Senior 2015

Even though it has been over ten months since Harrison graduated high school, I still just have to document some of it.  Life got a little crazy last spring and summer and I just never got around to it.  So, rewind to April 2015...

As true to tradition, there is a prom "proposal" to ask girls to prom.  So, since Harrison and Paige love "The Office", Harrison chose to imitate Jim's proposal to Pam.  She said yes!

 Paige and Harrison

 Reallly nothing I can say!

Harrison was so conscious of making memories all throughout his senior year.  Prom was no exception.  He enjoyed one last prom with some of his best friends...some he's known since kindergarten.  I have to admit, I'm going to miss all of these kids.  I've watched them grow up.  The class of 2015 has some pretty exceptional young people in it!  

As May rolled around, it was a whirlwind of "lasts".  It is such a bitter sweet time.  I knew these times would be sweet.  But I sure hated for them to end.  Knowing that the rhythm of your life is going to change dramatically is hard.  But I just had to enjoy the music and each moment.  Early May brought Harrison's final DECA banquet, senior Sunday at church and Baccalaureate.  

 Senior Sunday at HHBC

 HHBC senior banquet...boys!!!

 There is really no explaining him!

 Serious stuff, graduating!

 Baccalaureate

These two...best friends...goofuses!  

As you can tell...Harrison was enjoying this time too!  Haha!  Joe and I seemed to just have grins on our faces all the time watching him.  

Then the BIG weekend came.  State Track Meet, graduation, and graduation parties all crammed into three days.  It was definitely my favorite weekend of the year!  And, because we are insane, we put a contract on a house and put our house on the market in the midst of all this.  What the heck!  Go big or go home!  

On Friday, Harrison ran his last high school race at the State track meet.  It was his first time to run the 4X800 with one of his best friends since first grade, Lawson.  Harrison opted to not run any other races at the state meet, due to some circumstances that he felt he just had to take a stand about.  So, the relay was his last high school race.  

                                   Getting ready for the handoff.  I've watched this dozens of times.

                                                Oh how I have loved watching this boy run!

                                A moment alone to take in the significance of that last race.  

Okay, I'd be lying if I didn't say I have a tear running down my cheek right now!  Watching Harrison run, seeing his hard work pay off, watching him lead and encourage his teammates...I miss it!  It was such a fun season of life!

The track meet goes on for two days.  So, Saturday morning we headed to graduation. Harrison walked that stage and made it official.   After lots of photos and hugs, we changed clothes and headed back to the track meet.  

                                                  Seriously, you gotta love this kid!!!

                                                                   It's official!!!

                              We are all so proud of Harrison!  Even Judy came to celebrate!

                                                             Harrison and Paige

                                        Paige's parents were so sweet to come celebrate too!

                                   6A BOYS STATE CHAMPIONS...EDMOND MEMORIAL!!!

                               I couldn't have written a better ending to graduation weekend!!!

                                   The goal of earning a ring in high school is finally met!!!

                                                           

                                                         Happiest of days!!!!

The boys winning the state championship was the best surprise ever!  Seeing my boy leap (literally) onto that medal stand was one of the best moments I'd ever experienced.  That boy gave his all for his team all throughout high school.  He trained hard.  He laughed, cried, argued, encouraged, ate with, slept with, prayed with those teammates and coaches all four years.  Everything about high school running impacted Harrison's life in great ways.  I'm forever grateful for the coaches and runner boys who poured into Harrison.  

We all went to bed with smiles on our faces that night.  And Sunday, we partied!  We had an open house for Harrison.  I figured we would have several friends drop by.  But I was overwhelmed by all the people who came to celebrate Harrison.  It was such a fun day!  

 Mandi was Harrison's first "girlfriend" when she used to baby sit him!

 I just love Harrison's friends!  

 Our sweet friends the Synans

 Our precious neighbors Carolyn and Dale

 Harrison's favorite teacher, Mr. Killackey

 Sweet girls and naughty runner boys!  

The Nalls

Wendy, Harrison's prayer warrior!

Looking back on these pictures (and there are dozens more) I am kind of emotional seeing how many people have loved and poured into Harrison's life!  God is good!!!  

If it weren't for adoption...

Lately, for some reason, I have been very aware of things in my life that wouldn't be the same if it weren't for adoption.  It's been a running list in my head.  And I can't seem to shake it. 

