I am really making an effort to post more consistently here.  As I’m sure you can imagine, our lives are quite busy right now.  Everyone is fairly healthy, very happy, and enjoying living more in Alton, IL so we can spend more time with Doug on a regular basis.  So, in a couple days I will be posting a major update to our blog, but until then, please enjoy watching our dedication video. 

My friend, Beth, wrote this song and she and her daughter sing it in this video. She is a huge advocate for adoption, and I appreciate her heart so much!!!

Sam is the first picture in this video, and Lydia is toward the end. And so many of my friends’ children are scattered throughout.

Phoebe is four months old! I cannot believe it, really. It seems like the last 1/3 of a year has been a blur of crying, screaming, vomiting, etc. All of those done by her, of course.

It seems like all I do is wake up children, get them dressed, get them to school, nurse a baby, go pick up kids, get supper, give baths, put on pajamas, and crawl back into bed. It’s long day after long day. But it’s rewarding to see how everyone is growing in so many ways.

We figured that since Phoebe was trying to eat all kinds of things, like noses:

and chins:

that may be she would like to try something new, like rice cereal.

I’m not completely sure she was ready, but she didn’t hate it, so we’ll give it another try in a couple of days.

Phoebe is also talking SO much….gab gab gab! She seems a little happier now that she knows she can get something else except screaming to come out of her mouth!

The other morning we woke up and found a frog hopping around our mudroom. We put it into a spare aquarium we have, and kept it for a couple of days. At first Sam was *terrified* of the frog, but when the time came to let it go this afternoon, he was sad.

Tonight, Doug came in the house and grabbed the camera and dashed back out again. There was a rather large owl hanging out in a tree near the chicken pens. It was too dark to get a clear picture, but we did get a pretty cool one. If you look closely, you can see its eyes glowing.

And that’s really all that’s happening right now. We’ve been busy getting ready for Spring and before we know it, Summer will be here. 2008 is almost half over!

Yesterday was the best day we’ve had all year — weather-wise. It was so unbelievably beautiful!! We just could not sit inside all day, so off we went to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. The girls and I had gone last year on a class trip, and had wanted to take Doug ever since! You couldn’t ask for more out of a State Park….castle ruins, a beautiful bubbly spring, wonderful hiking trails, dark caves, huge bluffs. So, off we went and had a wonderful time! Up until now it’s been a bit of a guessing game with Sam as to when we need to allow him to take off a sweatshirt and when he needs to wear it. But yesterday, at about 75 degrees and slightly breezy, we finally hit that mark where we all agreed that he could take it off.

Without further ado, here are pics of our day:

All the hikes we took were SO easy — mostly on paved trails, which made it nice for a stroller.

The dogwood trees are blooming and the new leaves are coming out on the smaller trees.

It was quite crowded….everyone had the same idea!

The gorge that we hiked through is the result of a collapsed cave as evidenced by the large boulders all around.

Here are the ruins of Snyder Castle:

This is not at all like Germany or England. Climbing on the castle is strictly prohibited! This was pushing the limit right here, but we saw other people doing it, so figured we were ok.

And another, closer up

Leaning in for a peak:

Jumping off the castle ruins:

Copycat:

I mentioned a few posts ago that Sam had been approved for a wish with Make A Wish. Well, this evening his wish granters, Michelle and Holli, came over and spent time with him and brought him presents and played with all the kids, and left knowing his 2 wishes (a primary one and a backup one). His first wish is to go to Disney and meet Pooh. His second wish is for a pop-up camper so we can continue to camp together as a family.

Here’s a picture of Sam with his wish-granters, Holli & Melissa:

When they got here, Melissa played a little game with everyone where they got to share the things they liked about Sam. Gwen and Lydia were super original…they like the way he plays. Hmmm. Probably because he puts brand new ideas in their heads, like, “Let’s all stand on the couch!” or “Let’s all pretend the floor is a pool and we can bellyflop into (onto?) it.” There have been lots of minor injuries around here lately.

But anyway, after everyone shared what they liked about Sam, we got prizes! Lydia got a cute little play doll set thingy. Gwen got a baby doll that wets (!!!!! oh joy!!!! She wants to know if it also gets diaper rash). And Phoebe got a 101 Dalmations Beanie Baby, because she contributed so very much.

So, after everyone opened presents, Melissa sat down with the kids on the floor and put a bunch of pictures in front of Sam. Things like PowerWheels and amazing playhouse beds and swingsets and Disney characters. He wasn’t really interested in any of them….except that he could tell you who all the Disney character were. Mickey, Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, etc. Piglet is his favorite, mainly because it’s the most fun to sign, or he thinks so anyway.

So, then Holli asked us questions about Sam…his favorite color, things to do, places to eat, etc. And this is where his second wish came in. We talked about how he LOVES to be outdoors and how much fun he has when we all go fishing together or just hike and how we love to camp but he won’t be able to camp with everyone unless it’s an exceptionally hot night (and who likes to camp on exceptionally hot nights?). So, we talked about alternative forms of camping, and then we talked to Sam about a pop-up camper. To be honest, this would be such an amazing wish to have come true. To be able to go and spend the time that we love to spend camping and not have to worry about Sam’s hands and feet and lips turning blue and him catching cold and it turning into something horrible….how cool would that be??? So, we are trusting God to give Sam what He wants him to have. We are CERTAINLY not arguing with a trip to Disney, however.

So, our next step is wait and see what Make A Wish decides to do with his 2 wishes and which one they want to grant. We can’t wait!!!!

I want to leave you with a series of 3 photos I took the other day. They were taken within a period of about 10 seconds and they make me grin everytime (and, yeah, honestly, choke back tears sometimes). Sam is such a light to this family….and he ADORES his sisters!

(Oh, and erm….ignore the parts of old carpet stuck to our floor. We are slowly but surely stripping the old floor, but it takes a lot of time with 4 kids running around here!)

Doesn’t that just warm your heart???

A very good friend and fellow adoptive mama got the worst phone call of her life just 2 days ago.

My friend Kathy, mama to 4 Chinese girls as well as an older boy and girl, was on the way to the hospital in Springfield, MO to be by the side of her good friend whose daughter had just passed away in a car accident and whose other daughter was in critical condition. While on the way to the hospital, she received a phone call that her son was being airlifted to the same hospital.

Andrew Lowe had just recently gotten his driver’s license and was involved in a horrific accident. His car rolled 5 times, he was thrown from the vehicle and the car rolled on top of him. He has multiple broken bones, including a leg/ankle that they are not sure they can save at all, and a swollen and bleeding brain.

Kathy and her family have asked for prayer. Please take some time to pray for God’s grace and healing….and that His will be done!

The family that Kathy was on her way to visit in the hospital also live in our town. The grandparents are our next door neighbors and rent some of our land from us.

These 2 unrelated tragedies have just sent shockwaves through our community.

The weather here has been rather spotty…..we got a touch of the floods that plagued Missouri for a week or so. Our driveway was washed out, but thanks to wonderful neighbors, it was fixed very quickly.

Yesterday reached the upper 60’s, so we were able to take Sam out for some playtime. First thing was to meet the mules and horse. He wasn’t scared at all, and put his hand out to touch Jesse (the Percheron - big gray/white horse) but Jesse wanted to take a look at this new little creature. They stood gazing at each other for a while before the mules started getting antsy for the apples stuffed in our pockets. When they started dancing around, Sam wanted to leave quickly!

I hope that you all had a chance to celebrate the resurrection of our Saviour! He is RISEN!