Dossier Approved!

Oh, what wonderful words! I had no idea the emotion those words would bring when I read them on the e-mail.

It isn't quite the end of the "paper pregnancy"; however, we are getting close! As soon as I get the last document from our agency, I will send several documents to Topeka to get them authenticated; then I will send everything, I think, to Washington D.C. to get the whole batch authenticated.

Yeah, it feels good to be gaining some ground. :)

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, Chris bought me bushes!
I was so excited to get some green in our flower beds.

I'm a lucky Mom!

Different Styles of Lunch

Last Monday, we had an inservice day, so the kids were home. The boys at a "monster lunch" while the girls had a tea party!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

Happy Birthday to Jackson!

Jackson got his first pocket knife.

The next day (after the garage sale!) he had a Hulk-sized seventh birthday party. He was thrilled to get "Hulk Hands" which proved "handy" in our wrestling matches.

The boys paired up and had 30 seconds to roughhouse.

Then, they all ganged up and tackled Chris!

We had fun with 7 other friends!

Raegan's Quotes

O.K. I have a friend who is so good at recording the great things her kids say. I want to do better, so here are a few of my favorites from Raegan lately.

Yesterday, Raegan was squirming around and said, "My bottom is eating my panties!"

On a more serious note, she later asked, "Mommy, will Jesus come out of the moon when he comes down?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Where will he come from?"

"Maybe out of the clouds."

"Oh, because they are softer?"

She is very sensitive to Jesus coming back. She will often state, "I can't wait for my brother to come!" or "I can't wait for Jesus to come! When is he going to get here?" She gives us great perspective!

Garage Sale Success!

This was the week for our garage sale! Boy, this process of adopting has been so good for me. God continues to show how big He is. I am continually challenged to believe Him for big things! This sale proved to be yet another way He has provided abundantly.

First, we filled our garage with many donations from around Kansas. Thank you to everyone who donated items and bake sale goodies. God definitely multiplied your talents.
I also had numerous friends come to help me set up, loan me garage sale supplies, run the garage sale, move tables in and out of the rain, watch my kids, bake more cookies, deliver goodies, etc. Thank you!!! I wish I had pictures of all of you! (Me and Melanie)
Thank you to many of you who were able to come support us by buying our items! This is Stacey Stamps, the visionary who inspired me to do the sale. Thanks, Stacey!
This is Chris's Aunt Paula.
Sydney and Grandpa Dave.
Raegan, and all the kids, enjoyed trying out all the items!
Ella, Sydney's good friend, worked to make friendship bracelets to sell!
Thanks, Danita, for helping Ella as well as baking a lot and organizing the layout of the sale.
We had so much rain; however, it didn't seem to detour the crowds. Thank you, Jesus!
Jackson and Jeanne. Jackson helped us raise money by drawing pictures. You might be able to see his table/sign in the background. Jeanne put her oven to the test by baking tons of goodies! Thank you!!! I think you win the prize.

We started with a couple of boxes of items and finished with $1185. Thank you, everyone, who played a part. Thank you, Jesus, for continuing to provide for this adoption.

Oklahoma City Marathon

On April 25-26, we traveled down to Oklahoma City for the OKC Memorial Marathon. We had a great time! We met our friends, Harley and Kerri. My dad also made the trip to cheer on Chris.
After a fun evening in Bricktown, we headed back to our motel, moved the heavy furniture, and played Settlers!
We were up early, 4:45, in order to get to the starting line by 5:45.
This was the starting line at 6:30. Two thousand, six hundred runners ran the marathon.
Here is Chris at mile 10.
Here we are waiting for him to finish mile 17. The race became significantly tougher at this point because he headed into a crazy head wind for the last 13 miles.
He's about 50 yards from the starting line!
Cooling down.
Good job, Chris!
Ouch!