May 11 - Official and permanent!

The finalization hearing for Hannah's adoption was Monday, May 11 at 11:00 back in Alabama. Three of her grandparents were able to come for the much anticipated event. . . which was amazingly short and sweet. Our attorney met us there and once Nathan and I were sworn in, he asked us few questions and then the judge said "All done, now for the fun part!" The judge came down from his bench and asked to hold Hannah and Mr. Whitmire (the attorney) took pictures for us. Then we ordered Hannah's new birth certificate - which will list her as Hannah Elisabeth daughter of Nathan and Julia! Afterwards, our family ate lunch together at Cracker Barrell, took more pictures, and headed home. We thank the Lord for placing Hannah in our family and for giving us a greater appreciation for His adopting us into His family!

May 9-10 with the Garners in Georgia

Mom and Dad Garner held supper for us Saturday evening and we enjoyed grilled burgers with them and Grandmother Lane that night. The next morning, we went to church together (Dad Garner is the pastor) and then over to Aunt Connie's for Mother's Day lunch with Grandmother Garner and the rest of the family. We were a house full! After lots of eating, catching up, and taking pictures (that would be me), we headed back to Mom and Dad's to pack up and drive to Alabama. . . for a very important event the next morning.

May 8-9 with Mees locally

Very full weekend begins! Congratulations, Charlotte!
Friday afternoon (during Aunt B.A.'s visit) my sister Charlotte's nurses' Pinning Ceremony took place. All the family in town met for a picnic supper that evening. It was great to spend time with Jonathan and Ellen (from FL) and Daniel and Jennifer (from TN) as well as Luke and Charlotte and Mom and Dad Mee and Caleb, Nathan, Andrew and Karen. During graduation (Gharlotte got her B.S.N.) the next morning, we packed our bags and car for the next phase. But first, a celebratory lunch at a Japanese steakhouse! We left immediately afterwards for Georgia. . .

Special visitors

May 7 "Miss Carolyn" came for lunch. She and her husband Mack are good friends of ours from Maranatha (the small church we were part of for five years). It was fun to catch up on God's working in our families and for this sweet Grandma (several of her granddaughters used to be in my Sunday school class) to get to know my girlies.
And the next afternoon, my Aunt Beverley Anne (Dad's sister), Uncle David, and Emmy stopped for a visit (their first to our home!) on their way to Alex's graduation. What a special treat to have them here, even if only for an hour. Aunt BA was the first of my aunts to meet Hannah. (We're eager to travel to Virginia. . . but Nathan's got to get through this MBA independent study first!)
Umm. And Ian. Abigail posed one of her dolls and "borrowed" my camera so she could take Ian's portrait. I found 8-9 shots of him on the camera. =)

Sisters smile, Luke and Charlotte

Love these girls!
Luke and Charlotte came for supper Tuesday night caught us up on God's leading in their lives. . . possibly moving to Texas the next week!
Abigail loved the time with Uncle Luke and Aunt Charlotte and they looked at albums of pictures from when our families first met nearly four years ago.

Sunday visit

Sunday May 3 Ree and Desmirion came for an afternoon visit. Dez and Abigail were delighted to see one another and 19 month old Dez was amazingly sweet with Hannah. Afterwards, Ree took a family picture for us (it had been several weeks).

Fun with our friends

May 1 the girls and I visited Marjeana and her boys Anthony and newborn Nate. Anthony and Abigail enjoyed riding trikes, swinging, pretending in the playhouse. . . and a tractor ride with Anthony's grandddad (also the former Dean of Men at BJU) who was working out back. This was Abigail's first tractor ride and she was beyond excited. =) Thankfully, baby Nate survived the attention of our two three year olds.

20 years

May 5 (the date of my last post) marked twenty years since my (Julia's) dad died. A few recurring thoughts:
- I wish he could meet his sweet granddaughters.
- I wish he and my dear husband knew each other.
- I wish I could know him as an adult. . . my childhood memories are so fuzzy and simple.
- I'm so grateful that Dad loved and trusted Jesus!
- We will spend eternity together with our Savior (what are twenty - or fifty - years in light of forever?)!
- My eternal Father has been more than sufficient and completely faithful to meet all of my needs! Praise His name.

Hannah's three months old!

April 29th marked three months since our little girl's birth - and Friday will make three months since Hannah joined our family! What sweet times the Lord has given us already with our precious baby!

Hannah's expressing her enthusiasm and joy in life and in those who love her much more these days. Her smiles come readily and are so broad we often have to laugh in response. She's also trying to talk and does lots of cooing. But when she's excited, those coos are more like calls and squeals. And she's found her hands! They're together or in her mouth (or both!) most of the day now. Enjoy these pictures from last Wednesday.

Curly heads at the park

Last Tuesday we girls met up with DeAnna and her two girls for a picnic and play at the park. Abigail had a blast with her new friends Isabella (5) and Amelia (3), we mommies had fun watching them and talking and Hannah enjoyed all the "holding." Amelia was fascinated with Hannah who has the same color skin she does. =) You can read her DeAnna's account here.

Happy sisters

From the last week of April. . . so grateful that our girls love each other so much!