Harvey and Lille

True love!

The original plan was to keep them separated for several days, but they were each so interested in the other, and Miss Lille is not the timid soul we had the impression she would be. She was skittish at first, but she has quite the regal complex and carries herself with a great deal of self-assuredness. She has no fear of Harvey, and although he was not sure what to make of her at first, he is now very antsy to get past the introductions and into some (as Amy commented on a previous blog entry) "frisky" time. We have let them spend short periods of time together the last couple of days, but today they decided that they are ready to be together. Who are we to stand in the way??? She taunts him by prancing by him and then taking off in a leaping run. He obediently follows. They jump around and then flop down, rolling over to show each other their bellies and chins. It's so cute! They both seem to be having fun and show no signs of aggression or fear, so we're just tickled! Here we caught them in a brief rest period between their games.

Hurricane Gustav

**Update - 30 August**
Greg (maybe I'll start calling him Moses!) is leading his people out of Beaumont ahead of Gustav. He has a caravan of 41 children from Buckner Children's Home, as well as 30+ people who work with those children along with the workers' families. It is a grand total of 132 people heading to Camp Buckner in Marble Falls to wait out the storm. My sister and the kids (and pets of course) are safely at my parents' house. They moved everything they could, especially their most precious things, upstairs in case of flood. Marci emptied the freezer into ice chests and took their food along in case they lose power for awhile. I haven't heard whether my aunts, uncles and cousins are leaving or whether they'll stay with my parents, but Greg said they are beginning mandatory evacuations, so it is possible that they may have no choice before long. The highways are already backed up. I pray that there will be no lives lost during this storm and that people will make the wise decision to get out rather than staying to protect earthly possessions. I also pray that those emergency and hospital personnel who cannot leave will be under His protection.

Let's pray for those who are being affected by Gustav. So many have lost lives and property already in Haiti, as there will likely be in Jamaica. There are now many people here in the U.S. preparing to close up their homes and head north to escape this storm that is forecast to reach as high as Category 5 over the weekend and make landfall somewhere on the Gulf Coast on Tuesday. I have many family members among them, including my sister and her family, aunts, uncles and cousins. My parents are preparing for a house full of family, as they did when Rita hit three years ago. That was a family reunion of sorts, with 15 or so houseguests staying with my parents and my grandparents who live next door! My brother-in-law will be evacuating with the children and faculty at Buckner Children's Home to another location. The senior citizens at Buckner Calder Woods will have to be evacuated as well, and this is difficult for them, as many are in ill health. My cousin who works at a children's hospital needs to care for her own family as well as her patients and is trying to decide the best way to do both.

Here is a note from my brother-in-law which explains well how we can pray specifically for the children in his care, whose lives have already been so disrupted and filled with loss:

I'm fascinated by the preparation for hurricanes. I grew up with tornadoes, so I'm used to frantic dives into the hallway or bathtub. I'm new to the days of uncertainty and stress, waiting for the chance to leave your home to the mercy of a storm that may or may not steamroll your neighborhood.Gustav's path is uncertain, but I'm pretty sure that we'll be evacuated this weekend, from what I'm hearing. I have heard that the state of Texas will begin an airlift evacuation of medically fragile individuals on Saturday morning, and the new 211 system (for people to call who need rides away from the coast) is overrun with calls. No one has said clearly, but I'm almost certain that Jefferson County will call for an evacuation this weekend - my guess is Sunday or Monday.So, I'll wish Marci and the kids goodbye tomorrow evening and they'll go spend the weekend in Longview. I'll stay back in Beaumont in order to evacuate with the 41 kids we have living on the campus of Buckner Children's Village, as well as our staff and a few of their family members.If we evacuate, we'll head towards the Austin area, where Buckner has a camp / retreat center. If not, I'll hold down the fort here to keep an eye on the campus. Please pray for these children, who have experienced enough anxiety already in their lives. They really don't need another 'escape to safety.' They really need stability, and I'm thankful to the employees of Buckner who will go with us and provide just that.Pray also for the senior adults Buckner serves here in Beaumont. They will likely evacuate as well, and they will be divided among other retirement communities and nursing homes across the state.I'll try to post pictures and keep you up to date. If we do evacuate, the computers (among other things) are most certainly coming with me. You can also check for updates at http://www.buckner.org/.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, and look what we got! A new Ragdoll!!! She's a one-year-old blue point. The original plan was to breed her, but she never went into heat, so they decided to have her spayed and sell her as a pet. She is the sweetest little thing - lovey, purrs loudly, likes to play. Harvey (our 3-year-old seal point Ragdoll) is a little nervous about her, and vice versa, but neither has been mean, so I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. This photo is a few months old, but I'll try to get some good ones of her tomorrow.

