PENNSYLVANIA VACATION

Noah in Gettysburg getting ready for their picture

Laurel & her new doll from Poppy

The whole gang in Gettysburg

Of Course we have to stop at Hershey!

Two train rides! How lucky!

We packed a picnic, got on a train that took us to our picnic

destination. A perfect day!

Learning how to make pretzels at the pretzel factory

Beautiful People

( This face says everything- a good time was had by all)

I am SOOO behind on blogging!! It seems since we have gotten back from vacation that we've hit the ground running and playing catch up! Crazy around here. Anyway, Nana & Poppy took us to Amish Country PA again this year and we had a blast. The babies got to ride 2 trains (including Thomas), go to Hershey, Play on many a playground, learn to make pretzels, go to their favorite farm with TONS of things to do, take a buggy ride and lots of other things that I can't remember at the moment. It is so neat watching the horse and buggy's go by at night and watching how the Amish do things. Those are the hardest working people I have ever seen...... They literally work from sun up to sun down 6 days a week! Anyway, I have many more pictures but these will give you a taste of our week!

For I know the plans I have for you.....

Noah after playing in the river

Miss Priss at Nana's pool

Our "Mini Vacation" for our 10 year Anniversary!!

The Firedancers were our favorite

(Below)- The beautiful Hot Air Balloon that came over

our house and terrified my children... they said it sounded

like a bear. Go figure.

My goodness we are definately in the heat of summer. The only problem is that summer isn't even officially here yet. So much going on I don't even know where to begin. I won't lie, last week was a really tough week. I'll give you a snapshot of the week by just showing you what Wed. looked like.......... 8:15am- Laurel's Apt. at UNC- She needs tube surgery again ;(

10:am- Mike to get a biopsy of possible skin cancer on arm

2:00pm- Noah loses a filling and has to get a crown

7:30pm- Noah hits head on railing outside and requires 4 staples at Urgent Care

That was just one day!! As I was reflecting on it the Lord brought His perspective to me.

8:15am- Was able to share Laurel's story with Audiologist & Dr. Dr. had many questions

about why we chose to adopt and was able to share our story and the Lord's work in her.

2:00pm- Noah was able to quote his "when I am afraid I will trust in God" Bible verse

to the Dentist & his technicians. He also told them God was with him. It made

the technician cry (they aren't believers)

7:30pm- The receptionist at the Urgent Care was interested in hearing Laurel's story.

She too was adopted and wanting to adopt herself. She wants a special needs child

and very interested in adopting a Down's Syndrome Child...... Ahemm..

REECESRAINBOW!

None of these encounters were by mistake. They were appointed meetings by God and had these things never happened we would have missed the opportunity to share Christ. What a lesson for me that was!!

Oh and in AWESOME news **** The little girl Olivia that I posted about previously is getting a Mommy & Daddy. She is being adopted outside of RR but Praise God she gets a chance at a family!! ***

Make the most of the Opportunities that God has put in your path this week. Use them to glorify the Maker of Heaven and Earth and show people the Hope that we have within us.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

Wishes....

OLIVIA- 30L

Girl, born May 2008
One of Olivia's parents is of Asian ancestry — isn't she stunning?
This beautiful girl has a terribly sad social story. She suffered abuse as a baby and has had many surgical procedures because of it. She is officially an orphan, and doesn't have access to the further medical care she needs.

We will share her story only with families who are seriously considering her adoption.

She is described as a lovely child with a quiet personality, very smart girl, very kind and friendly to everyone. There are no physical or psychological developmental deviations for her age group. Plastic surgery is needed in the future.
She is in high percentile of her age group for weight and height, easy to communicate with and has a smile ready. For all intents and purposes it appears that Olivia doesn't recall the tragic events that befell her in the past.

$36.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Donations are tax deductible.

Isn't she beautiful?? She deserves so much more!! Oh I wish, I wish, I wish.......

This little girl doesn't deserve to suffer any more. She needs a family!

Go to www.reecesrainbow.org, Other Angels, Girls 0-5 page for more info.

My American Idol's

ME & MY TINKERBELL

JOHN WAYNE

RED RIDING HOOD

My "Scotty McCreery" look a like :)

Girlfriend Reunion at the Beach!!

Noah singing 'Train Train take me out of this town"

And they thought she'd never talk!

Shew!! Has May been out of control for anyone else out there?? I have no idea what has gone on. It seems I've been out of town almost every weekend. I have a saint for a husband. Last weekend I had a wonderful time catching up with some girlfriends from High School. I am so lucky to have a group of girlfriends that go that far back and we can still pick up like we've never been away from each other.

