he's 30

In celebration of David entering a new decade we had a party!  It was an awesome turn out with about 35 people!  It was so wonderful to once again fill our yard and home with friends who have been like family to us this past year.  What a blessed evening!  We had a great spread of food and some fun yard games too :)

 Amy, Mia & Karis, Asher, Amy, David & Carly

 LOTS of fun people!

 Jono's slack-line was of course a hit!

 The Mahmood chicks and Jed

Car & me

And, here's David and Norah on our Father's day hike.  It was a perfect day to celebrate David as a Dad and do something he loves.  David, you are a really wonderful man and I love you with my whole heart. I'm so thankful that I met you 10 years ago this week!  I am so privileged to be your partner in this journey of life. I love watching you interact with family and friends and especially they way you are with Norah.  Thanks for changing my life!  Happy birthday!

this is the life.

We successfully completed our second summer at Kolnes Kove with both families!  Remember how much fun was had last year?!  So much has changed in our lives since then but it's nice to go back to a place that already holds so many special memories and will continue to hold memories for years to come.

The first long weekend we were with the Blomgrens!

L to R: Chuck, Karen, Norah, David, Kelly, Steve, Colleen (and baby), Kristin (and baby) and Keith

You can literally watch our family grow in the next 5 months as three babies will be added the Blomgren's - so fun!!

Colleen, Guiness, Steve and Norah - they are practicing for parenthood.  Their baby is due at the end of July and are going to find out the day of delivery if it's a boy or girl!  We cannot wait to meet our first niece or nephew :)

Keith and Kristin - also practicing for parenthood!  They are having a BOY and due with baby boy in November. So fun to see both Colleen & Kristin's growing baby bellies.

Norah LOVED to honk the boat horn, thanks Uncle Steve :)

Sibs

 

In between the Blomgren's and Moselle's the Beckers drove to KK to visit!  It was so fun to have a few precious days with our dear friends to chat, play games and boat!

 A great view of the cabin: Joy reading on the couch, David video taping and Disko and Norah dancing! 

 The second long weekend with the Moselle side!

L to R: David, Norah, Kelly, Aaron, Diane, Randy, Kim & Nathan

Norah loved all the fun attention and food - lots of good food.  In this picture my mom so wonderfully gave Norah some coffee (not the only Grandma thing she did... pop, gum and ice cream may have also been given) 

 

 Good cooks make for some great food!

 

 David & Norah reading up on some Korean travel tips!

 

 Game night! 

 

 

 Norah and I had one extra day in Minneapolis with my family.  It was really fast but still great.  We did a little shopping, baking bread with my aunt Dawn (above) and doing a little hand made jewelry time!  My mom and I made jewelry for Evelyn's foster parents and a few other special adoption friends.  Who doesn't love a hand-made gift!?

love them.

It's so fun to get on the computer and find these up on the screen!  Love it and love them.

 My favorite.

will you pray?

I don't want to make everything about us but... well, it's our blog so I guess it's to be expected!  If you come to visit our blog you probably want to know what's going on and how we're doing, right?!

Today marks 4 weeks since Evelyn's EP (Emigrant Permit) was submitted.  This is good news in someways... knowing approval should be any day, and bad news in other ways... since it's not been approved yet!  We were praying for our travel call to come by Monday but that is now impossible since she still doesn't have her EP or visa.

Please pray with us on the timing of all the things ahead.  We are getting down to the wire and praying and praying God grants us the desire to stay together as a family during this time.  If things take too long David will head to Germany with Wrigley and me and the girls will follow behind once we get things set for Evelyn to leave the states.  Timing is so essential and each and everyday that passes is really important to our process right now.

Another prayer request is our future housing situation.  Since it's moving season for military and by the time we will arrive in Germany most people will have already moved and our housing options will be slim.  We got an email today from a contact in Germany about a potential house.  Please pray for wisdom in this decision about where to live and when to make the call (whether we should decide to take the house without seeing it in person or wait until we get there and take the chance at the house being taken).

Also, today our car left to be brought to the Seattle area to be shipped to Europe!  We're really seriously moving there and some of our stuff is already on the way!

So many things on our minds.  Lord help us to take it one thing at a time!

sis

Every time Norah sees a picture of our Sweet Pea, she says "Sis!" or "issy" and it just makes us so happy that she knows Sweet Pea's face too!!