I have been spending most of my spare time this last couple of weeks practicing on the keyboard (as in piano, not computer) to get ready for our Dover worship services to begin this weekend. Our church is starting a southern campus ("one church, many locations"), and I am going to be playing keyboards for the worship team. I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm nervous. God keeps reminding me that He equips those whom He calls and that all He requires of me is my best. I am struggling to remember that when I start my perfectionist obsession about not being good enough!

We had a commissioning service tonight. It was a wonderful time of worship and preparation, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Even after driving to Lancaster, PA, and back all day to pick up our cat, it was well worth the long drive to church tonight.

A Little Diversion...

As you can see, I've been having fun with worthless but fun celebrity comparisons today. The website scans your photo and spits out a list of people it thinks you look like. Let me tell you, it depends on the photo you choose! I was so unhappy with my first one (Wynona Judd and Hillary Clinton, among others!!!) that I started over with a new photo and got much more pleasant results.

Karl's Look-Alikes

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family tree research - Family history

I WISH!!!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

I could not love my husband more...

....than I do in moments like these:

If Sesame Street ever needs to replace the fellow who does Elmo's voice, I know just the guy!

(Please pardon the playroom disaster area!)

Prayers Please

Please keep my cousin, Lisa, in your prayers tomorrow. She will be undergoing a biopsy of her thyroid. The doctors found three lumps on her thyroid and want to check them to be sure they are benign. I'll be sure to update when I hear a report, but please lift her and her family up in prayer. Thanks!

"In God We Trust"

Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. NBC is taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American currency. Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off the web page. Poll is still open so you can vote.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

Potpourri

It seems like I have been so busy for the last week or two. I have a bunch of video and photos that I want to post here, but I haven't had the time yet. Be prepared for an onslaught when they do come! Hopefully soon...

Karl was home for 6 days out of the past month, flying missions around the world. It looks like (fingers crossed) he will be home for awhile now. He's getting ready to start a new desk job, and there is often a learning period involved. We're supposed to find out today what that job will be. So exciting! I often want to complain about it here when he's gone, but I'm not comfortable announcing to the world when we are home alone. I could go private with the blog, but I don't want to make people ask for permission to read it. It's probably for the best, anyway, as this way you don't have to listen to me whine.

Since we have dwindled back down to the three of us, we are trying to settle into regular life again. With the exception of brief respites to check my Facebook account, I shamelessly admit that my free time has largely been spent on the sofa, watching Team U.S.A. in the Olympics. We, like the rest of America, have Michael Mania. I am in (sisterly) love with Dara Torres. I enjoyed the gymnastics too. But beach volleyball (followed closely by indoor volleyball) has me by the horns. We can't get enough in this volleyball-obsessed family!

We realized last night that Garin has watched far too many volleyball games in his lifetime, whether they be Daddy's intramurals or the pros on TV. The moment he saw the game, he assumed "the stance" - the hunched-over, readied position the players take prior to the serve. (Video coming someday) And he continued to do so with each serve. During the volleys, he ran around the living room as if he were chasing down the ball. And when the whistle blew, he'd stop, clap his hands and shout, "C'mon guys!" in his loudest coach voice. When the play was clearly bad, he'd pace back and forth in the living room, shaking his head! Once, when a player dove for the ball, he bent over as if he were going to touch his toes and then, in a flash, he was down - hands outstretched in front of himself, flat on his belly to reach the imaginary ball coming to him! It was precious!

Matt started school today. He has an ambitious schedule for this junior year of high school: Biology I, Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus, Band, College Chemistry, Spanish 3, Consumer Ed/Gov't and English 3. He is already knee-deep in Cross Country, and his knee is bothering him again this year. We are praying that he will stay healthy, work hard and excel in all of his endeavors this year!

