Our little Elves (and Mimi)

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Izzie's First Concert

We took Izzie to YouthQuake this year. She seemed to really enjoy herself...even though she looks like a deer in the headlights in this picture. The band behind us is Fireflight. They rocked our face off. More pictures coming later...

Izzie's first time at the beach...

We've spent the week at Panama City Beach...and it has been wonderful. This was Izzie's first time at the beach. At first, she didn't even like feeling the sand on her feet...but after a while she was sitting with her shovel and bucket having a great time. She still doesn't like the water as much as she will, however. She has gotten used to the pool, and yesterday she was practically floating by her self.

Here are some shots I took last evening at sunset. I only wish the other kids were with us, so we could have gotten some really nice family pictures. At any rate, it was a good photo shoot...




A passerby was gracious enough to take one of all 3 of us. I think it turned out very good, except for the dude on the right. :) The photographer should never get on that side of the camera...

My favorite shot from last evening.

Day out with Kristi and Alan...

We spent yesterday afternoon at Lake Guntersville with our good friends Kristi, Alan and their two boys AJ and Luke. They are also adopting a beautiful little girl named Syndey from Guatemala. Pray for them as they continue to work towards bringing that little angel home.

Luke was also born in Guatemala, so it was pretty neat to see him and Izzie together. They played so good, and Luke was such a little gentleman...even though Izzie was trying to take his candy, baseballs, baseball glove, clothes, etc....



This child gets more and more beautiful every day. God has blessed our family so much.

Luke and Izzie on their first drive together. I think Luke is holding on to that bat so hard...because he's afraid Izzie's gonna want to take that as well. :)

Caitlin's Prom

Our oldest, Caitlin, went to her first prom Friday night. Only yesterday she could barely sit up on her own, and was trying to eat sand on the beach. She's grown into a very beautiful young lady...and we are both very proud of her.

New pictures...

It's been a while since we posted some new pictures...so here goes.


Izzie decided she needed some more roughage in her diet, so what's better than dried grass clippings? Yeah yeah yeah...I'm a bad parent for letting her dump grass on her head and eat a little. She sure was having fun, though.





My girl's a Auburn Tiger! She does this little thing where if you tell her "War Eagle!' she raises her hands and smiles real big. When you say "Roll Tide" she gives you a big raspberry. We're raisin' her right...

Finally a new update

Yes, yes, I know. I've heard from EVERYONE at how bad I have been about updating since we've gotten home. I'm telling you, Izzie plus 3 more really keep me busy. Anyway, our baby dedication went great. Our pastor called Brandon Brad there for a bit, but it was because there was a guy that got saved earlier that was named Brad. We understand, but we still joke with our pastor about it. Izzie was trying to talk to the crowd while the dedication was going on. Everyone just thinks she is so cute, and I totally understand why.

For Spring Break we went to Gatlinburg with some friends. We had a great time. We took Izzie around the aquarium to look at the fish. She just loved it, especially the big ones. We took the kids ice skating, walked around everywhere, went picnicking, it was great. But the day after we got there we were at the outlet mall shopping for Easter dresses for the older girls. I was in the dressing room with Mackenzie when Brandon brings Izzie back to me. She was covered in blood!!! She fell and hit her head on the T-shirt rack. So, as I was panicking, we rushed her to the bathroom to clean her up. Then we rushed to find a medical clinic to take her to. They were going to give her 3 stitches, but they ended up doing a butterfly. Unfortunately she wouldn't keep the sterile strip on, so now she has a gash in her head. It's really not that bad, but we are still putting Mederma on it to help keep down scarring.

Easter was great for Izzie. She had a great time Easter egg hunting. She really loved it after she realized that there was chocolate in the plastic eggs. (She's a chocoholic just like her mom!!!) Finally she would find an egg and open it just to see what was in it. After the hunt she was even getting into other children's eggs to get their chocolate. What are we going to do with her???

I must say she had adjusted great. God really blessed us with the perfect baby. We all just love her to death. We will try to keep the blog updated more. Also, please pray for my friend Kristi. They have been in process for soooooo long. She is leaving tomorrow to go foster for only God knows how long. We hope it will be a short trip and that Kristi and Sydney will be home very soon!!!

New picture...

I wanted to post a shot from the little photo shoot me and Izzie had. I'm thinking about starting a little photography studio, and I needed a model. Izzie was more than gracious, and agreed to model for me. I'm telling you...I wish all the people I take pictures of were as easy to work with as this little girl is. She just sat there, and smiled and posed. This was one of the best ones.

Enjoy....

Mardi Gras Izzie

We all went down to Foley, AL to enjoy Mardi Gras this past weekend. Izzie wasn't sure what was going on at first...but before long she was enjoying herself very much. She wracked up tons of beads and stuffed animals..and a moon pie or two.


Poor Izzie...partied out. It seemed like everybody on the floats were pointing at her and throwing things straight to her. As we were walking out, everybody was pointing and smiling and saying how cute she was. I...have to agree. She is pretty cute.

Izzie and Daddy night.

