Merry Christmas

Christmas was a big success for the Everitts. This was Tabitha's first experience with all of our Christmas traditions. We kicked off the weekend with Mammaw's Christmas party on Friday before Christmas. Then on Christmas Eve, our family spent the evening in Clearwater at the Christmas Eve church service at Skycrest with Kamden, Mitch, and Maddox and had dinner with them afterward. Tabitha's energy was through the roof. She could hardly contain the excitement in her. She was up, down, right, left, and every direction a 12 year old could possibly go.

She was able to open one present on Christmas Eve before Santa came. It was her Christmas pajamas. Before bed, the only request she had was to read the "Night Before Christmas." We told her that she could not come out of her room in the morning until we came to get her. We didn't want to miss out on her expression in the morning. We got up around 7 am and she was not awake. We waited until about 8:15 am and then woke her up. She had a hard time falling asleep the night before due to the anticipation, but when she did finally sleep, she slept hard.

Santa didn't disappoint. She got just about everything she asked for. It took her a while to recognize her "big" gift. But when she did see the iPod Touch, it was hugs all around to make sure everyone knew her joy. It has been her constant companion (within mom and dad's guidelines) for the past 24 hours.

The day continued on with presents a Gigi and Papouli's, Mammaw's, and then back at our house with presents from the PA Everitts. She was tuckered out by the end of the day and slept in this morning until almost 9 am. This a first for her... she is an early riser.

Today, we've spent the day opening and playing with presents. We've completed our post-Christmas purge. She was able to clean out her closet and drawers to make room for her new clothes, shoes, and toys. This was a first for her as she has never had so many things that she didn't have room to store it all. It was a great opportunity to teach her about giving to those who are less fortunate. Many of her clothes and toys are going back to help those who do not have the blessings that she now does. It was amazing to see her face, because she used to be the girl that got the hand-me downs from the abundantly blessed children. Now the roles are reversed in her favor.

As we put her to bed last night, we talked about the responsibility God has given us to raise her. It's awesome to realize that we only have 6 years to instill 18 years of life lessons. We only have a third of her childhood left. We talked about this with her and she said to us.... you can teach me three lessons each night before I go to bed and that way by the time I turn 18 I'll be all caught up. :) Oh, if it were only that simple, sweet girl.

As this update is being typed, we're in the process of filling in the missing gaps of her childhood. She is working with Gigi in her Easy Bake oven. While this is a gift that a 6 or 7 year old may request for Christmas, this is what Tabitha requested as a 12 year old girl. We happily fulfilled the request and are now making the memories that she missed out on. When she was 6 or 7, she was probably just trying to survive and make it to the next day. It's our prayer that she can have the next 6 years filled with little worry or care and be able to be the child she needs to be.

We still have lots of work as a family to do, but God is good. His blessings are new every morning.

Counting down the days until finalization! Hoping to get a court date after the new year to determine our finalization date.

Keep praying, Prayer Warriors!

3 weeks as a family!

Tomorrow will be our three week family anniversary! Needless to say, it's been the biggest three weeks of transition in our life. Tabitha is a champ. She has taken everything in stride. Her life has been full of transitions, so this is nothing new to her.

She started school at Ruskin Christian the Monday after Thanksgiving. She loves it there. She has made fast friends with everyone including her cousin, Micaiah. She is a bundle of energy and hops, skips, jumps, and runs everywhere she goes. She is also cheering on the JV Cher squad as well as practicing with the girls' basketball team. Her smile lights up when she gets to go to Wednesday night church with CORE (the middle school youth group). She is just a genuinely happy kid. After knowing what she has gone through, we are amazed at how happy and positive she is.

Of course, there are little things that we're working on, but little T is eager to please. We're sure it's just the honeymoon phase, and she'll jump into normal middle school mode soon enough. For now, we enjoy this sweet family time.

Every night, we read and pray together before bed. It's a great time for us to talk and bond. A part of our reading the other night was about how God uses hard times in our life for His glory. Tabitha said that she had hard times in her life, but she knew God had a purpose for it and now she has this wonderful family. (Insert melting heart). The best is hearing her in the shower besides it sounding like world war 3 just exploded in there... We get to hear endless singing and cheering in there. Some songs she evens make up like last week's was "daddy is awesome and mommy is pretty cool too!"

This past weekend we took her to Disney for her first trip. It was like she was five years old and full of excitement. As we went throughout the weekend, she kept saying "this is the best family experience ever!" Great memories were made, and it was super special for the entire family

We're very grateful for our friends and family who have stepped in and helped love on T in various ways from hanging out with her, doing homework, hugging, coaching, and caring. It means so much so her and she is overwhelmed with her new life. We don't know what the future holds for this special girl, but God has big plans.

Pray for us tomorrow. We have a court hearing to review her case and hopefully get some tentative plans set for adoption finalization in the spring.

Ps. Christmas cards are being sent out this week!