If it weren't for adoption:

 - My dad and mom wouldn't be my dad and mom. 
 - My childhood memories would be totally different.
 - I wouldn't have a cousin Sheri Jo.  Or and Uncle Bob who calls me Marie. 
 - None of the 16 people I call cousins would be my cousins. 
 - I wouldn't share a childhood full of memories with my brother Kim. 
 - I wouldn't have had a grandma who always had butterscotch candy and Bazooka bubble gum in the drawer whenever I came to visit. 
 - Or a grandma who seemed to be able to cook anything, for any number of people, without a recipe and make it all incredibly delicious. 
 - I bet I never would have moved irrigation pipe at a farm in Nebraska on our "family vacation."
 - No one would have called me "Jody Poody". 

If it weren't for adoption:

 - I would not have known that God might speak to me through an 8 year old little boy. 
 - I would not have glitter in my vacuum. 
 - There would be no pink in our house.
 - I would have missed a huge lesson on faith and trusting God (again through a certain 8 year old boy who never waivered in knowing what God had told him He would do). 
 - I would not know a single thing about ballet. 
 - Honestly, I probably would never have gone to a ballet.
 - And I certainly wouldn't have been giddy to go to the ballet whenever I can, especially with a beautiful little ballerina next to me.
 - I would not have given art a second thought. 
 - I would not enjoy art museums and be so tuned in to the beauty of things around me. 
 - I wouldn't know an Asian district even existed in OKC.
 - I never would have traveled to China.  It wasn't even ON my bucket list.
 - I would never know how you can fall in love with someone you have never seen, don't know where they are, but just know that God has placed them right in the middle of your heart. 
 - I would not have seen God provide for us in the most unique ways. 
 - I wouldn't have friends named Jenny, Stacy, Stephanie, Holly, Heather, Tracie, Kathy, and many more...all who share a common bond.  And a whole community of people who were called to a similar journey. 
 - I would have an extra bedroom (what a waste of space).  :)
 - It would be eerily quiet and "giggleless" in our home. 
 - There wouldn't be a trail of Clara throughout the house.
 - I would not even know what an American Girl doll was.
 - I would never have anyone ask me "could you wash this pillow case for Judy too?"  (Judy is a bitty baby...which ties into the whole American Girl thing.)
 - I would only have laughed at people who said their babies played in their dirty diapers in their cribs and smeared poop all over, confident that "no child of mine would ever do that".  (Lesson learned...never say never.)
 - I would never have a child who cut their own hair...and laid it nicely in my makeup drawer (like I'd never find it there) and hide the scissors in the rolls of toilet paper. 
 - I would never sit in a 3rd grade program with tears in my eyes thinking to myself "I can't believe she is ours!  God is amazing how he brought us all together." 
 - I would not have stood with my friend Jenny and watched our two girls, both from China, be baptized together at church one Christmas Eve. 
 - Honestly, I would never have sung "The sun will come out, tomorrow", outloud, in a movie theater.


The list goes on and on.  I am so aware of what would have been missing in our lives.  And believe me, I have fully, fully enjoyed being Harrison's mom.  I never had a sense that anything was missing in my life...UNTIL God spoke adoption into our hearts.  Frequently Harrison says "do you know how boring our family would be without Clara?"  (I try not to take offense to that statement.)  God is good! 


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If I don't say it, it won't happen....right?

So...if I don't say that Harrison is a (dirty word alert) "senior", it won't happen, right?  A mom can dream, right? 

So...deep breath...Harrison is a senior!  He is eighteen.  He just finished his first semester of senior year.  That means we have one more semester of high school and then it's time for college.  Seriously?  How did this happen???  It seems like he was just a silly little toddler, talking jibberish a couple of years ago.  And now we are submitting housing information for college. 

 I will say, Joe and I have loved every minute of parenting this boy of ours.  I can honestly say, I have no regrets.  I'm so glad that I was able to just work part-time and be very flexible with my schedule so that I don't feel like I have missed much.  I enjoyed the days of "play dates" with other new moms (actually it was play dates for moms, since the kids were newborns and have no recollection of any of that).  I loved those toddler years where Harrison made me laugh ALL the time.  The years of being homeroom mom, making Christmas ornaments and tooth fairy pillows in elementary school went by too fast.  And middle school (which honestly, scared the foo out of me heading into it) really was fun too.  Those first years of playing school ball and running cross country and track for the first time...middle school wasn't so scary after all.  Let's be realistic, middle school is NO ONE's best time in their life.  But, it was relatively painless. 

