To Grandmother's House We Go!

Today Linds and I went to visit my other Grandma (my dad's mom) in Anderson. She hadn't met Cohen yet, and I think she really enjoyed spending some time with him!

Grandma & Cohen




Lindsay & Grandma

Lindsay's Baby Shower!

With Lindsay home to meet Cohen, we got together to celebrate Linds' pregnancy with a baby shower! We're bummed that this is the last time she'll be home before the baby comes, but we're glad that she got to come home and meet Cohen at least!











Linds and her good friend Jen...


...who is also pregnant! Linds is due in January and Jen in March - both with girls!!!


The two Grandmas - Jen's mom, Sherri, and our mom!


Time for some baby gifts!

My mom got this sweater for the baby while we were in Bogota!

Friends since elementary school - Emily, Lindsay and Jen!

Linds & Grammy

Linds & Cohen

Mom & Linds

Em & Linds

It's a super sweet Cohen sandwich!

After all of the estrogen cleared out, Sam decided it was "safe" to return to the house!

"Pastor to Host Halloween Bible-Burning Event"

That was the title of an article that caught my eye today! Now, it was on Fox News, and given Fox's penchant for exaggerated article titles for effect, I decided to read the article before making a judgement. After reading the article, however, I was surprised to find out...yep, that's exactly what the pastor is doing this Halloween.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569121,00.html?test=latestnews

Apparently, a North Carolina pastor plans to host a Halloween event at his church to burn heretical books. Okay, okay - you may be asking - what are they planning to burn? I mean, I am absolutely NOT for burning books, but if we're getting rid of pornography or some sort of Satanic material then I won't put up too much of a fuss I guess. But here's a few of the things that this pastor and his 14 member congregation (um, yes 14) consider heretical and are planning to burn:

-all versions of the Christian Bible EXCEPT the King James Version, which they consider to be the ONLY "true word of God." So all NIV, New Living Translation, the New King James, etc...are all considered "Satan's bibles" and will be burned.

-all other Christian texts (with the exception of the KJV) written by Christian authors are considered sacreligious. Authors like Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Mother Teresa, (these are authors specifically listed by the pastor), etc.

The church's website calls the event "Burning Perversions of God's Word" and urges parishioners to "come celebrate Halloween by burning Satan's bibles." Complete with a barbeque dinner to round off the evening!

So, as I sit here...I don't even know what to say in response to this. Obviously I felt compelled enough to blog about it, but how does one respond to ignorance? It's an interesting thought really. If someone is absolutely 100% convinced in the very fiber of their being that the sky is green, how do you convince them otherwise? You probably couldn't reason, using God's word, logic, history, or science with someone like that. They would consider it heretical and wouldn't be open to such talk. But can you blame them? Really, if you think about it - it would be like someone trying to convince me that the God that I know is someone completely different. I mean, I wouldn't believe them for a second.

So I guess I don't really know the answer. I guess we are just to pray that the eyes of their heart are opened and that in the meantime their influence on people is limited and minimal. We are to pray that the Holy Spirit moves within them and releases them from the bonds of church legalism and shows them the generous, gracious love of God our Father. And we are to love them in spite of our differences and idealogies. Maybe if they are not open to "hearing" about God's love, they'll be more open to "feeling" God's love lavished upon them.

A Day At The Park!

On Tuesday, we met Shannon, Megan, and their kiddies at Holland Park in Fishers! Cohen loves to swing...this was the first time he had swung all by himself in a baby swing. He loved it!

Cohen Meets The Grandmas!

Cohen and Great Grammy Jina!


Mom, Cohen, Em & Grammy


On Wednedsay, I made my first trip to Muncie with Cohen!

Cohen and Great Grammy Logan!

Cohen and his Great Aunt, Karol

Nurses, Needles and Blood...Oh My!!!

Today we had to take Cohen to get the blood tests done that his doctor ordered. I was soooo nervous about it, and I was worried that they'd take out too much blood! Well, he survived...although they did have to stick him twice (once in each arm) because the first lady couldn't get the needle in right. He calmed down pretty quickly after I picked him up, but he kept giving the nurse the "stink eye" every time she'd come near him!

So innocent...so unknowing! Waiting in the office to go back for his blood draw! He has no idea what's coming!

Poor little thing, was drenched in sweat and all blotchy by the time it was over!

Showing off his double war wounds! How pitiful!

Happy Birthday, Elginia & Welcome Home, Cohen!

On Sunday the family got together to celebrate Sam's mom, Elginia's...ahem...21st birthday! It was also the first time she and the rest of the family had met Cohen, so it was kind of a "Welcome Home" party too! We were so glad that Elginia got to meet her grandson on her birthday, but we told her not to expect a baby every year! :-)

Mom with her birthday cake!


Elginia, Cohen & Gwynne!


Sam, Em & Cohen and his "Welcome Home" cake!




Wow! As usual...that's A LOT of cake and icecream!


Grandma and her first grandson, Cohen!


Uncle Russ, Aunt Michele & Cohen





Russ, the human play toy, with neices Gwynne & Rowan!


Cousins! Rowan, Cohen & Gwynne!


Uncle Russ helps Cohen take a bounce on the trampoline!


Cohen pulls himself up to "almost" a stand...for the first time!


Gwynne & Cohen


Great Aunt Jane (Elginia's sister) hand made this cross-stitched quilt for Cohen!

I'm Back!!!

Having just posted the last post to our adoption blog, I'll be posting on this blog from now on! Stay tuned for new pics, stories, and general craziness!