Busy May Continues!

During one of the last weeks of school, Jackson invited us to a Reader's Restaurant in his classroom. He was dressed as a waiter, and we ordered several selections of literary "dishes" for him to read. It was so cute! We even got real mints at the end. Here, he's reading a few jokes as our "appetizer". :)The last day of school quickly approached. It is always hard to imagine that yet another year has passed. This has been an exceptional year, and we are thankful for the many blessings God gave us in good teachers and schools.
We celebrated the end of school with Gram who took us to a fun frozen yogurt shop. The kids LOVED it! :)
Here is a sweet brother moment: Today, I "caught" Isaiah and Chris "napping".
Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

May Keeps Getting Busier!

Boy, May is just a month full of activities! This week is no exception. Here is what we have done in the past week!

First, Isaiah got to open his gift from Uncle Pat and Aunt Melli--this beautiful metal sketch of a lion. He loved it! (We did, too!)See here if you want one!
Then, it was field day for Sydney. . .
. . . and Jackson!
Last night, we had our first baseball game of the summer. As you can tell, it was a bit chilly!
Jackson hit on his first at-bat. Fun!
This morning, Isaiah got his second hair cut! He wasn't thrilled at first, but he liked the fact that we didn't have to comb his hair this morning!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Isaiah!

Today is Isaiah's 2nd birthday! I am in awe when I think that he was born in a grass-roof hut and that God ensured all went well. We are so blessed to be able to celebrate this day with him. I'm excited to share a video that summarizes our journey to Isaiah. Enjoy!
And, Happy Birthday, Son!

Happy Birthday Party

When we first found out that Isaiah's birthday was May 16, Jackson was so excited. You see, both of our girls' birthdays are in July, so we often celebrate them together. Jackson has always wished he could share his birthday with someone. Last night, this came true as we celebrated both Jackson's and Isaiah's birthdays with a gigantic party! I wish I had more pictures, but the truth is that we just enjoyed the 50 people who were here to help us celebrate!

Here's what we have:Isaiah's car cake--he LOVES cars!

Blowing out candles. (Jackson's basketball cake)

Eating the cake!

Opening gifts.

Playing outside with friend, Tyler Jae.

This has been such a fun time to celebrate. I love that Jackson was so excited to share his birthday, and I loved celebrating both of my boys!

Games and Contests!

Have you ever played "PIT"? If not, you really should! This is a game that I played as a kid, and now my kids love it. You get to yell and make matches. How fun is that?! We were lucky enough to have my sister find a game in an Alaska garage sale. Then, she left it here after Christmas! I also received my prizes from the My Crazy Adoption contest this week! Here I am--I LOVE the new shirts and bags. :) Thank you, Kari!

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a great day yesterday. After heading to church, we went to lunch with our friends and then headed home for an "at-home-family-day"! We haven't had one of these for a long time, so it felt so sweet!

Jackson received an airsoft gun for his birthday, and we finally got it put together. So, he and Chris had fun shooting each other!
Then, the kids ran around in the sprinklers to cool off. (It was 95 degrees!)

To dry off, they played Ring Around the Rosey with Isaiah because it is his favorite game! Then, I found out I won a contest! I love Simply Love/My Crazy Adoption. We have used their Ts for fundraisers, and I love how Kari brings such awareness to Orphan Care. I ended up winning this:Yay! I can't wait to get it. Pretty much all of my summer Ts are adoption Ts. Why not one more! :)
Before the day ended, we got a shot with me and the kids. I'm one blessed Mommy!

Fullness!

This week was a FULL one. First, we attempted to have a garage sale. We only opened for a day and a half which was just long enough to get some treasures moved out of our house and into other houses! Isaiah and Raegan had a good time helping!

Friday night, the girls had their CYT (Christian Youth Theater) Showcase. It was so fun to watch them perform! They did a great job.
Raegan speaking her part.

Black Light!

Sydney singing her solo.

After the show, we headed to Old Town to eat supper with Mom (early Mother's Day). It was so beautiful outside, so the kids wanted to walk around and take pictures!Who is the real ham?

Ta-Da!

Saturday night, we had the privilege of dedicating Isaiah to God. This is a special time where we are intentional in announcing that we are going to ultimately entrust Isaiah to God's care. Terry thanked God that in His sovereignty, He brought Isaiah to us. He also prayed that Isaiah would come to know God, that he would not rebel, and that Chris and I would work as a team to raise him.

We are so thankful for the community that surrounds us. We would not want to journey through parenting without all of our close friends and family.

Yes, the week was full, but it was good.

Remembering the day Isaiah was born in our hearts

Yesterday, we celebrated that we have known Isaiah for one year!

Last year, it was May 4, 2010, and I was eating lunch at a local diner with my Mom. All of a sudden, in the noisy restaurant, my phone rang. I was truly not expecting anything because we had been #1 on our list for a month. It was difficult to hear, so I wrote down everything I could!Happy Tears!

I can still remember getting the call and rushing to Chris's school to surprise him. What a treat it was to knock on his door! See here for fun video! Here are the first pictures we saw of our son: Wow. I love these memories!

To help us remember, we headed back to TJs for burgers--with Isaiah. It was so sweet because in the middle of the noon rush, "our booth", the one we were sitting in one year ago, opened up! How I love that we have him now! Here he is now!