A Little Rosie News...

Haven't spotlighted Rosie lately...

She got 7 inches cut off her hair~ VERY cute~

She made varsity football cheer leading this year

and has had camp all this week~

She also has a summer job keeping my nephew's boys

but since she had camp this week, they stayed with us.

We swam every morning and the fav~ Popsicles!

A cute one of SJ~

Rosie also kept the littles last night

while we went out for our anniversary.

Here they are watching us drive away~

I tried to persuade Scott we didn't need to spend the money on dinner

but he said, "It's our 25th anniversary~

there are just some things you HAVE to do!"

Rosie shot these photos of us before we left.

I love this B&W one~

We had a great dinner away reminiscing over the first 25 years

and praying over the next 25-50 years. :)

We're shooting for our 75th anniversary!!!

Think I'll still be blogging??? LOL

The passage read at our wedding~

Ruth 1:16-17

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

Black and White Wednesday~

The Silver Lining~ 25th Anniversary

On the first day of summer and the longest day of the year,

I get to celebrate 25 years of loving my precious husband!

Today is our 25th silver wedding anniversary

and I sit thinking, reminiscing, and being thankful for silver linings...

In the song Josh sang Sunday, some of the lyrics say~

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think its more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don't you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining~

We have had some of the sweetest moments in our marriage

(births and adoptions)

and some of the saddest as well

(deaths and moves)...

all working together to make us who and where we are.

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do.

Scott and I are celebrating by being at home doing the normal things of life.

He is working in his home office.

I am taking care of children and doing house chores.

The thing that makes our marriage so strong

is not putting huge expectations on the other person.

We always thought we'd go away for an extravagant vacation to Hawaii

but instead we are home living life anticipating

our 'vacation' to China coming later in the year. :)

Sad? NO~ exactly where God would have us be!!!

Thought I would share a few of the silver lining moments in our last 25 years.

Our very first picture ever taken together in 1983~

Dated 3 years of my college years~

Got engaged in November of 1985~

My engagement announcement photo.

Rehearsal Dinner photo~

Married June 21, 1986~

Honeymoon bound~

Had our first baby, Savannah in 1989~

Amelia came in 1992~

Rosie was born in 1995~

Sarah Lenox and Parker were born and in Jesus' arms on their birthdays.

Then God began speaking to us about adoption.

In 2006, God sent us to China for EllaKate~

2010 God sent us back for ShayleeJoy~

This year we celebrated the marriage of Josh and Savannah~

becoming a bigger family with 5 daughters and one son~

and have SO much to look forward to...

sweet Will!!!

I am SO thankful God has allowed us silver linings over the last 25 years

and know He is just getting started!

The next 25 will be the best to come I am sure!!!

SO what are we doing to celebrate?

Living life at Lakeshore Drive with the blessings God has given us~

can't think of anything better!!!

James 1:17~

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

The Dress

Today as Savannah, the littles, and I

watched the Royal Wedding,

I couldn't help but become more and more excited

for 'Our Royal Wedding' one week from tomorrow!!!

WOW!!!

Savannah and I both LOVED the quote~

"every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and groom

as king and queen of creation,

making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future."

And then there was the dress!!!

The big girls have always kind of laughed about my wedding dress~

probably the neckline and sleeves...

but as Kate stepped out of her car this morning

and we were able to see her gorgeous dress!!!~

it really took me back to June 21st, 1986

and to my gorgeous dress "handmade"

(every single appliqué, bead, and piece of lace) by Ms. Retha

from a photo I found in a bride magazine.

I see a resemblance ~ do you???

And just look at my Prince Charming. :)

So as we begin the last week count down,

I am thinking back to our wedding

and our 25th anniversary we will celebrate in June.

A lot of reflecting and embracing going on here!!!

AND!!!!!

All my data (photos) on my crashed external hard drive WAS recovered

and is being sent UPS TODAY!!!

YAY!!!

You can be sure as soon as it arrives,

I WILL be backing it up online and to DVDs as well.

Won't ever make that mistake again!!! Whew!

Black and White Wednesday: Our 24th Anniversary

Scott and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary Monday
with an afternoon on the lake
and dinner in Greenville that evening @ Smoke on the Water.



As I reflect how couples make it 1, 5, 10, or 24 years...
I think it comes down to give and take with WAY more give!
Putting God first and foremost in our lives
and then each other...
allowing our children to see they come next in this hierarchy
only then do we strive to meet our own needs
taking us to the meaning of JOY in our family...
J~ Jesus
O~ Others
Y~ Yourself
When we love with this mindset,
our family is more likely to love wholeheartedly.

And then I'm right back to JOY...
a name we have given our precious daughter waiting in China.
It is not by chance we chose this name...
She is one of the gifts we have been blessed by
through the JOY we share as a family.

I am so thankful to be married to my very best friend
and someone I LOVE being with every single day.
I look forward to the next 24 filled with JOY.
Happy Anniversary sweetheart!!!

