Happy Adoption Day

On this day 5 years ago a judge in Oregon signed the official decree making Olivia our daughter. We like to say that on August 15 (her birthday) God gave her to the world. On October 26, He gave her to us.

I have come to recognize "daughter" as one of the most beautiful words in the English language. Olivia brings a life and laughter to our family that could only come from a little girly girl. Pink just happens when she is around...high heels, bows, mismatched garbs of skirts, leggings, dresses, belts and purses. There is a fresh breeze of life out loud with Olivia. At times I don't remember her energy and abundant personality are blessings. Sadly, I get frustrated and try to contain her. It is a challenge to teach her personal restraint while still allowing her to grow in the spirit that God gifted in her. I am confident in His plan for her. I can only imagine what He is going to do in, with and through her. It could very well be that Olivia will set the world on its knees as she proclaims Jesus.

Happy Adoption Day my sweet Olivia! I love you oodles and streudles and bunches of noodles!!!

Cameras, football and birthdays

Our old Canon Point and Shoot camera died what was apparently a very quick painful death. Not being digital camera doctors , we didn't know it was dead. We thought is was a mere digital coma. But alas, after 3 weeks in the camera ICU the news came... no hope of repair, dead. An autopsy revealed cause of death to be blunt force trauma (meaning it was dropped, unbeknownst to us).

We borrowed a camera from a sweet neighbor for a couple of weeks in order to have pics of some important events. You know you have to have a camera for the first day of school, first football games and other milestone moments.

After some research, we bought a new camera. It has more buttons than I can count so my photo genius friend KC came over for an inservice. I am afraid her pupil was more camera challenged than she originally thought. I am learning so bear with me, especially if I post a pic and I have to describe it because the image cannot be seen :)

The first pics are from the little kids playing outside. No real significant moment, just sweet blessings playing at a friends house. As I look at these pics, I am reminded that every day is a blessing if you just take time to realize it.

Next we have Alex's football game. This was a picture-taking test that well, as you can see I didn't exactly pass with flying colors.

Cute boys at their brother's football game.

Cheerleader in training

Instructions from the CoachIs it wrong to call a football player a cutie??I told you my skills were limited....

if you could really see this pic you would witness Alex making an incredible catch.

This is my son burried under a pile as he recovered a fumble.

Finally, Alex had a birthday party with some friends from school and church. We are so thankful for this group of young people (I almost put "kids"). We pray they continue to make good choices and hold each other accountable to God's standards.

I hope my posts will be more frequent now but I have to tell you...it took me 1 1/2 hours to download the pics and put them in the right folders. It was another 1 1/2 to upload everything to the blog. I do not have that kind of time so I may have to have a techno savvy friend come over for another inservice :)