adoption aprons

my sweet seamstress mother came up with a super idea to help us raise funds for this adoption.  aprons! she sewed some retro aprons for us to try and sell.  she modeled them after her grandmother's aprons, and various 1950's and 60's television moms.
I think they would make perfect Christmas presents for friends or family members that know their way around a kitchen...and might like to look cute while they whip up something delicious.
If you would like to buy one we are selling them for $20.  just send me an email at abbydockery@hotmail.com and tell me which one you'd like.  then I'll have you donate through our paypal button over there on the right side of the blog.
So...here are the choices!!
#1.  the "I love Lucy" (watch out for these hot names mom came up with!)
a red and white half apron with pockets. cute black rick rack used for trim.

#2.   SOLD!!!  the "June Cleaver" yes!
a floral half apron..with flower pots and watering cans.  this apron has two large pockets to stash things in.

#3. SOLD! the "feed sack apron"--a full apron--modeled after my great-grandmother's aprons.
look at this glorious detail!  sweet blue bottons, a big front pocket, and fun accent stitching.

#4. SOLD! another "feed sack apron"
retro fruit and flowers material with a large front pocket trimmed with rick rack.

#5.  another "June Cleaver" half apron
this version is longer and has the same handy pockets

thanks ma!!

getting fidgety

eden drew this family portrait on her chalk board last week.  in case you can't tell L to R is charlotte, mommy, eden, and daddy.
but I keep wondering about the other chalk face that is to join her world.  I keep watching "gotcha day" movies on youtube.  and when I kiss the girls 75 million times a day I think about the other face that I will grow to love so much it hurts.  and all of the kisses I will give so willingly to him or her.
right now we are waiting for one more state certified item to come in the mail.  our home study was approved...and is hopefully on it's way back from the secretary of the big old state of texas.  once this important document is in my hands...our dossier will be complete and will be zipped off as quickly as possible to holt.
and then we will have an official wait list number!!!

so right now I'm a little fidgety.  and I'm sure I'll get that way again many times throughout this process.

think I'll go kiss this face again.  I can hear her waking up from a nice nap.

juarez for the weekend

this past thursday evening my parents arrived in el paso from atlanta...thanks to a trusty delta airplane.  then on friday my in-laws and some great people from their church pulled into the parking lot of our ministry.  they had driven the LONG road from loganville, GA to el paso, TX.  24 hours one way.  it seems like forever. trust me.
after lots of hugs and kisses from grandparents to granddaughters...we all headed across the border to juarez, mexico.  we only had two days to build a home for martin, leticia, jesus, and viviana.  if you've never been to juarez...here is what a lot of the homes look like.  here is why we go there to build homes...and give love and hope.

the team worked really hard half of thursday and all of friday.  a few of them were experienced builders...so that is why the home was able to be completed so quickly.
our little girls gave out candy and toys to the kids that lived around the job site.  eden made bird houses out of scraps of wood and had fun painting and playing in the dirt.  charlotte also enjoyed getting dirty and sandy and playing with nails and wood pieces.  yes, I let her play with nails.

it is one of my greatest joys to see our children watching their parents and grandparents serving others in the name of Jesus.  I love watching them play with children that don't look like them and don't even speak the same language.  it's absolutely beautiful.

we dedicated the home to the family on friday evening and told them about Jesus and how much He loves them.  it is our prayer that they see their new home as a physical reminder of His love for them... and that they come to know him better and trust him with their lives.

oh and here are the world's best grandparents...

on grief

eight years later grief stings.  it still makes no sense.  and it can still make me feel like I can't breathe.
obviously...most of the time...life is still moving along.  I don't always feel confused and hurt and sad. and that is because of the beautiful love of Jesus. 
but there isn't a day that I don't think of him.  and there are still a lot of times when I do feel confused and hurting and sad.  and I still get very panicked if I can't remember the way his voice sounded saying my name, or his real laugh, or how his hands looked when he played the guitar.  thankfully, the panic always fades when those pieces of doug come back to me.  and I can hear him say "ABIGAIL!".  (I could hear it as I typed that).
and I realize I won't forget. 
no matter how many years there are between him leaving earth and the great reunion that is to come.

