The Life We Imagine

Happy New Years to All! I recently reread Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God , and I was struck by this sentence, "There are years that ask questions and years that answer." This seemed particularly appropriate to our lives this year. Among the many questions that we asked in 2009 and anticipate answers for in 2010 are: "Who will our new son be?" "When will he join our family?" "What will our first trip out of the country be like? And where all will we go?" "How will our family of 3 transition to being a family of 4?" "Where we will live after Chris gets his promotion?" "When will we get to meet our new niece? And what will this little girl among 3 boys be like?" "How will Brooks handle kindergarten?" It will surely be a year of answers! On the adoption front, we may have some answers very soon! I received a wonderful e...

Bored? Not around our house! Here is just some of what has kept us busy around Tulsa this month . . . I added some of my favorite Christmas songs to the playlist for this month--though not always my favorite versions (except, of course, those by Josh Groban). I will say not a single version of Sweet Little Jesus Boy could hold a candle to Brother Jerry Cronan's version from my childhood, so I just left it off completely. Enjoy!!

A thing long expected takes the form of the unexpected when at last it comes! Mark Twain's Notebook Imagine my surprise when I opened email this morning and found our APPROVAL letter! What a blessing and what a big step! Thank you to Peter and the Ministry in Rwanda; this is so quick and efficient especially considering they just had all the work of getting the referrals out for the previous group. They are working so hard over there on behalf of us and these children. Thank you for your prayers--Thank you, God! The letter states that we will now wait 2 months for a referral (the information about our child). Here is the letter for those of you who'd like to see it:

"October gave a party; The leaves by hundreds came -The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples, And leaves of every name. The Sunshine spread a carpet, And everything was grand, Miss Weather led the dancing, Professor Wind the band." ~George Cooper, "October's Party" Wow! What a month October was! When you're done reading this post you'll understand why I didn't have time to stop and blog for the last month. It has been crazy and fun around here; as you'll see Brooks spent the better part of October dressed as Darth Vader. It has been beautiful weather, and we have been able to stay out-and-about just about every day. Enjoy these pics of all our October fun. (If you are reading this for adoption news only, scroll down; it's at the bottom!)

It has been seventeen years since two high-schoolers in Humble, Texas, started "going out." How time flies! I'd post a homecoming picture from that week, but gosh-dernit I can't seem to find one!

Well, the third time is a charm, at least for zoo campouts, that is. This weekend we went to our 3rd "Zoofari" which is a Tulsa zoo event for its members where we get to pitch a tent and spend the night at the zoo. The first time we went it was horribly hot, the next time there were severe storms, but this time was perfect. It did get a little chilly (in the 50's overnight) but it was so nice throughout the evening. We were able to ride the train and the carousel, make smores, and explore the zoo by flashlight. They had stations set up with the docents where we were able to meet and learn about a snake. Brooks also colored a giraffe mask to wear.

Three seasons ago we made the long drive from Tulsa to Austin for the Ohio State game and the Texas A&M game; it has taken this long to be willing to attempt it again. It is a very long drive and after a loss it is even worse. However, we figured that an older Brooks (with a newly developed Star Wars obsession and DVD player) combined with a game against the University of Louisiana-Monroe might work out better for us. So, Chris said he wanted to go to Austin and the game for his b-day and off we went. IT WAS GREAT! We had heard so much about the Lake being very low that we had given up on the idea of getting in the water, but after quite a hike over the rocks we were able to get to the water(for those of you who've been to the Lake house; check out the pictures!).