For the Oatsvall Family summer is all about the pool and basketball (the above picture is Joshua- He will getting an adopted sibling soon)... We rarely get to go on vacations because Scott has the high school girl's team camps the month of June and July is spent doing camps for kids, which is why we got the pool. We have a blast visiting with all our friends, cooking out and making a big splash. Here are a few pictures from the fun.



These are the 3 amigos ... Michael, Jeremiah, and Jack ... They couldn't be 3 more different kids, yet they have such a special friendship...



This is Elijah and AnnaBelle... My friend Suzanne and I joke that if they ever got married they would be in couples therapy before the honeymoon. They are both dramatic, creative, and highly emotional, and the bestest of friends.



This is Miller Anne and Emily. These two are just like sisters. They both think they are about 12 years old and love to boss each other around. They have some super sweet and funny conversations.



This is Anna and me (obviously) ... Anna will be a sophomore next year and I have coached her since 6th grade. She is an amazing young lady and super helper and extra pair of hands for me during the summer. She just comes and hangs out while her mom works (at CPA our school). She loves my kids and is like a little sister to me. Love Ya Anna !!!



Here is my little man CADE ... Second surgery went great on his eye and he has one more to hopefully clear up his condition. His daddy Chris doesn't like to share him much. hee hee ... Chris, Carlee, and Cade are like our second family. We hope they will spend a lot of time with us in the pool this summer, but this is their first child, so they are super scheduled on his naps, feedings, and bla, bla, bla ... hee hee ... I had to raze her because she cracks me up and I remember doing some of those things as a first time mom, but all that stuff has flown out the window now with three ....

So I just want to invite all my blogger friends to call an schedule a pool play day ... We love to have friends over to share the summer with.

Thank you to all our servicemen both past and present !!!! We pray for you and appreciate all you do to keep us safe and protect our freedoms. We admire what you do on domestic and foreign soil. We can never thank you or your families enough for the sacrifices you make!!! May God bless America !!!

I am going where no woman has gone before!!! I am 5'7', 36 years old and 139 lbs and I am a junk food junkie. I have moments of greatness when it is a high fiber cereal for breakfast, sandwich, low fat chips and a diet coke for lunch, and then a salad with chicken for dinner, but it is like I tell myself that eating good one day is a milestone so I should treat myself to 3 days of junk ... I am suffering from low energy and yes, it is swimsuit season... There is a lot of vainness to my sharing all this with you, but I truly would love to have more energy!! I will have 3 kids home all day starting Monday and the swimming, trampoline jumping, basketball games, hide and seek can really tap me out. So I am going to use my post occasionally as an accountability partner. I can so see Elijah and Emily falling into my bad eating habits (Not Jeremiah - here is a kid that will ask, "Does that make me stronger?" or "Is that good for me?") ... So pardon me for the occasional "Healthy Eating Challenge" (not Diet) that I am placing myself on... Stay Tuned !!!

ONLY VERNA CAN TELL WHEN I NEED A LIFT IN MY BLOG SPIRIT !!!! WHEN I OPEN THE SCREEN AND SEE HER NEW CREATION I AM REMINDED OF ALL THE PEOPLE IN MY LIFE THAT DO SELFLESS THINGS TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS !!! THANKS VERNA FOR BEING SUCH A SWEET FRIEND ... ADOPTING EMILY HAS GIVEN US A WHOLE NEW FAMILY TO LOVE AND I THANK THE LORD FOR THEM EVERY DAY!

What a blessed couple of days. I feel so blessed to have several different groups of people that I call families. I have my own crazy bunch that gives me love, laughter, and smiles daily, I have my extraordinary extended family that really is such a lively group of love and energy! I have my church family that never fails to support and encourage and I have my girls from the team that have become like daughters to me. And then their are those friends that are so much like family you wouldn't know what to do without them. And my of course my CHINA FAMILY !!! My travel group have become like sisters to me and I don't know what I would do during these emotional days of our second adoption w/out them (lol). Here are just a few of things we did over the weekend with our FAMILIES! Thanks everyone for always being there and for loving my family!!!

1. Athletic Banquet on Friday to honor athletes. I love to see my girls all dressed up. They are one beautiful bunch. These girls have impacted my life in so many ways. Coaching is about so much more than the sport itself. I get the privilege of helping these girls figure out who they are. I love each and every one of them. They always make me feel special and I love the way they love my kids. Thanks girls!

2. Carlee, Chris and Cade come over for a swim. The water was a little cold, so Cade wasn't real happy, but I love it when he comes over to play. He loves the dog Sarah so much. He is such a champion and his second surgery went well !!! Prayers for my CADE !!

3. Trip to the airport to see Miss Jadyn Hood come home. I don't know about you, but I love going to the airport and seeing our precious little ones come home from China. She looked so happy and very attached to her family. I loved seeing her dig her head into Amy's shoulder. We have prayed for this little for almost 2 years and she is finally home. Thank you LORD !!

