HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Karis and I left Montgomery this morning at 7am heading for Atlanta.

I dropped Karis off with PopPop and Grandma after eating lunch at Truett's. She had no problem going home with PopPop. In fact she told me "hug" and "bye Mom" and rolled away with no tears. I was very proud of her. I have to admit I was a little hurt she was able to leave me so easily.

I drove another 5 hours to Florence, SC. Most of you know that I am very much an introvert and enjoy being by myself. However, on special occasions like birthdays, holidays, and adoptions, I want a big celebration. I want people around to help me celebrate. It was not to be that way today. Page and I celebrated our anniversary last week because he has a workshop this week, so today was focused on our new addition to our family. I knew that no one would be here to help me celebrate and I was feeling a little sorry for myself. I was reading in scripture last night about the story of Noah and God's promise to always keep his promises signified by a rainbow. I was thinking about the promise God gave us to never leave us or forsake us and realized that I was not alone at all. I would be celebrating this day with the one person who loves me and loves my new daughter more than anyone possibly could. About 15 miles outside of Florence I realized that there was about to be a huge thunderstorm. I was grumbling to myself about how I was going to have to carry all the luggage and "stuff" into the hotel by myself when I looked up and saw this:

Granted, it might not look like much here, but this rainbow was absolutely beautiful and huge. I realized God was reminding me of the fact He was keeping His promises and showing me a visible sign of His doing so. He is with me and will give me the strength to do all things...even carry the "stuff" in the rain.

Page and I have been praying for this baby we would be adopting at the time the Lord ordained. I am very excited about her life and the plans the Lord has for her. We are so grateful that He saw fit to put Alethia in our family.

At about 5:30pm I met my daughter for the first time. Our social worker, Amy, brought her to my hotel room. I got everything on video and (Katie) I am trying to take as many pictures as I possibly can.

Since we have met she has eaten and slept.

We will be spending tomorrow here at the hotel in Florence. We have a court date on Wednesday. I think we might go shopping at the mall across the street. Can't teach a girl too soon. :-)

TRAVELING TO ALABAMA

Imagine this with a suitcase and another bag of Karis' clothes and the picture will be complete. I felt very overwhelmed packing for 2 children and myself for 2 different weather conditions. It is rather cold in SC but very warm here in the "deep  south". We feel so blessed to have this van. I don't know how we would have been able to pack everything into a car. 

Karis is relaxing in a bubble bath 

(I promise...there were bubbles in the tub) 

after a long day on the road.

Today Karis and I left New Orleans with a loaded down van. We drove for about 5 hours and arrived in Montgomery, AL for the first part of our trip. We will be leaving Montgomery tomorrow morning really early to drive to Atlanta to drop Karis off with her Nanna and PopPop Nalls. She will be staying with them until Friday when Nanna, PopPop, and Karis will be driving up to Spartanburg, SC to meet their new baby sister/grandbaby.

Our trip today went really well. Karis travels so well. She slept for about an hour of the trip, sang to/talked to/entertained herself for several hours before I decided that "Boz" could be "watch" on the "DBD". We ended the car ride with, "Remember, Wherever you are, near or far, God loves you and I do too!" I could not have asked her to be any more well behaved.

We will leave really early tomorrow to go to Atlanta. I don't want to bore you with all the details twice, so I will tell you about tomorrow then. 

We have been talking to Karis about her new baby sister. She either laughs and says "baby sista" or runs around the house saying "no sista, no sista". We talked about how the new baby would be riding in the new car seat that is now next to her seat. She knows a baby goes in there because she kept asking where the baby was during our trip to Montgomery. I am looking forward to Karis and Alethia meeting next weekend. I am looking forward to meeting Alethia tomorrow.

Until then....

ALETHIA JOY

Welcome Alethia Joy!!

We have a new addition to our family. Alethia Joy Brooks was born on Dec. 28th, 2008. She weighed 5 lbs and 8.9 oz. She was 20 inches long.

For those of you who are surprised at the quickness of this new addition, join the club! We put in our paper work a few weeks ago and were expecting to wait several months. However, we received a phone call on New Years Eve telling us that a birth mom had chosen us to be the parents of her baby and that the baby girl had been born on the 28th of December. Our home has been a whirlwind since then.

I (Ashley) will be leaving on Sunday to begin my traveling towards  SC to see our baby girl for the first time. I will be able to get her and keep her with me on Monday night or Tuesday. Karis will be staying with her Nanna and PopPop for a few days. Page has to teach a seminar this week and on Monday of the next, but then he will be flying to SC to stay for a few days and then ride back with me and our 2 children to New Orleans some time the week of the 12th.

We will put up more pics as soon as I get them.

Christmas

We wanted to share some of the pictures of Karis in her Christmas dress.

Apparently we were taking too long taking pictures. Page and I get a smile each time we see this pic. She does not do this very often, but when she does she gives it her all.

We helped Mema celebrate her 80th birthday. Karis was a little shy most of the day because we woke her from her nap to go to the party. She was asked several times by Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins for hugs and kisses but she ran around the room saying "No Hugs" "No Kisses". She has gotten a little picky about who she hands those out to.

This picture, as well as the first one, were taken at Nanna and PopPop's house at Thanksgiving. We wanted to get several pictures of her in her Christmas dress. We liked this one so much that we have been handing it out for Christmas presents.

