Here is the view of the biggest girls doing a nature study yesterday.  I have been sick (abscessed tonsils) and I needed to give them something to do without me.  So I told them to go to the garden with a pencil and paper and sketch one of the plants  from the garden.  They chose to get chairs and be comfortable.   They just looked so cute lined up there, that I had to get a shot of it.  I am standing on the new back deck that used to be our fort! (another story that I didn't get pictures for; let's just say that I am blessed to have a creative carpenter for a husband!) That is the neighbor's yard on the other side of the garden.

Here is one of the girls up close.

They all did very well, and drew three different plants each.  I was really proud of the detail each one put in their drawing.  These are planned gifts so we are going to save the revealing of them! :)

Here is a picture of the baby doing her nature study.  This was actually a different day, but it is so cute, I wanted to share it.

I am going to try to remember to take a picture by the tree every month so we can see how tall she is getting! :)

BTW, you may have noticed I haven't used her name in this post.  That is because we are changing it after all.  We were going to keep her birth name because it was easier, but then as I began to think about the years ahead, it would be one more difference between her and her sisters.  They have Bible names and she doesn't.  So we are going to name her Lydia.  This is similar sounding to her birthname so she already answers to it. We are keeping her middle name the same.  I think it will be harder for us to adjust to than her.  I have caught myself at least 10 times today saying her old name! :)  We also think that changing the name is a beautiful reminder that when we are adopted by God we are made new too!

Garden update:  Dh has already picked and canned 14 quarts of green beans, and he picked more today!  We have also enjoyed green onions.  We are looking forward to potatoes and squash soon!

Adoption update:  We didn't get to have our first homestudy visit last week because Candace misthought and didn't come.  She was so apologetic! So we are going to try again for this Saturday!  Thanks so much for your continued prayers for us.  We are so thankful to have her and each other, and most of all God's love!

In Christ,