It is Finished!

After 4+ years, we have finally (I hope!) finished all of our paperwork. Today we had our court hearing for our re-adoption of Madeline Grace Phillips! She will now be issued a California birth certificate, which will make it much easier to enroll her in school, athletics, etc (when the time comes). We've been told it could take about a year to get the certificate, but everything is done!

Sitting in the jury box:
back row: Yeye & Nai-Nai Ream
front row: Vanessa & Julie Spiller (photogs) and Yeye & Nai-Nai Phillips










Here we are sitting at the attorney's table. Matt & Lindsay are at the far table. Karen, Madeline & Michael are at the near table talking to our attorney, Mr. Mott. He does re-adoption cases as a ministry & only charges for the court filing fee.









The Honorable Judge Charles Crandall presided over our hearing. He told us he enjoys these cases because they are positive & fun (unlike the small claims cases he gets the rest of the time!).

They also had some presents for all the kids:
they each got to pick a beanie baby. Then Madeline also got a very special pink blanket that was handmade by some of the courthouse staff. That was so very sweet. :)





Our family & the grandparents!
Front row:
Nai-Nai Ream, Maddie, Karen, Lindsay & Matt
Back row:
Michael, Yeye & Nai-Nai Phillips & Yeye Ream

Madeline was tired of taking pictures, so this was the best we could do!







Madeline modeling her new very special pink blankie!



(These were pictures from the day with my camera. I will be getting some more from Julie & then will make another post. So please check back!)

Pray for the Chapman Family

Please be in prayer for Steven Curtis Chapman & family. Their 5-year-old daughter, Maria Sue, was struck and killed Wednesday by an SUV driven by her brother. Maria was the 3rd girl the Chapmans had adopted from China. Our hearts are breaking for this family. Only God knows why this happened & we pray that He will be able to use this tragedy to His glory. We feel a connection to the Chapmans because of our own Madeline Grace, whom we adopted with a small bit of financial assistance from the Chapmans organization, Shaohannah's Hope.

Lock Down at Morro Bay High School

MBHS was on lock down today from about 10-2:20. Apparently an anonymous caller called the school & said his friend had 2 guns & a bomb in his backpack. The kids were still in their first period class. The police dept had set up a briefing area at Lila Keiser park (across the street from MBHS) to inform parents of what was going on. While I was over there, I was interviewed by KCOY channel 11 & 12.
The first we had heard about this was a somewhat panicked phone call from one of our neighbors that has a daughter at the high school. I was at the grocery store & Michael called me to see if I knew anything. (I had a text message from Lindsay, but didn't know it until after I had hung up with Michael.) So I started texting back & forth with Lindsay. She wasn't really scared-she was just hungry & had to go to the bathroom!! Go figure!
Madeline & I went over to the HS & obviously couldn't get on campus, but ran into some other parents I knew. We were all getting text messages from the kids. They were pretty much bored, I think. I felt bad for the teachers with all these kids for soooo long! (6+ hours by the time it was all done!) The people in charge were having to go room by room & searching all the kids & their backpacks. She said a guy came in with a huge gun & it sounds like they maybe patted each student down a little too. They were pretty organized & it only took about 5 minutes to search her whole class.
They finally let the kids leave about 2:20. They were not allowed to go to their lockers-just had to leave. It sounds like they were still going to go through & check every locker.
The news people wanted to talk with both Lindsay & I again when it was all over. So we had one last interview. Then it was off to BK to get

some much needed food! haha 6+ hours in the

same class with nothing to eat!
I know they don't like the kids to have their phones at school, but I was so glad they did! It made for a much calmer mom when this could have been a very un-nerving experience. Lindsay & I texted back & forth keeping each other updated with what we knew was going on. My poor neighbor was just getting all the panicked calls from everyone else & wasn't getting much info from the inside & she seemed to meet with resistance at the school when she got there. SO her experience was much worse then mine.
The last we have heard, they did not find any weapons or bombs. The call was made from a pay phone in north Morro Bay & they have taken the phone in to check for fingerprints. This is considered a felony & they could be facing prison time.

broken finger

Here it is...the broken finger. You can't even really tell which one it is...but it's the middle finger on the right hand. We saw Dr. Fryer this morning, the orthopedic surgeon, & he said if Matt promised to be good (HAHAHAHA) he would not put a cast on him. Matt promised. (I should have got that in writing from him! :)

He is to keep his fingers taped together for 3 weeks from the injury. It is ok for him to move them. BUT NO PLAYING BALL OR BIKE RIDING!!!! So only 16 more days until he can bounce a ball, shoot a hoop, or throw a pitch!

