Karl, Lori, Matt & Garin: A happy and blessed family of four plus a beautiful Ragdoll cat named Harvey. We are in the process of adopting two precious Russian siblings and pray we will soon be a family of six. Life is crazy, fun, sometimes messy, and always an adventure. We love it, and we love each other. There is joy in the journey.....
Well, after five years (of partial construction followed by deconstruction necessitated by a move) and endless hours of labor, the Rippin' Rocket Roller Coaster finally reached completion!
We had a great morning at church! Matt's childhood friend, Evan, went with us. In one of those crazy, it's-a-small-world turn of events, Evan (whom we knew in Illinois as a kindergartner) had grandparents here in Dover, and he's here visiting them for a couple of weeks. We're enjoying some time with him while he's here, and he and Matt are enjoying it. This week is Vacation Bible School at our church, and both boys are helping with recreation. It will be so much fun!
We stopped for lunch after church, and as soon as we got home, Karl and Matt retreated to the basement while I (once again) folded laundry and tried to organize Matt's room a tad, as it's already getting out of control.
Below is a video of the fruits of their labor. Pretty cool, if you ask me!
I think I could be rich...famous..find my own place in the history books! If only someone would listen......
For all of you who would like to be a superhero, I know the secret of invisibility! It is quite simple really. I have discovered today that, in the absence of "The Big T" (as my cousin calls it), a person becomes immediately invisible. Not only that, people can no longer hear them at all. It is the secret to being the proverbial fly-on-the-wall. That's right, folks, testosterone is the key. If you don't have it, you can do anything or say anything you want, and (assuming you're the only estrogen-producing homosapien in the room) no one is the wiser.
AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I went to the basement to spend some time with my "big T"-laden spouse and offspring while they put together a K-nex roller coaster set that has spent most of the last five years in a box. I managed to have an entire conversation with myself, fold all the laundry and disappear to the computer without being detected. Amazing, isn't it?!?!
I'm sure I could get rich from this discovery.....if only someone would listen....
In all honesty, this video stuff is probably boring to most of you, but to far-away grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, it is a lifeline to the grandkids. Hopefully, all of our other friends won't disappear if I post a few too many of these in the coming days/weeks!
Garin loves climbing on his big brother, and Matt seems to thoroughly enjoy it as well. This was the tail end of a long session of "weightlifting" for Matt.
We are getting excited about the 4th of July!!! Some old friends contacted us today to say that they'll be in town for a visit, and we were already planning a barbecue on the patio, which we'll be happy to enjoy with them. I'm boiling ribs now, so they'll be ready for the grill. We're also planning to hit the firework show in town before spending the evening hanging out beside our firepit....at least that's the plan. You know how plans are!
Our friends who are adopting from China need prayers. Please see their blog today for details. So many of you have been faithful to lift us up in prayer, and we have seen God move mountains that have stood in our path. Jill and Bob need a mountain moved, and I covet your prayers for them as well. All glory to the Father.....
For those of you who know Matt's history of making his scheduled flights and knew to be very, very nervous about whether he would actually make it to the airport on time today: I am proud to report that he is currently at his gate in St. Louis, waiting to board the plane to bring him back to Philly! His dad dropped him in the terminal rather than walking him to the gate (which is an oddly comforting thing for me....again, if you know us, you know why), and he is on his way.
We are all so eager to have Matt in our arms again in just under three hours!!!
Garin and I spent the morning at the water park with friends until Garin decided that he wanted to be on the grown-up water slide. "No" wouldn't do for an answer, so I resorted to "You may play here or slide there. If you go back to the big pool, we are going home." He just wanted to find out if I was telling the truth, so five minutes later, we had to pack up and come home. Just as well, since I still have laundry to fold and a shower to take!
Have a great afternoon, everyone! I look forward to posting lots of photos and video of my boys together soon!
Ever notice (of course you have!) how God gets "in your face" with just the right person, just the right Scripture, just the right song....just when you need it???
Today, my anxiety was the highest it's been in weeks. Along with the wonderful, familiar sound of the chug-a-chug of the adoption wheels beginning to turn came the nagging fear that the enemy loves to plant in my spirit. As God works, so does evil, we know. And evil knows right where our weak spots are.
As I went to my doctor's appointment this afternoon, I turned on the radio and heard this song. Once again, He reminded me Who He is. He didn't have to, but He did it because He loves me, and He knew that in my imperfection I needed that reminder.
Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world! My God can move any mountain. He is Lord over all things. He overcame death and the grave! There is nothing He cannot do. I only have to be faithful, to be a vessel.
