Crazy Love

One of the books I have read recently is called Crazy Love. It's a great book and is available as a free audio download for the month of July at http://ow.ly/gjbz. Check it out!

Mocha Club

Update on Noah's swimming

Ok, I am new to the sport of swimming. Noah's official places were 3rd in backstroke, 3rd in freestyle, 1st place relay team, and 6th overall in the city/county meet (this is all in his age group of course). We are SO proud of him!

Anybody know where the 2020 Olympics will be?

Noah just finished 7 weeks of swim lessons. It has kept us very busy this summer, but has been well worth it. He has improved so much and actually competed in his first swim meet on Saturday! He did great. He placed 4th in the backstroke and 1st in freestyle. Technically there were 2 heats in his age group for freestyle and we only know that he won his heat, but we will find out where he placed overall on Tuesday. We are proud of him either way of course!

4th of July

We had a great time at the lake on the 4th!

Sophia and her buddy Owen. I think this was her first boat ride.

Ok, Noah has had a haircut since this picture was taken :)

Sophia had so much fun with her daddy in the pool!

I know how this must look, but I can assure you that this child is NOT a dunce.

Noah, Micah, Riley, and Walker taking in the fireworks at the end of a long, fun day.

Selah Evette

God has given us a name for our new daughter. It will be Selah Evette. Selah is a Hebrew word that is said to be very hard to translate, but many define it as something like this : "Its precise meaning is mysterious, but it is interpreted as a pause to breathe and reflect on the important words just uttered." It's basically an instruction placed at the end of writings that tells the reader to stop and think about what they've just read. Reflect. Measure this against what you know. We thought this to be very appropriate, as we hope that bringing this precious little one from Ethiopa into our family will inspire others to do just that. To think about what they see when they see our family. To measure it against what they've always thought a family should look like. To reflect on their own families and how God may be calling them to follow Him. Selah.

Her middle name Evette is equally as full of meaning for us. In January of 2008, our very dear friend, Evette, didn't wake up one Saturday morning. She passed away in her sleep, leaving behind her husband Jason and 3 young children. The cause of death was never determined. She was 33 years old. She was beautiful, quirky, loyal, giving, and too many other wonderful things to list. She LOVED babies. Everything about them. She had to be there, at the hospital, when my babies were born. She missed Sophia's birth only because she was on a mission trip :). She would be SO excited about our adoption. She would ask me 1000 questions about it. She would plan a baby shower. She would love her with everything she had. That's how she loved everyone. She was always looking out for the overlooked. There was no question that we wanted to honor and remember her by naming our baby girl after her. I hope that she will grow up to be like her in so many ways.