ahh, pretty

The boys and I took a road trip last week (well, a 2 hour road trip, on our way home from visiting friends in Peoria). We stopped at Matthiessen State Park to scope out a good place to have a picnic. As we drove down the winding road that leads you through the park, we came to a clearing. A perfect green patch designated for flying RC airplanes. But the green patch is not what caught our eye. It was what was just beyond that green patch that demanded our attention. A sea of yellow, as far as the eye could see. Sunflowers. It was a breathtaking view. And I was glad I happen to have my camera to capture it.

Go ask your father

The other day Gavin, my 3 year old, asked me why God lets bad things happen. (I think he was concerned because of some stormy weather that had recently experienced.) Hmmm. How do you explain something to a 3 year old that is so hard for even us adults to understand sometimes. I tried to explain to him that while we live on earth sometimes bad things will happen. People will get sick, there will be storms, and there will be times when we feel sad. But, when we get to heaven everything will be happy and perfect and we will get to be with God.
This lead Gavin to another question; "how do we get to heaven?" (Did I mention that he is 3) "Ummm, well", I fumbled, "you have to believe in God and do the things he wants us to do. That's why we read the Bible. " He seemed satisfied with this simplified answer. But yet, another question: "Mom, can Joey (our beagle) believe in God? He wants to go to heaven with me."
"You can ask daddy when he gets home" ;)

I love summer

We just got back from spending a long weekend at Jeffrey's parent's house in South Haven, MI. They live just a few blocks from the shores of Lake Michigan. I love going up there for the 4th of July. The charming little shops, the main street and the soft sanded beaches are nice break from life in cookie cutter suburbia. Jeffrey and I also got to get away for an evening while we were there. Grandma and Grandpa Berry watched the boys while we went to a Switchfoot concert, which was awesome. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance.

The week before we spent some time in Missouri at my beloved Table Rock Lake with my family. It was another relaxing retreat, where all I had to do was exist ...... and cook and clean and take care of the boys. But all that didn't seem like such a chore when you are surrounded by family and have such an amazing view of the Ozarks. The boys loved every minute of it. Ryder has turned into quite a fisherman, catching 13 fish and a snake. Luckily he never actually reeled in the snake, it wiggled off the line every time he got it up out of the water. We all had a good time and got our fill of tubing, skiing and wake boarding.
I think we'll make this trip an every-other-year event.

Since my first post a lot of people have been asking me how things are going in the adoption process. There isn't much news to report. We will be having our first home study interview in the next 2-3 weeks. The home study will be a series of interviews and a gathering of documents and letters. In all, I'm guessing it will take about 2-3 months to complete. After that, I am not really sure how long we will have to wait to be "assigned" a child. I do know that things in Haiti do not always progress as they should, and that it will be a rocky road ahead. The wait to bring a child home can be more than 3 years, or as little as 12 months.
We'll just have to sit back and see what God has planned for us.

Here we go

So I'm new to this blogging thing. But I thought I should start one - kind of like a journal - to keep track of the things that are going on in our lives, and share them with family and friends, and whoever else has too much time on their hands. Most notably what I want to share is the journey we have just started on. International adoption.
We've only taken the first step on this journey - and that was to be approved by the adoption facilitator in Haiti, an organization called Children of the Promise. The next step will be the home study - which will take a few months due to the mountain of paperwork we'll have trudge through. Then, papers will be notarized, authenticated and finally sent off to Haiti; where we hope to adopt a baby girl.
So, "why adopt?", you ask. And "why from Haiti?" The simplest answer I can give you is that it is a calling. I know this is something God wants us to do. It is a mission. It is a responsibility. God has blessed my family so richly - freedom, education, jobs, house, food, family, friends, and the list goes on. We have to share these blessings.
Adoption was something I always knew we would do. But I never had a specific place in mind. Then a friend (you know who you are, Jerica) was talking to me about her mission trip to Haiti. That perked my interest. There is a great need there, and very little is being done to help. And as it turns out, Haiti is one of the less expensive (relatively speaking) places to adopt from.

So there you have it. I could go on, but you get the gist.

I imagine I'll have other things to post too. I do have those two adorable little boys, that from time to time say and do things that I think are hilarious - so I'll probably force that on you as well. And what's a blog with out pictures. Here's one just because.