national adoption month

november is national adoption month and today is the last day in november so i wanted to share this video and my heart for adoption. i cannot begin to express how much paul and i have been blessed through adoption. i often wonder why God chose to bless me so richly, because i am so unworthy of these beautiful gifts. when we started this journey 6 years ago i had no idea the plans God had in store for paul and i.....and 4 children later, i CANNOT imagine my life without each one of them.


Romans 8:14-16 says, For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”   this scripture gets me so excited! when we adopted max, viv, tate and elliott, they became our children as if they were born to us, there is no difference whatsoever, they are as much mine as britney, mark and hayden are.  when God draws our hearts to his and when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savor,  we are instantly ADOPTED into God's family....which means we ARE HIS CHILD, He loves us the same as He loves his son Jesus. thank you God for adopting me!

there are an estimated 163 million orphans in the world today, children that will never know a mothers touch, or know the love of a family. the adoption process can be overwhelming and stressful but if you have a heart for these children, if you feel that God is calling you to bring a child into your family, please don't let anything stop you from the blessings that are ahead. i would be more than happy to explain the process, answer any questions you might have, or show you where to start....i will be thrilled to help in any way. my email address is: pk.lester@gmail.com  when you email me, i can give you my phone number if that would make communication easier for you.

you might be getting a call from max....

(click on photo to enlarge)

sunday afternoon, max went on a calling spree.  now that he is reading, he can work his way around my phone and can read the names of who he wants to call.  he thought it was so funny. i grabbed my camera and caught some of those smiles & giggles.

tate update.

isn't he absolutely adorable!

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this morning tate had oral surgery, he had 7 teeth extracted, 3 were his wisdom teeth, which were impacted and had to be cut out and 4 permanent teeth....i was a little apprehensive about having the 4 permanent teeth out so i took him to another orthodontist to have a 2nd opinion.  he confirmed that yes, it was necessary, the teeth had to come out or the orthodontics would work long term.  this morning bright and early we were off to Paris for the procedure. i appreciate all the prayers so much, knowing that he would have to go under general anesthesia made me a bit nervous.  tate on the other hand was not nervous at all, he was full of smiles and was not at all anxious....thank you Lord!   after they started the iv the doctor came in and prayed over tate. it was the most beautiful prayer.....he ended it with, "may tate know You as his Lord and Savior and acknowledge You everyday of his life."  that is my prayer for him as well.  i thank and praise God for directing me to dr. peters so many years ago with our big kids. once the surgery was over they put him in the car and he was OUT....i mean out to the point that i called the doctor's office after we had been driving for about 30 minutes and i could barely get him to acknowledge me when i was trying to wake him up. they told me that he probably has not ever taken much medicines in his life and it was taking his liver a little longer to absorb the anesthesia. she wasn't concerned but was so sweet and made sure i knew that i could call her for anything.

i cannot forget this because i thought it was so funny....when we were driving to the doctors office this morning we saw a garage sale and he wanted to stop....i told him that we didn't have enough time and he said then we can stop on the way back....i let him know that he would most likely not feel like stopping on the way home.  the majority of the way home he was out of it but all of a sudden with his eyes closed and with his mouth filled with gauze, he briefly and extremely drugly (hehe...is that even a word) raised his head and said, GARAGE SALE....lol....that's MY boy all right!  of course we didn't stop.  when we got home i helped him walk in the house and he slept and slept and slept.  he work up and ate chicken soup and i loaded him up on meds and now he is watching wall*e with max and is resting comfortably.  i can not get over how well he is doing!  PRAISE GOD!!!  thank you for all your calls, texts, fb messages, but mostly, thank you for your prayers! 

wordless wednesday

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okay, you know i have a hard time being wordless...hehehe

max is not a fan of pumpkins but he has come a long way......remember THIS?

trick or treat 2011

and a happy halloween it was!  we went trick or treating around the town square and then went to some friends houses to trick or treat.  we ate dinner at dq with the h family and then, what we've all been waiting for....CANDY!!!!!! here are a FEW pictures of our evening.

there was no question whether elliott was going to dress up or not, he started asking me in august what he should be for halloween, tate doesn't get as excited about the whole dress up thing and is more particular about what he dresses up as but when i showed him thing 1 & thing 2 he was all for it. they didn't get any candy, all they wanted to do was walk around dressed up, PLUS they knew that little sister and baby brother would have plenty to share...LOL.  they got a kick out of seeing their teachers and coaches....a couple even took pictures of them. :-).

 lil miss vivian the paper doll. she helped me make her costume.....she painted the majority of it, she's an artist i tell ya.

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 and this would be captian max. ahoy matey

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 the lester crew

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 trick or treating at mrs. vickie's house.
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 now the fun begins
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 tate pretending to take it all....he is a true big brother...LOL
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 viv and max are such good sharers....whatever their brothers wanted they let them have it.
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 max is making a trade......i enjoyed watching them get so excited about their sweet treats.
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 viv used her skirt as a table for the candy she was getting ready to eat...LOL.
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it was a sweeeet night!