My big boys are home and happy b-day to Ben

 Joseph came home last nite from being gone for 3weeks in Boston. Ben worked in the evening but when he came thru the door it was "Surprise". I had made a homemade ( from scratch) deep chocolate cake for his b-day and we surprised him. Tonite we are taking him out to Red Lobster along with Joseph, Mary Kate and Keith since both the boys were gone until late Friday nite.

I can't believe he is 20. He was my last bio. child and sometimes I can't believe 20 yrs have passed as quickly as they have. I am very proud of Ben. He is in college at Shepherd University in their nursing program. This was a surprise to us at first but he is really feeling a peace about it. His plans are to go further and get his Nurse Practioners or PA. Since I was in nursing and he is our first child who is in this field it has been really nice talking with him about medical stuff. Of course he is an expert now....did you know that it is best to breastfeed for at least a yr? Or that the black stain on Mady's teeth are from drinking a bottle when you put her to bed with it? ( Actually Mady has never had a bottle and hers are just stains that the dentist doesn't know why) but it has been fun when Ben discovers facts and shares them with us. The other nite he took out stitches on Anna's leg from a procedure she has had to figure out what is causing a rash...He did great too. He has a faith in the Lord and is still discovering how to use the gifts the Lord has given to him. Happy Birthday Ben !

Welcome home Joseph...It does this momma's heart good to know when I was sleeping everyone was home.

I can't even tell you how this makes us all feel.- Andrew is overcoming so much.

I really never thought that Andrew would do this...at least not for years. He came home at 5 yrs. and 2 months on a bottle. He has had severe GI issues and was developementally the age of a 3 month old. He could not even hold his head up for long, stand or walk. We got him off of bottles 10 months later to food fed to him on a spoon that was very soupy. He continued to have GI issues and for the next year he was fed by someone with a spoon...then we started to hold his hand and show him how to feed himself. We have gradually chunked up his food but we still use the blender to mash it . He now drinks liquids from a cup, and as you can see he can feed
himself with no one helping. Honestly it gives me goosebumps to watch this. He has been home 2 yrs and 3 months and has overcome alot of abuse, and neglect issues and we all are truly amazed at his progress today. Paul and I met with his psychologist yesterday to discuss his meds. and our options and she has given us hope for his future as well. He may not ever be what my heart desires but he is doing so much more than we ever imagined.

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He is cute even with his missing tooth- don't you think ?

This smile wrapped around my heart the very first time I saw it....and it continues to. I love this guy. He is a ray of sunshine wherever he is.

Pirate Party for our "one eyed" pirate Jonas ')

 I think Luke did the best pirate imitation don't you ?

We had been teasing Jonas all week that we were going to have a pirate party for his birthday...So I bought some pirate stuff and we decorated as if we were having a pirate party....It was fun and he was such a good sport...He had a good day that stared with breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then we bought him a mountain bike with some of a gift card he had and we gave him the rest. He went for a bike ride when we got home with Ben. We grilled hotdogs and his requested dessert- Lemon Lush.

Happy 17th b-day Jonas. You have overcome alot and we are very proud of you. I love this last picture of Jonas with Kloe- it shows what a tender heart he has.

Aren't these the cutiest little tootsies ?

Lila and Mady thought so and loved posing in their new flip flops. The weather here has been so warm ( until today) that if you tried to buy flip flops you won't have many to choose from . People have bought them all out. So I grabbed these for Lila and some others. For the last 2 weeks we have had temps in the 80s and we all have enjoyed it.

Then there was Zoe :)

 Is there anything cuter ?

 She is so expressive and her mouth did these 2 things all the time. It had us smiling and she knew and was more than happy to do it again.

 Mya loved helping Jenn take care of her.

She is only 7 months old and she is already cruising and there goes her big mouth - wide open. She will have trouble in the summer with bugs for sure :) What a doll baby who melted our hearts.

Happy Birthday to our sweet "grand" son Eli.....

 He was telling me, " I am 5 " Isn't he the sweetest ?

 Where are they going ? In the am Paul and Jeremiah took the kids out to the Jump Zone while Jenn and I got ready for the party !!!

 Blowing out the trick candles :)

 Playing unwrap the present....

 Bubbles were a hit....

I was in NC since Friday to celebrate the precious life of our "grand" son, Eli. He turned 5 on Thursday and is our first adopted grand child. He is a sweet and precious blessing to our family. We love celebrating his life and seeing all of them. We had a great visit.

" Uncle Isaiah"

Don't you just love "Uncle Isaiah" loving his little niece, Kloe ? My heart melts everytime I see the kids wanting to hold her, change a diaper, and play with her. She loves all the attention as well. She is such a laid back little baby too. I guess often a 3d child is that way.

Pastor Billy is loved by our family.....

Thsi is one of our pastors at our church- CenterPoint Bible Church. We have been attending since Sept. and we joined this church in Feb.. We have found a church home after searching for a yr...since we left our previous church over a disagreement with the youth pastor there- who now has since left the ministry to be a police officer ??? We love all the pastoral team and we love Pastor Billy's visits especially. We actually see him often and we love whenever he drops in.....Today he came by and the kids all helped him to make some "paper tape" balls that were needed for tonites youth. The kids love helping him and would do anything he asked. He makes them feel comfortable and holds them to a high standard but is so easy to connect with. They were pretty loud while they were making these balls and Lila just slept thru it all on the couch in same room.  :)

I mean really how many pairs of shoes do we have ???

This is the pile of shoes by the door today when the kids came in for lunch... and this is only part of the kids :)

Our Ghana adoption update :)

I know some have asked about our Ghana adoption so here is the update. We got our I600a approval quickly and we passed court as I shared on January 11. All of the court documents and the birth certificates are done and we submitted our I600 on March 2. We are waiting for that approval and Kofi will then be able to ask for our exit interview packet at the embassy. We wait for that to be given and submitted and then for the interview to happen...and without any issues they tell you when you can pick up the kids visas ( when they will be printed). We can't control much of the timing . We have asked for the USCIS to expedite our case since Samuel had his second medical crisis weeks ago. We would love to share that we are traveling soon but we really don't know. We have asked but no one controls the officials who have the power to move things along faster...However more this time than our last Ghana adoption I have a peace about when we will be able to bring the kids home. It is all in God's timing...We are already amazed at how He has put it all together.

The top picture is one of the boys when they were infants...Samuel is the one who is much smaller.

Mady loves hanging with her aunts....they are a big influence on her

 Mady and Lila play together often. We love hearing how Mady says, " LILA". Lila is usually great with her younger niece . As you can see Mady wants to do everything Lila does...that is why we teach the older kids - remember you always have lots of eyes watching you.