Zach's Almost Perfect Birthday

Well, yesterday was it the day Zach has been talking about for many, many months...his 5th birthday!

We were able to enjoy cupcakes after breakfast...what do you do with a batch of 24?...eat a lot & share a lot!It happened to be his preschool trip to the Real Life Farm...Zach LOVED his time with the animals, I can not post every picture of him with the animals...feeding a baby cow a bottle, riding the horse, feeding the baby goat, petting the ducks, milking the cow...but this was his FAVORITE part...right in the baby sheep pen, he could have stayed there all day.

And then Zach LOVES bowling, so off to ZapZone we went for a round of mini-bowling & some jump around time & more cupcakes.

Zach is our precious Zach, so very full of life & love. I think he has the "gift of friendship"...kids he hardly knows, their parents tell me that they consider Zach their friend. Everything is more fun with a friend! Thankfully, he has had his best friend as BJ & now another best friend that he plays with so much, Ellyana!And so we never forget Zach at this age...he's the only guy cute enough to pull off wearing his socks hiked up to bed every night...and his most appropriate nickname..."Snack Attack Zach" he is constantly asking for snacks & saying he's hungry!

Zach LOVED his day, the phone calls, the cards, the gifts, the little party, the farm...but as he was trying to get to sleep...he said the thing he had really wanted...was a baby sheep, he said he could start building a pen in the backyard...its just like Zach to dream BIG!!

Tonight started T-ball & tomorrow morning is Kindergarten Round-up for him. Its kinda sad to think of him growing up, but we very are proud of him & the work God has continued to do in his life, and we are oh, so happy to have him in our family!!!

Random Post

Ellyana & I were able to fly to help celebrate Grandma K's 60th birthday...such a happy time to be together as a family!

Learning how to ride the little motorized 4 wheeler in her new Poppy Dip Dress, that coordinates with her cousins...

I was able to help with a little radio interview with Loving Shepherd Ministries...click on WPEO, Straight Talk with Janet Hall...it was aired on Saturday. Always, such a blessing to get to share about awesomeness of adoption!

Lots of other stuff going on too, but all we are all counting the days till Zach's 5th birthday on Wednesday (pictures to come ;)

Sharing in Women's Bible Study is a blessing, our current book "Calm my Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow...has been super! Related to our Bible Study, I found these quotes from Roy Lessin of DaySpring...entitled Fret Busters...I'll post some now & may some later...

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength. -Corrie Ten Boom

Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.-Corrie Ten Boom

There is one thing that God says to every believer, regardless of his circumstances—“Trust Me.”“Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” Psalm 37:3

Confidence is not based on you having all the resources needed to take care of yourself; confidence is based upon the truth that God is faithful.

We need sanctified imaginations. It is easy for any of us to fret and have our imaginations run wild. In reality, most things don’t happen the way we imagined them. The Bible says, “The just shall live by faith.” It doesn’t say, “The just shall live by their imaginations.” The Word of God builds your faith; your imagination can be a fast track to worry. Worry says, “What will happen to me, things seem out of control.” Faith says, “My life is in God’s hands and He is in control.”

Worrying about a circumstance won’t change the circumstance, but worry will change you.

God is in control. Things won’t always be the way they are right now. God knows how and when to bring about change. Trust His timing, He doesn’t make mistakes.

If you don’t have peace about what you are doing, stop doing it.

When a thought of anxiety comes knocking on the door of your mind you must refuse it entrance. If you invite it in, it will have dinner with you, and if it has dinner with you it will quickly move in and want to spend the night.

If you find that you are anxious about something ask yourself if you have prayed about it, and fully committed it to the Lord. If you have prayed about it, committed it to the Lord, and are still anxious, begin to thank God in your heart and in your prayers for being in control of the situation. Prayer, commitment, and thanksgiving open the door to peace.

The best and only policy we should have toward anxiety in our lives is “zero tolerance”.

Vacation Pics

We had a great time at Hilton Head Island last week, beautiful weather, beautiful beach, lots of swimming & fun...
There was a lot of wildlife around (starfish, jellyfish, sand crabs, turtles, dolphins...) We went on a dolphin watch boat and on our last morning we saw 2 dolphins right off the beach right in front of us

Thought this shot was cute of both boys standing the same way on the boat.

Ellyana loved vacation like her brothers (and parents ;)

Lots of digging for the boys & climbing for the girl (and it was all safe climbing so Mommy could relax)This was one of Zach's highlights.Where did it go? The brothers thought it was so cool that the mini-golf place supplied "nets" to fish out the balls.
Last night on the beach.
They could have kept digging all night.
Brian had a conference in Atlanta, so we were there for a few days after Hilton Head. The kids & I had a wonderful day visiting dear friends near Atlanta & we were thankful for a fun stop visiting great friends near Cincinnati on the way home. A 13 hour drive home, didn't go too bad...but boy, it felt good to be home at the end! I would be a beach bum if I could...thankfully I'm not...but we sure enjoyed our time!!!!