August seventh was the fifth anniversary of my becoming a mother.  Throughout this journey I have had to accept that I did not hold any power towards this quest and that these desires were needing to be petitions to a higher authority.  This higher authority goes beyond the adoption agency, the local children and family services, beyond the government of this province, our country or even that of China or Vietnam.  The angst of waiting for five long years and the surprise of being given the gift of a son when I had expected nothing other than a daughter from China were beyond my limited insights.  This song expresses so accurately my feelings and journey of faith towards trusting the Lord with my hearts desire:

   I Will Trust in You (Lauren Daigle)
Letting go of every single dream
I lay each one down at Your feet
Every moment of my wandering
Never changes what You see
I've tried to win this war I confess
My hands are weary I need Your rest
Mighty Warrior, King of the fight
No matter what I face, You're by my side

When You don't move the mountains I'm needing You to move
When You don't part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don't give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

Truth is, You know what tomorrow brings
There's not a day ahead You have not seen
So, in all things be my life and breath
I want what You want Lord and nothing less

When You don't move the mountains I'm needing You to move
When You don't part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don't give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foundation: the rock on which I stand

Your ways are always higher
Your plans are always good
There's not a place where I'll go, You've already stood

When You don't move the mountains I'm needing you to move
When You don't part the waters I wish I could walk through
When you don't give me the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

How could I have imagined such a wonderful journey of faith and acceptance of His will leading to the pure joy of my current life.  For those of you who have followed my story you will perhaps remember the post When the path seems all up hill and you have no where to go (Oct 2013).  This post was a reflection on my journey to finding our beloved daughter.  In all of these winding paths I have never been able to see the future and had no knowledge of how our family story would play out.  To this day I am still amazed that I have been so blessed.  I have the joy of parenting two beautiful children.  Gifts surrendered to my care from a much higher authourity than I could have imagined.  So here are the latest pictures of our children.  

 I am so thankful that "All good things come to those who trust in the Lord".  Twice blessed.  Thank-you Lord from one happy Mother who has found your grace.

When I asked the kiddos what was the best part of their visit to New York, they came up with almost everything we had done.  The one thing that stood out for them though was the Magic show and the Children's Museum. Ironic as either of these could very well have been attended locally and we could have avoided the ten hour drive.  That being said though they were very happy with the whole holiday, especially being with Aunt Edwina and Uncle Paul.  So enjoy a few more photos of our holiday and especially the things that the kids loved the most.

 The Magic show was great and the kids got to get up close and personal with the animals that were used for their entertainment.  They were very well trained and did not even attempt to leave the table!  They especially loved Ruby the white dove...she just kept coming out of that hat and each time the kids disolved into gales of laughter.  A great event sponsored by the local library.
This is the local hot spot for ice cream.  It is a local producer and you can have almost any flavor imagined.  The kids loved it and it was a welcomed treat at the end of a busy day.  Marissa chose soft chocolate in a cone, whereas Mark always likes the bowl and he wanted vanilla with sprinkles.  What better way to eat ice cream than sitting on your favorite milk cow producer. Momma sat on a bench because there was no way I was going to let my sister catch a photo of me riding on that pig!

 At the Children's Museum Mark was most impressed by this massive fella.  The questions were endless about this thing and no amount of telling him different would help him understand.  He could not fathom that this was a reproduced replica of a Mastadon and not real bones.  When Mark has questions you best be prepared to spend a great deal of time with him because he is like a dog with a bone.  Until he gets it you are commited to the situation for as long as it takes.  Sigh...this need to understand completely is sometimes a bit exhausting, however Mark's ability to keep digging for understanding will serve him well in life.
 The museum had a complete firehall set out for the kids to try their hand at being a fire fighter.  Who would this be I wonder?  Of course it is Marissa!  She is the one with the adventurous nature.  Mark has not seemed to have any interest in this aspect of first responders.  He still wants to be Batman and he does not fight fires.  Mark is very loyal to his interests.

Look Mom it fits.  Just my size, even the boots.  Here is Marissa all ready to fight the fires.  One last stop for a photo and then....
 ...off she runs to fight the fires!  She would make a good firefighter some day.  Who knows where she will go.
 Mark decided it would be fun to just put trains together. I think he was still thinking of the one that we had seen while on the Hudson walkway.  He set himself up as the centre command of the train track (literally) from where he could reach and oversee all events on the track.  At least an hour of fun was had here.  I think he was just happy to not have to do so much walking in this event.

