Happy Thanksgiving!

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

We have much to be thankful for, and I'm grateful we have a whole day set aside to do just that. God is so good, and I'm looking forward to spending today thinking about all He has blessed me with.

We're heading over to my parents house at some point today to enjoy time with one another, eat delicious food, and most importantly thank God for his many blessings.

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Mackenzie (& Cliff)

Garden: Season in Review

We had quite a bit of success in our gardening adventure this year...certainly more than we did last year.


Some reflections:

• Our lettuce, zucchini, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, kale, green beans, garlic, cucumbers, herbs, berries, and potatoes were fantastic! They will all be repeats next year.


• Square foot gardening is the way to go...so manageable, maximizes our space and yields, and provides some practical guidance for managing a home garden.


• We won't plant potatoes in our raised beds again - they end up taking over! I found some of our red potatoes underneath my tomato plants. Instead, we're planning to plant them in a garbage can so they're contained. More to come on that...


• Our carrots were awesome! We will definitely be planting more of them next spring.


• Our onions weren't wildly successful...we probably won't use the garden space on them again next year.


• Our tomatoes did poorly. The cool summer and huge amount of rain we got this spring and summer did not lead to a booming crop of tomatoes. This was also the case for our poor peppers...we didn't harvest any, which was disappointing considering we had red peppers coming out of our ears last year. We will definitely be trying again next year!

Overall, this year was a success. I've tried my best to "put up" many of our crops either through canning or freezing. I have enough zucchini to make zucchini bread from now until next year's crop comes through.

I look forward to continuing to learn and improve our garden. Lots to think about and plan for next year. Even though we still have a few things out in the garden, our growing season is definitely coming to a close. Certainly because of our mild climate, we could grow through the winter, but I think a break will do us all good.

Adoption Update: Emotional Roller Coaster

This past week or so has been interesting, to say the least. About a week and a half ago (the same day Mackenzie had her wisdom teeth removed), we heard from Special Delivery, an adoption ministry at Overlake Christian Church. They asked if we were interested in being considered as potential adoptive parents for a child due on December 7. The birth mom had a family selected for her daughter; however, the planned adoptive family withdrew from the adoption plan. Mackenzie and I talked about it, prayed, and decided to be considered as a potential adoptive couple.

The crazy part was we didn't have a profile created or our home study completed. In a matter of a few hours, we rushed to put together a profile to explain our life and family to this birth mom and hire a social worker to write our home study. We also put together a letter to the birth parents explaining who we are and why God has placed a call on our hearts to adopt.

The birth mom's case manager shared our profile and a number of other families' profiles that weekend. We got a call late that Sunday afternoon, saying she chose us and two other families to meet with on Thursday in Yakima, WA.

So on Thursday, we drove to Yakima, braving the snowy conditions, and met with the birth mom, her mom, and a woman from Special Delivery, who facilitated the conversation. Having no idea what to expect, we were thankful that the conversation flowed rather naturally. We talked about how we met, what we liked to do for fun, and our vision for parenting. The conversation lasted for about an hour. We both left feeling like it had went as well as we could have possibly wanted. In fact, the whole week had. Things just kept falling into place.

When we left Yakima on Thursday, the long (sometimes painful) process of waiting began. We continued to pray and temper our excitement that this could possibly be the child God had planned to place in our family. Our friends and family were great throughout the week. They prayed for us, brought meals over, and genuinely shared in our excitement and anticipation.

But unfortunately, I got the call yesterday afternoon letting us know that we were not chosen as the adoptive family. The birth mom's case manager shared that after we left our interview, the birth mom commented: "All the families were great. How am I supposed to decide now?!?" She ended up choosing a family that already has children and was excited for her little girl to have siblings.

We are of course very disappointed, but thankful that we were given this opportunity and were even considered. The case manager asked if she could keep our profile to share with other birth moms, and we of course said yes!

In the last week and a half, we've been praying for God's will to be done and it has...now we're praying that our response would be honoring to him. We know God has a child for us and pray for the day we welcome him or her into our family.

We are so thankful for your prayers, support, love, and encouragement over the last week. It's truly been an emotional roller coaster, but we're thankful God has put so many people in our lives who are willing to ride it with us.

Auction Extravaganza

Each year, Antioch Adoptions hosts two major fundraisers - a banquet and an auction. Two weeks ago, we had the opportunity to attend the Taste of Compassion auction. Because we'd never been to this auction before, we were unsure of what to expect. We were thankful to have Rita and Gary (Cliff's parents who flew in from Indiana!) and my dad attend with us, as well as some other friends from church. Having friends and family there made a fun night even more enjoyable.

There was a silent auction with lots of items to choose from, including a generous donation from our friends, Kyle and Kathleen, who own The Creative Date. We enjoyed delicious food from Seastar restaurant, Class Act Catering, and Bonsai Sushi as we perused the silent auction items and made our bids. There was also an engaging live auction with a phenomenal auctioneer who made it great fun.

Midway through the live auction, we heard a moving and entertaining testimony from a 17 year old who was adopted as a child. It was a great reminder of why we were all there.

Overall, the event was phenomenal! There was an incredible amount of work that went into pulling off such a complex evening, but it was organized and managed beautifully. And the auction managed to raise over $52,000 - enough money to sponsor six adoptions! That is absolutely amazing!

We continue to pray for Antioch Adoptions, for the staff, and for generous people to donate to this ministry. We invite you to pray and give as you feel called. If you're interested in donating in any way (one time donations or regular giving), go to the Antioch Adoptions website or comment below, and we'll help you get connected!

Goin' Under the Knife

Believe it or not, I still have all my wisdom teeth. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), they are all being removed on Thursday morning. I only have a few more days with them. I can't say I'm excited about the surgery, but I am thankful that I have anesthesia and a four day weekend so I won't have to take any time off of work.

If you think of it tomorrow (Thursday), please pray for the surgery that it goes well and without complication. Also, please pray that my sweet husband has the patience to deal with me as I recover. I'm sure I'll be asking for jello, milkshakes, frappuccinos, applesauce, and medicine constantly on Thursday and Friday.

Randomberry Jam

I came up with my own jam "flavor" last night...Randomberry. (Well at least I'd never heard of it!) Sounds delish, right?

It was born out of a realization that my freezer was full of berries. I had strawberries, blueberries, and a combo bag of frozen marionberries, raspberries, and blackberries from Costco that needed to be finished up! Plus, all of them were taking up precious space in my freezer.

So what's a girl to do?
Toss them all in a pot, add sugar, add some pectin, and can away!

I have to admit, it tastes quite delicious.