AnnaGrace's Family Day

On December 3rd we celebrated the 8th anniversary of AnnaGrace's family day! Words can't express our continued awe at our Lord who called us together as a family!!



As we celebrate Annie's family day, we look forward to Isabelle's family day. We're one step closer...we received our Article 5 today which means, Lord-willing, we'll be traveling sometime in January to pick up our next gift from God.

Thanksgiving Surprise...

We were so excited to get the call today informing us that we have our LOA. The LOA is the official letter from China accepting us as adoptive parents of Isabelle. I wish I could share her photo, but our agency is very cautious and asks us not to post any specific information until we've actually traveled to China. So for now you'll just have to take our word for it...she's beautiful!!

Several weeks ago we also received information on Isabelle's health. She is not receiving enough oxygen and needs surgery as soon as possible. Due to her tenous health, our wonderful Congressman's office - Patrick McHenry, and also a contact at the immigration office are trying to expedite our U.S. adoption paperwork. We are amazed at everyone's willingness and enthusiasm to help us!! We truly see God's hand at work.

Please pray with us that our adoption paperwork will continue to find favor in the eyes of the officials and that all involved will be willing to put a top priority on getting it complete.

Also, please pray that God will protect Isabelle's heart and lungs. Our pediatric cardiologist are AMAZING, godly men! They even sent a pulse/oxy machine, directly from their office, to our agency to be delivered to the orphanage in China. They are hoping to get updated oxygen levels in order to plan Isabelle's care upon her arrival in the States.

We are praising God for His gift to us of another daughter and know that He has her firmly in His hand!!

New Blog

If you are interested in learning about simplifying your life, saving money and getting more organized, check out my new blog.

Since deciding to adopt, 3 years ago, I've been on a quest to maximize all of our resources. Adoption is expensive but so worth it!! So, needless to say, when we decided to adopt again this year, my efforts have been redoubled.

I'm hoping to encourage others while challenging myself as I share on my blog the most effective ways I've found to Simplify, Organize and Economize.

I want to be able to spend my most valuable resources...time and money...on the things that matter most...things of eternal value. I'm determined not to invest in temporal riches. However, despite my commitment, I still find that society and the media have a certain pull on both myself and my family.

I'm praying, with the Lord's help, that this blog will keep me focused on the "end game". Please join me as I continue to "run with perseverance the raced marked out for us." Heb. 12:1b

(FYI - You can just click on the blog name, in my post, and it will take you to my other blog. Or you can type www.simplifyathome.blogspot.com in your address bar and you'll get there too!! Thanks for the question Julie.)

Another day on the farm...

Life on a farm is always full of surprises. This morning's surprise...49 escaped laying hens. The girls went out to feed the chickens this morning and discovered the roof had blown off of the portable hen house Phil built. They spent the next 30 minutes chasing hens around the pasture.

But all the work is balanced with moments like the ones pictured below:




Horses are very reticent to stay laying down when a person approaches. It takes a long time to earn their trust and to be able to do what AnnaGrace is doing with her pony. Torie snapped these photos with her cell phone. This is one of the many reasons I LOVE life on a farm!!

Other happenings this month...

Michaela turned 14...how did that happen?? Do you remember when you were young and you hated everyone saying "you've grown so much". It's such a lame thing to say and yet I hear myself saying that to my own children when they have another birthday. Birthdays are a continual reminder to cherish every moment.



Lest you think Michaela always celebrates her birthdays in her robe, the pink robe was a birthday gift from Phil and I. Michaela is taking some on-line classes for homeschool. They are in the morning and one of the perks of being homeschooled...you can go to class in your P.J.'s and robe! She was excited to get not only a robe, but a HUGE mug, from Torie. Now she has visions of morning classes wrapped in her cozy robe while sipping on her hot chocolate!!

Shoe "Angel" & Isabelle Update

Thanks Ashley (read her blog here) for the beautiful Sunday shoes!! Last month, during our financial fast, Ashley (a reader of our blog...and someone I've never met in person), e-mailed me and said she'd love to send our girls some Sunday shoes. I was overwhelmed and blessed by her generosity. God works through His body of believers!! Following is a photo of AnnaGrace and SarahMei all dressed up for church...with their new Sunday shoes.



