Busy November

November has been a busy month and I have anxiously been waiting to have our pictures done!!!  We were finally able to get them done and I love them!!  It has been so long since we have had family pictures taken.  Our family has grown and changed so much over the last few years.  We have been blessed by two different friends who are very gifted photographers to do our pictures.  It's not easy to get all these faces looking in the same direction!

Of course, we always have to get some playful ones of the kids too!

Thanksgiving was amazing.  My mom was able to come visit for a few days!  We love when family can come visit us since they all live so far away.

I can't believe my baby girl is 3 years old!!  She is the most incredible little girl.  God has truly blessed us with her!!  She keeps us ALL on our toes.  You can turn around for a second and then turn back and she's standing on the counter trying to get something out of the cabinet, she's very independent.  The boys think she is funny and does crazy things.  It's definitely a lot different than having boys.  Her favorite things to play with are her baby dolls.  I'm excited to see her grow over the next year!!

   

Thankful Hearts

As I was sitting here, I began to think about how much we have to be thankful for.  We have a God who loves us so much that He sent His son to die for us!  I am thankful for having a very loving, devoted husband.  We have 6 healthy children.  There are so many people out in the world who can't have children, and God has truly blessed us with many children.  I feel so blessed that God has laid it on our hearts to adopt a child.  It has been on our hearts for a few years, but now we are really listening to God's call and following through with it.  I know we will have to sacrifice a lot to raise the money, but the thought of providing a child in need with a family, just warms my heart! Our children are also becoming more excited about bringing a child into our home.  They just don't understand why it takes so long.  Here are some things our kids have said that they are thankful for:

Tyler:  I am thankful for food! 
Jacob:  I am thankful that Jesus died on the cross for me! 
Zachary:  I am thankful for what my parents provide me with!
Logan:  I am thankful for my parents & God!
Mason:  I love strawberry milk!
Kyndal:  I love Dana(her baby doll)!

Christopher:  I am thankful for God creating a person better than me and allowing me to have her as my wife!

The Lord has truly blessed our family!  We have a wonderful church family & friends!  My daycare is going very well and God keeps blessing us with more children.  All the extra kids that have came is helping pay the expenses for our adoption.  I feel like The Lord just continually shows us that this is what His will is for us.    

Six kids keep you busy, busy!

I love this season!!  Fall is by far my favorite.  I love when the weather starts to cool off and the way the leaves turn colors.  It's just so beautiful!  This Saturday we are going to be doing our family pictures.  I am so excited about it!!  It's been so long since we have had any taken.  We don't even have a family picture with Kyndal in it and she is almost 3 years old.  I guess having six kids keeps you really busy!  It was definitely an adventure trying to pick out clothes for eight people for pictures.  I will be sure to post pictures when we receive them back!!  I'm also hoping we can get a Christmas card out this year with our picture.  I don't think I've mailed one out since Kyndal has been born.  It's amazing how busy you get with six children.  It's hard to get stuff done like I use to when I only had a couple of kids.

Here's a little update on how the kids are doing.  The kids are really enjoying school, the only complaint I get from all 4 of them is that they don't get enough to eat at school. Tyler, Zachary and Logan all made the honor roll at school. Mason and Kyndal are doing well too.  I have been teaching Mason pre-k preparing him for Kindergarten next year.  He is doing really well with it.  Kyndal has came a long way with her shapes and colors.  Everyday we do calendar time with all the daycare kids and from doing that, Kyndal now knows all her colors and shapes much better.  She is also getting better at counting when we do our calendar.  It's hard to believe Kyndal is going to be 3 years old next month!  Where the does the time go?  All of my baby's are growing up, sniff, sniff.