An early celebration

We are hitting the road this weekend. Haven is going to Nana's house and Cale and I are continuing to head east. We are going to a B&B in western New York on a small lake to celebrate our 5 year anniversary, which is in a few weeks. We have been planning this trip for a few months and I am so excited that it is finally here. I'm also thankful for a nana who is thrilled to have time to spend with her sweet Hay and doesn't really care if/when we ever come back to get her.

Since we are heading "home" for me, the weekend will not be complete with out some friends and family thrown in. We will enjoy a meal with an old friend and her boyfriend we have yet to meet. We will celebrate with friends as they find out the gender of their THREE babies. A visit with grandma-great, quality time with my mom and enjoying a little bit cooler temperatures.

It's going to be a wonderful weekend with my best one. Enjoying one another in a way that is hard to do when life distracts us. Praising God for the life He has given us together. Dreaming about the future and His plans for us. Resting in a peaceful place with everything taken care of for us. Celebrating five amazing years together as husband and wife. Loving each other and the Giver of all that is good.

The Pumpkin Patch

Tonight we decided to brave the heat and mosquitoes and head out to the pumpkin patch. We went to a new place this year and it was complete with chickens, horses, and goats which were a big hit with Haven. She was also a fan of the scarecrows, just don't ask her to sit too close to any of them. Even if it doesn't feel like all, we are going to act like it is!

I'm not so sure about this!

Oh this one is heavy!
Too much to see- she can't be bothered to look at the camera!

Look what a year can do! Here's Haven on our trip to the pumpkin patch last year.

Ode to fall

O, fall...where are you? I see glimpses of you here and there. But I don't like your teasing little game. I sense you in the cool morning air that requires a coat when we go for a walk. I smell you in the breeze as we crunch your falling leaves underfoot. I know you aren't far off when I need to use the extra blanket at bedtime. But where are you now? I can't seem to find you anywhere as the blazing sun warms us all to 80 degrees again. Why can't you come to stay? Why are you being so volatile?

I long for a day when flip flops would not be adequate footwear. I hope of a day when my sweaters won't be lonely on the shelf. I dream of wearing my new jeans with some boots and not having my feet sweat. Am I asking too much of you? Do you not yet realize that it is OCTOBER already?

What do you have against me wanting to cook soup for dinner? Why do you insist that my down comforter remain in hiding in my closet? Do you not like the apple cider this season? Are the pumpkins not to your liking? What is it that causes you to tease me? Tell me and I will fix it.

O, fall... please come today. Please come to stay.

Won't you be my neighbor?

Last night I had to take my neighbor to the emergency room. She's okay, but they are still trying to figure out what exactly the problem is. For a young, healthy mom, her chest pains and nausea were quite concerning. When I pulled up in front of her house to take her to the hospital, our next door neighbors were coming out of the house, helping with the baby and assisting as needed. They, too had gotten a call and knew that M wasn't feeling well so they went over in person to check on her.

That is why I love my little dead end street. I love that there are people right next door and across the street that will be by my side in an instant if I need them. They care about our family and our daily happenings. They loan us a ladder or give me a cup of sugar when I run out. After living in apartments where no one makes eye contact with anyone else, living in our little neighborhood is everything I ever hoped it would be.

It's taken time, but it's so worth it. Two days a week M and D and our three babies walk on the bike trail together. Our families gather together for dinner and to hang out with one another on a regular basis. This weekend we are having a yard sale together as part of our neighborhood's annual sale and picnic. We are a part of each other's daily lives.

It feels good to belong.

Slow down

It has been a slow week around here. Wiping lots of runny noses, trying my hand at quilting with mixed results, and getting a great haircut have been the highlights. We finally ordered our new windows and a month from now we will be living large with new, clean, bigger, nicer windows. I can't wait to have that project off our to-do list. A slow week, but a good one.

For the last several days I have been trying to put into words what my heart is saying when I read about baby Copeland and her family. God has brought them to mind literally hundreds of times in the last week to pray. I am broken for them and can't begin to comprehend how they are feeling. Through them and a heart-wrenching tragedy of another family close to home, God is teaching Cale and I to be more thankful for our sweet, healthy girl. Bedtime hugs are a little longer, kisses more frequent, and holding the weight of her body against mine has never felt so good.

I take so much for granted in my daily life. Yes, I am thankful for a nice house to live in and a car that runs and money for food. But what I am most thankful for are not things; they are my sweet, kind, loving husband and my sassy, busy, delightful little girl. I am thankful for reminders to love them better and appreciate their presence in my life more.

And I will take a slow week with the two of them by my side any time.

Falling Into Reading

The Fall Into Reading 2007 challenge is here and I have a short list this time around. I haven't had a lot of time to read of late so I am hoping that this list will help me to get motivated when I do have time. This is probably not a complete list as I usually get inspired on visits to the bookstore or library and will add to this as the months progress. Am I the only one who goes to the bookstore and picks out books I want to read, writes down the names and authors and then goes home and requests them from the library? I love to read, but my thriftiness compels me to heavily utilize the library. Or the clearance shelf at Half-Price Books! And now the list:

A Widow for One Year by John Irving

The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

All My Road Before Me: the diary of C.S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis

The Christian Home School by Gregg Harris

Happy reading to everyone!

Breaking the news

For the last several months there has been some exciting news in our lives that I haven't really been able to write about. I'm not sure what exactly changed today, but something did. We spent the morning at a seminar for America World Adoption Association because we are going to adopt from Ethiopia!

Adoption is something that was always in our minds as a someday thing. But early this summer through a series of events we are confident that the Lord is leading us to making that someday NOW. We have spent the last few months praying and researching and talking and praying some more, seeking the Lord's guidance and wisdom as we pursued this God-sized dream He has placed in our hearts.

Something about going to the seminar today made it even more of a reality that this is our future. If there were any part of us that was doubting this decision, we both walked out of there with a clear sense of purpose and a resounding "YES" in our hearts. We are excited to really, officially begin the process. It is our hope that we will submit our application in the next few weeks and then the fun begins. We have lots of paperwork in our immediate future and untold joy at the end of it all.

We can not wait to see who God will add to our family!