Christmas Day!!

We had a great time in Montgomery for Christmas. We spent Christmas with Page's parents and his sister's family. I do not have any pics at this time because I could not take pictures and run a video camera too. I am apparently not that talented. Karis really enjoyed Christmas this year. She sat in her chosen place by the couch and once she got the hang of ripping open the gifts, she did quite well. She would open the gift and then say "Ooh" or "Wow". She would spend a good time making sure she knew what the gift was and who it was from and then she was ready for the next one. I think her favorite gift that day was the "puppy" cousin Jason gave her. She opened that gift first and it did not leave her side while she opened the rest of the gifts. If the "puppy" was misplaced from his location she would go get the puppy and sit it next to her and then resume her gift opening.

We had a great time watching her this year. Out time with Winston, Betty, Beth, Cliff, Bethany, and Lucas was good as well. We enjoyed getting to go to a Christmas Eve service at Beth and Cliff's church. Page gave a 5 minute testimony about Karis' adoption. He compared the gift of her adoption with the gift that God gives us through our adoption into His family. We are not only God's sons and daughters but we are also co-heirs with Jesus. We will receive all that Christ receives as the first born of God! The gift of Jesus that first Christmas morning brought so much with it. We feel so blessed that God has allowed us to experience the joy of adoption in our earthly family. We pray that each of you have experienced the eternal joy of adoption in your own lives.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Over the River & Through the Woods....

We are leaving tomorrow to go over several rivers, lakes, and streams and through several "forests" to get to the grandparents house for Christmas. We are making a pit stop in Macon, GA to celebrate my Mema's (Libby) 80th birthday. We are very excited about celebrating this definite milestone in her life. I am very blessed to have a grandmother with such a legacy. She has encouraged us to love learning, reading, and trying new food. (I remember one time she said she liked taking my brother, sister, and I out to new restaurants because we were not afraid to try the food. We still enjoy good food. I moved to a city with some of the best food in the world.) She has also encouraged us to travel and learn about places in the States and over seas as well. Most of all, she has given us a great example of loving the Lord. She is one of the most giving people I know. We are so grateful for her life and what God has done and is doing through her.

We will be spending Christmas day with Page's family in Montgomery, AL. I am looking forward to the Christmas Eve service at Cliff & Beth's church (Page's brother in law and sister), in which Page will be giving a sermonette (at least it is supposed to be :-). I will hopefully be posting pictures of Karis' second Christmas soon. We tried to have Christmas here at the house before we left, but she was not feeling well today. We wanted her to enjoy Christmas and not be too tired and cranky. 

She has enjoyed the chair Nanna, PopPop, and Mema gave her for Christmas as well as the one gift we could not wrap...the wagon. She spent all day today going back and forth between the chair and the wagon. We are not sure what is wrong, but her eyes have been bothering her. She would sit in both the wagon and the chair with her eyes closed because they were hurting her. She even ate lunch with her eyes closed. She felt around the tray for her pb sandwich and listened to Boz on the "TB". It was a pretty sad sight. We are hoping she feels better tomorrow as we travel.

We hope each of you and your families have a wonderful Christmas Season and a very Happy New Year.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas?

No, it is not Christmas yet, but we will take it when we can get it. We woke up this morning to huge flakes and snow beginning to accumulate on the ground. Some of the schools on the northshore were being closed and other parishes were declaring a "state of emergency" because of the weather conditions. We just think it is beautiful.

This if the front of our triplex. There is about 2-3 inches of snow on the ground.

Karis is out in her goulashes and rain coat. Don't worry grandparents she has a huge fleece on underneath the rain coat. We were not sure when she would get a chance to wear the shoes, but after being persuaded to put them on, she had a blast in her "new shoes".

This is the picture we awoke to this morning. Isn't it beautiful!!

Thanksgiving

We are in Tifton, Ga with the Nalls side of the family. For those of you who do not know, we have a system for our family holiday time. We alternate going to the Brooks and the Nalls for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Every other year we are at the Brooks for Thanksgiving/Christmas and the off year we are at the Nalls for Thanksgiving/Christmas. The system has worked pretty well especially since our siblings have taken on the same year rotations. We are able to spend time with not only the parents but the siblings and cousins as well.

We got to Tifton on Tuesday after a long ride in the car from New Orleans. Karis did really well in the car as she always does. We did not give her as many breaks to get the wiggles out, so she was a little restless there at the end.

We spent today resting and Karis and Anyston had a great time playing with one another. We are really blessed that they get along so well. One of the most fun things for me to do is to listen to them talk to one another and crack each other up. They get tickled at the funniest things.

Tomorrow we will be having lunch with most of the Nalls clan. Mom and Dad are hosting the lunch at their home this year, so the kids will have a large area to run around and play in (if the weather permits). It was a little chilly today even with jackets on. We are excited about seeing everyone and eating some wonderful food that Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Linda & Uncle Roger have prepared for us. 

God has blessed us in so many ways this year. He has taken care of both Page and I in the midst of National Guard Training and 4 months of separation, broken ankles, car accidents, neck issues, completing  dissertations, graduation, planting a church, deaths of loved ones, and many many other aspects of our lives. We are so grateful for His faithfulness. We look forward to spending time with family and friends as we end this year and begin the next one.