Tex-Mex Slow Cooker Chicken was a dinner recipe selection in the Cozi Family Dinner Club, where we share family dinner recipes and then talk about how they went.

“This is the easiest chicken recipe I have! My kids love the chicken tacos we make with this. Leftovers are good heated or cold. I have even frozen half the recipe for use a couple week later.”

Make this delicious Tex-Mex chicken to serve with hard taco shells or tortillas and your favorite toppings like cheese, sour cream, salsa and olives.

Ingredients

• 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 packets taco seasoning
• 1 can (8 oz) green chilies
• 1 can (15 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, not drained
• 1 can (15 oz) mexicorn or canned corn, drained
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 oz) red beans, rinsed and drained

We had just sat down to this wonderful Thanksgiving dinner…

That these two amazing parents cooked…

for her first Thanksgiving in our family… we love you Annie!

when we were all interrupted by the first snow of the season…

Then my friend Shelly started thinking about adoption.  I Clearly decided to walk through the process with her, encourage and support she and her family in THEIR adoption and through it I wanted to start an adoption ministry at our church.  Sounds good.  Well, through the journey God touched my heart to add to our family through adoption.  I am still not sure exactly what happened, learning more about the children, seeing those sweet faces of children needing a family and God wrecking my heart at the same time, but bam there we were, thinking about adopting a child into OUR family.

So God gave us clarity and off we went.  We chose Guatemala and started the mountains of paperwork, wait, numerous trips to the post office, check writing, and did I say wait some more….   In fact, I still remember like it was yesterday after one of the many trips to the post office mailing documents, my 3 year old at the time said:  “Mommy did you get me from the post office too?”  Hilarious!

So you all know the paper chase, the highs and lows, but it all leads to that sweet child that God has chosen for you before the day they were even born. The adoption journey is very spiritual, and as you get closer one day and further away the next, you can see God in all the details and the joy and glory is His!   God blessed us with a baby boy, Joseph Peter.  Life is good, we have this beautiful family with the addition of the cutest tanned skinned Guatemalan.  Then a year later, we are called and receive the news that Joe’s birth mom just had a baby girl and did we want to adopt her?  Wow, I really was not sure that I could do ALL that paperwork again, but how could we not adopt our sons biological sister.  No way we could not invite her joyfully into our family.  No way!  Now the twist is that they were closing adoptions in Guatemala in 30 days.  So there were no guarantees.  We were told up front, we could start the adoption, no guarantees that we would get her before adoptions closed and the money paid would not be refunded..  Does anyone remember how expensive adoptions are in Guatemala?  Literally no guarantees!  All risk, expensive, all consuming!   So we say YES we want her and we are willing to take it all on.

So lets breathe for a minute and reflect.  God adopted us into His family.  He puts the lonely in families.  God takes risks on us.  We are messy, we are expensive, we are time consuming and disobedient.  God takes chances on us everyday.  He gave His one and only son to die for us.  How can we not do the same for another?  For an innocent lonely child.

Through many miracles and blessings we added Gabriela Marie to our family.  We are thankful, joyful and sleep deprived… ha ha.. But soooo worth it!  We thank God each and everyday for breaking our hearts for the children of the world.  The children that need a Mommy and Daddy to tuck them into bed each night, give kisses and hugs, give them siblings and love unconditionally.  Share the love of Jesus and everlasting life!

And, through it all God blessed us with an adoption organization…  Remember that was what I thought this would all turn into, helping Others  adopt.  By following God’s call for adoption came a precious Chinese girl named YaYa to Shelly’s family and handsome Joe from Guatemala to ours and a new adoption organization, Room for One More was born.  Following Joe’s adoption, God blessed us with Ella.  And following Shelly’s adoption of YaYa God blessed them with Elizabeth and now Eric too. We are passionate about helping children find their forever families  and bringing these sweet children home.   I could never have the passion for adoption if I had not experienced it personally.  Is God way too amazing or what!!  Check us out at www.roomforonemorechild.org.  God has blessed Room for One More to also include foster caer and orphan care all over the world.   I am so thandful we made room for one more, or two, or more……  Thank You God!

Okay so lets end this with Ella.  As I am writing this, while she is next to me eating a snack.   She says “Mommy I love you.”  I say, ” Ella, I love you too”.  Then she replies,  ” I love you Most!!!”  Now, that’s Priceless!

Hugs and Kisses from The Stroup Family,

Shari Stroup

Summer Lanterns- Easy

Summer is here and it’s the perfect time to sit outside and enjoy the evening.  But you will need a little light and these fun summer lanterns will do just that, as well as, provide you and your kiddies with a little bit of crafty fun.  My daughter Jenna and I loved making the lanterns so much last year that we had to do it again this year!

Step one:  Save a few cans (wash and dry them).   Any shape or size will do.

Step 3:  Take cans out of the freezer and have your kiddos draw fun shapes, pictures on the can.  We use a permanent marker.  It’s strong enough to mark on the frosty cans and actually comes off pretty easy a little later on in the process.  Although you might keep a close eye on those little ones while they have the marker out.

