TF SHODEO

The last day of riding camp we had a rodeo.
Everyone was there to see the kids ride.
Daddy and Aunt Mali caught Mama up in the Announcer's booth
and guess who got a lollipop???

He LOVED it, BTW! LOVED IT!


Caleb and the rest of the big kids worked their tails off to
make this rodeo ran smoothly.

Just a great bunch of kids.
I love my boy.



Rachel was in her element- Horses, Loud Music, and People with
cameras-
Does a girl really need anything else?


Ben told me that his favorite part was the "RODEO HOTDOGS & COKE"!
What is it about stadium hotdogs??
I like them,too.


Mary was mad because everyone else was riding horses..but her.
She did manage to laugh and smile most of the night-
we just don't have the pictures to prove it...but I promise... she did.


This was Layton's first Rodeo.
She won the Cowgirl Award.
Her Aunt Andrea was very proud.


This was Hannah's first Rodeo.
She won the Best Attitude Award.
She DOES smile ALL THE TIME!
Her Mama was very proud.


This was also Riley's first Rodeo .
She won the Goat Tying Trophy for the fastest tie.
Her Aunt Andrea was very very proud.


Did I mention that Adam liked the rodeo AND the lollipops??
OK..just checking.


So now we only have one more camp to go and
we are done for the summer.

I am looking forward to the break.

So I woke up today.............

and had 30 WHOLE seconds to post!

Let's see....

Oh Yeah-

So I get on the plane is Guangzhou, fly to Narita-Japan(LOVE, BTW)

then to LAX!

LAX computers CLEARED OUR FLIGHT INFO and I , along with 150 others had to sit on the plane on the runway for 1 hour while our info was put back into the computer before we could leave the ground!

Get to Dallas/Fort Worth--Plane to Mississippi has left--No more flights--the baby and I spend the night in TX. No biggy..go there ALL THE TIME! We love Texas!

6 am Thursday morning we get on a plane for Jackson and touch down 1 hour later.

Adam was a champ.

Let everyone love and smooch on him and recognized his Daddy and clapped when he saw him.

That made Stacy feel GOOOOOOD!

Breakfast the next morning was Chicken Congee and butterbeans.

As you can see....he liked it....actually EVERYONE liked it.

It is a new staple around here.

The girls rolled in a few days later and we all started getting ready for our week long Riding camp!

Riley Cat had a birthday and of course..we had a party!

Guess who loves some birthday cake????

We had our Rodeo for the camp students on Saturday night.

This week we are resting...I am going to recover from my China trip..since I did not get to do it last week.

I am also going to take this week to grieve the loss of my Grandmother.

3 weeks before we left for China, I went into the recoding studio and cut some of my Memaw's favorite songs and a message to her.

I knew that I could not call her( like I did last time) and wanted her to hear my voice(which I inherited from her) while she was gone.

I had a feeling that she would not be there when I got home.

She passed while we were flying from LAX to China,and I have been in denial for the last 3 weeks..

I have to deal with it but I have the feeling that it ain't gonna be pretty.

Thank you all for your prayers and the cool comments while we were gone.

It meant the world to us.

I will post more pics soon.

I have to get the rodeo pics together.

They are cool!

Love ya'll

A

Link to Andrea's posts in China

Hello Blogger Followers!

Andrea asked me to send out this message on her Blog, since she is unable to post on this site from China, she is posting photos and stories of their journey to bring Adam home on this site:

http://www.youbelong.net/thaggfam

Adam is beautiful and they are doing great!

Andrea's friend,

Lisa

Day in Hong Kong PART I

We began the day by just looking out our back window--skyscrapers galore... cruise ships, barges, Chinese junks.

Andrea, the bird whisperer, finds a dove.

Stacy with our hotel in the background.

Andrea overlooking the harbor.

Stacy at the "Walk of the Stars"

Andrea reluctantly gives her opinion.

Boardwalk near our hotel

Bruce Lee's star

Jackie Chan

Statue of Bruce Lee

Bruce again

Taxi ride from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island

Hannah likes Porsches and the color blue.

End of Part One.

PART II

Stacy requesting directions from the concierge.