Then, just a few minutes ago, he started high school.  I remember driving him to his first cross country practice with the big boys.  I have to say, high school has been probably my favorite time yet with Harrison.  He has great friends.  His faith has grown by leaps and bounds.  He has learned a lot of life lessons (and school lessons too). And he still makes me laugh ALL the time. 

Last spring Joe and I read the devotional "Draw the Circle".  And we realized that we needed to boldly ask God to open the doors to the right university for Harrison AND also provide a way to help pay for his college education.  We prayed that God would put him where he could influence others for Christ, not be influenced by the world.  So, we committed that each time we sat down together as a family to eat that we would ask God to provide for Harrison's college.  We asked Him to surprise us.  Little did we know that several doors would open.  Harrison had some schools talking to him about running in college.  He really got his heart set on one school.  We all visited and LOVED it.  It felt right.  Harrison prayed and really felt a peace about the school and their running program.  He even had one of his best running buddies there as a freshman, they could be teammates again.  We knew what they had to offer him academically and athletically for him to attend this school.  They had pursued him, we felt pretty good about the possibilities.  When the offer came, it was a very obvious closed door for us.  It was really hard to understand.  But I knew that we had asked God to put Harrison where he would influence others for Christ, not be influenced by the world. 

Another school had been calling and Harrison hadn't really been very interested.  But we scheduled a recruiting visit.  He spent the night, ran with the team, then we toured the campus and got a clear academic scholarship offer.  Then we met with the coach.  We assumed it would be informative, but that we wouldn't have an offer until later.  When we sat with the coach he told Harrison "we want you".  (Who doesn't like to hear that?)  And he made Harrison an offer on the spot.  We both left there in shock.  It was an awesome offer.  I went to Joe's office and gave him all the info.  That night we talked as a family.  We all prayed about it.  And honestly, the next day Harrison felt really confident that this was where he was supposed to be.  Not only were the scholarships great, but it is an amazing school and he really loved the smaller size and everything about it.  So, a week later he had his official signing day at school and agreed to run track and cross country for Oklahoma City University. 

So, my big old baby boy is officially going to college next year. We are beyond blessed at all that God has done.  And are thrilled that he will be close.  AND, he still makes me laugh all the time.  I love being Harrison's mom! 

The first time ever I saw your face...

The first time ever I saw your face....queue Roberta Flack music!  Today, that song keeps playing in my head.  Eight years ago today we got "the call"!  When I answered, Kate (at our adoption agency) said "Joy, I have pictures of your baby girl."  I believe I screamed "hit send! Hit send!" 

For some reason, I am feeling very sentimental today.  Maybe because it changed our lives forever!  Maybe because a day does not go by that I don't thank God for both of our children.  Maybe because Clara just refuses to stop growing up so fast!!! 

Sweet little Xin Xiao Huan had been in our hearts since about the time she was conceived.  So, it had been a long time waiting to see that sweet face.  When we got her referral, it was only 12 days until her first birthday and we knew we wouldn't be in China by then.  But we have celebrated her since the moment they put her in my arms on Labor Day 2006! 

This little girl has been one big, wonderful, bundle of joy!  When she was little I always said that she is a party just waiting to happen.  She is all girl...dancing, twirling and giggling through life.  Her smile lights up a room!  She is sweet and caring, kind to everyone.  She has all different kinds of friends and embraces each of their special places in her life.  She is eager to learn.  She will try just about anything.  And will eat just about anything.  She is Curious George in every sense of the word.  You just never know what you might find her doing...or what you might find in her hair when she wakes up in the morning...or what's under her bed, in her closet, in her desk drawer, behind the couch, etc.  She makes us laugh with her funny sayings and brings tears of joy with her sweet love notes she leaves each of us.  The child loves slapstick, physical comedy like no one I have ever known.  She watches The Three Stooges with her dad (really, what girl does that) and laughs until she cries!  She can rock a tutu like no one else!  She plays Christmas songs on the piano all year round.  And she frequently says "sorry, I was in my world, I go there sometimes" (and she does...and she has a special language for that world).  She asks some of the most hilarious questions...the latest being "What is the 'V' word?"  Get your mind out of the gutter people...she meant Verizon.  Seriously, she did!  She still occasionally tells Harrison "you make me so annoying!"  The kid cracks me up every single day! 

So, today I remember that day eight years ago when all the angst, worry, tears, weight gained, weight lost, sleep lost, and thousands of prayers led to the chubby little face of a baby girl in China with our name written on her heart, and hers written on ours.  Sometimes people ask me if Clara was "special needs"...I always say "no, we were!  We needed her!" 

