My minion

"David would you like to be my minion?  That means you get to do everything I say."

"YES!"

He's 40!

Happy birthday to you!!!

David woke up after nap and saw the cake and said, "my birthday?"  I said, "No, it's daddy's!"  He replied, "Oh, Happy birthday to you daddy!"  He was very sweet an excited.

Garrett wanted one of the black balloons, and said, "Daddy can keep the 40, because I am definitely not 40." 

Raw oysters are right up there at the top of his happy list. 

So that's what we did:)

You are wise beyond 40.  You are a man of great integrity and respect, and if I were to call 40 people who know you well or not so well, they would say the same.  Your words carry great weight because you choose them carefully.  There are no hasty decisions made by you, and I can trust fully that you have exhausted every pro and con to be considered.  You are kind, and love well with your quiet encouragement.  

We love you!!!  

On the lake

The kids and I spent the weekend at the lake with my parents.

David LOVES Pappoo.  

Because Pappoo let him drive.  

You don't get that "I'm so excited" look from Mary too often.  About to jump! (even though the water was freezing!)

How do you get brother to jump?

You don't.  You just drag him in when he's not paying attention. 

He wasn't too mad. 

We packed it in last week.  Drove all over Arkansas, but that's was summer is for!

Granddad's garden

We spent last week visiting my parents and grandparents.   

My Granddad is 85.  This was a great visit, and both were doing very well!  He LOVES to show the kids his garden and to teach them all about it.  He has a composting pile, and the whole bit.  

This was David's first visit.  Garrett had told him he could eat cucumbers right out of the ground.  The cucs were not ready, and David was not too impressed by flowers.

The picked a bunch of beans.  

They snapped them, and we ate them for lunch. YUM.  Memaw makes the best green beans.

My kids are so blessed.  They have no idea the treasure it is to have great grandparents to play with!  

They celebrated 64 YEARS of marriage this week.

LOVE !

David's Gotcha Day

It's been a busy week!  We went to Arkansas to catch up with my fam.  I never did blog David's gotcha day, so I'm backing up a bit.

Allie rode the most laps for her bike a thon back in March, so as a reward our children's director took her and a couple of other kids on the Texas State Railroad.  It happened to be on David's Gotcha Day, so we decided to join.

I mean, he loves trains.  So SURELY he would love a train ride.

UH. NOPE.  He whimpered and cried the first hour of the trip. He was a bit afraid of the loud whistle, but eventually he came around.  

I love this pic.  The boys were playing some game and David started grabbing Garrett's face and kissing him.  One of the hardest things we had to deal with this past year was their relationship, and they have come so so so so far!   

My sisnlaw, Katie prints out her blog every year, and so I thought for David's first year, I would print all the adoption/monthly updates.  It was super easy, and it turned out great!

I am a homebody

 , but I married one who is NOT.

He LOVES to go.  I am not a total homebody, but taking four kids anywhere is just work!   

We took the kids to the Ranger's game last Wednesday night...you know the game that ended up on the Today show because of the 60 mph winds??

That storm was CRAZY.  It was so fast and so windy, and then it was over.  

David loved his hat. 

Unfortunately, we sat in our seats for about an hour, and they CANCELLED the game. Oh man! 

Next stop: Six Flags.

Sheww...all day long, counting heads.  The kids really did well, but Garrett has NO AWARENESS of where his family is.  He kept wandering off, so Six Flags wore me out.

Allie rode her first big roller coaster!

Her daddy was SO HAPPY!

Hills and Mountains

One year ago...

we began this journey with you.  You had no idea what

 was up ahead,  and neither did we!  And together we have climbed.  Some days were hills and some days were mountains, but climb we have done.

Climb strong boy, keep climbing!

"Yook mommy! I did it!"

As I look back on this year, how can I really sum it up?  On this day, a year ago, I looked ahead not with courage but truly with trembling.  What brought us to that day was uncertainty, and the uncertainty became no less as David was placed into our forever care.

God was certain that David belonged with us, and although my faith completely nose dived SO many days, I can look back on this year and be ABSOLUTELY certain that my God is so faithful and that He really does bring great blessing out of wavering and what I would consider even resistant obedience on my part.  

This great blessing we have in a son who is healthy and happy.  This great blessing  that we have seen our families and friends welcome him with an OVER ABUNDANCE of prayer, love, encouragement, and support.  I could count on and on....

So, happy Gotcha Day to you David.   

You have made our hearts so full.  

We are ever thankful for you!