now for some happy thoughts

We visited the petting zoo put on by our library this week. There were quite a few different animals for the kids to pet. My favorite was a little pig that was wagging its tail like crazy. Too funny! S liked them all. It was all fun and games until one of the guinea pigs peed on my foot!!

The baby goats were super cute!

And you can't have a petting zoo without some soft bunnies

Ducks...not so pettable

My sister Lynda was in town the other night and we decided to drive up the canyon and make s'mores for fun...and for yum..because, you know, I'm going without sweets for a week (uh huh, yeah right!). Roasting marshmallows around a campfire is one of my favorite things to do. I have happy memories of that growing up, with my dad showing me how to perfectly roast a marshmallow so that it's golden on the outside and soft all the way through. It was also good to drink in the beauty of God's creations and step away from the busyness of life.

our little mountain goat

Vannah is showcasing our delectable s'mores

And this would be me and my little stinker.
She calls me a stinker now, sometimes, too.
I tell her we're both stinkers at times.

So disappointed...

I learned this week that the adoption agency I had prayed about and felt good about using is not accepting new applications right now. Sometimes I just don't understand!! Maybe that will lead us to the next step we need to take toward finding a child for our family. It's hard to know what the next step should be, though! This path to adoption sure has its ups and downs. Sometimes I feel so full assured that we will be blessed to adopt a child and it feels so real and so close, like it really will happen. Other times it seems so utterly hopeless and futile to even keep trying knowing so many other families are hoping and praying for the same thing and that there are fewer and fewer girls choosing to place their babies for adoption. I know the Lord can work miracles and I know they happen in His time and not mine. I have seen it before in my life. But the waiting and hoping and not knowing how things will turn out and not knowing if you're even heading in the right direction are really tough. But I also know, you have to keep hanging on (and an occasional pity party is okay :)

cousin time

We've had the chance to spend some time with cousins lately, something we always love. First, it was a birthday and then just some time at a park with different cousins. It sure is nice to spend some time outside, too. S loves to play with friends or spend time with family every chance she gets!

The Sleeping Beauty-slippered cutie on the right
just turned 2. We sure love her!

Cousin time at the park. I gave him
a hard time for wearing flannels to the
park on such a hot day! He
was sweating up a storm!

She could have swung in this fun swing ALL day.

But this cutie needed a turn...
and she LOVED it, too!