May she never forget...

Coming home today from Abbey's volleyball practice, I had the radio on my usual station. As we're driving, Abbey pipes up and says, "That song could be about you and me."  I have to admit, I really wasn't listening to the song, I was thinking about the next thing on my mile long to-do-list. So I casually remarked, "Oh, really, how's that?" "Because we waited for each other a long time", she explained.  By the time I started listening, the chorus was finishing up so I didn't acknowledge that I hadn't really been listening to the song, and  said, "I certainly did wait for you and I am so grateful that you are here."

When we got home I did some research and found the song. It is this song by Christina Perri.

A Thousand Years

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
But watching you stand alone,
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.
One step closer
[Chorus:]
I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this
One step closer
[Chorus:]
I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
One step closer
One step closer
[Chorus:]
I have died every day waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

I think it's so wonderful that she can take the words of this song and see herself in it, and while I know it's not a song about adoption, I'm thrilled that Abbey knows that we did die every day that we had to wait for her, and later for Elijah. I also think it's neat that she feels that she was waiting for us too.  I'm also grateful that she knows we love her and will always love her. In the much too fast approaching teen years, I know that concept of being unconditionally loved will be challenged on many fronts. It happens among biological children, and even more aggressively among adopted children.

That is one reason why we celebrate "Gotcha Days". All of our kids have had, and Lord willing, will have pretty big birthday celebrations. But, the "Gotcha Days" celebrations give us an intentional time to reiterate how thankful we are that we are their family and how much we love them. This July we took an evening and celebrated Abbey at Edible Art Bakery.

These fun times, hopefully, will help Abbey and Elijah remember how much they are loved and wanted, even during the turbulent teen years.

A February Birthday in June

So what does a boy do when his birthday happens to fall in a time where a pool party would lead to his guests suffering from hypothermia? He patiently waits until balmy weather to roll around and then has a pool party late birthday bash. That's exactly what Elijah did this year.

He had about 14 of his friends come to our pool to celebrate his 7th birthday, which actually occurred in February.

Everyone swam,
Aislynn rigged a flotation device to help with a broken arm.

Layne has a great time in the pool with Papa.

Logan enjoying the pool

We had quite a spread of food

and of course, cake

Some of the regular pool rats opted for the playground over the pool

But, everyone came up for the pinata

Layne showed off her "loot"

Happy Birthday to my very patient little boy!!

My sweet Waverly

The newest addition to our family is beginning to make her presence known in a wonderful way. Little Miss Waverly is such a sweetie. I'll hold her and look in her eyes. It's not long afterward that she will purse that sweet little mouth, her eyes will light up and she will start to coo away. I just love baby coos!

She also loves to talk to Papa...

She's such a good baby. As long as someone is holding her, everything is ok in her world.

I love my precious Waverly!