Random Photos

It's hard to believe it's been a month since I updated the blog!! Life at the Horton home continues to run at warp speed. Despite the fact that we try to keep our life simple - limiting our commitments to outside activities, not watching t.v., holding fast to eating dinner as a family in the evenings, etc. - the speed of our life still seems to accelerate proportionally to our age. We're holding on for the ride.

Michaela is thrilled that SLCA (Phil's school) is in a league which, despite the fact that she's home schooled, allows her to compete on the school J.V. volleyball team . After almost 20 years of coaching at the Varsity level, Phil now coaches the Middle School and J.V. teams. He loves teaching the fundamentals of the game AND coaching his own daughter.




Last weekend Phil and I "escaped" for a night away...only our 2nd since Sarah Mei came home from China. Torie came home from college and babysat for us. It was a win/win situation. Our girls were thrilled to spend time with their big sister, and Torie was thrilled to earn some money for babysitting. Sounds like a college student doesn't it!

While home, Torie snapped a few photos of Sarah Mei. The significance of these photos is really the sweatshirt. Phil & I met over 22 years ago on the mission field in Australia. Phil purchased the sweatshirt on that trip. After returning from Australia and deciding we were going to get married (it's a long story!!), Phil gave the sweatshirt to my little sister. She wore the sweatshirt for years and then gave it to Torie...then Michaela...now AnnaGrace and soon Sarah Mei. I think he got his money's worth with that purchase.



Thanking God for my life today and the blessings in it...

"Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples. For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord." Ps. 117:1,2

She's Off to College

Torie with her college roommate...notice the custom window treatments on their dorm window...those are thanks to Torie's roommate's mother who is a gifted seamstress!

It's been almost a week since we dropped Torie off for her 1st year of college. Move-in day was an adventure. Being an avid reader, like her mother, Torie insisted on packing almost her entire personal library. Needless to say not enough bookcase space was available in her dorm room. This issue elicited a mid-week trip, by Phil, to deliver two more bookcases to her dorm. Just another reason we're glad she's only 2 hours and 45 minutes away.

Torie is loving college life, and we're slowly adjusting to having an empty chair at our dining room table in the evening.

Sarah Mei "helped" Torie unpack the boxes in her dorm room.

Michaela and AnnaGrace's favorite part of move-in day was trying out Torie's lofted bed.

Sarah Mei's favorite part of the day was riding on her daddy's shoulders!

8th Birthday Party

It's a tradition in our family that each of our children gets to have a birthday party with friends when they are five years old....at least that was the tradition for the 1st two children. I suddenly realized that AnnaGrace's 5th, 6th & 7th birthday came and went with no "friend" party. So this was the year!!

AnnaGrace invited 4 of her closest friends to her Princess and Pony Party. The girls came dressed in their favorite princess or Sunday dress and were served by our 2 oldest girls, Torie-18 and Michaela-12. I'm not sure who was more excited AnnaGrace and her friends or Torie & Michaela as they dressed up for the party. After refreshments were served and a craft was created, the girls changed into their riding clothes and had pony rides.

Acacia Village Fundraiser

This past Saturday we were blessed to be a part of an informational meeting for the building of Acacia Village. We had over 30 adults and 12 teens in attendance to hear about what God is doing in Ethiopia. I was especially encouraged by the teens enthusiasm in beginning to gather supplies (diapers, formula, toys, etc.) for the children's home in Addis Ababa.

Misrach, an Ethiopian national and case manager for Christian World Adoption, was kind enough to come prepare the authentic Ethiopian food for the evening. She was assisted by Lisa Cernuto, MaryAnn Lipinski and Lori Arntz. They are the most amazing, tireless group of women I have ever seen!! They cooked ALL day Friday. In addition to the Ethiopian food, the ladies made lasagna, biscotti, almond cookies, vegetable trays and the list goes on and on.
Misrach...hard at work but always smiling!

