The BEST news!

We found out last night that our friends Jason and Jenni, who have three amazing boys that they have been foster parents for the last year, will be able to adopt them! The birth parents rights were terminated yesterday and so they can now proceed with the adoption. Both Jenni and Jason have amazing hearts for the fatherless and were a huge part in encouraging and inspiring us to adopt. We are so thankful that these awesome boys will now have a forever family and grow up to know and serve the Lord God.

This picture was taken the day after we got home with the kids. Jen and Jas live in Texas so it was a huge blessing that we got to see them. Jenni has been my soul sister since we were in college together. It has been amazing to support eachother through both of our adoption miracles!

Love you guys!
Laura

Where has all the sleeping gone?

So we had a couple good nights of sleep a week or so ago but since then, no more. Ellies has had a really hard time getting to sleep. She will go down around 8pm and then be back up at 8:45 and usually once more before midnight. Then she has been sleeping until around 4:30 or 5 when she wakes up again. During this time Mateo usally cries for a long while and Scott or I have to lay with him until he falls asleep. Not so fun I might add when there are still piles of clothes and other things to be done. So we are trying different things but it makes for some tired parents.

Other than the sleep issues they are doing really well. Scott ordered a camera on line for 1/2 the price we could have got it at Best Buy. Yeah, we also had the lens we needed so that also cut down the cost. Now we will have a very nice camera and I can capture so many more moments with the kiddos!

Blessings,
Scott and Laura

New Adventures=New Look

In honor of this new adventure we are on now that the kids are home I have decide to change to blog a bit. I thought the green growing look was fitting for our growing family!

We have had a great couple of days with the kids. The weather has been amazing and we have taken a bunch of walks and bike rides. Yesterday we went to a Silverhawks semi-pro baseball game. We biked there (which was 10 miles round trip) and it was so much fun. We got free food vouchers and tickets from the college so it was a fabulous family outing! I am not sure if any of us watched much of the game but it was a memory for sure. The only downer is that our on loan camera seems to be broken so I am sending my two boys on a mission to see what deals they can find on cameras today. I HATE missing so many firsts for our family. The kids are at such fun stages and so cute that I don’t want to miss anything.

So due to the fact that we do not have any new pictures of our family fun times, I thought I would post some of our great Guatemalan pick-up trip adventure. I kind of forgot to post any of those due to the computer problems we had when we got back .
So here they are…


Some snuggle time wih dad in our room, so tired

Smiles and laughs for mom

Ellies first friend in Guatemala, her brother!

Ellie All ready for her embassy appointment

Dad helping Ellie walk (now he has to run to keep up!)

My baby is walking!

Ellie has been trying really hard for the last couple weeks to get up and walking. When we were up north we saw some great strides in her walking ability but she was still crawling a lot. Well this past week she has turned a corner and I don't think she is going back! She is practically running around the house and last night she conquered a very grassy back yard. I am so glad that she was home when she made this monumental step in her short life. I also am sad because she is growing up so fast. She seems so much bigger and less like a baby when she walking all over the place.

Overall I just feel blessed. Both Mateo and Elisabeth are doing so well overall. Last night on the way back from a cookout I looking in the back seat and they were just sitting there as happy as can be holding hands. It was so precious and defiantly a snapshot I will keep in my head for a long time. God has blessed us beyond measure. When we get a camera that works with the computer I will get some walking pics up!
Blessings,
Laura

The greatest 4th in the North and other life happenings

So here are some favoite pics from the past few weeks.
1-Me and Ellie at the beach in St Joe MI
2-Ellie and Mateo in their oh so cute towels that Grandma Mandy and Aunt Cindy got the kids they loved getting this picture taken!
3-Mateo figuring out that people at the parade are throwing CANDY! The little cutie in the pic is Sophia my friend Becca's little girl
4-Cousin Emma and Ellie, Emma is so excited to have a girl cousin!
5-Our kind of sad 4th of July family pic

These were all taken before the sad moment that our cammera died. Thanks to our friends Becca and Jas we have another one to use but we can't download pics right now so it will be a while before new ones are up. So we have been getting back into the swing of things this week. We took the kids blueberry picking on Friday and it was really fun. We also had their first doctors appointments this week. Mateo does not like the doctors and we had to bribe him with lots of fruit snack, Ellie on the other hand was her charming self. The doctor did not seem overly concerned and we will have to head back in a couple months for some follow up. Over all not to bad. I just am so thankful that we got to bring the kids home so early in the summer. They have been home almost a month now and it will be about another month until things really start to get busy here. I am not sure what we would have done if they would have come home in September, it would have been crazy. I think that their adjustment and transition will be so much better because we have had so much quality time as a family before I have to go back to working full time. Well that is all for now, I have to finish washing the floor and doing some laudry while the babes are sleeping! No rest for the weary my dad always says, that quote is taking on a whole new meaning now!
Blessings,
Laura

Powell Crew Update

Wow, this update has been a long time coming and for that I am sorry. Since we have gotten home we have not had internet in our home. Because of that (and the fact that almost every waking minute is devoted to two wonderful blessings running around!) we have not been able to keep you all updated on our transition and the continued adventure of our family of four.

Here is a little blow by blow. We got home on the 15th of June. Since then we have been spending time getting to know our new little ones. In the past 3 ½ weeks we have learned that Mateo loves to kick and throw a ball, he really loves to throw everything! He is all boy and had an amazing time at his Nana and Papa’s house playing in the dirt and the lake! He also loved playing with his cousins and watching the fireworks on the 4th of July. He is shy in big groups of new people and takes awhile to warm up. He loves his Papa (dad) and loves to play in any water, tub, sprinklers, ponds, lakes, even just a puddle. He also has the most amazing smile ever.

Ellie loves to smile, she will laugh at almost anything. She is also the most beautiful baby ever. She is now almost running, ok maybe just taking a few steps but we were so excited not to have missed those! She loves to eat and has put on three pounds since she got here a whopping 18lbs now. She loves to sit in the sand and play and also loves to sit on her mom’s lap and play. She is a big time snuggler and is not so fond of going to bed at night. She also is a big flirt and so her daddy said that she will have to be home schooled through college.

Both children are doing very well considering the crazy transitions they have been through in the past month. They are still having some nighttime sleeping issues and both have moments of clinginess. There are good days and not so good days but overall we cannot complain. Both children really love each other even though they act like bother and sister. There is a lot of stealing of toys and a few loving pushes and hits every now and then but we see a lot more hugs and kisses. It is so amazing to see Mateo reach over and kiss his sister when we aren’t even looking.

When we lay Mateo in bed at night or rock Ellie to sleep we sometimes have to pinch ourselves that they really are here in our house, in our arms. We cannot ever thank the Lord for the rich blessings has given us through these children. They are more than precious, they are the Lord’s creation and we are so thankful that He has allowed us to play a part in letting them know their Creator.

This short novel will have to due for now but very soon I want to do a blow by blow of all the miracles we were a part of when we were able to bring both of our babies home.

Thank you for all your prayers the Lord defiantly heard them on our behalf.
Much love,
The Powell crew