Peanut!!

My puppy is growing! No, she doesn't sleep on our bed, but she does visit on occasion!

Happy Birthday in Heaven!

Today you would have turned 65! But you're in a place where you will never get older, you will never have pain and never cry. Here on earth the pain is still great and sometimes I don't know if I can stand it. The pain of knowing I'll not hear your voice on the telephone again, I'll never hike another trail with you, never go camping with you, never have another lesson from you about the stars. It's hard knowing that Mom faces lonely nights and weekends. Sometimes we thought you talked too much, but now I just wish I could hear you one more time! Every holiday that comes around brings thoughts of you and what you would have done to celebrate, how you would always point us to Jesus, for without him we wouldn't have any holidays. The tears still come and the pain is still there but there is a peace knowing you are safe in Heaven. I love you and miss you, Daddy, more than I can say, but someday I'll see you again!!

Our new baby!!

Just a few pics of our new baby - Peanut! She's absolutely adorable!! She is a South African Boerboel (mastiff family) We just got her today and she already follows me around. She is 8 weeks old and a little over 10 lbs! The cats don't know what to think!

Ravi Zacharias - "The Problem of Pleasure"

Ravi Zacharias spoke at Brooklyn Tabernacle on Sunday, May 17 @ 3:30. I've heard him many times on the radio and have read many of his books. My sweet hubby was kind enough to take me 2 and a half hours to hear him.
The message was awesome. I would gladly have skipped some of the music there to hear more preaching. He spoke on "The Problem of Pleasure" and gave 3 principles for choosing our pleasures. He first encouraged everyone to write out a personal mission statement to help us apply these principles. Principle #1 "Anything that refreshes you without distracting from, diminishing or destroying your ultimate goal is a legitimate pleasure." #2 "Any pleasure that jeopardizes the sacred right of another is an illicit pleasure." #3 "Any pleasure, however good, if not kept in balance will distort reality and destroy appetite making it an illicit pleasure." He also referenced Susanna Wesley's definition of sin - "Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience,obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself." What a lot of food for thought! He preached over an hour, but it sure didn't seem that long. I had taken my copy of his book "Jesus Among Other Gods" and was able to get it signed by him. Mike had never heard him on the radio or otherwise, but he's hooked! He downloaded two of Ravi's books to his ipod and was listening to them as he mowed today.

My Perennial Garden

Just a few pics of my favorite flower garden behind my house! All perennials - I've been working on it for four years, buying and adding a few perennials at a time. Oops, the hanging basket isn't a perennial!

Immigration Approval!!

I haven't posted an adoption update in a long time. Not because there has been nothing happening but because... well I don't know why! Our homestudy was finished the end of December and sent to USCIS (Immigrations) in January where it would be closely scrutinized to see if we met all requirements and could be approved to adopt. Our agency told us it would take 60-90 days to hear from them because they (USCIS) were backlogged. We got our approval in 30 days!! Just a few more papers to finish and our part will be done(for a while, until everything needs renewed!) Once our last paper goes to our adoption agency La Vida International, they get all documents authenticated, compile everything and send it off to Colombia. Our dossier should be in Colombia by April. Once there it gets translated into Spanish and then sent to ICBF (Colombia's social services division) where it gets scrutinized once again to see if we meet all requirements. Once our dossier is approved (this usually takes a few months) it is put in line for a referral. Our agency is saying that wait time for siblings 0-4yrs is approximately 16-18 months after approval. I'm seeing light at the end of the looooong tunnel of paperwork and I am very happy!!

My new scarf!

No, I'm not one to blog about clothes and I don't like pics of myself, but I have recently taught myself to crochet again and this is the result from this past weekend. Very easy! Used Bernat Soft Boucle bulky yarn. So Dixie dear, here it is in living color just as you requested!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My sweet hubby got me this beautiful card and these two teddy bears for me for Valentine's Day! He gave me another card on Friday and
gave me the bear with the To Do File. Then he gave me the pictured card and the bear that says "Home is where your teddy bear lives."
I made him a card and a heart shaped "scrapbook" with pics of us and sweet quotes about love. I also got him some gardening things - he loves to garden and can't wait until spring.

My New Kitchen Look

John Deere has been slowly taking over my kitchen so I gave in and made new curtains with vintage John Deere. Thought I would also combine sunflowers with it since JD is green and yellow. And I like it...

Just a few more Christmas pics

Just a few more pics. L-R and Top to Bottom: Dixie, Jeff and family; Holly, Tim and family; Mike and I; Lyndi and Matt; Mom and the four of us girls.

Christmas 2008 At Dixie's

We spent several days at Dixie's. We were all there except Jodi and family as they were busy welcoming a new little one into their family - Joashleiah Lynn. We had a good time, but it wasn't without tears. When it came time to pass out the gifts, no one wanted to move for that was always Dad's job. Lyndi filled in and did a great job. It was hard, but we are so grateful we know that Dad was enjoying his first Christmas in Heaven. I know life goes on and someday maybe it will be easier, but I still can't look at a picture of my dad without crying and wishing somehow things were different.

Christmas 2008 At Susie's

Just a few pics from Christmas with Mike's parents and sister. We stayed for a few days and had a fun and relaxing time!