What a difference a year makes!

First day of school

Last day of school First Day of School Last day of school First Day of School Last day of school

We're getting close

Last Friday our good friends, the Weelborgs, received their referral for a beautiful baby girl. We have been in this process together from the beginning, starting in China, and have weathered the storm together. It has been such a blessing to have them in this journey with us. I was thrilled when Jodi called to tell me that they got their referral. We are right behind them with one person that was in front of them that is requesting a 9-24 month old baby girl. So, since we are requesting a 0-12 month old girl, if the next child available is a 0-9 month old girl, she is ours! Our call could come any day now. We are more than ready to hear all about our sweet Ruby.

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Robb and the kids made the day extra special for me.

They made me this wonderful breakfast in bed. After a wonderful church service we went to Grandma Corinne's house for good food and good fun! Uncle Bryon and Uncle Wesley organized a football game for all of the kids. Gage got to play too! We went to visit my grandma in the nursing home and Hunter very innocently said to her, "it must be difficult getting old huh, grandma?" After a day of visiting grandmas, we went home and planted flowers. I had some amazing helpers! Gage thought digging in the dirt was a blast! I love having flowers all summer long. I'm hoping the frost is gone for good! And since it was Mother's Day, Robb even helped plant the flowers with a SMILE on his face. :)

We finished off the day by having my mom and Harlan out for supper. Mom brought the food and we relaxed and had a great time visiting.

Oh, and I got this wonderful adoption necklace from Robb and the kids that I have been wanting for so long. Of course mine says Ruby. The heart says 'I chose You' over and over again. I have a wish list at this wonderful site.

Word Find trouble

As Hunter is working on a word find, from the backseat he asks, "Hey mom, if you were the word FLAG, where would you be?"

70 degrees feels so good!

Just when we thought winter was NEVER going to end....we are finally seeing some beautiful sunshine. Robb is busy in the fields and the kids and I are enjoying lots of outside time!

Mother Daughter Tea

On Saturday our church hosted a lovely Mother Daughter Tea. The decorations were beautiful, the message was inspiring, the food was delicious and the time spent with my mother and daughter was wonderful!

My mom joined us.

Brylie looked beautiful in all of her pink! My sister-in-law, Kristi, gave a wonderful message about the importance of passing on a spiritual heritage to our daughters. Our daughters are facing things that we never had to face. We need to prepare them for the many, important decisions they will be making during their teenage years. It is so important to arm them with the word of God so that they can base their decisions on what it says in the Bible.

My mother-in-law, Corinne, my mom, Pat, myself and Brylie. Brylie is blessed to have two wonderful grandmas that love her so much. My little girl is such a precious gift!

Do ya have an extra dollar?

I found a website of an amazing family adopting a child with many medical needs. William is from Liberia and is in need of many surgeries. The family needs $15,000 to complete his adoption and is asking anyone that feels led to donate $1 to help bring William home. I spent a great deal of time reading about the family and felt so inspired by their courage and faith. You can find their story here.

Friday's Photos

Wanna make a referral guess?

I have seen these contests on other adoption blogs and thought it might be kind of fun. Since we are now in the time frame of getting a referral I thought I would take your guesses for a referral date. Right now we have been waiting for 3 1/2 months and the longest wait time for our agency has currently been 5 1/2 months. As far as I can figure out, I think we are #3 on the wait list right now. So, that being said, when do you think we will get that wonderful call about Ruby? I will post your guesses on my side bar and the winner will get a yummy prize from me! Wanna take a guess?

A day at the salon

Brylie recently got to spend a day at the salon with her very best friends McKenna, Hannah and Ava to celebrate McKenna's 5th birthday. The girls were so cute as they got the full treatment of manicures and pedicures.

Hannah, Brylie, Ava, McKenna

It happened again!

Yes, it is the end of April. Yes, this is what it looked like out my window this weekend. Yes, my husband was planting corn the day before. Yes, I live in South Dakota!

Another fun note from the school....

There have been some concerns about Scabies spreading through the school. Scabies is an infestation of the skin with a microscopic mite. The elementary has had two confirmed cases of Scabies. Both of those students have been treated and had older siblings that were infested earlier. Scabies symptoms include pimple-like irritations, burrows or rash of the skin especially the webbing between the fingers and the skin folds on the wrists, elbows, or knees. It causes intense itching over most of the body. Symptoms may take 4-6 weeks to begin. If you think your child has Scabies contact a health care official for treatment. UGH!

This one's for Amber

Amber has asked for more pictures of the house and I hadn't yet posted the before and after living room pictures, so here they are. As you can see I still don't have any window treatments. I am on the look out for some, but they are so expensive! The wall and ceiling color is called 'Latte'. Again, very neutral. I was hoping to get some color in the window treatments. Also, we are leaving the far end of the living room pretty much empty for now, for running, wrestling, kick ball and such. My kids have barely touched their toys since we moved here. There is so much running space they just enjoy that. Someday we may make that area a sitting area.

BEFORE AFTER

Three months and counting........

We are now considered to be in 'the window' of getting a referral. Families have been getting their referrals between 3-5 months on average. It feels really good to be at this point of the waiting, but because we are now in the window, I think that every day may be 'the day' that we will get the call about Ruby. Actually I am thinking that May will be our referral month. As far as I can tell there will probably be one more set of referrals before ours. Either way, WE ARE GETTING CLOSE! I can't even describe the anxiousness I am feeling. Here's to one more month down!

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When...

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When . . .

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep. 2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family. 3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing. 4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you. 5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption. 6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's 'real' parents. 7. You have ever been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth. (2 years!) 8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide. 9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met. 10. You believe God's heart is for adoption. 11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth. 12. You know what the word 'Dossier' means, and you can actually pronounce it! 13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life. 14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

-Author unknown

How is your Friday?

This is how our Friday is going. We are in the middle of a 3 day blizzard. It has been snowing and blowing since yesterday afternoon. All of the schools in the area are closed and even many businesses. We are going to enjoy our day in the house, trying to forget that it is the middle of April and we are snowed in! We plan on making play-dough, playing checkers, baking a cake, making daddy's favorite lunch, watching a movie, and of course getting a little house work done. :) Enjoy your Friday! Stay warm.

Travel Shots

Robb and I got the first round of travel shots last week. I really despise needles so I have been dreading this part of the adoption journey. We were able to get 3 of the 6 shots we need which included, Hepatitis A, Typhoid and a Polio booster. My arms were sore for 3 days! I was beginning to think that I would have handled getting one of the diseases better than I handled the vaccinations! The first afternoon I was completely miserable. Robb's arms were pretty sore too. We haven't made the appointment for the next round yet. I think I've recovered, so we best be getting the rest done. I can't wait to put a check mark next to Travel Shots!

Oops!

1 Trip to the Barber shop + 1 wiggly boy = a shaved head This wasn't the look we were going for, but it does mean we won't be having to go to the barber shop for awhile. Plus he thinks it's pretty cool! Go figure.

April Fool's Day

This day makes me nervous. I, myself, am not a practical joker....I know you are all surprised. Nor do I like practical jokes played on me, therefore my nervousness of the day. :) (Oh, and I'm married to a practical joker)