Welcome Home Joel!!!

Tonight we had the privilege of being at the airport to welcome our friends, Joy and Jeremy, and their son, Joel, home from Bulgaria.  They began the adoption process over a year ago and we have been blessed to be a part of their adoption journey.  They are a very special family and are very special to us.  We have been praying for Joel for so long and it was great to finally meet him in person.

Eagerly awaiting their arrival.

Tears of joy to see this precious child we've been praying for.  There is one less orphan in a Bulgarian orphanage/institution now.  Praise God!

Beach Trip

We went to the beach last week.  We've been going to the beach the third week in May since Nate was born.  The weather is usually perfect, not too hot but plenty warm enough.  This year was different.  It was very cool.  It would feel warm at the campsite, but when we would get to the beach is was very chilly most days.  The weather was definitely disappointing, but we still had a great trip.  At least it didn't rain. 

My parents brought their camper also.  We had fun playing Rook and Phase 10.  My dad is an absolute trip.  We laughed a lot.  There is a fresh seafood market near the campsite.  This year we fried our own shrimp and oysters for the first time.  Everything was delicious.  We will definitely be doing that again. 

Nate was going to walk over to my parents' camper.  Darren told him he needed shoes.  He chose my glittery purple flip flops.  And, Emmy's looking pretty cute in this picture also.

I had to at least try to get some cute beach pictures.  Nate cooperated okay, but he was dying to put his swimsuit on and play. 

I said "Okay Nate, we're almost done.  Give me one more good smile."  This is the face I got and I knew it was time to quit.

Mother's Day

Words cannot begin to express how grateful I am to be a mother.  After years of waiting, God gave us the perfect gift when he gave us Nate.  I love you Nate and I'm so, so grateful that God gave us you!!!  Thank you, God, for giving me the privilege of being Nate's mom!!!

Preschool Zoo Trip

Nate had a preschool field trip to the zoo on Monday.  It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

Cat, Nate and Carson on the train

 Nate's favorite part of the trip - the playground

Callie and Nate

Friends

Nate had so much fun playing with friends last week.  We had play dates on Thursday and Saturday.  I didn't get any pictures on Thursday, but Nate had a blast playing with Turner.  On Saturday Brooklyn, Madelyn and Nolan came to our neck of the woods to play.  We started the day picking strawberries.  The kids picked a few and then started eating and ate almost the entire time Rachel and I picked.  Then, the three of them put away almost 2 gallons of strawberries over the course of the day.  I felt sure Nate would be sick, but he wasn't.

We are VERY thankful for wonderful friends!

Nate said he liked playing with Brooklyn.  I asked him why he liked playing with her and he said "because she's cute." 

Baby Chick

We've had several chickens for over a year now.  They have been lots of fun.  Several months ago a lady gave us five baby chicks.  We didn't know if they were male or female.  We were hoping for all female, but ended up with three males.  We gave two roosters away and kept one.  One of our hens became broody (she wanted to sit on her eggs).  Since the eggs should have been fertilized, Darren decided to let her sit on them and see what happened.  We had this sweet surprise on Easter.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend.  In Christ alone, my hope is found...

Checking out the Easter basket.

 

Since Nate's arrival, we take a family picture on Easter morning.  We just use the tripod and hope for the best.

After a wonderful worship service celebrating the resurrection of Christ, we had lunch and an egg hunt with Darren's family.  Later that evening we had dinner with my family.  I don't have any pictures with my family.   :(  We were pictured out by that point.