Now and Then with Daddy

Daddy and Sam - Sam's pick up trip - August 2006

Daddy and Sam - Meeting Baby Joe in Guatemala - November 2007

Daddy and Sam - Enjoying our Pool at home - June 2008

Now and then with Daddy, I splash a lot!

Now and Then with Mama

Sam and Mama - Mariott Hotel, Guatemala City, Guatemala - August 2006

Sam and Mama - Olive Garden, Bloomington, IN - May 2008

Now and then with Mama...I laugh a lot.

Mountaintops and Valleys

Too bad that today has to be one of those valleys.

And of course, what was the topic in my Fast Break Devotional??
Read on:
Every life (including yours) is an unfolding series of events: some fabulous, some not-so-fabulous, and some downright disheartening. When you reach the mountaintops of life, praising God is easy. But when the storm clouds form overhead, your faith will be tested, sometimes to the breaking point. As a believer, you can take comfort in this fact: Wherever you find yourself...God is there, and because He cares for you, you can live courageously.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

The deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done.
E. Elliot
Our coordinator emailed to let us know there has been a problem getting Joe's birth certificate. It is not really our adoption case, all is well, but we need the BC for passport and embassy appt. She does not have an expected release date. May I ask that you think of us...Joe's 1st birthday is only days away...I never dreamed that I would miss it.
I had hoped and prayed we would be in Guatemala now, holding Joe, never having to let him go again. Thanks to my friend Hanna who let me let it out today. I felt better and then we went to our aunt and uncles for a fun family time, thanks Ed and Judy. I do rest knowing God is caring for Joe in our absence.

The Pharmacy

Sam came to surprise me at the pharmacy on Friday night! I love it when I see him running down the aisle at me. He usually says Mama, quickly followed by sucker. He storms right on thru the gate and give me a big hug. He sits on the step and enjoys his sucker and sorts thru the treasure chest. Then it is time for fun with his "girlfriends". He had great time with Chelsea on Friday night - and gave her a hug on Monday when he saw her. This little visit really made my evening!

My dad's boot

My dad's boot is one of my prized possessions. Seems kinda different, I know. It sits right in the middle of my mom's Fiesta dishes. It warrents a question from a friend every now and then and I am always willing to tell the story of my dad's boot. I sure hope I have this right because my dad is one of 10 siblings. I am sure they will let me know if the story has been passed on wrong!
My dad was a wee little one, probably around 2-3years old. They had gone to Aunt Eddie's (yes, at least that is how it is pronounced)house and were down by the creek. This is a creek that I played in often as child and it swells and runs pretty swift at times. Well, as the story goes, my dad nearly got swept away in the swift creek as he was playing. He was pulled to safety, but lost a boot. The remaining boot always sat on our mantle or somewhere around the house as I was growing up. I love that worn out boot and I am ever so thankful that my dad was pulled to safety as a young tot.

I am also ever so thankful of my perfect memories of my dad. We lost my dad when I was 8 in a coal mining accident. The memories of that day are forever engrained in my mind - memories that we don't have any pictures of, so I am certain that I recall these from memory. I struggle with this because I think many of my other memories are evoked from looking a pictures. My mom was really good about taking pictures and I am thankful for these memories.

It is hard to believe that my dad has been gone for over 20 years, because at times I can recall a soothing smell or even hear the sound of his voice if I think hard enough. I often will see someone who resembles my father. Funny thing is, it doesn't make me sad, it comforts me. How lucky am I that I have perfect memories. You see, I don't remember any shortcomings or bad habits about my dad. He was a hard working man devoted to his family (and I mean the whole family). My dad loved Little League baseball, diet rite, his brown pleather recliner, Chevy trucks, St. Louis Cardinals, his family farm, cutting wood for the winter, vacations in the Smokey Mtns., the Loogootee Lions, playing softball and wresting on the 'red' rug in our living room. He loved my mom and his kids and we knew it.

Next time that loved one drives you crazy, consider the things you'd put in their paragraph - I bet it would look a lot like the things I mentioned about my dad!

My dad's birthday was July 26, wish he'd been here to celebrate...

