A Year Ago

Can You Hear a Mother's Cry?
As you look into their faces
Wondering who each one will become
One by one you refer them
To become someone's daughter or son
I wonderCan you hear a mother's cry
Far across the ocean wide
Until the day she comes to know
When she can bring her dear one home?
You feed, you wipe, you dress them
With tender loving care
Knowing someone, somewhere wants them
And soon they will be there.
I wonder
Can you hear a mother's cry
Far across the ocean wide
Until the day she comes to know
When she can bring her dear one home?
Hearing each case before you
You know there'll be more to come
Children needing families
And parents little ones.
I wonderCan you hear a mother's cry
Far across the ocean wide
Until the day she comes to know
When she can bring her dear one home?
The wait is long and tiring
But in faith and hope I press on.
Soon our prayers will be answered
And the waiting tears will be gone.
I wonder
Can they hear this mother's cry
Far across the ocean wide
Until the day I come to know

That I can bring my dear one home.

Spring Break

Today is the last day of our vacation to Florida . This was our first official family vacation as a family of four! For several years we have made the long trek to the south for Dayton ’s Spring Break. Although we hate to leave the fun and sun, we are ready to be in our own beds once again. Poor little Dayton has a stomach virus and has been a little under the weather this past week. He is such a trooper, never complains! We did however end up in the ER with him last night and hopefully the virus will be gone by the time you are reading this! We always come away from our family vacation renewed and recharged and I have to say that this year was a bit more exhausting than in the past due to the fact that we have a one (almost 2 ) year old to look after now! I can honestly say with 100% certainty that Myah had a nice time! We enjoyed showing her all of our favorite places and seeing it through her eyes. We are a family who loves the beach and Disneyworld , I told Mark at one point that it is unanimous, every member of our family now loves Disney. Myah actually pushed me out of the way to see the character parade in Magic Kingdom . She met Mickey and Minnie, Mulan, Jojo, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale! The crowds were insane the weather was rainy and stormy at times but all in all, we once again have sadness in our heart to leave. We also were able to enjoy many great memories with family and friends while we were in Florida.Uncle Scott, Aunt Lora and Rachel were in Clearwater so we visited with them for the day. We took Myah to see the Easter bunny and also enjoyed going to Easter Services and dinner with my cousin Sheri and her family/in-laws. The Easter Bunny delivered our baskets to Sheri’s house and the kids all loved the candy and toys. It was so fun to dress Myah up in her new dress, shoes and gloves! She even had a matching dress for her bitty baby doll. Myah was so happy to be able to go outside, she totally embraced the nice weather and has a great tan! She is so dark compared to us! She played with Dayton in the ocean and had the most fun digging in the sand, I did find her trying to eat it a few times! She also has been talking all of the time and saying so much. Her first 3 word sentence she repeated after me when I was talking about how far we had parked and I said “ wow, we are way, way out”, Myah chirped in like a parrot and said, “way, way out!” She is becoming such a goofball, Dayton has enjoyed making her laugh in the back seat of the van when she gets fussy. Dayton was thrilled to see his best buddy Brandon and his family on our last day at Disney. He is growing up so fast, he turns 12 in a few weeks! I was walking with him one day and noticed that we take the same strides when we walk, his legs are just about as long as mine! He assures me that soon his legs will be longer than mine! He and Mark have enjoyed lots of time together, he looks up to Mark so much. That is the sad ending to our vacation, we don’t want it to end, we love spending our time together as a family, uninterrupted. Today is the 16th anniversary of one of the most precious moments in my life, when Mark proposed to me! I will never forget how much I loved him that day and never dreamed that I could ever love him more. Today, as we sit in our mini van for the 16th hour of sweet togetherness, (wink) I know I love him more than ever for the great husband, dad, da-ddy that he is today. It is because of his hard work and love for all of us that we were able to take this vacation and make all of these wonderful new memories. We are already looking forward to next year!!! I also want to send out my biggest hugs and congratulations to my Great Aunt Mary and her long-time beau, Les, I just learned tonight that while we were gone, they went away and got married!!!! I am so happy for you both, they are big fans of the website so I know they will get this message! Love you so much!!!

Twenty Two Months Old

I promise to write more later, we arrived in Florida today and after 2 days worth of driving, we are ready to drop! Myah did great in the car, we even took her to our most favorite place in the world to watch the sunset, St. Augustine Beach. She touched her feet in the Atlantic Ocean and loved it! I was praying that she would finally love the sand and sea as much as we do! I will try to post some pictures of her before we leave.