He is REALLY FOUR!!!

Will actually turned 4 on June 24, Tuesday. We celebrated his birthday with family in CA on June 12. Will said he turned 4 then because of the BIG 4 on the cake. We celebrated with Ash on Sunday after church with dinner and a cake. After evening church, Will got a great present--a car's patio set--from Ash and Ryan and we had more cake. Will and I made cupcakes on Monday evening and he took them to day care to celebrate with the kids there. On Wednesday evening, Bill McFarland came for dinner and we finished "Sunday's" cake. Will said that since the cake was all gone, his birthday was over.

I certainly am enjoying living life as a mom of an ever changing young boy. He loves life! We visited with his friend Lexi on Tuesday evening--only to discover that she had had her tonsils out earlier in the day. That evening as went to bed, Will wanted to pray for Lexi, our neighbor who has had surgery on his hand, and his Uncle Robert. I ask him every night what he wants to pray about--Tuesday, he commented that God makes people feel better and so he want to pray for his friends. How much I continue to learn about my own faith as I listen to Will express his faith in God. I am thankful to God for my four year old boy! Truly a gift!

I've been teaching a grad class all week. So, life has been pretty hectic.

We're back..........

We arrived from CA early this morning--1 am. I finally got to sleep sometime after 3:30. We had a great and extremely busy time in CA. My niece graduated high school--I attended my college room mate's wedding in southern CA (Beth Carlson to Craig White)--I also attended my cousin Amy's wedding--celebrated Will's 4th birthday--went to Disneyland with my parents and my niece Chloe, who is a couple months younger than Will--visited with my siblings including Robert, who is progressing slowly from a traumatic brain injury.

I am in the midst of finalizing the last of the documents that I need to apostille in order to have my dossier submitted in Russia. While we were gone, my apostilled birth certificates arrived as did an amended immigration approval. We're getting close to the wait period. After I finish the paper work, I need to figure out the money situation. For those of you following this journey, please pause and pray for the child that God is preparing for us as well as for the resources that we need. Thank you. I was thrilled to go to the annual Memorial Day EAC adoption picnic at the Cleveland Zoo--it was cool to walk in the parade of nations with others from Yaroslavl, Russia, the city where I first met Will.

I really enjoyed seeing Disneyland through the eyes of a child. I always enjoy Disneyland, but was thrilled to see Will's reaction to Mickey Mouse, Mark Twain's steamboat, flying Dumbo and the storybook canal ride.