10 Months

As you can see by the ticker, it has been 10 months today since we've been officially on the adoption waiting list. At times it has seemed much longer, and others it is hard to believe time has gone by so "quickly." So, we are still in waiting mode. Anyway, we thought it would be fun if you guys would give us some suggestions for what to do while we continue to wait. What do you think? Go ahead, give us your best stuff...but be nice!


But these things I plan won't happen right away.
Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.
If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place.
It will not be late by a single day.

Habakkuk 2:3
(Thanks, Jennifer, for bringing this verse to our attention!)

4th of July

Michael and Mandi spent the 4th of July with Michael's family at the lake. We are very blessed to be able to do this every 4th of July, as well as Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends too! You might notice Mandi wearing her glasses in a few pictures in recent or upcoming blogs. She is going to have Lasik surgery on July 29th and can't wear her contacts in preparation for that. Even though she HATES wearing her glasses, she is very excited to have the surgery and never be blind again!! You might also notice Michael wearing some very big and silly sunglasses in the following picture. He's been having some issues with bright lights lately, so his Uncle Bob loaned him these glasses. (Sorry Bob, we didn't mean silly, we meant cool and manly!)

M and M

Fun with sparklers: Vicki, Sam, SarahAnne, Gary, and Dalayna

This is the boat-in church service we go to on Sundays when we are at the lake. We sit on the lawn of the Oakwood Inn, which is unfortunately now closed, while the preacher is on the big boat out in the middle of Lake Wawasee! The boat is called The Lillypad and you can also ride on it for the service. Maybe we'll do that sometime too.

Mandi and Uncle Bob...IU vs. Purdue, even at church!

The group this past Sunday: Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Bob, Uncle Maurice, Gary, Kelly, SarahAnne, Sam, and Vicki

Zoo Trip

Mandi went to the zoo with her mom, Alison, Brayden, and Audrey last week. They had a great time even if it was a bit chilly!

Alison and Brayden

Our tour guide

There wasn't much sun, but Audrey sure did look good!

Brayden on Sandy. Look at that face...pure excitement!

Carousel ride

Giraffes...Mandi's favorite.

The train ride was Brayden's favorite part of the trip. Or was it the pony ride? Or the popcorn?

Aren't we cute?

Here are some random fun pictures from the past few weeks.

We went to Eric and Alison's house last weekend to celebrate Eric's (late)birthday. This is Brayden (and me) after he found out "we" won the game the whole family had been playing. He helped me roll the dice and we kicked everyone else's behinds!

Cowgirl Audrey. She loves to dress up!

Spiderman, I mean Eric, likes to dress up too.

The other day Dalayna and Bryce were here. They love to feed the fish. Here they are, with Michael, watching the fish eat.

Just us. Aren't we cute?

Mandi's favorite things

I recently have come across a few things that I think are very cool.

First of all, those of you who know me well, know that I HATE to get my fingers dirty. So...this chopper thingie from Pampered Chef is one of the best inventions ever. It chops a chicken breast into little pieces in no time flat, and without me having to touch it at all! Love it.

Second, I've had this ice cream maker forever, but Michael and I decided to try it after watching Paula Deen make some recipes with it the other day. It's super fast and easy. So far we've made butter pecan and chocolate peanut butter cup. Yummy!

Third, a shout-out to Shelby for giving me this Baby Beatles CD. She knows how much I love the Beatles and this CD is a very mellow version of some of their best songs without the words. I can't wait to play it for our baby and make him/her a fan too!

Last, Michael built me some awesome flower boxes last week. He did a great job and they are beautiful.

Do you like my new outfit?

Michael bought me a new outfit the other day. I think the blue makes me look tough. What do you think? Did you notice the chewed-up deck in the background? I did that a long time ago! Michael wants to fix it when he's sure I won't chew on it anymore.

I just wanted to prove that I can sit still for more than two seconds. Of course, what you can't see is me lunging for the camera after the picture was taken! Hee hee.

Mandi and I had fun taking some self-portraits too. I licked her face a lot, but I was trying really hard to be good in this picture.

Weekend trip to Washington D.C.

I (Mandi) went to Washington D.C. this past weekend with 14 students, 10 other staff, and one really big double decker bus! This was my 6th trip, and I think it was also the best one yet. We left at 6:00 Friday night and arrived back at school 6:00 Monday morning. We slept on the bus and showered at a campground Sunday morning. Showering only once is NOT my favorite thing! In D.C. Saturday we toured the Capitol building, the National Archives, the Holocaust Museum, and several monuments and memorials. Sunday we went to church at the Naval Academy chapel in Annapolis, Maryland, and then did some shopping...my favorite part of the trip! We finished up by seeing the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia. It is a lot to pack into one weekend, but it is SO worth it for the students who earned the trip. I wish I could post some pictures with my students included, but I can't, so here are some of me with my friends!

Tyson, Jill, Mandi, and Tim

Jill, Mandi, and Tim

Mandi and Jill

Our bus

And what did Michael do while I was gone? You guessed it... mowed the yard and watched tv! He did say he missed my cooking and hated doing his own laundry. It's good to be needed!