 This final shot is of the water reservoir that supplies the city of New York.  Momma was impressed by this as water is something that we do not take for granted.  On the farm our supply of water comes from the well and so far we have not had to worry about supply.  In the past though I have lived where water would run out and then we would have to have it trucked in.  I cannot help but be amazed that this supply is needed to keep the city of New York well served.  It seemed a massive lake whose supply comes down from the snow covered mountains of the Catskills.  Beautiful but it did cross my mind that protecting it would be quite an undertaking.

Thus ends our New York visit.  We had an uneventful ride home and were thankful that we missed the snow storm that arrived the next day! We had a lovely two weeks of "spring break" and came home to our typical unpredicable March weather.  We were happy to see our family and quickly got back into the school routine.  We will return to New York again for sure!

I am trying to catch up our last vacation photos because we are soon going to leave on our summer camping trip.  The kids are very excited as there is only a few days of school left this year.  Really how did the time go by so quickly?  Here are photos of the amazing time that we had walking over the Hudson River.  The history in this area is really amazing and I will have to do some catch up reading in the future.  Alas poor Henry Hudson would shudder in horror if I tried to retell any of that history because it is very vague and fuzzy in my memory.  Suffice it to say that the Hudson River was the main artery that the tall ships could navigate to inland ports, part of the tidal coast of the gateway to the settlement of the United States.  This area is old, very, very old in the history of the white man coming to America.  The river was the main source of the transport of supply goods, travel and protection if it was necessary to flee the unhappy natives.  The train bridge that had spanned the river has been converted to a walkway for pedestrians and the view was spectacular.  On bad days the walkway is closed as the winds and lightning storms make it too dangerous to use.  It was a great souce of awe for us and we were able to get two walks in and take the elevator to the top on this visit.  We also followed the coastline and found it a treasure trove of beach glass much to the delight of my sister and I.

 Parent alert...not for those who need to keep an eye on your kids for every second.  This Momma was very nervous wondering if my kiddos would try to get a glimpse over the rail.  Thankfully they kept pretty safe but no one survives a fall from this height and I was wary.
 This train was a meer speck on the horizon and I had to zoom in with my camera to make sure that you could actually see it.  The power of the diesel engine was something to feel as the pulsing was felt way above on the walkway.  Such power from this train.  You really do not get to appreciate this much anymore because the rail lines are fast exiting our landscapes.

 This is the car bridge a bit further over from the walkway.  It is not near as high as the walkway but it is hard to show that in the photo.  We were looking down towards it.
 As you first start to walk across the walkway you are closer to land and it does not seem too high.  It is only as you get further over the water that you really start to realize that you are way above the ground.  It is supported by many tons of cement that have been poured into the riverbed to make the supports to hold the span of the bridge.  It is an engineering accomplishment that always amazes me.

In all it was a great little excursion that the kids and I enjoyed very much.  We will be back Henry for another walk over the Hudson!

On our recent trip to New York we were given a very special gift.  Seems that a lovely servant of God, named Rachel, a member of my sister and husband's church is a decendant of the original family who built the Mohonk Mountain resort.  This place is very exclusive and only invited guests are allowed to come and stay in the extravagant surroundings.  This place is of the same era of the Vanderbilts but built by a family of Quakers who did not subscribe to the party like atmosphere of the mansions of the families of the rich and famous.  This resort is where the original meeting of world leaders took place to plan for international peace and where the idea of an international court for war crimes was established.  Out of their work came the International court in the Hague, of the Netherlands.  Such a wonderful family legacy and one that we were invited to peek into as invited guests.  How wonderful that someone was able to find this beautiful piece of God's earth and preserve it so well with their own personal resources.  Today the resort is run by a board of executives who strive to honour the memory of the original builder and keep it in the fashion of the day.  Enjoy a few photos, that but for this generous gift from Rachel, we would never have been able to experience such splendor.

 The laneway to the resort is gated and guarded from the public.  You cannot see anything of the resort from the road and you are not allowed to even drive up to have a look at the place.  All guests are registered with the gatekeeper and you are denied entry if you do not have an invitation.
The day turned out to be a bit cool but we were dressed warmly and despite a few flakes of snow we were able to climb up to the lookout tower just to be able to have the best view of the Catskill Mountains
 This is just the view from the driveway.  Later we climbed up the side of the mountain to the top of the ridge for a better view.
 The guests had many things to do from boating on the private lake, fishing for many different species of fish, trecking the trails, horseback riding, ambling through the beautiful gardens and greenhouse or hiding in the maze.  There is also a covered skating arena for anyone who wants to enjoy skating by a beautiful outdoor fireplace!
 We were happy to just have a magnificent brunch and climb to the top of the ridge.  We were a bit frozen by the time we got to the top but it was worth the work to have such a grand view.
I must admit that I did not take as many photos as I should have and I cannot possibly do justice to the resort.  I guess I was just "gob-smaked" that one man was able to realize his dream and build so much in his lifetime.  You will have to "google" Mohonk Resort to get more information and photos of what is there.  Majestic and a wonderful gift of memories.
I was able to grab a few snaps from a video that my sister took at the top of the look out tower where we were sending bubbles down from the top of the mountain.
 This is poor Rachel trying to stay out of the wind.  She graciously joined us for the climb and gave us the guided tour and provided all of the background family history and the development of the resort.  The tower was built in honour of her great grand-father one of the original Smiley brothers who shared this vision.

