Blake's birthday weekend!

Well, we all needed some down time with Blake and this weekend couldn't have come at a better time.

We'd been planning for a while to go to the OU/Texas game with his family and we were so glad we did!

We had a blast staying with Blake's family and letting the kids play together.

This is Sadie so upset about the game!

But we didn't let that get us down!

Thank you Lord for family time!!

This morning before heading home we took the kids to a pumpkin patch and they had a blast!

Happy 30th birthday babe!

Hmmmm?

Cutest bath full-o-kids EVER!

Sadie looking ever so cute in her hooded coat and boots!

Just wanted to touch base about today.

Not sure that anyone is on the edge of their seat waiting for this, but still.

So many of you have been so good at praying for us and Cooper's Law.

You deserve to know how today went.

The hard part is that I didn't expect that it would be received with great enthusiasm. I knew that.

But I also didn't expect what happened today. We walked out of the room feeling beaten down.

To be quite honest, I think I blocked lots of it out. Maybe that was God protecting my heart.

Mandy and I enjoyed sharing our story together...it was wonderful to say the least just standing up there together.

But then came questions and concerns...some of which were valid (fear of coercion) and some that just made me sad.

I won't go into detail because my point in this is not to offend anyone.

I thank God that Mandy was brave enough to join me today, because if I was standing up there alone...I wouldn't have had an audience at all. I was so proud of her. She was a champ. There were times I could tell it was hard to hear the things others were saying...those that had never been in her shoes telling her that she just didn't "receive the questions" as they were intended to protect her.

I thank God that Becki was there today as she was able to answer so many legal questions that I could not have (and also that she responds better to this type of situation!). There were several things said in response to our law that just were not true, and Becki knew it and identified the fact on the spot. She was good!

My parents were there too, and I was so proud of them knowing that it had to be hard watching two of their daughters and Mandy (whom they think is theirs too!) get grilled relentlessly.

Seriously....no one spoke up on our behalf. No one seemed to agree.

As hard as this was to take, I still felt God's presence and that we were where we were needed today. Mandy felt the same. I don't feel like this is the end. It might be. But I am staying strong and praying hard that God will show us what we are to do here.

**If any of you are close friends and want to know more details please email me. I am being vague here for a reason. Please keep this covered in your prayers.**

Mercy

Oh man, my stomach already hurts just thinking about the Adoption Task Force Meeting today.

If you can, please pray for Mandy and I today at 1:30!

The thought of her and I standing united and speaking about this together gets me so excited.

I love being with Mandy. I love hearing her excitement about this. I can't wait to see her!

The thought of Cooper's story and so many others gets me emotional about today.

The thought of our birth mothers who have been humiliated and dishonored in court, gets me emotional about today.

Please pray that God speaks through us and that all of our hearts are open. Pray that as questions come up we can all converse with walls down and emotions set aside.

Thank you will never be enough for your prayers, support and your emails and notes to the task force.

We'll keep you updated!

**And because no post is complete without pictures of my precious kiddos...**

This is an old picture I found on my camera. Can you believe this? Look at that belly and those thighs! Owen "learning how to ski". I guess we've been talking about Colorado a lot lately and he's excited to learn how to snow ski! How funny is that?

This is what happens when daddy puts the kids down to nap and then falls asleep before they do! I had to get a picture. He slept here for hours! And he had beautiful carpet marks on his face!

Um. She might have seen me use the cell phone a time or two! I love this one because you can tell she's listening!

A slice of heaven

Just wanted to share this video I captured for Blake.

His hours have been horrid for this service so we've tried to come up with ways to make him smile when he comes home...even if the kids are already asleep.

Hope this makes you smile like it does us. I could watch this a million times over. Is this really my life? Someone pinch me!

**Please excuse the mess of a house. We were having lots of fun!**

LOUD

This is an appropriate title because our little Miss is oh-so LOUD!

Who wouldn't be if you had big brothers and a mom that could make your ears bleed with all the talking?

So sister has learned an effective method of getting anything quickly....just SCREAM!

She's a pro.

It's worked wonders for her. So why would she stop now?

For the longest time I was like, "Wow, girls just scream I guess."

Then I was like, "Dude, she's so loud!"

And then it finally hit me like a ton of bricks why she was doing this.

IT WORKS!

Sadie doesn't use words. Seriously.

She says like three actual words.

So, I've been working really hard to nip this in the bud. (Ya know....before we drive 14 hours in a car and live in a 2 bedroom apartment for 9 weeks!!!!)

And, I've figured out that Sadie knows the word "scream".

If you say, "Thank you Sadie for not screaming." She'll immediately scream!!!

She's a smart girl.

Her mom, on the other hand, is obviously a little slow on the uptake!

So Sadie has spent some time in her room when she won't stop screaming. Her brothers find it very funny that she has to do time out sometimes too.

Oh the joys of parenting!

If you've got a screamer out there...and you've dealt with how to move away from this, please help a momma out!

She is starting to sign and I have noticed that it has been cut in half since we've realized that we were actually giving her every reason to scream!

And here she is looking so precious (as always). She is very proud of her talent!!!

Hope Symposium

I had to post about this because it's right up my alley.

Sorry to those of you that are getting tired of my adoption talk.

Coming up next month there is a FREE symposium about adoption and foster care. If you've ever been interested in either of these and need a place to get questions answered and meet professionals in this feild... THIS IS THE EVENT!

Here is where you need to go!

I can't tell you how many times that people ask us questions because it's obvious we've adopted. Then follows...I've always wanted to adopt, BUT

...I can't afford it.

...I don't know where to start.

...the information is overwhelming!

So, if you've said that to me or if you've thought that please go to this event.

Have a great day!

**Sorry for the lack of posts on the family. It's been crazy around here getting stuff ready to leave! I'll post pictures soon!**

Orphan Sunday- November 8th

I saw this video on another blog and it made my heart ache.



November is National Adoption Awareness month.



As Christians we need to take this time to bring attention to the needs of orphans everywhere. Even those in our city...



I pray this makes us all think about doing something at our home churches to raise awareness.



Remember it would only take 7% of Christians touching the lives of one orphan to eliminate the need.

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.