house full….

It's the end of the semester!  As we are wrapping up our 11th year in campus ministry (can you believe it!?!), last night we celebrated with an end-of-the-year RUF party at our place.


Due to the rain and chilly weather all day, our outdoor cookout was forced inside.  (though thankfully it cleared up just before the party was beginning, as you can see out the window)


But that still didn't stop us from having a good time.  Eating, talking, throwing frisbees, an intense whiffleball game in the backyard, a group game in the basement... good times.


We love having a house full of these guys...




And the next morning... Reason #247 for having children.  (ha ha!)

not a g'day, mate...

We got some disappointing news the other day:  Our Australia trip this summer is officially off.

Not enough students signed up to go, so MTW (Mission to the World, the missions agency) had to cancel the trip altogether.  While we were initially saddened at this news, we are resting in God's providence.

Since we had seen this coming on the horizon, I (Amy) thought of a way to begin preparing Caroline for the bad news one day.

"Mommy?" she said from the back seat of the car.
"Yeah, babe?"
"Can we go to Baltimore again?  I want to go to the aquarium."
"Ooh, I loved going to the aquarium in Baltimore.  That was SO fun, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, Mommy.  When can we go?"
"Well, hmmmm.  There's a chance we might not be able to go to Australia this summer."
"Why, Mommy?"
"Not enough students have signed up to go so far.  So if it works out where we can't go to Australia, then maybe we could go to Baltimore instead."
"YEAH!"

Okay, easy enough, I thought.

So when it came time to officially break the news to her, wouldn't ya know the first thing she said was:

"We can go to BALTIMORE!!!!"   (ha!)

Baltimore / Australia.  You know... minor difference.  :)

Thankfully our disappointment has been covered with a greater sense of God's providence and guidance for our family.  Honestly, just the hope and planning of the trip alone was so good for me, if that makes any sense.  I was forced to face anxieties I usually suppress.  And just the excitement of having it to look forward to got me through many emotionally desolate days.  For that, I am thankful.

Even if the trip itself isn't to be.

In other news, we finished our final homestudy visit today!, and our social worker is rushing to complete our homestudy by May 1st before new adoption laws are enacted in Virginia.  Then we'll order our adoption profile book, (the one we showed you guys) send in $2,000 birthmother fee, and officially be in the waiting pool!  (which means at that point, we could literally get a call at any moment.... OR be waiting for years...)

And yes, I guess secretly we are hoping that God's providence of NOT giving us the Australia trip is because He might have a new little one to join our family very soon!, but only He knows.

He writes our story.

"I may not know the way I go, but oh, I know my Guide."  -hymn, "His Love Can Never Fail"

destiny?...

"Mommy, I can't wait to touch a FLUTE!" I (Caroline) kept saying all week.

The days passed soooooo slowly as I eagerly anticipated going to Mommy's symphony concert ALL week. As part of an initiative to attract more families to come out to the symphony, they were going to have an "instrument petting zoo" before the concert. (Hence, my constant talking about touching FLUTES...)

But when we arrived, and I was all ready for the big moment to touch a FLUTE... behold! What did I see??

An itty bitty 1/16th sized violin, just my size!

And from that moment on, it was ALL violin.

Touch a flute? Eh, I'll stick a thumb on it. But that little violin sitting in its little case behind me on the table is calling my name...

I love this thing!

Try a trombone slide? Oh, okay.

Now where's the violin?

You see, I've come quite a ways on my TOY violin at home, as Mommy's showed me how to hold a violin and take care of it. But I have never been allowed to play on a REAL one!

Until now. This was a huge deal. And now perhaps Mommy's seeing a real violin in my near future...

(I think proud was an understatement...)

Daddy shot a quick picture of Mommy before the concert began... I sat SO still the first half of the concert, but was much less than stellar the second half...

Afterwards, Mommy took Leah & me up on stage and let US pretend to play in the orchestra! (we are using our umbrellas as pretend violins) he he!

Though I didn't come out of her tummy, it's like it was meant to be. :)

adoption photoshoot...

We are so, SO grateful to one of our graduating senior RUF gals, Sarah, for taking some beautiful pictures of our family to fill up our adoption profile book. If you happened to take a look at it, you saw that these MADE the book! What a gift these pictures are to our family!

Here are a few of our favorites from the photoshoot:

(This one's my personal favorite)

Birthmommy Megan said she liked this one of us being bears. :)

Close up bears! Roar!

But by far, the best picture of our crazy little family was this one:

please pick me...

Click here to view this photo book larger

Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

i know that my redeemer lives...

You should hear our children's choir & worship team's combined song for our Easter service!

(we'd been hearing this song around our house for say, 2 months now?, so I'm glad it was finally time to sing it!)

I'm so proud of them, AND proud of my Worship Intern this past year, Lindsay Burgess, for the work she did in teaching and preparing our kids to sing!

(and maybe one of these days, I'll get my kid to stand still! What can I say?-- she's feelin' it...) :)

(sorry the video is a little sluggish at times-- technical difficulties on uploading and don't have the time to re-do it!)

pied piper...

Thank you, Mamie, for my Easter dress money! Here's what Mommy & I picked out together. Do ya like it?

We had a fun, low-key Easter with friends from church.

This year I went crazy about egg hunts!

Sweet Maggie got some, too!

You might be able to catch a little of my personality from these next few pics. In my preschool class, my teachers told Mommy that I'm like a "mother hen." :) I am a VERY protective gal over my friend, Maggie. I also like to, ahem, "enforce" the rules, whether they're rules that are already there or ones that I make up myself... :)

But I'm a natural leader. Kids follow me, for whatever reason.

See what I mean? I'm like the Pied Piper of kids! (ha ha!)

Some people might feel sorry for me when they see my lack of hair. They might think I'm insecure or sick. But no, siree! Thankfully God has given me a beautifully confident, happy, and strong spirit.

It's like He knew what He was doing.

in the meantime...

Hey, this is Caroline! Wow, Mommy is just SO floored from the sweet responses we've received from you guys this week via comments, facebook, emails, etc. Thank you so much for loving us, encouraging us, and praying for God to bring us a baby to our family. It means so much to us. I, Caroline, would really like a SISTER, if I have any say in the matter, but I'd be pretty happy with a brother, too. :)

And just because my Mom and Dad have been working really hard on all their adoption stuff, don't think that I'm getting the short end of the deal in the meantime! Wanna see what I'VE been up to?

Working on my scissor skills & making lots of crafts and drawings.

And Spring has sprung!, which means I'm outside a ton. (AND my eczema has majorly kicked up, too.)

Daddy's taught me how to look for worms in the yard.

And then he & I take the worms and go FISHING together! (do ya like my pole?)

I caught a fish THIS big!

Just kidding.

But as I was sitting here fishing by myself, Mommy looked over and noticed me reeling something in ALL by myself! I didn't say a word! (highly unusual for me, as most of you know...)

I caught a fish all by myself!! I'm not quite brave enough to hold it myself yet. :) I LOVE to fish now!

We've also been having students over to our house, which I LOVE. They are so fun and sweet to me, and I love having them all wrapped around my little finger. :)

(see what I mean?)

So don't think for a second that Mommy & Daddy have forgotten me.

Because it's a pretty good life.