Introducing...foster baby #4, Qiao Qiao!!!

we got our new foster baby today!!!
the sweet, precious, little angel has been a brave boy with all the changes he's faced today!!
saying goodbyes to his last foster family was tough, they will always be a part of his life and i hope and pray one day when he's grown he will hear all about the family who saved his life and loved him... <3
we're going to be keeping sweet little Qiao Qiao for about one month, and i can already tell he's going to be a joy to have around! his cleft lip and skin condition are extremely challenging to care for but his bright eyes and sweet smiles are worth it! :)
please continue to pray for our family and this special baby boy!! thank you!!

i <3 my dad

so, tonight, my dad called me downstairs and sat me down and proceeded to tell me how he disapproved of my "mushy" facebook status (lyrics from chris brown's "i wanna be") and told me that i don't need another man in my life BECAUSE....i kid you NOT...and i quote...

"i care about you so much that i take time out of my busy day to edit out the little blotchy spots on your face before posting any pictures to facebook..."
.....
gee...thanks???
LOL
wow, i love my dad...THAT's the kind of comic moments i'm gonna miss!!!

back to schoooool...

something funny...
i knowingly misquoted a chris brown song (that i LOVE) in my facebook status because i couldn't bring myself to include the grammatical error...
lol
back to school, blahhhh, working my butt off!!! cant wait for senior year to be overrrrr!
something i haven't blogged about yet, we're getting a new foster baby!!! baby boy, about 9 months old, his name is Qiao Qiao, we'll have him for about a month, he's coming to our house this Friday!!! SO nervous/excited!!
pictures to come!!
please be praying for the strength that my family will need to care for this lil baby boy!!

Happy New Year!!!

it's 2010!!!!
BIG year!!!
happy new year everybody!
thank you, Lord, for another year! help us live it for You!

Christmas, New Year, and Happy Birthday Isabella!!!

so, Christmas was awesome, as usual!! i LOVE Christmas!!!!!
We had a very special time on Christmas Eve singing carols with several families that are our closest friends...
Christmas morning we were forbidden to wake up our parents until NINE o'clock!! nine!! that was just torture! Then we had our traditional Christmas breakfast of sausage biscuits, yummm...Then Cole read the Christmas story from Luke to the whole family, that is always a special time that helps keep us focused on the real meaning of Christmas and this year was the first year Cole read :)
Then the opening of the presentssss!!! SO much fun! lots of laughing and hugging and surprised faces, and then everyone plugged into the various pieces of technology they had received! haha
which brings me to my most exciting Christmas present......my laptop!!! i'm updating my blog right now, for the first time, from my pink mini laptop!! which i LOVE! i'm SO thankful for this gift from my parents! i also got a pair of earrings and several scarfs from my brothers... :)
I also got to open up a package from my besties in America on Christmas Eve, on webcam with them, i LOVED every little thing in the package, it was SO thoughtful!! i love me some Sarah, Aubrey, Sami, and Kristina!!! :)
tomorrow is New Year's eve!!! we're gonna spend family time, making snack, playing games, watching movies, should be fun!!! :)
it's also Isabella Xing Hope Garland's 4th birthday tomorrow!!!!!! happy birthday you precious angel i will love you forever and ever, i can't believe you're such a big girl!!! <3

Senioritis, the power of prayer, Elf, and Christmas shopping...