In other news, 2 of Laurel's therapies will be ending in a week. We'll continue one throughout the summer. She continues to make great strides, praise be to God. The last testing was done a few weeks ago and showed that her Receptive language skills were at 2 yr. 2 months and her Expressive language was on a 3 yr 2 month old level. These are AWESOME scores considering her hearing age (how long she's had her hearing aids) is only 1 yr. 6 mo. Smart little cookie.

Noah is still the best big brother ever. He has had a blast watching our American Idol Scotty McCreery sing. Because the show is too risque for him to watch we could only watch Scotty sing and then turn it off. He loved it though. He's inspired Noah to pick up his guitar and start singing. He's quite the little showman er... show off.

Well, that's about it for now. Tomorrow another busy weekend..... of to my cousin's wedding. We are looking forward to that though. Hopefully June will be a bit slower paced!

Rainy Days & Strawberry Picking

Rachel & Aubrey, Laurel, Noah, Amy & Lydia

We've had some wonderful rainy days lately. The kids have loved watching the rain come across the fields and then playing in the mud that it leaves behind. The rain has been great for our little garden and blueberry bushes but apparently wasn't great for the strawberry crop. Regardless, 2 women from my church and all of our cute babies went on a hunt for some strawberries. We had a blast. Girls are definately the best pickers. Aubrey & Laurel & even baby Lydia all picked and put them in their buckets. Noah however came back empty handed. He had eaten ALL of his strawberries! Such a boy. Anyway, I am so thankful God has put these girls and the others at the church in my life. I really believe that "for such a time as this" God has put us all together in different stages of life..... some Grandmother's, some empty nesters, some having "returning" children, some planning pregnancies, some struggling with pregnancies, some pregnant, and some with babies and toddlers.... to encourage each other and raise the next generation. Praise God for godly women!

My Maternal Side of the Fam... Minus a few

Miss Priss LOVES to fish!

Apparently fishing is a spectator sport

(I was taking a pic of my cousin Hunter and had a surprise in the background) :)

It was my weekend with my Great Aunt again and also happened to be Mother's Day. So, we had a Mother's Day Party on the farm. We had a great time eating and then fishing. The ticks almost carried us away but A great time was still had by all. I love taking a family portrait every year (even though it's like pulling teeth) and seeing how we all change from year to year. I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend and my sweet husband gave me a beautiful heart necklace!

Goings On...

EASTER PARTY AT THE POND

Hayden, Noah & Laurel in the MUD!!

Celebrating Ma's Birthday! Happy Birthday Maw Maw

Noah had to get a tooth pulled!

Laurel and her My Twinn Doll! Who is Who??

(FBC Ladies at the Beach Retreat..... minus Katie!)

Where to start?? Well, we had a wonderful Easter. The kids at church did a very moving production of "Arise my Love" and I was so proud of them. We had an Easter Party on the pond with family & friends and lots of food and fishing. Oh, and the tradition is that after the easter egg hunt the babies get to play in the mud. They had a blast!!

Noah had to have one of his front teeth pulled this week. I REALLY did not want to have to do this but he had an abcess that wouldn't go away. The only way to fix it is to pull the tooth. It is so funny how God works sometimes. I was coming home the night before praying God would make it VERY clear whether or not to pull this tooth. When I got home, Noah had infection coming from the sore above the tooth, he told me it hurt and when I flossed it half of the tooth came out in my hand!!!! Talk about a clear signal from God. I was so relieved. Anyway, he loves being called Snaggletooth, the tooth fairy did show up and he'll be toothless for probably 4 years! Oh well.

Miss Priss seems to be having a bit of a rough week with personal space and sharing. She wants to tear up whatever Noah is playing with right now so she's been in trouble a good part of the week. I was gone this weekend to a Ladies Retreat so I think that may have something to do with it.... or she's coming down with something. She's too cute with her little My Twinn Doll who we call "Nastya". This was Laurel's name in the orphanage so we thought she might like to call her doll this and she does. If you call her Nastya however she says "No, I Laurel"! She never looked back!

I had the privaledge of going on our church Ladies Retreat to the beach this past weekend. 19 Ladies got together to get away from it all, Praise God, Sing Songs, Play Games and have a blast in general. I loved getting to know some of the new ladies and renewing friendships with the "oldies". I am so happy to be a part of such a loving church body with such wise and godly women.