Memorial Day

Ken worked on Monday so we didn't do anything during the day but as soon as he was off we headed out to an early dinner at Red Robbin. Always a yummy place to eat. We loved their freckled  lemonade. 

This was by far our most humbling Memorial Day. Ken had the great idea to go to the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. When you first entry the cemetery there are American Flags lining the way. It was such a beautiful site. Katie said, "American flag, best flag ever!" We couldn't agree more! We are very proud to be American and we are especially proud of our military men and women.

When you get into the cemetery and see the thousands of tombstones it takes your breath away. It is one thing to hear the number of those who are buried there but to actually see a marker for each person is stunning. There really are not words to describe it properly. All I can say is how grateful we are for each person who has served, is serving and will serve. We are also grateful for their families because we know it is not just the military member who serves, it is their family as well.

For some reason Katie kept asking me to take her picture next to the tombstones. It's very unusual for her to ask me to take her picture. I normally have to bribe her. The face below was because Ken was telling her   to stay off of the grave.

We were there about fifteen minutes when we heard Taps being played. Talk about a touching moment! We weren't sure if it was a recording playing or someone playing live. After moving to another area we found out that it was a Boy Scout playing it. He was going around to each section of the cemetery and playing. He is only 14 years old. He wanted to do that to honor all the fallen heroes. What an amazing young man!

Fort Worth Zoo

We love that we live close to an amazing zoo. So much so, that we bought a membership last year. It is great to go to the zoo whenever the mood strikes us. Katie loves seeing all the animals. Her favorites are all the different monkeys. Our good friends also have memberships so we go with them often. It is great to make fun memories with them. Here are pictures from some recent trips.

From a trip with just me and my girl:

She likes the gorillas but not the loud waterfall in their enclosure.

 This guy was playing hide-and-seek. (Anyone else think the picture below is creepy?)

This guy paces back and forth all day long.

Feeding the birds for the first time. She LOVED it!

"Different Trips to the Same Place"

I really liked this analogy so I wanted to share it.  We are so grateful for the journey we took that lead us to K and Katie! We are on our second journey now and we can't wait to see who we are lead too.

Taken from Families Supporting Adoption

(funny side note: K is from Australia)

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place, you've read many guidebooks and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.

So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait--and wait--and wait.

Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like, "Relax. You'll get on a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!"

After a long time the ticket agent tells you, "I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat."

"By BOAT!" you say. "Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane." So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat.

It is a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three more times, marveling about each trip.

Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with other who also traveled by sea rather then by air.

People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are about to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, "Oh, be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible; traveling by sea is so easy."

You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself.

By Diane Armitage printed in the April 21, 1995 "Dear Abby" column.

Birth Mother's Day

Explanation of Birthmother's day: (taken from www.birthmombuds.com)
Birthmother's day is a day to celebrate and honor our birthmotherhood.  Its a day to reflect on the choice we made and the life we gave.  Its a day to recognize, that we are good mothers who made the ultimate sacrifice for our children.  This is a day to give gifts to birthmoms to show how much she is truly appreciated.


History on Birthmother's Day:
Birthmother's Day is celebrated the Saturday before Mother's Day.  It originated in 1990 by a group of birthmothers in Seattle, Washington.  Most birthmothers will agree that Mother's Day is a very painful holiday and these women wanted to create something that would honor their birthmotherhood.


While searching for ideas for a Birth Mom's gift for K this year I came across a great idea, a pedant made from the fingerprint of the adopted child. I loved this idea and I thought K would as well. It was a great way to give her back a physical part of Katie.


Thankfully my sister is very talented and can make almost any type of jewelry. So while she was visiting in January she made several molds of Katie's finger to take back home with her to figure out how to make the pedant.

Katie had so much fun making her fingerprints

Here is what my sister came up with. We sure hope K liked it!

(Sorry about my horrible pictures. It's really hard to capture the tiny lines.)