365 People Photos ~ Number 112: I Heart These Sisters

Our two oldest Russian daughters through adoption, Sarah (almost 21) and Zhenya (22).
I thank God for them daily.

365 People Photos: No. 75 ~ Embracing the Less-Than-Perfect

Like no other time in history, much of humanity now has access to a camera. While not everyone has a DSLR, many carry a camera with them nearly all the time in the form of a cell phone. And for many people, the ability to take pictures comes with a desire to grow in skill as a photographer. I know I've been bitten by that bug. And the desire to improve as a photographer puts us at risk for being quick to delete what we consider to be less-than-perfect photos.

However, with this post, I'm here to say *HURRAH* for some of those pictures we'd quickly label imperfect. They may be the very photographs that capture some truly significant moment. Let's put our eye on the milestone marked rather than being too quick with critical self-critique.

This photo of my granddaughter is one of those imperfect treasures. I took the photo on Thanksgiving day as our entire family of 18 was gathered in a small condo on the shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. The kitchen was crowded with folks preparing the feast we would share as we thanked God for His countless mercies in our lives. While all the hubbub was going on, 17-month-old Brielle, who was still a full-time crawler, raised herself to an unaided standing position in the midst of the chaos. Our nine-year-old Eliana called attention to the feat, and we all gleefully clapped for our little champion. Brielle who was, of course, delighted with our accolades, then repeated the stunt a number of times, each time to our happy cheers. In fact, she would rise up into her pyramid-shaped stance and clap along as we clapped.

For me, this photo reminds me of that important developmental step for Brielle. The picture also brings to mind the beauty of being a family that encourages and supports one another. Isn't that really the most important role family members can play in each other's lives?

All of this is captured in a photo that will never win an award. While the quality of the photograph is low, but the quality of the memories it holds and sentiments it carries is sky-high. So, as photographers, let's not be too quick to hit the delete button as we evaluate our work. Treasures can be quite imperfect!

365 People Photos: Day 55--Georgetown with Grandpa

Last fall our kiddos had the opportunity to stroll the streets of the picturesque hamlet called Georgetown in the Colorado Rockies with their grandpa. My dad will be 82 in a few weeks. I thank God for the blessing he has been in my life and the lives of my children! This photo is one of those magical pictures that I will treasure for the rest of my life. My dad and my children...happy sigh...smile. I thank God when a people picture comes together like this. He breaths His grace into a moment that is already special because family is together. I just happen to be in the right place with a camera. A picture like this is nearly effortless...and yet somehow...timeless. I'm reminded to cease striving and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10).

365 People Pictures: Day 54--We Do Donuts!

When we traveled to New England last summer, I was surprised to find a Dunkin' Donuts on nearly every corner. After all, I love a good sour cream glazed doughnut! On that trip I also came to enjoy Boston Cream donuts, thanks to an introduction by our daughter Lissie's soon-to-be father-in-law.

However, this photo wasn't taken in Massachusetts. In November we drove to Denver to celebrate my mom's 81st birthday. About seven hours into the 11-hour drive we stopped in North Platte, Nebraska. To our surprise we came upon a Dunkin' Donuts there. We boosted their profits on their very first day of business by purchasing a dozen for our mini army, and then the kids were kind enough to pose for a photo.

(My husband and I have the rare blessing of parenting twelve children. Our three oldest children weren't able to travel with us on this trip. The kiddos pictured here are the nine Russians we adopted as older children--ages 3 to almost 16 at adoption--over the past 12 years.)

365 People Photos: No. 51--20/20 Hindsight

Our family went on a trail ride at the base of the Rockies in western Denver after visiting the kids' grandparents. I rode a 30-year-old steed named Czar that was gentle enough to allow me to take photos as I rode, last in the 11-equine line.

365 People Pictures: Day 35--Serious Business

A life of more than eight decades is worthy grand celebration with grand finale--in this case a handmade carrot cake topped with countless candles.

This past week we traveled to Denver to celebrate my dad's 81st birthday. Lighting the candles which merely represent that many years of life took the serious concentration of my brother (in the foreground) and my husband. I can only guess that the deep concentration on my dad's face is the result of contemplating what a significant inhale would be necessary to blow out the candles.

One of the things I love about this special moment in time which the Lord allowed me to capture with my camera is my 10-year-old nephew's intense curiosity as he watches the pyromania taking place to mark his grandpa's birthday.

