The Indy 500

Race day in Indianapolis

Sitting in Mom's frontyard watching the race fans return from the race.  It takes such a little bit to make our crew happy!  Really, we had so much fun clapping and cheering for people as they trudged home, hot and tired, from the Indy 500 Mile Race.  Our littles had the best time!  You would have thought we were actually at the track watching the race!!

Ted and Jennie - Don't they make a cute couple? 

My mom - the home I grew up in is just a mile from the track. 

Sophia's first race day adventure

My uncle and cousin returning from the race.  Uncle Al is my dad's brother and was his best friend.  So special to have my aunt, uncle, and cousins from Virginia here this weekend.  What a wonderful time it has been.  How we miss Dad being here.  Uncle Al and Dad were always so funny together.  Who needed tv when we could watch them?  

Many, many happy memories to cherish.  Many more memories made this past weekend. 

Some of Kevin's family - his mom, brother-in-law, sister, and nephew.  Sweet that we got to see them today as well!  

Sitting around telling the same crazy family stories we always tell when Uncle Al and Aunt Karen come to town.  Dad's flag is on the mantel.  He is never far from our thoughts and is always in our hearts.  Today was kind of bittersweet.  Dad worked at the track in the museum for years and years, and you just can't think of the race without thinking of him.

That's my baby brother sitting by the windows.

Worn to a frazzle by all of the excitement of race weekend. 

Good night!

Psalm 113:9

He settles the barren woman in her home

as a happy mother of children.

Praise the Lord.



Alicia

I love to read the comments left by others on my blog.  They are so sweet and make me smile.  Thank you to all who comment, either on my blog, or through e-mail, or in person.  I began this blog to describe the miracle of adoption in our lives.  That was with Philip, our first adoption pregnancy.  Since then, God has brought us two more adoption miracles, so the posts go on.  And our first miracle, Ted, is also thrown in the mix from time to time. 

Anyway, tonight I happened to be going back and  reading some of my previous posts and found a comment by Alicia back in March.  I tried to look up her profile to see if I could e-mail her, but there was no address attached to it.  So I wanted to respond here instead.

Alicia - your comments touched my heart.  To think that someone who doesn't even know me is saying a prayer for my family is so very dear.  Thank you.

And about you being single and adopting and others saying negative things . . . Have you read the book "Kisses from Katie"??  If not, I would recommend it to you.  Katie is single, living in Africa, and the mother of many adopted African daughters now.  She is such an inspiration in the way she follows our Lord.  If you feel that God is tapping you on the shoulder to adopt, then let Him lead you!    :)   It may be difficult at times, but if God is urging you to do it, then He already has your child chosen for you and He already has a plan!  And His plans are so much better for our lives than anything our human minds can comprehend!

Take us for example.  We were older parents, had already raised our son Ted, and he was off in college when we unmistakably felt God tapping us on the shoulder to say that He had another child for our family. Kevin and I had so desperately wanted another child for so long and had tried many times to have that happen years before with failed infertility treatments and domestic adoption attempts.  So when we felt God urging us to see the possibility of finally receiving that second child, we were "older" and pretty comfortably settled into life, heading into retirement in the not-so-distant future.  Many people did not share our enthusiasm for the chance to add a child to our family at that time.  If we had listened to others who felt we shouldn't add more children to our lives, then our precious Philip, Eli, and Sophia would not be here.  God chose them for us, and He nudged us to go get them at exactly the right time.  His time, not ours.  Our adoption journeys have not always been easy, far from it.  But this I know . . .

When God taps you on the shoulder, He is leading you, and what He has planned for your life, if you just follow Him will be more spectacular, more amazing, more joyful than anything you could ever imagine, even through the difficult times.

Finding our Philip, our Elijah, and our Sophia has been more spectacular, more amazing, and more joyful than anything Kevin, Ted, and I could have ever imagined. 

You said that you pray for my family, and now it is my turn to pray for you.  I will be praying that whatever His will is for your life, that you will see it clearly and know how to follow it at just the right time.  And I will pray that it will be more spectacular, more amazing, and more joyful than anything you could have ever imagined!

:)

Our littles wanted a "sleep-over"

with Mommy and Daddy,

So that really meant that I slept on Sophia's trundle bed, and Kevin slept on our sofa pillows on the boys' floor last night. 

Sounds like fun. . .

But in reality . . .

The dogs cried and paced for several hours because Kevin and I were not in our own bed in their room!

Oh my goodness!!

On the up side, our littles had a blast thinking we would sleep in their room.

They bebopped around before going to bed, happily chattering away.

Here is a cute picture of all three of them getting into my trundle, giggling away.