And now, after much deliberation, we've finally landed on a new first name for our Sweet Pea.  This last week we were able to announce the name to both of our families and feel you all might want to know what we're call her, right?!  Well, you can now call her Evelyn! And, crazy enough, it has a German origin!

We are having a really hard being patient right now as the four week mark approaches since Evelyn's EP was submitted!  Why oh why do we have to wait for permits and visas?!  I know there are reasons but they don't make any sense to a mother without her baby girl.

This past week we were enjoying time with both of our families in the middle of the north woods (more to come on that) and got a call from our Korea case manager. The agency in Korea sent new pictures and two videos of Evelyn!!!  They are so awesome.  I can't tell you how wonderful, and heart breaking it is to see the pictures and video.  It's like having the pictures and video reminded us what we're missing out on all over again.  We are truly truly thankful for these pictures and videos, they are sweet reminders of the interactions and love she is getting in Korea.  God is good!

Will you please please pray for the EP to be approved TODAY and then pray that the visa (medical and interview) are schedule and happen at a record pace?!  There are so many details we need to take care of and time is running so short - we really want David to be in the U.S. when we get the travel call, when we go to Korea and when we leave for Germany!

New stats on our girl:
11 months old
19 freakin' pounds!
8 teeth
She's pulling herself up on furniture and standing, but in the video you can tell she's not too strong --- hmmm, could it be because of the amount of weight!?  :)

6.11.05 remembered.

Six years of wedded love and so many fun adventures.  What's life without love and adventure!?
Thank you David for choosing me.  Being married to you reminds me again and again of Christ's love for me and how he too chose me to be his bride.  I'm so blessed!

David is a loving, patient, funny, attentive husband.  He is also a goofy, tender, protective father and that makes him an even better spouse.  Thanks Babe for treating our relationship as something to treasure and putting effort into our continued time together.  I'm so very in love with you and hope to keep on fallin'!

Happy anniversary my Love.

embrace the girly

I've been trying to spruce up a few things for the girls room.  We're not sure what the arrangements will be in Germany so I'm just planning on them sharing a room at this point.  A few weeks ago I sold Norah's crib and dresser on Craig's list (for more than I bought it for!), and bought a slightly cheaper crib and toddler bed (hasn't arrived yet).  I'm still working on getting a dresser and little girl clothes are everywhere at this point!  Today I did a little research on making some custom bedspreads by yours truly (sew fun) and I'm sewing up some sheets (sew easy). 

Last weekend at a garage-sale I got this itty bitty rocking chair for $4...

 

bought some pink spray
paint to match the bean bag (with a coupon) for about $2, and ended up with this...

 Love it!!

I love creating things but I only have so much in me here and there so for now... I can handle a little spray paint and sewing.  Check back with me in a few months when I have both my girls home and I'm in a foreign land :)

Wrigley hung out in the yard with me.  This picture is funny cause he's trying to kiss me. I like him!

memorial day bike ride

I biked over 14 miles, David biked over 20. I never bike.  I'm a little a lot sore in the legs.  But, I feel proud!

Memorial day we followed our wonderful friends, the Hooks, to the trail of Coeur d'Alenes.  The morning started off very cold but warmed up during the second half of the bike trip.  Now, the Jonathan this "trip" was like a warm up - I think he's known to do something like 50 miles of biking in any given day. He's just good like that.  But for us, this was a trip but a really fun one at that.

After biking and chatting (Amy & I) we had a nice picnic lunch by the lake.  Great memories and celebration on this Memorial day as we thank and remember those that sacrifice for our freedom.

Norah got a kick out of her ride and she pretty much ate and slept the whole time.

Norah and Clara just taking in the scenery in Idaho.  These little girlies are adorable together, such a sweet little friendship at a young age.  Love seeing them "talking" and laughing together.

grill it up!

We had a great Saturday night with our friends the Pickerings & Hooks.  God has blessed us abundantly with like minded families that love us and want to live life together.  Here's a few pictures of our night grilling, slack-lining, talking, having s'mores and a bonfire.

 Snugglin' with our girls: Norah & Kel  - Clara & Amy

 Dishing up some grub: Jono, Amy, David, Neal & Kelly

A little t-ball perhaps? Andrew, Clara & Levi

Great friends since college: Carly & Amy

The men: David, Jono & Neal