Other than doing the usual fun Mom jobs, I have somehow found myself preparing to play keyboard for our church's new southern campus that we are starting here in Dover on September 7th! I guess all those years of piano lessons are going to be put to use, finally! I am terrified and thrilled about it all at the same time. I always enjoyed playing, but my only public performances consisted of two-a-year recitals, playing songs I had been practicing for months and had down so well that no thought was required when I took my seat, and still I was a nervous wreck.

I offered to play if they didn't have anyone else, simply because I knew we would need someone. It is one of those still-small-voice promptings where you say, "Okay God, I'll just offer because You told me to, but I KNOW that You know that there is no way You really want me for this job, and You're just testing me to see if I'll obey, so I will. But I KNOW You'll find someone better equipped because You want to be glorified in worship, and I'm not used to playing from chord charts, and I couldn't possibly be good enough." It was one of those things where I expected to be like Abraham and have the sacrificial goat walk up at the last minute, so I didn't have to follow through. Instead, I am like Moses, whom God equipped for the task in spite of his shortcomings. Interestingly, I like being Moses instead of Abraham. This is new territory for me, and I'm excited to see how God will use it to His glory (but I'm still scared to death!).

Well, back to the other kind of keyboard for some practice....

TAG!

I've been tagged! I know I shouldn't be so excited about it, but I've been watching bloggers tag each other for months, even years, now, and somehow it never happened to me. At first, I was thankful I didn't have to take the time to complete the task of passing it along, but then I started wondering what made me so "untaggable." (Not that I cared of course, because I am completely secure and never, ever worry about what others think of me!)

Anyway, Jill tagged me with this fun little book tag. I was just hoping that the Lord would share some huge, significant nugget with the world when I opened the book beside me.....not so much. But here it is:

BOOK TAG

Get the book nearest to you, or one that you are currently reading that is over 123 pages.

Go to page 123.

Find the 5th sentence.

Post the 5th sentence.

Tag 5 people.

My nearest book was Birthright: Christian Do You Know Who You Are? Something profound should come out of that, right?

So here is the sentence: "Why?"

Yep, that's it. One word. A pretty profound word, I suppose. The chapter is titled, "God's Expectations for His Miracle Children." The paragraph is talking about Romans 7:14-25. The author was asking why we should anticipate total failure in our attempts to overcome sin. He follows by explaining that in the flesh, we will fail; however, in Christ, we are not in the flesh anymore.

Now it's your turn! I'm tagging Amy, Nerissa, Karen, Kellie and Bethany. Have fun!

Checking In

Hello, dear friends and family! I have been sorely negligent in updating the blog this past week. Instead, I have allowed myself to be completely immersed in the joy of time with my family. We had an amazing week with my sister, her husband and their three kids! We have been all over the place and still managed to share a couple of lazy days together. We sat on the deck in the cool, early morning hours, leisurely sipping coffee and catching up before breakfast, and we fought our way onto the subways of NYC during rush hour. I'm telling you, we really lived this week!

Now we are tired. And the week of indulgence has left me with an extra-long to-do list now. Not that I'm complaining! I have video to edit, so that I can share it here, and there are photos to post. But first, I have to get some songs together, so I can play keyboard at praise team rehearsal on Thursday (yikes!). I need to catch up on some laundry. I need to vacuum and dust and clean bathrooms. And, most importantly, I need to give an extra dose of attention to a toddler who doesn't yet understand the comings and goings of people he loves and cannot process it except through periodic meltdowns and tantrums.

So rest assured, I have not forgotten you. It may take a few days, but I'll get back to updating regularly in the near future. In the meantime, pour a cup of coffee and go sit on the back porch for a while. I highly recommend it!

Wii Like to Exercise Together!

Eli and Garin are getting Wii Fit together. There has been some competition for the board, so Uncle Greg created a new board for Garin - a Guinness Book of World Records. The boys have been getting into shape together, and it is so cute!

We're having a great time relaxing and laughing together today and are looking forward to the beach this afternoon, but we sure do miss Karl. We pray he will be home soon!!!

Remember me???

Hi stranger! It's been a while, I know. Life's been busy!

