MIAA Champions!!!

What a fun (and tiring) week we have had attending all the Hope basketball games. We truly enjoy watching the teams play, particularly the women's team. Today, both teams ended up MIAA Champions! (This means potentially three more weeks of basketball games!) We attended the women's championship game this afternoon. Grace's friend, Carrie Snickers, asked Grace if she would like a picture with the championship trophy. How cool! She then gave both Joel and Grace a piece of the net that they cut down (a basketball championship tradition). The kids had a fun time passing out suckers we had made for the girls after the game. We are thankful that they have such great athletic teams to cheer for. GO HOPE!

It's official... Ana is a toddler.

It really hit me this week. In a matter of days, Ana has given up both her morning and night-time bottles, asked to wear "undies", and has begun to chatter non-stop. She is increasingly independent - and wants nothing of being fed or being assisted with ANYTHING. She still gives amazing hugs ("Mommy- huggy me!") and loves to snuggle (especially with her daddy), but the days of her being our baby are over. She is truly a little toddler and growing more and more independent each day. I am thankful that we really treasured those baby days with her because I never really imagined them being gone so fast. One of her new favorite things is to talk with one of her grandmas or her papa on the phone. This was a particularly funny time I happened to capture on video.

The Four Cousins

Today we spent a fun morning at the aquatic center with
Caden (3 years old). He is Joel, Grace, and Ana's only
cousin. Joel and Grace and Caden have a good time
playing together. Caden and Ana, however, have their
moments. Ana was quite hesitant to play for about the
first half hour and wanted me to hold her. (I, of course,
LOVED that! She has become SO independent lately.)
After she warmed up to the splashing and spraying water,
she enjoyed playing with the buckets.

A surprise in the mail...

On Tuesday evening as I was sorting through our mail I came upon an envelope from "All God's Children International" (the agency we used for Ana's adoption). We frequently get updates from them on their orphan care programs, so this particular envelope was not a surprise. What was inside, however, was. I opened the envelope to find two beautifully written letters from Ana's birthmom. The first was to Ana, and the second to us. Here are a few touching quotes...
"My dearest daughter, I love you in the love of Jesus and I want you to know that you are even more beautiful than before. I am very proud that you have learned about your new environment so quickly. Through the photos, I see that you are very happy with your family and that makes me very happy. Never forget that I love you..."
To us she wrote, "I hope all of your lives are blessed. A thousand thanks for caring for Ana and I know it is the greatest gift you could have given. I will not tire of thinking of you wonderful people..."
Needless to say, we were so grateful to have received these letters and touched by her words. The blessing of the journey continues.

(The photo above was taken at this year's Christmas party that our agency held for women who had given their babies up for adoption at Hannah's Hope Guatemala. Each year, women who have been served by AGCI come together for a time of reconnecting and fellowship. We believe this is one way our agency can keep track of how the birthmothers are doing and continue to provide them with assistance, if needed. This is Ana's birthmom and the woman who ran the "Promise of Life" program to assist women in crisis pregnancy situations. We are guessing that this is where she wrote the letters and gave them to someone from AGCI to send to us.) It is a precious gift to us, and to Ana, to know how very much her birthmother loves her.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope you all enjoyed a very special weekend!

Here are a few favorite photos from this past week...

Often on Saturdays, we enjoy eating lunch (okay, getting coffee) down at JPs', checking out a few of our favorite stores, and then heading to the Hope Women's basketball game. This week, all the girls were wearing pink jerseys as a fundraiser for cancer research. Grace's special friend, Kaitlyn, had a bouquet of Valentine suckers for her. She was thrilled!

Ana continues to be quite the chatterbox. She is obsessed with brushing her teeth (constantly), and loves to turn lights on and off. Yesterday she discovered the light in the refrigerator and she was delighted with herself!

Date Night!

Grace had been looking forward to this evening for several weeks. In her opinion, it was her first REAL date! She and Brian went to the Father-Daughter Dance at our church. What a very special evening for them. Grace could hardly stop talking when they returned home this evening. She wore her special party dress from Uncle Dan, the necklace I wore on our wedding day, one of my rings, and a special corsage from her Daddy. When I went in to give her one last goodnight kiss, she whispered, "Mom, it was everything I dreamed it would be like! There were even fountains and instead of shooting water, it was chocolate!"

Joel, Ana, and I went downtown to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. Joel brought his camera and asked some nice guy to take our "date night" picture, too. We all had a great evening!

This is now...

One of the things I like the best about Wednesdays is that it is one of the few days we don't have to rush around and "be somewhere" at a particular time. It seems that Wednesdays are a bit more relaxed for us, and I find myself actually having some spare moments to reflect on my life as a homeschooling mom, and life in general. Today, as we were finishing, Little House in the Big Woods, the main character was expressing her contentment with observing "now". Not planning for the next event, or reflecting on past experiences - simply being grateful for all that is happening right now. I often find myself trying to capture moments in each day, writing them down, so that I'll always remember them. Today, however, I found myself intentionally absorbing the "now" in each moment, and thanking God that I have the opportunity to experience them. Last night Grace lost the tooth she has been so desperately trying to get out, so she spent the day looking at the wide space in her mouth and playing with it. Ana continued to show her nurturing side by spending the entire morning feeding her babies, putting them to bed, and taking them on stroller rides. Between schoolwork and reading, Joel spent every spare moment with his furry friends (Webkinz), creating an entire neighborhood for them in the living room. All three of them have such different personalities and continually surprise me by the things they say and do. I am truly thankful that God has given me the privilege of being their mother.

Grace's 1st Ice Show

Grace so enjoyed participating with the figure skating club at the South Haven Ice Show. It was a pretty cold day with the wind, but all the excitement seemed to keep her warm enough. She was a bit nervous before each performance, but was relieved that she did not have any falls. The ice rink is an outdoor rink in the middle of the downtown area in South Haven. Between shows we walked around downtown and sampled all kinds of delicious chili for the Ice Festival chili contest. We also were able to see quite a few ice sculptures. After the second show, Joel and Grace had some time to skate together. Joel did a great job, despite having new hockey skates. It was a great weekend!