WAITING FOR LITTLE SISTER

If you feel like you are in the dark about our Ethiopian adoption and have been waiting to hear some news, well, you aren't the only one! We finally just learned a little bit and it's not that great. Here's the deal...

All of our paper work is complete and for months we have simply been waiting to have a child assigned to us (a referral). This is a little mind numbing since it could literally be any day that we find out who this little girl is and when we can go get her. In fact, we are now first on the list both at our adoption agency and at the orphanage in Ethiopia.

BUT... the Ethiopian courts close from July 15th to September 30th and yesterday was the deadline for getting our little daughter-to-be in court before they close for the summer. So we could still find out tomorrow who this little girl is, but she would not have a court date until October, and we would go over there four weeks after that.

At first this is really frustrating. Then we feel guilty for being frustrated because maybe we are just being spoiled Americans that want everything now. And then the reality hits us that there is a little girl in a starving world and we can do nothing about it. It's like we are letting Jennalee or Adeline play in a busy street while we pray for contentment rather than going and grabbing them! But the truth is, God knows this little girl -- even if she is not yet born -- and he loves her more than we do and can care for her better than our American life ever could. So we DO pray for contentment; there really isn't anything else to do.

In the midst of this, we are especially thankful that God has already given us two sweet little girls -- not everyone has that. And we are also thankful for one whole summer with just them; we'll enjoy them in a special way knowing that this is hopefully our last summer as a family of four.

FUNNY

Historic �Blockbuster� Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past

JAIL BREAK!

We still love Frank. And he is not going back to the pet store, which actually is a real threat at our house. In fact, he is the sweetest dog in the world.

His one sin is that he can scale our privacy fence... yes, our 5-6 ft fence! The other night he got so wound up he hopped over it while I was in the backyard with him. Lee Ann caught his return trip on camera, and we thought we'd better share Frank's athletic achievements with the world before we put up an electric wire that will (hopefully) keep him in our backyard.

SUNFLOWER

Here is Lee Ann's most recent ceramic work. If it is not clear from the picture, there is one highly detailed and 3-dimensional sunflower and all the other flowers are abstract and 2-d. One thing she has discovered is she that really enjoys putting her artwork in old frames -- in fact they often serve as inspiration for her. So an emerging style of hers is mosaics of flowers in antique frames -- it's a pretty cool and unique look she has achieved.

MOUNTAIN VIEW

We were lucky enough to get to go on vacation this year to Mountain View, AR; one of our favorite places in the world. If you have never been there before it is something of a sight. It is home to some beautiful caverns and a folk center... but more than anything it is the bluegrass capitol of the Ozarks (or the world, depending on who you talk to). Unlike tourist traps like Branson, most things are either free or really cheap. The main event in Mtn View is that almost EVERY evening impromptu bands gather around the courthouse square and play music. Whether you actually love bluegrass or not is really beside the point, the experience of a summer night, the mountains, authentic music, the kids dancing their hearts out -- there really can't be anything better!

Here is a fuzzy picture of what happens literally all the time...

And we got to enjoy our fair share of nature as well...

On this trip Reed got a banjo, but the real hit was that Jennalee got a ukulele. Some of the locals were even kind enough to let her sit in on their Old-time jam session.

And with the kazoo Adeline got, we could make our own bit of sister music on the river right outside our tent door.

But then sometimes it's just nice to play by yourself...

A "FRANK" CONFESSION

Considering our history (the six animals we posted about and two mice we didn't), it seemed wise to swear off all animals until our children go off to college. But, alas, we have broken our own rules and taken the plunge again - but this is completely different. We would like to formally welcome Frank into our home.

We met Frank at the Fayetteville Farmers Market and fell completely in love. He was a rescue dog and we couldn't help but adopt him. He is four-years-old and totally housebroken. He is a Labradoodle and is simply amazing. Labradoodles are often used as therapy dogs for young children and we can attest that Frank is so gentle that either one of our daughters can handle him on a leash. It is quite a sight to see a 30 pound little girl walking a 50 pound dog!

Since these pics were taken he has gotten a really short haircut due to his horribly matted hair. We will probably let his hair grow back to more this look.
The girls can do anything to Frank and he patiently puts up with them. We have so often tried to get pets the girls would like. This was the first pet LA and I wanted for ourselves, and the girls have been way more into him.
Lee Ann would want you to see his eyes.
Welcome home Frank!

DOGWOOD

Here is some of Lee Ann's recent art. The large wall hanging - which is hanging over our mantle - is a ceramic mosaic. She pulled an old window out of a garbage heap back in Philadelphia that became the frame for this piece. She also did a bit of iron work to create the tree branch.

Also pictured is a representation of our family on the left and a tiny tea set on the right. She did both of these this last year using the handbuilt method of ceramics. On the far right is an abstract vase she made in college. On the far left is a vase someone in Indonesia made and we got as a wedding present. :)