Obviously, by now you know we were blessed to welcome home our 7th daughter in March!  Twenty-five years ago when we said "I do", we never in our wildest dreams thought we'd be parenting seven children.  I wanted a career.  Phil thought two children would be nice.  However, bit by bit the Lord changed our hearts and our dreams.  And His dreams for our lives became our dreams for our lives. 

Or family...now plus one more...

By now you also know Savannah Faith, like our last 3 daughters, will need two open-heart surgeries.  Because of her heart condition we were able to expedite her adoption.  Due to the stepped-up time frame and despite Phil's side jobs and my fundraising efforts, we still found ourselves with a financial shortfall when travel time came.  We were able to borrow the remaining funds, but while in China we were blessed to hear from Lifesong for Orphans that we were the recipients of a $2,500 matching grant for Savannah's adoption. 

This is another Ebenezer stone to add to our family's ever-growing pile as testament to the Lord's faithfulness to our family.  (I Samuel 12:7) "Thus far has the Lord helped us."


Every dollar gifted towards Savannah's adoption will be matched dollar for dollar and is tax-deductible for the donor.  As Phil jokingly says, if we are able to match this grant we will have a "free and clear title" on Savannah Faith before we begin the summer medical procedures which will include her heart cath and 1st open-heart surgery.


Soon you may be receiving our adoption announcement in the mail with this same information on it.  We are praying the Lord will move in the hearts of some to come alongside our family, once again, and make a gift of any amount to the Savannah Faith adoption fund.  You can donate by making checks payable to Lifesong for Orphans (write preference: Horton #3362 in the memo line) and mailing them to PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744 7b. You can also just click on the "Donate" button on the right of this blog to donate via PayPal.


So many of you have already blessed us by taking care of our children, making meals for us, giving to us financially (either for this adoption or a previous one), and for that we are SO thankful.  It's overwhelming to us how the body of Christ has met us in such tangible ways.


Savannah Faith (2 1/2) is continuing to amaze us with her willingness to love and be loved.  We have a long road ahead of us as she learns to eat food (she will still only take a bottle), walk (she is in physical therapy two days a week) and get healthy physically (she has her heart cath scheduled for May 15th), but her giggle will light up a room. 

We are thankful the Lord has changed our hearts and dreams over the last 25 years and is allowing us to parent our seven daughters.  Thank you for being a part of that dream!

It's The Simple Things

In between the Dr.'s appointments and therapy appointments, life is settling back into a routine.  We started back homeschooling, enjoying the farm and even a Saturday of visiting garage sales.


Savannah Faith is taking it all in stride.  It's amazing how quickly she has settled into the rhythm of our family life.

This weekend Torie and Michaela took all the little girls outside and did a photo shoot.  They are relishing the fact that I've loosened my grip on my camera.


Here Lily Rose shows the mark of a true farm girl...sporting a dress but still wearing her cowgirl boots!

The series of next 3 photos is SO typical of Lily  Rose and Isabelle.  What started out as an innocent flower smelling session, quickly turned into Lily Rose twirling a flower and "accidentally" bumping Izzy in the nose.  They both thought it was hysterical.  Lily Rose just can't help herself!

 

While the girls walked from photo spot to photo spot, Savannah Faith hung out - literally - in a baby carrier on Michaela's back.  I LOVE those chubby toddler legs!

Over the years, we have slowly sold off our horse herd.  The expenses of adoptions and open-heart surgeries have trumped the need for horse feed and horse show entry fees.  The older two girls, the true horse lovers, have adjusted their riding careers and are now offering to ride for other horse owners.  The beauty of that arrangement is no cost is involved in riding other peoples' horses. 



We are down to our last two "equine liabilities", as Phil lovingly refers to our horses.  Before I was pregnant with Michaela, we bought Hustler, who is now 30 years old.  Popcorn, our aged eventing pony, was a gift to Michaela on her 7th birthday.  They are part of the family now. 

They have taught the oldest four girls to ride and are in the midst of teaching Izzy and Lily Rose the ropes. 

They need to hang on long enough to teach Savannah Faith the finer points of equestrian prowess. I love how quiet they are with the younger girls.

When not enjoying life on our farm, we love to sneak off and catch a good garage sale. 


Last Saturday Michaela, Savannah Faith and I hit the roads to find some deals at a local neighborhood garage sale.  I had resolved myself to the fact that I was going to have to breakdown and buy a vacuum cleaner at Target over the weekend.  But lo and behold, at the first garage sale we hit, a Hoover Wind Tunnel, my dream vacuum, met my eyes.  I didn't even have to bargain...

