California fun

Mark & I really enjoyed ourselves in beautiful California last weekend. The picture from my last post was just a random google pic but turns out to be exactly where we were! Here is a picture of our hotel:



I traveled all day Thursday and even had a two hour lay over in Vegas. They have slot machines right in the airport! Needless to say, there were some interesting sights & people to see while I waited for my plane.

Friday morning Mark went to his conference and I attempted to sleep in. Of course they are two hours behind so I was up at 7 am! Who knew California would make me a morning person? :) I enjoyed taking my time getting ready and watching Fox News on cable (something I have sorely missed especially during the election) and then went for a walk around town and on the beach.

Mark was done at lunch and we decided to drive to Anaheim to spend the rest of the day at Disneyland! Ever since we went to Disneyworld in 2005, it has become my favorite place ever. This was almost as fun but it will be much better with the kids along when we go next year. It was all decked out for Halloween:



The kids did so great with Mark's mom which makes me feel better about whenever we go to India...someday. Now I feel rested and ready to get back to a full and busy schedule!

See you later!

I'm going to join my husband tomorrow on his business trip in Santa Barbara! Yeah for almost 48 hours alone. Thankfully my mother-in-law is here to keep our kiddos so no worries as I fly across the country to paradise!

Here we go!

Chicago Cubs: NL Central Champs! Off to the playoffs!

Will this be our year?

Provision

We got our fingerprints done today by Homeland Security. We were in and out in 15 minutes although it took us 30 minutes to get there and back. :)

When we first got our appointment, I worried about what to do with our kids. Would we have to wake them up super early, haul them downtown, contain & entertain them in the federal building and then adjust to their grumpiness for the rest of the day? Well if so, then we'd deal with it. But God had other plans and He provided for us yet again.

A dear friend from my Bible study offered on her own to come over and stay at our house so the kids could sleep in and have their normal morning routine. I was so touched and appreciative especially since I had already worked up the courage to ask someone else and was told no.

We are grateful to have one more step behind us and look forward to crossing off many more in the future. And we are reminded yet again of God's hand in all of this, His divine plan for growing our family and how He deserves to receive the glory for all He has done!

Wonderful Idea

My friend, Jessica, recently began her business selling Uppercase Living products, vinyl decorative lettering you can add to walls, appliances, dishes and more. This stuff is so neat!

Here is a picture of one that I added to Nate's room. It says "Play Ball" and was so easy to apply:


You can see the whole catalog online at www.uppercaseliving.com. Great for Christmas gifts, too! If you're interested in learning more, let me know and I will get you in contact with her.

News

We moved up a notch today on the adoption waiting list since a family accepted a referral of the most beautiful baby boy! It feels great to take this first step of movement, tiny though it may be.

We are so disappointed in Hurricane Ike's plans since Grandma & Grandpa were scheduled to come visit this weekend and now need to stay closer to home to keep animals safe and fix any damage he causes.

We are enjoying being back in a routine with preschool, mops & bible study. It makes me so much more productive to have to get up and get moving in the morning! Lucy enjoys school and is coming home with all kinds of information from "Did you know the dinosaurs are extinct?" to "We are learning about skeletons in science."

Natey is on a sleeping kick lately (no, i am not complaining about this) - must be having a growth spurt. It seems I am always having to wake him so we can go one place or another. Besides his bout of separation anxiety a.k.a permanently attached to my hip, he is happy & healthy & keeping us laughing!

Blessings abound....

First Day

Lucy had her first day of Pre-K today. She was very excited to go, singing a little "I'm excited about school" song the whole way there. Walked right in and didn't look back! No surprises there. Here she is on the back deck and also on the front porch (with her school bag that she decorated) for the traditional first day pics:



And here is the after picture, still smiles but with a bloody cheek! (She fell on the playground!)