Unexpected Surprise

Today we received new photos of little man. He looks so sweet. I love his little smile and his chunky legs!
We have decided to name him Riley Alexander.
Here are his updated photos - he is 5 months old.




Check back soon...

School Days

Today was the First Day of School! I can't believe that I have a 6th, 2nd and Kindergartener!
Here are a few photos of the day!

It's a Boy!

We received the referral of beautiful baby boy on August 11th.

He was born on March 24th, 2008 and weighed 6.6lbs.

We hope that he will be home in November.

We still haven't decided on a name, but we sure hope he will have one soon.



Check back soon for Back to School news! Heidi starts Kindergarten!!!!!!!!!!

July 4th and more

It has been busy around here! We are happy to report that Ethan and Chris made it back from Boy Scout Camp after 10 long days. It is great to have them back. I attached a photo of our visit.

We also had a great time on July 4th. We missed Ethan and Chris, but we enjoyed the evening with our good friends.

Finally, Devin had his 3rd set of ear tubes put in 7/11. He is doing great! Here is a picture of before the surgery.

Until next time...

Heartbreaking News

Last Monday we received a phone call that broke our hearts. Cooper’s birthparents have decided to parent him. This was definitely not the news we were expecting. Things were going so smoothly, and we hoped he would be home in just a few weeks – just in time for his 1st birthday. We had everything ready for him!
Even though we are very sad that he is not coming to our home, we know this is a huge blessing for Cooper and his family. His mom and dad get to raise their beautiful baby boy, and he gets to grow up with parents that we know love him and want the best for him. Our hope for him is that he grows up healthy, happy and loved beyond measure.
We know he is a special little boy, and he will always have a special place in our hearts. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers - especially that our children understand. Finally, please pray that his transition to his parents goes smoothly.

Quick update!

Just wanted to share that we have received our immigration approval and been submitted for EP (Korean emmigration approval). The EP should be approved in about 1-2 more weeks. That is the last step before receiving Cooper's visa. There is now a glimmer of hope that he will be home for his 1st birthday (Aug 1st).

Hurry home little man!

Fun in the Mountains

We had a great time in Colorado. We visited Garden of the Gods, Focus on the Family, Seven Falls, Colorado Museum of Science and Nature, the Aquarium and Casa Bonita. We also did a lot of swimming. Here are a few few photos of our vacation.

Preschool Graduation

Our newest graduate!

Heidi graduated from preschool on Monday night!

We are very proud of her and all that she has learned in the last year!

Congrats!!!!

Until next time...

New Picture

I just wanted to share a new photo of our little man. We can't believe how big he is getting.

In his last WBC (well baby check-up) he weighed 17 lbs and is crawling!!

Hurry home!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy the photo!

Coming Soon... Heidi's preschool graduation update!!

Red Letters Campaign

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deu 10:18

You might have noticed the new link on the blog! This campaign is the result of an adoptive mom and some of her friends' passion for the orphan child and finding a way to end poverty and disease that destroys millions of lives around the world.
Our family has this same passion!

"Much is required from those to whom much is given" Luke 12:48.

Did you know...
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep... That you are richer than 75% of this world!

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish somewhere...You are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy!

Please take a look at this organization. There are so many ways to make a difference. You can pray, sponsor, advocate, donate, visit and/or adopt.

"Pure and lasting religion in sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us." James 1:27

Our family has been blessed beyond measure through birth and adoption. We believe that each one of our children was meant to be ours from the beginning of time! If you feel a tug at your heart to adopt - I urge you to at least consider it. At first, it seemed a little scary, we had many doubts, it was financially straining, but....
we learned a lot, we learned to budget, we learned to trust God, and we received 2 (soon to be 3) of the most amazing gifts in the world!!!!!!!!

We're Back

It has been quite some time since I last blogged. Everyone is doing great, and we are sure looking forward to summer.
We are planning a vacation just not quite sure where!!

Here is a little update:














Ethan (5th grade) is now in Boy Scouts and was the first one to receive Tenderfoot. He is playing the trumpet in school and is pretty darn good. He is still doing great in school and loves to play on the computer or video games.













Devin (1st grade) is in Cub Scouts and his dad is the scout leader. He took first in the Raingutter Regatta. He is doing good in school and becoming a good reader. He recently had his ear tubes out, but he might have to get them again. Bummer.

Heidi (5) is about to graduate from preschool and will start Kindergarten in the fall. I can't hardly believe it!! She likes to watch tv and play with her sister. She is a great big sister!! She loves wearing dresses and playing dress-up, too.

Isabelle (2) is one busy little girl! Seriously, she is handful but she makes us laugh all the time. She talks all the time and is in more things than even Devin thought about.














We are also in the process of adding one more to the family. Cooper is 9 months old and living in Korea. We hope that he will be home in August!




















