Trick-Or-Treat

What a treat it was! We had our annual Trick-or-Treat get together this evening. Nate's sisters and their families come over, along with the Grandparents, and we go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, then we have dinner and hang out for a while. It's always a lot of fun.

This being Toby's first Trick-or-Treating with us, I wasn't sure what to expect!! He had so much fun. Here's a photo...
We also got some photos of the entire gang... Here is everyone but Drew before we left. Drew was at Basketball practice.

Here is the whole gang after. The last thing they wanted to do was get their photo taken. They wanted to tear into their candy.
All in all it was another fun family night. Everyone is now in bed, and it's my turn! This momma needs rest!!

Edited to add: Well, it's 2 AM and we've been up most of the night. I'm not sure if it was the excitement, if he's scared from some of the costumes, or if it's his cold, but he WILL NOT sleep. He was getting up every hour or so, but for the last hour, we've just been sitting here. Just now, Nate's snoring freaked him out and now he won't even go down the hallway. He's been asking for his shoes, which means he wants to go bye bye... not sure where he thinks we'll go at this hour!

God is Good

Toby's New Friend

This evening, Toby and I went to visit with a family that is staying at the ATI for a year. They are from Korea, and have a daughter, Minji, that is only a few months younger than Toby. While they played, I visited with her mom Youngsoon and her father (I feel terrible, I didn't get his name on paper). It was a wonderful time. Toby enjoyed playing with Minji, and "talking" with them. The man said Toby is certainly speaking Korean, but nothing "clear" or able to be understood.

They were able to read the letter that we received from Toby's foster mother. It was so special to hear some of what she wrote. She talked of how much she loved him, and how difficult it was to say good bye. She told me of his favorite foods, and his medical information. As they read through it, they kept saying "ah" and "oh". It was evident that she spoke of Toby fondly. I need to write her a letter in return, letting her know how much I appreciate the love she gave him, and how amazing he has turned out because of her sacrifice as his Foster Mother.

I'm looking forward to our next playdate!! As we left, Minji wanted to leave with us, and Toby gave everyone kisses and hugs! I think he had fun!

God is Good!

Drew is SIX!!

Time sure does fly! It feels like only yesterday we were living in Minnesota and my belly was as big as a house! Now, six years later, Drew is such a fine young man!

We had his party on his birthday (10/18) at a Pumpkin patch! It was so much fun! We had beautiful weather and he had several of his new friends from his kindergarten class. I think everyone had a wonderful time! Here are some photos!

Drew and mommy went to a Relient K/Swithfoot concert for his birthday

Here is Drew giving his friend Skyler Bunny ears

And Drew playing with his buddy Nathan

The group at Drew's party

Drew opening his presents

Toby and his cousin Dawson at the party!

Toby also had a big week! The kids were off school on Friday, so I took Toby in to get his bloodwork done that the pediatrician had requested to determine immunization levels, etc. Well after an hour and a half and about 7 or 8 pokes, they gave up. I think they got about a half vial of blood! Let's just say it WAS NOT fun for either of us! He did conk out as soon as we got home and took a 2 hour nap! Let's pray they can run all the tests on what little blood they have!

God is good!

Speech Evaluation

Well, Toby had his speech evaluation today and they have decided that he does qualify for some speech therapy. I'm thankful for that. While he is doing well, he still gets very frustrated with me when I don't understand what he wants/needs. It breaks my heart. I am glad that we will be able to work on this.

God is Good!

Family Pictures!!!

We finally had good weather, and got our family photos taken yesterday!! It was a lot of fun.

Here is the link to the website Select Mills file, click on ENTER GALLERY, and our password is "pumpkin".

Enjoy! I'd love to hear which are your favorites! I have no idea how we will ever choose!!

Update on Surgery

Everything went very well!! We are home, about 4 hours post op and Toby is eating.

I know some of you want details, so here they are...

We arrived at Akron Children's at around 11:30 and they got us right in to get him changed and ready. We were in the surgical waiting room with many other families. What an overwhelming experience. We thank God every day for our blessings, but seeing some of these families, makes it really sink in. While we were fretting, worrying and just plain fearful about Toby's "MINOR" surgery, there were families waiting who were dealing with life changing surgeries. I overheard one mom be told, "it went great, only 8 more to go" and another be told "we are sending it of to pathology, I think we got it all" WOW! Circumcision doesn't look so bad anymore.

While we waited, we were visited by many people, all trying to make Toby's visit and experience as smooth as possible. They brought out "the mask" and let him play with it. They let him play with the "silly hats and masks" etc. At about 1:00, people were coming in a steady stream to check on him, until finally the last one asked to take him. He went pretty well, a few tears on his part and they were down the hall.

