Our Baby Girl's All Grown Up

Well, I'm here! I know you thought I was long gone but I'm not. I'm still here, hanging on and riding along with life. We've had a crazy last couple months and they've been life changing. We made our way Stateside the last week of April and we've been running since we arrived. Our main reason for coming back to the States was to see our dear daughter Hannah graduate high school and begin her life here in Texas. 

We started getting ready for graduation by taking the long awaited senior photos. I had such a ball photographing Hannah. She made it so much fun and easy. It's easy to take beautiful photos when the subject is lovely inside and out. 

These are some of my favorite photos from the shoot. Oh yea the setting is in a very old botanical park about 10 minutes from our home in Croatia. 

I fell in love with the photo, she looks so angelic. 

This photo floored me! She looks so grown up and I don't think I was ready for that. She's my little girl and always will be. 

This photo was an accident. Her dad had decided to do push-ups right in the middle of the park and she was looking at him like he was crazy. I just happened to snap the photo at the right time. 

I'm responsible for the new part in her hair. She had it parted in the middle but she looked so grown up so I asked her to part it on the side and I love it. She looks so young. 

Loved the simplicity of this one. 

This is my all-time favorite photo of Hannah. It is her all rolled up in a photo. I can see her spirit and beauty in this. Love it!!

Hannah graduated with 3 other home school graduates at our home church in Texas. She beamed and looked like she belonged in that cap. I'm not sure when she grew up but she did. 

I loved that she chose to decorate her display table in the colors of Croatia. I love that she loves Croatia and counts it as her home. She has a real missionary heart.

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Finally, she's working! She has her first job at Chick-fil-A and she loves it. She's working 40 hours a week and saving for school. She's doing amazing, I knew she would. So phase "Hannah" of our furlough trip is almost done and now we're taking care of business. 

We've  been traveling and visiting supporting churches for a month and right now we're sitting in bright, sunny Florida! We still have 2.5 months left but it's flying now. I have mixed feelings about leaving Hannah but I know God's in control. I'm thankful for our life. We've been so blessed and we're looking forward to the next
"empty nest" phase of our lives. 

Found, one blog!

Do you have any idea how long it's been since I last posted on my blog? It has been so long that I actually had to go back and look at my last post. It's been 5 full months since I even visited my blog much last posted. I'm sure many of you thought I abandoned my beloved Home Away From Home but I didn't. Okay, so maybe it could be considered short-term abandonment but I'm back!!! I've come back to stake my claim to what is rightly mine and begin a new relationship with my blog and earn back some of the lost months.

A Clown is born!

We got the idea for Hannah's clown costume while we were visiting our friends the Brantleys in N. Carolina. We found these cool man overalls with bright green stitching at a local thrift store and stashed them for her costume. Then we bought these rainbow suspenders for a buck
(also at a thrift store) and they fit into our whole rainbow thinggy perfectly. So here's her first clown costume and it fits her personality to a T. 

She was not just dressed as a clown she was a clown and I think she's found her niche in life. She's always a little zanny and bright, so this was right up her alley. 

Everyone loved her especially our senior saints. :0)

Anyhow, I loved making her rufflicious costume and she wears it well. 

So now Johnny is surrounded by clowns, poor guy lucky man!

Sweet 16 Photos

We have some incredible sights here in Croatia and one of them is a former Hungarian castle just north of us. Anyhow, we headed out there and took some photos of our sweet 16 year old.

Hannah is a lovely girl both inside and out. She's a joy to parent. Anyhoo, here's some of my amateur photography.

Anyhow, love my girl and love being her mom. 

Happy Sweet 16 Hannah

Yesterday (belated) our baby Hannah turned 16. I can't imagine her being 16 for more than one reason. For one thing, where did 15, 14 13 and 12 go? for another thing, how did I get this old?

Hannah was born in our bedroom at home in Arlington on a very hot July day. From the time she was born she was a delight, except for the first week of non-stop crying. 

She was a joy as a toddler. She was always smiling and everyone loved her. We started deputation when she was 9 months old and I'm sure she was responsible for the majority of our support. She was such a bright little girl and she stole many a pastor's heart along the deputation trail.

We arrived in Croatia 2 years short of her 3rd birthday. She was still learning to speak English when she began to learn Croatian. 

Her bright blue eyes and curly hair made for an adorable little girl. 

She loved to help Mom in the kitchen and was always mixing stuff and experimenting.

Hannah was and is always smiling. She's always singing and she has a real song in her heart. She has a lovely voice and uses it to praise the Lord. 

She's growing into a lovely young lady. 

Hannah has been a joy to parent. She has never complained about being on the mission field and she's a huge help. She has a heart for the Lord and for those in need. She has always been drawn to the needy and she has the ability to find a hurting heart and be there to comfort. She feels that the Lord would have her spend her life sharing the Gospel with the deaf. She has already been able to work with the deaf and she's is learning ASL and Croatian signing also. 

Her Dad and I love her so much. We are so thankful that the Lord allowed us to be her parents. We are excited to see what He's going to do with her life. 

                         We love you Hannah,

                                Happy 16th Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Hannah

We celebrated Hannah's 14th birthday on the 8th of July. I can't believe Hannah is 14, she's our baby and she's 14. WOW!

In celebration of Hannah's 14th birthday, here are 14 things I love about Hannah. 

1. She's funny.

2. She's always ready to be friendly.

3. She's never boring. 

4. She loves to a capacity that very few can.

5. She is very tender hearted. 

6. She's a hugger. 

7. She's forever ready to forgive others. 

8. She's has blue eyes like her Daddy.

9. She doesn't have to be loved by someone for her to love them. 

10. She loves children. 

11. She has a desire to reach the deaf of Croatia for Christ. 

12. She is a really good artist and paints me pictures. 

13. She loves to cook.

14. Hannah loves her Savior with all her heart!

Happy birthday Hannah, we sure love you!!

Fun with Fleece!

Okay so remember this post when I showed you the hat and scarf I made for the cute little girl in church, well...I made two more since then. Actually I only have a photo of one because I gave the other away before I took a photo but here's the one I did last night for my daughter.

She's 12 now and so growing out of pink, (thank the Lord!). I'm so tired of pink I could puke. Really, 12 years of pink is enough for even the most patient soul. So guess what...she likes purple now. I love purple, it's so much more sophisticated and easy on the eyes.

Anyhoo, here's the beret and scarf I made her last night. (if it ever uploads)I made a finished slot in one side of the scarf so she could pull the other end through and not have to tie it, since it's a bit bulky anyway.

Here's a close-up of the flower on the beret. I made it with triangles pieces of the purple fabric then I covered a button and sewed it all together, Love it!!!

Oh yea and this photo is just because she's so goofy, I told her I was going to put it on my blog.

This was so easy, sewing it was a cinch and the hardest part, most time consuming was cut all the slits in the scarf.

The link listed about has all the links you need to make one of these and you'll be hooked once you do.