For the celebration of my dad's birthday, all three of my parents' children and 16 of their 17 grandchildren were present. Only their oldest granddaughter, Anna, was missing. She had good reason. Anna is due with her grandparents' second great-grandchild in four weeks.

Thank you, Lord, for my dad's life!

365 People Pictures: Days 27 and 28--In! and... OUT!

Most of my people pictures have been some sort of portraiture, but this time the moments captured include plenty of action.

In April, our family was blessed to travel to Santa Monica, California. That gave our kids, normally nestled amongst corn stalks in the upper-Midwest, the chance to experience wonder of the Pacific Ocean. Cassandra (18) and Mark's (17) first reaction to the chilly water was priceless. Thank You, Lord, for this precious chance to travel. Thank You for the wonder You provided two former orphans. You are a good, kind and generous God!

Project 366 -- Family & Flowers

Days 80 - 90

Our neighborhood's first tulip

Lissie playing with praise team on Easter Sunday

 

Daria (17)

Alexander (12)

Love the reflections of Daria and Amy in this water goblet

Noticed these "birds" of light created by my water goblet on our dining room table

Our beloved Aunt Jean calls these "Daffer-down-dillies"

Ready garage access for the many pairs of shoes used by the 12 in our family

Project 366 -- Lunch Preps

Day 74

As an extra large family that home schools, we've found that traditional American lunch foods like sandwiches take too long to prepare. Instead, our mid day fare is often a simple casserole. The kids cook lunch on a rotating basis in the late morning while I read aloud to the whole tribe in the adjoining room. Today my 20-year-old daughter, Lissie, was the head of the food-prep team. She was combing a favorite, free cooking magazine which we get from Kraft Foods once a quarter looking for ideas when I snapped this picture of her.

Project 366 -- Former Orphanage Mates

Day 72

Natasha (on the left - 12) and Tatiana (14) are biological sisters whom we adopted from Russia seven years ago.

The girls didn't live together when they were little. They were separated by the dysfunctionality of their mother's life, and there was no father figure. Natasha lived with her younger sister, Amy (now 9), and their mother in a western region of the vast country, very close to the borders of Ukraine and Belarus, while Tatiana lived in Moscow with a grandmother. What united them? A better question is who united them. The Lord abounds in lovingkindness (Neh 9:17), and He demonstrated it in the lives of these two sisters when He caused their paths to intersect such that they were placed in the same orphanage. There they became fast friends. Yesterday, as we waited for our order at the Blue Bunny ice cream parlor, I snapped this photo of their continuing friendship as they shared the side of a booth and happy conversation.

A Visit to a Poinsettia Palace

Last week Nathaniel, Tatiana and Amy had dental appointments. On our way home, we passed the largest nursery in town. Since I love, love, love taking photos of flowers, we stopped in to see what sort of pictures I could capture of the plant which is most closely associated with Christmas: the poinsettia. This poinsettia palace gave me countless photo ops. I hope to have a "Poinsettia Parade" each week as Christmas draws nearer. My goal is to bring some colorful cheer to your holiday.

We found hundreds of the plants in a variety of sizes and a rainbow of colors.

On my "Poinsettia Parade" this week is a rich red plant with gold glitter gracing the leaves.

We left the building amazed that so many hundreds of poinsettia's could be housed in one room (under three roofs).

Golden Adornment

Yesterday was beeooootiful here! To celebrate a warm Friday, the kids and I took the makings of a picnic to the Iowa side of the Missiouri River for lunch. This is the first time we've been able to get close to the river since the surging waters closed roads and parks in May in what came to be known in the upper midwest as the 500-Year Flood.

In this photo, some of my girls, Daria (16), Cassandra (17) and Tatiana (14), are enjoying the warm sunshine resting on a berm created to hold the water back near the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

I couldn't figure out what Tatiana was fiddling with until a few minutes later, when she donned her creation--giant gold leaf  (teehee--sorry, couldn't resist the pun!:) earrings

Our teen girls joined by 11-year-old Natasha

I can tell silly Natasha is MY daughter, she loves her bling--just like her mama!

Did I ever mention that I love parenting girls? I'm so grateful to God that He has blessed me with nine daughters!