Yep...that's $5.00 for the most amazing vacuum I've ever owned.  The Lord meets us even in the little things. 


For now we're going to enjoy the next month until we head to Charleston for Savannah Faith's heart cath on May 15th. 



And Savannah Faith is going to continue to figure out farm life.

We're Home...Medical Updates & Family Traditions

Last Saturday we made it home after saying a sad good-bye to Elvin, our wonderful Guangzhou guide.

Savannah Faith was a champ on the 26 hour door-step to door-step trip.  She even slept part of the time.  I wish I could say the same.

Upon our arrival in Charlotte, we were greeted by Phil, the girls and my mom.  We made quite the sight at the airport.  A mass of screaming, giggling girls, exhausted adults and overfilled luggage.

When we arrived  home, sweet friends of ours had dropped off a "Welcome Home Savannah" cake and balloon.  I was so touched by their thoughtfulness.  When you are bringing home your 7th child, it's not always celebrated...

The rest of this week, we just recovered from jet lag and ran from Dr.'s appointment to Dr.'s appointment.  The most important visit was Savannah Faith's pediatric cardiology appointment.

We discovered that in addition to her diagnosed condition of Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) and pulmonary stenosis, she also has hypoplastic right ventricle.  This means that Savannah Faith is a functioning single ventricle like Isabelle and Lily Rose. 

Dr. Bradley, here we come for another Glen and Fontan.

Of course, this is NOT what was listed on her paperwork or what we had planned, but the Lord had it all orchestrated before the foundation of the earth.  It was no surprise to Him!

We are so thankful that we've been down this road before, and that a first time heart parent did not adopt Savannah Faith thinking she was a TGA toddler.  (That typically only requires a one time surgery and is repairable.) 

Single ventricle children require two palliative surgeries and are just that...palliative.  Long-term prognosis is unknown.  That is our "normal."  So this is not new stomping ground for us. 

Savannah Faith will be in good company and will have two sisters to teach her the "ropes" of Glen/Fontan procedures.  All in a day's work!

Today we carried on a family tradition of dying eggs.  I always struggle with the tradition and how to make it Christ-centered. 

I didn't have to worry this year.  My "big" girls had it all figured out.

With pens poised...

they began writing praises to Him in the languages they know.

From left to right...Michaela put to use her Siswati which she learned recently serving in Swaziland for three months (you can read about it here http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2919769437313367323#editor/target=post;postID=4205469893230608187 ). 

AnnaGrace wrote in Mandarin.  She purchased a side-by-side Mandarin to English Bible while in China and began teaching herself some Mandarin. 

Next is Farsi.  Torie is taking Farsi in college this semester.  She hopes to go on the mission field to the middle-east, sometime after graduating from college and Paramedic training.

And finally, all our girls know some Spanish, so they included Spanish as well.


"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb....
And they cried out in a loud voice:  Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."  Revelation 7:9a,10


So thankful that Christ not only died on the cross for my sins, but conquered death and rose again and now sits at the right hand of God our Father and intercedes for me!! 


So thankful it's a message for all people and all nations.


Cause for celebration this Easter Sunday.  He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!



While I pondered the spiritual truths of Easter, and the older girls were concentrating on getting their translations correct, let's face it....

our younger girls were just making sure they got their squiggly lines and their colors just perfect!

Beautiful!

Packing or Procrastinating?

Well, I packed Savannah Faith's suitcase.  That's the fun one!  Mine...that is another story.  Maybe I will get to it tomorrow.  After all, I have six more days until my plane leaves.  Plenty of time.


The last days have been filled with making arrangements for the three girls I am leaving behind,

making meals and freezing them

(okay, maybe Michaela has been doing more of that than me),

getting caught up on all my accounting work for my job,

and picking out a paint color for the little girls' room. 


Did I mention Phil is going to paint the bedroom while I am gone.

I am sure he will have plenty of time.

He will just be holding down the fort,

keeping up with the three little girls,

working full-time,

doing the laundry and

making sure the girl's make it to their speech therapy appointments. 

Did I mention he is my HERO!  I love that man!!



The most exciting thing I have been working on the past week is learning more about photography. 

For my birthday, Phil, my sisters and mom went in together and purchased a new camera for me.

It is amazing!

I am determined to get it off Auto!  



I want to perfect a few new techniques to "take" with me to China!

If you are looking for a great tutor,

check out Nancy at Ordinary Miracles & The Crazy Nine

http://nancyvnjourney.blogspot.com/p/photography-101.html -

She's not only a fellow adoptive mom and homeschooler,

but also a very gifted photographer and teacher.



