The Spittles!

There was an article on our friends, the Spittles, in the paper this morning. It somewhat shares the story of their family and their pending adoptions. Hope you enjoy it!

The yard sale was a huge success! Scot and Kristin have decided to have a 1/2 price and bag sale next Friday to try to get rid of some of the stuff that's left. We sold A LOT of stuff over the last two days, and even though we don't have the official count yet - we know they made over $2000! YEAH!

Kristin promised she would post the final total on her blog.

Please Pray!!!

Our good friends, Scot and Kristin, are in the process of adopting two children from Ghana. They are anxiously awaiting the final referral and hope to have it in the next couple of days. This will be the news where they find out the names of the children they are going to bring home to be part of their family.

I'm asking you all to pray for them over the next week, especially. Starting tomorrow, there will be a fundraiser yard sale at our church. I heard that another couple of friends of ours are praying specifically that the sale raises $3,000 for them. Would you pray that too?

Next Sunday, August 3rd, they will be doing a special adoption service at our church. The Lord has really made Himself known to them through this adoption. It's neat to see their faith grow and how their walk with Him has changed. He has led them every step of the way, even though this was not something even on their radar last summer. I love watching other people have the faith to step out even though they don't really know what's going on. Having lived through it, you gain a whole new perspective on what other people are going through and can (hopefully) be a new kind of encouragement to them!

Scot and Kristin are some really great friends. She made the extra effort last year after having a baby to come to Adrian when Britney was gone for a fun weekend and get to know me a little. She was part of the Bible study I joined right after we moved. Scot is part of a group of guys that Britney has gotten to know and they meet for lunch every week.

Their family is amazing. And I am so thankful that we have been able to make friends like these. I'll keep you posted on how the sale goes. Thanks for praying with us!!

Oh yeah! Be sure to check out her blog - They're Ghana Come Home!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation (Part 2)

I know I'm a little late in getting this posted, and it probably won't be as detailed as part I, but better late than never :)

After a mini-vacation in St. Louis, we stayed the next week at Britney's parents'. it was a laid back, relaxing time and we spent time at the pool and playing and visiting with family.

At the end of the week, we left for south Georgia for a family reunion on my dad's side. My grandmother had only seen Carter once before and there were family members who had never met him. it had been way too long sine we had seen those family members! Aside from the heat and humidity (and gnats), it was a really nice visit.

We left from there to head down to Disney World!! We had a wonderful 3 days there with the kids, riding rides, waiting in line, eating, waiting in line, watching shows, waiting in line...You get the picture. Ashlyn rode the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios and both kids were more adventurous than I thought they would be. Ashlyn's favorite ride was the Kali River Rapids, which thanks to a generous person who gave us their fastpasses, she got to ride twice! I was smart and stayed off the ride the second time with Carter while Ashlyn rode with Britney and her uncle Mark. They got SOAKED! But she loved it and had a great time. Click here and here for pics at some different parks.

After the kids left, Britney and I got to stay a couple of extra days with some of my sisters. We had a great time with Melinda, Chad and Rebekah, who we never get to see or really spend much time with since we're always together at mom's with so many other people. It was nice to spend time with such great teenagers and a fun sister :)

We spent a couple of days back at my parents' before heading back home. It was a long trip, but a great trip. I think the one thing we were all looking forward to about coming home was sleeping in our own beds with our own pillows. But we are looking forward to going back at Christmas for a few days!

Strawberries!

The kids and I went strawberry picking with Britney's grandparents this morning. We went last year too, but only filled up two gallon-sized buckets, which totaled about 10 pounds. When I got home, I realized a good many of them were green because Carter picked anything that would come off of the stem. In reality, our 10 pounds were probably closer to 8 or 9 that we could actually eat, and they only lasted a few weeks.

