Our summer in pictures!

We LOVE the weather here in the summer! We are always comparing the weather on our phone app to the weather in Texas.
We moved this summer , which is getting a little bit old for the kids since we have done this 2 summers in a row.

Anyway, because we are inside so much in the winter, it is always our goal to be outside as much as we can.

We had a membership at a pool that many of our friends go to, we loved it!!

We also have beaches 15 min from our house and we love going there as a family, when we can.

These are some of our fun memories from summer 2011!

New house!

It was a very interesting process to house hunt in Illinois.Houses here are very different from houses in Texas!!!
Here is why:
They love their siding-blah
Almost no one has a fence-kinda weird
So many houses look exactly alike
Their taste in finishes is opposite of mine- light wood vs dark, etc.

Anyway- the upside is they almost all have BASEMENTS!
How did I survive all these years with all these kids without a basement! We love our basement!!!!

Our one tip would be- make sure it is finished. Our unfinished basement in the rent house was scary and dark ! I think we were all afraid to go down their.


So we looked for about a month and found one house, really cute, great character, not quite as big as we had hoped. We put an offer in , they would not come off the price. Hello! you need to be ready to come off your price if you are selling your house! It is the reality today!!

We were done with negotiations. Needless to say, God is Awesome! Later that week in another area we found the perfect house!

We were looking for a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom house. We found a 6 bedroom house with 4 bathrooms. The basement is totally finished . The basement includes a huge bedroom for the big boys a beautiful bathroom. I have a workout area and a scrapbook room as well as a HUGE crawl space and a fun Entertainment room. We have also made the 5th bedroom a school room! We are so excited to have this house! We know the Lord provided this for us and we are so thankful.

WOW, I STILL HAVE A BLOG!

It has been sooo long and sooo much has happened in our family in the last few months! For starters our baby girl's adoption was finalized this summer. We had a small gathering of family and friends to celebrate all that the Lord has done ! It is always such an emotional day to hear the adoption is finalized! In her case it was bitter sweet for her parents who we care about , knowing the huge loss they will be facing. She is such a precious joy! I am speechless at the thought of getting to have her as my daughter.

Visit with birthparents!

This is not your typical first meeting with the birthparents! We originally were with an agency where the birthmom picks you from a scrapbook. So our first meeting with her would be totally different. Because I have been talking and praying for this couple for several months it makes it all very unique! So here we are on the way to meet them, a director from our ministry (safe families) drove Susie and I to meet them, she facilitated the meeting. We met at a McDonalds close to where they are staying. It was a great meeting! They are very sweet and funny, they love Susie!
We had a great visit. I shared with them that Matt's mom passed away when Grace was a baby and we decided then that if we ever had another girl we would use the name Kay in her name.Well, four boys later we got another girl. Her name Susan was given to her to honor her birthdads mother who had passed away and so we will name her Susan Kay Steele and call her Susie Kay!

We talked about things they wanted and did not want for her. It was strange yet normal.We had a good hug at the end of our visit. We all knew the next time we would be in the same place it would be for court, for them to relinquish rights. Their is a weird mix of emotions, hard to not be sad for this mama and yet so exited for us and so happy for the baby and for her future to be secure.

Please pray for this sweet couple as this is and will be difficult for them for a long time!!!

Possibly getting to adopt again!

Well, the beautiful girl in the last post is our little Susie! We adore her ! She likes us pretty good too! We have also been able to get to know her parents through phone calls. Things are difficult for them and they are making some very hard decisions. They called and asked if we would adopt her. I have never had anyone ask me that on the phone or actually in person either. It was a very surreal moment. Here is this child who I love and adore. She has transitioned into my home so effortlessly. She is not only darling but a really easy baby and she even kinda looks like Patrick.

Anyway, back to the phone call, so here is the other side of this , I care deeply for her mama. She is very sweet!
We talk all the time, sometimes several times a day, we text each other funny things! So my heart was both excited and deeply saddened to hear the question. I am a mom and I love my kids too. I cannot imagine making that selfless sacrifice for my kids, I hope I would do the same if I needed too.
We said yes! Things could move quickly from here on out. I am going to my first meeting with them on Wednesday, 2 days! I have never met any of my kids birth moms. I of course would love to sit and have a conversation with them and learn about their personalities. Me being the curious person that I am, I would like to just watch their mannerisms . Do my kids have any funny trait's that come from their birthmom? Do they look like her? Did she have dreams for her child? Are there things she wanted them to do in life or things she wished they could see?

How amazing to get to know my baby girls parents, I already know so much about them and I cannot wait to continue to have a relationship with them. I will hopefully get pictures from her birth until now. I will get to know all the details of her birth. I have already talked with her mama about her dreams for her daughter. It is a strange position to be in, it is a strange conversation to have. I feel blessed that the Lord has worked these things out for baby Susie for her future and her life.

This will not be an easy road for anyone, yet, everyone involved believes this is the best thing for baby Susie!
I know the people who read this are my family and some of my closest friends, please continue to pray for this situation and lift up her birth parents and the details of this adoption.

First and second placement with safe families!

Well, we had a precious child here for about a week. She was a beautiful baby girl!We feel so blessed to be involved with such an amazing organization!

Here is what I have decided, even if a child does not get to stay in our home for a long period of time, we have to believe that the Lord had them here for a reason. Now that we know their name, we can continue to pray for the Lord to work in their heart.

On the day the baby left , we had another little one yr old girl come to our home. Here is the thing, there are so many needs right now!!!Our group has days when they need to place 9 kids sometimes more.

We still have the one year old little sweetie here! We have loved having a little girl in our home. She is a joy and a blessing and we will care for her for as long as we need to.

The kids adore her and my little boys are so cute and careful with her. John Matthew is always trying to make her laugh and they have become big buddies.

We have decided for the dynamic of our family a girl works best with our two boys so close in age. They are just different with a girl.

It is so fun to have pink hair bows and little girl shoes, I forgot how cute they make all little girl clothes! I cannot resist buying cute things for her!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I love Christmas time , I love decorating, I love the traditions we have , I love the parties,I love baking,I love giving, cause I am a present girl .Overall , I just love celebrating who Jesus is and what He did and does for us! It is one of my favorite times of the year.
I am always sad to take the Christmas decor down!

I love to spend this time to reflect back on our year and pray about the coming year.
I would never of guessed this time last year I would have moved to another state.
I would have thought I would have adopted a little girl by now.
I spent most of the year on a strict diet and I would never have thought I would be the size I am now!
I love being a follower of the Lord , life is an exciting ride, full of adventure!

Looking ahead to 2011, we will be involved with an organization called safe families. Hopefully, get to help some families out.
Would love to have another daughter this year.
Get direction from Matts company as to where the next stop for us will be.
Basically, sit back and see what He has planned for us. Fun to wait and see.