Last Wednesday, I had to put my Matthew on a plane back to Illinois to get ready for a new school year. Heartbreaking. But before he left, we had a couple more wonderful days together. We wrapped up some loose ends and then spent an afternoon and evening at the beach, just the three of us, playing, laughing and enjoying a gorgeous day. The goodbyes were so hard for all of us, but most of all for Garin. He doesn't quite understand why his Bubby must leave or that he will be back (do any of us really understand???). We said our goodbyes at security, but as Matt walked away, Garin fought to get out of my arms and tried to follow him, crying, "NOOO!" I scooped him up and tried to comfort him, and he began screaming, "Bubby, my Bubby!" It was horrible. Since then, he's been afraid to get out of my sight. Karl has been on a mission that has delayed him at every turn, and he has been gone for two weeks now. Missions are always hard on Garin, but with his Bubby leaving too, he has been struggling emotionally in a way I've never seen from him. Anything can bring a complete breakdown. My heart aches for him, and I pray that Karl will be home soon. I think this will make a huge difference for Garin. If you feel led to pray along those lines too, we'd appreciate it.

I spent Thursday cleaning house and washing all the sheets because....drum roll, please....my sister and her family arrived Friday morning for a whole week of family fun!!!!!!!! Marci, Greg, Sandra, Eli and Emma have now been here for two full days. We have really been enjoying some time together, and I am so thankful that they are here. (Marci asked me last night if I have blogged about how wonderful it is to have my precious sister and her family here and feigned to take offense that I haven't bragged on them yet. Marci, this is for you!) We have day trips planned to the beach, NYC, and DC (along with a few restful days). We should all be thoroughly exhausted, sunburned and cultured by week's end!

More Delays...

I spoke to our caseworker this morning and learned that our agency is having some issues getting cases registered for children who were hosted. They attempted registering two cases at the end of June, and they waited a long time for a response. The MOE has requested additional documents for those families before they can be registered and considered. This isn't great news. However, the fact that we follow them isn't a bad thing because our agency will know better what additional documentation will be necessary in our case, and hopefully we won't have to wait as long once our documents are submitted.

Please pray over this process...for all the waiting children in Russia and for the officials who are making decisions regarding their lives.

Please pray for our agency and specifically for our caseworker, Rebecca. She shared with me today that their agency is "streamlining." The economy is affecting even adoption agencies. The caseworkers are dealing with the same workload, but their hours have been cut in half. This makes for a stressful work environment and unhappy clients across the board. We pray that God will give them the energy to accomplish what must be done and will protect their hearts from bitterness, discouragement and disillusionment. We pray that they will continue to see great rewards in what they are doing.

Please pray also for patience in the waiting and protection from doubt and discouragement. We know that God brought us down this path with a purpose. His hand has been evident in miraculous ways throughout. We know that He has turned our hearts to these children, and we are committed to follow Him. If these are our kids, He will make it happen. If not, He is preparing us for something else in the future. I am at peace with this, but I still really want to bring these kids home!

"...as you love yourself."

***This blog did not go where I intended when I started. I thought it was going to be a run-down of our weekend activities. Funny how, when God starts talking, you find yourself on a road that wasn't even on the map. And when He says, "Okay, that's all for now," that road feels as familiar as the path that leads home.


So what happens when you find a great 75%-off sale on outdoor furniture and buy that dining set of your dreams that you've waited years to buy???

Why, it falls off the truck in the middle of the highway, of course! Narrowly missing the long line of cars behind you, the two huge boxes block two lanes of traffic, while you, in your grungy, scrubbing-all-day t-shirt, shorts and rubber flip-flops, frantically run into the busy street trying to drag them out of the way for the temporarily patient drivers who are waiting.

Now, change every "you" in the above paragraphs to "I," and you have a brief synopsis of my horrifying afternoon yesterday! The five minutes that felt like five hours.

But let's look at the bright side: Somehow (miraculously), it didn't hit the cars behind me. Somehow, it survived with very minor damage. Somehow, I got it loaded back in the truck and made it home. And somehow (this is a biggie), I came out of it NOT feeling like an idiot who had made a fool of herself and feeling more like someone who'd had a bit of unfortunate trouble, resolved her problem without tears or complete panic, and managed to move along with her day without beating herself up and being embarrassed all weekend. Did I mention that this is a biggie? Could it be that perhaps it is sinking in? Maybe I'm really starting to get it as God continues to impress upon me that He doesn't see me the way I see myself, as He's teaching me to love myself as I love others.

