summer vacation

I have been slacking big time on updating my blog. Life has been crazy and there has been no news on the adoption. There have been slow downs, but such is life in the adoption front. The good news is that amidst the slowdowns, more families have been passing court the 1st time around, or so it seems. I have come to be content in all circumstances and have felt God's peace big time. My hope is that my relinquishment of control lasts. While I have been resting in peace, I have had a clearer mind to enjoy all the other wonderful things going on around me. J began summer vacation on May 26th and is now officially a 2nd grader (YIKES) and our little guy will go back for his 3rd and last year of preschool. I decided that since Brian was going camping with a group from the church, I would seize the opportunity to visit my family in Miami with the kids. We arrived on my dad's birthday and celebrated with some yummy bbq and ice cream cake. The rest of the time was filled with lots of pool swimming, a trip to the movie theater, an afternoon at one of those bounce house centers, lots of cuban food, and a trip to the science museum where the kids were asked to help feed these huge tortoises in their habitat (so cool). Other plans for the summer include a couple weeks of day camps, swim team four days a week, Vacation Bible Schools, play dates with friends, working in the garden, some more triathlons for Brian and J, birthday parties, and other fun stuff around town (zoo, beach, bounce house centers, park, free summer movies, etc) . Finally, I will close with great adoption news. Although there have been few referrals, many families have met their children, passed court, and cleared embassy (opening up space in the transition homes for more precious children. Isn't that fantastic? Well, even more fantastic is that one of the families who was just in Ethiopia mentioned that they saw 5 children who are new to the transition home being sent in one of the vans, probably to have their medicals done. This usually happens 3 weeks before they are referred to a family. The person said they believed 2 were infants and 3 were toddlers. Here's to hoping for more referrals in the near future, more families to pass court and more families to be cleared with embassy to bring their children home.