This past week was super busy!

We had much to celebrate and lots of fun as well!

The boys love to read books!

I can't wait...soon they'll be able to read books to us!

Memaw and Papa came to our home for a

visit this week. Greggy loves his Memaw!!!

I think it's because she ABSOLUTELY spoils him!

We celebrated "Adoption Day" this week!

As always, I became quite emotional and thoughtful

when considering the many children in Guatemala

who are unable to be adopted.

On Saturday, John took Greggy to the doughnut

shop, and he allowed Greg to make the selections.

He was so excited to report that he found

doughnuts with "spinkles"! I made

Zuppa Toscana later that day.

It was delicious!!!

We also went to Murray this weekend!

We were able to visit for a little while with Great Grandaddy

and Great Grandmother Murray. Later that evening,

we watched Kristen perform in "Mulan" at the

Playhouse in the Park. It was a great show!

Our whole family had a really wonderful time!

The photo above is of Lori, a friend of mine from my days at Murray State, with her husband Robby, son Cohen, and daughter Leah. They are the Wheeler family, and they are missionaries in Guatemala City, Guatemala. After adopting their son, Cohen, from Guatemala, they recently moved there to serve the people of Guatemala in a number of ways.

I understand that their primary role is to minister to the girls who live at Mimi's House. Each of the girls in the photo above live there, and they are all orphans. Aren't they beautiful!

In addition, I know that they have been working toward providing clean drinking water for communities of people and they volunteer at Casa Jackson, a care facility for malnourished infants and children. Malnourishment is widespread.

This is Alison. She is so tiny.

This little one is Alberto.

If I am reading Lori's blog correctly,

this is a little one whose mother died in child birth.

This is Zoya.

This sweet one is Pedro.

This is a sibling group that lives in Tecpan.

The team that Lori and Robby serve with brings

food and other supplies to widows

and their children who live in this area.

Needless to say, my heart is heavy. I am so thankful for the work that the Wheelers and others are doing in Guatemala to help these beautiful children. Those of us living here can commit to pray for them, and, perhaps, support this important work with our finances.

Tomorrow our family will celebrate Happy Adoption Day for the fifth time. I am unable to sum up in this post alone all that means to me. However, I will list several things I think about on such an occasion:

1.

I praise the Lord that John Isaac's

first mother chose life for our son!

2.

I thank God that our hearts were

steered toward adoption.

3.

I thank God for the fact that John Isaac has

a mommy and a daddy, and that we have him!

4.

I thank God for the ways that He has allowed John Isaac

to grow and develop in spite of neurological issues.

5.

I praise God that my sons have one another

and the richness their relationships will add to their lives.

6.

I thank God for my own adoption as His child,

and I pray for my children to know and love Him as well.

7.

I pray for John Isaac's birthmother and siblings

and for grace for us all on the day when

he will want to meet them.

8.

I thank God for the ways that motherhood

has changed me. I am a better person for loving

and caring for each of my children.

9.

I think about and pray for the orphans

who remain in Guatemala.

10.

My heart aches in ways that I can't explain

when I think that my son might have been one of them

...but for the grace of God.

This past week was Spring Break! We stayed home for the first half of the week, and we visited Atlanta for the last part.

While we were at home, John Isaac and Jeffery met
for play time with their friend, Clay, at Yellow Creek Park.

The boys had so much fun! They climbed, swung, slid, etc...

One thing that our boys did not want to miss in Atlanta
was a chance to ride on the train. Here, John and
the boys are purchasing our tickets.

Being the somewhat nervous and overprotective
mother that I am, I made the boys sit on a bench
while we waited on the platform. I don't think my
John Isaac was very happy about having to sit there.

I sat with them so that they would not be tempted to jump up.

My FAVORITE thing that we did in Atlanta was visit the Georgia Aquarium. It was wonderful! The kids loved it, and John and I found it very interesting as well. The photo above and the two shown below are pictures of a small portion of the Ocean Voyager exhibit. I was most amazed with the sting rays...they were HUGE! If you look carefully, you can see one swimming in the background on the left.

It was really crowded at the aquarium due to the fact that it was spring break. Greggy rode on his Daddy's shoulders due to the crowd. All of my boys were really amazed and interested in each of the animals that we saw.

There were many different types of sharks, fish, rays, star fish, and other aquatic life. The tanks were huge, and even with the crowd we were still able to see and experience much!




On Saturday, we attended the Braves game! It was my first time to visit Turner Stadium, and they had all sorts of things going on. The day was pleasant. If only the Braves could have played better.

What did my boys care about most?
Their foam fingers, of course!

On the way back, my Greggy fell asleep with his souvenirs.

We had a great time!

Spring Is Here

The Duplo blocks that Ronda sent home with us were

a big hit this week too! I love my John Isaac!

He has such a wonderful imagination.

On Tuesday, I took a few pictures of my niece, Olivia.

In the midst of her mini-session, she needed cuddles

from her momma. I love pictures like this one!

Sarah Beth, my dear friend, came over this week to discuss Thousand Hills business, and she took my photograph while she was here. Later in the evening, we met with a couple which will be getting married in August.

The reading curriculum I have chosen for the big boys came in last week. I have been reading through it as well as another book written about classical education. Friday was the date by which we were supposed to register the boys at Heritage for next year if we decided against homeschooling. We have officially made the decision to school at home for kindergarten.

Now, I have to get the boys registered at CC.

On Saturday, Gigi and Pop came to our house for lunch. Afterward, they played outside with the boys. To say that Greggy loves to swing would be a SERIOUS understatement! John Isaac, picked "flowers" for his momma while Jeffery and Pop played ball.

Later that afternoon, I took the boys to Yellow Creek Park to take some spring pictures. We stayed just a little while, and I was able to take some fun photos. One of them is posted with the heading for this blog.

I always love photos of my boys with their Daddy!

During Sunday School my boys made signs which read, "God is GREAT!" Greggy was so sad that he did not have a sign like the big boys, so Jeffery, very sweetly, handed Greggy his sign to play with. Overwhelmed with pride and joy at this kind act of big-brotherness, I decided that I would make Jeffery a sign. He has been asking me how to spell every word under the sun for about three weeks, and he REALLY likes street signs. I made him a STOP/GO sign so that he would have his own street sign.

That one is super-sweet sometimes!