Step 4:  Adults only!!  You will need a mallet and a screwdriver.  Place the can on it’s side and gently pound small holes along the shapes your kiddos just drew using the mallet and screwdriver.  I like to put a towel under the can to help reduce the noise as well as help keep the can from slipping around.  Make sure to also place a hole on each side at the top of the can to connect your handle.

Step 6:  The handle (my kids favorite part)!  Cut a strip of wire and let the kiddos string beads on it.  Once complete help them wrap the ends of the wire through the two holes you placed at the top of the cans.  We also like to add little strips of ribbon at the edges of the handle.

Step 7:  Place your candle in the lantern. Hang and Enjoy!

Thanks Kim and family… I sure love you and very grateful for your friendship.  Please check out Kim’s blog- A Blissful Heart!

I had the crazy honor of meeting this amazing family last year.  They opened their hearts and welcomed adoption into their family.  When I heard about their home being destroyed by a tornado last month, I just had to ask them to share the miracle of adoption and survival!  Please take the time to read their story and leave them encouraging words in the comments this week!

OUR GOD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE

The one year anniversary of bringing Kloe and Jordan home was approaching and we had made plans to go camping in Memphis and make a visit to an Ethiopian restaurant.  It would be the kids’ first taste of injera in over a year!  But once again, the Lord had a different path for us.  On Friday April 30th at around 9:15 PM I was taking an online test when the internet went out.  A moment later my cell phone rang and it was my oldest daughter.  She said “Mom we are watching the news and there is a tornado and it is heading right for our street.”  The younger kids were in bed but I immediately ran to grab Nikki, while Luke got Kloe out of the top bunk and Jordan from his bed.  The guys moved the dining room table to the hallway of and we all got under.  We heard the radio say that it would be in our area in just about two minutes.  You never really think that it will hit YOU, but thank God we took the possibility seriously and got into the hallway.  We heard the tornado approaching and I knew we were in trouble.  Mark yelled “pressure” as our ears popped, and Luke yelled “PRAY” and we all did.  The house began to shake and the sound of breaking glass was everywhere.  I heard a loud explosion which later turned out to be the roof coming off our house.  The house picked up and we were in the air.  At that moment we had no idea if we would live or die.  I held my precious 3 month old in my arms and prayed to God I wouldn’t see my children die.  After only a few seconds we “landed” back on the ground.  There was insulation everywhere.  Dishes from the kitchen were in my lap.  Picture frames were over Jordan and Nikki’s head and Jordan’s shirt was somehow trapped between a wall and the floor.  BUT WE WERE ALL OK!!!  The table that was over our heads was gone but we remained.  Sheltered in the arms of the Almighty.  We walked straight down the hallway through broken glass and climbed out a broken window into the pouring rain.  Kloe kept crying “OUR HOUSE IS BROOOOKEN”.  We could smell gas from the neighbors house and I was so scared that some downed power lines might cause an explosion.  We decided to make our way to our van and get inside.  The windshield was broken and there was glass all over the front seats so we climbed in the back.  Nikki got in her car seat and was furiously trying to buckle herself in.  ”Buckle me!” she kept saying, and so I did.  Luke began to pray with the kids and praise God for the miracle of saving us all.  The kids went from terrified to almost happy.  It was raining so hard and still storming, but every time the fear would come we would just pray.   I had Mark’s cell phone so I texted our status to his facebook “Van Druff house destroyed by tornado, but our AMAZING God has saved each and every one of us!”.  We had gotten text message out to some friends and they were trying to get to us and get us out.  At one point we tried to run to the road but were shouted back by our neighbors because of downed power lines.

HOW CAN YOU HELP THE VANDRUFFS?

Amazingly enough, their mailbox is still standing. Let’s give generously to bless this amazing and humble family.

“If people would like to give, every gift will put us closer to being able to rebuild without financial hardship, and we are really praying that God will make a way for that.  (Our mobile home was insured at 85K, but to rebuild will cost more like 130K because we don’t feel right getting another mobile home.)  It is so hard when you have a big family as you can’t live comfortably in the typical 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 1400 sq. ft. home that is the norm!! LOL.  I constantly remind myself that this is no surprise to God!  HA.” (mom, Renee)

Our paypal is

and our mailing address is:

Mark and Renee Van Druff
50 Rockefeller Blvd
Ward, AR 72176

What adoption means to me….