Clara....we love you more than all the numbers!!!

2013 - A Year in Book Reviews

Geez!  I am so, so far behind on blogging!  The quickest thing to catch up on is my year in reading.  This was not my best year in books, only a few that I REALLY loved wholeheartedly.  Here is my list for the year, remember I rate them on a 0-5 rating (5 is the highest).  The ones in bold print are the ones I would recommend the most. 

"The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh   4.75
"Fireproof" by Alex and Stephen Kendrick   4.25
"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot  4.75
"A Secret Kept" by Tatiana DeRosney   3.75
"The Dry Grass of August" by Anna Jean Mayhew   4.50

"Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale" by Lynda Rutledge   3.75
"God's Adventurer" by Phyllis Thompson   4.25
"I Will Carry You" by Angie Smith   4.50
"Killing Kennedy" by Bill O'Reilly   4.50
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald   3.25

"Six Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl" by Dannah Gresh (still reading...it's good)
"The Reading Promise" by Alice Ozma  5.0
"The End of Your Life Book Club" By Will Schwalbe  4.50
"The President's Club" by N. Gibbs and M. Duffy  4.0
"The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for  Girls" by Anton Disclofani  3.75

"And The Moutains Echoed" by Khaleid Hosseini  4.50
"Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline  4.75
"Looking For Me" by Beth Hoffman  4.50
"Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding  3.0
"The Red Thread" by Ann Hood  3.75

"Home is a Roof Over a Pig" by Aminta Arrington  (still reading...kind of tedious)
"When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" by Judith Kerr  3.75
"Running For My Life" by Lopez Lomong  4.75
"The Funeral Dress" by Susan Gregg Gilmore  5.0

There is nothing like sitting down to a good book at the end of the day.  Some people have a glass of wine...I have my reading time.  Okay...sometimes I read AND have a glass of wine.  Even though my year took on some major changes with a new work schedule, I still love to have my "me time" with a good book to wrap up my day. 

Some thoughts on my boy...

Our big, hairy-legged boy has been gone to Beach Week in Florida for a week and now he is off working as a leader at Kids Kamp.  I'm kind of missing him.  Okay, I'm really missing him.  Our church has a live stream set up so we can watch the messages and worship services during camps.  It was awesome watching the high school kids last week at Beach Week.  God moved, you could feel it even watching on the computer.  Lots of kids gave their lives to the Lord.  Several more repented and made a fresh commitment to serve Him wholly.  Lives were definitely changed.  And thanks to technology, I could sit with Clara on my lap and worship with them at Beach Week. 

Tonight I logged on to see the service at Kids Kamp.  As they were worshipping, the camera landed on Harrison who was freely worshipping.  And beside him...a row of little boys, looking up to him and worshipping along with him.  I have to admit, it made this mama a little weepy.  I remember just adoring my counselors at camp when I was a kid.  And now my baby is a counselor.  Kids love him.  He's a natural with them.  And I love to see him interact with them.  While I was watching the video, I got a text from him...it made me smile and giggle a little bit too.  It said "Supposedly I brought a kid to Christ tonight, but I just don't know if it's genuine. We'll see how the week pans out." 

When Harrison was little, we prayed that he would become what his names mean...Harrison David, strong leader, follower after Christ.  It's pretty fun watching him learn to lead.  He is pretty confident in most ways.  But I was glad to see that he didn't take that lightly tonight, he wants to make sure that this kid truly understands and is making a genuine covenant with God.  I'm so grateful for the opportunities that Harrison has to learn under wise leaders at our church.  It makes me so aware of how important it is to bring these young people along side us in ministry and training.  I've really had my heart tuned to that lately.  How we should respect and honor those who have gone before us in ministry and leadership in the church.  AND, how we should respect and encourage the young believers who are rising up as leaders.  Yesterday was an awesome example of that.  One of our senior citizen flocks came and provided breakfast for the high schoolers at church yesterday since they had all just returned from Beach Week.  I loved that the older generation reached out to these kids to encourage them. 

