July 4th

Nate's favorite thing to do this year was burn ants with sparklers. :)

Cora liked the fireworks for a few minutes.  Thankfully, they didn't scare her.

Can you see this girl's double crown?

Now it's time to play with Daddy's visor. 

Gavan

When we were getting ready to leave the peach parade, Darren received a phone call that his brother-in-law, Gavan, was on his way to the hospital and probably wasn't going to make it.  I posted a little about Gavan in a previous post.  He had a gall stone block a duct that caused most of his organs to shut down.  This happened on January 28th, 2014.  He was in the hospital for 11 months and came home on Christmas Eve 2014.  Even though he was happy to be home, his health was still bad.  We prayed and prayed that he would get stronger and God would restore his health here on Earth.  That did not happen and Gavan passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital on Saturday, June 27th. We were all heartbroken to lose him, but thankful his earthly struggle was over.  We love and miss you, Gavan!

Peach Parade

It's our tradition to meet my parents for our town's annual Peach Parade.  We always meet them in the same spot.  This was Cora's first parade.

Hangin with Dad

We gave Darren a hammock for Father's Day.  I don't know if he or Cora liked it better.  We are so thankful for Darren.  He is an awesome dad and husband.  Nate, Cora, and I are very blessed to have him in our lives.

Glorious Day

Nate accepted Christ last winter.  It was late January.  We had been praying for his salvation and talking through some things for a couple of years.  We could see God working in his life and we were so excited and thankful to see him trust Jesus for his salvation.  When he made this decision, it was bitter sweet.  We were away from our church family for a few months last winter.  We were worshiping at a great church with sweet people, but it wasn't home. 

Fast forward almost 5 months.  We were back at our church home with our precious church family.  Father's Day was approaching and our children's pastor wanted to do baby dedication that day (June 21).  We asked if Nate could be baptized that day since all of our family would be there for Cora's dedication. Of course they agreed.

Cora's dedication was first.  This is not a baptism or salvation type thing.  This is just a commitment from me and Darren and our church family to teach her about loving God, loving people, and the good news of Jesus.  It will be her decision when she's older to decide to follow Christ or not.  

Parents choose a verse to read during the dedication.  Ours was the verse on our blog heading: The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.  Psalm 126:3  That perfectly sums up how we feel about Cora's adoption.

Next it was time for Nate's baptism.  I love that our church allows Christian dads to baptize their children.  

We love this kid so much and have seen God working in his life for years.  We are so thankful he has decided to follow Jesus.  We are so thankful for his tender heart and his love for others.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for him.  

Future Yogi?

A couple of days after we returned from the beach (the first week of June), Cora sat up on her own for the first time.  I walked in to get her up from her nap and found her sitting up.  I called for Nate to come see our big girl.  He and I both cheered and did a happy dance. I bet she thought we were nuts!

A couple of days after that, I found her sleeping like this!!!  I first checked to see if she was breathing and then I had to get a picture.  I assume she went to sleep sitting up and just fell over.  I don't know how in the world she was able to rest in this position.  A few minutes later she had moved into a more comfy looking position.

Beach Trip

We had an awesome beach trip.  The weather was perfect and the water was beautiful, like the Caribbean.

Cora loved the beach!  She didn't mind the sand, she actually like it a lot and wanted to eat it! She loved the water.  I'm thankful both of my kids love the beach.

I have several sweet pics of Cora napping in my lap at the beach. She is way too busy now to nap in my lap.  I miss that.

We usually ride our bikes to the beach, but we had to ride the beach tram at least one time.

Nate is ready to head to the beach.  

This was also Cora's first time in the pool.  She loved it too!

I told you it was beautiful. :)

This bike trailer as so many miles on it.  We bought it at a church yard sale for twenty bucks and we have definitely gotten our money's worth!  Nate rode in it to the beach for years and now it's Cora's turn.  She did great.  

I got so tickled once we got everything loaded.  We have a lot more stuff with two kiddos. Where's Cora???

This is one of my favorite pics of Nate from our trip.  The look on his face is pure joy. 

I'm so thankful for this precious time with family enjoying God's creation.  We are blessed and have so much to be thankful for.