What we've been up to

I haven't posted much about us lately, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to do that now. (And as I've mentioned before, I'm not going to do an adoption update until after Vera's fundraiser has ended. All adoption-related posts are about Vera until my birthday! )

William is playing soccer for the 4th straight season, and he's getting better & better!
His passing skills are really starting to develop.









During the first game of the season, while in goal, he dislocated his finger. Here he is, being nursed by the assistant coach (always helps when that coach is also Daddy!)














I was so excited to get the privilege of picking Zack up at the airport 2 weeks ago... it's great having him back home!












William received his very first report card, and it was great! We'd been looking for an opportunity to take him to Medieval Times, and we thought this was a great time to do it. We all had lots of fun!











We took William to his second Lowe's Kids Clinic, and he made a Frankenstring Magic Trick. He has a blast (but all that hammering will definitely give you a headache!)












We met our friends the Davis family at church a little early last night. They were wanting some family pictures made, and the lake area was a great place to do just that. Zack took the official photos with his camera, but I snapped a few while we were there, too.

The first picture looks like it should be on a campaign poster...
Looking Towards The Future













I am thankful for the Davis family and their friendship. Deanna has become an especially special friend of mine, and I know without a doubt that God's fingerprints are all over our friendship. Our families' lives have intersected repeatedly over the years. Our husbands grew up together. We all worked in ministry together at another church. And now we are in church together again: Deanna leads our women's ministry, where I'm actively involved; and Jeff led the mission trip that Zack just returned from.

And an added bonus to all of this? Our kids are now friends, too! We are especially thankful that William has friends at church now, something we'd been praying for.









I just love this picture of Deanna with her 2 girls (her son & William were off hunting for deer tracks by the lake at the time).

Soccer

William is once again playing soccer. I'll have to upload some pictures when I get a chance, but in the meantime, if any of our local friends/family would like to attend a game, just send me an email and I'll give you his schedule! He plays almost every Saturday from now through November 21st.

Birthday Party, Soccer Ends, PGA Fun

What happens when you miss out on the first 5 birthdays of your child’s life? Well apparently you go overboard with the 6th! It’s not something we’ll do every year. Honestly, Zack & I don’t think our sanity could handle that. But it was a lot of fun!

The evening included 17 kids aged 3 – 11, lots of moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, 50+ hot dogs, a huge birthday cake, seemingly endless presents, and a very loud & entertaining musician/magician/comedian/balloon artist. Okay, so he’s probably not the act you’ll want to book for your wedding, cook-out, shower, or high school reunion… but he was a HUGE hit with the under 12 crowd!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made William’s first American birthday party so much fun! While he appreciates all the awesome gifts he received, we think the best part of the day for him was having all the kids in his backyard to play with him.

William's actual birthday is this Saturday. We'll be at the lake for the holiday weekend, and he's looking forward to celebrating with another cake while we're there!

In addition to the birthday party, William also had his last soccer game & his team party. He was excited to get his first trophy. He also was awarded with a certificate for Best Team Spirit. His coach later told us that one of the best things about coaching this season was William’s enthusiasm and the big smile on his face when he would score.




William also attended his first PGA tournament on Sunday! We didn’t know how well it would go over with him, but he lasted for almost 6 hours. Of course, that included lots of hot dogs, ice cream, chips, drinks, and a trip to the pro shop! But he really liked it and has decided that his favorite player is Zach Johnson… probably because 1) his name is Zach (spelled different than our Zack) 2) his son is William, and 3) I mentioned that Zach also loves Jesus.

Soccer 3/29/08

Soccer Game 3/22/08