I really needed to write these thoughts down so that I can look back on them on those days when I just want to bean Harrison on the head!  I'm learning (I'm a little slow sometimes) that it's really all about perspective!  He is a good kid!  And despite the fact that, at times, his room should be condemned or that he produces more laundry than the rest of us put together each week...he is really a great kid!  The big picture is, he loves Jesus, loves his family, loves others.  I should remember that the next time he has 5 stairs stacked with stuff to take to his room.  With that being said....NO ONE...I repeat, NO ONE will show him this post!  Got it?  ; )

My boy! (Catching up)

I feel a little panic setting in!  Why?  Because, two years from now my baby boy will have graduated from high school and will be getting ready to head off to college.  I know, it's two years.  But almost seventeen years have just flown by.  I have a real taste of how fast two years go.  And I don't like it!   I keep thinking "there is so much more I want to tell him, show him, teach him."  We went to graduation ceremonies for some of his friends this year.  It is just getting way too real.  So, I'm just going to have to embrace the time he has left at home with us and try not to miss anything. 

Harrison's sophomore year was a really fun year in almost every single way...except for AP European History.  But....that is over and we will just look back on all the fun!  This boy of mine, he is a person who was just meant for high school.  He really enjoys every aspect of it (except for that one little class).  He loves the challenge (except for that one), the social aspect, the traditions, the athletic teams, vocal concerts, really just about everything.  He has awesome friends who make me smile just thinking about them.  These runner boys are hilarious and a breed all their own!  I couldn't have asked for a better group of kids for Harrison to connect to.  Which is good, because he spends a lot of time with them. 

In April a portion of the track team made a trip to Austin, TX for the Texas Relays.  It was a big time competition and quite an experience for all the boys.  Harrison had the best time hanging with his buddies and making lots of memories (some I'm sure I won't hear about for awhile).  I flew down to see him race the 4X800 relay on  Saturday.  It was a really cool environment.  Then, he and I got to spend Easter with our good friends the Ingles.  It was just like old times having Harrison and Bradley (or Dave and Wade as they used to call themselves) together again. 

                                     Texas Relays 4X800 first leg

                                              Very cool event!

                                             Brad and Harrison together again!

                    And as a bonus, I got to see one of my bff's, Christi, too!

                                   These two....what can I say? 

            They used to write comic books "The Adventures of Dave & Wade"

           Of course, the boys had a little egg hunt/fight and Ash got the brunt of it. 

Track season was full of lots of fun meets, and quite a few VERY cold ones this year!  Harrison had a blast running the 4X800 with some of his best friends and also competing in the mile race.  They were thrilled to win conference, regional, and....

                                      STATE CHAMPION 4x800 RELAY!!!

Oh my goodness, it was seriously one of my favorite days ever!  Harrison had dreamed of this, trained for it, prayed about it.  He was focused, nervous, excited and I think we all pretty much felt the same way.  A bunch of us parents were sitting together, enjoying the meet.  Then it was time!  For us, it was Harrison's first state meet.  For one set of parents it was their son's last.  I headed down closer to the track for pictures.  Joe and Clara found a spot to videotape.  And then they were off.  Harrison led off on the first leg.  I knew we were in good position when he had a personal best time for his 800meters.  The other three boys are incredible runners and I knew we had a good shot at winning it.  But anything can happen at state. These boys, they did not disappoint!  Everyone of them ran great races and they came out on top.  It was pure joy for all of them...and for us too!  It's so fun seeing your kids accomplish something they have dreamed of. 

                                               It's show time! 

                                         Heading to the hand off!

                                        Great hand off....great times!

                                              Some happy boys!

                                                   Fun memories! 

To top off the meet...the team was state runners-up!  And the girls team won the state championship!  It was an awesome season!!!

On top of all the excitement of the track season, Harrison stayed pretty involved at church and was really looking forward to summer so he could work at middle school camp and kids camp for our church.  We are really blessed with great youth pastors and flock leaders who pour into Harrison's life. 

I don't want to be one of those bloggers who paints a perfect picture and pretends there are never hard days.  There are still days where Harrison gets his car taken away for one reason or another.  And there are some hard days.  Like recently, when his best friend/girlfriend moved to Kansas City.  It was hard!!!  There have been some ugly days!  But, that's pretty normal I'd say.  And in the big picture of life, he is a really great kid.  He loves Jesus, has a heart for others to love Jesus, he makes me laugh a lot, and occasionally he makes me cuss (keepin' it real)!  And like Clara, he still says some pretty darn hilarious things!  "Like what?" you ask.  Well, like when he was watching tv and he told us "that guy is mouth syncing".  Seriously?  Lip syncing!    Or when he told us "I want to watch this show, it's on European history."  Great...but it was a show on Biblical history.  Or when he and Clara were comparing how many letters are in their names and he announced "well, I'm a double D."  That ranks right up there with one night at dinner when he proudly told us "I'm glad I'm not a geniuis!"  Well...we're proud too...I think!!!  I love that kid!!!