our new pets.

Meet our new pink kitty...

...and our lovable little gorilla.

Buddy grabbed a gourd and was using it as a fire hose.

We made a quick round to a whopping four houses before calling it quits.

Oh, and it was just in time to get the kids in bed so we could dig through all the candy.  

Please don't tell.  

Blessings, angela

pops.

The night we got back from Tennessee, Pops arrived for a quick visit!  

All visiting guests must be introduced to Rita's Water Ice.  

reading Bible stories before bed

We love having grandparents to visit and can't wait to have you back!  

tennessee. prettiest place i ever did see.

My parents blessed us with a week of their timeshare, so we packed up and drove to the mountains of Sevierville, Tennessee.  Sorry to disappoint anyone, but we did not go to Dollywood or even lay eyes on Ms. Parton.  Thank goodness.  It might have been a little much.


We did, however, spend the first four days with our good friends from K's college days and finally met their precious boys.  Here's picture overload from our week away.

Peanut and her favorite purple car

This guy knows his cars.  At his request, the dads took the kiddos to the Muscle Car Museum.

Ripley's Aquarium

The timeshare had an amazing indoor waterpark that kept us busy for hours!

the bigger kids' play area

...and the ginormous bucket that dumped water every few minutes!

Exploring Cade's Cove

Tennessee, I miss you.  

Blessings, angela

okies on the coast.

Contrary to Buddy's expression, the kids were ecstatic that my parents flew in for a visit last month!  I think he knew it would get him some snuggle time with Papa, so he threw out the fat lip.  

Peanut now thinks that anytime someone comes for a visit, there will be surprises... meaning gifts.  We had a long talk about how we don't ask for them, but we can accept them happily if they are offered.  My parents made mention of surprises in their suitcase, and they were so excited waiting.  

Funny.

The next morning we took off for Virginia Beach and enjoyed a gorgeous morning in the sand. The water was freezing!

My parents treated us to Disney on Ice's Toy Story 3.  It was super fun and Peanut's been ice skating around the kitchen in her socks ever since.

I had to throw in a few pictures of the show because you have to check out Ken's hair!  (click on the picture to see it larger)  Hilarious.  I've been praying my sons' career aspirations don't include wearing mid-thigh shorts and plastic hair.  Okay, not praying, but desperately hoping.

Our IMAX just renovated and re-opened the day before we saw Hubble 3D.  It's amazing to see the Lord's handiwork light years away on a huge screen.  You can't help but be in awe at how intricately He created our cosmos!

Peanut always seems to request Pretty Pretty Princess when males are here to play.  Good choice.

We were thankful to have so much time together and can't wait until Christmas!  

please pray with us!

We got word on Friday that the social worker in country Ms. A received documents on Sweet P and is working to complete our child history.  Once we receive those papers, we will be able to file the I-800 form and should be travelling to get Sweet P about two months later!


Please say a prayer that Ms. A would have plenty of time to complete our papers this week.  We are hoping to get Sweet P by the end of 2010, and that dream is definitely a possibility!


Oh, and the other bonus to getting the papers in hand, is I can finally post pictures of our little darling right here for you to see.  Ahh!  I can't wait to get that little girl home!


With much joy, angela

birth mom.

I've been thinking about Sweet P's birth mom off and on recently.  I wonder if she will even know when Sweet P is adopted.  I wonder how she felt as Sweet P's birthday passed for the second time last month.  I wonder if I will ever get to meet her and say thank you... or if Sweet P will desire to find her someday.


My friend Jen just sent me a link to a Mark Schultz song "Everything to Me."  I know Sweet P's story is really different from Mark's adoption story, but I feel many of the same emotions toward Sweet P's birth mommy that he sings about in the song.  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPYaRJOWznk&ob=av2e  (I can't put a link to play the music video here so you'll have to click and watch elsewhere)


Blessings, angela