Happy New Year!

Seriously...best year ever! I feel like I can't say enough of what a great year 2011 was. We were talking about what all the amazing things that happened and what we are looking forward to and praying for in 2012.

1. Had a great vacation, last time just the 2 of us, to Hawaii in March.
2. We got to be at the ultrasound where we found out our baby would be a little girl.
3. Got to spend all kinds of time with Miss Amy before little Emsley was born.
4. We were able to be at the birth of our daughter, Emsley Breanne on April 17th.
5. I became a stay at home mom and have been loving it!
6. Celebrated our 6th anniversary by going to the aquarium with Emsley & a date afterwards alone.
7. Celebrated many first holidays with Emsley....she is so cute.
8. Watched Emsley learn so many new things: smiling, cooing, clapping, waving, laughing, crawling.
9. Spent plenty of time as a family of three with our friends and family.
10. Fell more in love with each other!

But I think this year will be even better. Emsley will be turning 1 and we have another great vacation planned to Hawaii with family. This will also be the year that Emsley's adoption will be finalized, which will be a pretty amazing time for our family. But my prayer is that God allows us to be not only good parents to Emsley but also that she will see Christ in us as she learns and grows more. We desire to see God at work in our family in extremely amazing ways. I'm looking forward to what God does in us...places we go, people we meet, or ways He uses us to further His kingdom.

So, here is to 2012!

My First Mother's Day

I have been meaning to post about what Mike and Emsley did for my very first Mother's Day. This day meant so much to me...I have had so many Mother's Days dreaming about what it will be like to be a mom. But Mike, being the amazing husband he is, made me feel like so special. We went to church and they asked any new moms of a month or less to stand up...I was the only one. Then the woman who had been a mom the longest stood up and it was something cool to thing that one day I will be there. When Emsley is older and I have parented her with as much ability as God has given me, I will be there. Then we went home to feed Emmy and then went to lunch at Johnny Rocket's at the Block in Orange. Emsley was a little fussy but let us enjoy our meals and reminiscing over past years as we waited for God to bless us with a child. Then Mike handed me a card that said "To my mommy" on the envelope. "Emsley" got me a card and wrote some sweet things about how much she loves me and is glad that I am her mommy. Then "she" got me a frame that says I heart mom and Mike printed pics to put a picture of her and me in it.

Then Mike got me a card and it brought me to tears. We have been through so much together over the years and he told me that he loves me more each day as he sees me being a mother to Emsley. That man...my goodness he is wonderful. Then he hands me a bag and before I open it, he says that he was going to get me a cliche gift of jewelry or something but wanted to get me something a little more special. He got me the perfume I have been wanting forever (Stella McCartney Nude)...and said that he wants Emsley to have a scent to recognize me by. So sweet and thoughtful...again, brought me to tears.

It was by far the best day ever. I felt so loved and cherished by the two people who mean the most to me in the world. Mike is an amazing husband and he and Emsley made me feel so special. I cannot wait till Father's Day to show Mike how much he is totally, completely, and unconditionally loved by his girls!

My cousin's wedding...

I know...I know. I have been totally M.I.A. for a couple weeks but I am back and you will be excited to know that I am gonna blog more (maybe even 2 tonight!!).

Ok...so this past weekend my cousin Danielle got married at the Lake Arrowhead resort. It was a beautiful day and a gorgeous setting for a wedding. It was fun to stay in a cabin with my family and get all dressed up!


My cousin and her new hubby Rudy looked great...and this is gonna sound weird but my grandma was the officiant of the ceremony. At first, I thought it was odd but she did an amazing job. She got certified for the day and pretty much rocked it. My grandpa died about 14 years ago and you could tell that she was missing him seeing yet another granddaughter get married. But he was deeply remembered and by her officiating, she brought a little piece of him with her. Here she is with her granddaughters.

All in all the wedding was great but it is sure great to be back home!

What an event!

Today was the start of a long weekend for me. At Biola, we are celebrating Homecoming. It is a fun tradition we started last year to encourage our alumni, friends, students, faculty, and staff of Biola to come and "Revisit, Reconnect, Reunite." (Which was our theme this year!) We have been planning this event for months now and even though I don't do much of the planning, I get to be a minor part in the process. I created the website and took all the reservations. Sometimes being at a Biola event, I start to wish that I had the typical college experience. I'm not so much jealous that about living in dorms or eating in the cafe, but I am jealous of the relationships that remain after all these years.

While celebrating with our grads from 50 years ago, our Golden Eagles, I got to see people who spent years of their lives together reconnect after all these years. It was absolutely beautiful and is exactly why this is my favorite event of the year. God is so amazing the way he leads people to this school and how he keeps their values and love of Biola the same. I don't talk to any of my friends from college. And the friends I do have on facebook from Cal State Fullerton, I would not want to get together with. We are very different and our values in life are different. The people who have friends from Biola have Christ as their connector and that is something to cherish.

This is really why Mike and I really appreciated and not taken for granted the amazing friendships we have at church because they are the friendships that are eternal. They are the friends that we will not only have while on earth but know that we will see them in Heaven as well.

Well, God is good and is doing great things at Biola!!!!

Looking back on 2009...

Since today is the last day of 2009, I am starting to think back to what a crazy year this was. Mike and i celebrated our 4th anniversary together with a great vacation to Palm Springs...we moved to a great home in Irvine...these are some of the good things we remember. But this year was also one of the hardest years I have ever experienced. We started seeing a specialist for infertility...went on infertility meds and after a long unsuccessful 3 months of those we officially started the adoption process.....watched over 10 friends get pregnant and have their babies...

And sooo much more. We also have been very very blessed with amazing friends who have walked with us in all these good and bad times.

Things we are looking forward to in 2010...bringing home our first baby!!!! And along the same lines, I cannot wait to see Mike hold our baby and be a dad. He is going to love our children so much. Becoming a mommy in 2010 will be an amazing adventure! I know this year will have ups and downs too but I think that God has strengthened us and prepared us individually and together to walk forward into this year with our heads held up high and knowing that this year will be GREAT!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Love, The Wise Family

Sorry for not being a faithful blogger!

Well I apologize for not being good at blogging lately. I am kinda taking a little break from blogging to deal with some minor medical issues and get through the holidays.

Thanks for reading this blog (to my 5 faithful followers)!!! I promise I will update you with any new info on our adoption or life in general as it comes up!