10 Days in Atlanta!!!

This was too good not to post! I took this on my cellphone this past weekend. Elizabeth is the FUNNIEST when she's just eaten (that's the only time she's ticklish too). She was oh so proud of herself and her eating on this day.

This is my toothy wonder loving her *3* new teeth ^>^ ...she's dayz from taking a big stroll too...WOW! Took about *7* steps tonight!! She's had a hard couple of days...my 1st 2 days of work. It's been good but am a bit WOW-ed w/ new new new and more new at work...sat in a mtg today about partnering w/ a ministry that encourages folks to partner w/ homeless - have a Young Adult Volunteer aspect to it too. WONDERFUL! It's SOOOOooo energizing and HEALTHY here...PRAISE GOD!!!!! And WORSHIP!! OH MY again!!! The sanctuary was FULL on Sunday, the music was SPLENDID, the Advent banners were OH SO classy, good sermon, and there were so many different kinds of faces...and all were equally and welcomed w/ such hospitality [including the cute lady creeping down the aisles w/ a smile on her face quietly shushing everyone and then finding a seat beside a nice and friendly pristinely dressed woman who welcomed her!]! I just wept!

Other Turnage updates...
*We are still amongst boxes...merging 2 houses is a real trick...oh my oh my...but we are making baby steps...2 guest rooms>1, 2 kitchens> 1, and 2 garages>1 are the biggest tricks.
*Mom&Dad are sick sick of boxes but incredibly thrilled to be in this new and oh so refreshing worshipping environ. They are champs at juggling boxes (and not tripping over them too much!) and granddaughters!
*Cath hit the wall last Thurs missing Mrs Fennell and her class BADLY, but she's been a real champ since then...little bumps. On my way to take her to school my 1st day of work i asked her what she was thinking on the way to school her 1st day last week she said 'i was a little worried and scared, but i knew my friends would help me thru it.' ...beautiful "Miss Matter of Fact"!
*Elizabeth has done GREAT til I went to work...eating like a crazy woman...cutting teeth and sharing a NASTY cold w/ me and mom. She's
OH SO close to walking...Friday night took 3-4 steps to Catherine in the middle of the prayer/blessing circle at the Search Cmte supper party...oh so darling!
*more pix later!

MORE ADVENT blessings to you all!
L! and crew!

The Lastest!

WOW!!! Assuming most of you got to this blog via our email blast, you know our new address/#s. We are so excited about this new venture. We will post more when we get to Atlanta...this will be the last post from Mt Pleasant (i'll figure out how to flip that last pix when i'm not on Dad's IMac). But I wanted you to have/see pix of the girls before we left. These were taken on the beach on Christ the King Sunday...Cath 'preached' on the Holy Spirit, and Elizabeth fell asleep in my arms. It was a wonderful, but cold, day! [Elizabeth is 14 months TODAY, Cath is a week from being 6 *AND ONE-HALF!*!!]

Our house is empty...we are having a 'sleepover' at Mom & Dad's (last night, tonight, tomorrow night)...then Thursday after Cath's party in her honor in her class, we hit the road!! [Movers hope to finish loading on Thurs a.m. - pray!] Now pray our houses sell immediately and sell well!!! We will be in a hotel in Atlanta Thurs and Friday night (we close on the house on Friday a.m.!), and unload the gigantic 18wheeler on Saturday. WOW!!!

Cath starts her new school on Monday and i'll start to work the following Monday (the correct website address is www.central-presbyterian.org ). Stay tuned for another update before Christmas. Ain't this going to be a wonderful ADVENT in the Turnage family! ...new school, new home, new family configuration, new job,...God IS good!
Thank you all for your prayers and notes! Obviously updating this blog is going to be our Christmas letter this year, but we can't wait to hear your Christmas news and updates.

Blessings and love to you and your families as we move into this amazing Advent season!
L! and crowd!

Look What's NEXT!!!

We are headed to ATLANTA!!! Central Presbyterian Church www.central-presbyterian.org has issued me a call to be their church educator. Last day of work here is Nov 14 and we HOPE/PRAY to move into our new house (WITH Mom/Dad) on Nov 30. Nov 11 was our last day of worship and we were nicely celebrated in worship and at a reception Thank you MPPC for your cards and notes! Your kind words are overwhelming. We will miss you dearly.

Stay tuned! We'll have more info out asap - pix of today's festivities and new numbers and addresses.

A FOR SALE sign went in our yard today...Mom & Dad have had one in their yard for 2 dayz. WEIRD! Anyone who wants to help me box my office is welcome anytime this week!!! Bring a box ^>^

More details out soon!
Don't stop our wonderful prayers for all these transitions!

Blessings and love to all!
L! and the girls!

Time at Home...get to know this new family...

