Our life is nothing short of an adventure...

Wind in our hair and screams of delight but also unpredictable turns and unknown outcomes. We are a family of six; Dave, Susie, Nate, Jake, Sam, and Bella.

God has been faithful in our marriage and through the birth and blessings of our boys.

God has been faithful during our adoption journey and united Bella with us in May of 2008. We were privileged to visit with Bella's birth mother; therefore, Bella's family in Guatemala will always be dear to our hearts.

On October 16, 2008, Bella was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia. We are now battling the disease with 2 years and 3 months of treatment. We believe God will continue to be faithful!

Our family is committed to living life to the fullest...even on the hard days. Thank you for checking in and journeying with us!


Thursday, May 1, 2008

Our Day in Antigua!











Whew! What a day. We spent the day in Antigua with our friends Donnie and Cherie (Malaena) and new friends Doug and Cindy (Ana). Our agency driver took his "Holiday" to give us the grand tour. We had many laughs and really enjoyed the oldest city in Guatemala.

Bella is doing fabulous! She is just such a joy. We are surprised to learn that she is afraid of water...oh no, not good, we live in the water during the summer. She threw a complete tantrum last night when we went to give her a bath. It humored me, I know I should feel bad, but to see this little body get so angry made me laugh. She still wants nothing to do with solid food but is taking all her bottles and is "pooping" well. :) She is really loving the one on one attention from Dave and I and smiles at us all the time. She is going to lover "her boys". She is really using her voice a lot now and is trying to wave bye bye...not real good at it yet. We are working on her sitting up, but just love to hold her, its hard to put her down, she is so snuggly and wonderful to hold. Her colds is improving and she slept 9 hours last night! Thank you Lord for Benadryl!

Its hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day here in Guatemala. We are ready to come home and we miss the boys, but we are so grateful for this one one time with Bella. ITs been really good for her and us. We have met so many wonderful people and children and have developed some special friendships.

Again and again, we praise you Lord! The experience has been amazing.

Thank you for all your posts on the blog, I love reading them.

Enjoy the pictures of our day in Antigua.

susie

8 comments:

Trish said...

And please do tell what time your due in GR on Saturday! Trish

Momma said...

Susie,

Lovin all the pics. That last pic of you & Bella needs to be put in a frame. It is lovely!!!!
Love it!!!!
Wishing you a safe trip home.

Hugs,
Angie

I know I already said it but thanks again for the pics of our sweet baby girl. You made my day.

PS said...

The picture of you looking down into Bella's eyes is so worth blowing up & framing!!!! Love that you got to play. Saw your precious Jacob today! See you soon! Love, Pam

Mary Vukic said...

I love the photo of all of the guys. Bella has her head on Dave's chest!
We are on our way to GR! Can't wait to see you, Dave, and Bella!

Tiff said...

We are all going crazy wanting to meet this little person! What a greeting it will be tomorrow. I'm excited to meet some of the wonderful people you've picked up along this road.
love

Sandra said...

We so look forward to tomorrow. We so loved all the pictures. See you in GR soon!! Sandra

Chris and Lindsey Wheeler said...

I am SO EXCITED for y'all!!!!!! These pictures are amazing. I love the one of you looking at each other. It makes me want to be in Antigua!!!!! :-)

Cheri said...

Thanks for letting us share in your special time with Bella! We love you, and feel you are our Michigan family! 'Til we meet again, my friend, I have LOVED finalizing our journeys together! God has blessed my life more with YOU in it! Cheri