Happy Father's Day!

"A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society."

-- Billy Graham

Happy Father's Day to all the father's out there! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful father who has shown me unconditional love and has taught me me so many important life lessons. The main lesson being that God should take priority in your life. I can remember when I was growing up, walking downstairs each morning to eat breakfast and my Dad would be sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bible. It didn't seem like much when I was younger, but it is funny how those things stick with you and truly make a lasting impression.

I am also blessed to have a great father-in-law who has been there for his family, is funny, generous and loves the Lord. He along with my mother-in-law raised a son who is such a loving and caring individual whom I am lucky enough to have married and who I know will make an amazing father.

I can't help but think that there is the possibility by Father's Day next year we may possibly have our son or daughter and the thought of that warms my heart.

We spent Father's Day weekend up in the mountains at Dean's parents land. My parents, my brother and his two little girls (his wife was out of town so she wasn't able to make it) joined us up there on Saturday for a day of digging and riding 4-wheelers. Dean's parents have mining claims and dig for smoky quartz and amazonite, so my nieces (ages 4 and 8) got to try their hand at mining. The girls had a blast learning about geology and just playing in the dirt! They even got to keep their finds and received a bag of all different minerals which they were thrilled about.





'L' is ready to get back into the hole to keep digging




'L' found a smoky!










'B' and 'L' digging for smokies. 'L' experiencing a bit of miner's crack!!






After spending the morning digging, everyone worked up an appetite for lunch. We grilled ribs and hamburgers and had a great time chatting and being entertained by the little ones and the remote control trucks!




Time for Father's Day Cards





After lunch we took the 4-wheeler's out for a spin...the girls had a blast!





John and his girls, Gramps in the background



'B' and Gramps






What a great weekend spent with family, Happy Father's Day!

Application in the Mail

We are HAPPPY to report that our application was mailed off on Saturday!  We can't believe that we are one step closer to bringing home our little one. 

As excited as we are for this step, our heart continues to break for the country of the DRC.  The country is unstable and there are millions of orphans and child soldiers.  This video documentary that the band Sum 41 put together gives you a glimpse into the war torn country.

Picture Time

As we are putting the final touches on our application part of what the agency requires is a picture of the couple and a picture of the exterior of their house.  It is hard if you don't have someone to take your picture, we were attempting to balance the camera on the bed of Dean's truck and setting the self-timer.  It is a lot harder than it sounds!  Case in point below:

After several attempts, we were saved when our neighboor, Rebecca came home and we asked her for her assistance.  Happily, our photo turned out fairly well.  Now to get the pictures printed so the application can go in the mail tomorrow!

God Answers Prayers!

It has been a challenging couple of weeks to say the least. We were being responsible adults getting a vehicle checked before we started the camping season to ensure that it was safe and sound before we embarked on our summer adventures.  The mechanic who worked on the truck made a $2600 mistake (on top of the $700 we paid for the powertrain check) by putting powersteering fluid in the brake line thereby ruining the entire brake system.  As we prepared for our annual Memorial Day camping trip we found out (luckily before we left) that the brake system was completely ruined and needed to be replaced.  $2600 later we finally made it up camping but not without many frustrations and tears for such a major financial set back in the adoption process.  Then this week we noticed a lump on Angel's (one of our yellow labs) leg and had to take her to the vet to get it checked out.  The vet said the lump is suspicious and had to do blood tests to determine if it is the BIG "C".  We are hoping and praying that it isn't but the cost for the tests and then the removal of the lump will be close to $1200-$1400.  Why does it seem that when it rains it pours?? 
We felt devastated by the financial set back, we had planned on submitting our adoption application this month and then in less than a week we were hit with almost $4000 in bills.  I was completely saddened, wondering why this would happen to us.  I could hardly drag myself out of bed yesterday afternoon, yet Dean stayed steadfast in his faith and trust in the Lord knowing that God has provided for us before and would continue again. 
Sunday morning, Dean's parents called and invited us to church and lunch with them.  We went and towards the end of lunch at a small Mexican resturant in Parker they helped make our dreams a reality.  Dean's parents asked a simple question, "How is the adoption process going?", this type of question just about brought me to tears due to the recent events.  We started to tell them that we have hit a few road blocks financially so we would have to put off pursing adoption for the next couple months.  As we started saying this his Mom and Dad presented us with a small, wrapped gift.  Dean urged me to open it, the small box was heavy and I tore the gold ribbon off of the silver, floral wrapping paper unwrapping a small box.  As I opened the small box there were 10 gold coins, each equating to 1 ounce of gold, worth a total of close to $16,000.  Tears flowed from our eyes as our dream of adoption was becoming a reality.  Our family had felt God touch their hearts on our desire for adoption and felt God lead them to help us make that dream a reality and help an orphan across the ocean have a forever family.  We are so blessed!! 
After lunch, we came home and completed our application we will be submitting the application to Little Miracles this week!!  Praise God for answering prayers.