I realize that I have this backwards. In Matthew 19:19, Jesus tells us to love others as we love ourselves. It's a good lesson on valuing other people. But for me, He has been turning it around lately, showing me that I have to give myself a break now and then. I've found it easy to love others in this life, but I cannot love others well if I cannot love myself well. This is not a license for self-indulgence or selfishness, nor is it about "self-esteem." This is about "God-esteem," about seeing myself as a valuable, beautiful creation of God, created in His image. It is freedom from the struggle to measure up to the expectations of others. It is freedom to be who God has called me to be without apology. It is the freedom to be comfortable in my own skin, the skin He Himself wrapped around my flesh...freckles and all, it is His artwork. It is the ability to accept His forgiveness and step away from my failures rather than tossing them into that burdensome sack I so often try to carry along with me.

I believe that many of us need to reverse the verse, so to speak. We tend to think of sinful selfishness as the result of an over-inflated ego, a sense of entitlement or an attitude of superiority. But when Satan succeeds at making us feel unattractive, unworthy, somehow less than we really are, we also succumb to selfishness of another kind. We take valuable time, talent, energy, money, __________ (Fill in your own blank here; the list could be endless.) that belongs to God. Instead we waste it worrying what others think of us, constantly striving to improve our appearances, trying to figure out what makes a person a "success" in this world and struggling to fit that image. It may be about appearance. It might be career or finances. It might be personality-type or social prowess. For some (myself included), it is often a crazy combination. Imagine allowing Christ to free us of all of those image issues! Imagine the joy of living the lives God created us to live and embracing the fact that it would look different for each of us! Imagine what we could really do for Him and for others if we cast off the selfishness of self-loathing and saw ourselves through the eyes of the One Who created us in His image!

And, perhaps a more exciting prospect for me: Imagine leaving a legacy of a God-image in our children! If my children hear me complain about my appearance, or even if I silently live a life of shame and dissatisfaction, they will learn what I model. It breaks my heart to think of passing such a burden to my children. I am choosing to allow my Heavenly Father to take my poor self-image and replace it with His God-image. It may not happen overnight, but it's a journey well worth taking, and it's a journey that will hopefully allow me to leave some substantial footprints....the footprints of Jesus...when I go Home.

His Royal Highness....

What do three bored fellas do during a Sunday afternoon thunderstorm???

They get out the Toobers and Zots, crown themselves kings, declare themselves knights, pretend to be dragon-cat, head to the opera and have a blast until the king's naptime!

"I crown thee King Garin."

Sir Matthew taking on the dragon.

His Majesty

Now off to the opera....

Mom is just enjoying the thunder and the pleasure of a lazy Sunday afternoon with almost all of her boys. We're hoping Daddy gets home from his mission soon!

HOPE FLOATS

I'm not a fan of living in the past. I tend to think it's better to leave it there, with the exception of some very special and meaningful moments. But sometimes it's good to take a trip back and remember where you've been and realize how far you've come. Ten years ago this month, I suddenly found myself starting over in a new life I didn't recognize. My marriage was ending...it was all over but the paperwork. Matt was at his dad's house, and I was spending a lonely Sunday afternoon by myself for the first time in years. How did I cope? I went to the movies alone, another first for me, and saw "Hope Floats."

Early in the movie, Birdee Calvert headed home to Texas from Illinois (I am a Texas girl who was living in Illinois at the time.), and as she crossed the Texas state line and drove past pine trees and longhorn cattle, my tears and longing took over. It was a perfect movie for me that day, and I discovered the pleasure of sobbing in front of the big screen with only a soda and popcorn and to learn that I enjoyed being in a theatre by myself.

The movie ended with these words: "That's what momma always says. She says that beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will... "

And suddenly I felt like there was a future out there for me. I forgot that moment innumerable times before the future found me, but there were many reminders along the way. Tonight, as Matt and I watched "Hope Floats" again, many of those old emotions resurfaced as I recalled how I'd felt that day, but the reality of how much my life has changed and how God has blessed me in these last ten years is truly overwhelming. If ever God's grace, mercy and provision is evident, it is in these last ten years of my life. For that I am incredibly thankful.