Oh the tricks and milestones we celebrate! Sometime this week we will have 2 nights in a row of sleeping thru the night! Everytime I brag on Elizabeth and Catherine both getting a full night's sleep, one or the other of them wakes up and is up for 1-2 hrs. UGH!...this jetlag! I KNOW it's almost over! ^>^

Catherine and Elizabeth get along SPLENDIDLY! Catherine DOES like to check out my level of love for her periodically, tho, but nothing abnormal! Cath can make Elizabeth giggle faster than anyone. She's a GREAT big sis! She's gotten the 1st laugh, the 1st kiss, the 1st hug, ...she'll probably get the 1st walk too!

Elizabeth is having several doc tests run this week. She had *4* shots last Friday and seemed to weather them and their aftermath w/ just a little irritation. The nurse said "WOW! She's tough!" We have to 'test' for all kinds of blood stuff...nothing scary...just making sure on what vaccines we need to re-do. [we re-did ALL of them for Catherine].

Elizabeth looks to be a little more introverted than Cath...she O.D.ed on Sunday, had a quiet Monday, and seems to be on a better cadence this week.

TRICKS: She crawled a real crawl - from living room to kitchen [she was hungry ^>^] - for the 1st time on Monday (the 8th!). (She's been sitting up, leaning out prone, rolling over and sitting up again, and so on to get around... ...that process just got quickened ^>^ ) We are FINALLY on TABLE FOODS too - that's huge! Now if we can move off a heated bottle, we'll be in GREAT shape! A "high 5" is in the making, she signed 'more' tonight, AND her wildest 'trick': she blows her nose at will ^>^ [it's just a funny noise unless she has a cold ^>^ ]

This pix is tonight post-bathtime - obviously: ...Big Sister/Little Sister shirts...and all their CWA (Christian World Adoption - CWA) and other China bears.

Your notes and cards and emails and texts and above all, PRAYERS are amazingly wonderful and appreciated!!!!!!!!
Blessings and love to you all!

Catherine & Elizabeth in Changsha

This pretty much describes what the girls thought of the 'photo shoot' we did on our next to last day in Changsha (now almost 2 wks ago)! I have 2 DELIGHTFUL books of pix and a 'screen' of each of the girls, plus the CD these came from. WHAT a TREASURE!

Cath got to have her hair all done up and make-up on...Elizabeth didn't smile for a one, but we got some pix to treasure!

We are SLOWLY getting schedules back to normal. Catherine is doing better than Elizabeth and I are. So THANKS AGAIN for your wonderful prayers, notes, calls, gifts, emails, texts...your support and TLC means OH SO much to us!

Blessings and love to you all!

L, C, & E!

Elizabeth & Mimi en rt home AND our travel 'cousins'

We're home!

WOW!
The best thing about Sept 27 was that it was Elizabeth's 1st b-day and we got home! It was incredibly long and fairly rough trip...the planes were fine, food OK, but sleep was nonexistent for at least one of us at all times on that long trip. The HongKong>Chicago was hard, but we made it! AND Elizabeth will be able to say her 1st b-day was literally 36 hrs long! ^>^

Jetlag is harder than i remember...that stay-up-too-late feeling is still here on day 3 at home. BUT - Catherine Eason just left after spending 3 nights w/ us to help organize, order, re-enter, play w/ Catherine, debrief, sort, feed, and more! She was God-sent! She'll need 3 days to recoup from all she did for us!

We all can't thank you enough for your prayers! And don't stop! There is SO much new for all of us...we haven't put Elizabeth in her exersaucer and jump seat yet b/c they are such loud colors ^>^, but she can tear it up on the walker: including LIFTING it over the quarter-inch threshold kitchen<>living room!

We have a well-baby check up this week i am really looking forward to. Elizabeth is a bit behind in moving to table food (which was NO problem for Catherine). She eats OK, but not to FULL, so fills with a bottle which means we are doing a lot of diaper and bed changing as we figure out these food<>sleep<>play<>potty schedules. ...that makes nights long and weird. As many of you traveling w/ children know, you can rejoice w/ us in our glee that Elizabeth is "regular" and that is a huge blessing amongst all this change for her.

Catherine is a FANTASTIC big sister! She and Elizabeth just GIGGLE at each other! It's delightful! Cath can get a smile and a lunge and a giggle out of Elizabeth faster than anyone!

I'm going to post a few pix and get more details to you here soon. This will be our primary way of getting info out to folks for a while. I'm hoping to be off for the month of October, but we'll see how that goes. There is PLENTY to acclaimate to! ^>^

Thank you again for your prayers, texts, calls, emails, visits, and ALL your support! Don't stop! We love and appreciate each of you!
Blessings and love -
L! for C & E too!