4. After the airport it is off to my niece's graduation. Tori is the most beautiful young lady. She will be playing soccer on scholarship at King's College in East TN. We are so proud of you Tori !!!!

5. Sunday has two more parties.... I am off to the Chapman's house for a grad. party for Canan .... Here is a young man who will do big things in the ministry. He is a master with Kids !!!! My kids almost tore down the house ... I only have 3 kids, but sometimes it seems like about 6 ...

6. The day ends with a Retirement Party for Mimi (Scott's Mom) ... She is so happy to be retired and has such peace in her life now. We had a blast at Kobe's Japanese Restaurant and honored Mimi for all her years of service. We gave her a beautiful butterfly ring to remind her to spread her new wings.

Well that is another packed weekend with the Oatsvall's .... notice the first missed tooth for Elijah in the slide show to follow ...

Some of you may have noticed that Gwen's blog was dropping the sidebar. This happened to Sister 2 Two also. Don't really know what causes it -- possibly a glitch in the text wrap coding. At any rate, I hope that it is fixed for Gwen. Maybe some day, I will actually get a book on HTML programming and learn the real ins and outs of if. Until then, Blogger Help along with trial and error will have to do. ~v

This is a completely shallow post, but who watched Grey's last night ... A slight downer. I like George/Callie together and am not liking Izzie much lately. I did get a kick out of Kristina's non-eyebrows. I am guessing that means Burke is off the show and what is up with Bailey not getting picked as Chief Residence. Lots of mad people on Grey's for next season. And did you see the kicker with "Alexis Grey" showing up at the end .... Meredith has a sister, who is going to go after McDreamy. Should be interesting next year....

I usually try to take all my sadness about needing to get Maggie home to my China Sisters, but today I woke up overwhelmed with a need to be in China and holding my child. Since bringing home Emily two years ago for the first time in our lives Scott and I feel that one of the main purposes God has for us here on earth is to bring orphans into their forever family. Just thinking of all the children sitting in orphanages around the world is heartbreaking and the burden is one we must all carry ....Whether you adopt, support an orphan financially, pray, help others to adopt or whatever it is you do ... we must all do SOMETHING .... it is God's will for everyone to care for the orphans and widows of this world !!!! Sorry about the soap box, but we all have this calling in one form or another ....Never let life get so busy or so full that you forget "the least of these."

I thank you Lord for the ability to be heartbroken and for the feelings of helplessness, because it always refocuses me on YOU !!! You are the ultimate healer, provider, Father, physician, restorer, caregiver, forgiver, best friend, and so much more that I need daily !!! Thank you for loving, me!!!

You know the old song "Count Your Blessings Name the One by One." ... well here goes

1. I had a very special Tea Party with Elijah at school last Thursday. He made me beautiful gifts.

2. Friday was the annual Grandparent's Day at CPA. Jeremiah was honored to have Mimi (Scott's mom) and Duh (My mother) in attendance. We had a great time and the school did a 50's singing production. We then ended the celebration with lunch at Longhorns and ice cream. SPECIAL SURPRISE - EMILY CHAPMAN WAS THERE AND WE GOT TO VISIT FOR A MOMENT (MY EMILY'S NAMESAKE)

3. Mother's Day was spent with family and a cool new workout out for me. We also got to see our pastor by satellite in China with his new daughter. It was the best church service ever.

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all my friends. You are amazing mother's among you and I have learned so much. May the Lord continue to grow and bless our families.

SEE SLIDE SHOW BELOW FOR PROOF OF MY MANY BLESSINGS !!!!

