowded into our house. There was even a long distance call made to my sister in law and her family who are missionaries in the Honduras and were obviously unable to join the celebration this year!! Mercy and Odesco were blessed to meet many of their cousins,aunts and uncles. It took a loooong time for our little man to warm up to all of his relatives but by the end of the nite' he seemed pretty comfortable! Mercy didn't waste any time introducing herself... before I was even out the door to greet she was running down the driveway shouting, "Merry Christmas!!" and usually had a free ride back up the driveway to the front door in the arms of one of her aunts or uncles. During the adult polyanna, one of my brother-in-laws received a rubber chicken(long story!!)...Mercy enjoyed playing with this and when asked if she knew how to cook a chicken, she graphically made the motion of chopping it's head off, plucking it's feathers, removing the feet etc...Don't know if she was just reenacting what she had seen done or if she actually participated in preparing a chicken while in Liberia....it is so interesting and fun to recover some of Mercy's past through her answers to pointed questions . Of course, I'll never know for sure how accurate this information she shares is but I do plan to write it down for her, just in case this is something she would want at some later date.

Christmas Eve morning we attended our special church service where the children (including B3 and B4) sang with their classes and the choir performed. Then both Mercy and Odesco went to their classes. Odesco made huge progress in his behavior/attitude according to Daddy (who stayed with him). He was playing with the others, smiling and actually participating in the activites as opposed to stoically sitting on Daddy's lap and refusing to make eye contact with anyone in his midst. Mercy also participated in her class with me as her chaperone for now! I was asked to formally introduce her to the class and to share her adoption story ...she seemed to enjoy the attention and I was able to affirm in front of her class just how grateful we are that the Lord chose her and Odesco from the foundations of the earth to become a part of our family. After church we extended a spur of the moment invitation to the K. family who adopted Jenkins (travelled home with Mercy and Odesco ) and also Felicia who arrived home last Monday. We threw together leftovers,baked some frozen pizzas, made a quick pot of rice ,and were set to feed all 15 of us!! The best part was that Mercy , Odesco, and Jenkins really connected for the first time since coming home...what a joy to see Odesco and Jenkins playing together and totally enjoying each other's company. It made us think that they must have been little buddies back at AOH... Mercy gravitated to to Felicia and enjoyed slinging her on one hip as she was accustomed to doing back at the orphanage while she assisted the nannies with the little ones. Our hearts were surely full as we saw such a dramatic change in all of them since our first attempt at a get together 3 weeks prior!!
At about 8:30 pm we headed across the street to our neighbors who have hosted a Christmas Eve gathering for the past several years. It was a great opportunity to introduce many of our neighbors also attending, to our newest family members. Mercy did not hold back and thoroughly enjoyed many of the delectables prepared. I think our host especially enjoyed watching Mercy eat 'shausa' (actually pigs in a blanket).... After eating one, she decided she did not prefer the bread but went for the meat instead! It was hysterical to watch as she carefully removed the roll, dutifully carried it to the trash can, tossed it in and then proceeded to consume the mini hotdog before starting all over again. B4 in sharp contrast would quietly come upstairs from the playroom and make his way to the treat table where he would grab a handful of peanut M&M's....Mercy tried these and promptly spit them out into a napkin....seems like our little Liberians have not yet acquired a liking for the fine taste of chocolate ~ such a contrast from their American siblings. And their American counterparts (especially our tiny B4), have not yet learned to appreciate MEAT! Odesco spent the first hour or so plastered to Daddy's lap and tasting the many different treats prepared...he also enjoyed the "shausa' (but he ate the roll!) Finally, he ventured downstairs with his big brothers and played in the playroom with the rest of the gang.

Christmas day we stayed home and enjoyed a brief visit from the D. family who 'delivered' "Miss BAA", our dear friend who has become an extended member of our family and joins us for most hoilday celebrations...we love having her with us! Mimi and PopPop and my oldest brother and his twin teenage daughters also spent the day with us. It was a laid back day(as laid back as it can be with 6 kiddos on Christmas day!!) and Mercy and Odesco enjoyed visiting with more of their family! Mercy especially delighted in saying ,"Hallo, merry Christma!! to the girls' various friends who called their cell phones while they were here~

On Tuesday, our special friends, the C's came for a visit from Maryland bringing with them their 7 children :) Spending time with this family is always a highlight for us and B1-B4 interact so well with their kiddos (3 of their children{siblings from Panama} were added through the miracle of adoption just 17 months ago!) Mercy and Odesco warmed up to everyone and enjoyed the visit as well. So now when we get together, there are 13 kids between our 2 families!! It was great to have a heart to heart talk with the F &J (the parents of this crew!), our former best man and matron of honor in our wedding 17 years ago. They have a wealth of wisdom to offer since they too have experienced first hand the highs and lows of international adoption:) Last nite' we had Kentucky Fried chicken for dinner...Mercy was not too thrilled with the seasoned topping and picked it all off...it took a bit of explaining to convince her that there really was chicken under that coating! Our visitors were amazed at Odesco and Mercy's ability to devour chicken...including bones! Late this morning , the C's left but not before J had a chance to help take out all of Mercy's braids in preparation for an early afternoon visit with Hope. This was a huge means of grace to me as I was in bear hug mode with our little guy for a while this morning and would not have been able to 'unplait' Mercy's head in time!! Mercy was not too happy about sitting still during her plaiting session with Hope but I think we are good to go for another week or so! Her newest "do" looks beautiful :) Thanks again, Hope!!! It is such a relief to not have to be concerned with this in the midst of the many other issues we deal with on a daily basis !!

We continue to have '"issues" regarding clothing with the girlies, especially our newest blessing.This morning, I made the executive decision to remove a significant amount of clothing from their closet. Being from a 3rd world country does not exempt one from covetousness, jealousy, or discontent. I am realizing that ingratitude is a universal problem even if you previously had very little. The issues I see in these little ones are no different than the issues I have dealt with over the years in my own heart and the hearts of the other 4 kiddos. It just goes to show that our hearts are far from being inherently good ...this further demonstrates why we need a Savior!
Now that I've had a moment to catch my breath, I am so grateful for the many evidences of grace displayed to our family over the course of these last few days. We are so rich with family and friends...and my heart is full!!
Signing off to go pick up our messy house and prepare the next meal :)
Thanks for checking in!
Mama B