Pics from Memorial Day weekend

Wednesday night William got to try out one of his new toys at the lake…

Thursday we

played golf...

Then we went for a swim in the pool, but that didn't last long because it was TOO COLD...

Friday we hung out on the boat…

Saturday our boy turned 6 years old!

Late Saturday evening the power went out during a bad storm, so around 10 PM we headed back home to sleep in the cool house :)

Sunday we went shopping and to Jillian’s (much better than Chuck E Cheese!) but I forgot the camera!

That night we did a few small fireworks in the yard.

Monday we took William to play in the fountains at Suwanee Town Center, and then cooked out…

It was a fun weekend!!

Maria Sue Chapman

In December of 2005, Zack & I attended a concert at The Gwinnett Arena. The opening act was Mercy Me, to be followed by our all-time favorite, Steven Curtis Chapman. Just before intermission and the stage change, Steven came out with a group of children and they all sang a song together (All I Really Want for Christmas). As it turned out, all of these children were adopted internationally. I sat and listened to the words of the song, and watched the children’s sweet faces… through my tears.

God spoke to both Zack and me that night through those children. He planted a seed, and used several different people and circumstances to open our eyes to His plan for our family. It took about 14 months for us to fully realize what God was leading us to do. But His timing is perfect, and everything happened as He willed it so that we were led to our son at the right moment.

On Saturday May 24, just 6 months after we became William’s parents, we were with family, celebrating our son’s 6th birthday. We laughed, played, ate cake, and watched him open gifts. At the same time, just 300 miles up the road, another set of adoptive parents were also surrounded by family. They, too were having a celebration of life, but much different than ours. Steven & Mary Beth Chapman were mourning the loss of their 5-year-old daughter Maria, and celebrating the life the she lived. From what I've read, there were tears and laughter too, and of course, plenty of music. Just 2 1/2 years ago, God used Steven and his music to lead us down the path of international adoption. I'm certain God's used his music and adoption ministries to touch many others, too. Right now, my heart aches for this dear Christian family.

Please pray for the Chapmans as they grieve. As hard as it must be to lose a child, the burden is doubly difficult as the accident that took her life happened at the hand of one of their older children. Pray for the parents as they had to say good-bye to their youngest daughter. And pray for the teenage son that must live with this for the rest of his life.

10 Years of Marital Bliss

January 1995: I met a very handsome guy named Zack over lunch with mutual friends. I inadvertently implied that he was childish but I certainly did not mean it as I was instantly smitten!

August 1995: After several months of friendship, he finally asked me out. He went all out on our first date: dinner at the Sun Dial (at the Peachtree Plaza), a walk around downtown, then a movie. You can believe me or not, but I distinctly remember thinking to myself - that very night - that I'd met the man I was going to marry.

June 1996: While we were on vacation with his family in Las Vegas, Zack popped the question. One of my all-time favorite movies is The Wizard of Oz, and one of the hotels had a "life-size" Emerald City. So that's where he proposed, on the yellow brick road with Dorothy & friends (we actually stayed at that hotel for our honeymoon, but were sad to find out they'd torn out the Emerald City and replaced it with slot machines).

May 22, 1998: I married my best friend. No marriage is perfect, but I have to brag a little bit and say that ours is probably about as close as you can get to it! He treats me like a princess, and lovingly puts up with my moodiness and obsessive personality. He is true to our vows in every way, and is certainly so much more than I deserve.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate our 10 years together with some of our favorite things... a day off from work, a round of golf, time with our beautiful son, and a quiet dinner for two (the first we've had since coming home from Ukraine!). But most important, we'll be together. And that's just the way I want it to be for many, many more years!

Birthday Party, Soccer Ends, PGA Fun

What happens when you miss out on the first 5 birthdays of your child’s life? Well apparently you go overboard with the 6th! It’s not something we’ll do every year. Honestly, Zack & I don’t think our sanity could handle that. But it was a lot of fun!

The evening included 17 kids aged 3 – 11, lots of moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, 50+ hot dogs, a huge birthday cake, seemingly endless presents, and a very loud & entertaining musician/magician/comedian/balloon artist. Okay, so he’s probably not the act you’ll want to book for your wedding, cook-out, shower, or high school reunion… but he was a HUGE hit with the under 12 crowd!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made William’s first American birthday party so much fun! While he appreciates all the awesome gifts he received, we think the best part of the day for him was having all the kids in his backyard to play with him.

William's actual birthday is this Saturday. We'll be at the lake for the holiday weekend, and he's looking forward to celebrating with another cake while we're there!

In addition to the birthday party, William also had his last soccer game & his team party. He was excited to get his first trophy. He also was awarded with a certificate for Best Team Spirit. His coach later told us that one of the best things about coaching this season was William’s enthusiasm and the big smile on his face when he would score.




William also attended his first PGA tournament on Sunday! We didn’t know how well it would go over with him, but he lasted for almost 6 hours. Of course, that included lots of hot dogs, ice cream, chips, drinks, and a trip to the pro shop! But he really liked it and has decided that his favorite player is Zach Johnson… probably because 1) his name is Zach (spelled different than our Zack) 2) his son is William, and 3) I mentioned that Zach also loves Jesus.

Hey Blog Addicts...

There's a cool website you can use to keep track of all your favorite blogs and know exactly when they've been updated. My friend Shay told me about and I've been using it for a while.

It's free & easy to use... just go to bloglines and then you can enter all the blogs you like to watch. Then you only have one place to check!

P.S. We've got a busy weekend ahead, complete with last soccer game, soccer party, and William's birthday party... and that's all on Saturday! So stay tuned for party pics & other fun stuff in the coming days!

6 Months of Bliss

6 months ago we walked into a Mariupol orphanage for the first time, and finally held our dream in our arms...

And fell head-over-heels in love!

Here are some pics of our Little Guy in Ukraine that you may or may not have seen before:

One of our first visits...











Just a few days before we "busted him out"...









Gotcha Day, seconds before he shed his orphanage clothes forever...









In the van, leaving the orphanage...









First trip to Mickey D's









A cutie in his jammies









Enjoying borsch at O'Panas on our last night in Ukraine...










And here is our boy, wearing his Red White and Blue (at a President's Day presentation), and bowing his head in prayer...

God is BIG!

I know I said that we wouldn’t be writing much on this blog, and that is still true. But from time to time, I just have to share what we’re experiencing with our son.

William recently learned about Daniel and the lion’s den at school. We’ve been talking about it a lot, especially at bed time since he has 2 or 3 little stuffed lions in his room. He makes sure they are in the bed with him, and creates a den for them.

Last night he was busy getting everyone in place. He announced that he was Daniel, big brown bear was King Darius, and Adie was the angel that "close lion mouths". He then asked who could be God, and I told him he should leave that to God Himself. I explained (as I pointed upward) that God was looking down upon him all the time. He glanced up and looked puzzled. “God can’t see me” he said, pointing to the ceiling.

I told him that God is very, very big and can see everyone and everything at the same time. He watches us and keeps us safe. His eyes got big, and he said “God’s bigger than Daddy”? Oh, the things that this child says that melt my heart! “Yes, He’s much, much bigger than Daddy”. He couldn’t believe that was possible.

I know it can be hard to comprehend, but He is bigger… bigger, stronger, and better than anything or anyone we can ever imagine. Considering the corrupt and evil world that this precious boy will face as he grows up, I am eternally thankful for this fact!