So, this year we started out with conversations about what kind of strawberries Carter should pick - RED! I also gave each kid their own buckets, and I had 2 flat boxes that Britney's grandpa had given me. I was determined we were going to have a good time and I wasn't going to nag the kids too much about picking just the right berries. It was about the EXPERIENCE for them :)

The kids did great! Carter picked about 1/2 gallon bucket full and Ashlyn's was about 3/4 of the way full. Not too bad for kids picking on the hottest day of the year so far (a cool 88!). I was so proud of them!

I couldn't believe when I got to the check out and our berries weighed in at a whopping 30 pounds!!! So, I spent the afternoon washing, drying and hulling all those strawberries. It took me over 2 hours, but the strawberry shakes, pies, cakes, etc., will be oh so worth it!!!

Let the Renovations Begin!!

Until today, the "renovations" we've done on our house have really been more on the redecorating side of things. Except for the electrical upgrade, the only things we've done have been painting or removing paint :)

Today I started restoring the windows! Well, I actually just started removing the windows so that they can be restored, but still, it's a step in the right direction. One of the things Britney and I agreed on was no vinyl replacement windows. We still have the original windows, complete with wavy glass. I love them. Restoring the windows should not be that difficult - just time consuming. And considering we found out this week that we have to have the stucco on our house replaced, we're back to pinching pennies and doing the windows ourselves is one way we can do that. Also, considering it could cost us a small fortune to heat our house this winter (we use diesel fuel), we figured getting the windows in tip top shape couldn't hurt.

When we got the first window out, we discovered that our windows are double hung, but the top windows have been painted shut for who knows how long. We also found the weights inside the jambs, just where they should be. It looked like I was pulling small bombs out when I grabbed the weights and pulled. Those suckers were heavy!

Projects are therapy for me. So is shopping. But with the upcoming expenses, I figured this project was probably the safer way to go, and I'll still get to go shopping for the tools that I'll need :)

I'll keep you updated on my progress, complete with pictures of before and after.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation (Part 1)

Part one of our summer vacation is our stop in St. Louis, MO. We stayed with Britney's cousins, Tim & Tami, and had a great time. They have two kids - Brandon and Amber. I think Brandon is 14 and Amber is 12.

Despite Carter throwing up in their front yard as soon as we pulled into the driveway, they were great hosts. The kids took to Amber right away (Brandon was camping) and she showed them all of their pets. Ashlyn was doubly excited because they have a bunny. She has been asking for a bunny for over a year...

We got up on Saturday and went to the Gateway Arch. Ashlyn has asked to stop at the Arch every time we drive through St. Louis, which has been quite a few times over the last 3 years. We've never had time to do it before, but with all of the vacation Britney has this year, we decided to extend our trip a little and take the kids to see the Arch.

When we got there, Carter DID NOT want to go up to the top. I think the size of it was a little intimidating to him. But once we stopped talking about it and just took him inside to do it, he had a blast. So did Ashlyn. They were both enamored with how high up we were and how small the cars looked below. Even I have to admit it was amazing! It was a bit claustrophobic (especially the ride up) but I survived just fine :)

After the Arch, we headed over to the zoo. St. Louis has one of the most awesome zoos I've ever visited. I think the most exciting part to me was that it was FREE!!!! And since it was Saturday, it was crowded. And HOT! We walked through one section of the zoo and saw hyenas, fox, rhinos, hippos (they were the coolest!) and some other animals. After that, everyone was hot and tired so we headed back to the pool :)

Thanks, Tim, Tami, Brandon and Amber for opening your home to us and showing us a great time. You helped start our vacation out in a terrific way!

Sorry for the lack of pictures from the zoo and the pool. We mostly used the video camera for those and I'm too lazy right now to go get the camera and the cable to upload them :) Sorry - they'll come later, I'm sure!

Back To Normal

Our new fridge was delivered yesterday, so I'm sure you'll all sleep better knowing that the fish smell is completely gone and we have a wonderful new WORKING fridge in our kitchen. No more trips up and down the basement stairs 100 times a day! YAY!

I really will post about our trip in the next couple of days. It's just been a crazy week!