Hollywood Road shops on Hong Kong Island

Mammoth ivory carvings.

Browsing in the shops.

Inner city playground.

Road to Victoria's Peak.

View from Victoria's Peak.

Strolling along the roof at the Peak Galleria.

Harbor view from Victoria's Peak

My beautiful bride

Chinese junk in the harbor

Bright lights, big city. Our day is done.



We love you, Caleb, Hannah, Ben, Rachel, and Mary Elizabeth! Thanks to the Covingtons for keeping our children safe.

FINALLY!!!!!!

Here we are, self-portrait, shortly after take-off from Los Angeles to Tokyo.

My beautiful wife.

Japanese cuisine compliments of Japan Airlines.

Origami bird, prior to being confiscated by Andrea.

Japanese soda.

I've got a golden ticket!

The kind folks from Japan Airlines did a passenger shake-down, looking for swine flu. If you passed the health inspection, you got a golden ticket and were allowed to deplane.

Here we are, safe and sound on the ground in Hong Kong!

We carry on, despite dismal conditions at our hotel.

Our hotel bed, prior to being broken in.

We love you, Caleb, Hannah, Ben, Rachel, and Mary Elizabeth. Thank you, Layton and Riley ( and Joe and Mali) for watching our children this weekend.

We will call you tonight.

Daddy & Mama

Last Post before We Leave.

I am Excited! Ok..there I said it!
I have been trying to be really cool..basically acting like a female FONZIE every time someone asks if I am excited....But the jig is up!
I am pumped.
I wanted to take a few minutes and ask for specific prayer requests while we are away.

Pray for our children that we are leaving.
It will be hard for the little ones and the big ones..
although I doubt they will admit it.

Pray for Adam and the adjustment period that he will go through.
Pray that he is not terrified.
Close up I am pretty scary...even when I am holding a lollipop as big as your head.

Please Pray for my attitude.
If he is afraid and he does reject me..please pray that I do not act like a spoiled child "who didn't get the doll that she asked Santa for".
HEY!..I'm human people..just keeping it real.

Pray for Stacy to have a safe trip home.
He will be leaving ALONE on the 23rd.
Life without him would be unbearable for me.
I am his rib and He is mine.

Pray for Me and the BABY.
We will remain in China until JUNE 3rd..no that was not a type-o.
I am actually looking forward to an adventure.
A Mommy of 6 does get many of those in her old age!
OH.... the things we do for our children.

Pray for our caregivers.
We really do not want our kids to drive them crazy
so that they will volunteer again (when we go back for our daughter)!

Pray for Adam's Nanny.
She loves him. She was the one who called LWB every
day begging for his surgery to come soon.
She knew it was life or death for him. I know how much
she loves him and because of that I want her to LOVE me.
So if you can ..Pray that I am especially charming when I meet her. ;)

Pray for Karla at LIFELINE.
I really want this to be easy for her.
There is so much going on in China right now and I know that she
will worry.
She is a precious thing.

Pray for Lily and Rebecca- our in country guides.
Our greatest hope is that we can develop a life long friendship with them
and share our faith with them and maybe- just maybe -give them a little glimpse of how wonderful life is when Jesus is in it.
THAT, my friends, would be COOL!

Pray for every single child that Stacy and I have to leave behind.
You will never be able to comprehend the agony that one feels when you get on that plane
knowing that you would take them all if they would just let you.
You know that it is ridiculous... but you would try ;if given half the chance.
There are tons of children waiting for parents to love them.
Waiting to be matched, waiting to be picked up, waiting to be loved...Adam is only one of thousands.
Stacy and I would appreciate you asking God to give us an opportunity
to do something out of the ordinary for these kids while we are there.
If you could join us in asking HIM to show us what HE wants us to do....
It would be a blessing to us.

Please Pray for our health.
We just want to stay WELL. PERIOD!

So there they are
I am afraid that I will get so busy that I will just pray about the basics
and miss the rest.
Help me out guys!

We love you all.
If you want me to text you a picture..leave your cell phone number in your comment.
I'll hook you up!

hey...Did I mention that I am EXCITED?!?!?!?!?