Laughing!

I'm not sure what Hayley was pretending to be. She had a wig, a scarf, a veil and a crown!

Hayley makes us laugh and laugh! She is just so good for us! She wakes up early no matter how late she went to bed, how short her naps are, etc. She is a MORNING person! Brent says she is just like me in the mornings! I hear her in the mornings get out of her bed and open her door and it just makes me smile. She always comes out and says, "I waked up in the morning!" She runs to me and gives me the biggest smile and the biggest hug. Most of the time, she comes out dressed up in a princess dress. This morning she came out pushing her stroller. Brent yelled, "Hayley, some people are trying to sleep. Could you keep it down?" It just makes me laugh!

This morning I was reading Hayley the bible. We were reading the story of the "Ten Lepers." I said, "Hayley, only one of the men went back to thank Jesus for healing him. Where did the other 9 men go?" Hayley said, "They went to Target!"

Our cousins came to visit!

Matt, Alicia, Trent and Emma came to visit. We went to Mammoth Cave. We had so much fun going in the dark cave. We had a picnic and really enjoyed our time. Daddy was chasing Ivy and she fell and twisted her foot. It hurt a lot but thankfully it wasn't broken and it's all better now!

We went swimming!

 We went to Henry's Ark. It's a free petting Zoo. It was so fun to see all the animals. Ivy had to ride in the stroller because her foot was hurting but it was still fun to feed the animals! Hayley was a little scared of the goats. Ivy was scared of the geese. Emma wasn't scared of anything. Trent loved the turkey's and the deer.

"Oh Emma Cake...how cute....I'm scared of it" Hayley is very fickle!:)

 We love FROZEN Yogurt. We tried a new place the Orange Leaf. It has a yummy flavor...White Chocolate Strawberry!

Hayley calls Emma Kate...Emma "Cake"

They have so much fun together. We couldn't find them one day and it turns out they were in an upstairs closet eating apples together.

 We did a little dancing to the "Tooty Ta!"

And we shopped a little!

Adoption Update!

God is good! He has been so faithful to us! We have seen God answer so many prayers especially in our family over the past month! We had an extended time at home in NC. We were thankful to experience God's presence and His peace! We are praying and moving forward in the adoption process. Last week we had our second home study meeting. We will have our last meeting Monday and then our homestudy will be almost complete. We are praying and trusting God to bring the child he has for us to our family. It might take months or years but we are moving forward in faith! Please keep praying for us!

Meet Xander!!!!

Every night when I put Hayley to bed I pray with Hayley. I always say, "God Bless Xander." Hayley repeats me! She says, "God Bless Xander." For two years, she has heard me pray this and said it her self often yet she had no idea who Xander was!

A month ago, God was so kind to allow us to take Hayley to meet her brother for the first time! Now she says, "God Bless Xander" and she knows who Xander is!

 

On July 13, 2012, Hayley's brother Xander was born. I went to the hospital in Asheville to visit him. I sat there and fed him a bottle and immediately loved him. He looked like our precious Hayley and I had such a strong connection with this little boy. We have prayed for him every day since we heard about him.God is faithful and He is KIND! Xander is growing strong and healthy! He is in the process of being adopted! We will continue to pray for this little guy! We are so thankful for him!

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They hugged a little!

 They just looked at each other! It was almost like they were thinking, "um...I feel like I know you...but I don't...but you are little like me...so let's play!"

Hayley kissed him!

They shared gold fish together!

Xander shared his toys with his sister!

They threw goldfish out the door!

I love these two kids! God has been so kind to them both! He is Sovereign! He is Good! He has been so good to me!  What a privilege to see His hand and the way He works things out for our good!

Thanks to so many of you for praying for this day! It really was AMAZING! It was a HUGE answer to prayer! I'm so thankful for Hayley to know her brother! We look forward to seeing Xander again!

Last day of CC

Last day of CC for the year! We are so thankful for CC! It is such a blessing for our family to be a part of this program. All four of us have learned so much about God's world, history and much more through CC. We are especially thankful for Ivy's tutor, Ms. Wind! She loves the Lord and is a gifted teacher! On the last day of class, Ivy recited all the information that she has learned through CC. WOW! God, thanks for helping Ivy learn all of this material! Thanks for helping her work hard!

Making an Egg Protector!

Each class made egg protectors. The kids had certain materials they had to use to create a device that would protect "real" eggs and keep them from breaking! On the last day of class, the pastor of the church where we have CC climbed up onto the roof and dropped the egg proctors.  It was fun! We made a big mess! We had a blast!

The finished egg protector!

WE are ready for SUMMER!!!!!

Laughing and being silly!

One of our most FAVORITE things to do is wrestle with daddy!

Another FAVORITE thing of ours is our friends! This is Ada!

We are so thankful for our GCG (Gospel Community Group)! We love playing with our friends!

Another FAVORITE thing of ours.....DRESSING UP!

We love being silly! We love Jenna!

It's so fun to make a BIG mess in the living room!

Bouncy house day at the seminary!

First ever corn dog for Hayley! (Mommy says yucky to corndogs!)

Hayley mostly just likes the ketchup!

Sharing junk food with our friend!

Last picture I have of Bernadette before Baby Blake came! (So thankful he is here!)

Have you noticed all the different costumes that Hayley has had on in these pictures...Dorthy, Jesse, Arial, Cinderella....she enjoys dressing up SO much!