First post in 8 months - First post of 2014 - Last post, ever.

Hi, Friends.

You probably forgot all about this blog. That would make two of us because I forgot all about it, too. In fact, I'm pretty sure everyone forgot about it except my mom who had been asking me to write something new for months before finally giving up sometime around October.

Giving up on this blog was not entirely accidental. It occurred to us--with some good advice along the way from others--that perhaps Hugo would not appreciate having every detail of his life chronicled for all the world to read as he adjusts to his new home. We decided that it should be up to him who knows his story. Of course, the story of his adoption is out there and you all know it already. That's not what I mean. Rather, now that he's here, I want him to have the freedom to be a regular kid.

And that is exactly what he has become in our house. Don't get me wrong, I think all of my kids are extraordinary. But Hugo is extraordinary just like all the rest of them. Not because he is from Africa. Or because he's adopted. Not because he's a different color or because he loves to eat chili for breakfast.

He's extraordinary because children are a gift of the Lord, says Psalm 127:3.

Truth.

So even though it is my intention to bring this blog to a close, many of you who don't see us on a regular basis are probably wondering what has been happening with Hugo the past several months.

Wait no longer. Bring on the pictures!

He's been eating pretend lizards. He spent several days thinking this thing was real and keeping his distance. Once he realized it was fake, he was all over it.

 For a few months he sported this cool necklace -- until it broke. Mostly, I included this picture to show his amazing smile.

Slippin' and Slidin'. This was one of the first warm days of the year and the water coming out of the hose was about 48 degrees.

Being the ladies man. Having three sisters, he gets a lot of kisses around here. I decided, for his sake, not to include the pictures of the many times they've dressed him up.








Being a superhero!

In June, we attended a friend's wedding. It was outside at a farm and the weather was beautiful. Hugo and Henry wore matching hats.









Hanging with his siblings on the porch swing.

At the beach in July. We buried him in the sand and someone had the idea to use seaweed to give him a Troy Palamalu look.

First s'more. Officially American.

Annually, we spend a day picking many pounds of black raspberries. Hugo does not enjoy a lot of fruits and would not taste a raspberry unless he was forced to. Nevertheless, he picked them diligently and gave them to the rest of us.

With Mabel Jane. These two are best friends--completely inseparable. We have no idea what she would have done without him. And check out how his hair has grown!

At the Homecoming Parade in October. This was his first parade and words can't describe how much he enjoyed it. He pretended to be a one-man marching band for weeks afterward. In this particular picture, he has that "this-place-can't-get-any-weirder" look as he tried to take it all in.


Meeting Aunt Dulci!

Over Veteran's Day weekend, we took a chilly trip to Deep Creek, MD. Here we are hiking at Swallow Falls.

Putting the angel on the tree in December.

His very first crash while sledding. Certainly there will be more to follow.

What do you do on an unseasonably warm night in December? Go to Kennywood, of course.

Christmas morning. By the look on his face, he seems to be taking this present opening thing seriously. Nice PJs.









So, as you can see, it's been an eventful year, and that's only a small portion of the stuff we did. What I love about these pictures is that I have nearly the same ones for every kid in our family. Well, except for the one where he's eating the lizard. People ask us all the time how he's adjusting and I'm caught by surprise because it doesn't even occur to me anymore to think about that.

It seems like he's been here all along.

The Lord saw a little boy born in Ghana and saw fit to bring him into our family. We don't know the circumstances of his birth or what happened to him in the first several months of his life. We do know that the way his life and our lives intersected was miraculous. But that's not where the miracle ended.

The Lord has been doing a miracle all year. The adoption process made him a part of our family instantaneously, but it has been a process making that event become a reality. With every passing day, we forget that Hugo was ever not a part of our family.

So, this is the last time I post here. I'm glad to report that the Lord has a plan for Hugo and that it is a plan for good. He has that same plan for all of His children. A plan for blessing as we are made more like His Son by serving Him daily.

We are so very thankful that we get to be a part of Hugo's life.