Moab, Day 2: Arches

We started day 2 with an early morning visit to Arches National Park.  This structure is known as The Three Wise Men.

Balancing Rock

Then we hiked to Delicate Arch

Break time.

A bit of controlled exploring

And, we made it!

That's Lindsay and I with the kiddos under the arch.

Mimi and Boppa enjoying the familiar view.

Snack time at the top.

Beginning the hike back down.

Then we went to my favorite arch: Sand Dune Arch.

So much to love about this arch: the short 5 minute walk to get there, the cool "Indiana Jones" structures, and of course, the sand.

The kids didn't need any coaching to know what to do once we got there.

Even little Peter played along.

It is the softest, coolest sand, very refreshing after the summer desert heat.

Oh, and there's the arch too.

 Stil my favorite arch.

The kids might have gotten a little sand in their hair.

And in their eyes, but it was so worth it!

 The last hike was to Double O Arch

And Landscape Arch.

We ended the morning with a stop at the Visitor Center where the kids each picked a new stuffed animal friend to bring home.

We went home to escape the heat of the afternoon with air-conditioning, lunch, and a nap (for me!).

Moab, Day 1

We started the day with a trip down memory lane.  This is the site of our old elementary school.  The school isn't there anymore, but the signs still are!

We walked the blocks from school to our old home.  The kids were amazed that our mom let us walk this every day without a grown up.

Our old house!  I lived here from about 18 months to age 6.  It was the house we lived in for the longest time as a kid and I wish  I could have gone inside to show my kids my secret hiding places.

Then we went to the "mountain" in front of our house.  I remember it being so big and I had expected to be disappointed when I saw it but it was a decent size, especially for a 5 year old to climb.

We told our kids the story of how Aunt Lindsay and I decided to climb it one evening when we were supposed to be just walking the dogs around the block.  It took much longer than we expected and it was nearly dark by the time we got back.  Our mom had been looking for us and was so worried that she had just called the police when we walked up to the front door.  The kids wanted to climb it all the way (and so did I!), but it was hot and we needed to meet up with the rest of our group.

Our meeting place was the Colorado River

We had lunch at this great riverside resort that caters to incoming rafting groups.

And then we went to a little creek so the kids could play.

Boppa found his spot.

 That night, the families (the As, the Gs and the Ls) reunited and enjoyed sharing some old photos on the computer. 

Sarah and I talking while her son Peter plays.

Road Trip to Utah

First stop: Lubbock for cousin fun.

We sure love our Lubbock cousins!

Then it was on to New Mexico. 

Where we got out to take a pic at this roadside attraction.

And made it to our hotel just past bedtime.

The next morning we had breakfast by the pool.

And enjoyed the hotel gardens...

 ...before heading over to Petroglyph National Monument to explore.

The kids are showing you that they are 1 mile above sea level at this part of our hike.

Then, we completed their workbooks to earn their junior ranger badges.

Back on the road again (silly Abby).

We drove through four corners, but didn't go to four corners, because we didn't have cash (oops!  who goes on a road trip without cash?!)

And finally reached Utah!

11 Years

We celebrated our anniversary this year with a homemade gourmet Asian feast.

We prepped, chopped, minced, and mixed for about 3 hours first.  I'm pretty sure we used almost every food prep item we own.

One rule we agreed to was that every recipe had to be new to us and made from scratch.

I searched for a while to find a wine that would go with our Asian-inspired meal.  I thought a wine called Jade Mountain sounded like a good match.

Our wontons tasted great, but didn't quite have the right look since we had to use spring roll wrappers when we found out our store didn't have wonton wrappers. 

Shrimp and mango salad (w/fresh mint and basil from my yard).

Chicken satay w/peanut dipping sauce.

Sesame noodles.

And ice cream with raspberry puree, raspberries and mango. 

We had a lot of fun cooking together (largely due to the fact that the kids weren't underfoot!  Thanks Mom and Dad!)  Mmmmm...I could eat that again.  It was good.

A Father's Heart Toward Adoption

Eight years ago, when I first brought up the subject of adoption with Adel, he responded with the equivalent of a father pacifying the whimsey of his imaginative daughter, nowhere near the thought that it would one day come to pass, something like, “Sure, honey, adoption is great.”

Six years ago, when we watched a short video clip on adoption in church that had me all revved up and ready to go, Adel responded with a slightly more engaged response, something like, “Adoption is something I can see us doing at some point in our lives.”

Three years ago, when we attended Focus on the Family’s Wait No More conference in Dallas, Adel responded with much more conviction than I had ever heard from him on the subject of adoption.  God had spoken to him through the presenters and his response was something like, “Yes, I believe we will adopt at some point.”  And he gave me permission to submit the interest form, just to learn more.  But since that conference was in Dallas and we live in Houston, it never progressed.

Two months ago, when Adel was in Honduras on a mission trip and I was getting ready to attend Focus on the Family’s Wait No More conference in Houston, Adel and I had a conversation quite different from any other.  His mission team had been talking about the sponsorship of Honduran children in the mission school program.  Adel had called me to ask my thoughts on it.  In the end, we both agreed that while sponsorship was a good thing, and something we are in full support of, we both feel strongly that adoption is what we are being called into right now and we need to focus all our resources on that.  His response was something like, “I believe God is calling us into adoption and the time is now to put our faith in action.”

Eight years ago, I never would have thought it would have taken this long to get to the point of actually adopting.  Eight years ago, Adel never would have thought we would actually adopt.  We have had many conversations on the subject in those eight years, usually consisting of me taking his pulse on the subject.  It has been really amazing to see, without any effort on my part, God transforming Adel’s heart into His own.

After all, God is the ultimate Father, who has adopted all believers into His family through our faith in His grace:  

Ephesians 1:3-6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Lord, I am so thankful for my husband, the godly man that you have created in him, that his heart so resembles yours in his love for the lost children of this world. I pray that you help him keep his eyes on you as he leads our family through the adoption process and as he becomes a father to the fatherless.  I pray that you would give him wisdom as he learns to be a father to new children and that you would give him patience as our family is turned upside down in the process.  Amen.