I had to take the time to interrupt our vacation report to let everyone know that Mark has lost his first Wiggley tooth!  Mark was over the moon as Momma did the honour at school before the day started.  The second tooth was coming in behind the baby tooth and had to go.  It was very loose so Momma gave it a firm grasp and a couple of upward pinch pulls and there it was...out.  Mark had to put it in the tooth cup that Momma had bought years ago in anticipation of this event.  Such a solemn occasion of taking it out of the china cabinet and setting it out for the tooth fairy.  Mark was thrilled and Momma...well she cried all the way home from the school.  Poor Momma, my baby is growing up and nothing can stop the progression of time.  Soon there will be all new teeth and a young man standing there and I will wonder where did all the time go so quickly.

 As you can see there was no room for the baby tooth anymore.  I had to remove it as the other tooth was coming in sideways, trying to squeeze in.
 The good thing is that Mark did not look "toothless" at all. He actually had the other tooth right there in behind the baby one and it is thankfully straightening up on its own, filling in the space nicely.
 This little china tooth container was another thrift store find that Momma bought years ago, just knowing that the time would come when it was needed.  The tooth fairy left a note thanking Mark for his tooth but also left the tooth for him knowing that it was a special first tooth that he wanted to keep.
Such a tiny little stubborn tooth.  It did not want to let go but Momma is an expert tooth puller from way back and would not be defeated!  Success at last.

Well it has been a bit of time since I last blogged!  One issue has been that my beloved had changed the computer to a newer revamped one while the littles and I were visiting in New York.  It has been difficult to find the previous shortcuts to the way things were set up and I was unable to access my photos or even find the Blogger site to make any postings.  I have been off work for the past month with carpal tunnel surgery so I now have had some spare time to look for the things that have been missing from my previous laptop.  The problems all started when Momma tried to download Windows 10 and then the laptop would not recognize the Bell internet stick.  Alas the problems were too much to bear and we now have a different computer to work from.  I have also had to figure out how to access my photos which were copied to a folder but were not accessable to load from the Blogger site.  I have moved the photos into the current document site so lets hope that this will work!  First off here is our wonderful two week trip to New York state visiting my sister, their much loved Auntie Edwina.  I decided to take two weeks off work and school during the March break and take the kids on a road trip. We left home at 4:00 a.m., hit the boarder at 6:45 a.m. and were at the first service centre by 8:30.  While in line at the Tim Hortons (thank you God), Mark let out a yell "New York City...here we come!"  Everyone laughed and I wondered where he had ever heard that saying.  Apparently there was a kiosk with photos of the statue of Liberty and he recognized it from the Wonder Pets show.  There you go...what you never knew that your kids know.  We arrived at our destination in Kingston New York by 2:00 p.m., tired but happy to see our family.

First stop the Vanderbilt museum:

