Time to Smell the Roses

Okay, so only the first one was a rose. They are all beautiful, though, even the tomato plant. They are all growing in our garden right now, and we were very blessed with rain today (rain at this time of year is fairly unusual where we live). The sun has come out, and and the day is lovely. "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Popcorn Balls

Directions for popcorn balls:
Melt a stick of butter and two bags of big marshmallows in two pots, divided evenly. Stir constantly until smooth. While it is melting, pop two cups of popcorn, then take the unpopped kernals out. Pour the marshmallows over the popcorn and stir until fairly evenly coated. For best results, use five small children with clean, greased hands to shape into balls. Squeeze the balls tightly together, or they will come apart. When all the popcorn is formed, let the children lick the spoons, then wash the dishes quickly so the sugar doesn't get caked on the equipment. Finally, serve to parents and enjoy all together.

Yield: Enough for two large families.

Adoption Process

Well, this is our family as of April 8, 2007. We have completed the paperwork and will be turning everything in on Tuesday to get certified to adopt. As some of you may know, this process started over 7 years ago with God laying on the hearts of Owen and me the desire to adopt children. Not that we haven't tried, but so far we have been unsuccessful. Graciously, God has used that time to teach us many things. Hopefully this is the time. This picture is the one we are going to put with our application to represent our family to counties in California with waiting children.

We are excited to see who God has in mind for us.

Random Family Pictures

I can't figure out how to put a family picture on our profile, so I am just putting some on the blog. This is, of course, our wonderful parents!

Our only boy, Jordan. Isn't he handsome?

Daddy and the little girls enjoying themselves.

Me (Raylene) and Shauna.

All of us kids on my nineteenth birthday.

Shauna, Nicole, Kendra and Kayla, looking lovely together.

Update on Kendra

As you can see, she is feeling much better! Her mouth is already looking less scraped and bruised.

Kendra's Teeth

When we were at a friend's house yesterday, Kendra fell off a bucket while she was getting down from the trampoline. She knocked one baby tooth out and loosened another, along with scraping up her mouth and cheek. After Daddy got the bleeding to stop, she was able to go out and play some more, but she was pretty sore this morning.

Last night, though, Daddy told Kendra that she could sleep in his bed with Mommy while he slept on the couch. She said that she would rather sleep on the couch and let him sleep on his bed. When he asked her why, she quoted Romans 12:10 (Be kindly affectioned one to another, in honor preferring one another). This was one of our memory verses from March, and she not only memorized it, but applied it. She said that she wanted to prefer Daddy to herself. Praise God that Daddy led us in the memorization, and that Kendra has such a teachable heart!

Fun Spring Days

On Friday we were able to have some good friends over and enjoy the beautiful spring weather together. It was such a blessing to have our friends for the whole afternoon! Kendra and Lili got to blow bubbles.

Jordan, Simon and Jeremy got to practice with their knives and home-made spears. Jordan has enjoyed these boys so much. It is nice to have somebody to do guy things with.