Take a Walk

So, the other day at the very end of my work day, I had an upleasant experience. I won't go into details, because it doesn't really matter today. What matters is that when I came home, Sam was waiting to see me. He said - mama's here. I would like to say it all melted away at that instant. I was really stressed -so the tears started flowing (again) - and after explaining it to my DH - he says - Why do you let customers treat you that way - be mean back!!!!! Ha, guess he wasn't cut out for customer service. Anyway, I decided that the best solution was a walk. And boy was it. I loaded up Sam into the stroller and we attempted to get a picture kissing. We saw the flowers in our landscaping out front; we stopped to see the walnuts growing on our tree by the drive (thanks to Darrin and Shannon for pointing those out); we checked the mailbox (and then Sam wanted to stop and check everyone else's mail, too); we saw the cows that live across from our house; we turned around when we got to the fox that lives on the fence post; Sam pushed his stroller back up the drive and pointed out the clouds in the sky; And at the end of the driveway was our freshly painted house. Thanks DH for the painted wood siding- it looks so nice and redeems you for not giving me sympathy when I was upset.
The walk in the country worked, even though it was a humid, balmy Indina evening...time spent with Sam in the fresh air cleared the mood. We read books and went to bed!

Aaaahhhhhhh! I wanna come home...

Well, Joe sent me a message that said he was tired of waiting. Well, me too! Right now, my timing and God's timing aren't really meeting where I had thought they might. Guess He is reminding me that He is in control. Pray for news for our son Joseph. Specifically we are waiting on issue of birth certificate, and completition of DNA - then the embassy appt. Thanks.

Ashley

Fresh from the Garden

Those are some of my favorite words! Thanks to all the family members we have that are sharing their yummy and healthy garden goodies. We went to Grandpa's farm on Friday to see the airplanes fly low and dust the corn crops. It was a lot of fun.
Sweet summer memories.
I am so glad that we have these times together, I worked the rest of the weekend. We did have time for church this morning. We sang a song "I've been redeemed" - It has a line that goes "You (God) see in me the child you made me, you see in me the one you love" How awesome is that truth - God knows us, each one of us, and loves us.

Have a great week. Praying we hear that we can pick up Joe soon!!! I am aching to hold my little man again!

Hello God

Hello God..

I found this on a fellow blogger's website - and wanted to share! Visit April at Mommy and her 2 MMs, she has daughters that are nearly the same age as Sam and Joe!


Hello, God. I called tonight To talk a little while...

I need a friend who'll listen To my anxiety and trial.
You see, I can't quite make it Through a day just on my own.
I need your love to guide me, So I'll never feel alone.

I want to ask you please to keep My family safe and sound.
Come and fill their lives with confidence For whatever fate they're bound.

Give me faith, Dear God, to face Each hour throughout the day,
And not to worry over things I can't change in any way.

I thank you, God, for being home And listening to my call;
For giving me such good advice When I stumble and fall.

Your number, God, is the only one That answers every time.
I never get a busy signal, Never had to pay a dime.

So thank-you, God, for listening To my troubles and my sorrow.
Good-night, God. I love You, too. And I'll call again tomorrow!

~ Author Unknown ~

Fun at the County Fair

Fun in the Sun

We love it when friends come over to swim! Especially this Saturday when my friends Jess and Kia came with their kids. I know Jess and Kia from work and wouldn't make it there without them - they just get me and vice versa. Anyway, I feel so lucky that we get to share all our kids perfections and imperfections just the same. J and ML loved the water and played all morning with Sam. Then we had lunch- fresh salad from SIL's garden. Yummy.
Oh - am I so glad that this is my blog so that I can post the funny pic of Kia! Hee, hee.
I know paybacks.....

St. Louis, MO

Can you believe I did a whole post about St. Louis and nothing about the Cardinals?!? We went to St. Louis this past weekend with Grandpa and Grandpa and had a great time. And while daddy & Grandpa went to the Cardinals game, that is not what Sam did and we all know who takes the best pics...Sam. So here's how the weekend went. We left on Saturday AM and enjoyed a great day at Grant's Farm (I highly recommend it) and ate a great dinner at CheeseCake Factory (yummy). We enjoyed Sunday AM at Forrest Park and then they headed to the game while Jean and I went to Union Station. We had a great time.
Sam's favorites: feeding the goats milk, chasing the chickens, the elephants, running thru the water misters with Grandpa (pretty sure Grandpa liked this,too) and the animal show, the train ride thru the park, ice cream after dinner, water feature at park and the fish at Union Station
Not so fun: the car ride (again) - although he did great, the camel slurping at our face (see photo above - this one as my fault, we were in the pins with all the other animals, so we got up close to take a pic with the camel - as if he were going to turn to the camera and smile?!? Anyway - he lunged at us and I jumped and Sam cried. Later he said "so scared!!") and trying to take a nap at Union Station.

Thanks Grandpa for wonderful weekend and for all you do for us.
XOXOXOXO
Dan, Ashley and Sam (Joe, too)

PS The Cardinals got beat, so it was OK that I didn't have a ticket...

Chubby Cheeks

I cannot wait to kiss these chubby cheeks. New update pics for June 2008- Joe is 10.5 months here. Don't you think he's ready for us????