Anonymous in Seattle

Okay, how many of us in the adoption world have daydreamed about this? You go to check the mail, you thumb through the pile of bills and useless junk, until suddenly, lo and behold! There is it! An anonymous check sent to you for the express purpose of covering adoption expenses!

You just can't tell me you've never thought this would be SO COOL. Well guess what?! Just this very fine day, that very thing happened to Steve and I. We were FLOORED. I mean, what do you say?? What do you do?? Well, I guess you praise God from whom all blessings flow!! The only clue that we have about who sent it is that it was post-marked from Seattle-- which is not much help for us, since our small world revolves around Seattle. The letter that accompanied it said:

Dear Steve and Courtney,
The enclosed check is to help with adoption expenses. Please allow us the fun and joy of being anonymous. God is great!
Love, Us

Wow.

Dear Anonymous in Seattle,
We are humbly filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for this generous gift that you have given us and our little girl. We have no idea who you are, but we rest well in knowing that God has seen this great act of kindness and will repay you better than we ever could. You couldn't have said it better-- God is SO great. Thank you, Lord.

Be blessed and thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
Courtney and Steve

I'd like to thank my hairdresser and my garbage man...

WOW! I got an award? Really?? The only other award I can think of that I have ever received is "Typing Student of the Quarter" in ninth grade. Well, that might be stretching the truth just a little. Anyway, thank you Sara/Sofa! I feel so loved, albeit a little undeserving (at least today after an ENTIRE gallon of dark blue latex paint was spilled on Beano's floor, but that's another story for another day. Nevermind, see characteristic #3...)

Here are the Smile Award rules:
1. The recipient must link back the the award's creator.
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude (not necessarily at all times--we are all human).
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

So, now it is my turn to pick my worthy recipients!

My old buddy, Kathy Wathy. Oh man, if you ever have a chance to read this gal's blog, you will bust a gut laughing by the end. Kathy is one of my best friends who always manages to make me smile.

Pam, who is currently in Taiwan, getting her little miracle, Anna Li Grace. Pam is such a woman of faith and hope that she is pure encouragement to read about and chat with on email.

Jeri, who is a FOUNTAIN of knowledge about this whole adoption business. She (and her husband) was one of the really influential folks who talked us into going the SN route-- and I'm so glad she did. She has her hands full, but she has such a great sense of humor about it all.

Miss Carala! Okay, now this girl has some FAITH. She and her family have had a tough road with adoption, but even in her down times, you can feel her JOY! What a presence she has.

Noelle, my local friend in the adoption world! If you have never heard me tell our story of how we came to adopt, then you wouldn't realize what a huge influence Noelle and her family have had on me. She told me her family was going to adopt from Ethiopia 1-1/2 years ago and it was at that instant that I knew, we were called to adopt in China. I'm so glad we can share our journeys together! Your family is beautiful!

That's all for now, folks. I know I missed so many others out there, but this award is spreading fast amongst the blogs I read regularly. Be blessed!

Beano's First Day of Preschool

Little Bean finally started preschool yesterday. He had a great time after sticking near me for the first half hour or so. And I had to be a "working parent" that day, so lucky for him, I was still around. I know he'll do just fine without me, but he's been a little nervous about the whole thing, asking frequently, "Are you going to stay with me?" He's such a friendly little thing, though, that he really should have no problemo making friends. Wow, this is going by so quickly...

Brother in Underwear!!

Okay, I'm sure someday they'll be so mortified that I published this to the world, but I'm so excited! Timothy has started wearing underwear! We began potty training on a whim almost a week ago and he just got it. I guess it helps having a big brother pave the way and they do say that even boys train earlier with cloth dipes (Samuel was about the same age when he potty trained too), but this has been so FAST-- he just turned TWO!! Now, I'm not stupid enough to believe that he won't regress or have accidents or anything else, but for right now, it's a great start. Way to go, Tin-Tim!!

The End of Summer...

Well, we almost made it until the true end of summer this year! It was so beautiful last week that I actually had quite a little bounty of tomatoes from my garden. On one of the last beautiful days we had, we decided to head on up to the zoo. Here are some fun pictures to say good-bye to summer...








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Just wanted to add this one because it makes me smile. Only a happy kid could draw something so joyful. Artist: Samuel Johnson, summer 2008

Jesus is My Friend

A very sweet, very godly, very wonderful gal friend of mine from college just sent me the FUNNIEST video. She told me this is the worship song her church was going to finish with this week. It speaks for itself.

Are You Offended?

This will be Samuel's first year of preschool and we are SO excited. It really took me some time of stressing (when does it not, though?) over which preschool to send him to, which we could afford, which had a good philosophy, etc. I really wanted to send him to a co-op because I personally wanted to be involved in what he was learning. On the other hand, I was hoping to send him to a Christian preschool to add that critical God element. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one all wrapped into one... so, we chose what we thought we could swing money-wise and the rest is history. He will be going to Benson Hill Cooperative Preschool, which, oddly enough, is my Alma mater-- some 26 years ago.

Being that it is not a Christian school, however, it is described as "non-discriminatory" or some other big word like that. I have no problem with that, in fact, I think it makes for an interesting crowd. We had a meeting the other night to talk about the curriculum, though, and they mentioned this specifically in terms of holiday celebrations. As in, there will be NONE. I understand the whole not wanting to offend anyone business, but I actually am more offended by the LACK of acknowledgment than anything else. I would PREFER to talk about the Sikh holidays and the Jewish holidays and any other groups of folks represented in the class-- let's learn a few things about our world. We don't have to AGREE on this stuff, but for goodness sake, let's not IGNORE it! Isn't school about learning?

Anyway, I just felt the need to say something about this... what do you think? (By the way, I am not easily offended, so tell me what you really think!)

Happy Birthday, Monkey Man!!

This post is a few days late because we were out of town when Timothy's birthday actually happened. My sweet little Tim-Tim turned 2 years old on Saturday, Sept. 6th. Poor little dude was sick with a cold and I believe that was the worst day of it because he was pretty grumpy all day long! Good thing they don't really "get" the whole birthday thing yet. He sang along with us when we sang happy birthday, it was pretty sweet. I apologize that I don't have any pictures to show for it yet. We have them and will post as soon as they are off the camera, but for now...

Dear Timothy,
I am so proud of you! You are the sweetest little thing with that one dimple in your cheek that just makes me melt. You are growing up, little man and I just pray for strength and courage, love and honor and truth to flow from your little heart as you grow into the person God wants you to be. I want you to know that I love you so much. Be blessed, my little man.
Love, Mama



Timothy LOVED getting boots just like his big brother. Only problem is, they are a little too big, so I need to go back and get the smaller size SOON so he can wear them!!