Viva Las Vegas

The 2nd big event of adoption week actually had zero to do with David's adoption! James and I always make sure we get away alone for our anniversary. Well, back in March we booked and paid for a trip to Las Vegas. We had no idea months later our court date would be the same week. It worked out well in the end since my mom was in town and that meant one more extra babysitter!

We flew out early Monday morning and went straight to our hotel when we landed. We stayed at the Monte Carlo, it was incredible and our room had a view of the strip.

 As soon as we got settled in we headed out to sight see. Vegas was on my bucket list and to finally be there and see the same sights you see on TV and movies all the time was awesome.

The New York New York is next door to the Monte Carlo

views of the strip

 One of the cool stores we stopped in that day was the M&M store, 4 stories of M&M madness!

 We took the monorail down to the Mandalay Bay and went in the shark reef. It was awesome.

these were our attempts to get a shark in the picture with us

We did a lot of exploring that day and souvenir shopping.

That evening we changed and headed down to see Blue Man Group!

 The show was amazing! It was an hour long energetic non stop party. It did not disappoint!

 After the show we walked down to Caesars Palace and had dinner at Bobby Flay's restaurant The Mesa Grill.

 It was good, but maybe a little fancy for us simple Texans.

 The views of the strip at night were breathtaking!

 I am so glad we stopped at the Bellagio and caught the fountain show! It was so cool!

 These are the views from our room at night.

So, lets be honest it was Vegas at the end of June and pretty much a million degrees even at night so after learning our lesson the first day we made a plan for the 2nd day.

We got up early and took a cab to eat breakfast at The Hash House A Go Go inside the Linq.

These are serious portions of food but they were good. Check out James' chicken and waffles!

 After breakfast we strolled the rest of the strip we didn't see the day before, while it was still "cool" in the morning.

 We stopped at the Venetian and shopped some and looked around.

 I loved that every hotel was different and unique but over the top!

just me and The Rock outside of the wax museum  

 We took a cab down to the Las Vegas sign, it was a must for me. Our trip would not have been complete without these pictures!

 By the time we took our pictures it was nice and hot outside.  We headed inside and played some slots. I put in $10.00 and won $80.00, that technically means I bet Vegas right?! Once James broke even we called it quits and cashed out. Our gambling experience in Veags total was probably an hour but it was fun to goof around and yell at the machines or cheer each other on!

We also went to The Hershey's store that day inside the New York New York.  

 Tuesday afternoon was spent poolside in the shade of our hotel and we even squeezed in a little nap!

 Tuesday night we had tickets to Cirque Du Soleil at the MGM Grand.

 If you ever get the chance to see a Cirque Du Soleil show, go!! It was worth every penny. There was so much to take in.

Yep, that is fire..it was part of the show and lucky us we sat in the 3rd row! 

 We were there the week before the big UFC fight so we had to snag this cool photo.

waiting for a cab outside the MGM Grand

After the show we went downtown to Fremont Street to see the light show. It was neat.

 We walked for a bit down there and checked out the sights and lights. There are some cool iconic signs downtown.

We checked out with the Monte Carlo owing us a $6.oo credit! Woo-Hoo!

We had a blast and I am sure we will go again. I am thankful James endures my love of travel and that we always make a point to celebrate our anniversary every year in a big way!

Till next time, Vegas!! 

Adoption Shower

June 27th was the start of "Adoption Week" for the Lis family. The precious ladies of our church threw David and I an adoption shower that afternoon.

Since our adoption was the week of 4th of July it was a patriotic/red, white and blue theme.

It was so awesome and perfect for us.

this cake was amazing!!

 David was the guest of honor and there was no shortage of attention being handed out.

Mrs. Melissa had him open his toys early so he wouldn't be bored!

 I am so glad Makayla was able to sit by my side and take part in her brother's shower.

Nonna sent a give via Amazon!

Grandma Dawn's gift

GG's handmade gift

gifts from Mrs. Anita

a handmade blanket from Mrs. Delores

the big white basket was FULL of gifts from the hostess'

David and Mrs. Kerra

loving on Grandma Dawn

These sweet ladies all blessed me and my family so much that day! They each mean so much to me and I thank God for each and every one of them.  I also can't forget all the ladies who couldn't make it that day but have sent David a gift. The thoughtfulness is overwhelming! 

David James Lis

The bible tells us that David's story started the day he was conceived. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13.

I am able to start David's story from last July which would have been about a month from his due date. James and I were driving home from Oklahoma City after celebrating our anniversary. We were just talking back and forth about the future. Our first foster placements had just left and I was preparing to have surgery so we were on a "break" from foster care but it was exciting for me to wonder what God's plans were.

I have girls names picked out just in case God ever decides to bless us with another girl and at that point last summer we were thinking of trying to foster and adopt a girl but I told James we should think about boy's names because we could possibly need one! I wanted a strong biblical one, and we started going through the popular ones, when we got to David, James stopped and said "I like David" " I love the story of David and I love my uncle Dave." That was pretty much the end of that conversation, we put the name David on our "just in case name list."

Fast forward a few weeks to our kitchen, I was doing well after surgery, school was getting ready to start and we were ready to foster again. We were talking about what would be best for our family and my brilliant and amazing husband said "Why don't we just leave it in God's hands. Let's be open to whatever child he has for us." That is exactly what we told our Buckner workers. The VERY NEXT DAY (August 22, 2014) our phone rang, there was a 10 day old baby boy in the NICU needing placement. James and I said "yes!" at the same time! Just a few minutes later it was a done deal, we were told we go to the hospital to hold him and visit with the NICU nurses. 

First, we had meet the teacher with the older kids then we needed to drop them off with grandparents plus there was the matter of not owning any baby supplies so we made a mad dash to Wal-Mart, put together the car seat and stroller in the parking lot and headed to meet this precious baby boy. 

We rang the NICU buzzer and his nurse came out to meet us, we had to scrub and gown and then she took us to his little room, it was directly across from the nurses station. It was there that we peeked into that bed and laid our eyes on the baby God had planned to be our son. I asked him to hold him and she placed him in my arms. He was so tiny and he smelled so good!! He smelled like vanilla, which turned out to be from that pacifier they gave him. 

August 22, 2014

Right after James took that picture, He told me this baby was going to stay with us forever. He just knew it. Our Buckner worker sat with us that evening, we had to take a NICU dismissal class, catch up on some of his care and do paperwork. She told us two other families had been passed on because they were foster only and CPS felt sure the baby would go toward adoption. We prayed for God's will to be done in his case and prepared ourselves to take home an infant for the first time in 6 and a half years!!!

leaving the hospital

           

Our sweet friend Kerra came that night with dinner and baby supplies! I am so thankful for that baby swing! James' mom and John bought the big kids home and met David that night as well.

We called him David from that first day and his middle name had to be James since all of the guys in our house have James somewhere in their name. It was a fitting name. He really had some giants to face those first few months and he conquered them all. 

He was an instant hit with Makayla, Christopher and James Henry! They love him and he loves them, he thinks they are all so funny! This was the morning after we bought him home and they held him for the first time.

It was pretty clear as early as September that his case would go to adoption. He had amazing people fighting for him to have a wonderful life. I am thankful that everyone on his case down to his lawyer ( yes he had his own) and the judge always kept his best interest first. By February his case moved to adoption and in May we met his adoption worker, Alisha and July 2, 2015 we finalized. Everyone involved told us how "easy" his case was and how quickly everything happened. It is very rare for a case to wrap up in less than a year and in less than 11 months he was adopted.  Do these legal circumstances make us lucky? No. Blessed, is what they make us. This was all God's plan from the day David was conceived.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.