As if things aren't CrAzY enough....

Look at what we decided to add to the family!!



The boys named him Gilbert and they think he is the best thing ever!!! :)

gingerbread house

I love traditions. There is just something warm and cozy feeling about them. They just make me feel happy. One of our favorites around Christmas time is to decorate a gingerbread house. The boys love it and look forward to it every year!





I think they ended up eating as much candy and icing as they decorated with!! That's just part of the fun, right!?!? :)

December numbers!!

Thought I better post these before the month slips away!!!

Me and the boys were enjoying some painting time this morning so I thought it would be great for Con to show our new numbers in a creative and festive way!!

For a girl...



For siblings...



That is 6 spots on the girls list and 7 spots on the siblings list!!

Praying for BABY Tucker!!

Please join me in praying for little Tucker. He is at Hannah's Hope right now and he is very sick. His mama Lauren and her husband are traveling to meet him in a month and you can only imagine how their heart must ache to love on him and get him the best care possible.

Please pray that he would gain weight and start to grow strong and he would fight off anything trying to attack his little body. And please pray for peace for his sweet parents as they are away from him. Also, pray for the ones caring for him in Ethiopia.

So thankful that God is holding little Tucker in His arms!! He is soooo good!!

Brother Talk!!

This is a sweet conversation Dillon overheard the boys having this morning before church.

Tuck: I wish it was Christmas at our house this morning.
Con: Why?
Tuck: So we could get lots of presents.
Con: That's not what Christmas is all about. Do you not know what Christmas is even about?
Tuck: No.
Con: Christmas is about Jesus being born so he could save us from our sins. Tuck, when you are a little older, you can talk to mommy and daddy about asking Jesus into your heart. Then when you do, POOF, you are a christian.

Conner has a natural leader quality inside of him. I am always reminding him of this and telling him he needs to be someone worth following. Someone who will point others to Christ.

This conversation with his little brother just made me so proud. Con accepted Jesus into his heart this year at the young age of six. He takes it very seriously and wants others to know that he is a christian.

I pray that he will continue to grow in his faith and that he will never lose his boldness to share Jesus with others.

Here are a few pics from the kids program tonite during the holiday banquet at church...

Happy Birthday Tucker!!

I can't believe my little Tucker man is 4 years old today!! Let me tell ya, this boy is as sweet as they come. He is sooo laid back and is an absolute JOY to be around.

He came into this world 3 weeks early weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz. and he has grown into such a handsome little boy...














Tucker D, I love you more than you will ever know. You make my heart so full and I simply adore you!!!!! Happy Birthday my big 4 year old!!!!!

3 months waiting + The Hartsock family!!

Dearest Little One,
It is very busy around here right now...we are getting ready for Christmas. We got the tree all decorated and hung our stockings. The boys stockings are camo and we picked out a little red one just for you. You are in our thoughts daily and we can't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, you might be here with us next Christmas. We are confident that we will at least know your face and that is so exciting to us. We love you so much baby girl!!!
Mommy

We have been waiting 3 whole months today. I remember the excitement of the day we sent off our dossier and even better, the day we got our first set of numbers. I can't believe 3 months has already flown by.

Most days just go by like any other but every once in a while I have a kinda down day. I feel kinda low and my heart aches heavily for our little one. I talked to our case worker "B" about it and she said that it is completely normal to feel that way and is to be expected. She said it is just part of the process of preparing my heart to one day meet our little girl.

This whole adoption journey has been so amazing and to see God work around us is so awesome to watch. I have loved how he has placed people in our lives to walk this out with and it is such a blessing to have friends close by who understand exactly what we are going thru.

I love the school that my son attends for many reasons. One reason, is that there is many adoptive families. When Conner started Kindergarten this year, we were excited that one of the little boys of a family we know would be in his class. You gotta understand that he attends school 40 minutes away so we don't know that many people there.

Here they are together on the first day of school...


What I didn't know is that the Lord was going to bond our families together thru adoption. They are now in the paperwork process adopting from ETHIOPIA thru no other than ALL GOD'S CHILDREN!!!! Is that not the coolest thing ever!!

So, I would love for you to head over to their blog, introduce yourself, and welcome them to the adoption world. I know that "meeting" all of you has been such a blessing to me and I know it will be for them as well.

Hello December!!

I cannot believe that December is already here!! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving surrounded by the ones you love.

We enjoyed several days out at the cabin with Dil's side of the family. We played lots of games, watched movies, ate way too much food, and just enjoyed being together.


I love traditions and one thing I look forward to is writing what I am thankful for on our tablecloth. We have been using the same one since 2007 and it is so neat to look back and see what everyone has written from year to year.


We spent some time at my granny's house too and I learned a new game that I am pretty much addicted to now. Farkle. It is a dice game and you have to choose whether you are gonna take a risk or not. My motto during this game is "go big or go broke"...because of this I have only won one game and that was against my mom-in-law and sis-in-law when I was teaching them to play!! I absolutely love games...even my home study says so. :)

With Thanksgiving behind us we are starting to gear up for Christmas. I actually for the first time ever put my tree up before Turkey Day. Everyones early Christmas cheer finally got to me and I gave in. I was glad to have it done after the busy week.

The boys were excited to get our their nativity scene last nite. My husband did the narrating and with me adding in a few songs here and there it was quite the show(only if you enjoy weird voices and off key singing)...




I was busy with Deacers for a minute and when I looked back this is what I saw...


Very funny that Dil acted this scene out but man did it make me stop and think what Mary really had to go thru. Not only did she ride that donkey all that way 9 months pregnant but the details of her delivery were not that ideal to say the least. But, can you only imaging how she felt when she held her son, the Savior of the world, for the first time and looked into his eyes. I wonder what she said, what thoughts were going thru her mind, how she felt in that very moment. Gives me chills thinking about it!!

We hung up our advent calendar tonite. I was excited that I found one that has a magnet on the back that you can put on the fridge...


Speaking of the fridge I have to show you what ours looks like...


Could there BE anymore magnets or pictures on there?!?! Don't think so!!!!