His smile

I'm a over-smiler. I smile when I'm happy, nervous, embarssed, unsure, shy and a million other emotions I can't think of right now. You could say smiling is my coping mechanism I guess!

Chris isn't so much of a smiler. It's not a bad thing, he's just a more serious guy most of the time. It takes a lot to tickle his funny bone. So, that just makes the times he does smile so much more special to me.  His smile lights up my whole day, I love it when he smiles!

See? He's got such a great smile! 

91 hours

That's the amount of quality family time we had in the car this summer between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. Between all our trips for my sister's wedding, to NE to see Chris' sister, to NY to see Chris' family, to Grand Lake with my family and to Grand Junction to see my grandpa, we logged over 90 hours in the car!

It wasn't always enjoyable, but I think some good things came from it. First of all, we had a lot of time together as a family! Chris and I joke (with fierce hope) that God must know that we needed the family time this summer because next summer is going to be crazy with our new daughter and cocooning and all of that! One can hope, right?!?

Secondly, I have noticed that our kids are more patient and tolerant of each other and seem to know each other better. Spending that much time cooped up in a small space with someone will teach you a lot about a person! I feel like I know our kids better, their triggers to stress, their signs of needing a break, their personalities, their favorite snakcs and the things that make them elated and frustrated. I know, without realizing it, that our children also learned more about each other. I have seen evidence of this in the way they interact with each other. It seemed before this summer that they were always getting on each other's nerves and not being patient with each other's little quirks and stuff, but now it just seems like they get along better and understand each other more deeply. They know their sibling's strengths and weaknesses and they have learned what they enjoy doing with each other. It's been so fun to see them become better friends! This is not to say they don't fight anymore, but the fights are fewer and the fun they have together is more. Instead of everything being a competition, they are able to just enjoy each other's company more.

Lastly, Chris and I have had a lot of time to talk! I enjoy talking things through and just knowing what Chris is thinking, even when we don't come to a decision at the end of every conversation, it's nice to hear where Chris' head is at. Well, when all you're doing is staring at the open road, it's easy to let the thoughts flow. I feel like I know Chris better and I feel better known by him. I love this guy and it's so easy to let our busy lives take over and not make time for each other, so I enjoy the times we have to just sit and be together, even when it's forced by being cooped up in a car!

Would I want to travel so much every summer? That would be an emphatic NO!! I am way more of a homebody and I don't enjoy not being at home for very long, but looking back on it, there were definitely some good times had and some good memories made! The next time I travel, it better be to China to get our daughter, that's all I'm sayin'!

Grand Junction

Over Labor Day weekend, we headed to Grand Junction to see my grandpa. We hadn't been to see him in a long time and we were overdue. The kids love it there because my grandpa has all kinds of fun stuff to do! While we were there, their favorite things to do were shoot bow and arrows and ride his tractor!

I'm so glad we made the trip out to see him! I know he loves to see the kids and they love to see him too! Love you grandpa!

Celebrating 11 years of Brayden

We always try to make a big deal of birthdays, for obvious reasons. We don't do a lot of gifts and treats other times throughout the year, so birthdays are kind of fun because we go out to eat and get lots of sweets and the birthday kid gets lots of new toys and games and clothes! And it's really fun having a big family with lots of kids, because there are birthdays more often!!

Brayden's birthday this was a lot of fun to celebrate, albeit a little exhausting. On Friday night we had his "grandparent party" (what the kids call it when we have over our parents and my sisters and have cake and do presents). We normally do this party on a Saturday, but we did it Friday night this year because 1) Brayden's friend party was on Saturday and 2) Brayden's friend party was at a skate park and we knew he was getting a scooter from my parents that we wanted him to have before we did his skate park party. This party is usually pretty low key and relaxing, as you can see Brayden wore his pajamas to the party!

The next morning we headed to the park early to reserve some tables. It was nice that we didn't have to pay to rent the shelter, but we had to get there around 9 am to ensure we got the tables we needed. It was okay, I don't think the boys minded having an extra hour to play at the skate park! When Brayden's friends started showing up, they all just rode their scooters/bikes/skateboards for about an hour until it was pizza time.

This park was such a fun place to have a party for 10-11 year old boys because we didn't have to entertain them at all and we didn't have to have all the rowdiness contained in our house or backyard! They were free to skate and run and play football and be loud without bothering anyone!

 The boys pretty much rode their wheels or played football for the entire 3-hour party, with small breaks to eat pizza or cake or open presents. I think everyone had a great time! Thankfully we had great weather!

I can't believe this guy is 11!

After a fun weekend of celebrating (Brayden called it his "birthday weekend", which it kind of was), Brayden's actual birthday was on Monday. We had one of his favorite breakfasts: chocolate chip muffins and sent him to school for the day. When he got home, he opened his presents from us. He had been asking for a bigger Bible and a Bible case, so that's what we got him!

Later that night we went out to eat at Brayden's choice, Cinzetti's! When I gave him the choice of 3 restaurants, he didn't even hesitate. He said "I didn't know that was a choice?! Of course Cinzetti's!!" It may or may not have something to do with the all-you-can-eat spaghetti and dessert!  I tried to embarrass him by having them come sing to him and bring him a birthday dessert, but he said he wasn't embarrassed. Oh well!

I'm having a hard time believing this boy is 11 already! It really seems like not that long ago that I was waking up at 2 am with contractions and spending the day in the hospital in excited anticipation of finally having my own baby to hold and love and take care of!  Brayden, I love you so much and I'm so proud of the young man you are growing up to be! 

We have a Log-In Date!!!!

Yesterday we got an email from our agency that we have a Log-In Date!!!! Our offical log-in date is 8/22/14! Basically this means we are eligible for any referral anytime. We have been told to expect a 9-12 month wait till referral and then travel about 6 months after that, so she will almost assuredly be home by next Christmas!!!

Yesterday morning I kind of let God hear it during my prayer time. I kind of didn't even want to pray because I'm just tired and worn from praying for our adoption. I pray and pray and I feel like things aren't happening. So yesterday I just told God, "I need something! Some kind of news! Something that shows movement!"  And guess what? He delivered!! That email could have come today or next week or last week, but it came yesterday afternoon and I don't think that's a coincidence.

You want to know what else probably isn't a coincidence? 8/22/12 is the date we were officially put on the wait list for ET and then exactly 2 years later to the day is the day we are officially waiting in China? Crazy!!

So now we wait and hope. I have a new energy, which I know probably won't last long, but at least it's energy for now. I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it in the end, all the frustrating paperwork and all the waiting and all the not knowing, when I hold my daughter, none of that will matter!