May Number

We received an email today with our waitlist number for May.  It was no surprise that we are number:

 

 

Tomorrow will be 10 weeks at number one.  This has definitely been the most difficult part of our journey so far, but we are so grateful for the many prayers that have been lifted up on our behalf.  This past week, I read the book, Heaven is for Real, which is a little boy’s astounding story of his trip to heaven and back.  God knew I needed to read this book because it was so encouraging to me as we wait for our referral.  It reminded me once again that God has a master plan, and He is working out every single detail of our lives according to that plan.  He is not phased one bit by this long wait for our daughter because He knows the end of this story.  I am so grateful that we serve a God whose ways and thoughts are far better than my own! 

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace”

May We Never Forget

I love this picture for so many reasons.  It is my brother at the Operation Iraqi Freedom Welcome Home Ceremony in Honor of the 101st Airborne Division(Air Assault) in February 2004.  He is hugging his niece, Kennedy, for the first time after being away for a year.  This picture is a simple reminder of the numerous sacrifices that were and continue to be made so that I can enjoy the many freedoms I have here in America. I pray that I will never take it for granted, and I pray I can instill this same gratitude towards our soldiers(and their families) past and present, in our children.  Please take time to lift up a prayer for all of those fighting on our behalf today. 

“The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."
   - Calvin Coolidge

3 years ago today…

We passed court in Ethiopia, and Silas Abrham Lucht officially became our son!  In honor of this boy we love so much, I thought I would share a few things about him at this fun age of 3.5 years old:

1. He will randomly and unprompted tell Troy & I he loves us at least one time a day

2. He loves to sit and hear stories about people.  He especially enjoys hearing about the various adventures Pappaw had as a railroad engineer

3. We always have to test out at least 2 or 3 lawnmowers every time we visit Lowes.  He wants to know every detail about the mowers(where you turn the blades on, etc…).  Unfortunately, daddy does all the mowing at our house so I am not very helpful with answering his questions if daddy isn’t there

4.  Caillou is still his favorite cartoon

5. He still loves being outdoors, and he is really enjoying a swing set that some friends recently gave us

6. He loves going to the library every week, and Troy or I will often get a sore throat before he tires of us reading to him:)

7. He transitioned smoothly into the preschool class at church at the beginning of this year, and he is cruising along like a champ.  I love the fact that his little class at our small church has at least 3 or 4 adopted children in it.  He doesn’t realize it yet, but what a unique bond he’ll have with these kiddos!

8. He frequently talks about his sister, prays for her, and informs us of all the things he is going to teach her when she gets home

I could go on and on, but I will stop here.  Troy and I love this boy to pieces, and I am forever grateful God’s plan was for Silas to be our son.  We are blessed!

Mother’s Day Tradition

This year marks the 4th in a row that my sister and I have decided to give my mom a Mother’s Day ‘weekend’ in lieu of a traditional gift.  It has developed into a tradition,and my mom now looks forward to it every year. Since my sister and mom live in a separate state, we usually pick a place to meet in the middle.  We rent a furnished cabin or condominium, cook lots of unhealthy foods, visit the local (cheap) tourist attractions, and laugh A LOT!  This weekend is only for the girls in the family, and this year my sister brought along their exchange student, Tatjana, from Switzerland.  We thought it would be good to let her experience a little bit of our craziness:) 

This is a pretty good representation of what our meals look like….rich foods that often contain chocolate!  My sister made these chocolate waffles with strawberries for breakfast one morning.

This is where we stayed this year.  It is a very old cabin that is actually on the National Register of Historic Places.  Let me just say that there were bad storms Friday night.  A really old cabin with a metal roof is not my ideal place to be when there are tornado warnings.  Thankfully, God protected us all!

I love these ladies!  From left to right is my mom, niece, sister, and Tatjana

Then it was my turn to jump in for a quick picture.

We did a walking and boat tour of a local cave.  This was taken in front of the gift shop and visitor’s center.

The bridge to the start of the walking tour

This is the entrance to the cave.  It is kind of hard to see because of the trees, but it is one of the biggest entrances to a cave in the world.  They actually have a beautiful area where they hold weddings and proms. 

The weather was perfect, especially in the shade!

I love my sister.  We are so different in so many ways, but yet we get along amazingly well!

We stumbled upon this cute little place on the way back to our cabin.  They had antiques, produce, and anything you could need for your garden.  The best part was that it was all on a farm setting in the middle of the country.  You just don’t see that every day!

They had lots of these old radio flyer wagons.  It brought back great childhood memories!

Tatjana decided to test out the tree swing!

Tatjana leaves to go back to Switzerland at the end of this month so this was the last time I would see her.  I have only spent a short amount of time with her, and she is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet.  She is also very talented.  She plays the piano amazingly well,and she speaks 7 different languages! I know my sister’s family,and especially my niece, will miss her greatly!

One final picture before we head home.  Apparently I missed the memo on what color to wear!

So that sums up my weekend.  I love my family, and I hope we can continue this tradition for many years to come.  We are all in agreement that we would much rather have the quality time together than anything money could ever buy!  My sister prayed for our daughter at each meal over the course of the weekend, and we are all hoping she will be able to join us for our Mother’s Day Weekend next year!