Senior Pictures

November turned to winter in one week's time. Unfortunately, most of the leaves either blew off the trees or froze! We were hoping for beautiful senior pictures in the beautiful River Valley, and we were a bit heartbroken to miss the orange and red of the leaves. However, when we met our photographer, Erin was made comfortable very quickly and we can't WAIT to see the finished product. When someone has FUN taking pictures for 2 hours...there's got to be good things to come!

And from Instagram...

Our Treasure

One of Erin's favorite things...the stage! This weekend we enjoyed watching her be a gun-toting pirate in Treasure Island! It was a fun play, with sword and gun action, lots of chase scenes, and a big treasure at the end. LOVE our PIRATE. 

Woo Pig Sooie!

It's been a rough road for the HOGS, and we now have a loss record that will go in the books, but yesterday's game was slated to be our turnaround game. And it was! The game was at 7pm in Fayetteville. At one time the weather people predicted snow, but it turns out that it was only about 45 degrees at game time.

The best part of the game? Richard was offered a ticket by two different people. His dad, and his boss. Both tickets were free, and in the club section (which meant out of the weather completely). And Richard turned them both down.

Instead he stayed home and wrestled with the kids in the living room, raked and moved leaves from the front yard, cooked us lunch, cleaned out the dryer vents, and took Jordan to Erin's play at, you guessed it, 7pm.

This morning he left at 5am for a 4 day trip. Yesterday, he beat LSU here at home. Final score: HOGS 17, LSU 0, DAD 1.

Finally

Cameron came to us without his front 4 teeth. When asked where they are, he says, "The dentist took them." Ok, well, the case worker and adoption specialist could find no record of a dentist visit, or give us a name, but a lot of his other teeth are capped, so we can only guess that dental hygiene was not a part of his earlier life.

He also remembers that his caseworker picked him up from school and took him to the dentist on the day his teeth were pulled. I can't get over that. I think of that kind of being a traumatic day for a kid. 

The good news: he's been to the dentist since he's been here and the X-rays showed us his teeth were in there, and so we've been waiting for them to come down. And this week...we see a tooth! This should certainly help him pronouncing all the "th" sounds he's been working on! 

Transformed

I'll just say this, I would recommend Dr Vondran to anyone who needs orthodontics in the River Valley. From the first consulting appointment, from the sign in, reception area, and every assistant, it has been a great experience.  Yes, she just got them on, but this dentist has been nothing but personal, helpful and kind to Sheridan. She's hurting a bit, especially in the mornings, but she's got a great smile! 

A Moment in Time

I have so many thoughts about this picture I can't make them come out.

At any moment I could be completely flustered with any one of them, or needing hugs and face-to-face conversation with them.

I never saw myself as a mother of 6 children, but I am and this is EXACTLY what I want it to look like.

Glorious Unfolding

This is the FINAL ADOPTION UPDATE.

Our adoption was finalized on Thursday, November 6th at 8:40am, in the Pulaski County Court. We've been a family for awhile now, and this was simply the day we became "official." After several years of pursuing this day, this calling, we were not super crazy emotional, just relieved and thankful. The real miracle was that all the paperwork was signed, sealed and delivered where we were and on the right day!

It was such a joy to have Grandma and Grandpa there, of course, they've been there for the births of all our kids! Mimi and Gramps were there, and Rhea Lana too. What a room FULL of love for these children, for our family. Not everyone at the Juvenile Court building was there for adoptions, and we were the loudest group in the waiting room, for sure. But, you only get one ADOPTION day, and even I wasn't uptight with the noise or the size of our group.

We took in a little CFA after our court appearance, then went directly to the office of vital records for new birth certificates, with Richard and I listed as the parents, and their full names on them. The girls went back to school when we got home...imagine that they wanted to! Cameron opted to stay home with Grandma and Grandpa and got some good grandson attention while we processed the morning events.

I had been convicted in the last few weeks that this day  shouldn't be the best day of our kids lives. The day they are adopted by Jesus should be the best day of their lives. I am thankful that they both are so open to the wonders of creation and God's Word, and I pray that they want the hope of Jesus in their lives very soon. It's not enough that they are adopted here on earth, they MUST be adopted by Him as heirs in the eternal kingdom.