Bits and Pieces of Springtime!

Spring is definitely here in our lovely part of Arizona!  

The skies are deep blue and plants and trees

are budding!

Our apple trees are full of blossoms!

The little wildflowers are springing up all over the yard.

Our sweet little kitty, Cocoa, had EIGHT babies a week ago!  We knew she was big,

but never dreamed she had eight little ones inside her.

Feline mortality is very high around here, so we were happy to see her large litter! 

Their eyes are just now beginning to open, and they will be running around soon!

Six of the eight are all black, and two are a kind of salt-and-peppery color.

Speaking of babies.......Rachel and David's little one continues to grow!  We are all

very excited to find out in two weeks if it's a little girl or a little boy!

We enjoyed seeing our good friends, the Doughty family, when they came back to town for
several weeks - minus Mr. D.  Ashley stayed with us one night, and 

then Amanda came back later in the week for a longer stay.  So fun!

Of course, the boys were beyond thrilled that Miss Amanda got to come stay with us 

for a longer time!

Oh, and Amanda, if you are reading this........you left your pink hat here! 

 But we will get it back to you soon!

As long as we have known their family, every time they come to visit, somebody  leaves something!  

It's gotten to be quite the joke between our families.  Of course, we won't go into detail

about the time Mr. D. got back to their house with one of our towels!!!!!

This is my view each day as I turn onto our road.  Joe likes to stop and "moo" at them, but I'm
afraid he will start a stampede.......These are BIG cows!!

When we went to Safeway the other day we got an obligatory picture with the Easter bunny.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with the celebration of Easter............

Mark 16:5-7

5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 

6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 

7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "

Happy Resurrection Day!

My Hilarious Adventure With David!

David has been interested in ALL things military since he was a wee boy.  Yes, this is him posing for his very first school picture in Kindergarten.  Pretty cute little boy!!

This interest has continued through the years.  He and some of his good church buddies play Axis and Allies on a fairly regular basis - and I'm talking ten to twelve hour sessions!  It's all about military strategy and taking over the world.

Here are a few of them at our house in January!

So what does this avid interest/obsession in all things military have to do with today?  Well, David had all four wisdom teeth removed and that requires anesthesia..........oh boy, oh boy.

This is the same wonderful oral surgeon's office that took care of Courtney, Rachel, and Jonathan when they had their wisdom teeth removed.  Everything went without a hitch with the older three, with some rather hilarious memories of the "coming-out-of-anesthesia" episode.  So we expected
nothing different with David.

Isaac and Joshua and I waited in the waiting room until Dr. Q came and told us that all had gone just fine and that he was in recovery.  The nurse would come get me in about ten minutes.

I was expecting moaning (like Rachel), loopiness (like Courtney), or accusations of a broken jaw (like Jonathan).  But David was convinced he was in the middle of the greatest military battle EVER!!!!!

The nurse was a Chinese spy.
He wanted reinforcements, especially a Black Hawk helicopter.
The Chinese were coming.
The Russians were coming.
We had to get out of there fast.
He wanted a medic.
Had he gotten shot?

And on and on it went.  I was laughing so hard! Isaac, who does not like ANY change of ANY kind, was especially distressed over this.  He just covered his ears while sitting in the chair.  There was no rationalizing with David at all, so I just joined in the military plan to escape.

Finally, he was "rational" enough to let him leave.  Round Two began...........

Where are we going?  To Headquarters?
I'm Lieutenant Anderson with the RAF.
Have I been shot?
Where will we meet up with the Army Rangers?
Where is the overhead air support?
What is your rank?  I told him I was a four-star general and got "yes sir'd" and saluted the entire way home!

We stopped at a traffic light and he said, "Oh my gosh.  We are in Russia.  You traitor!  You turncoat!"  I told him there were no cactus in Russia.
Have I been shot?
The Chinese are gaining on us - we need to hurry.

Hilarity to the highest degree for sure!  He finally fell asleep about halfway home, and then when we woke up he was groggy, but back to his normal self.

What an entertaining day!  Thanks for the great day, David!!  And yes, you will do fine in the Army!

It's truly in your blood.

Joshua - Four Years Ago!

Joshua has been home four years ago today, March 1!  His adoption experience was so

 incredibly different than Isaac's, most noticeable by his absolute terror and tears.

We were a day late getting to China because of  airplane difficulties in trying to leave Tucson, which

meant that we missed our international flight out of  LA to get to Hong Kong. We truly

thought it was the end of the world...............

However, because of that three hour late flight, we met the Rhoden family in Los Angeles!  Courtney

and Rachel had been blogging friends with Cassie whose family had also adopted from China.  

They came to our rescue when they heard that we were stuck in a hotel for 24 hours before we could

board another flight to Hong Kong.  We spent a lovely day at their home and enjoyed meeting

these new friends!  I am still amazed at how God worked all of that out!

Theresa, Nicole, and Cassie (who is getting married this spring, by the way!)

Our good Nebraska friend, Lesley came with us on this adventure!  Rachel stayed home to care for

Isaac, and it was so nice to have another pair of hands to help Courtney and me through this two week adoption trip! Lesley is now married and has two little girls!

Whereas Isaac was sad and shed silent tears, Joshua screamed, sobbed, and desperately

tried to get away when they brought him in to us.

It was so heartbreaking to see, and there was not much I could do to comfort him.

Once we got back to the hotel, he fell asleep, dripping with sweat in his four layers of
clothing that reeked of moth balls.  But there was no way he was going to let me take those off!

But, once he woke up he loved his bath and smelled ever so much better!

We had a great rest of the time in China, even though Joshua didn't want much to do with me!

Once we got home it was smooth sailing!  Joshua and Joe hit it off immediately from
their first meeting at the airport,  and.......

..............these two?

Brothers from the heart from the moment they met.  They are very different, yet
compliment each other tremendously.  Even with their mischievousness, they liven
up our home and give us many laughs a day!!

We love you, Joshua!  Happy fourth "Gotcha Day"!!!!!