Park pictures

To take my mind off of things this morning I took the kids to the park for pictures.  Here are a few.

Complications and Concerns

Our social worker in CO met with the CO judge this morning.  The judge was not happy with several areas of how our adoption worked out (Utah laws and Utah agency issues).  The most significant issue is that the birth father was never actually contacted before we adopted Blake.  The Utah agency made an attempt to find the father, but because he was never actually found there is a slim chance he could turn up eventually and, in a federal court, gain custody of Blake.  We either need to find the birth father and finalize here in CO meeting CO requirements, or we can go to Utah and finalize there.  Unfortunately, if we finalize in Utah with out ever finding the birth father there is the risk he could show up some day.  We are praying and seeking wisdom at this time to decide what would be the best course for us to take.  Needless to say, this is unexpected and has us very concerned.

Finalization drama

Our Colorado social worker just let us know that it would be wise to go ahead and pull out of trying to finalize here and get a lawyer in Utah.  To finalize in Colorado at this point we would need to locate the birth father and have him sign paperwork.  The Utah agency and birth mother already tried to find the birth father and were unable so our agency here is recommending that we simply finalize in Utah since they do not require birth father paperwork.  We do not know what all will be involved in finding a lawyer and getting a court date.  It may take a while to get everything pulled together, we will hopefully have more  details soon.

Kids with camera

Lana and Bryant took all the above pictures.  They do a really great job with the focus and centering, I did not touch them up at all.  Below is a picture I took of my boys, I just had to include some of the silly faces!

The Three Musketeers

We were reading 'Mickey Mouse in the Three Musketeers' to the kids one day and enjoyed hearing (over dinner that night) all the ways three children could misquote 'All for one and one for all'.  Here are a few examples.

'All for one and one for me'

'One for all and one for two'

'All for all and all for two'

'All for one and one for you'

Girlies on the 4th

Prayer for finalization of Blake

Looks like we may have some more challenges ahead before we finalize our adoption with Blake.  The judge who normally works with local families here in Colorado has recently retired and the new judge does not like or approve Utah laws and will not sign off on our finalization.  He has agreed to talk with some other judges before he makes a definitive decision.  If he does not agree to finalize then we will need to hire a lawyer and finalize in Utah (do I see a possible family road trip in the near future?!).  Our prayer is that the judge would be convinced to finalize the adoption here in Colorado, but if that is not in God's plans then we would ask that we would be able to travel to Utah and complete this process quickly and easily.  We have a week or two before the judge will make a final decision.

Great visit

Grandma and Grandpa are visiting this week and we are all having a wonderful time.  Today we went for a hike and then played outside in the water.  Here are some pictures.

 

 

 

Busy little guy

Blake delights our hearts, what a sweet little guy (don't you just want to squeeze and kiss him?!).  He is now crawling EVERYWHERE and getting into EVERYTHING.  He does this with a smile and cheerful attitude even when being rerouted out of the kitchen or away from the TV.  His siblings adore him, I think he must be the most cuddled, kissed, squeezed, pampered baby ever.

One size fits two

Summer projects

Making curtains to cover Lana's open closet.

Making nylon butterflies to attatch to the curtains.

Painting in Kayla's room.

I am so excited to have a break from school so I can really dive in on some of these fun projects.

TIme to put up the gates again!

Lessons

I have wrestled a lot recently with feelings of failure as a mother and wife.  The endless duties of keeping up a home, the laundry, the dishes, the clutter.  The responsibility and effort required in homeschooling.  The huge job of training my children in the Lord and in Godly character.  I found myself falling short in every area.  After weeks of discouragement and hating my failure God brought me back to what I know to be true.  I am a sinner, I will always fall short, I will never run a perfect race in this life, and that is where God has me. My sin and failures bring me to my knees and remind me continually of my need of a Savior.  I also was reminded, through some dear friends, that my identity is no longer tied up in my failures, that is not who I am.  In Christ I am a beloved child and a new creature in the process of sanctification.  What joy and happiness I am finding as I remember who God has made me to be and what a wonderful road he has placed me on.  I love my children, I love being home with them every day, I love being the one who teaches them, I love watching there eyes come alive as they understand a new concept in math or read a difficult word or roll over for the first time.  It is a joy and privilege to be right where I am, a sinner saved by grace, who has been blessed so far beyond what I deserve.

Weekend hike

Court date

We are now waiting for a court date to finalize Blake's adoption.  All the paper work has been submitted and now we are waiting on the courts to let us know when to come in.  We will answer a few questions before a judge with our  social worker present and then sign papers.  This is very exciting, we cannot wait to have all the legallities completed and have Blake officially be our baby.

Blake's blood update

We went to the hematologist last week and Blake's blood levels were all within normal ranges, such good news!  This means that we do not need to go back to the hematologist.  They are not concerned that Blake will have any other issues associated with the low blood levels that he has had.  We are so relieved to have this behind us and grateful that none of it was serious.

Mystery solved

They are mystery snail eggs.  For the record, when I first saw the eggs at the top of the fish tank, I had no idea what is was, and I almost lost my breakfast.  I hope I didn't totally gross out too many people.  Because the eggs still have not hatched (it takes 2-3 weeks after laying to hatch) we probably will not be inundated with hundreds of baby snails.   Lisa, I am impressed, you are obviously a fellow snail owner.

Take a guess, what is this?!

A. Insect larvae found in the shingles of the shed.

B.  Moldy food pulled from the back of the fridge.

C. Snail eggs on the ceiling of the fish tank.

D. Mutant fungus.

E. Alien life form.

Check me out, I'm eating real food!