All of our paperwork is now in China (LID - 9/28/09). We are asking for an expedited process due to Isabelle's tenuous health situation. Please pray that our file will find favor in the officials eyes.

We also found out that not only are the Barbee's adopting again (Read all about it at thebarbeebunch.blogspot.com) but also the Bryant's are adopting again. (Read their blog at lillymakesfive.blogspot.com). Next time the "Chenzhou" sisters get together, we'll have 3 more China sweethearts to add to the mix. Last time we got together there were 6 adults and 14 children (5 adopted from China). Next time we'll have 6 adults and 17 children (8 adopted from China!!)

My father died, unexpectedly, Sunday a.m. He and my mom were married for 53 years and have lived with our family for over ten years. Please pray for all of us as we grieve his loss.


In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the ABBA Fund- earmark your donations for the Walter Horton fund.

We are setting up a Grandpa Horton "zipper" fund to offer perpetual adoption loans for families adopting "heart babies" from China. My father had open-heart surgery in 1996, and he and Sarah Mei often "discussed" their matching zippers from surgery.

We know we serve a good and sovereign God who is holding us all in His hands.

Automate Your Monthly Payments

I thought I'd pass along my favorite simplifying hint for finances...automate your monthly payments. I understand the time/value of money. I know by automating your monthly payments you might lose a few days of earning interest on your own money. But lets' face it...in today's economy, with the extremely low interest rates, simplifying my life is more important than the few pennies a month I lose in interest.

I first read about this idea in David Bach's book, The Automatic Millionaire.


After reading his book, I automated all of our regular monthly payments:

Telephone
Electricity
Mortgage Payment
Auto Insurance Payments
Life Insurance Premiums

The only monthly check I write is our tithe check.

It's great peace of mind to know everything is paid, and it saves me a few hours a month in writing bills, etc.

Just a note...our finanicial fast didn't include our automated payments:)

Chenzhou Sisters Reunion

Sunday we were blessed to be able to travel to Columbia to visit Sarah Mei's Chenzhou sisters. Lanie, Lilly and Sarah Mei shared the first 16 months of their lives, together, in the Chenzhou orphanage. We live within a two hour radius and are so blessed to be able to get the girls together!!

We had a GREAT lunch...thanks Bryants for the BBQ and banana pudding!! And a wonderful time of fellowship.

The exciting news is the Bryants brought home their 6th child (2nd from China), Ellie, last year. The Barbee's are paperchasing for their new daughter, Mia, waiting in China. And we're waiting to bring home Isabelle. Once we get all our girls home, we'll have a combined total of 16 children...7 adopted from China!!

Lanie and Sarah Mei share a hug.


Lanie and Sarah Mei ride the Bryants VERY patient donkey, Bradley!!


Lilly and Sarah Mei take a stroll.

Now for our financial update....
We were blessed with a dozen eggs from the Bryant family on Sunday, so supper last night was egg salad sandwiches, chips and fruit. We did not spend any money on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday...phew, only 22 more days left in our September financial fast.

Saturday Shopping Deals

I made my bargain shopping circuit and visited CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Food Lion. With a little preparation last night...matching coupons with sales fliers...I made the trip in just 2 and 1/2 hours and that was with Sarah Mei in tow.

I've been honing my skills, over the last two years, at using coupons and sales match-ups to try to maximize our spending power. If you're like me, I only shopped at Walmart, before, for my toiletry items. Now I do the majority of my shopping at the 3 drug stores (mentioned above) and do much better with their coupon deals. It takes patience, a willingness to stock up on items during sales cycles, and lots of trial and error, but it's well worth the effort. My favorite blog about couponing is written by a young mom with 3 children...very wise for her age...check it out www.moneysavingmom.com

Now for my deals:

I divided my CVS transactions into 2 seperate groupings in order to maximize a $5/$25 coupon and a $5/$30 coupon that I had from CVS. In the 1st transaction I bought the items in the above photo, spent $8.17 from a $25 gift card (that I earned by transfering a prescription)and aftering mailing in a rebate form, I'll get a $10 Swiffel gift card by mail. That's a net profit of $1.83...not bad.



