Here's to

Here's to a great weekend~

Here's to Wes and Carole who are the kindest, most hospitable set of second parents I will ever know~

Here's to my "Golden Girls"~you are truly the most energetic, wise and fun people I know, being over 85 is irrelevant to you and I love that about all of you~

Here's to still being the best coffee I've ever had, at Giggles in Red Oak, IA~

Here's to Dave and Karen who let me drive their car this weekend~you are way better then Enterprise~

Here's to the best doughnuts in the world found at Casey's gas station~

Here's to Iowa, the only place in the world where premium gas is cheaper then regular~


Here's to the new pastor who loves God and loves people and to his family who followed God's call~ Kevin and Jessica, God is so obviously using you to accomplish much for Him, thank you for Shepherding and protecting our friends and God's family~

Here's to friends that pick up as if you just saw each other yesterday and visit well knowing you won't see them tomorrow~


Here's to Scott and Rachel and beautiful weddings simply because you know they will have a great marriage~


Here's to new babies, Faith we love you...We love your Mommy and Daddy too, you are beautiful

Here's to a wonderful brother and sister-in-law that I seem to see more often in the middle of random places like Colombia, Missouri~

Here's to good weekends, great friends, and time away from the city to quiet my soul and remember what is important~

I call three places home,

Here's to hanging out for a while where a piece of my heart will always, always be.

My new favorite pictures...

I'll be busy the next few days so here are a few favorite pictures to share until later. Have a great week!

Natalie on her way to Avery's first birthday party.


Natalie and the birthday girl, Avery.


Yeah for parties!


Yes, this is a real first time ever, pony tail. Daddy loved it!

Yeah!!!

Welcome Baby Faith Elizabeth!!! 8 lbs 10 oz and a long labor for Mommy! We love you so much already and can't wait to meet you!!! It was nice of you to be born on Papaw Orville's birthday. Natalie thanked God for a new friend in the world today. We love you Nate and Leah! See you soon!

Swirling thoughts

I'll be working for the next couple of days so if I don't blog tonight, it will be a little bit. There is a lot going on in the Hall house, as usual. Chris and I had a very busy month in April because we were going to foster parenting classes two nights a week. We graduated last week and are still trying to recover from the busyness. Our house is slowly coming back together. We were planning to be a part of the foster to adopt program. It's no secret that both of us really want to adopt a child. Through this program, we would be foster parents, for whatever age we choose. We were thinking infant to five.If a parent's rights are terminated (in Florida and most states this happens within one year) then the foster parents have the option to adopt that child. I really want to do this. We may have lots of kids come through our doors that we don't adopt, but we would love to be the first place that they learn about unconditional love and safety. While my heart is still in this, we decided that we need to wait a while. We need to let Natalie get a bit older. This is tough because I had very much gotten in my head that our second child would be one we adopted from the foster care system. So now we are in limbo about if and when to have a second child, if we can afford the additional maternity insurance, if, if, if. The foster classes certify us for five years so we have some time to make decisions. There is just a lot to think about. Then to throw something else in the mix, I saw an ad for a part time social work job at a dialysis clinic. From the looks of it, this would provide health insurance (which if it is through a job would include maternity), so I applied. I absolutely love my job at hospice and would be very sad to leave, but more stability and benefits are calling. And I could very well love this job too. I heard from the company the day after I applied and I have interview on Friday. I'm telling you all this to ask you to pray. I don't want to leave a job I love only for money. I need to know this is the next step God has for us. I'll know more Friday, but please pray for us between now and then. So there you have it. Some little portions of all that is spinning in my brain right now. Natalie just climbed on my lap making it more difficult to type, so I'll close with a few recent pics. Thanks to Marcia for the idea of the one in the mirror. Have a great week!

Congrats

Aunt Sarah,

We are all so proud of you!!! Yahoo for graduation day! Wish we could celebrate with you, but know we are having a party here too! We love you!

Chris, Allison, and Natalie

The following message is from Natalie:

A glance at our weekend

We had a very fun weekend. Chris' Grandmama and Cousins, visited us. Lindsey brought her four year old daughter, Carson. Natalie and Carson had so much fun together. Lindsey and I decided we really should get together more often. They are on there way to Disney for the week. Natalie got to sleep with me Saturday night because of all the company. At three in the morning I hear, "Mommy, let's talk." I tried to explain that it was still night night. "Mommy, where Carson go?" I told her she was night night. I closed my eyes and Natalie said, "mommy,....Boo!" Please, it is night night. She laid there and talked to herself. I would drift back to sleep and suddenly feel my eyes being pulled open by toddler hands and hear, "mommy, awake!" This went on until 5 am when she finally fell back to sleep with her head on my left hip. So I was afraid to move the beast for fear of waking her. It was a long night that ended with me, the good pastor's wife falling asleep holding my grape juice during communion. I was startled awake by one of our Elder's in the back of the sanctuary when he started talking. But, like a good pastor's wife, I fell asleep and jerked awake, but did not spill one drop out of my cup. :-0 That my friends, is experience.
Here are a couple of pics from the weekend.