Fall is happening here in Roanoke and it is beautiful.  The mornings are pitch black when we send the kids out to the corner to wait for the bus.  There is a crispness to the air and the leaves are turning their lovely fall colors.  I have just reached the half way point of my semester at Virginia Western and the kids quarterly report cards will be coming home shortly.  We are in a good groove and continue to grow closer as a family.  We have our ups and downs like any family, but the ups are sweet and the bonds are growing.  

As you are all aware by the exaggerated pink everywhere you turn in October, it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  As a breast cancer survivor and a friend to many others who faced other cancers this is a very HARD month.  It is a constant reminder of what a difficult journey we have been on.  It almost seems trendy to have pink during the month of October.  However, nothing about cancer or the horrifying treatment of cancer is trendy.  To raise awareness for cancer why don't we educate people about early detection and mammograms rather than hanging pink ribbons from the ceiling.  And for those people who were not so 'lucky' to be diagnosed with the 'popular' cancer, where is there month?  Why do stores not hang teal ribbons in September for Ovarian Cancer or  grey ribbons in May for Brain Cancer awareness?  http://www.choosehope.com/calendar-of-cancer-awareness-months  The pink ribbons are a constant reminder that these people did not suffer from this cancer and very little notice, money, or research goes to the cancer that attacked them.  So please instead of pinning a pink ribbon on your shirt know your body and watch for signs of abnormalities and please give a hug to anyone who has suffered from ANY kind of cancer.

In this difficult month of cancer reminders I found out that two friends who were in remission from cancer are now fighting again and another friend was just diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.  It is so hard to see friends struggling and brings back many painful memories.  Today I had the privilege to go to a wig shop with my recently diagnosed friend.  This may sound silly but it was so great to be able to be an encouragement to her.  I know how she is feeling in the midst of cancer and am blessed that my journey through cancer has now prepared me to be a help to someone else.  

Okay, that is all of the sad stuff I've got:)  These last weeks we have had lots of family visits.  I have to admit, going into each visit I felt nervous.  Kyle and I prayed that our families would welcome our new kids and that a bond would begin to form.  Well, God answered our prayers immensely.  Here is a little photo journey through our visits.

Dinner our with NO kids!!!

Celebrating Mom's 60th birthday!

Elayna's Egyptian day

Hike up Mill Mountain

Picnic at the top

Apple Picking

Grandpa and Grandma love

Girls Date

Every day is a date with Mari:)

Pine cone bird feeders 

Myrtle Beach Fun

I'm partial...but they are pretty cute!

More Grandpa and Grandma love

Glow stick fun on the beach

Our happy not-so-little family

Great Grandma and Aunt Julie love

A new attitude

We are finding our groove here in the Ferguson household.  Life is busy but everyone seems to be fitting in just right.  

Our mornings start with the blare of my alarm at 6:25am (that is really early, Kyle and I are not morning people).  We quietly get up C, T, and K.  They stumble down the stairs and get the clothes on that were laid out the night before.  I pour three bowls of cereal and give medicine.  They eat that up quickly, brush teeth, and are waiting at the corner for the bus at 6:47am.  Kyle and I wave to the bus and then breathe.  

Kyle usually sneaks back upstairs for a couple extra minutes of sleep.  I start my 4 cups of 1/2 decaf 1/2 regular coffee.  I put my water in the pan to make oatmeal.  Minutes later I'm sitting all by myself with a hot cup of coffee, a yummy bowl of oatmeal, and my stack of devotionals and bible.  These short moments of my morning get me going and set the tone.  My favorite time of the day.  

By 7:15am Elayna, Aubrey, and Mari are downstairs and Kyle is in the shower.  We are working on the girls getting dressed before they come down in the morning.  I wrap up my time and get their breakfast on the table.  We have been diligent in getting lunches packed the night before so that mornings can go smoother.  

We are out the door by 8:05 am and off to school.  Mari and I walk the girls into school and then we head the gym.  My other favorite time of the day:)  There is a nice nursery that Amaria goes in while I get a little bit of exercising in AND a shower.  That doesn't usually happen in a day if I'm not at the gym. 

 The rest of the morning and early afternoon are filled with errands, playdates, meetings, lunch, naps, cleaning, and school work.  It has been a real blessing to have time with just Amaria.  She is a special little girl and a joy to spend time with.  

C, T, and K get off of the bus at about 2:45pm.  Mari loves to watch for them and then run out when the bus comes around the corner.  C and T usually have homework so we try to get that done as soon as they get home.  

By 3:20pm we are out the door again to meet Tammy (my God send of a carpool friend) about 5 minutes from home to get Elayna and Aubrey.  We usually come right back home and get Elayna's homework done and the kids just play.  An unscheduled little bit of time in the day is a good time.  

Kyle gets home at 5:30pm and supper is usually on the table.  We have introduced family devotions to our growing family each night at supper.  Kyle and I are getting really good at cleaning the kitchen...because after each meal there is quite the mess:)  

Everyone under the age of 9...that's all the kids... are in bed by 7:30pm and Kyle and I breathe again.  Once they are all in bed I get some homework done and then just relax. And then REPEAT!!!

