Tagged Again!

I was tagged. This means I have to post on this blog the sixth picture from the sixth album on my computer and explain it. Here it is....

This is my daughter, Kayla's, prom picture taken just before her senior prom. It includes Kayla, my other daughter, Emma, Kayla's boyfriend and his two sisters.

That was fun. I was sure the 6th picture of my 6th album would be Emma since she's the baby of the family and seems to dominate all photo ops. OK, she's a ham! She somehow squeezed into this picture!

Family Fun Night

Saturday night was an unusual night--ALL of my children were home! With 3 teenagers, that doesn't seem to happen very often! So...what do you do when all family members (plus your sister-in-law and her 3 children) are home on a Saturday night? Well, of course, your daughter gives every male, including her father, highlights!! Yes, my husband and 2 sons (plus nephew and niece) all got highlights! Here are some photos from our great adventure!





These are the work in process pics. I didn't get one of Nathan getting his hair done--believe it or not, I couldn't find my camera!!! I know, I get the bad mom award!









These are pics of the finished product. John and Nathan's are very subtle, whereas Derek went all out! Doesn't he look happy!




This picture is for Amber.

After I took this picture, I thought of all of Savannah's peace sign (?) pictures!! Look at the face--it's exactly the same! It must be 'the thing'!! (o:

Adoption News:
5 long weeks until our court date! I can't believe I'm back to counting down weeks!!
)o: Ugh!

Breast Cancer Awareness

This is breast cancer awareness month. I've never really given too much thought to it, but this month, just last week, in fact, a very good friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is an amazing person. She has 6 children--2 biological, 4 adopted. One of those adopted children is a teenager she just brought home from Ethiopia this year. God used her to lead us to adopt our 2 girls from Ethiopia! She and I and two other friends went together last summer and got our first tattoos--Africa with a heart over Ethiopia! Please pray for her and others who are faced with fighting this ugly disease! She will be starting chemotherapy very soon.

Along those same lines, my daughter cut her hair to donate to locks of love. So many do not have the luxury of having a bad hair day. When you watch a loved one go through chemotherapy and lose their hair, it really puts our minor daily 'struggles' into perspective.

Here are my daughter's before and after pictures. She won't miss that hair one bit!

Another new court date...

We just heard from our wonderful caseworker from Gladney, Mary T. Our new court date is set for December 1st. We are doing amazingly well with this. When we finally make it through court and get to travel to Ethiopia to pick up our girls, it will be a super exciting surprise!!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Good things come to those who wait? I don't know about that, but I do know that God is good and He will do amazing things!

Thanks for all who are praying with us!!

Tagged

Yikes! I've been tagged! The first person to tag me was Jen. This has really caused me to think about some weird and interesting things in my life---why is that so hard for me? Here it goes....

1. I love chocolate! I could probably eat ten candy bars in one sitting--which is why my sister-in-law signed me up for our local gym's weight loss challenge! Thanks Suzy!! (O:

2. Speaking of chocolate...I eat a Snickers bar in layers. I eat the chocolate first--tricky but fun! Then, the nougat. Then the best part..the caramel and nuts. Yum! This freaked my husband out when we were dating! He must have really loved me because he married me and has put up with my 'Snicker eating habits' for 19 years!

3. My biggest fear in the whole world is public speaking! Why?! I do not know! Just don't ask me to do it!

4. In the almost 20 years that John and I have been married, we have lived in 11 different homes in 4 different towns! We have set a record at our latest location--5 1/2 years in the same house and 8 1/2 years in the same town! Woo Hoo!!

5. I come from a family with 4 children, but I grew up with many, many cousins. My mom came from a family with 10 kiddos and my dad's family had 6 kiddos! That's 28 aunts and uncles (including spouses) with 2 or more children each!
I'm carrying on my grandparents' tradition...soon we will have 6 kiddos in our house!!

6. I love to run for exercise. But...I've only run in one race. I am a very competitive person and will not run in a race I don't think I can win. Sad, I know. The one race I competed in, I did not win, but I beat my husband!! Ahhh, victory!

7. I love to do crossword puzzles! I have won my husband over to crosswords. Every night before we turn off the lights to go to sleep, we wind down with crossword puzzles--we each have our own books! It's soo romantic! (O:


ONLY 2 MORE DAYS UNTIL OUR COURT DATE!!!! PLEASE PRAY WITH ME!!!

**UPDATE ON COURT DATE**

It looks like we will not make it through court on Friday. There is additional paperwork that is being required. This means we will have a new court date issued for late November.

7 days....

Only 7 days until we find out if we pass through court and get to travel or need more paperwork and get a new court date. We DO NOT want that last one to happen!!!

We received an update on our daughters. They are doing well. They have struggled with a minor skin condition and an ear infection, but have been treated and are healthy again. When asked what they wanted to say to their new family (that's us!), they said, "That we love them very much , and for them to get over here!"

Hopefully we'll be there soon!

My Big Day!

First of all I have to say that our court date is 1 week and 1 day away--but who's really keeping track? OK--I AM!! I think about it every day, several times the day!

In other news.... today is my birthday!! I am still 30 something....ok 39 to be exact. I've never been one to try to hide my age. I still love birthdays!
I only have 2 requests for this birthday--that I don't have to cook or clean! I'll let you know how that goes! (O:

While You Wait....

Less than 2 weeks until our court date! Hooray!
I decided to have some fun and comprise a list of some of the things we've done to pass the time over the past 4-6 months...with some visuals, of course! Enjoy!


1) Many trips to the park.





















2) A Parade...




I love this picture! My son was the only member of the band to have a cheering section. He couldn't stop smiling to play his trumpet!

















Here are my 2 daughters on the college float. This demonstrates the joy of having an older sister AND the joy of being an older sister!











3) The Zoo!



Here's Emma feeding the peacock
























and checking out the alligators!






4) Another parade....Homecoming!

















5) Football games

The Player!

The Spectator!











6) Making a Patio...


Moving the dirt to get ready to pour the concrete.













7) Building a Shed/Playhouse....




The shed is on the bottom, the playhouse is on the top....FUN!

Here is my multi-tasking husband--taking care of Emma, building a shed, and proofreading an essay! Wow!


This isn't finished and we've already had many picnic in the playhouse. This will be fun for years to come!









It's interesting to look back to see how we've spent our time. There hasn't been a day that has gone by that we haven't thought about and talked about our daughters in Ethiopia, but we've continued to enjoy each day that God has given us as a family.


One of my daily calendar devotions reads...

Time slides through our fingers like a well-greased string. There is no better time than now to assess the values which are worthy of our time and effort.

Psalm 31:14,15
You alone are my God; my times are in your hands.