Decision Time

Brandon playing at the park.


Nathan loves the playground and thinks he can keep up with his older siblings.


Allison is teaching tennis this summer, too bad they don't teach in the dark as her shirt is so bright that it almost glows in the dark.


Our fish, Molly.

Is it possible to do anything without an MP-3 player?

Nathan spends a lot of time just pouring water into and out of things.

I started this blog towards the beginning of our adoption of Nathan as a place to share my thoughts, so I wouldn't overwhelm my husband with all of my words. :) It has been a lot of fun to share with others how the Lord has put together our family. Well, Nathan has been home a year, we are totally finished with the process and I have to make a decision. Do I continue with the blog or finish up? I am torn as, honestly, I enjoy blogging. I have some ministry things to take care of and I am wondering if it would be better to invest my time more with that. I'm praying about what to do, but while I am deciding here are a few pictures of some of our kids enjoying the beginning of their summer in between the rain.

One Year Ago Today!

Ken and I have reflected quite a bit recently about where we were a year ago and where we are today. We are both in awe of the Lord who has blessed us so greatly with seven wonderful children. There were times in the journey to bring Nathan home we wondered if it would truly happen. The Lord taught us so much during that time about how to trust Him and to wait for His timing, lessons that didn't always come easy. I know for me I have re-visited those lessons in the last year.

Nathan is an active toddler and learning new things every day it seems. He loves his brothers and sisters, wanting to copy anything they do - which is difficult at times as he is still little. He is such a joy!

What a year it has been - Nathan came home, Allison completed her first year of college, Joel just returned from a mission trip to South Africa, certainly not a dull life we live. A year later it still brings such emotion to think of bringing Nathan home.

"For this child I have prayed and God has granted me what I asked of Him." I Samuel 1:27

(You'll need to pause the playlist music down the right hand side, sorry about that.)



"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait on Him." Lamentations 3:22

Random Pictures for Fun

Please pray for Joel this week.

He is in the second week of a mission trip to South Africa/Mozambique and is ministering through a VBS and hut-to-hut evanglism.

This is what happens when the big sister comes home from college.

She doesn't get a lot of personal space.

Molly being cool while watching a 3-D movie.

When you are the littlest
and can't reach the screen door knob from the outside.
You wait patiently.

This safari-type hat so fits Daniel. He loves animals!

We have found that since Allison has been home she can't get enough of Nathan. So we have found her playing with him after we have put him to bed. I guess then she doesn't have to share his attention. Luckily he goes right to back to bed without complaining.

Sometimes Life is a Circus

Yesterday some of our kids and a friend were playing on our basketball court when something unusual happened. All of a sudden the friend yelled, "a bird!" and Natalie ducked as something flew at her and tried to land on her head! I was in the house and someone ran in and yelled, "Mom grab the camera there is a green bird on Natalie's head!" Well actually he was on the basketball court. He willingly went to Daniel's finger and we made him a makeshift cage in the garage. Since he doesn't exactly look like a wild bird we put some calls into the vet clinics in our area to see if anyone reports a missing bird. This afternoon we are supposed to be making signs for a "found" bird, but nobody is too eager since everyone has decided he should stay. Actually, I keep referring to him as a he, but they are calling this bird Lola - they even have Nathan saying it.



In the middle of finding a cage for him we found that the container we wanted to use for him had a ton of baby praying mantis' (about 1/4 inch long) in it, as one of the kids had put an egg sack in the container and they had all hatched. Than Molly stepped on a bee, that didn't sting her but it upset her. Than we looked and Nathan had walked where they had attempted to let the praying mantis loose and he had several crawling on his feet. It was crazy for about 20 minutes, that's what you get when you have "wild" animals - you get "wild" kids!


Oh, and I didn't mention that this all happened when we were trying to get dinner ready because we were surprising the kids with a night at the circus.

During the Pre-Show the kids could try on some costumes.

We all enjoyed the circus, after all it is "the greatest show on earth"! And then we came home to our zoo.

Every Child Needs a Michael

What's a Michael? An adult who takes an interest in the lives of your children. Yep, that's Michael. Many times while I join my girlfriends for dinner Stacey's husband Michael visits my hubby and our kids. We can't tell the younger two he is coming until that day because it is all they talk about. A couple of the older kids try to think ahead to what homework they have to make sure they don't have much that night. (Unfortunately Daniel had quite a bit this time.) Michael talks to them, plays with them, will often play a game with them. Oh, and by the way, Ken enjoys his company greatly too. :)


This visit he rode his motorcycle and Molly and Brandon got to take a ride. How fun! Brandon said he was scared at first but he did it!



Molly liked it that he beeped the horn several times. I was told that a little girlfriend of Molly's walked by and said "who's that?" watching Molly ride by. Brandon said, "It's Michael" like "of course that's Michael."

We are so grateful for friends like Michael. Adults that add to our kids' lives are such a blessing.

Re-adoption- Check!

Waiting with Grandma.

Well we finally got it done. This morning we went to court and completed the re-adoption of Nathan. Because so many had met us at the airport and the hearing was in a different county a little distance away for most we decided to keep the event just our family, including my older sister and mom. It took all of about 10 minutes in the actual court room but it will make things easier for everyone in the long run. And of course he is officially Nathan Rodolfo now! Yeah!!

Our daughter Allison was the first grandchild and my dad said that my mom had waited a long time for grandkids. Today she remains a magnet for her grandkids. They love her bunches! Here some of them are hanging out at the court house waiting our turn.

Nathan decided it was time for a snack.

He's thinking, "surely someone will get me something out of here."

Daniel, Grandma, and Allison.

Outside the court house on a beautiful day.

Oh no, what happens when seven children have to wait for papers to be filed and copied. Well, the camera becomes entertainment!


The kids then decided that they would wait outside and when we came out we found them taking pictures of all sorts of things. They thought the old gun-thingy outside the court house looked interesting so here they all are hiding behind it, if you look closely you can see Molly peeking through the opening. (Just wanted you to know that we hadn't lost one.)

When our attorney walked out of the court house this is what he saw. He just smiled and kept walking.


Lastly, we topped off the morning with brunch at IHOP.

Though this court date was really a formality it brings us almost full circle as it was a year ago June that Nathan came home. He is a true blessing in our family and we are enjoying watching his personality develop. We are so thankful for the Lord placing him in our family and we pray that he will become a young man of God.

The Boys

How did it happen? One day he was playing with trains and cars

and the next day..........

.

He had a driver's license!

.

.

Now Daniel is thinking about when he can get his..................



I hope this isn't any indication of how Brandon will be behind the wheel!...

And it seems that Nathan has a fascination with cars also.

They must be born with it!