This is the kind of thing that happens when Izzie stays at home alone with Daddy...




Yep...that's underwear on her head.

Izzie's 1st Christmas!!

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year, with our complete family. Izzie was so funny. She figured out pretty quickly what to do when someone gives you a box wrapped with paper. We've just about got the house back together again. She had toys from one end of the house to the other. I know we say it a lot, but we are so blessed. God is so good to us, and we are so thankful to Him for bringing our family together. We are very excited about the coming year.

Here's some pictures from Izzie's 1st Christmas...

Izzie at home....

We haven't updated the blog in a while, so I thought I'd post some pictures of Izzie at home:

Just look at those eyes.

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This is how she wakes up. I thought I'd have a problem with a "morning child"...but I think she's actually converting me to be a morning person as well. I mean...look at that face!!

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Izzie loves her Mommy.

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Sleeping Angel.
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Izzie is Walking!!!

Izzie is walking at just under 14 months old. Until tonight, she was only taking a couple of steps. Now, she's almost running. That's my girl....

More pictures from the Welcome Home party...

Another shot of the chicken. Mmmmmmmmm.

Look at the big girl standing. She's starting to walk more and more. She'll be running by Christmas.

Pretty girl, getting ready for church.

One of my favorite shots from the past week.

Great time welcoming home Mandie and Izzie

We had a great time this last Saturday celebrating Mandie and Izzie's homecoming. My Grandfather's bar-b-q chicken was the centerpiece of the meal. It was a great honor for me to be able to cook it with him at my house.




Notice the shirt. It says "Sorry I kept you waiting." On the back, it says "I'm bilingual. I cry in English and Spanish."

Izzie knew exactly what to do with her cake. She was just wondering what all the people were laughing at. Can't a girl eat cake in peace???


God has truly blessed our family, more than we could ever imagine or ask for. As Thanksgiving draws near, our cup is so full...it is flowing over. Thanks to everyone who helped us pray, and gave us words of encouragement as we traveled down the journey to bring our sweet baby girl home.

Izzie is HOME!!!

Mandie and Izzie landed in Atlanta Tuesday night at around 6. Our family is finally complete...and all in the same Country. God is good.

I missed this little girl

Izzie loves her big brother.

Yep...Izzie is glad to be home.

Our amazing family.

Tomorrow is the big day!!!

I'm sitting here in my apartment working on packing. Izzie is taking a nap. My brother went walking around for a little bit. I'm all by myself, and this overwhelming feeling hits me. I'm going to be home tomorrow!!! I think it is just now sinking in. Wow!!! I am so excited to be going home, but at the same time I'm sad to be leaving. I have fallen in love with Antigua. If anyone gets a chance to visit, please do. I've met so many truly wonderful people here. This has been an amazing journey, and God has really blessed us through this trip.

I also want to thank everyone who has helped us along the way. Thank you for your prayers especially. We love you all, and tomorrow we will be home forever!!! So get ready, we've got 2 weekends of partying already scheduled!!! We love you all, and see you tomorrow!!!

Visa Appointment is DONE!

Mandie and Izzie had their Visa appointment today. Everything went fine, and as expected. Myriam, or interpreter, will pick up the Visa on Monday...and then get it to Mandie on Tuesday before she flies home.

It almost doesn't seem real. We're almost done. Isabella is almost home, and our family is almost complete. God has been so good to us. If you had told either of us a couple of years ago that we would be going through what we did this past year, we would have thought you were crazy. God's ways are higher than ours, and we do not always understand where He's leading us. But, if we'll just take that step and follow where He's leading...we'll always come out the other end in a much much better place.

We will miss Guatemala very much. The people that we've met there are amazing. We couldn't have made it without some of those people helping us (even though they may not have known they were) get through the long wait. We will miss the food. Antigua is an awesome place, and the food is amazing. Best hot chocolate and coffee in the World. Yes....we will miss Guatemala. But, we'll be back soon...

Keep praying for us. We still have a few more days until Mandie and Izzie are safe, on the ground in the good old United States. And then...we will need continued prayer that we will raise Isabella in the way that God wants us to.

Thanks everybody!!!

Getting closer!!

The doctor's appointment went fine. Izzie didn't even cry on the first shot. She just jerked her arm away and looked at the doctor like he was crazy for poking her in the arm like that! She cried a little on the second shot (probably because she was getting tired of that mean doctor). We're going to have a hard time with this child...nothing phases her.

The next step is the Visa appointment on Friday, November 2nd. We're #28 out of 30...so it'll be a long day. Todd is flying in on Thursday!!! Then the Visa will be ready for pickup on Monday, November 5th....and then on Tuesday....HOME!!!!! It's been a long journey. God has been faithful the whole way.

We've almost got her home!!

Lastest Information

Monday we have to head to the city. Izzie has to see the Embassy doctor for clearance to come to the US. Plus she also has to have visa pictures taken. We'll get all that done, then next will be the Embassy appointment. I'm so excited!!! I can't believe we will be home in 10 days. The sad thing is I've already starting packing. Oh well. We'll keep you posted on how things are going.