 This was just one of the many houses that this family had built.  Evidently the smell of horses and manure in New York during the summer was too much to bear so they headed out to the county to just hang with the locals.
 This was the guest house for the bachelor men.  Seems that they could not be trusted to behave in the main house so they were kept here but expected to come to the main house for dinner and evening entertainment.  I suspect they were happy to get away from the debutants and all the giggles and squeels that young ladies seem to engage in when presented with handsome young men.  Some things will never change over time.
 This was the chandelier in the mens quarters.  Not bad for a little cottage!  Made from solid brass I am sure that it was a very expensive item even during the times of the guilded era.
 This is the main lobby of the actual mansion.  I was unable to get  many photos because my little camera would not let me turn off the flash (evidnetly a no-no) and I nearly got us booted from the tour when I tried to take a few photos.  Yes this is all marble shipped from Italy.  No wonder they ran out of money in one generation of spending.
 The bathrooms were lovely and not unlike what you would expect to see in a fancy house today.
 Everywhere you went there were mable statues, exceptional works of art that were representations of the best marble cutters of the day.  This lovely lady was in the garden and was overlooking the koi pond.
 Another lovely marble bust in the house.  Seems that you never can have too many of these boobs hanging out.
 This beautiful ceiling mural was discovered underneath some of the more recent paint jobs.  Seems someone took offence to the depictions and considered them inappropriate pornography.  Such prudishness...the murals are restored to their former glory and are a beauty to behold.  Thankfully they were found and are now well protected.
Often the marble statues showed unusual events.  Not sure that my child would be wrestling a snake this size but hey someone had to buy the odd piece just to show that they had the money to do so.
Here is the top of the main staircase and here is my nemisis the park guard that does not allow photos.  Ha ha ha...where do you think the flash came from goofy.  I did not drive ten hours with two kids in the back seat to not get a few pictures.  With all due respect...go back to eating your donuts. I am only kidding.  Once I was advised that there was a no flash policy I did stop taking photos.  Auntie Edwina who thought she had turned my flash off did however take another flash photo which made my day.  She hates to do anything wrong and it was super funny seeing the look on her face when the guard suddenly shot around again thinking I had defied his orders.  My poor sister was left to explain that she also could not get the flash to turn off.  I left the two of them to figure it out while I explored the house.  Sometimes you have to have an inside laugh!

 This is the fireplace in the sitting room.  With no central heating it would have been a main attraction during the cooler summer evenings.  Again this thing is made of solid white marble and beautifully carved.  The little ones did not come on the inside tour as there are just too many things for them to get into trouble with.  Many areas are roped off for protection and kids are not generally allowed to tour.  We did connect again at the end of the tour and we were greeted with them running up the main staircase wondering what was taking so long.  So we followed them outside to the place of the elaborate gardens.  Here they are running through the now dry koi pond.  This would have been filled with water lilly plants and beautiful koi fish during the time of the Vanderbilt occupation.

 There is still some effort to keep the gardens up for the tourists, however many of the gardens have been put back to grass.  There is a maze and being as it was early in the year there were not many flowers to see.  The trees were beautiful and many had been shipped here from all over the world.  This was the era of full time gardeners and elaborate greenhouses to keep the whole thing going.  My Dad would have loved to have been employed here!  Now there are a few flowers but mostly grass as maintanence costs would be horrific.


 Evidently this garden has spiders!  Oh sorry that is just our Mark in his super over sized spiderman hoodie that he insited on having despite it being too big.  I should have known...Marissa would not be sitting that close to a real spider!
 The love that these two have for eachother is amazing.  When they are not fighting or conspiring against us adults they are the best kids one could ever hope to have!
 Momma had to get her face in at least one photo just to prove I was there.  I cannot imagine what it would have been like to try to keep this estate going with the hundreds of guests, workers and family members there all at once.  It would have been very stressful for the headmistress.
 This photo was taken by my sister before I knew what she was up to.  She calls it Mistress of the mansion or Lady of the manor (not sure what she titled it).  I would likely have been the scullery maid.  It is a great photo however of the ceiling work.  Wow can you imagine having to paint that!  In all it was an amazing tour and it was impressed on me about how little I know about this time in history.  The Vanderbilt name has always been familiar to me but I had no idea of the wealth that had once been a part of their lives.  How far they have fallen.  Money is something that has to be managed well or it is lost and your family home becomes a museum to strangers!  Kind of sad in a way.
 So Momma came home inspired to add some bling to our home.  I found this beautiful chandelier in my thrift shopping that is a vintage, made in Spain, cast brass, led crystal beauty.  It was in pieces with a few parts missing.  A bit of ebay shopping to find the missing items and here is the end result. Queen Marissa is sleeping under her own "frozen" bling. I am quite proud of the work I have done in restringing all of the crystals in a different fashion so that no-one is aware that it is not in the original form that it once was.  Actually from what I could tell, I much prefer the way I have put it together over the way it had been.  It is a pretty nice piece and I am sure that when the time comes I will likely take it down and give it to Marissa to hang over the dining room table of her home...yes it really does look that nice!
I will follow-up with a few more events of our holiday when I am able to get to more postings.

 This is the beautiful night shine of the chandelier which is awesome to look at.
 During the day the sunlight casts rainbows all over the room, much to the delight of our Queen.
Of course there has to be that well loved cat!  Hello Kitty you have a new purpose here.  I have another round ball for when it is moved to the future Queen's dining room!  By then I assume the Hello Kitty will have lost its glamour.  Sleep well little one.  They say crystals are good for your health.