The 2nd transaction at CVS included some 75% off summer items along with a few non-sale items that I just neeeded. I spent $21.16 using the balance of the 1st gift card and a partial 2nd gift card (that I also earned by transfering a prescription.) Net spent out of pocket: $0 and I earned $2.50 in ECB's (ECB's print at the end of your CVS receipt and spend like cash the next time you shop.)


Next I went to Walgreen's and purchased the above items...the toothbrush was free with Walgreen's register rewards and the other items cost a total of $6.36. (The cheese came out to $3/lb. which is a pretty good deal for cheese.)


Next stop...RiteAid. Again I had a $5/$25 coupon that allowed me to buy some items that weren't on a great sale. I bought all the above items and spent $17.21 which...you guessed it...came off a gift card from a prescription transfer. I'll also file for a monthly rebate check (last month I got a check from RiteAid for over $30)from this transaction I'll earn $3.50 towards my monthly check.

My final stop was Food Lion. After the $6.00 spent at Walgreens on cheese & soup, $2.00 Phil spent on a tea this morning at his Men's Bible Study, and do I dare say it...my $4.00 Starbucks (gasp!!)...I had $28.00 left to spend on our weekly groceries to meet our $40/week grocery goal. I spent $25.06 at Food Lion and was pretty happy with the deals that I got there.

Obviously we are using food items that we have in our freezer and pantry to augment our weekly grocery trips. Our biggest challenges are milk (we only buy organic and it's over $5.00/gallon) and fresh produce. Thankfully an Aldi grocery store, just a few miles from our home, is supposed to open sometime in the next week or two. That will be a HUGE help to our grocery budget.

Summary for the Day: Spent $37.06 on groceries!!

Thanks for following along. And if you haven't tried couponing...give it a try!!

Raleigh, A Children's Museum & Our Financial Fast Update

Wednesday, as I posted previously, AnnaGrace, Sarah Mei and I made the 3 hour drive to Raleigh to have our adoption documents authenticated. We arrived in Raleigh at 9:30 a.m. (the documents had to be in the Secretary of State's office by 10 a.m.) The officer informed me that we could pick the completed documents at 2:30 p.m. I saw signs pointing to a Children's Museum, just a few blocks from the Secretary of State's office. I threw up a prayer asking God to make it affordable and walked inside. Praise God they had a home school special...teacher's (that's me) got in free and it was only $4/child. I decided to spend the $8.00 and we spent the next 4 hours in the most incredible children's interactive play area/museum!! If you're ever in Raleigh, it's a must see if you have children 10 or under.


After picking up the documents, I was disappointed to discover that 2 of our documents had to be redone...that's when I caved on our financial fast....walking in the flesh...sigh. I booked a hotel room (it was free with points we had accumulated) but I bought a Starbucks coffee (true confessions) and ordered a pizza. Total in the hole for the day: $31.00

The good news...my sweet husband had the 2 documents redone, so they were waiting and ready when I got home yesterday. Yesterday at 4:30 p.m. all our documents were overnighted to Raleigh and/or Washington D.C. to a courier who will hand carry everything to the U.S. State Dept. and the Chinese Consulate. Lord-willing they will ALL be back in our hands by next Friday and then we can overnight them to our adoption agency.

In addition to completing the 2 adoption documents, Phil made 2 returns and bought me 3 red roses with part of the proceeds. His note to be was "Just Because I Love You." How sweet is that! After 22 years of marriage, it just keeps getting better!

Our Net Financial Outgo since Sept. 1st: $6.00 (after expenditures and reimbursements from returns).

Tomorrow I get to go grocery shopping with our $40 weekly budget (part of our financial fast.) I am busily cutting out coupons and matching them with the store sales fliers. I'll let you know how it goes...tomorrow.

One Additional Praise....God met our needs in the most unexpected way yesterday. I received an e-mail from another adoptive mom with a heart of gold. She said she had dress shoes that her girls had hardly worn and aren't using, and she's shipping them to us!! We truly do serve an awesome God who provides abundantly more than we ask or expect. Ashley...THANKS just isn't adequate for your sweet gift to us. I pray God's rich blessings on your family as you continue the adoption of your son!! Check out her beautiful family at her blog.

