MONKEY BUSINESS....and some other stuff

CHECK OUT MR. MONKEY!

 I'M TALKING A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!

 Had to show a side view so you can see his cute tail!

I SOOO can't wait for little K******* to meet his new friend!  This stuffed guy has so much personality!  Not that it matters, because I think our little guy will be carrying Mr. Monkey with him everywhere he goes (yes, of course once he starts walking, that is!), but his light blue, navy, green and white colors SOOOO go well in the nursery too!  

WANT ONE LIKE HIM?  You could get your sweet babe a monkey while also helping my friend, Faith, and her husband, Travis, to bring home their child from Ethiopia!  They are currently raising funds so they can send their Dossier to Ethiopia and get on that wait list!  The colors of stripes seem pretty much endless, or you can order one of the "original" sock monkeys!

HOW DO YOU GET ONE?  There are two ways to order one of these cute monkeys!

1.  www.etsy.com/shop/foryourchildandmine  click on this link and shop via her etsy shop.....OR......

2.  Email Faith at fegingerich@gmail.com

THEY ARE HOPING TO PLACE A MONKEY IN EVERY STATE!  TEN STATES HAVE ONE OF THESE CUTE LITTLE GUYS ALREADY!  WILL YOUR STATE BE NEXT?!?!?

Well, our Mr. Monkey will be sitting here patiently waiting the arrival of his soon-to-be lifetime friend.....our SON!!!!  And yes, he will be keeping mommy company when she sits in the nursery dreaming of the day that K******* will be in there with her!!!  THANKS, Faith!  I LOVE HIM!!!

On another note...............

THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR 

SWEET ANNIVERSARY WISHES!  

Our Anniversary was spectacular!!!  It started off with Jeff sneaking off and getting me my favorite coffee drink E-V-E-R......Skinny Milkyway from Moxie (were talking the 20oz!).....and an egg bagel sandwich from Blue Sky Bagels!  YUM!  And the card he gave me was SO SWEET!!!  The afternoon and evening included special things such as these:

THANK YOU, HONEY!

 Dinner at one of our FAVORITE SPOTS!.....

 J had a huge rack of ribs and I had steak on a sizzlin' rock!

 Dessert was fried ice cream on a stick!  For realz!

 GOTTA HAVE THE HONEY!!!!

Always room for ice cream, right!?!?  

{SIDE NOTE:  Ohhh, yes, that is a storm brewing in the background........and the doodles were left outside!  Hey, it was sunny and nice out when we left!  Worse part......we didn't even THINK of them getting all rained on, until almost home!}  

I gave Jeff his gift and card at dinner.  Although Jeff doesn't drink a whole lot, he really does enjoy trying new microbrews, so for the next year he is going to be part of the Beer of the Month Club!  He is going to receive four different microbrews every other month.  Great way to try new microbrews from all over the world, right!?  He loved it!

Then......while we were enjoying our wonderful evening of GREAT conversation and AWESOME food ~ the world's BEST guacamole, we were blessed by a surprise "hello." A sweet  lady, Lenora, introduced herself to us as she walked by our table.  It turns out that both she and her friend, Barb, recognized us because they go to our church and read my blog!

We had such a fun visit with these two precious women! 

This was taken at their table ~ all the Princess stuff Barb gave Lenora 

for her birthday ~ wanting her to feel like royalty.  Crown and all! 

It blessed our evening to come home and see all of the good wishes from so many of you via email, FB and here!  WE THANK EACH ONE OF YOU for joining us in our celebration of four wonderful years!

We look forward to so many more years together, and know that this year will be an especially sweet one, with bringing K******* HOME!!!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABE!!!

.

WOW!  FOUR YEARS as husband and wife!   That may sound piddly to some, but I stand amazed 

at our precious four years together.  I THANK GOD for you, honey.

YOU have brought me so much JOY, LAUGHTER and LOVE!

 Remember the love that surrounded us with our family and friends that day?

We still get "in our own little world"......

You made me feel like a princess on our wedding day!

And you still do, my love!  You still do!

 Walking out of the garden ~

as Husband and Wife...

...Into a life we loved to imagine, knowing only that we had one another, and that that was more than enough!  Praising God for bringing our lives together, blessing our love and lives, trusting that He would protect and provide for us from this day forward.  Just as He had up to this point.

