Category: Home Life

We hope that your 2008 is blessed! Our lives changed forever in an amazing way 5 months ago and made the end of 2007 fun and fly by fast! We are grateful for everyone who shared in our adventures last year. I’ll let the photos speak for the rest of the post 🙂

Nadia’s referral photo. Received 6/6/2007.

First glimpse of her on Gotcha Day 7/22/07.

Our last full day in China at the White Swan Hotel 7/30/2007.

On vacation in Colorado October 2007.

Thanksgiving Day 2007.

Christmas Day 2007.

Above is 4 generations of women. Aunt Johnnie, my Grammie, me and Nadia. Nadia is trying to escape and get to her dad who is taking the photos.

This post is very long in coming, but here goes. On November 10th my Grammie’s Aunt Johnnie turned 100 years old. She is an amazing woman and we drove down to Clifton, TX to celebrate with her. My Grammie has really great stories to tell about her. For example she was a farmer’s wife and she made all the meals everyday from scratch for her husband and the ranch hands – day in and day out. Long before the great technology we have today to make a housewife’s life easier. Seriously – this reminds me of how stinkin’ spoiled I am with my auto dishwasher, microwave and washer/dryer.

My favorite story to repeat is that she mowed her own lawn until she was 95!!!!!! Then she finally decided to hire someone. What a character. She moved into a nursing home last January because of a couple of bad colds that forced her to be put on oxygen full time. I just wanted to share these photos with you because I have never been to a 100th birthday party (or known anyone who turned 100) and how often do you have a 100 year old and a 1 year old together?

P.S. Alan reminded me below that I should have said “Thank You” to all the wonderful people who mailed her birthday cards. She had a whole gift bag full and her 80 year old niece was planning on reading them all to her the next day and telling her who they were from. At the very bottom I have included a cool thing that the Bonderud’s sent her about what life was like 100 years ago in the US.

These are a few interesting facts about how life has changed in the United States since November 1907, 100 years ago this month:

• The average life expectancy was 47 years.
• Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
• Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
• There were 8,000 cars and 144 miles of paved roads.
• The max speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
• The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
• The average wage in 1907 was 22 cents per hour.
• The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
• A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000, and a mechanical engineer $5,000 per year.
• More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME.
• Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as “substandard.”
• Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
• Women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
• Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
• The leading causes of death were pneumonia & influenza, tuberculosis, diarrhea, heart disease, stroke.
• The American flag had 45 stars.
• The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30.
• Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn’t been invented yet.
• There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
• Two out of every 10 adults couldn’t read or write.
• Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
• Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.”
• Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
• There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.A.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

-Romans 15:13

May the words above bring comfort to your heart. God is good and faithful this day and every day. We are so privileged to have Nadia with us this year. Last night at our Christmas eve service at church I got all choked up during the second verse of The First Noel. Mike was next to me holding Nadia and singing and I remembered being at church last Christmas thinking, “Next year we will have a child.” And I got overwhelmed by this beautiful and sweet child that God has blessed us with. And here I am tearing up again just thinking about it. I love our life with Nadia.

Yesterday I cleaned off the front of our fridge to trade out all the new photos we have received. As I finished I noticed all the sweet little faces of little girls adopted from China this year. And I thought, “Look at all the girls who now have a family.” Our pastor Darwin used Nadia as an example in his sermon about four weeks ago of how in China Nadia was the lowest of society because she was a girl AND and orphan. Then God saw fit to make us her parents and now she is living in America with people all around her who love her. And that is what God does for us when He offers his salvation. And of course I cried at church during that, but it’s a wonderful example. A new life – a new hope.

Thank you to everyone who sent cards wishing us an extra special Christmas. And for all the gifts and clothes that Nadia was showered with this Christmas. We are grateful that you all love her so much!

She is now having a morning nap after wearing herself out opening gifts from her parents and grandparents. She enjoyed ripping the paper as you can see here:

She also loved the tissue paper some of her clothes were in:

With her xylophone piano from Mom and Dad she realizes that her feet will do the trick:

And her Little People Zoo from Grandpa and Grandma Brooke is too cool:

She loves books and these have fun textures to rub her fingers on:

And here she is with Mama right before her nap. Don’t you just love our jammies? (Nadia is going to be a jammie addict like Mama….just wait)

We went to Christmas lunch at Roger and Paula’s and it was delicious. Look how pretty the table was:

And more Nadia cuteness that I had to upload:

 

Michelle and I started this and worked on it while Nadia was sleeping over the course of two and a half days. We started with the Wilton GIANT gingerbread house kit. It came with icing and assorted candies. We went to Target and added Red Vines, M&M’s and Mike and Ike’s to the mix. Michelle did multiple sketches until she was satisfied with her decorating plan while the basic construction was drying. Then we went to work. ***And we want to give Mike credit for the awesome bow tie he made for the dad!

Michelle worked hard on the wreath and the grass surrounding the house. She also created the masterpiece that was the walkway. The kids are having fun playing football on a snowy day. I did most of the piping and my palm has finally quit hurting after going through all that icing. HA HA! We had a great time and I really want this to be a tradition to do every year, but Nadia and I are going to do the small kit next year for her first try 🙂

And Michelle reminded me below that the families name is The Schmorgosborgonsons.