THE STORM

Two nights this past week we have had sirens - possible tornadoes - which resulted in the flood of the century to which many of us spent hours shop vac-cing our basements. Last night, no sirens, but it sounded horrible outside - quarter size hail, high winds, you get the picture. Well, maybe you don't until you see these:

Our Backyard - part of it anyway....

Notice the neighbor's tree across the street - you can almost see the path the wind was on!

Joe's poor corn - and he had just said the day before how great it was looking....

Neighbor's tree that fell into our flower bed, bushes, and trees. This was a very tall tree - it was a ton of work to get out of there!

Close up of neighbor's tree.

Neighbor's Mailbox -

Trampoline down the road a block.
All in all - what a mess our city is at the moment - an impressive storm, to say the least.

The Journal

This is Chloe's latest thing - she journals EVERYTHING - I mean everything!! If you happen to cross her path on any given day, you may be part of "the journal". It just makes me smile - she takes her journaling seriously - I love that about her.

Ferris Wheel

During our Tulip Festival - the local paper (Sioux County Democrat) captured this photo and had it in the paper. This is Chloe, and her best friend (as she tells me daily) Caeleigh, along with Caeleigh's Dad, our pastor. I played with the color a bit and ended up with this. Chloe's first Ferris Wheel ride and she LOVED it!!

Birthday Girl

There is a special little girl that brings "summer" to our home every June 21 - our little Chloe turns 6 today. This is a day that brings so many feelings to me - overall I am overwhelmingly grateful for a God that put this all together - how He orchestrated bringing just the right precious girl from China to fit in our home all the way around the world. But I am also grateful for the birthmother that chose to give life - she took the hard road culturally - and for that I am also grateful. The feelings this day always evokes for me are hard to put into words - but our Chloe is a blessing beyond words - she is a gift.

I love being a mom to this little one - she brightens my day constantly through her words and actions. She makes us laugh and reminds us that it is ok to cry;

her quick humor never ceases to amaze us; and her love and patience for her sister is a precious gift that the two of them can share.

Happy Birthday Chloe - we are so glad to call you our daughter!!

Hope is Fading

This is a student project that Allan Rosenow made - as a member of a family with 13 special needs adoptions - this child really knows the meaning of adoption - I was touched by this. Pray you will be too.....

Hope is Fading from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.