Showers of blessing

How sweet!

Sisters, almost!

This weekend, the girls spent the whole day with daddy while I attended my future sister-in-law's bridal shower in Orange County. What a sweet time of fellowship with dear friends and family.

We are so excited and happy for both Rich and Emily! The wedding is just around the corner!

"I will send down showers in season. There will be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:26

Our little swimmers

Oops, Faith dropped her towel.

Patiently waiting.

It's funny. When we put the girls in their bathing suits, they know that it's time to go in the pool. They generally don't care for hats but they love wearing their sun hats while swimming. They even try to put it back on if we take it off. They truly enjoy being in the water and anyone who visits us and sees them in the pool is usually in for a real treat. They love their swim lessons with daddy and often laugh and scream with delight. You just can't help but laugh yourself!

A tupperware party

The girls have managed to find one of the only cupboards in the kitchen that isn't baby-proofed. They love to take all of the tupperware out and bang them together. They even actually put it all back when I say it's time to clean up, too. Hooray for tupperware!

It's good for so many things!

Two Dolls Moving Co.

Two Dolls Moving Co.--"Where moving furniture can be twice the fun!" After dinner last night, the girls decided to work as a team to move their highchair through the kitchen, down the hallway and in front of daddy's office. Here they are in action.

"Oh boy, we ran into the sink."

"Good thinking Grace. You make the turn."

"Now we're rolling."

"Hey, we make a pretty good team."

"Full steam ahead!"

"Looks like we need to straighten out."

"We made it! Hi daddy!"

Sweet Dreams

Faith and duckie.

Faith balancing duckie on her head.

Grace picking a winner. (Sorry, honey!)

"Ah, this is the life."

Faith in her jammies.

Grace sharing her favorite bunny.

Playing with daddy before bed time.

Goodnight, everyone!

It's been so much fun to watch our little girlies develop and grow. They turned 16 months old yesterday. My, does time fly! Our girls have learned to sweetly share their things and it just warms our hearts to watch them be kind to one another. They've also been giving out lots of kisses. There are some days that their sweet spirit literally brings tears to my eyes. Here are some pictures of our evening before bed time. Enjoy!

BBQ & Pool Party

Morgan, the girls and Emily.

Robert lounging.

Karen, Emily and Jon.

Robert, Morgan & the girls.

Karen & Jake

Catherine, Emily, Karen and Jake.

What better way to spend a hot summer day than to have a bbq and pool party with your friends?! We had fun guys! Thanks for coming and we look forward to many more leisurely afternoons by the pool! Hope to see you all soon!

Fore!

Deciding which club to use.

Faith lining up her shot.

Now looking for her ball.

She has a bad lie but she's still got a shot.

Nice form.

Decides to just pick up.

Lately, the girls love to go around the house and play golf. Since we pretty much live in the golf haven of California, I'm sure they'll be heading to a real golf course in no time. Just in case they ever do play in the LPGA one day, these pictures would be priceless. :)

Horizon

Some of you have asked us if we're planning to have any more children in the future. Believe it or not, it's something that we've already talked about. Quite a bit, actually.

Here's the short answer... "Sure, it's not up to us and it's OK if we don't." I'll elaborate...

Sure, we are open to having more children, whether that be through adoption or birth. It's not really up to us though. If God's plan is that we should increase our family by adopting again, that would be a wonderful blessing. By the same token, nothing is impossible with God so if His plan is to make us pregnant, that would be amazing, too. However, if we adopted again, we would probably adopt a child who is a little older, not an infant. There are so many older children who need secure families and loving homes. Besides, we are no longer spring chickens :)
It's OK if we don't, simply means that we feel our lives are full and we are grateful for the two children we do have. We were just saying that we could not imagine our lives without both of our girls. We are happy to have two children because we can adequately devote quality time to each of them. One thing is for sure, we always knew that we wanted more than one child. God knew exactly what He was doing right from the start! Mainly, of course, we just want to hear and obey God's will for us in all aspects of our lives. We continually hope and pray for enough courage and faith to that end. So, what's on the horizon for our family? We'll just have to wait and see.

The Most Beautiful Rainbow

I smile every time I see a rainbow because I am reminded of God's promises.

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person

that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will.

You will have your heart broken probably more

than once and it's harder every time.

You'll break hearts too, so remember

how it felt when yours was broken.

You'll fight with your best friend.

You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.

You'll cry because time is passing too fast,

and you'll eventually lose someone you love.

So take too many pictures, laugh too much,

and love like you've never been hurt because

every sixty seconds you spend upset

is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Don't be afraid that your life will end,

be afraid that it will never begin.

Live simply.

Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

Leave the rest to God.

3 down, 1 more to go!

Faith putting on a finger puppet show.

Cracking herself up.

Grace playing peek-a-boo between her legs.

"I see you!"

We had our third post-placement visit this afternoon. Again, it was easy and brief and aside from the girls being a bit rambunctious, all went well. Some countries require only three post visits but Korea requires four. We should have our last visit in September sometime and then we'll be all done! No more reports to fill out and most importantly, we can then go to court! Yippee!

I should take this opportunity to mention that we have really enjoyed working with all of our social workers. Unlike perhaps what you may think about social workers, these young women are kind, gracious, have a heart for children, families and the Lord. They have always made us feel like they were there to help in any way possible, not hinder. Before we started the adoption process, Morgan and I would pray that we would be blessed by everyone we came in contact with and in turn, that we would be a blessing, too. We cannot say enough about Family Connections Christian Adoptions, both in Ventura and Oceanside. Thank you to Gwen, Jaida, Cindy and dear, sweet Julia. You have indeed been a blessing in our lives and we can't thank you enough. Here's to the home stretch!

A new look

OK, so I'm playing around with a new layout for the blog this morning. It's sort of like re-decorating! Aside from the obvious differences, I sorta liked this one because the pictures seem to "pop" more because of the background color ( it was white before). Let me know what you think!

Family Wedding

Grace in her pretty dress.

Daddy fixing Faith's bow.

The lovely couple.

Kyle & Chelsey.

Faith laughing so hard she almost falls out of her stroller.

Cousin Christina entertaining the girls.

Cousin Christina, me, cousin/mother of the bride Brigid and sister-in-law Jennifer.

Grandma & Grandpa with all 6 of their grandchildren.

(Shawn, Christina, Kyle, Mitchell, Faith and Grace)

All of Morgan's side of the family met in Paso Robles on Saturday to celebrate the wedding of Chelsey & Kyle. Chelsey is the daughter of Morgan's cousin, Brigid. It was great to see the whole extended family and the beautiful bride! This was the longest road trip we've taken with the girls and believe me, it was a lot of work! The girls are not used to sleeping anywhere but in their cribs and we are very much on a schedule when we're at home. Needless to say, things were a bit thrown off. They managed OK though and after a 5 hour drive this morning, we are all happy to be home. It's hard enough getting ourselves to a wedding on time but try doing it with two babies in tow! Whew, we need a nap!