Through you, Jeff, God has shown me how He LOVES to lavish us with His love and shower His blessings upon us!  Through you, He shows me how He desires to fill the dreams of my heart.  The very dreams that HE places in my heart!  He gave me the vision of you.  Long before I ever knew you.  You had no face, but your presence, and your love for me and for God was so very real.  It often felt like I could reach out and touch you, your "presence" was so real. 

Those days when I questioned God's intent regarding my future marriage, He always reminded me to "Be still.  Know that I am God.  I am working on this for you.  You don't want just any marriage.  You have requested a divine marriage.  Blessed and lead by me.  And I desire this for you.  But such works of art are rare.  And require time.  My heavenly intervention."

And so I waited.  For you.

And as I have said so many times.......DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE!!!!  God surpassed my dreams!  With you!  You love me better than I could have ever dreamed! 

I love your heart for God.  Your desire to be a Godly husband and father.  I love your patience.  And your ability to help me in moments of impatience.  I love how you make my heart light.  How my love for you can "bubble over."  I love falling asleep with you.  And awakening to you.  I love how you "get me."  And seek to better understand me when you don't.  I love how I still get excited when you walk through the door.  How your kiss hello can make my day.  I love how you can still give me the butterflies.  With a look.  A word.  A touch.

I LOVE YOU MORE WITH EVERY DAY, HONEY!

It's TRUE!  I really do!  I never dreamed it possible, but somehow it IS!!!  This says a LOT when I think of the love I carried for you on our wedding day four short years ago.......and that love has already flourished to so much more!

Just as God asked me to wait for YOU, my dream-come-true and forever love, He has asked us to wait for our son.  Only this time, I get to wait WITH you.  You have loved me so well throughout this journey to K*****, and I cannot WAIT to see you as his Daddy!  Just as YOU were SO worth the wait, I know that I know K****** will be too!  I cannot think of anyone else I would want to walk this amazing journey of adoption with, honey.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY LIFE 

SO RICHLY BLESSED 

AND FULL OF LOVE!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MY DEAR!!!

Happpy Anniversary, Honey!

(scroll all the way down to bottom of blog to pause music playlist. Then click this video!)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, HONEY!

WOW! THREE YEARS! We have been married for three years! In some ways, it feels as though I have loved you all my life. I dreamed of you as a little girl, and I continued to believe that "you" existed as I continued to wait for "more" in a potential marriage relationship. "You" have existed for as long as I can remember. "You" didn't have a face in my mind's eye, but your presence was so very real. Then, after a long journey to you, God brought placed you by my side. "You" now had a face....and a handsome one, at that! {smile}. You were no longer an image. A dream. You had finally become real! The man I had always loved, was YOU!

Honey, I do so love looking into your eyes and seeing your love for me. Oh, how I LOVE how you love me! :o) It is true that when I look at you, I see God's love for me. Your love for me is God's Divine love in human form. Please know that I not only recognize this, but I thank you for your selfless, patient, passionate love you so willingly give to me. Every day.

I see how you strive to put me first. I take note how you sacrifice for me when life asks you to. I watch how hard you work to provide such a wonderful life for me, us, and our family-to-be. I witness your desire and effort to protect me from sadness, sorrow or struggle. I feel the comfort you so often extend throughout life's happenings. Your heart is open to me. Your love is true. Your arms enfold me and give me that safe place to let down my guard. To trust. To love. I love you for this, and for so much more than words can say.

As the song says, I have never been more sure of anything like I am in this moment here with you. I thought my heart couldn't be any more full on our wedding day. That I couldn't possibly love you more than I did right then. I was wrong. I have enjoyed falling more and more in love with you every day since we married! I really mean it when I say that you were SO worth the long wait! {sigh} We are living proof that "Dreams really do come true!" {HUGE grin}

My heart's desire is to live out each and every day showing you how very much I love, cherish and appreciate you. I vowed to stand by you no matter what life brings, and I am overjoyed to hold your hand and walk beside you in this glorious journey of life. Together. I will hold you up when you need me to. I will rest in your arms when you want me to. I will freely skip alongside you, laughing all the way down each trail in our life. You are real. I am blessed to grow old with you.

Every day, may my life show you how deeply I meant those words, "I Do!" three years ago.

And how intensely I still mean them today......