School's Out For Summer!

Wow! What a busy last few weeks of school we had!
First was the kids awards program at school,
Christopher had the 3rd highest GPA in his class! Whoop!

He also got awards for Straight A Honor Roll, and for having Diligence as an outstanding character trait, as well as perfect attendance.

Makayla got awards for perfect attendance, B Honor Roll and having responsibility as an outstanding character trait.

We are really blessed by our smarties!

 

 

We took lots of field trips the last few weeks of school including going to the movies to see Epic, going bowling, going to Wildcat Bluff Nature Center

                          Going to Paramount's game room for Makayla's end of the year party

He totally reaps the benefits of having to tag-a-long!

 

We celebrated Christopher's summer birthday with his class.

 

 

 

There were end of the year gifts to make..

"We hope you have S'more and S'more fun this summer"


 

Makayla had her end of the year dance recital at Amarillo Little Theater, the theme was "Disco Fever"

 

 

Have I mentioned in the middle of all this there was a stormy night that involved me waking the kids out of a dead sleep and driving to the tornado shelter?! That storm produced this hail!! It was a crazy night but we were just thankful to be safe.

 

School got out for summer vacation yesterday afternoon and it was bittersweet. We have been so blessed these last few months with the teachers and staff at Vista Academy. They really helped our kids adjust quickly. Our kids made friends fast and really love it. We were blessed with two wonderful teachers. Makayla's teacher wrote a note to her class saying one thing each kid had taught her this year and beside Makayla's name was written "taught me to acknowledge my own flaws before blaming others"     Talk about cry! First, I am so proud of our daughter and that at 11 years old she taught a grown up this wonderful lesson. Second, because her teacher took the time to write all this out and we are very excited that she is moving up with the kids next year to teach 6th grade!

How did we celebrate the start of summer?? With summer haircuts of course!

Yes, this haircut rocks!!


 

and dinner with my dad for his 66th birthday

 

We are looking forward to all the trips and fun things we have scheduled this summer. We will be having a blast and making some memories!

 

Our weekend in Dallas

Last weekend we took a trip to Dallas. Our first stop was to pick up James' Uncle Dave and then when in Arlington we always eat at In N Out Burger!

Next stop was one of our favorite places on Earth, Rangers Ballpark!

We had a blast! The game was good with the Rangers taking the win of course! The kids were so good, this was the first game we've taken them to that we have been able to stay for the entire game and enjoy it. The weather was also so nice.

The next day we went to The Ft. Worth Zoo. This zoo is awesome!! I would highly recommend anyone going!

James and the boys went into the aviary and fed the birds.

Ridin' in style!

They had a pretty cool touch tank for the kids.

Christopher climbed to the very top of the rock wall and rang the bell!

It was such a fun weekend, it is always nice to get away, have some fun, watch some baseball and make new memories together.

New Family Pictures

I really have not blogged alot this year because I could not stand to look at the pictures that were on my blog. I was just so unhappy with the way my former self looked. I am so not the same person those pictures reflected. So when James asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day I told him family pictures!!
  Our sweet friends Chris and Tiffany Pirtle are amazing photographers and I am so in love with the outcome, I will share just a few of my favorites.
Thank you to Mary, from Bright Sunshine Designs for updating my blog!

Teacher and Staff Week

Last week was Staff Appreciation Week at the kids school. I love the idea of it not being just about the teachers but everyone who works with our kids on a daily basis.

Monday- For a very POPular teacher!

Tuesday-Thank you for helping me "Polish" my skills!

Wednesday- Thank you for being a Scent-"Sational" Teacher! James Henry took these for his Wednesday night teachers at church as well.

Thursday-I'm doing FLIPS that you are my teacher!

On Friday we sent a gift for the ladies in the office and the Principal along with our teachers.
We're NUTS about our teacher, staff, Principal etc.

I love Appreciation week, what a great time to show someone you are thankful for the hard work and time they invest.

 

 

 

 

Christopher's musical

This semester at church our children's ministry has been working on a musical. It was called "Jonah's Druther's" It was a cute western spin on a classic bible story. The kids worked so hard for months, they practiced every Wednesday night, we listened to the CD in our van for months and practiced the dance moves on DVD in our living room.
     They performed it in both services on Sunday. They did an amazing job!! I loved hearing everyone laugh at the funny parts and I did tear up at one point in the play. It's funny how a children's musical can move you. Our preacher mentioned the verse, Isaiah 11:6  (NIV)

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling^[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.

     This verse is so true, we can learn so much through our children. We are blessed by our church and the many opportunities it gives our children to grow in their faith and we are so very thankful for the sponsors and ministers that dedicate their time and resources to breath Jesus into our children's lives.

 

Adoption Progress

Whew! These last few months have been super busy! Since February we have:
-told our friends and family about the adoption
-Submitted our first round of mounds and mounds of paperwork
-James and I had our FBI background check
-all 5 of us had a TB test and medical screenings
-we submitted all of our references and our pastoral letter
-we had our fire inspection
-we had our environmental health inspection
-took a day long adoption training
-I renewed my CPR and First Aid certification
-completed more paperwork
-completed some on-line adoption training
-Last but not least we crossed off our final item on Friday, we completed our home study!!!

The last few months have been a whirlwind but we got alot done in a short amount of time and as of Friday we are officially "waiting"! We are waiting to be matched with a sweet girl who will be our daughter. There is no estimate on a wait time it could be next week or it could be a year and we are ok with that because we know it is all God's timing.

We are thrilled that we are at this point and trusting in God for his timing and provision for us to meet our daughter.