June Update June was the month of our big move from Georgia to Florida.  We said goodbye to our Calvary family and prepared to head south.  Big thanks to our friends Mike and Dennis for giving up their Saturday to help us load moving trucks and to my parents for coming all the way from Louisiana to help us actually make the move.  Also, thanks to our new church family for meeting us at the house to help with the unloading.  We couldn’t have done this without all of you.  Thanks, thanks, and more thanks… Mary Joyce and I rode down to Florida with my mom, while Chet and my dad drove the moving trucks.  It was quite an experience, but Mary Joyce was a real trooper the whole time.  The only thing that really seemed to bother her at all was watching the guys load her crib onto the moving truck.  Nothing else bugged her much.  That was a huge blessing. We have spent a good portion of this month getting settled into the new house, and are mostly there at this point.  We have a few finishing touches left, but not much.  I’ll include a picture or two of Mary Joyce and Katherine’s new bedroom in the July update. Chet started at the new church on the 11th, so on the 10th, we visited another church in our county.  There we met a family with 3 daughters from China.  They invited us to a gathering of China adoptive families that very afternoon.  That was definitely a “God thing,” as that was the only Sunday we would have been at that church to visit, and that was one of the few Sunday afternoons when we could actually attend a get-together.  Hopefully, this is a group of people we can continue to connect with on a regular basis. Chet’s first Sunday in the pulpit here was also his first Father’s Day since Mary Joyce has come home.  What a double blessing!  It was a great day, all the way around. Other items of interest—During our first week here, there was a space shuttle launch.  We were able to walk to the beach and watch the shuttle take off.  That was a really neat thing to be able to see.  Also, Mary Joyce has now decided that she likes the beach and the ocean.  We can see the ocean from the church parking lot, and every time we get out of the car, she gestures toward the ocean.  Hopefully as we get more settled, we can take advantage of our location a little more than we have been able to so far. Mary Joyce is continuing to grow like a weed.  We keep asking ourselves where our baby has gone.  She is eating with a spoon more frequently and now prefers to have her whole plate in front of her instead of having us give her a little at a time.  She loves to climb, and we do have to watch her—she likes to sit on the back of the couch and chair like the cats do.  The big thing to report came right at the end of the month—she finally has enough hair to keep a bow in, and she will actually wear it all day.  That is a huge step. She is also drinking out of a sippy cup fairly regularly, although she is not fond of drinking her milk from it yet. We're getting there, though... Mary Joyce also experienced her first Vacation Bible School.  She was not old enough to be an official student this year, but she still enjoyed seeing all of the kids at the church, and she really enjoyed the snow cones in the snack area.  The church members have really taken to her already.  She does have a great personality for a preacher’s kid. Finally, for those who are wondering, we are a little less than a month out from Katherine’s due date.  We will at least post an announcement when Mary Joyce’s mei-mei decides to make her appearance, even if we aren’t ready to post a full July update at that point. Enjoy the pictures...   Our Little Navigator     This moving stuff is hard work!   Mary Joyce and Daddy     Family while Waiting for the Shuttle Launch     Lift-Off!   Mary Joyce still loves shoes!     Samson has assumed his mealtime position.     "It's for you, Chloe."   Dressed for Her First Wednesday Night at our New Church     I still love spaghetti!     Messy, but Adorable!   Happy Father's Day!     At the Beach     Wading with Concentration...   Bathing Cutie     Strolling with Mama     On the Move   I can feed myself with a spoon!     Hair Bow Success!!!         This page hosted by