Stay tuned for more updates and adventures.

Until next time....

Catching Up!

It has been quite some time since our last post - sorry! We are all healthy and doing great - now. All the kids had the flu the week before Christmas. Mom and Dad are thankful they didn't get it too.

We had a great Christmas with Debbie's side celebrating on Christmas eve, and Chris' side celebrating on the 27th! The kids loved all their gifts and enjoyed visiting all their cousins.

Here is our Christmas photo.

Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know we did. We spent a few days with each of our families. We feel very fortunate to have seen so many grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

This year we are very thankful for our family and friends and the arrival of 3 babies into our family. Baby Will was born the end of October, Isabelle came home on Oct 31 and Baby Dylan was born mid-November. It has been very exciting!!!

We are also very thankful for our children. We feel so blessed to be the parents of 4 wonderful children. We would have never guessed that our family would have doubled in a year - but we feel extremely thankful.

We will post soon about Devin's 6th B-day. He had a small party today, and we tell all about it soon.

Take care.

She is home!

Isabelle came home on Halloween. She arrived at KCI at 10:30 pm. Ethan, Devin and Heidi just love their new sis. They have been quite helpful. Isabelle seems to be content with her new home, too. She is eating and sleeping well. She also loves to smile and coo.
We are blessed again with our newest addition.

Halloween and more!!!!!!!!

I know it has been a while since we last posted, but we have been busy! We found out last week that Isabelle is coming home on Halloween!! We are all very excited.
Also, Debbie's mom and dad are moving to Oklahoma. We will miss them very, very much!!!
Finally, we had a hard time finding costumes for this year, but below are the ending result.
Enjoy and we will post all about Isabelle's arrival next week.

Heidi's B-day and Soccer Sensations!

Heidi had a wonderful 4th birthday! The weather was beautiful, and we celebrated with family and friends. She had a Dora party on Saturday. On Sunday she wanted to go to the new T-Rex restaurant. It was a lot of fun!!! We truly are blessed to have such a beautiful and wonderful daughter.



Also, on Saturday morning the boys had their first soccer game. They both did a great job. Devin scored two goals and Ethan scored one! It was so exciting. Here are our two stars.

A week of firsts....

Ethan and Devin started school on August 17th! Ethan is a big 4th grader, and Devin is in kindergarten. They both like their teacher. It is so strange to be home with only Heidi.

Also, Devin lost his first tooth on Saturday! The tooth fairy brought him $4.00! He was very excited, and he is saving his money for a gameboy game.

Finally, on Sunday we went to the Ethnic Festival. It was even better than it was last year - probably because the weather was nicer! We sampled food from VietNam, Hawaii, Germany, American Indians and many more!!

Please welcome the newest member of our family...

Isabelle Grace YeongEun (at least that is what we think we are naming her).

She was born March 23, 2006 and was a preemie weighing just under 3 lbs. Her latest medical report states she is doing well and is almost 10 lbs at 4 months.

We received her referral on July 26th and sent acceptance papers in on August 9th. We think she will be home in October sometime!

The day after receiving her referral we were on our way to the Omaha Zoo for a short vacation.

We had a great time at the zoo and also enjoyed swimming at the hotel!

It is final!

We finalized Heidi's adoption on Thursday! We feel so blessed to have her in our family.
As you know this adoption was full of delays and final court was no different. After waiting 2 hours it was finally our turn and the fire alarms went off, and we had to evacuate. Can you believe it? It was actually a perfect end to a not so perfect process, but Heidi was worth it all!!!!

Also, this week we went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead with some friends of ours. It was so much fun. The kids got to fish, bottle-feed goats, mine and ride a pony. It was so fun watching Ethan and Devin catch fish! Heidi was so excited to finally ride a pony. She just loves them. Below are a few pictures from the day - it was so much fun.

Have a great week!

Happy 4th of July

We had a great holiday!

The kids got to see their Uncle Jeff, Uncle Brad and Aunt Dawn. They love to see them.

My Mom and I had a surprise shower for Brad and Dawn. They are expecting their first baby in November - a little girl. They are naming her Dylan Lucille.

On the 4th we went to our friends. Each year we go to their house for good food and fun. Their neighborhood always has an elaborate fireworks display. The kids have fun playing with all the other kids.

We also found out this week that we will be finalizing Heidi's adoption on July 13th! We are so excited to finally be completing her adoption. It was a process full of many delays, but she was sure worth the wait! She is an amazing little girl that fits wonderfully into our family. We are so blessed with our three children.

On that note, for those of you who may not know - we have started the process again! We are now officially waiting for another daughter(this time from South Korea). We can't hardly believe we are starting this process again, but we would like the kids to be fairly close in age. We are hoping for a referral in the next couple of months, and she should be home 4-6 months after that! We are praying for a smoother process this time.

Until next time...