Exciting News!

We just got word that a judge has officially deemed Brielle to be legally free for adoption! The adoption process might still take 3-4+ months, but we are so thankful to be to this point!   We would be so grateful for your prayers for a smooth and speedy adoption process!  And also, for protection on a couple potential bumps in the road! A specific prayer request would be for the state to accept the private home study we completed last year for an international adoption.  If this one meets all their requirements, this could definitely speed up the process!  (And would save us from going through the "scrutiny" of another home study. ;-)   Thanks so much! 

Pure Joy . . .

 . . . both the boy and the puppies! : -)  

 

This is a perfect picture for Valerie's Pure Joy Labradors !

 

The name "Pure Joy" came to be out of
Valerie's love for orphans;

 (James 1:27 verse ~ "Pure religion . . .")

and also the delight to our family of having a
new "bundle of joy" to love through adoption. 

 

(To most folks, it might mean that a
new Labrador puppy would be "pure joy" . . . 

and that works for her, too :- )

Quadruple the Fun! ~ Part 2 ~ Valerie!

Can't believe it's been 17 years!!!!

 

 

 

We love having a special, individual day to celebrate each of the quadruplets!

Recently, we celebrated VALERIE HOPE!!

Here are a few pictures of her growing up! 

 As most of you know, she's been crazy about babies from the very beginning!

 

 

When she was little,

this love of nurturing babies,

often carried over to our first Labrador, Annie, as well!

 

As she has grown-up,

 her love for babies has grown into a love for all children,

particularly orphans. 

And what's really cool,

as it turns out,

God has provided a way for her to use her love for Labradors,

to help fund her passion for orphan care! : -)

Sure love seeing how God is always at work,

bringing to pass His good purposes and plans for each of us!

Glory be to God!  

 

General Tso and orange chicken dinner

Special French toast breakfast!

Apple brownies!

Happy 17th Birthday, Valerie!

We are so grateful for you,

and love watching all the good things God

is doing in and through you!

You are pure joy to us!!!

Speechless!

What do you get when you have . . .

an amazingly gifted musician with an amazingly gifted band

that together make amazing, God-honoring music;

a big group of people from all different ethnicities, churches,
walks of life, cities and age ranges;

collective praise and worship of our awesome God that nearly raises the roof; :-)

and a passionate plea for orphans in their distress

 . . . . that all show up in the same place?   

 

A little taste of heaven, and a Steven Curtis Chapman concert! : -)

And Kyle and I had the privilege and joy of taking Valerie,

the birthday girl,

to all this and more!

 

 

 

 

 

Laura Story joined in to sing "How Great Thou Art"

with SCC and the band. 

 We enjoyed their medley of some of his oldie-but-goodie songs!

And then he sang many of his new ones!

 We love the fact that SCC is so passionate about orphan care,

and devotes so much at his concerts to raising awareness of the orphan crisis.

He encourages everyone to be involved in orphan care,
whether as a sponsor of children through the organization Show Hope
that he and his family started 10 years ago,

or through adoption.  (They had an adoption agency booth there as well!) 

These next photos were from some slides that were playing before the concert started.

 

Show Hope has helped place over 4,000 children in Christian families through grants

that help with their adoption expenses.

We were very blessed to have Daddy, Timmy, Joe, and Benjamin

escort us up and back to Seattle.

It was really nice to have dinner with them,

and then have door-to-door drop-off and pick-up at the concert! 

Thanks guys!

And of course, Kyle is always up for the making of some goofy fun pictures.

And Kyle especially enjoys teasing Valerie about SCC's "older" age. 

(He IS a grandpa, after all!)

But all in good fun!

Here, he is teasing her about how he might just be sleeping through the concert.

 

 

 

What a very special evening!

Happy Birthday, Valerie! :-)