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