Blast Off!

We had home educators classes tonight. We began making rockets which we plan to launch this May. Here are a few photos of the project.

This past weekend we bought new bikes for the girls. We had only intended on buying Emma a new bike. She needed a bigger bike and was ready for gears. We had planned on letting Niah use Emma's old bike. Niah convinced her Daddy otherwise when she said, "Dad, flower and princess bikes are not my act!" Dad asked what kind of bike she wanted and she showed him a red, boys dirt bike. He thought this was so funny and she got her bike. I am just glad she will have brothers to hand it down to!




Speaking of that little brother, we received the second revised copy of our homestudy today! I'm hoping this will be the final copy. We hope we will be Gladney approved soon. We are praying for those families with court dates tomorrow. Some have been waiting so long and our hearts and prayers go out to you all!

Surgery Day

Here Jason is, with his crooked thumb, waiting for surgery. He was not scared at all and was a very brave boy.



Here is Jason with a perfectly straight thumb after surgery. He was a little groggy at first, but brightened up when he saw his Twizzlers. Thirty minutes later he was dressed, in the wheelchair, and waiting to be escorted to his car. Children are absolutely amazing when it comes to tolerance of medical procedures. When we got home he ate a whole sandwich and wanted to play at the park! We are praising the Lord today as his hand of protection was over our little boy. Niah is playing "God is so Good" on the piano. That about sums our day up!

That's a crooked thumbs up to snow!

My four year old loves to give us the thumbs up. I'm glad for this as I noticed that the thumb on his right hand seemed to be more bent than the one on his left hand. The first time I noticed it my husband, a physician assistant, was working urgent care and didn't get home until midnight. So, being a good mother, I forgot all about it. A few days later Jason was telling me he was going to be five and I noticed the bent thumb again. Duh! I ran to show Brad. He told me Jason had a trigger finger. Jason went to the orthopedic surgeon the next week and the Dr. said he has a cyst in there. So, he will have to have a little surgery to cut it out. Jason is actually very excited about the whole thing. We'll see how he feels when he wakes up with stitches.

The kids were pretty excited about the new snow over the weekend. In their hearts I can see they are anxious for spring too as they made a snow bunny instead of a snowman.

No word back on the revised home study. We appreciate your prayers and encouragement.

Gross Anatamy and Homestudy

We went to a children's museum over the weekend. The girls took turns climbing the rock wall. Niah made it all the way to the top! When she was finished she told me she was shaking up there. I would have been more than shaking. Jason loved the fire truck area. The new exhibit for the month was gross anatomy. The kids learned about burps, toots, snot, urine, and everything else-yucky. They had a blast.

We were excited to receive the rough draft of our homestudy last week. Hooray! Gladney has had it since Wednesday for review. Please pray that the review and revision goes quickly so we can move on to the waiting stage. Grandma and Grandpa sent us this picture of Niah trying out her new snowboard. This is from their visit last weekend. They have a great hill just across the street from their house. The kids always have a blast there.

Family Unity

Sunday's are the greatest days. We spend most Sundays going to church and then hanging out with my brother's family. They have seven children ranging in age from three months to fourteen years. My kids have so much fun playing with their cousins. They are making memories to last a lifetime. I have to admit I have a lot of fun playing with the kids too and hanging out with my best friend and sister-in-law Jackie. This last Sunday we celebrated Holly's fifth birthday. Holly is in the red dress on the back of the couch. I talked the kids into a group photo by asking them to make their crazy faces and the adults joined in too! I was able to snap a photo of most of them smiling in between silly moments. We also spent some time on Sunday watching old films from when my mom was a baby. My dad recently put these on DVD and brought them to me this last week. It was so awesome, and emotional, to see my grandparents and other family in their youth.

The kids were also happy to spend some time with Brad's parents over night Friday and Saturday with Dad while I worked on a continuing education class. They got to go sledding and bowling and had a blast. Brad didn't take a camera so I don't have any pictures. Maybe Grandma can send me a few?

My husband and I have been discussing all the blessings the Lord has bestowed on us lately. It is one of the reasons we feel called to adopt, to share our many blessings. Listed at the top of these blessing is our family. Weekends remind me of the precious gift that family unity is. The Bible tells us this in Psalm 133:1 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for a brethren to dwell together in unity!" I know Brad and I are seeking to maintain unity in our family as God has called us to do.

Good Friends

Our good friends, Dave and Michele, gave us this coffee for Valentine's Day. They said they saw it at the store and couldn't pass it up. We were very touched by their thoughtfulness. It is amazing the emotions that anything with Ethiopia attached to it elicit for us. It is as though drinking this coffee brings us one step closer to holding our little boy. It is wonderful to have friends who we can share this experience with. As a side note, the flowers in the background were a surprise from my friend Tiffany. They were delivered on Valentine's Day. So beautiful! This post goes out to all of our wonderful friends who have been so supportive with our adoption. We love you guys!

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's day was spent doing crafts, making heart shape pizza's and hanging out with babysitter, Kelsi, while Mom and Dad got away to do some shopping. Mom and Dad were feeling happy and relaxed after an afternoon away and the kids had a blast.

We are also happy to announce that we have a new member to our family. We received a call tonight from our brother and sister-in-law with the news of their new puppy! We are excited to meet her and look forward to many puppy tales!