Oh, happy birthday. You are here with us for this one!

Cori's birthday was May 26. Two years ago on that date, Holt Adoption Agency interviewed us for 90 minutes on a conference call about selecting our family to adopt Cori. We got off the phone and said either they loved us or hated us. We had picked out new countertops for the kitchen in the event they said no. Two days later, on our 26th wedding anniversary, Holt called to say yes! We laughed about the countertops.

Last year on May 26, I cried. I had wanted to have her in my arms by then. We were able to send her a cake and two days later, on our 27th wedding anniversary, we got to see those pictures. They were like water in the desert.

This year, she is ours.

Wes joked last year that the $90 it took to send her a cake and the $35 we paid for the pictures was still cheaper than Chuckie Cheese. Guess where we took her this year?

The grandmothers hated it, of course. But Wes's mother just kept saying how completely adorable she is. (His mom has gotten more and more beautiful every one of her 75 years.)

We showed Cori the pictures of her birthday last year. She only knew herself. A couple of months ago we showed her a picture of Cori with her foster mom and asked her who that was. She pointed to me and said, "You."

Well, that sounds pretty healthy to me, although I do have all of my teeth. But that anonymous woman poured herself into this most amazing child and then she let her go.

As Cori turns four, I pray God tells her what a good job she did, and that her fiery eyed Yi Hua is doing very very well.

Than you God. You gave me children I did not bear in my body. You let me raise girls another mother could not. Please, pour out the blessing of Yourself on them!

Cori's First Trip to the Beach

It has always felt like a big deal the first time we take our children to the beach, especially for our adopted children. To think they would not have seen the vast ocean or built a sand castle or chased sea gulls down the shore.............We are just so thankful that we got to do this with them! Cori loved it from the very beginning. Her peals of laughter surely must have reached some far away dolphin ears and brought them near the shore to see what was up. Watching her big sisters take her into the ocean and the pool where they loved being a part of her first time was deeply rewarding.

When we adopt we are giving our older children something rare and special, but we are also asking them to give up some of our time and money and freedoms. We are asking them to take on more responsibility.

So to Jessica, Taylor, Blake, Katherine, and Grace I want to say, "Thank you. We are so proud of you and love you so very much! You are wonderful big siblings. We could not do this without your support."

Cincinnati Children's Hospital now has all of Cori's medical files and we expect to be hearing from them this week about an appointment soon. Thank you for praying that we get her to the absolute best specialists.