October bouquet

Another reason I love living in Tennessee: flowers in October, on my Dad's birthday.

Fall Break

Nolan has been on fall break this week. Thomas also declared he was on fall break, so he stayed home with big brother instead of going to preschool on Tuesday & Thursday. It has been a lot of fun having them home- we needed a break. Last Saturday we camped at Camp for Christ with our Life Group--all 56 of us! It was great...well...most of it (1 small vomiting episode during the night wasn't so great). We roasted marshmallows, went on a hayride, worshipped together & relaxed. The kids were treated to a horse buggy ride by Dasher. On Sunday we went to the Pumpkin Patch with Jay & Callie & Aunt Lana which is a fall tradition.



Tuesday David & Bopa had a small "incident" involving David's truck, a stump, a trailer and a tractor. No one was hurt, and it's just a truck, and trucks can be fixed.

Yesterday we went to Raccoon Mountain Caverns and then to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga. This morning we got up and headed to Stone Door in the Sequatchie Valley. It was a perfect day for a hike. The weather was cool, the sun was out and the trees are turning.

The boys had a ball- they ran ahead of us most of the way. T was a troll under a bridge at one point. We had beautiful scenery and enjoyed a snack off the beaten path. T decided he would like us to build a campground near the trail and seemed to have most of the details mapped out. Tonight before bed he asked when we could get started building it. Here he is in his favorite spot.

We had the best time over the past two days. We generally really enjoy each other's company, but some days are extra special. Everyone was in a good mood, things went our way, the weather cooperated, we laughed easily. I know these kinds of days are good gifts from our Father and I am so very thankful. Sometimes I am still surprised at how much God has blessed my life. I haven't earned one single thing and certainly don't deserve these two beautiful precious boys and my kind-hearted, strong husband, yet he shows me over and over how much he loves me.

leaf race

Better than I thought...

On Tuesday we found out our dossier had been presented to IHNFA, along with four others from MLJ, last week. It makes me feel so good to know others are right there with us, going down the same path to grow their families. We are pretty certain we will have to at least update our psych evals as they were short (4 pages versus 9 that others have resubmitted). We have been advised to just wait & see what we are told as it most likely depends on the person reviewing our report.

One step closer.

No News

Good news: our dossier has been translated. Bad news: woman in charge of dossiers is on week #2 of her 3 week vacation...so we wait. So I think good news + bad news = week #6 of no news.