Celebrate Good Times

We had an adoption party for Jazzy this weekend and we had a blast! We are truly BLESSED to have such a GREAT group of friends who love and support us...with out all of their prayers, we could not have made it through this last year!

Ms. Clara...one of my kid's second mothers!

Aunt Cole...my partner in crime though this whole adoption process...she was with me the day Jazz's parents' rights were terminated.

Mrs. Angel...awesome friend...would give you the shirt off her back!

Mrs. Nancy...such a prayer warrior with an incredible walk with the Lord, who many times points me back in the right direction with her insight into God's Word.

My best friend and her husband...she keeps me sane...he keeps me insane :) !

Mrs. Bradley...Jazz's teacher this year...she has prayed for us every step of the way!

Ms. Delma...one of the BEST women I know...loves us like we are hers...she finished raising my husband for me...PRAISE GOD! She has always been a part of my life!

Ms. Delma made us these REALLY cute matching aprons for Jazz's adoption...PRICELESS!

My Maw Maw...taught me what loving the Lord really means and my mom...she is the best mom in the world and I look forward to watching her be Jazz's Bicky!

OK...I had to include Mrs. Gail...she was at the party, but had to leave and then she came back...but she missed all of the pics. She is also my kid's other mother. God knew that she could not raise my kids because they would be rotten to the core! I really could not have made it through the year without her prayers and encouragement along the way.

Jasmine Jay Payne

Our daughter was officially adopted last Thursday. Jason and I are thrilled that chapter is closed and a new chapter may begin. Jazzy is definitely the bright spot in our day. Jazzy has a heart of gold and is SO sincere. She loves you with all shes got and she is curious about everything.

Mama LOVES ya Jazzy Jay and I have since the first time that I laid eyes on you!

Here is the first picture that we ever saw of Jazzy...

Here she is now...

What a precious blessing from God!

Officially Mrs. Evans

So, my sister is married and is officially Mrs. Evans. The wedding was in Los Cabos, Mexico.

I was in Daytona, Fl. at Big Stuf with a big group of teenagers, adults and children. So, I had to fly out of Daytona by myself to Mexico. I left my hubby and kids behind, which was really hard for me.

I have never flown into a foreign country, so I was pretty nervous. On top of that, when Jason took me to the airport that morning so that I could fly out...he was about to kiss me good-bye when I had the urge to throw up...long story short...I puked my way all the way to MEXICO and continued to puke my way through Mexico! That was REALLY fun times and NO I am NOT pregnant! Moving on with the story...

So, when I arrived in Mexico. The airport looks MUCH different that the airports that I am used to...plus there were lots of little Mexican men with machine guns...that was a very comforting sight. Anyway, I found me a little "Mexican" friend to show me where to go. I was then directed to a taxi. A taxi in Mexico is actually a 12 passenger van...at that point I made a new friend the taxi driver. I started panicking because he had already crammed about 15 people into the back and I was the last to load...GREAT...just my luck! About that time, the little man closed the van door and the opened the front door for me...SCORE, I got to sit up front! It was GREAT!

I finally arrived at the hotel...I was the last to be dropped off and my ride was as eventful as the rest of my trip had been. My little taxi driver friend really only drove one speed and that was somewhere around 80 mph. The scenery on the way there consisted of desert and goats and cactus. There is DEFINITELY no place like home!

When I finally arrived I was very happy to see my family. My uncle, who is used to traveling the world asked me if I was excited to have my first passport stamp. I asked him, what passport stamp? Long story short...remember my little Mexican friend that I talked about back at the airport...he apparently led me right past immigration...So I was in the country ILLEGALLY! More fun times!

Luckily, my sister's wedding was gorgeous! And I am VERY excited for her and Ryan! He is a GREAT guy! The rest of the weekend was great and I was glad to share in the memory with my family. I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with my baby brother...we don't get to see each other a whole lot.

When I arrived back at the airport, Continental would not allow me to load because I was illegal! Luckily for me, I made me another "Friend" at the immigration desk who helped me work everything out. I am pretty sure that Mexican men like red heads...good thing for me. I finally made it back to Texas and back to my family which is where I belong. I am pretty sure that I have no desire to leave the good ole USA again. God knew better than me that I didn't need to be a missionary in a foreign country, but that I was made to serve right where I am! Praise God!

Being a Mom

Being a mom can be very emotional and anyone that knows me, knows that I am not a very emotional person...BUT being a mom puts a whole new layer to my life. I have been JB's mom for six years now. JB is a pretty easy kid, he has really only given us a little trouble in the last year or so. I have not done too much worrying about JB...he is a very likable kid, who is very confident and he can get along with anyone. Maybe God has ministry plans for him! The only thing that ever hurt my heart was that God had me raising a precious little boy who lost his mom at the age of ten. I had NO idea how to help. I have lost very few people in my life, so many nights all I would do was talk or hug to help that grief!

Then we got Jazzy. The things that I worry about with her are much different. I spent almost the first nine months wondering if her parents were going to get their act together at the last minute and come and take her back. For those of you that know Jazz's story, you know that all of that ended in January. It was a day that I thought only happened in Hallmark movies or something...it was truly a day that was COVERED with God's hands. I am not going to tell the whole story, but I will say that the emotional happy ending came when both of Jazz's bio parents signed their rights to us.