Blessings,

23 Wonderful Years!

What is more wonderful than being married to your very best friend in the whole world? I can honestly say with each passing year, our love has grown stronger and sweeter!!! Scott planned a night away in Atlanta for us. I rode in with him Friday and did a little shopping while he worked the morning. I picked him up and we went to the Bodies Exhibit @ Atlantic Station. If you haven't experienced this exhibit, you have to go. It was completely amazing!!! I don't think anyone could go in there and not come out completely in awe of God. You HAVE to believe when you see how intricate He created each person on this earth!!!



We moved on to our hotel downtown and dressed for dinner. We went to a very hip restaurant called Two Urban Licks- very delicious!!! Then to The Jersey Boys @ the Fox. It was so great!!! Very entertaining especially watching all the people that were reliving their days. There was some crude language but overall a great show!!! We enjoyed a delicious brunch in the hotel and then headed for home. We were so thankful to see our girls and Josh. We all enjoyed the rest of the day by the pool. I am very thankful for all the ways God has blessed my life over the last 23 years. By the way, they have flown by!!!




Blessings,

Date Night

Scott and I had a fabulous date. We took our boat out on the lake to a wonderful restaurant for dinner. Would you believe we saw Lynn and her family out on the water??? That was a great surprise. I think the sweetest part was riding home under a full moon right into our dock. The girls were happy to see us and we ended the evening with a movie and coffee. I love you honey!

I took pics with my phone- this is one I took of us with my arm stretched out.


Scott let me drive for a little while- I was wrapped in a towel because I was cold.


Lynn, Blake, and family: On their boat- they were camping at the Sail Club.





Blessings,

Our Anniversary Present

We went to Elberton today and chose two slabs of granite for our counter tops. Can you tell anything about it? We picked slabs that are very different from any other I have seen in houses. They have porous areas where you can see down into the granite- really cool. EllaKate loved it because it has 'sparkles'. They will probably be installed week after next.

What else have we done? Scott and Jeff have cleaned out tons of junk in the cross base and garages. They have also hung a few light fixtures, pulled out all the carpet, installed bead board in the garage, and taken out the old stove. The men have sanded on the floors for 3 days and hopefully will put on the stain tomorrow. We shall see. I took about 10 boxes of kitchen things and put them in the top cabinets today. That was exciting!!! Things are coming along. We plan to spend time tomorrow enjoying our pool and our girls!!!

Happy Anniversary and LID

We logged in for Shaylee one year ago today. I spent a lot of time today thinking about her and where she will be when we get our call. EllaKate talks about her little sister all the time. We can't wait for them to have each other!!! Wishing the Hendry family a happy LID day too. They are logged in with us and hope we all travel together to get Shaylee and Abby. We are praying for perfect timing and God's will for us to have the sweet girls He already has chosen for our families!!!

We have been married for 22 years today. We can't believe it has been so long... time flies when you're having fun! We weren't able to take a little trip due to our move and a party for Tony, so Scott planned a get away on the lake. We invited Jeff and Cathy (23rd anniversary on June 1) to go with us in the boat to a wonderful restaurant on the lake in South Carolina called The Galley. We all had a delicious meal and a fun time just talking and laughing. Can't think of a more romantic place to be with my best friend and precious husband than on the lake!!! Here are a few pictures from the evening...

Our Anniversary Present

June 21st was our 21st wedding anniversary, so we took EllaKate to our Hartwell house to stay with my mom while we went away for the night. This was only the second night I have ever slept away from her. The other time being last year on our anniversary when she barely slept all night. This year was great! She slept in her bed all by herself, all night! What a sweet girl. We went to Snowbird Mountain Lodge, and we had a fabulous time. On the way, we went through Highlands and did a little shopping. I am always on the lookout for one particular thing and this year I found the perfect table for our kitchen in Hartwell to give me a little more cooking space. It is beautiful! While there I had the wildest thought of how great it would be to get our log in date for our anniversary. Well, we checked on Friday and did not see any news. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed but knew God knew when. This morning, Scott went into work and checked his mail first thing. Guess what? It was there plain as day- we just missed it. We had received an email on June 20th that said...

To: W. Scott & Sharon Ankerich
Re: CCAI Log-In Date & Packet

Congratulations! Your dossier has been logged in by the China Center of Adoption Affairs.

Your official dossier log-in date (LID) is: 6/20/2007.
What a great anniversary present!!! I was actually driving to Hartwell when Scott called to tell me and I could barely stay on the road from all the screaming we all did. We are officially waiting on sweet baby Shaylee now. That's not all!!! Our friends, the Hendry family, were logged in on June 20th too, so we will be getting a baby from the same province and traveling to China together. God is AMAZING!!! We are praising Him for this great news!!!

20 Years Together

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. Mama came and kept Rosemary and Ella Kate while Scott and I went away for the night to Snowbird Lodge (pictures to come). We enjoyed the time together but really missed the girls. This is a picture of us holding a gift they made us. We are so proud of it and of them especially. We are blessed beyond belief!!!