Louis Fawcett, Director of Development for Christian World Foundation (CWF), orchestrated the evening and did a fabulous job of explaining the mission and the needs of Acacia Village. In addition to having all of the architectural renderings complete for the Village, they have also completed gathering soil samples and permits to begin the building of the Village. If all goes as planned, construction on the Children's Home will begin this fall!!



Misrach and her 2 sons stayed with us for the weekend. Sarah Mei followed them around like she was their shadow. The boys (1st and 2nd grade) showed maturity beyond their years as they patiently played with her. Thanks guys!


We're so blessed by all of you who are faithfully giving to our $5 Friday campaign for Acacia Village. We're just short of raising our 1st $5,000!

1st Watermelon from our Garden

When we moved onto our farm, 3 years ago, one of our 1st questions was where to put the garden?? After much thought, Phil came up with a creative location in our backyard. He turned a steep, unusable hill into a terraced area with walls built from the abundant rock on our land. It not only looks great but is a perfect place for a garden.
This is a photo from last year. You can see the terraced wall in the background.


This is a picture of 3 of our girls with our 1st watermelon from this year's garden!!

Just a note...our garden loves the manure rich soil in which it's planted...unfortunately so do the weeds..ugh!

Sarah Mei's 1st Outing

Tomorrow marks the 4 week anniversary of Sarah Mei's open-heart surgery. I just couldn't stand it anymore, so we made a break, out of jail, one day early!! Torie was working. Michaela and AnnaGrace were spending time with friends, which just left Sarah Mei and I at home. Hmmmm...what to do? Triple couponing at Harris Teeter of course. (is couponing a word???if not,it should be) I'm not sure that's the kind of activity Sarah Mei had in mind, to celebrate the lifting of her quarantine, but alas, she is a Horton girl! Bribed with a free Harris Teeter sugar cookie and the privilege of "organizing" the groceries in the cart, she was a happy camper.


Here is a photo of Sarah Mei admiring our "take" for the day.

For those of you who aren't coupon cutters, Harris Teeter has Triple coupon days about every 3-4 months. On those days they triple coupons, valued at less than a $1.00, i.e. a $.50 coupon becomes a $1.50 coupon . It just doesn't get any better than that for a die-hard bargain shopper. The only catch...HT will only triple 20 coupons a day (and the sale only lasts for 3 days). I bought 21 items (including 2 bags of Pepperidge Farm cookies) for $10.73...not too bad for today's outing!

Sarah Mei's recovery continues to be amazing. And we were blessed with more good news. The MRI's, ordered by our pediatric neurologist to rule out spina bifida and congenital strokes, all came back normal. Next week we visit a pediatric neruo-surgeon to rule out other possible medical issues. Pray, if it is the Lord's will, that Sarah Mei will receive a clean bill of health from the neurosurgeon.

In December, 2006 when we decided to pursue our 2nd adoption from China, we received a file on a toddler girl with a heart condition. Before accepting her referral, we had a pediatrician and a pediatric cardiologist review her medical records. We didn't feel we were prepared to adopt a child with multiple or serious medical issues; however, both Dr.'s felt that her medical needs would be minor upon her arrival to the States. They even suspected, that due to the lack of symptoms, she wouldn't need any surgeries. That file was Chen, Ji Qing's...soon to be our Sarah Mei!

Little did we know that within a year of her arrival in the States, Sarah Mei would need 2 open-heart surgeries, weekly speech therapy, weekly physical therapy for right sided weakness, be diagnosed with facial paralysis which would lead to testing for strokes, discover a dimple at the base of her spine which would lead to testing for spina bifida, discover a misshapen skull which would lead to a recommendation for a consult with a neurosurgeon and have an uneven gait pointing to a possible problem with her hip/leg which will require an orthopedic consult in the future. Had Phil and I known all of these "needs" before bringing Sarah Mei home, I fear we wouldn't have considered the referral. But God, in His great mercy, knew that Sarah Mei was our daughter. And He brought her home despite our weaknesses! We can't imagine our life without her. I'm SO thankful God's ways are not our ways and that His plan can not be thwarted by our weak, sinful human nature!
We are TRULY blessed!