so, i seem to have bitten by some sort of bug that many people seem to be bit by in their senior year of highschool...a bug that causes a state of being here referred to as "senioritis" which is basically extreme procrastination becoming a way of life and an atypical desire to just stay in bed all day every day...i've always been a very active, confident, out-going person, but this year i've just been feeling so blah...sluggish, bored, discontent, etc etc...you can blame it on whatever you want but I think it all boils down to both a spiritual battle and a struggle with the flesh...i have a lot of big things coming up in the next six months or so and i think there's spiritual warfare going on over what i've made up my mind to do with the rest of my life and whether i'm actually going to go through with it...and there's the fact that i KNOW my spirit is willing but the flesh is weak...
i've shared much of this frustration with a few close friends in the last few days and both have encouraged me to PRAY PRAy PRay Pray pray...thanks guys, you know who you are! :)
i hadn't been keeping in touch with my Father so much these days so when these friends reminded me that prayer is what keeps us "sane" it pierced my heart and i had to spend a little time talkin to my BEST friend...so that's what i'm gonna do, i'm prayin against this thing now, and i feel my strength being renewed already!
on a much lighter note, it's almost Christmas!!!!!!!! i'm so So SO excited!! i love christmas!!!
we watched "Elf" a few nights ago *sigh* that movie makes me smile! "smiling's my favorite!!"
"buddy the elf, what's your favorite color??" "i'm in love i'm in love and i don't CARE who knows it!!!" "i'm sorry i ruined your life and crammed 11 cookies in the VCR..."
did some christmas shopping today and going again tomorrow! SO fun!! this christmas season is bittersweet because it's my last christmas living at home...i'll surely come home for many more christmases down the road, but this is my last one spent as a full-time Monger house resident...
i LOVE this time of year...it's the time of year to appreciate all the simple things in life like baking cookies and playing games and drinking hot chocolate and trying in vain to keep a two year old from messing up the tree...haha...and also a time to be thankful for all the so-called "simple" things we take for granted that many people don't have...a happy home, a warm house, good food...
but the most important thing to be thankful for is the fact that God sent His son Jesus to come to earth to be born as a fragile human child in the poorest of conditions so that we could one day be saved through Him...i heard someone say last Sunday that Jesus' sacrifice did not begin when He hanging on the cross, it didn't begin when they began to beat Him, it didn't begin when He was betrayed, it began when He left Heaven's glory to come to earth and live life as a man...we sometimes forget about that and it's so true and it really stuck with me this week...

a heart FULL of thanksgiving and praise...

man it has been WAY too long since i wrote a new post...

yesterday was Thanksgiving and it was a WONDERFUL day...we had our dear friends over (they're practically family) and, of course, gorged ourselves on delicious American food, played board games, and had a very personal time of giving thanks to our Father...it was the first time i've ever played "apples to apples" and i loved that game!! it got pretty heated though, haha, as you can well imagine if you've ever met the Monger family...i'm STILL fuming over some of the "judges" decisions...not really, but seriously, it was a GREAT day...the best word i can think to describe it is a chinese word, "re nao"...gives the idea of noisiness, closeness, warmth...so, yeah, i'm grateful for a very re nao thanksgiving day!! God has given me so many opportunities this year to be thankful for...He never works in the ways you expect...He didn't send a funny, awesome highschool girl for me to "hang out" with this year like i wanted, He sent a married couple for me to confide in, learn from, and grow to love...He gave me a group of girls i've never met before for me to worship with and be encouraged by, who i LOVE...He hasn't given me a foster baby to take care of, He gave me the two little boys down the road to be a friend to...He hasn't given me an easy school year, I've wanted to pull my hair out, but He's given me the most patient mother and teacher who's there for me through it all...He didn't give me what i asked for, that is, a giant neon arrow reading "My will" pointing me in just the right direction, but He has given me SUCH a wise father who is always there to hear (and sometimes laugh at) my PLANS...I'm thankful that He NEVER does what we expect, that He catches us off-guard, that He pushes us to our limits so we lean on Him...this is probably my last Thanksgiving with my family for a while, but I am SO thankful for the MOST perfect family for me...I don't know what i would do if i didn't have a mother and father i could completely trust and confide in...they're my best friends, counsellors, prayer warriors, teachers, preachers, and (sometimes, especially these days, to my extreme annoyance) they're always trying to make me into a better person...
now, what am I not thankful for (HEY i'm only human) i'm NOT thankful for the pile of school work waiting for me on Monday...but it's mainly my fault for LETTING it pile up on me, haha...but seriously, SO thankful for this week OFF from school!!
thankful for the FOUR people out there who follow my blog, haha!
thankful for the people who pray for my family and our work, we love and appreciate you!