Jon went with a group of 16 other people this weekend to help with the recovery in Joplin, MO. They got there at 1am this morning and they got to work early this morning. He said it looked like a bomb went off in the 70 mile stretch! Definitely overwhelming at times because there's just so much to do and where do you even begin. They will probably only finish 2 houses in 2 days! Houses and big schools just totally flattened by this tornado! He said a big brick churches was totally demolished except for the cross still standing. Toys scattered, cars flipped upside down, huge trees uprooted! It's been easy for me not to think about what was still going on there, until I got a firsthand account of the devastation with pictures! I can't imagine what they're going through trying to rebuild their lives, and many who have lost loved ones. Jon texted these pics to me today and he said these don't even really show the mass destruction! It's just so sad...
Really,....where do you even begin with this?! |
Ok.....I have to say, I've been having a really hard time thinking that I still have 6 months or longer before I get to see and hold my baby girl. Don't get me wrong, it's been a long, hard wait from the beginning, but now that I've studied and dissected every detail of the 2 pictures I have of her daily...well, maybe multiple times a day;)....I have grown more and more in love with her and I want her NOW!! I want more!! I want more pictures, updates, confirmation that she's being kissed and loved on. I want to hear little details about her personality. Details about her daily routine. I want to know little things like if she has a nickname. Is she a good eater? Is she shy, outgoing, sensitive..?? So many questions I want to answered! I pray every single day that she has a caretaker that has shown favor to her and treats her special. I hope that person spends more time with her, and gives her extra kisses and hugs to let her know that she's special. I hope she's truly loved by someone that's with her right now! It's so frustrating to not know these little things that I knew about my boys from day 1! She's going to get so tired of all the mushy kisses she gets from us, so I hope she's at least getting a few from somebody now! I've been doing research on her orphanage and I can't find a whole lot of information on it. Makes me a little nervous, because I want to know more about where she is right now. I want to see pictures from other people who have been there, so I can get a little glimpse of what she sees everyday. I'd take any bit of information I can get at this point! Please pray that I can quit feeling so anxious and relax knowing that God is fully in control. Also, please pray that we get our I-800 approval back soon so we can send in our dossier. It should take about 5-6 months from our dossier approval. I just want our sweet girl here with us for Christmas this year. What a gift that would be!!
Ok, so I chickened out with the tackle football for both boys this year! First of all, I really felt like 1st grade is just way too young! 4th grade is probably fine, but I kept having visions of Ben getting slammed by some monstrous country boy who's been playing his whole life, and Ben getting really hurt, so I'm going to put them both in flag for one more year! If Ben wants to play tackle next year, I'd probably feel better about it then. Neither one of them are happy with me, but gotta go with my gut on this one!
Hanging with Roux....he's got a hard life! |
Friday night fun....Reed's latest lego creation.. |
I introduced the kids to "Annie" the other night and they loved it as much as I did as a kid! I haven't seen it since I was probably 8, but somehow I remembered every single word! They were just a little