Theme Dinner: Beef

You guessed it. It was Jon's turn to pick, and he chose BEEF night. :)

On the menu:

Beef with a side of grass

Texas Toast

Dusty Water

*This post is actually about a month overdue.

Another theme night tonight.*

Birthday Snapshots

Paw Paw came to see us for Jack's birthday. Just a few snapshots from his visit. :)

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Happy 6th

Dear Birthday Boy,

Wow! I can't believe you're 6 years old today. When you were born, everyone told us how fast time would fly. I believed them, but looking back, seeming like you were only born a few months ago, I never knew it would fly by this quickly. Those chubby arms are gone. You're getting so tall now (I have NO IDEA where that came from). You now have to hold up two hands when you tell people how old you are.

You've lost 6 teeth already! I think you've set a record for the youngest child with the most teeth lost. When I took you for your 12-month check-up, MIND YOU ALREADY HAD 16 TEETH, and your doctor said, "Well, I guess he's an overachiever!" I guess you're an overachiever with loosing teeth too.

I love how you love people. I guess we would wonder if you didn't, since Daddy and I like being around people so much. I love how you speak to everyone so politely and confidently.

I love how you love to be like your Daddy. You fix your hair like him, dress like him, play your guitar like him. I love how you love to wear ties. ALL THE TIME. I love how you love to cook with me. I love how you love legos, Star Wars, cowboy boots, animals, your firetruck, drawing, reading books, math pages, the food network, cauliflower, shrimp, blueberries, chocolate milk, and cheese crackers. I love how you so passionately do not like mango, coke, candy, raisins, dictionary pages, and picking up your dirty clothes. I love how you love costumes, and how you have such an imagination. I love how you talk with such expression and enthusiasm. I love how you use the words realize and recognize interchangeably. I love how you are already passionate about things that I didn't even know existed when I was 6 years old.

I love to watch you play with your friends. I love how you're always coming up with a plan for inviting people over or going out to eat after church. I love how you play with Elin. I am thankful for your best buddies like Parker, Hudson, Sarah Beth, Riley and Andy. Even your buddies far away like Katie and Hunter and your far-away cousins... Hannah, Kate, George, Charleigh, and Avery.

I love how you love your grandparents. Sometimes, I think you'd rather be there. But I must say, we're okay with that. It only reminds us how blessed you are to have them. I love how you're always adding days to Camp Big Mama, or talking about swimming in Nana's pool, eating Trix cereal. I love how you always think of Grandmama when you play play-doh or go to the beach. I LOVE that you think your two grandpas hung the moon. I love that you always want to wrestle with PawPaw or go fishing with him or play ball in the yard. I love that you'll always remember the kittens that were born in PawPaw's boat. I love that you know you can always find soft peppermints in his pocket. I love that you always play army man just like Poppy. I love that you tackle him completely blindsided and he ALWAYS plays along. I love that you love to go to his house in the summer to play in the treehouse or swim in the pool, or ride in the camper to Sonic.

I love how you're so excited that you're getting a brother and sister, or two brothers, or two sisters, or whatever from Africa. I love how you pray for the EVERY SINGLE DAY. I love how you set the table for them. They are going to learn so much from you. They're going to learn how to speak English, dress up in costumes, dig in the back yard, swing on the swingset, swim like little fish, make snow angels, dribble a basketball, share toys, love people, love church, and love Jesus.

Of course we love you because you're our son. We REALLY like you for who you are and who you're becoming. You're handsome, smart, outgoing, chatty, and SO funny!

Our home is a better place just because you live here.

Happy Birthday baby boy!

Love,

Mommy :)

Lickin' Lucy and her stinkin' breath

Moving right along

Today, we have an appointment at Bethany to put our dossier together. We're still waiting on that one piece of paper from the Dept. of Homeland Security, but it's on its way, we hope. We have now been in this "gathering paperwork" stage for about 6 months now and you would think that we're getting antsy and impatient, which we are a little, but we just know that our little ones are not ready yet. We're so blessed to have our own child as well as adopt, and the best way I can describe it is hoping your baby doesn't come before 9 months is over because it's just not time. Now I'm sure if you ask us after our paperwork has just been sitting over there for 6 months and the answer might be different, but for now, we have a peace about the timing of this whole thing.

There are so many things that we've learned already from these kids and from the adoption process that, had we not decided to do this, we would have never learned. And we're still learning. But for right now, it's Luke 11:13.

"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

This verse has come alive to use the last few weeks by the kindness and generosity of others, especially our parents. Thank you for showing us how much more our Heavenly Father loves us. And the way our Daddies explain it, "You'll understand later." :)

Adoption T-Shirts

Some sweet friends of ours have gotten together and planned a big SALE-a-bration (garage sale) on May 1st for us in an effort to raise money for our adoption. We're so humbled by all these people giving their time and energy to help bring our little ones home. Our friend, who is a graphic designer, made this t-shirt originally designed for those working at the garage sale to wear, but thought we might offer them to others as well. It's also posted as an event on facebook if you follow this link. We've attached a paypal link to make it easy to donate for the shirts.

Adult sizes: M, L, XL

($20.00 suggested donation)

(Be sure to note the size when ordering through Paypal.

The shirts will be available after May 1st.)

If you'd rather pay by check,

comment on this post and I'll email you the info.