Homecoming

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Happy Referral-versary to Us!

One year ago this morning, I checked my email inbox for the 2 millionth time in two months to find an email from a very long, Rwandan sounding email address. The subject line was "Adoptee Matching File." My heart has never beaten faster than it did during the moments it took to open the email and read the following words: Please find attached the child matched with your family. I'm sure I squealed at that point. There were two attachments. The first was a letter "attributing SAFARI Moise" to our family. I shook myself out of my shock and got Chad on the phone. "Honey, it came! The email came. I'm forwarding it to you right now. It's our referral...only I can't tell if we have a boy or a girl. The letter said something about "he". I think it's a boy! I haven't looked at the picture yet!" While he waited for the email to travel the wires (or whatever they travel), I opened the second attachment. It seemed like an eternity before the above picture appeared on my screen. Tears of relief and joy instantly flooded my eyes as I laid my eyes on him for the first time. "Oh, Chad, he is beautiful!" I could hear evidence of the same thing happening to Chad as he loaded the picture seconds after I did. (The pink jogging suit confused our eyes, but we reread the first attachment to find it did say "he.")



November 9, 2009, was just the beginning of the joy we have experienced from Cooper joining our family. In fact, we cannot imagine our lives without him. I'm so thankful to God for making me his mommy! Obviously, his daddy feels the same way.

Halloween....One Last First

Two years ago this blog was birthed with a Halloween post...a post chronicling the beginning of our journey to Cooper. A year later I posted more Halloween pictures and news of an upcoming referral. And tonight, October 31, 2010, we are celebrating one of our sweet Cooper's "last firsts" with us. Hard to believe it has almost been a whole year since we first saw his face. It was a fun evening shared with great friends, my 70's husband, two princesses, a Boba Fett, a green crayon, and a little lion.

Everything I Need

Solo parenting five children for a week is a wonderful (albeit painful and exhausting) way for God to teach me. Chad's business trips don't happen that often, but I dread them. When he walks out the door my throat does this funny constricting thing, and breathing is really hard. This lasts for about three hours, during which I realize God has given me everything I need to accomplish what He wants me to do. And for this week, what He wants me to do seems like a lot. From middle of the night tea parties (for our chronic cougher) to changing every.single.dirty.diaper that happens, delivering boys to football to taking out the trash, to helping with every bit of homework....pretty much all of it depends on me. I am so thankful God takes pleasure in me doing all these mundane things. Because for one week, folks, that's pretty much all that's getting done around here. And really, who am I kidding? That's pretty much all that ever gets done around here.

Happy Birthday to C-Man

Happy Birthday to our double digit boy!

Happy Birthday to Cooper!

It's been a fun day with our sweet (and stubborn) two year old. Tonight I'm thinking of a special woman in Rwanda, trying to imagine her feelings as she reflects on a day in her life about two years ago. How much she sacrificed for Cooper and the Spores to be celebrating today!

First Day of School

First days of school bring the gammut of emotions. There have been first day of kindergarten tears. Lots of nostalgic thoughts. Always prayers for kids who'll feel secure, who'll invest in other kids' lives. But I really don't think I have ever cried about our kids going back to school the way I have today.

I will enjoy a new found routine, but how I will miss them. We three who remain at home will have fun. I am determined. But, how we will miss the three of them.

Lake Erie

Last week was such a busy, fun week. We visited my sister and her family in central Pennsylvania. They took us to Pittsburgh, where we went to the children's museum, rode up the side of a big hill to overlook the city and the river, ate at Hard Rock Cafe, and watched a really neat fountain show. Back nearer to their home, we enjoyed views of the beautiful Allegheny Mountains, hiked trails, swam, and ate way too much good food. It was hard to say goodbye, knowing we probably won't see them again until Thanksgiving or Christmas.



On our way home, we stopped off at Lake Erie and swam at a sandbar in the town of Huron, Ohio. The kids (and Daddy and Papa) had so much fun in the waves! Nana and I had fun snapping some photos of Cooper's memorable first trip to a beach.

Fourteen Years Ago Today

It was a beautiful Saturday in August when my best friend and I exchanged our vows. How excited we were that we would never have to say goodnight and go our separate ways again! It was a very excited and nervous bride and groom who drove away from the church late that afternoon.

Our anniversary celebrations have changed a lot throughout the years. Some years we have been able to get away for a special weekend. Some years I have sat on the bleachers watching said best friend play church league softball. This year we are teaching Vacation Bible School together.....not the most romantic way to spend our anniversary, but we have definitely had fun working together to teach the Bible lesson to 65 kids.

Happy Anniversary, Chad. Love you forever!

Backbone

Last week was our annual Bradfield family trip to Backbone State Park. All my sisters and their families, plus Nana and Papa, get together for a week at the cabins around a lake. Great fun is had by all, though the fun seems to change as we add more children to the group each year!

As we traveled through one of the small towns near the park, Chad and I remembered our situation just one year ago as we passed through the same town. We remembered how we had my cell phone on speaker (muted, of course, to spare the rest of the conference call attendees the noise of our then four children), participating in an AWAA Rwanda conference call. We were hungry for any news of progress in our adoption.

This time, with teary eyes, we glanced into the rear view mirror to see our now FIVE precious, noisy children. We looked into the eyes of our beautiful Rwandan treasure, Cooper. We once again took time to thank our Heavenly Father for the miracle of adoption...the miracle of matching a quiet, lonely little boy from East Africa with a noisy bunch of hooligans from middle America. Only He could have orchestrated such a perfect match.

Baby #4 Turns 4...

And is a baby no more. Happy Birthday, H!

Our Sweet Patriots

Strawberry Jam and Swim Team

Many thanks to Nana for teaching H how to make jam. She now has something to take to the county fair in July! (So glad to have that one crossed of the list.)

Our three biggest kids are all on swim team this summer. It has been such great exercise for them, and they are consistently improving their times! We are so proud of how hard they are working.

Our Toothless Wonder