This past Friday we went on our first family camping trip.  It was pretty simple. 35 minutes from home at a campground where there were lots of kid activities.  We bought a 10 person tent, some hot dogs, s'more ingredients and were off.  The weather was lovely and mosquitoes were not an issue. We set up camp, collected some wood, and got swim suits on for some play time before supper.  We hadn't gotten any pokers at the store so we just used  sticks to roast our hot dogs.  Lets just say, we are investing in pokers.  Lots of hot dogs ended up in the fire:)  S'mores were their normal messiness, but delicious.  The kids went to bed good and slept great.  I, on the other hand, slept terrible.  I had Elayna about 2 inches from my face most of the night and I think my hips were bruised in the morning from laying on my sides.  Also investing in sleeping mats.  The trip was fun and a good trial run.

After our trip Kyle and I were both really bothered by the lack of thankfulness from our crew.  It just didn't seem right for us to be doing fun things for them and they not reciprocating thankfulness.  We do activities with our kids because we like spending time as a family and doing good things for them but it almost seems as though the kids had begun to expect the 'fun times'.  Kyle and I chatted a lot about how we can change the attitude in our house from an attitude of entitlement to a attitude of gratefulness.  We have started at supper time going around the table and everyone has to say five things they are thankful.  It is a small thing but it is a start to change how we look at things.  One of my favorite books, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, is about seeing God and being thankful in everything.  Every time I read from it I am encouraged and challenged to live a grateful life.  That is Kyle and my prayer for our kids, that they would see all the blessings in their lives and be thankful.

This is life right now

Five children are at school right now.  One child is sleeping.  One husband is at work.  

And I breathe.  

I cook, I clean, I sit, I read, I drink coffee and I prepare myself for the the return of these seven precious people.  

This is life right now.

Rather than telling you what has been going on I've been busy taking pictures:)

Back to school lunch at Denny's

Elayna -2nd grade
Roanoke Valley Christian

Aubrey- Kindergarten
Roanoke Valley Christian

T- 1st grade
Bonsack Elementary

C- 3rd grade
Bonsack Elementary

K- 4K
Bonsack Elementary

Amaria- my little helper at home:)

C, T, and K getting on bus the first day

Our new ride that fits everyone...Kyle doesn't have to sit on the floor now

The home that we close on on October 23rd

The books I've been reading for my classes

Elayna's project from school
It says, "I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters"
Sweet

There is no way out BUT God

Reading in my devotional today I was struck by an excerpt that hit home.  It talked of trials, confusion, and hard times in our lives and what the most important thing to do in those.  Here is some of it:

Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.  Genesis 32:24

In this passage, God is wrestling with Jacob more than Jacob is wrestling with God.  It was GOd in human form, pressing down on Jacob to press his old life from him.  And by daybreak God prevailed, for Jacob's "hip was wrenched."  As Jacob 'fell' from his old life, he fell into the arms of God, clinging to Him but also wrestling until his blessing came.  His blessing was that of a new life, so he rose from the earthly to the heavenly, the human to the divine, and the natural to the supernatural.  From that morning forward, he was a weak and broken man from a human perspective, but God was there.  And the Lord's heavenly voice proclaimed, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but 

Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

Beloved, this should be a typical scene in the life of everyone who has been transformed.  If God has called us to His highest and best, each of us will have a time of crisis, when all our resources will fail and when we face either ruin or something better than we have ever dreamed.  But before we can receive the blessing, we must rely on God's infinite help.  We must be willing to let go, surrendering completely to Him, and cease from our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness.  We must be 'crucified with Christ' and yet alive in Him.  God knows how to lead us to the point of crisis, and He knows how to lead us through it.

Is God leading you in this way?  Is this the meaning of your mysterious trial, your difficult circumstances, you impossible situation, or that trying place you cannot seem to move past without Him?  But do you have enough of Him to win the victory?

Then turn to Jacob's God!  Throw yourself helplessly at His feet.  Die in His loving arms to your own strength and wisdom, and rise like Jacob into His strength and sufficiency.  There is no way out of your difficult and narrow situation except at the top.  You must win deliverance by rising higher, coming into a new experience with God. And may it bring you into all that is meant by the revelation of 'the Mighty One of Jacob!'  There is no way out but God

At Your feet I fall,

Yield You up to ALL,

To SUFFER, LIVE, OR DIE

For my Lord crucified.

-from Streams in the Desert,  L.B.Cowman

I pray that this will encourage you as it did me.

Please pray

I have some specific requests that we would really appreciate your prayers.

*Pray that the relationships between the kids would grown.
*Pray (specifically for Elayna) that the kids will get along and that there will be less tattling and bickering.
*Pray that Elayna will adjust to the changes in our family.  She has been struggling and her struggle looks like misbehaving.
*Pray for our new kids as they do not yet know that they are not going home.  Their social worker is working with their therapists to make a team that will sit down with the kids and explain this hard hard thing.  They are going to be heart broken.
*Pray that Kyle and I will be able to support and love on everyone in our family as we all deal with these changes.

I will refer to the kids by initials...we aren't supposed to give specifics.

K, T, Aubrey, Elayna, Amaria, and C

K

Elayna and T

Elayna, Amaria, C, and Aubrey

T, Elayna, C, Amaria, Aubrey, and K

Elayna, C, and Aubrey