This has been a day of laughter. From this morning, when Garin in his jammies and Matt in his boxers were dancing in the playroom while playing cymbals and maracas (how I wish I'd had the camera handy) to this afternoon, when they were playing a new version of "Where'd he go?" that looked like an old movie. Do you remember the scenes where people are going in and out of the same room(s) and barely missing each other, each unaware that the other is there? Well, check out the video below, and you'll see what I mean.

Christian the Lion

If you haven't seen this before, get some Kleenex. THIS is why I love animals!

Adoption Talk and Potty (Non-) Training

I didn't get a response or the promised call from our caseworker this week (collective gasp or sigh would be appropriate here, except that we've all come to expect this, haven't we?). I did hear from our home study caseworker, however, who had been told that our dossier would not be registered in Russia this month after all. The St. Petersburg Adoption Committee is relocating offices, thus the delay. It was good to know. We have no doubt that the agency is working on our behalf; however, our caseworker's lack of communication is a real problem. As of today, we have not heard from her in 18 days, and as far as she knows, we still believe we are being registered, but she didn't bother to contact me this week as promised. If we thought she didn't care about our case, we would ask for a new caseworker, but she is very familiar with us and seems to really want to bring our kids home. So we continue to wait for calls that don't come and emails that aren't answered.

In happier news, our home study caseworker is expecting twins soon!!! We haven't seen her since we completed our home study last year...yes, last year, ugh...and were quite surprised by the news. We are so excited for her, as they had struggled with infertility issues and miscarriages too and were about ready to give up on more bio kids. Guess I need to get to work on a couple of quilts! And that leads me to wonder when I will ever get to make a pink quilt. Our friends and family keep having boys! But who am I to talk??? I am the only estrogen producer in this house, at least until K arrives.

Yesterday was an interesting one with Garin. At two and a half, we realize that potty training is looming on the horizon. He loves to go in the bathroom with us and "help" by supervising, unrolling and tearing off toilet paper, flushing and waving bye-bye to whatever we've deposited in there. He is just beginning to understand the process, but he has not showed much interest in sitting there himself. He seems to feel it is just wasting his time to sit anywhere, much less there.

So lately Garin has been removing his diapers at naptime and in the mornings before we come get him from his room. Then suddenly yesterday he took his diaper off five different times and kept running around bare-bottomed. I couldn't keep it on him, so we started thinking it was potty-training time. Big mistake. Garin's idea of potty training is picking something interesting and then aiming at it. He went in corners, on the carpet and even hosed down his bowling pins! Matt and I had a long, hearty laugh over that one!!! We got some pull-ups and are hoping they'll stay on better until he is willing to put a little effort into potty training! Matt trained later and in about a week, so this is quite new to me. And the fact that it's been fourteen years since then doesn't help either! Any suggestions are appreciated; I am acutely aware that it won't be long now.

Matt, Karl and I relaxed last night (after Garin's bedtime) with Haagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry's and Shrek 3. 'Twas a lovely, relaxing evening! Next week, we'll get the awesome sitter (see previous blog entry) if she's available, and Matt and I are going to spend a day, just the two of us, at the outlet malls and the beach.

It looks like Karl's schedule is about to go crazy. He is scheduled for a mission this week, and this week is also the big inspection for which he's been in charge of preparation since he got home from his deployment last fall. Following the inspection, he'll be due for a new desk job. He has some ideas about what that will be, but nothing is decided yet. We'll let you know when he gets a new title. He's also scheduled for Instructor Pilot training this fall. He was an instructor before but has to requalify since he's flying a different jet now. Also, some have been asking about his promotion. After looking at the monthly promotion increments for his promotion group, we are fairly certain he'll pin on Major in January.

We're headed out in a few minutes to grab a meal out (woohoo!) and go play at the park for awhile. I've been shackled to the stove the last few days, so it will be nice to eat out! ;o) And believe it or not, there are no picnics, no VBS kick-off, no responsibilities this weekend other than family, so we intend to enjoy being together.

My blog friend, Amy, and her hubby are headed to Russia today to meet "Boo" and "Hoo", their third and fourth children (all from Russia). Keep them in your prayers!

Also, my AF friend (the one who is adopting #4 from China right now) has asked for prayer for her father, who is having a triple bypass on Tuesday.

Thanks for being such faithful prayer warriors!!!

Have a great weekend!