Happy Halloween!!

We started off our day yesterday with some pumpkin carving. I helped each of the boys carve theirs and then we did one for Deacon and of course, baby sister!!


Later that night it was time for trick or treating!! I never know what the boys are going to want to dress up as but I thought it was cute that they both wanted to be the same thing.

This year we have Conner as the Black Ranger...


Tucker as the Red Ranger...


And Deacon as the cutest little tiger I have ever seen...


Thanks Mom for buying the boys costumes...they LOVED them!!

Here we are all together. Conner insisted that I wear that wig:)...


This is my crazy brother-in-law. He was the hit of the night. Everyone all over the neighborhood was asking to take his picture and clapping for him...


All the cousins plus Miss Ballerina. They had a blast and loaded up on tons of candy...


Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!!

Fingerprints are done!!

We loaded the boys up early this morning while it was still dark to drop them off at Dil's mom's house(and before you get all crazy mom on me...she lives on our same driveway so there was no need for car seats :))


As we were pulling out onto the highway I looked over at Dil and said "this is kinda exciting, it's like we are on a date". He laughed and said "ya, and at 7:00 in the morning".

It was kinda romantic getting to watch the sun come up out the truck window and eating a sausage biscuit as he pumped the gas. I'll take what I can get these days!!

We did have a funny moment when we pulled up to what we thought was the Dept. of Human Services. It was a gated entry with an intercom.

Dil: Hi, my name is Dillon and we have an 8:00 appointment.
Intercom guy: Well, okay Dillon, who might you have an appointment with?
Dil: We have fingerprint appointments for our adoption.
Intercom guy: Well Dillon, I'm sorry but this is Devon Energy and we don't do any fingerprints for adoptions.

I'm sure he probably thought we were a little crazy showing up at his gate so early talking about fingerprints and adoption. We got a good laugh out of it though and of course my husband enjoyed being able to tell me "I told you so"!!

We finally arrived and took a pic outside since they don't allow cameras...


We are glad to have this marked off our list and for a morning of time together!

Special needs?

My mother-in-law read this to me this morning and I thought it was so amazing and it made me think about things in a new light. It is from Next Door Savior by Max Lucado and I wanted to share it with you...

Alan and Penny Mcllroy have two adopted children which is commendable but not uncommon. The fact that they have adopted special needs children is significant but not unique. It's the severity of the health problems that sets this story apart.
Saleena is a cocaine baby. Her birth mother's overdose left Saleena unable to hear, see, speak, or move. Penny and Alan adopted her at seven weeks. The doctor gave her a year. She's lived for six.
As Penny introduced me to Saleena, she ruffled her hair and squeezed her cheeks, but Seleena didn't respond. She never does. Barring a miracle, she never will. Neither will her sister. "This is Destiny," Penny told me. In the adjacent bed one-year-old Destiny lay, motionless and vegetative. Penny will never hear Destiny's voice. Alan will never know Salena's kiss. They'll never hear their daughters sing in a choir, never see them walk across the stage. They'll bathe them, change them, adjust their feeding tubes, and rub their limp limbs, but barring God's intervention, this mom and dad will never hear more than we heard that afternoon--gurgled breathing. "I need to suction Saleena's nose," Penny said to me. "You might want to leave."
I did, and as I did, I wondered, what kind of love is this? What kind of love adopts disaster? What kind of love looks into the face of children, knowing full well the weight of their calamity, and says, "I'll take them"? (Destiny has since gone to heaven.)
When you come up with a word for such a love, give it to Christ. For the day He left Nazareth is the day He declared His devotion for you and me.
We were just as helpless, in a spiritually vegetative state from sin. According to Peter, our lives were "dead-end, empty-headed" (1 Peter 1:18 MSG). But God, "who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (Ephesians 2:4,5)
Jesus left Nazareth in pursuit of the spiritual Saleenas and Destinys of the world and brought us to life.

This just brings tears to my eyes.

When we were filling out our adoption paperwork we struggled with what special needs we would accept. In the end our homestudy lists some MINOR CORRECTABLE special needs that we are willing to take.

Aren't we so glad that God didn't pick and choose what he was willing to take? What boxes he would mark? He died for us all, no matter what we looked like or how broken we were.

That is just how AMAZING our God is!! I cannot even begin to fathom the depths of his love for each one of us. It runs far deeper than my little mind can imagine.

Thank you Lord!! Thank you for sending your son to die on the cross for me, my family and friends, and each one reading this right now. May we live lives worthy of you and may we never forget the sacrifice that you made.

Thank you for loving us and giving us LIFE!!!

We love us some Awanas!!

I don't know if you are involved in Awanas or know anything about it but we absolutely love it!! It is a Bible program that challenges the kiddos to memorize lots of scripture and then they earn patches and wings/jewels to put on their vests. They also get to go to the store(a classroom with baskets full of fun cheap toys) where they get to spend the Awana bucks that they have earned for that month. Those can be earned by memorizing scripture, bringing your Bible, wearing your vest, bringing your book, etc.

Here is my little Cubbie Bear. Dirty face and all...you gotta love those Awana snacks. He thinks he is big stuff with his vest and is totally enjoying himself in his new class and has already earned his second patch...


Conner has been working so hard to earn his vest. He had to memorize 6 scriptures to get it and he was so proud to be able to show it off after class tonight...


His first patch...



There is nothing better than hearing God's word pouring out of your children. I am so thankful to be able to be a part of such a great program and to have such wonderful people teaching my children!!

