Easter Best

Well, maybe not our best. But close. Isn't it great that God loves us anyways? That's what I loved about our Easter service yesterday! The reminder of new beginnings, a resurrection from death to life. I LOVE EASTER!

And I also love cute pics with our family.

My niece Claire, seriously, how cute is she?

Aiming for a group picture of all 4 cousins: Take 1

And take 2. Yes, Elliott is not currently "at his best" as he lays pitching a fit on the ground.

Take 3. Clearly, neither is Claire. Oh sweet Maxwell & Wells... the things the older kids put up with.

Take 4:  Yes, still laying there.

Elliott's chin makes the whole picture. At least we tried!

But bubbles make it all better!!!

The only shot of both sitting still all afternoon- do you think black & white makes it any better?

This is my favorite because THIS picture is how we roll. To each his own, all the time.

The best attempt to get kids and grandparents all in 1 frame of the camera.

Eating cake... that sneaky Claire. Doesn't she look like she's about to take Elliott's right out of his hand?

And let the hunt (and change of clothes) begin!

SOLD

House News

We have the final walkthrough of the house today and we close tomorrow at 3:00! Prayers for quick and easy will be welcomed! I'll post some pics tomorrow. And then let the demo work begin! So really I'll be posting before and after pics... stay tuned...

Wrapping Things Up

Well folks, it looks like our crazy is beginning to wind down. I hope. We've closed on our current house and are now renters, and we are closing on our new house next Wednesday! And then the next round begins. This new house is great, however, it has WHITE CARPET throughout. Not family friendly. Or at least in our family. And my 2 requirements in a new house are a master bathtub and a laundry ROOM, not a laundry CLOSET like we currently have. So what doesn't this house have you ask? A tub and a laundry room! How did that happen? So, along with the white carpet removal comes a bathroom removal and a laundry closet removal. All to be reconstructed before we move in. Soooo, we are looking to move in the end of June. How does this affect our adoption you might also be asking? Well... it puts a little delay on things, but not too much. I'm just reminding myself over and over that God knew way before us about our house selling and these delays, all to give us our perfect little girl for our family. Patience.
And on another note, we are still having a hard time dealing with the loss of the creek in our backyard, that is no longer our back yard :( So we are trying to play in it as much as possible! Here are a few pictures of Charles and the boys traipsing through the waters... Happy Weekend!

A Whole Lotta Crazy Part 3

As if the story wasn't enough excitement for the month of February, let's move forward into March. The house I hinted at toward the end of post Crazy 2 turned even crazier. I truly felt like the Lord had led us to our next home. It was PERFECT for ministry. Which is what we love to do in our home. It all seemed perfect. But He had other plans. After we put a contract on the house, things started to fall apart. It seemed every time we turned around, something else wasn't right and we were asking friends to pray about it and for us. Finally after about a week we decided to walk away from the house. I was CRUSHED. But knew God had something else somewhere. And amazingly enough, the day after we decided not to buy the house, 3 different people confirmed to me that they didn't feel that was the right house for us and there was a catch in their spirits about it. THANK YOU JESUS! It made it much easier to transition back into house hunting. But these last 2 weeks haven't been pretty. It's not really about the house so much as CONTINUING to trust God. I found myself everyday saying "God, do you remember we have an adoption to complete? A little girl coming home to us and WE NEED A HOME?!" And of course He knew. Thankfully I have some really great friends to keep me grounded. I knew the house wasn't really the issue. It was all about trusting God to provide our needs. Did I really trust Him? I would learn the lesson by the end of the day and then start right back over each morning. Doesn't He tell us to trust in Him with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding? In all our ways acknowledge Him and HE will make our paths straight?
Now here we are, a few weeks later, with an offer on another house. I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm cautiously excited. And I will keep you posted :)
But dear Lord, I think maybe I've learned this lesson for a season, so please don't make our adoption this CRAZY!