Sometimes You just need to have a little fun! Knowing that we will soon be away from the boys for almost 3 weeks, and when we return, will be adding a new child who will need so much of our attention, I have really been trying to spend every minute I can with the boys. We have really been squeezing out a lot of fun times, and I thought I'd share a few pictures with you. First we have our fort night...everyone had their own set of blankets and "structure" materials to build whatever they wanted. We've done this numerous nights over the past few weeks. This was one nights result...
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| Alex |
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| Andy |
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| Nathan...he's peeping out over Stitch's head |
Then we had fun baking Banana Nut Bread Cookies for church Sunday and this Ah-Mazing Earthquake Cake. (Thanks Delores for the recipe!)
And of course there was the day we let them make a "flood" in the ditch in the back. Making a flood consists of letting the kids run the water hose for 10-15 minutes in the ditch in the back yard. It creates red mud, and this was the result of their hour long session in the flooded ditch...
Since Alex was the only one clean, he got to do the honor of spraying the other two off with the water hose.
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| I love love this one! I know Alex was thoroughly enjoying every second of his role ;) |
At night we snuggled and watched TV. One night Andy didn't like any of the spaces left to lay in on the bed for TV time, so he crawled up into the clothes basket on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed...and promptly fell sound asleep!
Remember I mentioned
in this post about getting a new zoom lens for our camera? Well, we've been playing around with it some, trying to get a feel for it. This is a shot we took of our cat Sadie. Isn't she a beauty?
With all that's been going on, we've been blessed enough to receive some incredible gifts from some friends for Annabella. We got this from Nancy, Jessie, Cheyenne and Garrett Etheridge...
It's a precious super soft lamb and a gorgeous, soft pink blanket. The lamb is going to be as big as Annabella, and the blanket is so soft I just want to snuggle under it myself! I'm not as good as Greg with the camera, so please excuse the quality of these photos...I still have a lot of learning to do ;)
This quilt was handmade, and our friends Jackie and Tim Bowland, and their son Sky gave it to us. It is white, with a soft pink and light cocoa brown color. It has so much character, I just LOVE handmade quilts!
This is what is over Annabella's crib. The phrase I saw on a picture frame one day, and I had it recreated into a wall sticker. Since I have such an affinity for butterflies, I had to add them to the edges too. The phrase reads "We loved you even before we knew you, even when there was just the hope of you, we loved you" The cross beside the phrase was another handmade gift. Evan Nanney made it for us to match the colors in her nursery, and he wrote a similar phrase on the back for her. This one brought me to tears, I had been especially down the week he gave it to me, and God used him to just lift me up multiple times and in multiple ways that week. I will always remember how much He worked through Evan, for my good, that week when I see this cross in Annabella's room.
And we got this Sunday from our friend Lori McElheny and her family. She remembered me mentioning one day how much I loved butterflies, and so she nabbed these precious pants, two pair of socks, and a super cute set of p.j.'s for us. It is truly humbling that so many people have asked about the progression of our adoption, and how many people who've told us that this journey has in some way touched them, and all who have prayed for us countless times throughout this entire journey. We have received several donations, and have raised several hundred dollars so far through our fundraising efforts, and each person who has contributed to that has touched our very souls with their generosity. These gifts are just a few of the items we have received from our friends, and we've also had people give us donations to take with us for the orphanage and the workers there. I can't wait to give those to them when we get there...I know that each small thing will mean something very big to the children and staff there! I continue to be awed by all the unexpected supporters we have, and reminded that when God is in charge, there is no limit to the amount of blessings that He has shown and continues to show us daily!
"God can pour on the
blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and
everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one
psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This
most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for
your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you
can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God,
wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way,
producing with us great praise to God" 2 Corinthians 9:8-11 MSG
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