Dedication or Desperation

Tonight, Nate and I took the kids for a walk. Thinking the sun was out and it wasn't raining (as predicted for the past few days) it would be a nice, pleasant walk. The company was very pleasant, but the temperature was not. Thanks to humidity the 86 degrees felt more like 96. So thankful for water and air conditioning!

Birth Family

This past weekend, Caleb's birth family made the trip down to see us. We spent much of Saturday catching up and Sunday at the Mall of America. The time went by really fast and was really enjoyable. We are already looking forward to seeing them all again this fall when we head north.

In order (L~R): Monica, Rande, Malachi, Ray, Mariah and Caleb
A special thank you to Mariah and her family for coming to visit.

Being a Safe Family

First off, many of you may be asking, "What are Safe Families?"
To put it in the simplest form, Safe Families is a network of Christian families that extend their community safety net by providing parents in need with a loving sanctuary for their children in time of crisis.

When our church's adoption ministry, village127 began partnering with Bethany Christan Services and Safe Families, Nate and I knew that we were called to step up and serve in this ministry.

Well, yesterday we received our first call for a little five year old boy. Needless to say he is doing great and so are the rest of us. Elyse has enjoyed another friend to play with during the day and he is very respectful. I know I still have three more days and today probably is just the honeymoon stage, but I am hopeful the good will continue to outweigh the bad. So for now, we are continuing to pray to God and rely on Him to get us through the next few days. We believe this is what He wants from us and therefore, we are joyfully obeying Him.

If you have any other questions or would like more information on being a Safe Family, please e-mail or call. We'd be more than happy to share!!!!

Caleb is 7 Months Old

Today, Caleb turns 7 months old. There are so many reasons we feel thankful and love him so much but here are seven in no particular order:
1. contagious laughter
2. inventive mind
3. drive to be busy
4. interest in books
5. easy going nature
6. hippo, dimple smile
7. sleepy cuddles
Happy 7 Month Birthday, Caleb!!!

Elyse Recommends ~ Bubble Gun

While in Michigan, my mom gave this bubble gun to Elyse. It was a hit there and still is today. We use it at least once a day. I could not find it online, but according to mom, it was under $3 at Target.

Mini Photo Session

While in Michigan, Nate and I decided to take a few pictures of just the kids. Elyse's turned out great. Unfortunately due to ducks, grass, kids playing at the park, Caleb was way too distracted to smile or pay attention. Oh well, I still think they turned out good; but that's probably because the subject is way too stinkin cute.

Simple, But Memorable

This past weekend, Nate, Elyse, Caleb, my mom and I headed 11 hours east to visit my brother, sister-in-law and adorable niece in Michigan. We enjoyed our entire time there. It was a very simple, but completely memorable trip! We did so many fun things and I am going to let the pictures do the talking this time.

Thank you Steven, Kim and Chloe for having us. We really had a great time and miss you already. Love you lots.