There's a chair missing

I was vacuuming tonight, and tucking chairs under the counter. Couldn't help but notice this counter needs a FOURTH chair to be full. Grady, we are waiting for you dude. We have a spot that is ready for you to jump into little man. Loving you from afar today.

1:42:24

WHAT A FUN DAY! I absolutely loved this experience. Everything about it. Ryan did too. Yes the run was slow for him and he probably was quite bored---but, we ran my first half marathon together. Such a fun time. I felt great, despite yucky weather and wind--and we plugged through!

Ryan was literally telling me to stop talking and focus at this moment...haha. All business. This was also right before we ran up the WORST hill of all time---almost done!

Sprint to the finish line!!

Dave could quite possibly be the most encouraging human on planet earth--and to run alongside him made it that much more enjoyable! Wow---what a friend and runner to do this with. :)

Proud peeps of our medals! :)

Missing my boy today

Gosh this time is hard. Waiting on a list for two years, knowing we had a child out there---that was hard. Doing the paperwork--sure, that was hard. BUT seeing this face show up in an EMAIL, and wanting so bad to make him smile...THAT is hard. We are struggling with not being able to go and love this boy up close. We are struggling with now knowing how many teeth he has, how well he can walk, or what his sweet skin feels like. We know you are there Grady---and we long for you today! This jar that was given to us as a gift is just one way for us to write to you some thoughts of our heart when we think of you...
Love you son. We can't wait to meet you up close. Approximately 13 months old in this picture

Halloween 2014

I mean there's really not much to say about these pictures other than THIS IS FUN! I love trick or treat night because the kids love trick or treat night. It's just so silly and weird and crazy to dress up in random costumes and walk around the neighborhood. Griff took a step UP this year and kept up with the big kids almost the entire night---totally impressive.

The girls got a gazillion compliments on their old lady gear-ha! And Griff of course was a superhero---he is a superhero almost every moment of every day. And we love it!

A glimpse into Grady

WHAT A GIFT! And a surprise to have our friends be able to stop at Grady's orphanage and visit him. Jenna and Evyn Thompson went out of their way to stop in to see our little guy. Grady was just going down for a nap--so quite sleepy. But today, when receiving these pictures, we felt like we had a glimpse into his world. This meant the WORLD to us. The road outside his orphanage (which he has probably never seen), the courtyard, the bed he sleeps in, that PURPLE shirt...all we've seen him in so far...and the sweet man holding his arms out to our son. God bless this man who holds our son today. We can't wait to meet him, hug him, and thank him!

Emma is 7!!?

Oh sweet Emma...such a joy to our family. Sassy and ridiculously sweet. This year you turned 7 and this year you officially started elementary school. Watching you sit at your desk on your first day of school was insanely hard, but you just flourish. I mean seriously...you love people, you love to listen to people, you love to watch people. You don't miss a beat sweet Ems. Our prayer for you is for God to increase and instill gentleness, purity and leadership in you. It is SO easy for you to make friends. We pray that God will use your influence to bring people to Him someday. You are an incredible big sister to Griffin--and one day soon you will be that for Grady, too. We love you Emma! It was fun celebrating you this October 18---your friends had so much fun at your party! Love you Rosie.

Final Disney moments