When I first received the e-mail my reaction (again...in the flesh) was that's nice but I wanted to dismiss the offer (not because I wasn't THRILLED with the offer...but quite frankly due to pride...it's SO much harder to receive than give.) Last night as I read another chapter in Adopted for Life by Russell D. Moore

a statement he made, concerning his own pride in accepting help when they were adopting, convicted me..."Maybe you just need to repent of your pride and self-confidence and just let somebody bless you." Ashley...thanks for blessing us!!

Thank you Lord!!

Right after I posted the last post, I opened my purse and unzipped a small pocket and lo and behold there were 3 - $1.00 bills in it. I NEVER keep any money in that pocket and have no idea why it was there. God, in His goodness, knew I needed encouragement today! We ended up at ZERO for our first day of our financial fast...instead of in the red.

Thank You Lord for being intimately involved in the details of our day to day lives!! To God be the Glory!

Tomorrow the girls and I get to drive to Raleigh to hand deliver some of our adoption documents to the Secretary of State for authentication. It's about a 3 hour drive, each way, but will save 3-4 days in processing time. Every day counts for our Isabelle!!

Day 1 - Financial Fast

O.k. for some reason I feel a great accountability to our financial fast because I've committed to disclosing our victories and failings with you, our blog audience.

So here's a summary of Day 1:

I had to get creative today because I needed to buy a ball (that one of our girl's OT said she needed for core strengthening)and some s'more ingredients for a cook-out we're attending on Sunday.

Allow me to digress for a moment...We're REALLY looking forward to our Sunday outing because we're getting together with Sarah Mei's Chenzhou sisters, Lilly and Lanie. The girls grew up together in China before they were joined with their forever families. We adopted the girls just weeks apart and are blessed to live within a 2 hour radius. Check out Lilly and Laine's family's blogs!!

Back to our financial summary:

I returned 2 pillowcase covers that I purchased and decided I wasn't going to use and received a $18.04 refund. With the refund amount I purchased the ball, graham crackers, and chocolate bars...all for $19.11. I scrounged around for some change in the bottom of my purse and it was an even exchange. Victory #1

A small set-back...I take part in a great book exchange called Paperback Swap. I LOVE books and try to purchase only ones that I know I want to keep; however, occasionally one will come home, and I'll decide it's not a keeper. When this happens I post them on the Paperback Swap site. Once a request comes in for my book, I ship it and get a credit to purchase any other book (for free) on the site. Basically you get books for the cost of postage - $2.38. It's a great program and works almost flawlessly. That brings me to our 1st small set-back...Another member accidentally sent me a book designated for another member, so I agreed to pay the shipping to forward it and in exchange I got an extra "free book" credit. That's great but I had to pay $2.38 out of pocket, today, for postage...sigh.

Summary of Day 1 - In the red - $2.38

I know these details are riveting...just humor me as I hold myself accountable by posting for all the world to see.

As the summer recedes into our memory...and our homeschool is now in full-swing...enjoy a few photos from a day at the beach this summer...

30 Day Financial Fast

In preparation for our upcoming adoption of Isabelle...our family is taking a 30 day financial fast. We did this once, about 6 years ago, and found it very interesting and challenging!

So here are the rules for our personal 30 day fast....NO SPENDING except for the following:

Gas

Groceries - limit of $40/week (for milk, produce and the bare necessities.)

Garage Sales - the sales are GREAT this time of year, and it's how I outfit our girls so we'll still be going to garage sales on Saturday morning.

Adoption Costs

Other than that, we'll be content with all the blessings God has provided us.

We'll finish up projects that need to be done with all the time saved from running errands.

We'll get creative in meeting unexpected expenses.

We'll brave the fashion police....let me explain. The girls still have only their white sandals for church. We usually switch to our black shoes around Labor Day. I must confess that I was tempted to run out, yesterday, and buy everyone their winter shoes...but that seemed like cheating on the financial fast....so we're going to brave the fashion police and wear our summer shoes for a month longer!! In the scheme of eternity, does it really matter??

We're going to learn to lean on the Lord instead of our own financial means.