"Savior He can move the mountains My God is Mighty to save He is Mighty to save Forever Author of salvation He rose and conquered the grave Jesus conquered the grave"
There are new developments and changes taking place with our dossier. After further consideration by our adoption agency, it is highly likely at this point that the document we were trying to get from the home study agency will no longer be necessary. This, in itself, is not a negative or a positive for us really....just a change based on the opinions of some experienced adoption caseworkers. It is, however, a positive in that it means that we may be registered sooner than we might otherwise have been. We have been asked to return the completed document which we had to revise right away, so that it can be translated and prepared to be registered with our dossier at the next opportunity.
I should mention that this is the most likely scenario. There is still a chance that they will elect to have the home study agency redo their document after all, but from what I understand, it isn't likely.
Please be in prayer about this. Every decision affects our future and the future of our children. Each decision impacts whether or not our adoption is approved. We ask God to guide each step so that not one person moves outside of His will.
We have also learned today that K's orphanage director, the dear older woman who has been so good to the children, has been replaced. Please pray for the children, who are grieving over the loss of one of the few consistent people in their lives. Right now, the children are away at summer camp. We don't know anything about the new director, but we pray that she will be as kind and loving as the previous one. If some good can be found in this, it may be that this change could make it a little bit easier emotionally for K to leave the orphanage which has been home to her for the last few years. We are praying that God will comfort the children there and help them to build a good relationship with the new director.
IF, IF, IF they decide to go ahead and register our documents in July, we would likely travel on our first trip in August. Mid to late August would be best case scenario for us, with Karl's work schedule and my sister's family coming the first week in August. We want to go soon, but even more, we want to go when God wills it. Please pray with us about this!
God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!
Garin had a haircut this week. Since every haircut is such a screaming ordeal, we decided to go for the clippers and buzz it really short. It's really cute, but Mama has had a tough time with this, yet another rite of passage from babyhood to boyhood.
We had a great time last night at a party for pilots and families. There was a ton of delicious food, a water slide and bouncy castle for the kids and a lot of great conversation and fun for us grownups. Garin spent the entire time in the water, except when we forced him to stop for dinner. He was less than thrilled about it, but "Auntie Mel" kept sneaking him cupcakes, which he appreciated. I asked her if she was going to come help us get him to sleep, but he wore himself out playing and managed to get a good night's sleep after all!
We enjoyed church today. We were wonderfully surprised when some friends we invited last night at the party showed up this morning! They are a precious family with two of the most beautiful little boys you've ever seen. One is three months older than Garin, and the other is just a few months old. We went to lunch afterward and had a good laugh when the waitress got confused about their dessert order. They asked for one small dessert, and she brought them three: two which she thought they had ordered and one extra because they had to wait. And they all had ice cream in them, which meant they all had to be eaten quickly, as it's a 40 minute drive home, and they wouldn't make it to the freezer in time. It was hilarious after they had made a point of eating a light lunch and only ordered wings to share. Trevor and Kandi, if you're reading this, we really enjoyed spending some time with y'all today!
My handsome husband is number 84 (his high school football jersey number) - the guy with the great jump serve. He enjoys playing on the squadron intramural teams: football, basketball and volleyball. Although he played offense AND defense on his high school football team (which, by the way, played in the state championship game), he is happiest these days on the volleyball court. The team took second last year. Tonight was their semi-final game, which they did not win. It's hard for flying squadrons to compete in intramurals because so many of them are gone at any given time flying missions, so there is little continuity on the team. It's just whoever can show up. They lost the first game by just a couple of points, absolutely killed the other team on the second game, but lost the third. I think they were just exhausted. They have played four nights in a row, and the A/C was out in the gym. It was sweltering! In the end, they took third place for the season....nothing to sneeze at!
Garin and I have been noisy but enthusiastic spectators this season. Garin's love for all sports involving balls has made this a very exciting activity for him. He imitates the referee and pretends to make calls, and he loves to play with Dad's volleyball (and his friends) while we watch.
My friend, Kim, and I had a great day of child-free shopping at the beach. We wandered antique shops, art galleries and furniture stores in Lewes, had lunch at a fresh seafood restaurant (YUM!) and then hit the outlet malls. I had bundles of fun at Ann Taylor and Banana Republic and came home with some cute new summer stuff! I am so thankful for Kim's friendship and really enjoyed our day together.
Still no news on the adoption front. Our caseworker is silent again. It's been over two weeks since we've heard from her. I did call our homestudy caseworker, though, who has talked with her and was able to tell me what's going on from her end. We're hopeful that there will be good news soon, and I promise to post here as soon as we receive it!
We finally saw a little bit (emphasis on little) of rain this evening. It is desperately needed, and we are thankful for whatever comes our way. Our sprinkler system is getting a workout this summer already.
We've been working on 4th of July plans, hoping to do something fun. I think there's a block party in base housing with a bunch of our friends, and some friends have invited us to their shore house in NJ too. We'll see how things work out. I can't believe it's just a week away!!!
The biggest and best news: Matt will be here on Wednesday for pretty much the rest of the summer!!!!!!! We can't wait!
