Princess Victoria

We are blessed and honored to CELEBRATE the amazing life of our sweet 10 year old daughter! As a family we were FILLED to overflowing watching our friends and family shower her with love on her special day. THANK YOU to all of you for LOVING Victoria and supporting our family as we live each day to SHINE the love of Jesus Brighter than the day before!

We were able to have her party at our "Kids Place" at church with blow up bouncy houses, lots of room to play and of course LOTS of singing...VICTORIA"S favorite thing to do.

10...Ten candles, ten years of life lived far beyond what our hearts can grasp, hopes of 10 times 10 plus years for Victoria to grow in the love of the Lord and use all the life experiences He has allowed...so that she can be the BEST Victoria God designed for her to be!

The other day we were talking about school with the kids and Victoria asked "How many years do we go to school?" We told her and asked her why she asked. She said "because when I get big and done with school, I want to be a nurse that takes care of children like Romana does" She was very excited about the thoughts of getting gifts for her birthday. A few weeks before her party she said to me "Mom, If I get gifts, how can we help the kids at Beacon House have nice things too?" She knows it is hard to send items to Ghana (due to duty taxes etc) so she asked if kids could bring "change" to put in the wishing well. So the families who came brought "change to help change the lives of the kids at BH." I love her heart! Thank you families for the "CHANGE" you have made in VIctoria's life by GIVING toward BH! YEAH!

Blaske's all dressed up as Kings, Queen, Prince, and Princesses! (by the time of the picture Dave had lost his crown and robe...but boy did he look HANDSOME! Thanks for leading our family with GRACE, LOVE and Authority....I LOVE YOU being your Queen!

Victoria's favorite things:
*Spaghetti Dinner (would eat it every day...every meal)
*Dressing her dolls hair, reading, riding her bike, singing
*Favorite movies: Mary Poppins, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Annie
*Prayer she NEVER misses "Lord help the kids at BH, and help Helen's eyes to open "
*pink of any shade on any item is how she loves color
*school, any kind of school work, check list or sticker (yeah I think I have another organizer "do'er" in my house :O)
*loves God...God is not something she adds to her life..but it is a part of her. (I am big time humbled watching her relationship with God...I have a lot to learn)

Okay... I know this has been a long post....but I had to finish with this picture..
On her actual Birthday I went to the school and surprised her with her "first hot lunch at school" We got to get our food, (PIZZA...yeah, so glad it was not Salisbury steak day :O) She was soooo excited to walk her tray down the line, pick her food and sit at the table. We sat, ate, talked, met her friends, ate some more.
As she got up to clear her tray and skip off to the play ground, I found myself in one of the moments that often come, but still catch me off guard. I watched her skip off, turn and say in her Victoria way "Bye Mom, Thank you"
I could feel the knot in my throat start to form...."okay Carrie no crying in the lunch room" It is in those moments where I do feel the Holy Spirit brush my heart as if to say " Isn't she wonderful? watch and learn, have a heart of a child"
I hope to journey along side of whatever God is doing in my life, good times, hard times, desperate times, joy filled times with the out look of a child "Thanks God" as He watches me skip out to play!

Okay-Okay-Okay

Alright all my friends and family who have been politely saying "checking you blog and guess what Carrie...it is the same"
I am sorry :O(

P A P E R - C H A I N !!!
Ever made a paper chain to count down the days until Christmas? Remember the long strips of paper, the glue sticks and the sticky fingers?

72 days ago I cut 72 strips of paper...pink, purple, and green...and my sweet 9 year old daughter sat with me as we glued and numbered each ring as we stuck them together.

How did this come about? From day one in January when I met Victoria she spoke of her "Birthday" and how she can not wait to celebrate with her family. We have had many dreamy discussions about the day God formed her in her mommy's tummy and how thankful we are for her "birthday"
When we got home to America it became a big task to keep flipping our BIG family calender a few times a week to "count and recount" the days until her "Birthday"

So at 72 days we sat and did the above mentioned task of making a paper chain.
At first I did this for my own convenience of not having to count...but what I did not realize was the LONG and GREAT discussions that would come each night as we tore off one link of the chain before bed.

Topics of her bio family filled the nights. IT prompted many discussions about Beacon House and the celebrations of Christmas and Easter and the memories of those precious days. The amount of PRAYERS that get sent up for her Bio family and the need they have was sparked night after night as she put her requests of food and water for them before the Lord. (my mommy heart is in awe so may times at her caring in touch heart for those she loves)

Last night we found ourselves in the Safeway isles picking cake mix and frosting for cupcakes for school and Birthday Dinner for Victoria.
The 72 days have passed...the paper chain had one link left on the wall as I tucked her in last night.
her EYE"S danced as I tucked her in and she said "I do not think my body will let me sleep tonight...I have never had a birthday celebration" I told her, " I know and I am soooo blessed that God knew you were created to be blessed and celebrated and we are just hours away from doing that...sleep well" Smooched her forehead and slipped out of the room.

IT was 11:30 and I was frosting the last cupcake....blew up some balloons, tip-toed back into her room and tacked them to the ceiling for her eyes to see when she first opened them (who knew what time that was going to be :O) and off to bed I went.




Today Victoria is 10! Her 10 years of life have been lived in a way that most of us will not be able to put our minds around. She has the light of Jesus in her eyes...the spark of survival in her spirit, and a thankfulness that runs into the core of her being.
Today we CELEBRATE her and THANK God for the beautiful young woman He hand made in her mommy's womb all those years ago!