So if you're feeling brave and/or inspired...why don't you join our 30 day Financial Fast Challenge and let me know how it goes!! (And if you see us holding up signs that say "We'll work for food..." have mercy on us and throw us a morsel:) )

Horton Adoption Update

Well the last two months have been filled with changed plans, redirection from the Lord, exhaustion, laughter and tears. We welcomed 18 Ethiopian orphans for the Summer of Hope - Charlotte program for the month of July. As the community coordinator I was busy beyond belief. The moments of joy were greater than I had imagined and so were the moments of sheer exhaustion. The HUGE praise report is 4 of the 18 children are in the process of being adopted...including Meskerem (the 8 year old little girl who stayed in our home.)

In the last two months we also received a referral for a 8 year old girl and an 18 month little girl from Ethiopia. We were excited about the girls joining our family; however, during the course of the Summer of Hope stay, it became abundantly clear that an 8 year old was not going to be the best match for our family. In the midst of the emotions of this realization, we got a phone call telling us that "our" 18 month little girl had a brother who was going to need to be placed with her. Phil felt VERY sure that we were supposed to parent girls...which led to "losing" our referral of the 18 month old. Our hearts were broken but as usual during times of sorrow, the situation forced us to seek the Lord's direction, once again, for our adoption process.

After much prayer, tears and many closed doors in Ethiopia, we decided to look at the China program again. My desire is to adopt one of "the least of these." Praise God, last week, we saw the photo of our new Chinese daughter - Isabelle - who is 16 months old. She has a severe heart defect which will require 2 open-heart surgeries upon her arrival to the states. Sadly, we can't post her photo until we pick her up in China. But of course she's BEAUTIFUL!! Pray for quick processing of our adoption paperwork as every week is critical in preserving her health. Pray for God's hand of protection on her.

I'm SO proud of our 4 daughters. They have been patient through all the adoption ups and downs!! Torie is coming home to go to UNCC for her sophomore year of college. A hard decision for both Phil and I and also for Torie. She has showed such maturity in accepting and eventually embracing the decision. We love the close friendship that is blooming between her and Michaela as they ride and show their Thoroughbreds together. We went to a schooling show this weekend. Michaela's mare proved she can fly. That suits Michaela fine after having her "pony with wings" - Popcorn - for so many years.

Torie riding Brego (named after Aragorn's horse in Lord of the Rings), her new 8 year old Thoroughbred gelding.



Michaela "flying" on Hwin (named after the horse in C.S. Lewis's book - The Horse and His Boy)her new 8 year old Thoroughbred mare.



Both girls schooling cross-country...


While the older two girls rode, the two younger girls picked bouquets of flowers.

New Arrivals

At the end of June we will welcome an 8 year old Ethiopian little girl to our family for a month. We are community coordinators for Christian World Adoption's Pilot Program, Summer of Hope. Our church, in conjunction with CWA, is blessed to be bringing 18 Ethiopian children, ranging in age from 6-11, to the Charlotte area for a month this summer. Each child will stay with a host family where they will experience family life, have their medical needs met, and hopefully meet families who eventually might adopt them. CWA plans on expanding this program to other cities in future years. Please pray for smooth transitions as we welcome these children into our homes.

As we continue to wait patiently for the Lord to match us with our 2 new daughters in Ethiopia, we continue life on the farm.

Torie, our oldest, is home from college and enjoying competing a wonderful horse for the summer. In God's providence, we found an amazing horse for lease for the summer months. It was a blessing to his owner who wanted to keep him fit for the summer and left us speechless as the arrangement allows Torie to compete at levels that have never been possible before.


TORIE & RANDY competing in Aiken, SC


After watching Torie compete, 2 weekends ago, she and Michaela begged and pleaded with Phil to allow them to bring home 2 kittens. After promising that they will be completely fiscally responsible for the new additions, he acquiesced and we made the 3 1/2 hour car ride home with 2 mewing kittens.


MICHAELA (sporting her brand new braces) and TORIE with BUSTER and SMEAGOL


In addition to adding 2 new kittens to the farm, we've also added 50 chicks (who will grown into free-range laying hens for our egg business) and a little male goat!


SARAH MEI with a CHICK



ANNAGRACE with her kid - CURIOUS GEORGE

A Washing Machine in Ethiopia....They Don't Take it for Granted

I don't know about you, but I constantly struggle to stay caught up with our laundry!! When Phil visited Ethiopia in 2008, he saw women doing their laundry like this....

That picture made be GRATEFUL for my washing machine!!

