My neglected blog :)

Well I'm back! Needless to say it has been an extremely busy week and not much time for blogging. I've been trying to read and stay caught up with everyone else and I have been praying for all of you!

We had a great time in Savannah! I didn't want to come back home :) I should say we ate our way through Savannah but we did a lot of walking too (I'm hoping the scales aren't too hard on me this week). We ate at The Lady & Sons and at Uncle Bubba's seafood as well as a little British restaurant. We did a lot of shopping and went on a tour. It was nice to getaway, just the two of us and enjoy some time together. It's hard to believe we have been married for 11 years now. When I think back at everything we've been through, from moving away from family, to Tommy's heart problems and then cardiac arrest, buying our first home, a job lay-off, moving back "home", and our infertility struggles and miscarriage, it's been a wild ride. But, I wouldn't change it for anything. When I look at where we started to where we are now, I wouldn't want it any other way. Sure I'd love to have a house full of kids but I know that God has us here for a reason. I know we've been put through the "test" more than once and God has always been there to pick us up and put the pieces back together. I also am reminded at how short life really is and can be taken from us at any moment. I am just so thankful; God truly has blessed us.

Work this week was crazy! The kids have been crazy and it's just a busy time of year. I'm glad we have a break coming soon! Thankfully this weekend we had no plans so I've been able to rest some (and do some more shopping)!

I'll be posting some pictures soon and some recipes that Pillsbury sent me that we tried out this week!

11 years ago today God blessed me with a great gift-a wonderful husband. We've been through a lot but I wouldn't change a thing!

We made it to Savannah this afternoon! We got here early so we decided to go exploring and check out Tybee island. We climbed the lighthouse. It is a little chilly but we are having a great time!

So excited!

Today is my last day of work for the week, yippee! Saturday is our anniversary and my wonderful husband is taking me on a little getaway to Savannah, GA. I love Paula Deen so we're going to check out her restaurant and of course we'll do some shopping. We're staying right in the middle of things in downtown Savannah. With everything that has happened over the past couple of months, I think this will be good for both of us. I love to travel so it doesn't take much to excite me :)

Tomorrow is my Dad's birthday so we'll be spending time with him tonight. Tommy bought him a new fishing pole at the charity auction/dinner we were at last week and I know he'll love it.

Today as I was walking down the hallway at school from lunch, one of the 6th grade lockers were open. I noticed on the inside of the door was a magnet that read, "Everything happens for a reason." So true, I guess I needed to see that today :)

If I can figure out how to blog from the i.phone, I'll try to post while we're away! I can't believe it's already been 11 years! (that doesn't mean I'm getting old, ha ha)

I need your help!

We received an email from our social worker today giving us a little bit of encouragement. She said they have had quite a few placements lately so that's good news. Hopefully we'll hear something soon.

I need your help though! The more I get into all of this, the more I see how many people hold fundraisers to help with their adoption costs. So, my questions....for those of you not doing this (even if you aren't adopting) what do you think about it? For those of you fundraising now, what do you think about it? What are some of the best ones to do? How did you get involved doing it?

We both have super supportive family and friends so I'm pretty sure most would back us. I guess I just wonder if people will question us for doing it.

I'd love to have your thoughts about it though.

Awesome testament!

I just finished typing this email but thought it would serve as an encouragement to some here.

You all know our dear friends in Florida, K&D. Many of you also know that they are in the waiting stages of adoption. They've had 2 failed adoptions and were chosen last weekend by another birthfamily. They were really nervous after the meeting on Saturday because the birthmom made several references to things and it happened to be some of the same things that one of the birthmoms from the failed adoptions had told them. We talked Saturday evening and I could tell K was really worried about jumping in again and taking the risk but she said there are always risks with adoptions, you either have to take it or get out. So they accepted and were waiting to hear ultrasound results from today.

She called this afternoon to tell me a little story. An older couple at their church had seen them after baby dedication in May and told them that they seemed sad. The lady told K that they wanted to pray for them. K was appreciative of this act from this lady. She said as time has passed, every time they see them, the lady tells her-we're still praying and we're praying that God will bless you double.

Well they found out today that the birthmother is pregnant with TWINS! A boy and a girl, due in January. My words fall inadequate when I say how in awe I am of this and how awesome our God is. Of course, nothing is final yet and I told them that we would be praying for them and I would ask all of you to pray as well. I told her to also tell the lady at their church to pray for us :)

Thanks for praying for them (and for us)!

Our God is awesome!

What a thrill!

What a thrill! Woohoo! We had so much fun today at the Paraclete SkyVenture. It really was quite a thrill! We had planned to do this in September for my best friend Ashley's birthday. They had to reschedule us because they were doing work on the tunnel. I really had no idea of what to expect. Tommy was uncertain he was going to do it because he has a huge fear of heights.

Ashley and I upon arrival :)

We were early so we got to go up and watch a group of guys from France; they are the "champions" with their tricks and movements. Some of their stuff was crazy to see but they made it look so easy!

Here's a shot of the main part of the wind tunnel; it goes up 60 feet from this point

While we were watching Tommy was a bit nervous not knowing if he was going to be able to do it. You actually go into the tunnel right through the door (towards the right side of the picture). You stand there and basically fall right into the air, it's not like you're dropping 60 feet and then stopping. Ashley and I finally pressured (ha ha) him into doing it. We then had to go for our instructional class so we'd know the hand signals and what to do with our bodies :)

Demonstrating proper technique

Then we were equipped and ready to go!

With the flight time we had today it was equivalent to skydiving from 13,000 feet and we did it twice. I actually didn't do bad. The instructor said we all did really well for our first time. He had to spin Tommy and Ashley to get them in the "spinning mode" but for some reason I just had this au natural spin. When we were finished, Tommy said, I want to do it again---he loved it! Actually, we all did. We have a video of it too, we weren't allowed to bring the cameras into the holding chamber for obvious reasons, and if we can get it uploaded, I'll post it for you to see.