Little side note that we figured out the other day, it had been exactly 5 years and a day since Matt had broken his right arm. Yep, Mother's Day Eve was that big day. Remember how I got to be served breakfast in bed---in the hospital! (As I stayed the night with Matt) At least he waited a few days this time & it wasn't Mother's Day running to the doctor! Thanks for your consideration Matt!! :)

Ouch!

Broken is the word for the day! Seems Matt broke his finger on Sunday during his basketball game. We all thought he had just jammed it. He said it hurt, but didn't say a whole lot more then that.
Last night he had a baseball game down in Nipomo (about 45 mins south of us). He actually had a pretty good game-got a triple out of a bunt! & made a stunning play from just around 3rd base to throw the runner out at first! and the game ending out-tagging the runner out at second from a pickoff from the pitcher! We won 10-5.
The down side of the game, Matt's finger hurt even more. He even said he wanted to go see the doctor. So this morning I called & got Matt in to see the doctor, who then sent us for x-rays. We had to get a splint put on it & now just waiting for a phone call from the orthopedic surgeon. The earliest we could get in to see him was next Tues. Our doctor's office sent over the x-rays for the orthoped to read & see how soon he wants to see Matt. So that is where we are now.
His finger is sore-maybe more now that he knows it's broken, or maybe it's the splint that bothers him. He likes to say we made him wait 3 days to have his broken finger checked! :) He just has not really complained that much about his finger, so we didn't think that much about it.
My theory: I think he was waiting to say much about it until after his baseball game because he knew we wouldn't let him play if his finger hurt & he so badly wants to play! Now he's off sports until doctor approval. :( He is soooo bored-he misses going out & shooting hoops. (He missed basketball today, baseball tomorrow, we'll see about Saturday's baseball game & Sunday's basketball game) Guess we'd better stock up on some new books if he can't play for awhile. It's pretty interesting watching him try to eat with the splint on!

Madeline - 23 months old!

Here is Miss Maddie, 23 months old.
We were playing hide & seek & this is when she found me laying on the floor! See that huge smile? That is what she does most of the time! :) She is an incredibly happy toddler! We have been blest with 3 wonderful children!













Miss M admiring herself in the mirror. She is wearing brother's bicycle helmet!












Miss Giggles!

Spots be gone!!

It's been a fun few weeks for me & my health.
A few weeks ago I came down with a staph infection in my right arm. I have some pictures, but they're kind of gross looking! Don't want to make any one sick! :)
The lump got to be a pretty good size, maybe the size of a ping pong ball. I went to the doctor & she started me on antibiotics 4 times a day for a 10 day course. She wanted to give me the strongest she could, short of putting me in the hospital. After being on the med for about 7 days, I started breaking out in spots on my chest. The next morning I had more spots & then my throat started to feel "thick" & my tongue felt weird. Of course, this was a Saturday. After a little frantic call to the doctor, I stopped taking the antibiotics.
The spots kept multiplying & then started to itch! By the next morning, I was scratching soooo much. It was terrible. Michael & the kids did not want to enable me, so they wouldn't help & scratch my back. I kept a fork close by! I took some Benadryl & slept like a baby. It really helps! I didn't wake myself up scratching.
I was still really itchy & spotty the next day, so I took some more benadryl-I shouldn't take that stuff during the day! I couldn't wait to get Maddie to bed for her nap. I slept a solid 2 hours!
Well it's now 7 days after the allergic reaction to the antibiotic & my spots are gone!!!! Yeah! I still have an ugly spot on my arm & that will take a while to go away. But it will, with time. SO that's my tale of woe!

Prom - Lindsay & Jonathan

Lindsay's beautiful up-do! Make-up artist: Vanessa Spiller-thanks so much for making the trip up for this! You did a wonderful job! :)

That's my baby! Isn't she gorgeous?

Here are some beautiful pictures that Jonathan's mom, Natalie, took in the State Park Forest right down the street from us. She has such talent with that camera! Thanks for taking them Natalie!

They are SOOOOO cute!

Here is the whole group.

There they go...off to the Apple Farm in San Luis Obispo for dinner. Then on to the prom at Atascadero Lake Pavilion.

Make-up artist/videographer : Vanessa

Photographer: Natalie Arnett
Props Man: Mikey Arnett

phase 1 of Bathroom re-model - DONE!

Here is the tile work-isn't it pretty? The guys did such a wonderful job!


















Here is the new shower door! So pretty. We love the new shower head too!


















This is the other half.
Madeline likes to see her reflection, although I think she misses getting in the shower & singing. :)

We have all enjoyed using the new shower!