Hannah's Hope

I have been working on a video (to share at our church) regarding the situation at Hannah's Hope in Guatemala. I thought I should just share it here as well. If you have any interest in knowing more you can email me, or go to www.allgodschildren.org and click the "UNITE" button.

Because you just can't get enough of the animals...

Apparently we were having "animal withdrawal".
So we headed to the zoo today to see what we could see.

We loved this guy. And I tell you, there is NO sound like the sound of an African lion when he roars. Gave me chills.


And so fun to see this special guest:


Gotta' love the elephants.


And our very favorite of the day was this walrus. For several minutes he was playing with the kids at the window. He would come up and get nose to nose...looking the kids straight in the eye. Micah was captivated! I have never seen a walrus face so up close and personal!


What fun!

Our Vacation "By The Numbers"

4,189 miles traveled!!!
10 different states
8 different places to sleep
7 awesome National or State parks/monuments
5 bears we saw with our own eyes!
530 pictures downloaded onto my computer
0 DVD's watched in the truck
3 GREAT kids who made the trip so much FUN!
1 awesome husband (who, by the way, drove every one of those 4,189 miles!)

We are getting settled back into regular life (unpacked and all) and I am still hoping to post some more of those 530 pictures (but don't worry...not ALL of them!!)

Just a couple of pics....

Mount Rushmore!!!



The Badlands!!


Micah (ready to "ride horsey") picking some boots for mama!!

So much to tell...

...but so little time.
We have had another GREAT day!!
I am saving all the details for later...because I want to get to bed soon.
Tomorrow we will drive through Yellowstone for the last time, and then head east toward the Black Hills, Badlands, and Mount Rushmore.

Here are a few photo highlights of the day:

The work of His hands....

This trip has been absolutely amazing so far.
I don't even know where to start...but I thought I would at least post a few pictures (of the 200 plus that I have taken so far!!)
I will definitely have to post much more later. But for now, here are a few highlights.

God's handiwork is AMAZING!!! I feel like these pictures don't even do it justice, because the landscape is so "expansive" that I can't fit it into a picture. But here are a few:



Our first day in Yellowstone was so fun! We have seen herds and herds of bison (and baby bison), many elk, a moose (with a baby!), and.....check this out....A BALD EAGLE! on the first day!!!


I could go on and on ....and I will later.....but I am heading to bed now. Exhausted. AND VERY BLESSED!

Did I happen to mention...???

Did I happen to mention that we are heading to Yellowstone National Park??
On Friday!?!?!
Yikes.
This vacation has REALLY snuck up on us!

We are hoping to visit some (or all) or these places:
Joplin, MO (to visit our sweet friend, Ashley...her hubby, Aaron...and baby Jude, too!!)
Rocky Mountain National Forest
The Grand Tetons
Yellowstone
Old Faithful
Mount Rushmore
The Badlands and Black Hills

And lots of stuff in between!

I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the thought of packing a family of 5...for 10 days...and 4,000 miles!!
I should get started.

Amazing Love...

This post may seem a bit "random"...and to some degree, I suppose it is.
But I needed to share.

Earlier today I was going through some of the pictures from Micah's adoption. I was doing this with the hope of finally putting together a "life book" for him to grow up with...a book with the story of how he came into our family.

As I was flipping through the pictures, I came upon these two....and they stopped me "in my tracks."




The pictures are of Micah with one of his "special moms" at the orphanage.
I have seen these 2 pictures a hundred (or more) times, but today I cried.

Here are some of the emotions that led to my tears:

--Have I ever told you....REALLY, REALLY told you....how incredible these women are? When I look at these pictures, I am reminded of how much LOVE they poured into Micah during his first 8 months of life. I love the way she is looking at him in the first picture....and when you look at her SMILE in the second picture, I just think "you can't fake a smile like that.....she LOVED him!!!!"

--I have been bothered all day by the fact that I cannot remember this special mom's name. It is driving me NUTS! I want to know it. I NEED to know it. I want Micah to KNOW her name. So...I am working on it. I knew it at one time, and I am sure I have it written down somewhere...in the meantime, I have emailed some other people to see if they can help me.