Sweet Gift.

My mother-in-law got this for us the other day when she was out shopping. I absolutely LOVE it and know exactly where I am going to hang it when the time comes to set up the nursery.


It says...

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.
For us to have each other is like a dream come true.
No, I didn't give you the gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.


Thank you so much Brenda for the sweet gift! :)

We have appointments!

We got some exciting things in the mail last week...


Our certificate of completion for our dossier and our fingerprinting appointments so we can get our FDL which gives us permission to bring our baby girl into the United States. :)


So, on October 29th we will get up extra early and drive to the city to be at our 8:00 am appointment! All we do after that is wait for them to process everything and send us our FDL. Then we will officially be referral ready!!

Party time!!

We had a great time celebrating Deacon's first birthday tonight...


You can't have a party without food so we started off the evening with some yummy pizza and veggies...


The kids then hit the playground...






I can never pass up a chance to take a pic with my man and of course we had to get one with the birthday boy...



Deacers LOVED his cupcake and ate the whole thing in a matter of seconds...




Time for presents...



We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful night for an outdoor party and we were so thankful to all our friends and family who came out to love on our little man!!

Thankful...

We just got back today from a family getaway. I was so thankful that God allowed us to have this time together and build memories with our boys. We were so excited to have Dil's parents along with us too. We stayed in a cabin near one of our state parks that is nestled right beside a lake. It was a very relaxing trip and the scenery was so beautiful.

We enjoyed exploring around the lake...


Riding in the boat...


Taking the boys on a little train ride...


Trying new foods...you are looking at a funnel cake battered and deep fried twinkie!! And let me tell you folks, it was GOOOOOOD!!! I was still talking about it days later...


Hiking at the river(we needed it after the twinkies)...



Con took this pic of us right before we floated the river...


The most memorable part of our time was our little Deacon Sawyer having his first birthday...we celebrated around a campfire and he loved devouring his first marshmallow after he blew out his candle...



Happy birthday little boy. Your mommy loves you so much. You have made this past year so much fun!!!

One month down...

and only 11-17 more to go!!! Wow, thinking of how long this is going to take really wears me out sometimes.

I have to confess, I tend to be a little DrAmAtIc at times. Sometimes on the harder days of all this I will look over at Dil and say "do you think at the end of all this we are really going to get our baby?". I think I am really just needing him to reassure me to keep hanging on.

Someone told me the other day that I might go thru all of this waiting and not even be able to adopt in the end. WOW!! Major blow to the gut!! Talk about taking the wind from my sails!!

The truth is she is right. Nothing is guaranteed. Anything could happen.

The question is, am I willing to take the risk? You bet I am!!

I know that we serve a BIG GOD and that for some reason if this all ends in heartache instead of a baby then that is for my own good. This was part of my reading this morning..."You and I must boldly ask the Lord to let us see Him, even if the light of His presence is best seen against the veil of darkness". This hit me hard. I don't want to endure suffering or loss. Who does? But, if it brings me closer to my Savior and shows me more about Him is it worth it? You bet it is!!

On the other hand, if we wait this thing out and it is God's will for us to have this baby, I can only imagine the blessing we will receive. A beautiful gift, straight from God, that is hand picked just for us. Every detail aligned by the creator of the world to take us to one specific day in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The day we will hold our daughter in our arms and be overcome by God's love for us all. Only God can do something so amazing!! It will be nothing less than a miracle!!

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

To my sweet girl,

I think about you constantly little one and long for the day you are home with us. I imagine you playing with your brothers and cuddled up in your daddy's arms. I think about rocking you to sleep and singing Jesus Loves Me as you drift off. I can't wait to dress you up and put BIG bows in your curly hair. Oh the hair, that is going to be a challenge.
You are our treasure and we will do whatever it takes to bring you home. It is amazing that we have never seen your face and yet our love for you runs so deep. You are changing us for the better and we need you just as much as you need us. We cannot wait for the day that God brings us together. He made you for us and us for you. He loves you so much and I know he has amazing things in store for you. I can't wait to teach you about him and the wonderful thing he did for you on the cross.

All my love,
Mommy

October Numbers!!

It was very exciting to get our first set of new numbers. It was even more exciting to get an updated set of numbers a few hours later. As my case worker said "you gotta love human error"!!! :)

So, for a girl we are number....


And for siblings we are number...


10 spots for a girl and 3 spots for siblings...waaaaahoooo...praising God for so much movement and praying for the families in the top spots who are waiting for referrals, for the families preparing to travel this month, and the ones waiting for court dates. :)

Family Friday :)

We met the crew up at the office this afternoon for the annual homecoming parade. The kids were way excited about getting some candy!!!!!

Here they are(minus the 2 babies)...there are 10 cousins altogether ranging from 4 mo-8 yrs. old. They absolutely adore one another and everyone has their special buddy. I am so blessed to have each of these special kiddos in my life and that my boys get to grow up surrounded by family.



Daddy made it just in time for the parade to start...



This man seemed a little too big for his pony but it was extremely nice of him to stop during the parade and let the kids pet him...


I'm not sure if Con enjoyed himself or not...LOL...as you can see, he lost another tooth last nite...


Aunt Mea getting some love from the Deacster...


Oh, the joy of candy...


Me and my girls(Dillon's two sisters). I don't know what I would do without them. They keep me sane and make my life sweet!! :)


Happy October everyone(yeah! rainy season is over!!)...hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!