Evi can ride with no training wheels

Tattoo

I have had this idea for a tattoo for at least three years and last Saturday I finally went and got it. It's a nun orchid which is the national flower of Guatemala with a heart in the middle and a baby inside the heart. It represents not only the love I have of my children's birth country but also the joy of adoption. We have told our children that I can't grow babies in my tummy but instead I grow babies in my heart. The funny part is this little metaphore needed some explaining recently. Evi now understands that when a woman is growing a baby in her tummy, the tummy gets larger. She thought that I grew her in my heart the same way she has seen other women grow babies in her tummy. I explained that she too grew like a flower in her birth mother's tummy in Guatemala but while we were waiting for her to come home to us she grew in my heart. I think she may have gotten it.

The Hermit Crabs have arrived!

We have been telling Evi for years that we would get her a Hermit Crab. One of our fish tanks broke and won't hold water anymore so it seemed to be the ideal time to get the Hermit Crab. Jeremy took them to Petsmart yesterday and they each picked out their Crab. Evi's is in a pink shell and she named it Shelly. Robert's is in a blue shell and he named it Boh-Bah. Baby boy and Jeremy share one and it's name is Percy. Right after settling into their new home Percy found a new home. We hope that these little guys will be fun pets for our family to take care of and of course we are hoping that they don't croak too fast.

This is from day 2 with Hermit Crabs. We had to get them some more things for their cage.

Robert holding Boh-Bah.

Evi holding Shelly for the first time.

Here I am holding Percy.

Shelly and Percy

Watching with excitement.

Their new home.

and here they are..... Shelly, Boh-Bah, and Percy

Hearts for Guatemala

Our church is taking it's 4th mission trip to Guatemala this summer with an organization called Hearts In Motion (HIM.) This year the kids have an opportunity to help out by donating their broken crayons. The kids peel the crayons and bring them to church so that a woman can melt them down and make new crayons that we will bring to children in Guatemala. Our kids really loved peeling the crayons for this great cause.

Favorite Photo Friday

Don't mess with this little lady.

Squirt Gun Fun

I know, I know..... I said I would never allow "guns" at my home. But squirt guns are so much fun!



Filling up their guns.


This is Robert's "running away from being squirt" face.

Can't find me.

Cousin Tara comes for a visit.

Digging for bugs.

Running and holding hands.

Feeding the geese.

Question: "What does the Bible say about adoption?"

I found this on-line today

Answer: Giving children up for adoption can be a loving alternative for parents who may, for various reasons, be unable to care for their own children. It can also be an answer to prayer for many couples who have not been able to have children of their own. Adoption is, for some, a calling to multiply their impact as parents by expanding their family with children who are not their own, biologically. Adoption is spoken of favorably throughout Scripture.

The book of Exodus tells the story of a Hebrew woman named Jochebed who bore a son during a time when Pharaoh had ordered all Hebrew male infants to be put to death (Exodus 1:15-22). Jochebed took a basket, waterproofed it, and sent the baby down the river in the basket. One of Pharaoh’s daughters spotted the basket and retrieved the child. She eventually adopted him into the royal family and gave him the name Moses. He went on to become a faithful and blessed servant of God (Exodus 2:1-10).

In the book of Esther, a beautiful girl named Esther, who was adopted by her cousin after her parents' death, became a queen, and God used her to bring deliverance to the Jewish people. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ was conceived through the Holy Spirit instead of through the seed of a man (Matthew 1:18). He was “adopted” and raised by His mother's husband, Joseph, who took Jesus as his own child.

Once we give our hearts to Christ, believing and trusting in Him alone for salvation, God says we become part of His family—not through the natural process of human conception, but through adoption. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship [adoption]. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15). Similarly, bringing a person into a family by means of adoption is done by choice and out of love. “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:5). As God adopts those who receive Christ as Savior into His spiritual family, so should we all prayerfully consider adopting children into our own physical families.

Clearly adoption—both in the physical sense and in the spiritual sense—is shown in a favorable light in Scripture. Both those who adopt and those who are adopted are receiving a tremendous blessing, a privilege exemplified by our adoption into God’s family.

More Easter pics.

The bunny leaves great baskets.



Yoda and candy all in one. You really can't ask for anything more.

Baby boy with his Bob the Builder stickers.

Our little diva all dressed in pink. She is a cross between Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious.

The kids sang a song at church. This is during our children's sermon right before they sang.

All dressed in their Easter Sunday best.

Easter Baskets from grandma and papi



My mom's awesome Easter decorations.

Decorating the eggs

Here are our colored and decorated eggs for 2010.

Easter Egg Hunt

The Hunt is on.








Craft time.

Grandma Nancy and Evi working hard.

Grandma Judy and Robert working together.

Robert and his cross