Add to the Beauty

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Peter Pan

Isaac as Peter Pan in Shrek the Musical, presented by 7th Street Kids! Six weeks of daily rehearsals, and Isaac loved every second of it. (And the other five kids enjoyed a whole lot of van-schooling this summer!) The entire cast was awesome, with tons of energy and joy, and the play was so much fun!

Isaac is kneeling, the second one from the left.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Visiting Grandma

It took eight hours in the van to get there, but it was worth it! We got to go visit Grandma in Eastern Washington! The kids were so so good on the long road trip (thanks to lots of snacks and a portable DVD player!) They had really been missing Grandma, and as soon as we pulled up in the van and saw her standing there, Gideon yelled, "Grandma! Hi, Grandma! Hi!" and Micah started doing his happy, giggly, hand-flapping routine. We all piled out and covered her in hugs, and yes, it was totally worth an eight-hour drive! (Grandpa was away at a shooting competition . . . he took second . . . so we only got to see him briefly at the end of our visit, but hey, at least we did get to see him! The kids love their Grandpa!)

We spent an afternoon in downtown Spokane, feeding a metal goat in the park leaves via a strange vaccum-type mouth (because apparently that is way more amusing than feeding our real live goats at home). Gideon thought this was absolutely hilarious and just could not get enough of it.

Then Grandma took them on the carousel. Blessing was sound asleep, I feel nauseated just thinking about flying around and around, and Micah wanted to keep his distance, so the three of us watched. Gideon's first spin on a carousel was a huge hit! It goes pretty fast, so I wasn't sure what he would think, but he loved it so much that we decided to do it again!

Grandma, Josiah, Gracie, Isaac, and Gideon staggering off and trying to get their balance

Micah thought it was fun to watch, as long as we kept our distance.

We enjoyed our visit, but it ended far too soon!

When it was time to say goodbye Gideon started sobbing. Huge heart-wrenching grief-filled sobs. The boy loves his grandparents. And as sad as it was to watch that, it also seemed right. Gideon is still not especially adept at expressing himself, and to see a show of such real emotion showed me how far he has come. It wasn't all that long ago that the only three emotions we saw in him were super-happy, super-hysterical, and super-zoned-out. Now he is learning what it means to feel. Nobody wants to see their baby grieving, but on the other hand we all know that life is not all sunshine and rainbows, and lately Gideon seems more comfortable expressing sadness. He is forming opinions about things, and forming attachments. He is growing up, and figuring things out a little bit more each day.

Grandma and Grandpa are getting ready to set off on another grand adventure in their travel trailer, so we are not sure when we will be seeing them again. But at least we will be able to follow along on their journey around the country on their blog. It is almost like being right there!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Sweet

The kids have been wanting to make cookie pizzas, so today we gave it a try!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Gracie's First Dance Recital

Gracie totally rocked her first dance recital this weekend! She was worried she would be nervous to have an audience watching, but if she was she didn't show it. Just sweetness and grace. She really loves to dance. When she grows up she wants to be a mommy and a dance teacher.

Waiting

These kids are experts at waiting. We are hanging out at Shriners at the moment, waiting to see the doctor, this time for Micah's scoliosis. Micah has been sedated ten times in the last year. Now we wait to hear if spine surgery is on the horizon. He's one tough cookie, and all six of these little ones are awesomely waiting. Sometimes it seems like they spend half their waking hours doing medical stuff and therapy stuff. They are such great kids.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Our Daughter

It is official!

This morning we finalized the adoption

of our beautiful daughter, Verity Blessing!

We are so very blessed to love this little girl.

Yes, Verity Blessing is sound asleep in this picture. Sweet girl had to wake up at 5 am this morning to get her breakfast and get ready for her adoption ceremony. She stayed awake through the official stuff, then started really yawning and getting droopy eyelids. By the time I got the kids gathered around for the group shot, she was out like a light.

But when we were getting ready to head into the courthouse this morning, she was all smiles.

The kids' reactions after the judge signed the papers:

That's it? Is it already over? Did we adopt her?

So she's really ours? She's my sister forever now? Yay!

When's the party?

Verity's reaction to never again being a foster child:

For the last eighteen months I've loved this kiddo and fallen more in love with her every day. I've been humbled and amazed by her. I've learned so much from her. Today I can promise her that I will be her mom forever!