Twenty-Eight + 1 Year Ago

I'm 28.  I celebrated a birthday this weekend, and feel so blessed by all my family and friends.

Friday night, my sweet guy took me out for dinner at The Melting Pot - a local fondue restaurant.  We enjoyed over two hours of childless (not to be confused with 'childish') conversation, and four courses (I know...ridiculous!) of delicious fondue.

During dinner, Jake pulled out an envelope.  I have to backtrack a bit, here.  When I say 'Kelle Hampton' - do you all know who I'm talking about?!  Of course you do.  Why did I even ask.

A few weeks ago, I was talking about Kelle (can I call her 'Kelle'?) to Jake.  Is that weird, that I talk about someone I've never met to my husband?  Whatever.

So Jake said "Is this Kelle Hampton chick someone I can just send an email to?".  HA!  I told him he was nuts - she has tens of thousands of readers!  You can't just send her an email!  She probably has 'people', you know?!

I was wrong, apparently.  Because in that envelope that Jake pulled out at dinner was over 2 pages of email correspondence with Kelle Hampton, herself.  The bottom line - Kelle Hampton is sending me a signed copy of her book, Bloom.

How sweet is my guy?!  Pretty sweet.  And I'm one lucky lady - because he watches me.  He listens.  He pays attention - and every single year, his gifts reflect that.

The book hasn't come in the mail yet, but when it does - you'll all know!

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Saturday morning my two favorite boys took me to The Little Farmer - a local pumpkin patch and apple orchard.  It was so fun just being together - not having to rush because we had to be here or go there - just enjoying the morning, like a little family should :)

Carter walked all over the farm - signing 'apple' and 'pumpkin'.  He tolerated the hay - and warmed up to it after a few minutes.  I suppose the nannies never set him on a mountain of hay in the orphanage :)

Carter enjoyed himself thoroughly, for sure - but the smiles really came when we set him in this filthy tire on a pile of dirt.

110% boy.

Like I said, one blessed lady right here.

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Anybody know what today is?

One year ago, today - Jake and I boarded a plane headed for Kiev, Ukraine.  I cried so hard in the airport as we hugged my mom goodbye.  Fear of the unknown made me tremble inside.
Would we be safe?
Was our son available for adoption?
Would he be healthy?
Would we pass court?
When would we come home?
Would his needs be more than we expected?
Would he squirm to get out of our arms or enjoy our embrace?

And now, one year later, we hug and kiss and snuggle this sweet gift every single day - from now until forever.  Beautiful, isn't it?

One year ago, today - we set off for a very foreign, somewhat scary land.  And today - we would go back in a second.  We miss Ukraine.  We long for it, some days.  And we wonder what God is going to do with that.

Over the next 6 weeks, I'll be republishing some memorable posts from our time in Ukraine.  I hope you'll enjoy following our journey - one year later.  I can't wait to re-share some of my favorite posts.

When you see this image (below), you'll know it's a re-post from one year ago (lest anyone get confused and think we're back in Ukraine!).

Looking forward to some reflecting.  Join me - please!

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Finally, the month of October is special for another reason.

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.  Some very brave bloggers are doing a '31 for 21' challenge.  They're blogging one or two facts about Down syndrome each day during the month of October.

I am not one of those brave bloggers :)  But I will be back later this month to tell you what Down syndrome means for me, and how it's changed us.

To kick off the month, we have our Down syndrome walk coming up this Saturday!  If you are local to us and would like to join, please email me!  It will be Saturday morning at the Riverside Park in Neenah.  Registration is EASY - and it's just $5 per walker!  It will be a fun morning with a short (1 mile) walk - and LOTS of fun for the kiddos!  Let me know if you'd like to join us on this fun-filled day!

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Well, that's it.

One year ago, we walked into the next chapter in our lives, and we've never looked back.

Thanking God for all His good things, today.

One Thing I Know For Sure: My cup overflows....!