Vacation = Family Glue

Our family's vacation has been everything we'd dreamed it would be and so very much more. I want to write more and post more photos, but it's bedtime on our last evening. "Real" life begins again tomorrow so sleep is important tonight.

For now, I'll share one photo that captures how blessed I feel to have had this special time with my beloved family (sans Anna & Aaron and our Jaynie). This particular picture was part of a photo shoot I did with our youngest four while here, but the photograph symbolizes for me all the sibling bonding that went on this week. With our still fresh adoption of Daria, Alexander and Oksana, more time for all of us to get to know one another is truly a gift from a kind and generous Father.

I guess I'd title this photo "A Mother's Paradise".

Feeling Overwhelmed

I feel overwhelmed today, and I feel surprised to feel overwhelmed today.

My husband and my oldest son are home safely from a trip to a very exotic location in Central Asia to drop off our daughter, Jaynie, where she will be a homeschool helper.

Jaynie called today, and she sounds so happy. She's also updated her blog (See Z). Reading her words, she seems remarkably content and fulfilled to be where she fully believes she has been called by God.

Joe, Jaynie, and their dad just before they said their final good-bye

Our daughter, Lissie, is doing very well on her trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. She left on Saturday for an 11-day trip to minister to orphans there. (See Impassioned Purity).

An orphan who attached himself to Lissie for the day

Our oldest daughter, Anna, continues to be thrilled with her new role as wife to a man she loves passionately and respects deeply.

Walking up the aisle as brand-new husband and wife

God has been so good to our family. He has been so good to me as a mother. So why do I feel overwhelmed? I think that at least part of the answer is that with Anna happily married, Lissie's trip underway and Jaynie's settling in going above and beyond all we could have hoped for, the other 11 of us can now settle into routine.

The problem is that I no longer know what routine looks like. Since October:

• our oldest daughter has gotten engaged
• Jim and I have traveled to Russia to go to court to petition to adopt three additional children
• our entire family traveled to Moscow to spend time with the newbies, Daria, Alexander and Oksana and bring them home
• our oldest daughter has gotten married and moved 15 hours away
• our 18-year-old daughter has moved to central Asia to serve American families living there
• our 19-year-old daughter has traveled independently to St. Petersburg to minister to orphans

My energy has been so focused on holding the family together while the preps for these huge milestones were going on that I hardly remember how to have a "typical" homeschool day.

On top of that I don't really know how to proceed with Daria, Alexander and Oksana's schooling this year. They've learned so much English in the past 10 months. Yet, their vocabulary isn't full enough to allow them to study their subjects at the level they would if they hadn't switched languages.

Age 16

Age 12

Age 7

As I process all this in writing, I know that I need to do to relieve the sense of being overwhelmed.

I need to begin this school year where I started when we began homeschooling 15 years ago. I need to cry out to God for wisdom. I need to cry out for wisdom every day. He will provide!

In fact, He already has provided the springboard of wisdom I was missing earlier today. I need to do what I did when we added our first trio of orphans to the family--I need to develop a schedule for our school days. At that point, we were doubling the number of our children from three to six. This time the change is different but no less impactful. We've added three children, two of our kiddos are in college from the home and manage their own time, and two of our children have moved to new locations. Our old schedule won't suffice.

I also need to keep doing what we've been doing since our very first day of homeschooling, way back when we lived in England. I need to keep reading aloud--a lot. This will help develop the vocabulary our newest three need while also making each school day fun.

I feel unoverwhelmed now. (And, yes, I know I just invented a word :)) I have a purpose tomorrow--create a new schedule. All the kids have enough school work to keep them busy while I work on that. From there? I'm not certain yet. but I am certain that I worship a God who will provide the wisdom. 

Photo of the Day

Our new daughter, Daria (15), on her first "date" with her first and only daddy

Protection on the Journey

Our daughters Lissie (19) and Jaynie (18) will both be traveling internationally to different locations within the next 10 days. I'll share more on this in future posts. (See our family blog Unto Him We Live for pictures of the girls.)

Tonight I want to capture a short bit of a prayer I just stumbled upon in The Valley of Vision (see my book list). These few words fit the cry of my heart as we send our babies off. (I've substituted the word "her" for "me".):

"Afford her all the direction, defense, support, and consolation her journey requires, and grant her a mind stayed upon thee." (pg. 119)