Opening Day of T-Ball

The sun shone bright and the breeze was sweet for this our first day of T-Ball.Jack was so excited to put on his tangerine colored "splice communications" t-shirt and his stylish parks and rec hat for this big day. Jon and Jack have been hard at work honing the skills and today we would see Jack in action. Another fun and yet crazy aspect to this years season is that Jon and I are coaching the team (by default). We must admit that we were a little timid going into today's game but all and all we did a great job. Jon was so fantastic with each kid and other dads stepped into help. Our team did great. There were no tears and everyone had fun. We are off to a great start.

CONGRATULATIONS are in order

What do you get when you take a beautiful spring night, a bike fest in bellingham and our favorite residents travis and kendra?

A much anticipated engagement.Yeah!

Congrats and much love to Auntie Kendra and "Uncle" Travis, engaged in true bellingham style tonight, April 25. We are so excited for them to share their lives together.

Dinner : Jack Style

Jack enjoys watching Jon or I cook. And with his growing Independence he has been asking if he can make his meals. We have started slowly with things like cereal or toast. This week though Jack wanted to make a whole meal and so I succumbed to kitchen chaos and made his "dreams" come true. He did all of the tasks that did not include heat. First he decided what we would have : "Fried" Chicken, Corn and Peppers and Biscuits with Jam. I sent him around the kitchen to collect all ingredians. Watching him haul the costco bag of frozen corn in from the garage freezer was quiet amusing. Jack chopped the peepers with great delight and precision. He prepared the fried chicken with all the panache of Emeril himself.(our floor could attest to that) Finally since Jack tends to be unconventional we had square biscuits instead of round. He found great delight and much pride in his end result. For Jack it was a great night, for mom, I am thinking that this could be the start of a beautiful thing.

Weekend Recap

Since the next weekend is fast approaching I thought that I best post our sun soaked pictures from last weekend. The sun busted out in all of it's glory last Saturday and so this family hit the zoo. We packed a lunch, threw our very white legs into shorts and then joined every other family in Washington at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. The weather was beautiful, the animals were out in all their frisky"ness" and we very much enjoyed our family time. We really cannot give the PD Zoo enough good press. The have a beautiful facility, great animal habitats and fantastic zoologist that are very helpful and informative. All in all a great weekend.

Yippppeeeee....The wait is over!

If only the post title had something to do with our adoption. But alas it does not.. Finishing a very close second though (and in this whole stupid crazy waiting game known as adoption we have had to shift gears and hope for smaller more tangible goals then a child that we love being placed in our home before he is 10 | says the mommy sarcastically :)....our long, drawn out and painful wait for fantastic televising to return to Thursday nights is over.



Tonight THE OFFICE returns in all of it's glory to NBC at 9:00 tonight. At our home the half an hour leading up to The Office is a hustle and bustle with getting all of our chores, emails, and nightly tasks done. Come 9:00 a hush falls over our room. Jon and I sit in our respective places in complete silence. As soon as the show starts our room erupts with laughter and tears of hysteria fall from our eyes. During this half my lovely husband finds all the joy and laughter that will then carry him through the next week. Watching Jon watch The Office is like watching a little boy at a baseball game. He is full of awe and smiles. Oh..Thursday is a good night.

Adoption Update : PGN

We are thrilled to let you know that we received an email today informing us that our case re--entered PGN. Just as a little refresher : PGN is the final paperwork loophole that we have to jump through. Our time there could be a few weeks or a few months. After we leave PGN then we wait about 6 weeks and then travel to get Max. We cannot express how much we have appreciated your prayers thus far in the journey. We have experiences many emotions and feelings during this process and knowing that we have the prayer support of our family and friends serves as such a strength on the days that we feel like this will never happen. On that note we continue to ask for prayer. We pray that our paperwork will stay in PGN. That there will be no issues of any kind. We will keep you posted. Until then much love and thanks.

Just another day ......