--Somewhere along the way, I stopped praying consistently for these women. Not on purpose, it just happened. It struck me today that, at this very moment, there are women caring for orphans in Guatemala and Ethiopia at the Hannah's Hope orphanages.
They are feeding, changing diapers, rocking, singing, giving medicine, kissing "ouchies", cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, etc.
And they do it with so much love.
Our family was blessed to SEE them doing it first-hand.
Our family was blessed because they DID IT FOR MICAH when we couldn't.

Chad and I have said SO MANY times that we are grateful for the love these women gave our son!!

Tonight I am grateful that they continue on...and I will be praying for them...and for the orphans whose lives they touch each day!!

Happy Birthday, ERICA!!!

Happy Birthday, sis!!
We love you and we are so very, very, VERY proud of the young woman that you are becoming! Thank you for the many ways you bless our family...especially with your servant heart and your willing hands!!!

We love you!!!!

Happy Birthday +1, girlfriend!!

+1....because I am a day late with this post.

I have decided that birthday posts to you are difficult to write.
Because what I am really doing is just telling you "publicly" what I pray that you already know in your heart.

Last year I wrote this:
"God blessed my life beyond measure when He formed our friendship....a friendship that was born first and foremost out of our mutual desire to grow in our walk with Him. I love you dearly and pray that we celebrate many more birthdays."

The thing I love most about our friendship is Christ.
...praying with you.... talking with you about what God is doing....studying His word with you...praying for you and your family.

God has shown us (several times) that our friendship is dependent upon Him. When we drift, we struggle. I believe that our friendship was a gift from God, and I believe that He will do whatever it takes to be sure we keep Him "center stage"!! I PRAISE HIM FOR THAT!

I love you!
OH....and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

:)

Happy Moms Day!!!!!

Happy Mothers Day everyone!
This song put a huge smile on my face last night. Then this morning, when the puppets performed it at church, I just knew I had to share it with you! Hope you enjoy it!!

A boy and his horse...

Micah's new "hobby" should help to keep the dandelion population down in our yard this summer!
If you know of any children that have had their hand eaten off by a horse...please DO NOT leave them in my comment box!!!

Have I ever mentioned....????

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Third Day?
Have I ever mentioned that I would drive miles and miles to see them in concert?
Have I ever mentioned that Carrie loves them, too?

Well.
I do.
and I would.
and she does.

Then maybe I should mention that we (Carrie and I) were so very blessed to get away Sunday evening for a drive to Ohio to see our favorite band.



And I should definitely add that when you see Third Day (at least when I do), you really don't feel like you have been to a rock concert as much as you feel like you have been to an awesome worship service.

I am so excited to mention, also, that Third Day announced a new album coming out in July...the 29th to be exact...a Tuesday...not that I am looking forward to it or anything!!!

I tried for several minutes (it felt like hours) to get a little video off my camera to show you. BUT I COULDN'T...and that irritates me!!
So, instead, I will give a glimpse at this cute little video...have you seen it already? My sweet friend Colleen forwarded the link to me, and I can't resist sharing it. You really must watch it to the end to get the FULL effect!

....and to think that Chad and I were so very proud of Micah today for singing his ABC song without missing a letter!!
Maybe you will get the video of that soon, too!!!

Enjoy.

A "field trip" and A Mystery Solved

We had a fun little field trip with Gummie today to the VERY-MUCH-REMODELED Indianapolis Central Library!



The place is unbelievable. Very cool! And so much to do....in addition to the actual books, that is. Especially for the kids.
Here is Micah taking a break to think about all he had seen and done....




We had a tough time finding socks for Micah this morning. Which was puzzling for me because the laundry was all caught up. Hmmmmm. I eventually found a pair and "moved on" with my day.
Then just before bed Micah pulled his socks off...and the lightbulb went on in my head.
I got down on the floor, and looked under Micah's crib, up next to the wall....and look what I found!!!!!



