Candy Land

Star Wars style...

We're back!

We got back from Siguepateque yesterday evening, so happy to see my boys! My inlaws spoil us, not only did they watch the boys but they brought them back here so they would be here when we got home! AND all the boys clothes were washed and folded and we came home to some great BBQ. Thanks Oma and Grandad. Another thing...when we got back I had a voicemail from our case manager and our dossier was sent off while we were away - yay!! We are praying for a speedy referral so we can begin the next round of paperwork.

I have a little time this morning, the boys are at chucrh with Kurt. I am home with a stomach bug....better here than in Honduras! I am going to start on Monday of our trip as Sat and Sunday were "fun" days, getting to know the grounds of the seminary, going to church and having some fun doing the zip line at a park. I'll post those days at the end of the trip. On Monday we got up and ate breakfast, it was served at the seminary - we ate brekafast, lunch and dinner there. The food was great and there was always some fresh fruit which was also GREAT. That morning the guys went to the church to start the addition of a bathroom. Most of the women and children went to Isabella's house, a widow, and we painted most of the morning. The walls there soak up the paint so after one coat we began to paint again since we had time before lunch. Then Mark (our missionary friend who lives there, planned the trip for us etc) picked up Kurt, Braden and I to go back to the seminary to visit our Compassion child David. He and his mother (along with a few compassion reps) came all the way from Danli (about 3+ hours) so see us - we were thrilled! Braden and I were a mess - hands and jeans covered in paint! When we pulled up David immediately hugged us and introduced us to this mother. The interpreter was great, we all cleaned up and headed out to a local restaurant (we ate there on Sunday and knew it was close) and treated them to lunch. I'm not sure if they ever eat out, my guess is no....so that was a fun treat! They all picked desserts to go home with them. When we got back to the seminary the rest of our team was there having lunch and heading off to VBS at a local church. We stayed behind and visited a while longer. We were given some crafts from David that he worked hard on, it was very sweet. We also gave him a loaded backpack (pencils, paper, rulers, sharpeners, Uno game, lego set, an Aggie t-shirt etc) and a few other things. We gave his mom, Margarita (I was good about saying her name in Spanish as opposed to a Texan in a Mexican restaurant!) a loaded shopping bag with more necessities (towels, washclothes, cooking utensils and I did get her some nice lotion for herself). It was a wonderful visit and I am so thankful they made the trip to see us. It was amazing to finally meet him as we have known him through letters since he was 5 (now 13). Hopefully it won't be the last time we get to see him in person.
This is Isabella's house (the widow). This is considered pretty big in this area, it has 4 rooms (2 bedrooms, living area and small kitchen) and a bathroom with running water/electricity.

The guys are showing them how to sifting the sand/dirt properly. Once it's sifted they take the sand and mix it with cement and water to make mortar. They are tiling the porch outside. This is by far the nicest house we worked on the entire time we were there.

Braden and I, painting the kitchen

Braden and Hannah painting. The other little boy is David.

Isabella and her two oldest daughters were helping us paint. Isabella's husband helped to fabricate metal buildings for churches all over Honduras but he was murdered about a year and a half ago.

Kurt played soccer and basketball with David...Braden watched most of the time while I visited with Margarita and the Compassion ladies.

David Lopez - 13 years old.

All of us just before they left....such a special photo. I will be sending him a copy as well!

Honduras

We leave for Honduras tomorrow morning...I can't believe it's time to go already! We will be serving some families in need of roofs and floors. We will also be helping to run VBS, we're expecting anywhere from 40-60 children, yay! Blake and Truitt are with Oma and Grandad, I know they'll have a blast. The house is rather quiet as I type....strange. Braden has already said several times "I hope Truitt and Blake are having a fun time", so sweet - he's going to miss his brothers, especially Truitt. I will miss them too!

We went to the lake last weekend...got out the new tube

Our day together....we dropped the car off at the tire store and walked to Chucky Cheese for games and lunch. It was a nice afternoon. I had 2 pieces of pizza and the boys finished the rest!

i800 approval - check!

So we FINALLY got our government approval for our adoption. In about 2-3 weeks our papers will be off to China, yay!

Summer

Well it's hot....and the boys have been enjoying the pools. Someone in our neighborhood is getting a pool and as we drove by Braden said "Pools cost lots of dollars, huh?" I replied "Yes they do". He then said "if I dug pools I'd do yours for free Mom". Sweet boy :)


Blake in his "suit", this thing is a lifesaver...literally! Blake is fast and it's hard to keep an eye on 3 so I'm loving this outfit.

On to Second Grade

Braden had his "celebration of learning" event the last week of school. I went up to the school and watched their class read some poems and then each child got up and read a few things about their year. Sometimes Braden seems to care less if I participate (like when they had their horse race on rodeo day, I made a decked out cardboard felt horse. I asked him if he'd like me to come see him race he replied "you already saw my horse, you made it". Oooook then.) but I could tell he was glad I had come....and so was I!

Braden and Mrs.Watson

End of the year program

Truitt had his last day of preschool on Thursday, they do a little program and have a class party. His class did "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story. We used his halloween costume from 2 years back...a litle short in the legs but it worked good enough! Next year Truitt will leave Crosspoint and go to Treasure Cove. A little sad, we've been at CP for 5 years but Treasure Cove is closer to home, cheaper and right next door to the Y....need I say more?!

Truitt and Grandma

Truitt's teachers, Kirsty and Gaynel

Waiting....

I have been asked a lot lately "Where are ya'll in the adoption process?". So here's an update. We have completed all paperwork and we were fingerprinted about 4 weeks ago. Once our papers are approved by Homeland Security we will recieve our approval (we hope!). Our agency will process our dossier and send it off to China. We are ok with waiting, God is teaching us some things in our wait. In the mean time I think I'll manage to stay busy with these guys :)

Graduation

This past weekend we went to Dallas. My sister in law, Jillian, graduated from law school - we are so proud of her! We had a nice weekend with family. The photo below is right after graduation, the boys did real well at the ceremony...after they called her name Kurt took the boys outside to run around.

Saturday we had a picnic at the park...the boys found a tree to climb.

Blake with his auntie

On Saturday evening we took the boys and caught the free trolley. They live downtown and it was only a few blocks to the stop- they loved it! Truitt wanted to sit by himself.

Makes you think....

“You and I, we are the Church, no? We have to share with our people. Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing. Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me. Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little child, you receive me.” -Mother Teresa