In January, Brody impressed us with his basketball skills as we cheered on his team, the Cheetahs, every Saturday at the Upward games. This was his first year to play basketball, and I have no doubt that he loved it. Beckett, Levi, and I spent a warm Friday at the Boardwalk with Mimi and Pawpaw, shopping, eating, playing in Bass Pro, and riding the carousel. Mom and I took all of the kids to the Ag Expo in Monroe, Brody got his picture made with Arkansas Razorback coach Bret Bielema, and we received our very first picture update on Lennox!
We sent Lennox his Valentines Day care package on the first of February, and the rest of the month was filled with more basketball, trips to the allergist in Monroe, and celebrating Brent's 32nd birthday at Kozy Kitchen. This was also the month of the evil stomach virus that attacked our family around Brody's birthday. It hung around for ten days and caused two hospitilizations. We were so glad to see it finally leave! Amidst that awful bug, we did enjoy Brody's 6th birthday - Angry Birds style. :) Brody also rocked out the History Parade dressed as Lane Frost, along with his friend Eli dressed as Cody Lambert. They were so stinking cute, and I was so proud of their little performance. We also spent a weekend in Fayetteville celebrating Dustin and Stephanie's recent wedding at their reception!
In March, we had a wonderful Easter, celebrating and hunting eggs at our church, Brody's Kindergarten egg hunt at the park, Mamaw Agnes', and the Arboretum! It was a fun-filled weekend with friends and family. March also brought us our sweet baby Canaan! We ended the month on a high note as we mailed off our very last payment on Brent's student loan and finished our journey to financial freedom as we became debt free (other than our mortgage)! This was such a blessing for us!
The first weekend in April was beautiful, so Mom and I took the kids camping at Lake Claiborne! We played in the sand, grilled hot dogs, did a little hiking, slept in the tent, and enjoyed being unplugged and outdoors! We spent more time outside in April with my dad, riding fourwheelers/gators and getting our feet wet in a beautiful creek in the woods. We also received our first video of Lennox this month, and it was so special to watch!
May was jampacked with memories! It marked one whole year in the adoption process. We had been matched with our boy for 6 months, and we spent a lot of time that month reflecting on everything we'd learned so far. I was loved and pampered on Mother's Day, we were in the throes of Brody's first season of pitching machine, we had a blast at the Dillon International picnic at Burns Park, Brody graduated from Kindergarten, and Brent and I took a much-needed little weekend get-away to Branson! Tara and I also were able to join Ryan on one of his flights and spent a fabulous day on the beaches of Destin, Eden turned 2, and we all started enjoying pool time at Mamaw's!
June brought us lots more time at the swimming pool, more fun baseball games for Brody (including Brody's first time to play catcher!), a day of berry picking at Suzanne's, warm sunny days at Lake Claiborne, and a birthday bash to celebrate Lennox turning one and Levi turning two!
July got off to a great start when Brent's mom and dad treated us to a long 4th of July weekend in Gulf Shores! There's no place I'd rather be than the beach, so we were ecstatic when they called and invited us along! We also were so excited to spend a weekend at Lake Hamilton and Magic Springs with Ryan, Tara, Mom, and Brooke!
August was full of VBS, a Kids Club trip to Wild River Country and a Travelers game, a host of family birthdays, and the beginning of school - 1st grade for Brody and 4K for Beckett! We ended the month overwhelmed with thankfullness as we received a handwritten letter from Lennox's foster mother - something we will treasure forever.
We celebrated Labor Day at the pool the first weekend in September, Brooke turned 10, we went on a GT field trip with Brooke to Little Rock, had fun at the Union County Fair, and had a Planes party when Beckett turned 4! This was also the month that Beckett broke his collar bone and had to wear a brace for a few weeks.
In October, we went to a Razorback game with the Vinsons, decorated for fall, and cheered Brody on at his soccer games! We took the kids to the pumpkin patch, rejoiced when Eastern requested Lennox's file to prepare it for EP submission, spent a fun weekend in Natchez at the Hot Air Balloon Festival, and I was blessed to spend a weekend in Dallas with a group of friends also adopting at the Tapestry Conference. We also enjoyed a night out trick or treating with our baseball player, Batman, and a cute little pirate!
November was filled with small group hayrides, Christmas shopping, gathering Lennox's Christmas package, a Veterans Day parade at Hugh Goodwin, a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family, and a long weekend in Branson with Brent's parents!
We ended the year in December with a wonderful, but busy, Christmas season. I always enjoy this time of year so much, especially with small children at home, but I will say that as much as I tried, I couldn't shake that touch of sadness that hovers over me as we are still waiting for movement toward Lennox. On the 30th of December there was a large group of files submitted for EP, but ours was not one of the them. Even a few cases with ATK dates after ours were submitted. We don't have any explanation for this, so we are trying to continue to just trust in the Lord's timing here. To make matters worse, our agency called us on New Years Eve to inform us that Lennox had fallen in his foster home and broken his leg. We absolutely know that these things can happen so easily with toddlers, and that his foster family loves him and is taking wonderful care of him, but it's so hard to hear when you are thousands of miles away. He is currently in a cast, but we are so thankful that the break didn't require surgery. We are praying for quick healing and comfort for him!
We are excited to welcome 2014, and we are hopeful for the great things it will hold!
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