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Making a plant hanger for Granny's
birthday. Granny's birthday is on the
4th of July. Each of the four little ones
made one strand on the hanger. It
came out pretty nice!
birthday. Granny's birthday is on the
4th of July. Each of the four little ones
made one strand on the hanger. It
came out pretty nice!
| And it was fun to put the leftover sticker pieces all over their faces. |
So we went down to see Granny for
the day on her birthday. While we
were there, our niece, Summer, was
there with her husband and sweet,
beautiful baby Bella! The kids loved
playing with her (well, we all did). Isaac
liked to follow her around just a step
behind her.
the day on her birthday. While we
were there, our niece, Summer, was
there with her husband and sweet,
beautiful baby Bella! The kids loved
playing with her (well, we all did). Isaac
liked to follow her around just a step
behind her.
| What a gorgeous little girl, right? She has unbelievable eyelashes. |
| Maggie holding Bella. |
Eden finally loses a tooth!!
The other little ones have
lost a total of eleven teeth,
and Eden has watched
them all with envy, wiggling
her teeth as hard as she
can, and asking me all the
time to take her tooth out.
Well, she finally got one
out and she was tickled.
The other little ones have
lost a total of eleven teeth,
and Eden has watched
them all with envy, wiggling
her teeth as hard as she
can, and asking me all the
time to take her tooth out.
Well, she finally got one
out and she was tickled.
While we were visiting Granny (Art's mom) for her
birthday, Pop was back in the hospital. He had been in
and out of the hospital with various issues over the past
couple of months. What we didn't know until we got
there, was that he was really doing very poorly, and
they did not expect him to come home again this time.
No matter how inevitable these things are, it still comes
as a shock. We were able to visit Pop in the hospital,
and are thankful that our whole family was there for this
trip. We all were able to see him again, and tell him we
love him. Two days later he was gone.
We went back on July 9 for the funeral. The funeral was
a miliatry funeral, and was very nice. It was moving to
see the flag folded and presented to Art's mom. The
sargeant presenting the flag was so respectful and her
voice full of emotion. But the most moving moment to
me, was at the end. The hearse was pulling away from
the funeral home, and we were all watching. Jordan
turned to me and told me that Maggie just waved and
said, "See you later Pop." Still chokes me up to think
about it. Thank God, we will see you later Pop.
birthday, Pop was back in the hospital. He had been in
and out of the hospital with various issues over the past
couple of months. What we didn't know until we got
there, was that he was really doing very poorly, and
they did not expect him to come home again this time.
No matter how inevitable these things are, it still comes
as a shock. We were able to visit Pop in the hospital,
and are thankful that our whole family was there for this
trip. We all were able to see him again, and tell him we
love him. Two days later he was gone.
We went back on July 9 for the funeral. The funeral was
a miliatry funeral, and was very nice. It was moving to
see the flag folded and presented to Art's mom. The
sargeant presenting the flag was so respectful and her
voice full of emotion. But the most moving moment to
me, was at the end. The hearse was pulling away from
the funeral home, and we were all watching. Jordan
turned to me and told me that Maggie just waved and
said, "See you later Pop." Still chokes me up to think
about it. Thank God, we will see you later Pop.
It was good to see family we hadn't
seen in a while. Here is our niece,
Nicole with her newborn little girl,
Kendalyn. Isn't she lovely? Such a
tiny little sweetheart. Maggie loved
"helping" with her.
seen in a while. Here is our niece,
Nicole with her newborn little girl,
Kendalyn. Isn't she lovely? Such a
tiny little sweetheart. Maggie loved
"helping" with her.
07-10-2010 UPDATE:
In just a couple more hours, we will be on a plane to Ghana. This has been quite a week for
us. We learned just over a week ago that our paperwork had finally progressed to where
we need to go to court in Ghana. Unfortunately, we are both required to appear in person
for this to proceed. I do not know the reasoning behind that, but like all adoption
requirements, we just comply. Very few of them make any sense, and most of them require
lots of money and time. So please join with us and pray that our travel will be safe, and our
kids will be safe at home, and please pray fervently that our case will be heard on Tuesday,
or at the latest Friday, so that we can come home again quickly. We do not get to bring Joy
home with us on this trip.
So, we have spent the week frantically preparing for travel, getting tickets, making
arrangements, sending for expedited visas that we didn't know we needed, and rushing to
get vaccinations that we didn't know we needed either. But in the last hours here, I think
we have everything we need. I dread the travel, as I always do. I am a homebody, and like
nothing better than staying home with my little ones, puttering in my garden, and snuggling
up with my family, safe at home. I am not an adventurous soul. I do not enjoy leaving my
kids for a day, let alone a week. This is not easy for me.
I do not know what internet access we will have while we are away. I will not be able to
update pictures here, most likely, but will try to update as soon as I can.
But an even more difficult thing happened this week. Art's father, "Pop" to our kids,
passed away this week. It has been an emotionally draining week. Even as I sit to type this
"update" I think of what I always do when I sit down to update our website: the first thing I
always think about is to make the font large enough, because Pop asked me to make it
bigger so he could see it, and I think of how he told me he liked my writing and my updates.
I always imagine him reading them as I write them, and it is odd to think that he will not be
reading this one. I have not processed all my thoughts about all of this yet, and I know the
coming days and weeks are going to be so difficult for Art's mother. We send our
love to you, Granny. We're here for you and will be praying for you each day.
In just a couple more hours, we will be on a plane to Ghana. This has been quite a week for
us. We learned just over a week ago that our paperwork had finally progressed to where
we need to go to court in Ghana. Unfortunately, we are both required to appear in person
for this to proceed. I do not know the reasoning behind that, but like all adoption
requirements, we just comply. Very few of them make any sense, and most of them require
lots of money and time. So please join with us and pray that our travel will be safe, and our
kids will be safe at home, and please pray fervently that our case will be heard on Tuesday,
or at the latest Friday, so that we can come home again quickly. We do not get to bring Joy
home with us on this trip.
So, we have spent the week frantically preparing for travel, getting tickets, making
arrangements, sending for expedited visas that we didn't know we needed, and rushing to
get vaccinations that we didn't know we needed either. But in the last hours here, I think
we have everything we need. I dread the travel, as I always do. I am a homebody, and like
nothing better than staying home with my little ones, puttering in my garden, and snuggling
up with my family, safe at home. I am not an adventurous soul. I do not enjoy leaving my
kids for a day, let alone a week. This is not easy for me.
I do not know what internet access we will have while we are away. I will not be able to
update pictures here, most likely, but will try to update as soon as I can.
But an even more difficult thing happened this week. Art's father, "Pop" to our kids,
passed away this week. It has been an emotionally draining week. Even as I sit to type this
"update" I think of what I always do when I sit down to update our website: the first thing I
always think about is to make the font large enough, because Pop asked me to make it
bigger so he could see it, and I think of how he told me he liked my writing and my updates.
I always imagine him reading them as I write them, and it is odd to think that he will not be
reading this one. I have not processed all my thoughts about all of this yet, and I know the
coming days and weeks are going to be so difficult for Art's mother. We send our
love to you, Granny. We're here for you and will be praying for you each day.