Jack has himself one wild and vivid imagination. It is not unusally to have him greet us in the morning with his list of "projects" and activiites that he would like to do for the day. At our house we use a lot of hot glue, foil & paint sticks (is it wrong that I take a handfull each time I am at home depot even if I don't by paint?). We go through markers and paper like nobody's business- so much for being enviormentally friendly. Along with projects Jack likes to become the "whatever it is that day" by wearing a costume. This is sometimes difficult because the local costume store does not sell robot, pollenjock, or crown of thorn costumes. So he is left to create one himself. Thanks to he latest kids movie "The Bee Movie" becoming a "pollenjock" -those are the strong studdly bees who leave the hive and collect nectar and pollen- has become a daily event. It was the below photo op that made me relize that there is just to much craziness that happens in this house for me to keep to myself...I must share the shinanigans of our crazy little boy with you. (Yes, that is a bike helmet with a paper visor on his head and he is wearing a "nectar collecting" nerf gun on his back.) WHOSE KID IS THIS!

Easter Rain

He is RISEN. It was a fantastic Easter day made up of all our favorite traditions. The morning started early with the Easter Bunny's arrival. He left a map that led to Jack's Easter basket. We enjoyed the Easter breakfast at church with all of our friends and after church we headed over to Mormor and Morfars house for Easter lunch.(yeah more food!) The house was filled with family and friends. Delicious food and great conversation was had. In line with tradition we had an egg hunt outside...this years twist:it was DUMPING BUCKET OF RAIN. The kids and the dads were fearless and the call of candy in plastic eggs were just to much. Clothes were soaked and much candy was found. It was a memorable hunt. What a fantastic day of celebration and family.

Watching the kids find eggs.
Cousin Madison and Jack checking out their haul.

Adoption Update | No News, But HOPE

There is no news on the adoption front. We received a few new pictures of Max yesterday. He looks healthy and clean. He was sporting a fantastic little polo shirt, jeans (hiked up to his chest) and a sweet little belt. He is so freakin cute. Photos like this along with no news cause our hearts to ache. Most days the waiting is so frustrating.

The world of adoption and blogging have collided and for many months I have daily checked the blogs of a few other families who have been in the adoption process. Jon snickers as I check the blogs "of complete strangers". Yet to this mom they have been a source of encouragement and of strength. Adoptions ACTUALLY do happen eventually. One blog in particular has been so awesome as I read this mom's struggles and joys in bringing home a hurt daughter from china. Often she quotes a devotional she has been reading and gaining strength and encouragement from.

Yesterday I finally picked up "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young. It sat on the counter all day with out me cracking it open. This morning though after a good cry in the shower I poured a cup of coffee and sat down with the book. I must admit here that I have never been really good at "devotional" reading. But it was with an overwhelmed heart that I prayed before I cracked the book - "Lord, may I hear your words for me in my circumstance. Would you speak to me and help my to accept your words and live them in my day". Let me share with you (as if this blog could not get any longer....) what today's words were:

WAITING, TRUSTING AND HOPING are intricately connected, like golden strands interwoven to form a strong chain. Trusting is the central strand, because it is in response from My child that I (God) desire the most. Waiting and hoping embellish the central strand and strengthen the chain that connects you to ME. Waiting for ME to work, with your eyes on ME, is evidence that you really do trust ME. If you mouth the words "I trust You" while anxiously trying to make things go your way, your words ring hallow. Hoping is future-directed, connecting you to your inheritance in heaven. However, the benefits of hope fall fully on your in the present.
Because you are MINE, you don't just pass time in your waiting. You can wait expectantly, in hopeful trust. Keep your "antennae" out to pick up even the faintest glimmer of MY presence. -Sarah Young

So there it is. The adoption update. We will just continue to WAIT, TRUST AND HOPE and we will keep our antennae out...for a glimpse or a glimmer.

Hiking Fun

Sunday afternoon we found ourselves with decent weather outside and a choice to make: stay home and do chores or get outside. And the winner was: GET OUTSIDE. We went on a hike with our friends the Johnsons. This was Jack's first hike. He did a great job. We enjoyed the hike, the beautiful scenery and good friends. After the hike was done and we loaded back into the car, Jack had nothing but positive comments. He can't wait for the next one. Yippee!