Happy Adoption Day!

One year ago today, we were on a plane from Atlanta to Guatemala on our way to meet our son Nathan for the first time. After two years (though it felt like much longer) of waiting and working and longing, the big moment was almost here. In a matter of hours we arrived at our hotel and found a little boy waiting for us in the lobby. Those first few days were difficult but no less rewarding. Since then our boy has grown in so many ways, and I think we have too. He still surprises us, stresses us out, and blesses us everyday. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for bringing him into our family. HAPPY ADOPTION DAY, NATHAN!

NATHAN is TWO!!!

Nathan's birthday was a blast and we can't believe our sweet boy is 2! Here are some pictures from the "Dig" Party. We dug in his new sandbox and planted sunflower seeds. It was a beautiful day and we were all worn out!

Home Sweet Cabin

Home sweet cabin...

This cozy cabin was our home for four days on our recent vacation to the Smokies. It had been years since we'd had a real vacation, so this one was extra-nice. No hospitals or language barriers. Just a cute little boy and his family...

...some heavy machinery...
...and beautiful views of the mountains from our bedroom window and back porch.

Normally people might complain about having construction near their peaceful cabin.

But our boys couldn't have been happier. Their favorite thing was to play on the deck with their riding toys and watch the dump trucks back down the hill below our cabin.

We took it easy and enjoyed each other's company

We tickled and wrestled

We air-hockeyed

We even played a few holes of golf...sort of

(This golf game was somewhat addicting, even for a certain Grandmama.)

If you look carefully you can see Micah keeping up on his sports news

There were friendly bears...

...and silly little monkey with a cell phone

One of Nathan and Micah's other favorite activities was stair-climbing. (Not necessarily a favorite of the dads.)

The cousins had a blast together eating,

and playing,

and being just plain silly: Yo cousin! Yo cousin! Yo! Nate Dawg rockin' tha Gat-lin-biz-urg!

We even had a home-theater in the basement.

What did we watch??? Bob the Builder (Nathan's favorite)
Close encounters of the "digger" kind. Our son was in Caterpillar heaven.

Thank you, God, for the mountains, for Krispy Kreme donuts,

and for family vacations.