3 kind words. Email This BlogThis! Share to X Share to Facebook Friday, May 11, 2007 MY FIRST "TAG" Story of my Life by Gwen Oatsvall | Edit Post I got tagged by my friend Becca ... Here are the rules. Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about the seven things and the rules. You need to choose seven people to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your blog! My 7 random facts ... 1. I admit that when I met Scott in 9th grade I actually thought "I am going to marry this boy." ... 16 years of marriage - perhaps I am a prophetess 2. I was considered a huge tomboy most of my life and never wore a pair of heels till I was in the 11th grade... 3. I secretly wish to be in an episode of "ALIAS" ... I want to run down a hallway in a super tight black outfit and karate kick some bad guy just like Sidney Bristow. 4. I took acting classes in California for 6 weeks with some really weird people . 5. Most people know about my tattoo, but my old friends (the ones from way back when are completely shocked, because I was kind of the goodie goodie in school)... 6. Now to dispel the goodie goodie theory - I stole M&M's from a person's locker in high school (remember the boxes of M&M's you had to sell for fund raisers) ... I felt so bad I told my coach and he paid the person for me in secret.... 7. My high school volleyball / softball coach turned out to be a bank robber .... hoping that is random enough !!!! I am tagging - BECKY, STEFFIE, LEIGH ANN, CRYSTAL, VERNA, NIKKI, AND EMMIE . 12 kind words. Email This BlogThis! Share to X Share to Facebook Thursday, May 10, 2007 Pastor in China ... Story of my Life by Gwen Oatsvall | Edit Post To Follow our pastors amazing journey to his daughter in China go to pathood.org .... They stopped by to visit missionaries first and now they are off to the Great Wall... They have a great video posted ... Get out your tissue. I love this family !!!! Labels: friends | 3 kind words. Email This BlogThis! Share to X Share to Facebook Wednesday, May 9, 2007 IT REALLY DOES MATTER... Story of my Life by Gwen Oatsvall | Edit Post Forgot to update you on Sunday about our "feed the homeless" ministry... We made our lunches and headed out on the beautiful Sunday that the Lord so beautifully orchestrated and with in no time we had depleted our lunches and as we were heading home we saw a group of 4 men reading the word outside of a small building. Scott ask me to pull over and he got out of the car to see if there was anything they needed. They admitted that they were hungry and that normally there is a small church ministry in this building, but no one was there yet. Scott told them we would go get them some food and be right back. One of the men said, "I remember you, didn't you give me a blanket and food a couple of weeks ago." Our service to the Lord really "DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE." Labels: Family, Ministry | 6 kind words. Email This BlogThis! Share to X Share to Facebook Tuesday, May 8, 2007 BAD HABITS !!! Story of my Life by Gwen Oatsvall | Edit Post Nana (Scott's grandmother) spent the night last week and the kids just love it when she comes. I took some incriminating pictures of her to prove she teaches my kids bad habits. For example, my kids think when Nana is here that we should all drink coffee or the fact that Emily thinks she is a teenager when Nana is here because she puts on lipstick galore !!! But then yesterday I was reminded of all my bad habits as my lovely daughter creeped over to my 1/2 glass of diet mountain dew while I was reading and proceeded to drink the whole thing. I am staring at her from behind my book and I over hear her say to herself "I lub it, I lub it." .... I just cracked up, because when I treat myself to a Diet Mountain Dew, I say the same thing in my head !!!! Like mother like daughter!!! Labels: Elijah, Emily | 10 kind words. Email This BlogThis! Share to X Share to Facebook Saturday, May 5, 2007 GIRLS NIGHT OUT AT FBC Story of my Life by Gwen Oatsvall | Edit Post My old church FBC is one amazing place and so on fire for the Lord. They have a women's ministry that is filled with fabulous leadership and a real sense of what a woman needs. Each year there is a yearly prgram. The one Friday night, GNO (Girls Night Out) was the best one ever. They had fabulous music, skits, chocolate fountain, massages, chocolate fountain, hyenna tattoos (guess I don't' need one of those - hee, hee), chocolate cake, board games, manicure station, and did I mention the chocolate fountain. For about 4 hours women just played board games (we were in a heated game of pictionary when they started yelling out door prizes and then we all scattered faster than women to a sale rack at Target), pampered ourselves, talked, ate chocolate and fellowshipped with one another. It was a much needed time away for me and I got to see so many friends I miss now that we aren't going to church there anymore. The funniest part was talking with all the bloggers. So many of us now are blogging and keeping in touch that way even though we don't see each other often and I had many request to see the infamous tattoo and so there I just lifting up my shirt at church and showing it off. SERIOUSLY ONLY AT FBC !!!! To all the GNO girlfriends ... Let's Do It Again Soon. pictured (Me, Sister-In-Laws Crystal & Yolanda) Special for thanks to Mimi for buying tickets for us ... 11 kind words. Email This BlogThis! Share to X Share to Facebook Wednesday, May 2, 2007 FILLING IN THE GAP Story of my Life by Gwen Oatsvall | Edit Post What would we do without prayers. Think of all the things we ask prayer for and how we feel comforted when we know people are praying for us. I have heard many needs lately,so I am going to make a list and ask that you in your comments section just list the needs you have or have heard of and we will make this post all about praying for each other. Here goes: GRAVES FAMILY, GRETCHEN, JEANNIE, KRISTIE, MY PARENTS, THE KIDS NOT CHOSEN ON THE COP LIST, HOOD'S TRAVELING TO CHINA, MAYERNICK'S ADOPTION, EMMIE'S TEACHER, UNCLE BOO BOO'S SURGERY, JOHNSON'S ADOPTION, DONNA'S MOM, JEREMIAH'S LEG, CADE'S NEXT EYE SURGERY, WIDOW SUSIE LEE,ERICA, BILBY'S-ANDERSON'S-BECKERING'S-TANG'S-SHOCKLEY'S-OATSVALL'S ADOPTIONS,AND I AM SURE I AM MISSING SOMETHING ... LET'S STAND IN THE GAP FOR ONE ANOTHER AND PRAY !!! I SO APPRECAITE YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT !!!! Labels: PRAYER | 6 kind words. 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