Now imagine doing laundry for dozens of children without a washing machine. Think bedding, clothing, diapers, etc....ugh. When Phil visited the Soddo Children's Home in 2008, the electricity was intermittent and laundry was done by scrubbing it on cement chutes.



Since that time the orphanage has been blessed with receiving donated generators which insure electricity. And thanks to the special efforts of 8 young ladies (ages 9-14), in our church, the orphanage in Sodoo, Ethiopia now has a commercial washing machine!! Christine & Katherine, Leah & Alexa, Lydia & Natalie, Sierra and Michaela raised $250, without parental assistance, to help buy a commercial washing machine for the orphans of Ethiopia. They were able to present the money to Stephne Bowers when she visited our church last month. Stephne runs 3 children's homes for orphaned children in Ethiopia and has an amazing ministry!



Here is Stephne's heart-felt letter to those who donated the funds for the washing machine...

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Soddo and Awassa children's clothing can now be washed in our brand new washing machine which you so graciously donated funds for!

We still have to carry water from the well or bring water on donkey's backs- which then fills this blue container for the days' laundry! But now the nannies can actually get all the washing done before lunch time, which allows them to fold and put away the dry washing by 5 p.m. every day!

These machines can also ONLY function when there is electricity (maybe 3 days per week...?) and on days without electricity, we have been blessed with a generator for each home where we can continue 'normal' day operations without the frustration!

We feel so blessed and the staff are so very thankful for this gift!"

To God be the glory for young hearts sensitive to His call. Thanks girls!!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!

The Horton Family - Easter 2009....eagerly awaiting 2 sweet Ethiopian faces to complete our family!!


The Easter festivities began with Torie polishing all the girls toenails. Sarah Mei was especially excited about that!!


Next we colored Easter eggs and were reminded of new beginnings...just like our new beginning in Jesus Christ.
One of the greatest joys of being a mother is seeing your children grow and become good friends. Torie (freshman in college) and Michaela (7th grade) are best buds now and enjoy their time together!!


Easter morning began with attending our church's Easter Sunrise Service. We have a "civilized" sunrise service held next to Lake Norman at 7:00 a.m. each year. It is a great opportunity to reach out to the community with the Gospel message. We had over 700 people attend this year.



After attending the sunrise service, we attended our church's regular worship service and then came home for pictures, a big Easter meal and a Sunday nap!! It was a beautiful day!

$5 Friday - GRAND FINALE

This will be our last week for fundraising for Acacia Village - Ethiopia.
As of 10:15 a.m. - Thursday, March 19th we need $1,650 to reach our $10,000 goal.

In January, 2008 Phil attended the ground breaking of Acacia Village located in Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA. At that time Christian World Foundation had purchased the land for the building of the village and begun their fundraising efforts.



To date CWF has raised over $640,000 and begun the Children's Home in the village. We're thankful to be a part, with you, of this provision for the orphans of Ethiopia. It's VERY real to us now that we're adopting from Ethiopia too!!


To see all of the details for the project visit the Acacia Village website.
The following excerpt is from Christian World Foundation...
Acacia Village’s impact is threefold:
Acacia Village rescues children from the streets of Ethiopia and connects them with a forever family;
Acacia Village provides employment for over 100 Ethiopian citizens, thus providing opportunity to improve their lives;
Acacia Village helps U.S. adoptive parents by easing the transition of a child from Ethiopia to the United States.

With Acacia Village, you can help build the property and then go to Ethiopia to see how children are being saved. This project enables you to participate in the vision and then witness firsthand the fulfillment of the dream.

When Jesus stood among 5,000 people, the disciples encouraged him to send them away. "How can we feed these people with just a few loaves and fish?" they said. But Jesus refused to be overwhelmed by the problem — He refused to look at what they could not do. Instead, He took the food that was there, blessed it and multiplied it to feed thousands (see Luke 9:12-20).

As we build Acacia Village, we trust Jesus will do the same — not according to our efforts, but by the grace of God. Jesus says again, "Do not send the people away. Bring what you have to Me and I will bless it and multiply it."

Now is the time to stop being overwhelmed by the immensity of the problem. Now is the time to help.

Please consider giving $10 today via our blog link.
With grateful thanks!! The Horton Family