Yep! SOCKS GALORE!! 17 socks to be exact (not including the 2 he had just taken off!) He apparently takes them off while he is in bed and then drops them on the floor behind his crib.
I laughed so hard that I think I may have scared the poor boy!
Mystery solved.

Katerine is coming home!!!!!!

My heart is overflowing with joy tonight for Stephanie and her family!!! They received their "Pink Slip" today and will be bringing Katie home next week!!! NEXT WEEK!!!

It has been an amazingly LONG and DIFFICULT adoption journey for this sweet little girl and her forever family...please join me in THANKING AND PRAISING GOD for this great news today!!!!!

He had NO idea!!

Sometime in the last week or two Micah discovered Chap-stik.
AND he discovered the drawer in the bathroom where the Chap-stik lives. We laugh everytime we see him putting the Chap-stik on because he just smears it all over his face.

Well....tonight he must have stumbled upon a tube of LIPSTICK in the drawer where the Chap-stik lives!!

And when he came downstairs after putting his "Chap-stik" on.... he HAD NO IDEA why we were all laughing so much harder than we usually do!!!

Happy Birthday BROCK!!!!!

Brock,
14!?!?!?
Unbelievable!!
We are so proud of the young man that you are becoming!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Other "House" news...

It's not that I had forgotten to post about these things....it's just that I have not been posting much about anything lately (hold your comments, please!)




Brock just recently finished his first season of swimming.
It's not that he just learned to swim (he accomplished that at 4 or 5 years old)....but he has never swam competitively before.
We were so excited that he tried it. AND THAT HE LOVED IT!!
He learned so much and improved on every stroke...not to mention those flip turns!
We are so proud of him for trying something new and working so hard at it!!!!



AND then there was this....

Toby Mac---


AND JEREMY CAMP---


In concert together!!!
Maybe I should have posted bigger pictures. But I came to the conclusion that the pictures really don't do it justice...I should have had some video (but is that illegal??!!!???)

Anyway, it turns out that I didn't even have a picture of MY MOST FAVORITE THING OF THE WHOLE NIGHT anyway... the 3 friends that were sitting beside me!!! Carrie, Colleen, Sheila and I had a great time!! A girls night out! ROCK ON!!!

And because I am SO mad that I didn't get a picture of us at THIS concert...I decided to grab one from the archives of us at THIS concert instead.

Baby goats!!!

Introducing......
the newest residents in our barn!!!

This first little guy was born a couple of weeks ago.
He hasn't been named yet...so he is referred to as "little red buck".


Then this little guy just joined us on Tuesday.


And as you can see....Micah is bonding quite well with him!


The last two weeks have been very bitersweet (maybe more bitter than sweet?!?!)
Unfortunately, we have lost several kids and even a mama goat (Erica's "Betsy"...not the mama to either of these two kids). So, it has been a little stressful, emotional, and exhausting. This was the first time for our "mama-does" to breed, and they have all had triplets...too big and very difficult deliveries.

We are trying not to be too overwhelmed by all of this...and, instead, just focus on these very cute, very bouncy kids.


We still have one more doe to deliver (Erica's "Bonnie")...so we are hoping for the best! It seems a little odd to request prayer for a goat...but (given how things have gone so far) I'm just dropping a hint here...

If this blog was a ...

I was thinking today that if this blog was a car along side the road....it would have been towed by now!!!!

We are still here.
And I think about posting something almost every day.
But somehow I never seem to get around to it.

It's that morning routine that I was telling you all about. I have been trying so hard to stay dedicated to my morning quiet time and work-out. But, I have realized that for it to work I HAVE to get to bed early (and by "early", I mean before 11 p.m. --- not early as in "early morning" like I used to do!). Quite frankly, I am still trying to figure out WHEN (if not at 1:00 a.m.) I am supposed to get my other stuff done ...you know, CRITICAL stuff like blogging!! :)

If anyone is still reading...THANKS for sticking around.
I promise some updates this week!!