handsful

Abbey took another step into the life of a pre-teen when she joined the Jr. High group (6th, 7th, and 8th graders) for a weekend “bible study, teaching, swimming, tubing, etc.” retreat called “Extreme Excursion”. The group went about an hour and a half away, to a campground at Lake Swan. Abbey tells us she had a ball, and has a major sunburn to prove it :) Prior to leaving for the trip, she wasn’t so gung-ho on going…maybe 1/2 excited and 1/2 scared to death. This is the first big trip she’s ever made on her own, and we did lots of praying for her to feel comfortable. We were fortunate that she already knew the adult leaders in her cabin, and they helped her so much! God certainly had His hand on her, and we are very thankful! Welcome home, Abs!

Ruth at http://imagineannalynn.blogspot.com/ had this “tag” on her site, and it looked like fun. So, Randy and I split it up, and each did 4.

Donna –

1. I decided when I was 9 that I wanted to work with hearing impaired children. I ended up being a Speech Pathologist and several of my patients were indeed, hearing impaired. I learned basic sign language and cued speech…and still remember a little of both :)

2. I was a little league baseball queen at age 9 (it was a good year).

3. I hate coffee. Smells great, but tastes awful. I’m a hot tea drinker!

4. I went to college at UNC at Chapel Hill. During my last year, I decided on a whim to try out for the dance team. I ended up making the High Kicking Heels team, and it absolutely made my Senior year.

Randy –

1. I love to play basketball and once had to guard a guy that was 7’6″. I was not effective.

2. A favorite childhood past time with my brother was shooting bottle rockets at each other, using trashcan lids as shields. Remember, the lids back then were metal!

3. I got pulled by the police for driving to school with my friend on the roof of my car…and the cop was mad at me!

4. I love taking nature pictures, especially pictures of palm trees. Being in Florida, I’ve got plenty of subjects.

Feel free to call yourself “tagged!” and let me know if you add this to our blog or website!

Jack insisted that he try on Lainey’s new bunny hooded towel. Doesn’t he look happy?!

The rest of us here were also thrilled with your box of goodies, Secret Pal! Chocolates, Jelly Bellies, Pistachios, HUGE jaw breakers for the kids, shampoo rinsing cup (so neat!), 3-piece jammies, and of course Jack’s…uh…Lainey’s new towel! THANK YOU!! You truly spoil us!!

If you’ll look at the timeline above this post, you’ll notice that today marks ONE YEAR waiting for Lainey. To be more exact, our adoption paperwork was logged into China’s adoption system on 8/1/06. So, today is our LID anniversary. Since we began this process in March ’06, we’ve been waiting for about 16 months. Not that I’m counting.

Oh, are you wondering what that picture is? Since we were LID, we began a paperchain to mark out wait. We add a link at the completion of each week. I added the purple link to signify our 1 year milestone! Here’s a picture of the whole chain, as it drapes our kitchen window.

I’ll add a link on the date we receive our referral, too. The kids loved seeing what 52 weeks / one year looks like. Happy LID anniversary to us!

The Clark clan (along with our church’s youth group) went to a Jacksonville Suns minor league baseball game on Friday night. There were times I barely remembered that the guy in the picture above was even with us. This boy loves sports, baseball in particular. He followed every hit, strike, and out.

Marley was there for the souvenirs!

No pics of Abbey and Payton! Blame Randy, he had the camera. Abbey would have loved to try each and every stadium snack there, but had to settle for just Dots ice cream. Payton just loved being out with us, and one of his best friends was there too. A nice bonus.

Yep, they won, in the 10th inning! It was “Jimmy Buffet” night, which might explain the team’s jerseys. I’d show you a picture Randy took of an older man wearing a stuffed parrot-head hat, but it’s a little disturbing!

Fireworks to end the night! We didn’t get home till 11:30. Yes, we all slept in today.

 

While we patiently (well, most of the time) wait for Lainey, we’re trying to get a few things done around the house. When we bought this house almost 3 years ago, we noticed that the baseboards didn’t have the 1/4 round piece along the bottom edge. So, we’ve been “meaning” to get that done (along with the zillion other things on our “do one day” list). We got inspired this weekend and began the project on Sunday evening. Randy measures, cuts, and nails in the boards (with his handy-dandy new toy…uh, brad gun. I fill in the nail holes and repaint. They’re looking great…it’s amazing how just a little piece of wood can really make a big difference.