and as odd as it might sound.  I am so thankful for my life.  I type that through tears.  because heaven knows there are parts of my life that I wish never, ever, ever happened.  september 3, 2002. 
the parts that I am thankful for surround that day, though.  my family. my douglas. my dearest truest friends. peter, my gift. eden. charlotte.  my God.
the reason I am still thankful for the life that I didn't imagine  for myself is because it has God's grace and healing splattered all over it.   and it continues to.
most of the time this blog will speak of the joy that fills my being.  and/or cute pictures of my kids.
but sometimes it will speak of the sadness that I will carry with me for always.
and it will always end with the hope and the truth that I know.

"all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well"

little artists

the girls and I got up a little earlier this morning.  we had to take our sweet friends emily and ella to the airport.  they are moving to alabama, which is very sad for us.  since I have lived in el paso the broach family has been here.  they worked with our ministry casas por cristo, and then continued to live on the border for a few years.  we love them so very dearly and it is hard to imagine our lives here without them.  but...we are very happy that they will be back close to family, and that we can continue to be close friends and visit them when we are in the south.

after a teary airport goodbye and a short nap for charlotte I decided we needed to do something fun/funny to lift my spirits.  paint!

eden has loved to paint since she was very small. 

charlotte has only had a few guided encounters with paint in her 13 months of life. 

the 3 of us had a lot of fun...charlotte tasted some and gave herself a few orange highlights.  and we ended up with some masterpieces of artwork.

and then eden gave herself a tattoo on her wrist like mommy's.

oh and on the adoption home front...we *think* our home study was sent into our agency today for review.  can't wait to get some news!

fave moments

we had a lot of fun together last week...so I compiled a few of my favorite photos to give you a glimpse into our last days of august.

jesse the dog and eden pie

 they love to push around the mower after daddy is done using it

little sister gives big sister a push

at the el paso zoo on a day we woke up and it was breezy enough to wear pants for a few hours

stopped and ate our packed lunch in front of the lions

just look at that tiny bite!

took a bath with our buddy ella

and this. this just makes me laugh.

august has been lovely...but I am looking forward to fall and cooler temperatures. even though that doesn't usually happen in el paso until november. 

toy story 4

buzz. woody. jessie. lotso. bullseye. prickle pants. butter cup.
I know these characters all too well.  ever since we took eden to see toy story 3 we have been reenacting the scenes we could remember, and making up new ones that I'm sure disney pixar would LOVE to get their hands on.
one such new scene was invented by eden a day or so ago.  I like to call it...toy story 4: the adoption.

it turns out that jessie (the cow girl) has a new baby named ducky.  ducky's mother couldn't take care of him and so jessie adopted ducky.  woody is the dad.  and buzz is the grandfather.  I'm not sure how all of that worked out...but this is her story, not mine.

and now, ducky has a loving home with two cowboy parents.  and it doesn't matter that his mother won't know exactly how to teach him to swim with webbed feet.  she'll find other duck mothers that can help her along.  ducky is yellow and his adoptive parents are peach toned.  ducky only quacks while his parents speak with a cowboy twang.  they come from two different worlds...but I'm sure in the end it will work out swimmingly.
I mean, with buzz lightyear as your grandfather...how could you grow up as anything but cool.
I just loved watching my little 3-year-old make up an adoption story.  she doesn't think of it as any big deal that her brother or sister isn't growing in mommy's tummy or that he/she will have a pretty brown skin color.
ahhh...look at this happy family.

smile, charlotte

yesterday pete's mom requested a picture of charlotte smiling.  she just put up a new picture of eden and wanted one of charlotte...like a face/head shot.  and since taking pictures of my daughters is one of my favorite things to do...I obliged.
the first two weren't that successful:

but, then...daddy came home. and he has the ability to make her smile like none other.

oh how we love this sweet girl.