Bethany Family Picnic

Last Saturday we attended Bethany's annual family picnic. The picnic is a celebration for all the adoptive families from the Pittsburgh Bethany office. It was held at the private lake residence shown in the picture above. It was a gorgeous day!

Deacon and Jasmine pose for a picture.

Jasmine and daddy Rodney

Family photo in front of the lake

Posing for a picture with our social worker Shawn

We were invaded by pirates who entertained the kids. They even took
them on boat rides across the lake.

Our little friends Salim and Rimere got to do some horse back riding.
The boys recently became brothers through adoption.

Paul's Father's Day Gift

One of Paul's Father's Day gifts included a collage of cute Deacon pictures. I just wanted to share them! I actually printed them out in black and white, so, if you can, picture them that way.

~Kim

Paul's First Father's Day!!

You would be right in thinking "wasn't Father's Day last week?"-don't worry, you didn't just pass through the Bermuda triangle. We are way behind with pics as usual. I think one thing that sets us back is that I dream of writing a literary work along with our pictures and therefore put off posting them. In reality, my new son prevents me from doing this. I need to learn to be satisfied with just posting cute pictures and a few words. So, since we were unable to make it to church this morning (that new baby again) I thought I would post some pics. Go ahead and enjoy the pictures of Paul's first Father's Day celebration at Famous Dave's barbeque.

~Kim

A Prayer for Isabel

You see that link...? The one to the right under "Friends"? That's the one- go ahead and click it and see one of the cutest little girls- Isabel. She has this smile that melts away everything else.

Anyway, she is having surgery tomorrow... I'll let daddy Brian explain it in his blog over there the details but suffice it to say they sure could use your prayers. So please take a moment and ask for an extra measure of healing for Isabel and her whole family for that matter.

Here's a couple if that helps get you started from the Book of Common Prayer:

Heavenly Father, watch with us over your child Isabel, and grant
that she may be restored to that perfect health which it is
yours alone to give; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd of the sheep, you gather
the lambs in your arms and carry them in your bosom: We
commend to your loving care this child Isabel. Relieve her pain,
guard her from all danger, restore to her your gifts of
gladness and strength [and smiles], and raise her up to a life of service to
you. Hear us, we pray, for your dear Name's sake. Amen.

Thanks God!

I (Kim) don't think people realize how much it costs to domestically adopt an infant. Well, it's ALOT! In fact we are still paying off (not to imply that Deacon is equivalent to a mortgage or car payment) our little bundle of joy, knowing that God will provide. That is exactly what is happening. Today I received a call from my husband, who in turn received a call from Bethany. We were awarded a $3000.00 grant!!!!!! Yippeee!!! The grant is from the Caring Connection Fund at Bethany. Just wanted to share the good news!

Speaking of God, we finally made it back to church since Deacon was born. Here are some pictures we took.

Deacon with friend Beth

Deacon with Sarah and her mommy Beth

Deacon is one of four "Deacons" at our church. Here he is with the newly ordained Deacon Ron

Diane and Deacon-Diane made us a scrumptious dinner the first week Deacon was home with us.

Growing Boy

We took Deacon for his 2 month (can you believe it?) check up on Friday. He is now weighing in at 13 lbs even and measuring 23 1/2 inches. He got an A+ from the doc and we couldn't be happier! He currently entertains himself by trying to get his thumb in his mouth. He doesn't always succeed, but he certainly tries hard.

Go Tribe!!

Here are some pictures uploaded in honor of my husband who is at a conference in Minnesota this week. I figured this would help his homesickness. Enjoy!

Deacon is excited about how well the Indians are doing this year!

Deacon can sleep well knowing the Indians are doing so great.

Random Cute Pictures

Here's some random cute pictures. Enjoy!



I don't know what to do with my hands

There is a mouth under this thing believe it or not

Could somebody please find my neck?

Deacon's First Trip to Cleveland

Last week we took Deacon to Cleveland for the first time. We were
accompanied by our friends the Baumgartners
and made it into a little vacation.

Aunt Sissy hooked us up with a great hotel
room for a couple of days. Here Eric and Anna
helped Paul get Deacon dressed and changed.
Well, kind of, Anna was more into making faces.
They both love baby Deacon!

We spent a day at the zoo. Apparently
Deacon and Caleb were not the only babies
there. Here is a baby Koala bear with his mama.

We took Deacon into the pool for the first
time and found out later that it helped
him sleep very well. Shoot and
score some sleep for mom and dad!

We spent an afternoon walking along
the beach at Lake Erie and continued
with a ride through the Metroparks.

We spent the remaining Memorial Day
weekend with a very happy grandma!

Deacon gets to relax in his own private jacuzzi at Grandma's.


Click here to see the rest of the Cleveland trip photos.