"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;"
Ps. 98:4
"For the Lord is good and His love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through all generations." Ps. 100:4

Torie Earns the Congressional Silver Medal

After 3 years of work, Torie earned her Congressional Silver Medal. On Monday we had the privilege of watching Congressman Patrick McHenry present Torie with the medal. The medal is awarded to youth (ages 14-21) who set goals and then accumulate 100 hours in personal development, 100 hours in physical fitness, 200 hours in community service and 3 days of an exploration/expedition. Torie logged over 100 hours in personal development by earning her C-3 rating in the United States Pony Club. For her physical fitness hours, she set the goal of participating in a new sport - softball - and she earned a Varsity letter for the sport. She also set a goal of running her 1st 5k which she accomplished in 2007. For volunteer hours she traveled to Iceland for 6 weeks in 2006 and helped construct a church mission's retreat. She also volunteered at a local therapeutic riding center serving the mental and physically challenged. And finally, for her exploration, she traveled to China and volunteered at a special needs orphanage for 10 days where she helped care for 15 babies 24/hrs. a day. We're proud of you Torie!!


Torie Horton & Congressman Patrick McHenry


We allowed Sarah Mei out of isolation, just long enough, to see her sister receive the medal.

We're Home!!

This is a picture of Sarah Mei on the day before her open-heart surgery. We were blessed to be able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house for the 1st 4 days in Charleston. The Ronald McDonald house offers rooms for families with critically ill children. They not only provide a room but also 1-2 meals a day brought in by volunteer organizations. Sarah Mei, always the ham, smiled for the camera while sitting with Ronald McDonald.

Sarah Mei had all day pre-op appointments on Thursday, open-heart surgery Friday, moved out of PCICU on Sunday afternoon, went back under general anesthesia on Tuesday for two MRI's to rule out more medical problems (not related to her heart) and then was discharged on Wednesday afternoon. We arrived home Wednesday evening just a week and a day after driving to Charleston. The whole trip was a whirlwind and still seems surreal.

Evidently Sarah Mei didn't get the "memo" that says patients should be sore and tired after open-heart surgery. She's been on Tylenol-only (for pain management) since Tuesday and hasn't missed a beat (no pun intended). An onlooker would never believe that she underwent open-heart surgery a week ago. She's amazing!

This is a picture of Sarah Mei and Michaela just 3 days after surgery. In this photo Sarah Mei is still sporting her IV, her heart leads (used on the step-down cardiac unit to monitor heart function) bandages from her central line and arterial line and a chest tube which is covered by her "blanket." She took all of the lines and leads in stride; however, the blood pressure cuff was another story. Every time a nurse took her blood pressure she would scream and plead "no, no". Needless to say her blood pressure readings were a bit high.


One of the wonderful features at MUSC is their Pediatric Atrium. It is a sun-filled room offering activities for the pediatric patients including crafts, play areas, a library, special presentations and Sarah Mei's favorite, the train set. This is a picture of Sarah Mei's 1st trip to the Atrium - day 4 post surgery.


We can't thank every one enough for their prayers on our behalf. Sarah Mei had the absolute best possible surgical outcome. We know this is because of the work of skilled surgeon's hands being directed by the Great Physician. We truly felt the "peace of God which surpasses all understanding." Phil. 4:7a

Special thanks to Jan Bryant, mother of one of Sarah Mei's Chenzhou orphanage sisters, for her visit to the hospital. She drove over 1 1/2 hours, each way, in the pouring rain to deliver fruit pizzas, goody bags for Sarah Mei and our girls, and get well cards made by her children. You are a blessing to our family! Thanks for showing us Christ' love.


Please continue to pray for healing for Sarah Mei's surgical incision, continued recovery (the 2nd week after open-heart surgery is the week of highest risks) and a good outcome on the other medical tests performed while in the hospital.