Then came B. I worried about B for different reasons, mainly because she was a sad little girl when we got her and my heart broke over and over to think that my two year old had lived in at least 6 different homes since she was born. Unlike Jazz's parents, whom I never met...I have had the opportunity to be with B's mom many times. It is a strange feeling to feel as much emotion for my daughter's mom as I do for my daughter. I think often about what events in her life led up to her losing all three of her children. Many times, she has been very honest with me about what her life has truly been like and my heart breaks for her!


Why am I talking about all of this? I guess it is because I am thankful every day that God has allowed me to be their mom. I was reading a devotional earlier and it said in Psalm 113:9 that "He gives children to the woman who has none and makes her a happy mother. Praise the Lord!" God has given me my children, but He never promised me how long they would be mine. I guess all of these thoughts came to me because I received an e-mail today that Jazz's mom contacted our CPS worker. It just shot a jolt through me and reminded me that His promises are for today.


I don't know if that is how you feel when you have given birth to your children, but some days I just want time to freeze and we can all pretend that my children's lives will always be OK. However, I know that is not how life really is, so as Jason I head down this journey...my prayer is that we always remember that they ONLY way for us to truly make it through raising our children is to daily cling to Him!

Why Searching for Salt?

So there have been questions as to why my blog is titled "Searching for Salt". Someone even joked, "Is it because you are searching for a white kid?" They were oh so funny. Don't be offended by the question, if you don't know me and my family well. Our family of 7 is comprised of African American, Hispanic, Mexican, Bi-Racial, and Caucasian. So, race is something that is discussed often and usually very light hearted. I am sure the "heavier" conversations about race will take place when my kids get older. Here is our only "all of us"pic...Since I am talking about race. I have to tell about a funny conversation that I had with JB. I had read a news article written by African American families that were upset about white families adopting African American children. After I read the article, I had a conversation with JB about his feelings on it. I asked him if it is weird to be raised by 2 white parents, are there things he feels like he is missing out on, etc. Here is the funny part...I said, "You know JB, do you miss things like celebrating Kawanza?" His response was, "Kawanza??? I am not Mexican!" I just laughed...that is my son! I tell him all the time that the older he gets, the closer I get to his momma (who is in heaven)...cause some days, I need her to just remind me as to why I should not kill him. I think the second boys turn 13, they turn their brains over to the "hormone ruler". Here is a picture ofmy handsome son...but this really isn't an accurate pic because he looks serious in this pic and there is NOT one serious thing about him! I had to post the second pic, because that is an accurate pic of what JB is really like!

Ok, on to why my blog is titled "Searching for Salt". God has chosen a life for me that requires that I stay as close to Him as possible. Trust me there are days that I like to put my fingers in my ears and and pretend that what God has to say doesn't really matter. But, I can only do that for a short amount of time. Jason and I have found that there are a lot of people out there that love God, but don't understand what it means to follow after Him. I am not writing this from the stand point that we have it all figured out...just come and spend a day with us and you will see that we don't! But, we would love the have relationships with more people who truely understand what it means to seek God in all areas of their life. People will ask me "Why in the world did ya'll take in 2 more kids?". TRUST me it had NOTHING to do with the fact that Jason and I are good people or that we were crazy about the kids or that we just truely LOVE spending time with them...because actually, none of those statements are true. It is simply because we spent a LOT of time praying about what we should do and God asked us to. But, when I give that answer, people look at me with that face like...No, really why did you take them in?

Most of my days require that I check in with God all of the time. I have to have that constant relationship with Him. Because, my responsibility to these kids is not to just be their mom. But my responsibility to these kids is to show them and teach them about who Jesus is for as long as I have them. And, when you are raising CPS kids..."time" is an issue. It could mean years or it could mean weeks. One day I will have to stand before God and be held accountable for my actions.

Jason and I are just salt of the earth kind of people...not intersted in things or status or how cool we are...but more interested in what our life will look like to God when we stand before Him one day.

Going to the Chapel

So, my baby sister is getting married. Her and Ryan are getting married on August 1st in Cabo, right on the beach. I am so happy for her...Ryan is a great guy. He was able to put up with my five kids and my husband for about 5 days and he was a trooper...which means he is a keeper! Banita thinks he hung the moon!

We had a shower for Kris this weekend...it was a very nice shower! They got lots of goodies and it was nice to see family and friends that we haven't seen in a while. After the shower, Kris and Ryan came by to drop off something. By the time they were leaving, Banita had herself fully convinced that she was going home with Kris and Ryan. She ran into her bedroom and on the way out of the room, she yells "don't leab me Y an". She comes back into the living room with a pullup, a shirt, shorts, and one flip flop. Boy, she was ready to go! We had BIG alligator tears when they had to leave and she realized that she was not going with them.

Here are a couple of pics from the shower...that is my cute Maw Maw and mom, along with me and my sister.

Now I know...

I am about to start my 9th year of teaching. I have always wondered why parents are so excited about school starting. Now I know...some days I really enjoy being home with the kids...ok, actually maybe I have only enjoyed very few! I have realized that the kids and I do much better with structured activities...my husband also does MUCH better with a structured schedule. Usually during the summer, we get lots of projects done...but this summer, not so much. I sorta feel like we are on a hamster wheel that I would really like to get off of!

When I start feeling really like the walls are closing in...I just call B to wherever I am and put her on my lap and look right at that sweet smile. B is such a bright spot! A turkey of a bright spot...but, she sure is stinkin cute...some days it is a good thing!