It was only about 45 minutes later that the doctor came back and said everything went well. And about 20 minutes after that we were able to go back to recovery with him. He was not happy, and they gave him some pain medicine. Mommy held him and we did our best to comfort him. We then went to stage two recovery where they took the IV out, which he was happy about and got him dressed and we left for home shortly thereafter.

He now sits next to me, flashing a smile every now and then, asking for cookies, and just plain old Toby. He is certainly in pain, and we will keep him medicated for the next several hours, but all in all, he is doing very well!

Thank you for the prayers! GOD IS GOOD!!

Surgery Tomorrow... Please pray

Just wanted to take a minute to mention that Toby's surgery is tomorrow. He will be at Akron Children's Hospital. It is an outpatient procedure and the surgery is scheduled for 1:30 PM. We will likely be home early evening if all goes well. I believe the surgery itself only takes about 15 minutes or so.

Please pray for the surgeon, for the hospital staff, for Toby to have peace and comfort. This is going to be traumatic for him. I haven't even taken him for his blood work for our pediatrician because he is so fearful of doctors and needles.

I appreciate your prayers, and I will post how we are doing tomorrow evening.

Thanks all!

God is Good!

An Amazing Evening

What a day! It started off with Satan really working on us, but God ended the day in a wonderful way!

Beginning yesterday, after our trip to the ranch, we were concerned that we were having car problems. There was a large amount of Antifreeze coming out of the van. I had the oil changed a few days before, and we now believe they over filled the Antifreeze. It continued to leak some antifreeze this morning, but Praise God, we believe there are no major problems.

This morning, on the way to church, Toby became sick. I was in charge of breakfast for our ABF, so I had to go, so we turned around, dropped daddy and Toby off at home and headed off for church.

After church, Taylor had a soccer game. We ran home just to check on the boys and allow her to get changed. The boys were doing okay, so Taylor and I headed out for her game. It was 90 degrees here today! What a hot day to be sitting out at a soccer game, let alone playing in one. They girls did wonderful though. They lost 3-0, but the played their hearts out! I was impressed. I know I couldn't have played like that in this heat.

Well, the big event of the weekend was a trip to Akron to see Steven Curtis Chapman in concert. Let me give a little history... It was in April of 2005 that we attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in Columbus. He challenged everyone regarding adoption, and of course played his amazing song "When Love Takes You In". (Check out the link to the right of Toby's Journey video, featuring this song!) It was on the way home from that concert that Nate and I agreed, God was calling us to adopt, and we began the process shortly thereafter. We would later find that when we attended that concert, it was only two weeks after Toby's birth. God had it all planned! AMAZING!!

Well, Steven Curtis Chapman has also started the Shaohannah's Hope organization. They assist with grants for adoption expenses. We were blessed beyond words to receive a grant from this organization in the few weeks before Toby came home. Words can never express our gratitude to Steven Curtis Chapman and his family for their courage and generosity in starting this organization and helping so many bring their children home. A grant was awarded at the concert to a family waiting to bring their 6 year old daughter home! Praise God!

Well, we were also blessed to be able to thank Steven Curtis Chapman in person. His wife MaryBeth also stopped in and we were able to say hello to her as well. Here is a group photo... (be kind... remember it was 90 degrees today not good for the hair!)

And while I'm posting, I'll add a few from the concert...
One of Steven Curtis Chapman during the concert...
Here is Taylor with one of her favorite artists, Bethany Dillon

A day at the Ranch

Well, today we took a trip down to Amish Country and went to the Rolling Ridge Ranch. It was SO MUCH FUN! We hadn't been there before. We went with Nate's sister and a few other families from church.

The ranch is designed where you take an hour ride in a covered horse drawn wagon through a ranch where animals are roaming freely. The animals will come right up to the wagon and feed from buckets that we have for them. We saw animals of all shapes and sizes, from all over the world.

Toby gave it two thumbs up! He kept eating the animal food, though. I'm not sure what that was all about, but he seemed to think it was his snack. He wasn't scared at all by the size of the animals. Taylor enjoyed "driving" the horse drawn wagon, and Drew and his cousin Braden got enjoyment from the "animal droppings" along the way! Boys will be boys!!

Here are some photos!

A Fresh Start

Okay, here we go again, with a New Blog. I'm thinking this one will not have as many pop up ads and will be easier to read for those of you that check in.

For those of you that are new, here is the link to our old Blog.

So right now, I'm just setting it up, but I will post more this weekend! We have a FUN weekend ahead of us! I don't want to ruin it for you, cause there will be lots of pictures!!!