Busyness and a Crown

Well we have spent the last few weeks covered in glue, glitter, sand, and tissue paper. 

Ashlyn was elected as the Junior class Fall Festival candidate.  We were forced into the chaos of had the priviledge of building her a float, organizing a skit/talent, building a booth, and buying a dress.  It actually was quite fun, even if a bit overwhelming.

The overall theme was "Remember When...".  We chose the individual theme of "Remember When the Beach Boys Were Hot!"

And without further ado,  the float:

The skit:

The booth:

And the DRESS:

And at the end of the day, a crown.  Yes she won!  It was alot of hard work.  But it was alot of fun too!

Ashlyn has a great group of classmates and friends.

Ash and RayVen.  They have been friends forever!  RayVen is a sweet girl that we all just love!!

Ash and Anna, our exchange student from Germany.  She is staying with some of our best friends, Dale & Laura.  They helped us soooo much with all the work.  Anna is so fun!  We want to keep her!

Ashlyn's escort was her buddy, Cody!  He was such a good sport!  He is a good guy!

Ash and her buddy Shawn.  He tried really hard to learn the dance, especially the twist!  He is so fun!  Sydney absolutely loved playing with him!

So that is what the last few weeks have included.  In the grand scheme of things, it is not too important.  But in our family it is alot of great teamwork and memories.  Several times throughout the day, a sadness would come over me and I would think, "Abbey is missing this."  I really wanted her home for this.  I am having that feeling more and more as time passes.  It is the miracle of adoption.  God knits our hearts together before we even meet.  I cannot wait to go get her.  God is providing for every need.  He is confirming things to me constantly.  I will share some of them later, but right now I have to go find Sydney!

Back to School

These were taken on the first day of school. Every year I send them off and then miss them terribly. I have absolutely loved being with them every day this summer. I hate to see summer end.

Ashlyn's Homecoming

During my break from blogging, Ashlyn was elected as a homecoming candidate. She is only a freshman this year, and the candidates are chosen by the whole high school student body. I was so surprised that she made it! So what else is there to do but shop for dresses. My mom, Aunt Susan, Hannah, and Sarah went with us on one of the worst weather days so far this winter. It was snowing and sleeting horribly. But there was shopping to be done! It was so fun to try on all the beautifull dresses. But it was also so hard to pick just one! She found one that was perfect for her. The color matched her coloring just beautifully. It was also very modest, which was important to her (thank you Jesus!). We had these cute little satin flip flops dyed to match the dress. And then there was the jewelry. We tried on so many necklaces and finally found just the one. Last night was the coronation. It is held at one of our home basketball games. All the candidates are escorted by a basketball player. Ashlyn marched with DeAndre. He is one of the boys in my youth group and I absolutely love this boy!!!! He has such a good heart for God and is so kind to everyone! He is developing an absolutly awesome testimony! Anyway, after her basketball practice, we went to a classroom and started primping!! I fixed her hair and our cousin April (DeAndre's mom) did her makeup. It was so fun. As she has gotten older, Ashlyn does her own hair, of course. So it was so great for me to be able to play with her hair again. Now I know that she is mine and I may be a bit biased, but that girl looked absolutely gorgeous. She just took my breath away. And then when she put her dress on, it was all I could do not to start bawling all over the place (she would have killed me). Anyway, she marched out and met De and smiled so sweetly for the cameras. I choked back tears. She made it up to the stage and I breathed a wonderful sigh of releif. It was over and she hadn't fell or walked on her dress or anything! I was so relieved that we had made it through it all. The other candidates marched out after her (because she is a Freshman), including Kristan, who is in my small group and I absolutely love! And then they announced who the student body had selected as 2008 Homecoming Queen.........Ashlyn!!!!!! I just about fell out of my seat. Seriously, on the video, all you see is shaking and then the gym floor. She won! It never entered my mind that she would win because she is a FRESHMAN! Holy cow. She was crowned and then sat down and De leaned down and gave her the traditional kiss on the cheek. Again, I choked back buckets of tears. It was an awesome night that the pictures cannot give justice to. The best part of if was afterwards, when I talked to her teachers and friends. Every single one of them said the same thing: "She won because she is a good person" or "She won because she has such a good heart" or "She won because she treats everyone so kindly". I was so proud of her that I could have just.....well, cried.

First Day Of School

Today begins another school year. Ashlyn is a Freshman this year. I can hardly believe it. She is growing up into a beautiful woman. I still see her as my baby! Sarah is starting 6th grade. She is just so precious to me. She is such a pretty girl. She has the sweetest smile and sense of humor. This year was special because Debra's kids are here with us. Morgan and Dustin are being real troopers trying to roll with all the changes they've endured with their mom sick. They are great kids and I'm very proud of them. Also, my grandson, Bryce, started preschool this year. He lives just 4 houses down from us and when he saw all of us at the road waiting on the bus, he just took off running towards us! Hannah chased him down and got him back to his stop. When the bus appeared, he just started hopping up and down. He looked so little getting on that big school bus. It helps greatly though that my mom is the school bus driver! As usual we had to have pictures with NaNa!