A very special day

What a beautiful Sunday as we watched our Goose follow the Lord in believer's baptism. She has been asking to do this for quite some time but had been encouraged by our pastor to wait until she was 8. Well this was the first Sunday that she was 8 and though she was excited, she was nervous to stand before everyone. She wrote out her testimony so Pastor could read it for her and imagine her surprise when he asked her to read it herself? She did a beautiful job and here it is below:

"I was four years old when I asked Jesus into my heart. My parents had explained to me that the bad things I did and thought were sins and that Jesus died so my sins could be forgiven. I knew that’s what I wanted Jesus to do for me and I prayed to Jesus, asking Him to wash my sins away and come and live in my heart. Since then I have learned more about Jesus and how much He loves me. I try to live the way He says to in the Bible and I’m happy to know I belong to His family."

Afterward she was so relieved and excited to know she had followed Jesus example and obeyed God's Word.

Acts 2:38 "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

Another 8 year old

These photos uploaded in the wrong order but this is a glimpse of Goose's party. God answered our prayers and held the rain off until today so we enjoyed a beautiful outdoor party. Among all the fun things we played some "egg games" for her chicken/egg themed party. The kids had an early egg hunt (which was a first for 3 of our guests), an egg/spoon relay race and this egg toss. This game was hysterical as we ended up pitching the eggs to our teammates and they would bounce and roll across the ground, seemingly unbreakable! Apparently we have some tough hens as our fresh eggs were very durable. We did finally declare a winning team however.


One of Goose's highlights was this giant jar of gumballs. It's shrinking amazingly quickly already. Oh, you'll also notice that 3 days earlier she got her cast off and if thrilled to be "whole" again.

Here are the party-goers. This was the first year that the boys weren't here for the girl party. As tempting as all this fun was, they couldn't resist an invite to their bud's house for biking so we had just girls for a change. It was fun.

And here is the birthday girl with her baby chicks cake. She knows what she likes and we even had to have an egg pinata (which is by far the easiest one I've ever decorated). Happy birthday to one of the dearest and sweetest girls I know.

Spring Fever

Here are more photos as promised. There was a pretty large group of kids at the TV field trip but I figured a photo of my 4 at the anchor desk would probably be the best shot. By far their favorite was seeing the "green screen" and learning how those weather reports really show up.

This past week we were blessed with some incredible weather! Perfect timing for our Spring break and the kids practically lived outside. The big draw was watching them build "bridges & dams" over our tiny creek. They were completely engrossed in catching crayfish (yep, even in the mid-west) and then catching M.E.B.'s (their term for "microscopic eating bugs") to feed them.


The first two days were in the 70's but the kids kept at it even the rest of the week in the 50's. We have Spring fever for sure. Grandma arrived just in time to witness much of this as we prepared for our big birthday weekend.


Lots more fun to come...

Part 2

OK, I did get some photos on here and things seem to be working. There will be more to come but right now we have company, I just survived Goose's birthday party and it's my birthday (yipee). I promise to post more photos soon. LOTS to tell. :)

Here are the kids in that cave. What a fun time exploring. I was thankful for the sign that said we couldn't explore further unless we had a hard hat and at least 3 sources of light, PER PERSON. My kids would have kept going and going and going....

Feeling helpless....

when it comes to computers. I know so little about them it's like speaking Amharic for me. I had HOPED to show you some photos of our fun field trips lately. Well, you are just going to have to imagine that you are looking at those photos, I'm done for today.

You see, I spent 3 weeks unable to sign on to the internet without going through my man's account. OK, I thought. A lesson in patience as I couldn't access my documents, photos, etc. through his account. He very sweetly spent a long evening figuring out what was wrong and giving me a clean "computer slate" to start out from scratch (or maybe he was just sick of seeing all my favorites bookmarked on his page). Anyway, I caught up on my "stuff", temporarily. Then for 4 days this week neither of us could access ANYTHING online! Well, today I spent lots of time on the phone with "technical support" as they had me practically reprogramming my computer. I spoke with "Brad", "Jim", "Mike", & "Josh" today on a friend's cell phone (since we have dial-up service). That was actually the most lighthearted part of my day - to hear someone with a very thick Indian accent identify himself by any one of those names is just comical. I sat there wondering if they got to pick their "phone name" or if it was assigned to them during their orientation at work. Anyway, after much time and tension it SEEMS that we are back in business. When my man asked me what their diagnosis was of our problem, I just had to shrug. Who are we kidding here?

So as I sit here venting that even now I can't upload photos to my blog (apparently THAT site is down right now), I am reminded that I am at the mercy of the computer programmers and I have no control. Somedays you just have to laugh and trust their are better things I should be doing with my time. :) OK God, I'm listening......

Another "Gotcha Day"

Our Boo has been home for 5 years now and she keeps me on my toes. Without getting into all of it, it is obvious that even at her young age, she is dealing with some hard emotions about her adoption. It amazes me how it comes out around her birthdays and gotcha days "instinctively". It was a weekend filled with highs and lows for her, and a good hard cry.

The day before she had verbalized some feelings but her gotcha day was hard. The gist of it was waking up and telling us it was her day and minutes later, "where's my present". We gave her this tiny little tea set we bought in Guatemala and she just beamed. She got to choose a special meal for the day and she decided to go on a Daddy date to the Mexican Restaurant. Before they even got to the restaurant, she was crying and wanted to come home. After talking it over and calming down, she decided that she would rather have me make Lasagna and brownies for dinner.

The details of her comments are hers but it occurs to me that adoption is a beautiful solution to a deep primal wound. The scars of that wound will always be there, at times forgotten and unimportant and at other times, devasting reminders of real loss. We are blessed to have this beautiful daughter and we pray that God will truly heal these wounds and help her become a whole and happy adult.

"Would you like some tea?"

Cinderella Ball

Saturday night our local Home School group planned a Ball for Daddy's and their Daughters (The University's Campus Christian Fellowship helped to pull it off). It sounded like a wonderful night (I was home having a night with my boys who chose donuts and Hot Wheels videos) and I can tell it impacted all three of my crew that attended. Obviously the girls had fun getting pretty and learning some dances with Dad. My man filled me in as well and said that they played every song to tug on a Dad's heartstrings (Butterfly kisses, Cinderella, I loved her first, ....) gave a short little challenge for Dad's to truly be there for their daughters, and sent them home with memory books the girls made and that Dad gets to complete. It's precious and now he has his work laid out for him to write his thoughts about the girls in their books. Anyway, here are some photos I took before the big date. They all clean up pretty well.


The girls with their handsome escort. You know my man loves these girls. I haven't seen him in a tie in YEARS!

Can you see the lipstick and blush? That was her favorite part.

We did borrow this dress but had to add the pink ribbon in order to coordinate with Goose's cast. Girls and their "accessories".

The eager dancers.