The Wig!!!

Did you all know Mark had a twin sister? Isn't she lovely???? Not!!! This was taken after a long week of final exams. We are very proud of Mark for finishing his education while working full time. He is on track to finish his BA in Religion next summer. Then it is on to his Masters in Divinity. God has a special calling for him and we are very blessed to have him follow that calling. We couldn't let Mark have all the fun. Amber and Chantel got in on the action as well. This was a wig from the playhouse used for an event at Chantel's church for VBS. It was fun to let off some steam. I have pics of me in it too...but since I am the narrator I get to choose all the embarrassing photos. hehe

Adoption picnic

We recently had a get together with several other families in our State who have adopted from China. Some are just starting the process and as you can see many of them already have their precious children. It was amazing hearing how God placed each child in just the right home. His plans are so much bigger then we can imagine. As long as we just trust in Him and follow his guidance we are in store for things greater then our understanding. This picnic made me want to go and get my daughter even so much more. I cannot wait to see how she adjusts to us and us to her. I know it will be such a tremendous blessing for our family.

We have our RA

Today was such an awesome day!!!! We were driving home from Mark's dads house when my cell phone rang. It was our adoption agency letting us know that we received our Referral Acceptance. They originally told us it would take 2-4 months to get that back and ours came in 40 days. That is a biblical number you know!!!! God's timing is always fantastic. So now we are on cloud nine and ready to jump through hoops to get packed and get the nursery done. As of now it is still a storage room for all the junk we have some how accumulated over the past 16 years. Can you say garage sale???? So I can finally post a picture of our little blessing.

Another weekend in the great outdoors

Another weekend in the great outdoors. We had such a great time camping again. Not only did we hike, BBQ, sleep, run down a mountain from man eating bears...but we also had the opportunity to test our endurance on the obstacle course. This is usually only opened to the military and special groups but it happened to be open that day to campers as well. My favorite was the incredibly crazy swing that plumets you from higher then I have every swung before. As you can see our puppy is exhausted. We walked him silly this trip. We had a fabulous time..but it is always nice to come home.

Amber's Birthday Weekend

Well this was one wet and wild weekend. It was Amber's birthday so we took her, along with three friends, and Joey and one of his friends camping for the weekend. The girls had a blast as they had their own cabin while us old folks and the boys stayed in the camper. We slept with our windows open so we could hear if the girls tried to sneak out. Luckily for them they didn't. haha, just kidding. They would never do that. Four girls out wandering the woods in the dark. Can you say spiders??? We spent Saturday at the water park. Praise God for warm weather. The last time we went there it wasn't very warm out and Joey's lips turned blue. All in all it was a fantastic weekend away.

But I don't want another shot!!!

Well today was filled with "not such fun moments" because today was shot day...again. Today was our second visit to immunizations. Last time Joey watched Mark and I get our shots but he chose to wait until Amber got home from California to prepare himself for the idea of getting shots. Did I mention he is deathly afraid of needles???? Both my kids are. Infact when Amber had her blood drawn in January for her medical exam portion of the adoption she turned white as a ghost and all but passed out cold. Today wasn't much different. Joey decided he wanted to use the air gun rather then the needle shots so that was great. The only thing is that sometimes they can hurt worse. So after he got his first one, turned white as a ghost and worked so hard to hold back his tears of fear, he announced that he was done. He would come back next week for his next one. Well that wasn't going to work because I will be in Dallas next week and he still needed a total of three more shots. So he braved through the second one while Amber skated out without needing any today. She received all the vacinations she needed last year before her missions trip to Costa Rica. So the next trip to the hospital will be in about three weeks when we all return for at least one more shot. Joey is thrilled because he said he has at least 20 days that he doesn't have to think about shots. He will save it all up for the last day. haha

A beautiful day at the park

Precious Face!!!
Lucy adores Joey. It is soooo cute to watch! He just loves all the attention too.

The Lake looked so peaceful today.

Today was such a beautiful day. It is one of those days where all you have to do is look up in the sky and see all of God's goodness. Today after church we spent the afternoon with some friends at the park celebrating a birthday. Our friends daughter, Lucy, turned two. She is such a doll. I was able to get in some "mommy" practice today. I proved that I can walk a dog and hold onto a toddler at the same time. Whew!!! That's important in our household. My dog is currently my "baby" as my husband says and I needed to prove I can multi-task. We had such a great time and I am so thankful for the precious friends that God has blessed us with. In case you are wondering where Mark was.....He was the camera man.