Good news, GREAT news!

The good news is that after 8 years and after hearing my OB Dr. say 1)"congratulations, it's a boy" 2) "congratulations, you have another boy" 3) "looks like it's another boy, you're not disappointed are you?" 4) "you already have 3 boys at home, right? Oh man, you and Bart are just good at getting little boys, this is another boy"....I finally got to buy something pink! (How could I resist when it was 1.99 and 3.99 on summer clearance?)








The great news is that my final paperwork came back today from CWA that will finish my dossier! I had to send my dossier to them to review and then they had to send me two forms to add to it. So, the dossier is D-O-N-E, done!! And, I'm mailing it off to courier service who will hopefully get it authenticated w/o any glitches in DC then back to CWA, then on to Ethiopia!

God is Great

Mom: Carson you say the prayer tonight.
Carson: No.
Mom: Quinn, you say it.
Quinn: No.
Mom: Kade, do you want to?
Kade. God is great, God is great. Now I said my ABC's, next time won't you say them with me!

Meeting the President

Yes, I met the President today. Bart and I, along with other friends and family, attended a fundraiser for Aaron Schock who's running for Congress. President Bush came and spoke.

Bart's brother, Scott, and his wife, Heidi, Bart and I, and Bart's parents, Jaye and Peg.



























Waiting to meet the President is so surreal. There were Secret Service all around. It's just like you see in the movies. They don't smile, they peruse the crowd, and they are all listening to something on their earpieces. Everyone is eager with anticipation. I start to get butterflies. Suddenly he walks in and says "Hey guys." So completely normal. :) I think he's just a likeable guy. He cracked a few jokes, talked about his family and of course politics. One cool thing...one of the ladies in the room said "I pray for you everyday." Bush thanked her and told how the power of prayer had changed meaning for him after being in office for 8 years. He said he appreciated the prayers and could feel them. So cool. One funny thing...when he met us, Bart reached in his pocket to retrieve a photo. (When Bush was campaigning back in 2000, we saw him. Bart held up Carson in the crowd, who was then 3 mo. old, and Bush came and held him for a quick second so we could get a picture.) So, today, Bart gets out this photo and the President starts reaching for his pen. Bart says, "oh no, I don't want you to sign it, I signed it for you." President Bush looked at me, smirked and kinda laughed. He said, "I don't have that happen very often". Bart didn't just sign his name, by the way. :) He wrote a quick note on the back and then put Psalm 1:1-3.

All in all a great day. But yet my heart is heavy tonight. Our friend Leslie is really not doing well. Please keep her and her family in your prayers! Click on her name and you can link to her blog.

I'm Cleared!!!!

I just got a call from my social worker and she said my fingerprints cleared! Yeah! This is what I've been waiting on. My whole dossier is complete and just waiting. I couldn't send it off without the homestudy which couldn't be complete until my background check came back. So, now that this is all coming together, I can mail off the dossier to CWA, my agency, and get put on the waiting list!!!! I can't tell you the joy in my heart when I heard the words "your background check came back". I thought about my little girl again. I haven't allowed myself to go there yet b/c I really didn't know how long it would take to come back or if I would have to do it again. I don't deserve this quick turnaround time for my prints. I don't deserve such good news on an otherwise not so good day. But, I'm glad that God doesn't give me what I deserve. Again, He knows best and I am humbled by His goodness.

Happy Birthday Kade

Kade celebrated his third birthday last week! He is such a fun little guy. I love that he makes us laugh.

One









Two









Three!

Happy Birthday!

Holiday Weekend

This post is for you Shubs. :)











Well, we've had a busy, fun fourth of July weekend. Here's a recap...it started on Thursday night. The Rink family went to Mom and Dad's for the annual campout (we missed you Heidi and Sim!). The kids look forward to this all year! There are so many things to do "on the farm". Cole, Quinn, and Milo ride with Grandpa on the John Deere pulling the camper into the backyard to set up. The older kids ride the golf cart all around. After supper, we celebrated Kade and my birthday.









On the fourth, we had some friends over swimming (sorry no pool pics) then headed to Peoria for the fireworks. We got to watch them on the Spirit of Peoria boat on the river. Great view and the boys loved them.









Bart did have to work on Sat. but then we headed up to Sandwich Illinois (yes there's really a town called that) to visit our dear friends, Eric and Gina Hodel. Bart and Eric ran a road race then we just hung out, watched fireworks, and had a great time being together.









We got home today around noon and just enjoyed the sunshine and humidity! Then for supper we headed to our favorite restaurant, Chili's. It was such a nice evening that we decided to go mini golfing. :) The boys loved it and even Cole had a club and ball and hit at all 18 holes.