My Family

We had a great weekend! It's always so fun to have my whole family together and doesn't happen very often at all anymore! We ate lots of food...started a corn hole tournament (that we had to abandon due to lightening and darkness)...shared gifts...took photos...watched an old movie...and laughed....alot. I hope it's not so long before we are all able to get together again but I have a feeling we'll have to wait until the holidays. Anyway, here is the whole family photo from the weekend - other photos to come. :)

Some Days...

...I have to remember how cute and sweet and funny they all are! :) Yep, today is one of those days -hopefully good attitudes and obedience will return soon. As for today, I'm grateful they all still rest in the afternoon...I needed the break!!! And despite the less then stellar day, I am truly blessed - always.

Planning

I'm busy this week getting ready for our family gathering this weekend. We are hosting it on Saturday - partly in honor of my parent's 35th anniversary (celebrated in May) and partly celebrating the fact that we will all be home at the same time. The seven of us siblings and our families haven't all been together since Christmas. Considering we all live in the same state - it's been awhile! We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend and hoping the weather will cooperate!

Capturing Personalities

They say pictures are worth a thousand words - here's a glimpse at our life:

Calvin - 5

Patrick - nearly 5

Titus - 23 months

Wonderful Day

What a wonderful day! We met up with friends that we hadn't seen in six (6!) years. We've kept up some through blogging, facebook, and Christmas letters but it was amazing to reconnect and visit in person. Last we saw them, neither of us had children and now we each have three. Such sweet kiddos and our boys thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them as we played at the zoo.

What a blessing to have a chance to share what has happened in our lives including job changes, church involvment, and our children (they have two bios and recently returned home from their first adoption journey to Ethiopia with their youngest little guy). We laughed and we shared and we rejoiced and we encouraged one another. It was delightful.

I'm thankful for their friendship that has spanned time. We picked up like it hadn't been so many years and our conversations where deep and meaningful.

All in all a fantastic day. Here are our three at the zoo today...

Blogger & Misc.

Blogger has come a long way! I've been having a great time exploring some of the new features and customizable templates. We use wordpress for The Cooks Next Door and while I like it, I still find that I have a soft spot for blogger. The improvments they have made, makes me even a little more loyal. :) So if you haven't had a chance to check out the changes, you should!

In other news, I ordered curriculum for the start of our kindergarten in September. The boys are more than ready to start school. They practice writing and ask me how to spell things on a daily basis. I've been pretty overwhelmed at the prospect of homeschooling but I keep reminding myself that it's kindergarten. I think we will have a great year and I think the group we have joined will be excellent! But I'm still not thinking about it too much for another few weeks. :)

By the way, we are having a couple of giveaways over on the cooking blog this week - check it out!

Merged

I've been contemplating the boys' blog for quite awhile. I simply don't have the time to keep it up and over time I've included my writings about the kids and our life and the cute things they say and do over here at Meant To Be. But I've kept that blog because I love that our journey to becoming a family is chronicled there. And the blog was such an encouragment to us when we spent so many weeks in Kazakhstan going through one of the most emotional and wonderful journeys of our life.

And so it is with alot of thought and some sadness that I decided to conclude the boys' blog. I have merged all of the posts and comments here and closed Our Three Sons. It's time. We are so thankful for the amazing way God has blessed us.

Knowing & Responding

Sometimes I find knowledge difficult and sometimes it makes it tough to sleep at night. My trip to Kazakhstan changed my life...again...just like the first time when we became a family of four...only different. And I don't mean that in a cliche way. This time, I experienced the country and culture in a different way - I wasn't there to grow our family and all of the stress that includes but rather, I was there to bring hope and blessing. And beyond that, I was blessed by the children and people of a country I have come to love so much. I was reminded of the fact that smiles, laughter, tears, and hugs are the same in every language.

I'm still processing the trip. Re-entry was harder than I ever imagined it would be...my emotions have been all over the place. I think about the need, the children, and the reality of their life. I don't feel guilty for the things God has blessed us with but rather, I think about what my response needs to be and I realize I can live with far less.

The baby house we visited was incredibly sad. The babies and toddlers were so understimulated. The smell, the cries, the lack of development, the little voices calling us "mama" - I will never forget. My heart ached for each of the precious little ones. I met two little boys with clefts and my heart ached a little extra for them. And I know what happens to all of these children if they are not adopted or are unadoptable and it's unspeakable.

What does God desire of me and especially of our family? It is a question I ponder daily. And I don't fully know the answer. I know that we were called to bring our oldest two home from there, I know we are to raise awareness, and I know that we are to continue giving back. Are we to bring another child into our family from Kaz? I don't know. It is a question we have been seriously pondering. The door has not opened for us at this point but we remain open to what God desires.

I know this is a weighty post. It's been much on my mind and heart. Here are a few pictures from the babyhouse (we took some treats for a party for the kids):

Festival Fun

I'm completely disappointed that I forgot my camera last night! We took all of the boys to our town's festival - it's put on by the Lion's Club is always the week of the 4th. This year, the big boys were old enough (and brave enough) to enjoy the rides even more. Last night was wristband night, so we let the boys have wristbands and bought a few tickets for Ty. It was so fun seeing their eyes light up as they went from ride to ride and the huge smiles were delightful! I love being a mom but some things make me enjoy it extra amounts and their joy at this "treat" was one of those moments.

Titus was a bit jealous that he wasn't big enough for very many of the rides. :) He rode the carousel and the train a few times each. It was super cute.

We had dinner before we went but enjoyed sharing a bit of fair food - some cotton candy, lemon shake-up (from the "lemon house"), ear of corn, and some potatoes. Delicious.

Anyway, it was a wonderful evening filled with smiles and laughter. I love making memories with my family!