So when I should be packing...



I just might be coercing my girls to be my "subjects"

and my dog to pose...

I am learning about f-stops and bokeh...

However my girls might be starting to lose their patience...

I can't wait to take photos of Savannah Faith.  Can't you just see her with a little dress on and a bow in her hair.  You're almost home sweet one.

Snow Day!

The long awaited snow day of 2013 finally arrived! 

Sadly, Sarah Mei and AnnaGrace were with Phil in Hardeeville, but Isabelle and Lily Rose enjoyed every minute of it!

They made snow angels...

and tried sledding. 

And when the sleds did not go fast enough, Torie obliged and hooked up our 30 year old Paint mare to the sled and coaxed the horse to be the engine.  The little girls REALLY loved that!

(Just a footnote...don't EVER ride a horse without a helmet.  In the excitement of the snow, we all forgot.)



While the girls, the horses and the dog played in the snow, our cats stayed dry on the front porch.

This was Lily Rose's first snowfall since joining our family.  Her eyes absolutely sparkled when she saw the flakes.  The wonder of it all!

Seeing "first's" through my girls' eyes is always a little bittersweet.  It  makes me heartsick for the 540,000 waiting orphans in China. 


A fellow "heart mom" just told me about Lainey with Holt.  She is a single ventricle "heart" baby like our girls.  You can read more about her at this link http://www.holtinternational.org/cgi/photolisting/display12.cgi?ID=Lainey&Index_re=0 . 

Here's an updated photo of her:

 

 

She needs a chance at life, at having a mom and dad to tuck her into bed at night, and a chance to see her first snow.  E-mail me (elainechorton@yahoo.com) if you want more information on little Lainey or call Holt International directly.

 

 

 

Only 12 days until we board the plane to meet Savannah Faith.  Here's the latest picture we received of her.  She's standing up on her own now!  She looks quite proud of herself.

 

 

 

 



To Ask or Not to Ask....

That is always one of the hardest questions for us when adopting another child.  Do we let me people know that we need help financially to bring home our daughter, or do we just wait on the Lord in Hudson Taylor fashion, make our requests known only to Him and see how He provides.

We have done it both ways.  Sometimes asking for help: Sometimes staying silent.  Last time we were blessed to be awarded a matching grant which gave us a great platform to petition our friends for assistance.  We were blessed with over $16,000 with gifts.  That went a long way to bringing home Lily Rose.

This adoption we chose not "to ask."  But I confess that we're just two short weeks away from traveling, and we are still $10,000 short of our adoption funds.  Don't get me wrong.  We are not panicking.  We know the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills and $10,000 is nothing to Him.  But we have decided to place the need out there in case someone wants to help us.  What a blessing that would be!

I must stop here and say three families stepped forward earlier in this adoption process, and without knowing we were in need donated a total of $7,000 towards our adoption.  I can not tell you what an encouragement and blessing that was to us.  After selling scrap gold, selling household goods on
E-Bay and Craigslist, selling a vehicle, and refinancing our home we had nothing left to liquidate.  Their gifts allowed us to keep moving forward for Savannah Faith when we were not sure what was going to happen next.

And with this sweet facing waiting on us...

 

 

we wanted to keep moving forward!

Now, next week CWTS (China Women Travel Service) needs their money wired to them to book our travel in-country and we need the money to carry with us to pay for Savannah Faith's visa fees, passport fees, and other in-country fees by March 1st - our departure date.

So here I am, "asking".  If you have ever considered supporting adoption but were not sure how to go about doing it, this is your chance.  You can make tax-deductible donations to our adoption fund by writing a check to SouthLake Church and mailing it to 13820 Hagers Ferry Rd, Huntersville, NC 28078.  Just put "Horton Adoption" in the memo line.

If you would like to give a gift instead, to benefit our adoption, you can purchase coffee at this link https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/hortonadoption/ and $5.00 a bag will go towards our adoption. 

Or take a look at the necklaces below.  E-mail me to purchase your favorite one for $24.00.  We will receive $12.00 a necklace to benefit our adoption.  (If you live locally in the Charlotte area I'll deliver it to you.  If you live out of the area, I will mail it for an extra $5.00 postage added.)

 

 

 

 

Asking for help is always uncomfortable.  I like helping others SO much better than I like asking for help.  But here it is.  Our plea for our daughter.  She needs to come home.  To have open-heart surgery.  To find love and hope.  We would love to have you be a part of "Team Savannah".