Happy Gotcha Day, Daniel!!

We love you immensely! Thank you for bringing so much laughter to our family!

Here's your video:

Daniel's Gotcha Day Video

God hears secret prayers

There is a God.

There is one true God.

How do I know He exists? He continually hears and answers my prayers.

I have had multiple prayers answered back-to-back, and I’d like to share four of them.

First, I was secretly praying for the items Matthew would need when he gets home from China. A lady (Sarah Driscoll) contacted me asking for my address, and she brought over a car seat and some clothes for Matthew—without knowing that I had been praying for such items!

Second, I went to the mailbox today and was shocked to find a check from Bill and Carrie Rowe for $1000 to help cover Matthew's needs! I had not spoken a word of my prayers to anyone!

Third, I was feeling the heavy weight of all the things I need to accomplish on a daily basis, and the weight drove me to my knees in tears. I prayed that God would bring me a helper—someone who could, specifically, help me with some of the homeschcooling while I potty-trained the boys, etc.

A lady (Judy Springer) texted me stating that I was invited to join her at her church this school year for time of refreshing for my heart through teaching and to receive help with my children. She told me that her church was opening a homeschooling area for school-aged children from Kindergarten through 5^th grade in which the children would receive help with their school work while their moms had some time off. In addition, the littlest ones would be cared for during those same hours. 

One morning a week, I was invited to be refreshed and mentored while my children had their needs met! To add to this, Judy said she would be covering my year’s tuition for the program! 

This precious lady had no idea I had been secretly praying in my bedroom behind closed doors!

Fourth, my daughter Cherish asked me if she could take dance lessons this year, but I told her there would be no way, as Daddy was working so hard to bring Matthew home.

I told her we could pray together about her desire to dance, and if the Lord would like her to dance, He would provide a way. (Because, we know, "no" is an answer as well.) So, secretly, we prayed together.

Cherish’s dance instructor, Erica Morris, contacted me to tell me that she and Alexis Campbell (Hope’s dance instructor) were covering dance lessons for both Cherish and Hope this coming year. They invited both Hope and Cherish to dance—without knowing that Cherish and I had been praying to God about her desire to dance.

There really is a God!

He is the God of the Bible!

He is alive.

He is active.

He hears and answers the prayers of His people.

He is our great Provider!

And often, He provides more than just our needs!

I praise Him for His kindness!

Happy Gotcha Day, Samuel!!

We love you SO MUCH!!

Click below to watch

Samuel's Gotcha Day Video

Solar Eclipse

Thanks to Pappy and Nanny, we all had our glasses and were waiting for our chance to see the partial solar eclipse from our yard. We had some rain and clouds, but we were able to see the eclipse, and we enjoyed the experience greatly!

Thanks, Pappy and Nanny!!!!

P.S. Once we were outside, I had Samuel's eyes to guard and Derek had Daniel's eyes to guard, so we didn't get a "viewing" the eclipse picture.

We are DTC!

Today we are Dossier to China--meaning our adoption paperwork is flying to China right now! It is done! We are SO THANKFUL to the Lord and to all who held us up and walked us through the first part of the adoption process!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are one giant step closer to Matthew!

And, of course, we celebrated tonight with Chinese food, eaten with chopsticks. The meal tasted even better than I remembered, since Derek ordered the food as I was beginning to cook our dinner. No cooking. No pots and pans. Aww! What a celebration!

Summer 2017e

This summer, Derek's parents celebrated 50 years of marriage.

Though I do not yet have pictures from their amazing celebration,

I do have the following pictures from our time together

following the celebration.

We got to spend the week with this awesome family 😍:

Thanks for the together time, Pappy and Nanny!!

Summer 2017d

Power Up Clubs memories:

Summer 2017c

Daniel--after his almost week-long fever:

 Washing dishes (and drying them in the tree):

 Of all the seats in the living room,

they chose to sit close together:

 Pappy's gift: baseball tickets

 Andrew, the cool dude at the baseball game:

Cherish with some new friends at VBS:

Daniel loving his first VBS experience:

 Andrew at his Saturday morning classes:

Summer 2017b

Superheroes live at our house.

Here's proof:

And, of course, we have "Sir Bucket Head" 😍.

Summer 2017a

So, now that summer school break is behind us, I will post some special pictures from our summer. (I tried to "live in the moment" with my family, so I didn't post very much.)

The first trip we made was to see Derek's great aunt in Tennessee and then on to Georgia to get together with my family.

In order to make the trip more comfortable and to help Sammy sleep in different beds during the journey, I made my first weighted blanket. It was quite successful! I was extremely happy!

All together with Derek's great aunt:

While we were visiting Derek's great aunt, she became ill and needed a day of rest. So, we took the children to a hands-on museum in the area, and they had a fabulous time!

News anchors:

The boys "lost" their shirts due to a water incident involving toy boats. The workers let us take their shirts back to the car to dry them in the heat.

Aw. Shirts again: 

 The banker:

After visiting Derek's great aunt, we went to visit my family--who had rented a cabin in the mountains for several days. It was so nice to reconnect with the family again!

The girls snuggled up reading:

Look at how the boys are snuggled up for a nap! 💗

Sweet Aunt Teaya:

Madison and Sammy (with Andrew pushing the pedal):

 Hope:

 Daniel:

 Sammy:

 Daniel:

 Yay, Andrew!

 Super, Hope!

 Look at the fishing pole Sammy chose:

 Uncle Pedro and Mason:

 Daniel and Madison: "My dad is stronger than your dad!"

 Uncle Jon to the rescue with the bubbles:

 Cousins:

 Jon and Madison, Jen and Sammy, Pedro and Sebastian:

 Outside fireplace:

This was the perfect ending to each evening

as the adults stayed up late bonding

around the outside fireplace. LOVED it!