Brendan

On Monday, when my phone rang and my brother gave me the news that a family member would be adopting Brendan, my world came to a halt. We knew all along that this could happen, I even told people, "It's never for sure until you have those adoption papers". But I was not able to keep my heart from being invested in this sweet little boy. I scolded myself for allowing this to happen. Why didn't I keep my distance until he was legally available for adoption? And what about this growing passion that Joe and I have for adoption? Should we just give up? It would be a lot less painful. What is the Lord trying to say?

I took the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday to grieve and pray. This is not to say that I am not still grieving or praying, but I can't hide out in my pj's forever. The Lord kept bringing back a blog that I had read a few days before this happened. It was actually from my brother. He was talking about things that he had learned from being a foster parent. The thing that stuck most in my mind was that when you care for a child (foster, adoptive or even biological), it's not about you. It's about that child. Sure, my heart is broken, but what is best for Brendan? And who is this about? Should I withdraw my love for fear of getting hurt? Or could I possibly, with the help of God, give my love away with full abandon and no hesitation, knowing that this is what God has called me to do? So, as hard as this process has been, I would not trade knowing this little boy and even loving him. I will pray for him until I see him in heaven and trust that God has the perfect plan for him and for us. As for adoption, we are still continuing to pursue this as Joe and I both believe that that Lord has laid it on our hearts. And I thank Brendan for giving us the motivation to research adoption more fully and to find out the steps we need to take to get us there.

Halloween

This halloween was probably my favorite. It was absolutely beautiful outside, we were able to be out the entire night with no jackets! What a huge blessing! We also met us with some of our best friends and all had a really great time! I do think that the nice weather brought out every trick or treater in the neighborhood though. I really don't know how anyone had enough candy for all those kids!

The two most handsome army guys out there!

Noah as a soldier

Kate as a Spring Fairy

Julia as a Wildcat Cheerleader

The moms: Julie, Molly, Kerry, me and Jenn (as Michelle Duggar)

The kids: Way too many to name (although less than Michelle Duggar has!)

Julia's Frankenstein

Kate's Rose

Noah's skeleton

All lit up at night.

After trick or treating we had everyone over for soup and chili. It was a perfect way to end the day!

Run To You

This is a song that Joe and I sang this weekend at church. The song was so awesome, I thought I'd share! This is Mac Powell singing since I do not have a recording of Joe and I :)This is the video that played in the background while we sang.


I especially loved the bridge:

Nowhere to run to and no one to turn to
I'm dying out here on my own
Long before I even thought of returning
Your arms are wide open, waiting for me to come home

The topic this week was about sin. Sin is not about breaking the rules it's about breaking relationships. Our relationship with God and our relationships with others.

San Francisco

Most people who know Joe and I, know that we are really close to his family. We meet them in various locales several times a year and his parents (usually with a sibling or two) come to our house for a visit a few time a year as well. I say this to express the deep sense of loss that Joe has felt not knowing where his older brother Paul was. We have not been able to find him for 9 years. And not for lack of trying either! Well, a couple of months ago we were able to find his phone number (long story). A few weeks ago Joe decided to text him and got no response. Last Tuesday, Joe got a text from Paul's roomate Sean. He told Joe that he thought Paul needed a visit and gave us his address! Well, that afternoon, we booked airline tickets. Thank you airline miles! And thanks to friends who offered to take the kids so that we could go! We had no idea what would happen once we got there, we were just so desperate to see Paul. Thank the Lord, Paul started texting Joe the night before we left, so at least we knew that he knew we were coming and seemed okay with it.

We knew that Paul could not meet us until later so we spent the day shopping and sight seeing.

We met up with a couple from CCC (Tracy and Aaron) who are starting at church in SF. They are super cool and we appreciate the fact that they are there and doing what God has called them to do!


Last year at Joe's work Christmas party we went to a restaraunt called Le Colonial and it was awesome! We had been saying that we really wanted to go back. Well, one of the other two world wide locations was about 4 blocks from our hotel! So we went there for a belated 10 year anniversary dinner. It was just as awesome as we remembered! We were the first to get seated in this beautiful outdoor patio.

We were being really silly trying to get a picture of the two of us. A really nice guy stopped to take our picture but apparently could not figure out Joe's camera. So, we kept trying and came up with this one. :)


We met up with Paul at about 11:30 that night and we went to a diner and talked for a few hours. It was really good to finally see him and talk to him!

Saturday morning we met Paul and Sean for brunch at this very popular restaraunt. We waited for about an hour to get a table. The coffee and food were great!


My dad and Bonnie drove down from Marysville to hang out with us a little on Saturday and Sunday before we flew home. We had a really great time sightseeing. We drove through Golden Gate Park and then we stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked down a path to a pier which had fantastic views of the bridge, Alcatraz and the city. We then decide to drive up the incredibly steep Lombard Street so that we could go down the other side of the hill which is known as the "crookedest" street in the world. We had so much fun! My step mom laughs (A LOT!!!) when she is nervous and it is very contagious, so we were all laughing the entire time we were waiting to get up the hill. That is us in the little silver car on the left.


Later that night, Paul cooked us dinner at his apartment. He made a really yummy speghetti and sausage dish for dinner and delicious chocolate creme' brule for desert.


It was such a great visit, hopefully we can keep in touch!!

My Mom

Today is the one year anniversary of my mother's death. There is no doubt about it, it's been tough. But, it did hit me earlier when I was thinking it about it, that today also marks her one year anniversary in heaven. That made me smile. The fact that she is not here just sitting in a chair unable to move, talk or eat much, that she is in all of God's glory, makes me happy! So, happy anniversary mom!

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