Introduction to the Atchley's

Chris and I have always been "by the book" kind of people.  We completed high-school, attended college, met, dated for a few years, got engaged, married and started our careers.  It took a few years for Chris to further his education as well as hard work before we were able to obtain a solid foundation to build our marriage and life on.  We encountered many obstacles most young couples face but with each one overcome we gained confidence in ourselves and our relationship.  However, our hearts were heavy and filled with grief at the loss of Chris' adored mom during this time.  Each sad day passed by as life went on with reminders that there were promises made to succeed in every way we could.            Chris and I thought we had everything pertaining to a somewhat perfect life as two young individuals in love strived to accomplish, until our miracle and most precious gift from God was bestowed upon us, our first daughter Carley.  Carley was our light, a blessing to continue on with a happy-filled life.  We were love struck all over again but in a way we could never have imagined, this tiny life captured our hearts and seemed to complete our family.  We were finally settling down in a home, feeling the rewards of our hard work paying off, and living a comfortable family life.  Then, two years later we learned we were missing something in our comfortable family life and we did not realize it until our second daughter, Keira, was born.  Keira added lots of sugar and spice to everything about us, her beautiful spirit has brought so much more love plus a multitude of laughter to our family.      The chapters in our "book" that became filled with many young family adventures seem to have been written so quickly with our daughters already at 5 and 7 years old.  Although our girls are still very young it feels like we are already on a new phase of our life and it is time to write some new chapters.  The decision to expand our family has been an on-going topic for a few years now but time passes so quickly, it turns out the time used to think, was the time that would have been ideal to make a decision.  We are still young and nothing is stopping us from expanding our family but we decided to embrace our next phase of life and move on while enjoying every single moment with each other.      Chris and I often discuss our family values and the life we would like to continue to lead, this conversation often includes the topic of his mother, Carla.  Carla was the individual everyone looked up to, admired, and aspired to be like.  We like to have the attitude of going the extra mile on everything we do, but wonder what can we do to really make a difference, to carve a niche in this world and do good?  What would be the ultimate experience to teach us what life is really about, set examples for our daughters, show God's love?  We were recently introduced to such an opportunity that seemed to grab at our wants to fulfill a greater cause.  We have a family member who is involved in a Christian based program through New Horizons for Children to host International orphans in America for summer and winter programs.  They search for children who have a "resilience factor" in their lives that helps them to overcome past obstacles and difficulties.  It is intended to give these children an opportunity to get away from the orphanage for a summer or winter and see America, as well as integrate with a loving family.      Chris and I read about the program and decided this is exactly what we have been looking for.  So, our next chapter for Summer of 2011 begins.  We are hosting a 15 year old Ukranian girl, Masha, for five weeks this summer and are very excited about it.  We have been spending the last month in preparing our daughters, learning Russian, completing lots of paperwork, and making other various arrangements.  We are not sure of how our adventure will unfold but it is something we look forward to and proceed on with open hearts.