Since we adopted I have come to a deeper understanding of how my heavenly Father loves me.  I rejected Him and yet He loved me.  I had nothing to offer Him and yet He loved me.   What a beautiful, perfect, unconditional love.  Our adoption has not only revealed the Father’s love for me, but it has given me ample opportunity to practice giving this kind of love to my children. (adoptive mom, Renee)

Dear Ia Williams,

You are officially my #1 crazy adoption fan!!  You have no idea how much fun it’s been for me to meet you in bloggy land and your big crazy adoption family!!  I adore Nina and can’t believe we have not all met in real life, but we certainly have a special connection of the heart!  Thank you for our 5 handmade knit hats- a sprinkle of Norwegian love!  We love them and have been wearing our hats around the house… can’t wait until next winter!  Your passion and heart for adoption has made a huge impact on your family.  I have a little surprise for you… a special “happy” from your daughter Nina sharing why you are so crazy amazing!

xoxo

“So I’m sitting here racking my brain, to think of a fun story about my mom, and all I can think of is how sweet and sentimental my mom is.  Aside from my dad, she loves her children more than anything in the world.  I have two older brothers, Erik & Rune, and we fought like cats and dogs throughout our entire childhood.  Still DO sometimes!  :)  She was a serious trooper for putting up with us for so long! And now with the added spouses, 5 grandchildren (with three more on the way!)  One for us, and two for my bro, and sis-in-law in Oregon also adopting from Ethiopia, and 3 dogs!!  It’s usually chaos when we are all together (which is about twice a year.)  But my mom loves it.  She loves having us close, and being so far away from all of us is so difficult for her and my dad.  She has been knitting these hats and sweaters since we were babies.  When I was very little, she even knitted my dresses.  In Norway, when my mom was a little girl, all the girls had to learn to knit.  She excelled at it.  Of course, she’s an amazing seamstress too, always making us costumes for school and special occasions.  When we were young, we didn’t realize how special the things she made for us were.  And as a girl, anything different from the norm, was not so cool to wear.  My mom’s sweaters, while beautiful, stood out in junior high, so I wasn’t super gung ho about them.  Now, I can’t wait to get my next one.  All of us siblings argue over who gets the next one because we love them.

So obviously, my parents have given us the world and more.  The experiences they have allowed us to have, and the places they have taken us is more than we could ever have asked for.  I’m so glad my dad chose to sit next to my mom on a 30 hour bus ride through Scandinavia, because otherwise, I may never have come into this world to experience such a wonderful life with such an amazing mom (we call her Mamma, by the way.  Not Mama, mommy, or mom.  Simply Mamma.  Pronounced “Mum-a”.  It’s the Norwegian version of mom.)”  Nina Mullins, adoptive mom-to-be.

Thank you, Ia for making such a difference in the crazy adoption world!!

xoxo Kari

Just for fun:)

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I’m thrilled to introduce you to the Tucker Family.  Take a peek at Angie’s amazing blog, Giggles and Curls. Here is their crazy adoption story …

Four years ago this week, I became a mother…in India.  My husband and I boarded a plane to Kolkata, India, knowing that in a matter of hours, the child we had studied in the limited amount of pictures we received would materialize into real-life.  It had been a long road to our daughter.  After 5 years of marriage, we decided that it was time to start a family.  Just like so many other couples out there, it wasn’t as easy as it was supposed to be.  The culprit, in our case, was endometriosis…a nasty & severe case. While recovering from a procedure to relieve some of my pain, I started thinking about all of the children out there who were just waiting for a family…waiting to be loved.

Dustin and I had always been open to adoption.  In fact, at the start of our marriage, he and I talked about how we would like to have a couple of biological children and then adopt. We started researching international adoption, but decided to go ahead and meet with a fertility doctor.  Sitting in the waiting room at the specialist’s office, I looked around at the faces of the couples sitting in the room with us.  Some couples looked hopeful, and some emotionally drained.  I remember thinking to myself, “Why am I here?  I have a child in India waiting for me.” After our consultation with the fertility doctor, he confirmed what we suspected.  There was little to no chance of me getting pregnant without extensive medical intervention.  We could have moved forward with fertility treatments, but something didn’t feel right.  We left his office and the very next day took our first steps in the direction of adoption.

The next 2 ½ years were a whirlwind of emotions…anticipation, worry, fear of the unknown and love, immense love, for a child we had never met. Our adoption agency, Dillon International, was supportive, honest and patient in every way.  Jynger Roberts, our case manager, was an angel (even when my devilish impatience would rear it’s ugly head!)  We received constant affirmations from God, time after time.  Small, subtle nudges let us know that we were on the right path…the path that God had chosen for us.  We eventually accepted the referral of Supritha (su-pree-ta), a stunning baby girl with eyes full of wisdom and a head full of onyx black hair.  Today we call her Mia Supritha.  “Mia” means (literally) “mine”, and Supritha in Bengali means “good love”.  The name we gave her and her Bengali name fused together mean “my good love.”

Our plane touched down 15 minutes before Mia’s first birthday.  At the stroke of midnight, new friends & family – people who had never held her, but had carried her in prayer, serenaded Mia with the Happy Birthday Song in the middle of the airport.  It was a touching scene, and one that we will never forget.  One year after we brought her home, another miracle occurred.  We became pregnant.  Mia’s baby sister was born 3 months early, weighing 1 lb. 8 oz.  Once again, God revealed his love.  Today we have two beautiful, healthy girls.

Four years ago this week, I celebrated Mother’s Day weekend in India, and held Mia for the first time.   And for the first time I felt what it was like to love a child the way a mother loves her child.  And four short years ago, I understood more clearly the Father’s love for us.  It’s a love that is pure.  It’s a love that is true.  It is forever.

Please leave them some crazy love in the comments!!

Tucker “Gotcha Day” Video

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