One last day in "The Real OC"

This past Tuesday, we were able to spend one last day in Orange City.  We were hoping to be there first thing and see everyone and do everything we needed to get done.  Well, on Monday I called the dentist just to touch base and make sure there were no more steps to take for the girls before we left.  They decided to put the sealants on Gracie a little early due to the troubles she has had with her teeth, so we headed in at 8:30am for an appt, fully thinking we would still be on the road a little after 9am.  Well, long story short and one small filling later :( we didn't pull into OC until noon.

 When we got there we met up with the Schuiteman ladies for lunch. Bailey and Addy have been great friends this past year, playing at least once a week while we went to Bible study.  All the girls LOVE to play together from time to time :)

 Ang was AMAZING!  She fed us all lunch and hosted us so well.  It was great to have a chance to talk and catch up with her.  She has just been such a GREAT friend--one of many--who has just been so encouraging and supportive of our journey and provided just scripture and truth to encourage me when I needed it most.  I am so blessed to know that she will be one of our biggest prayer warriors while we are in Haiti!

 From the Schuiteman's we headed off to the park to meet up with the girl's friends.  I had arranged for some of Karys' friends and classmates to meet us at the park to celebrate her birthday, and almost all of them were able to join us!  It was a BEAUTIFUL afternoon and a GREAT playtime for them!  Kara Van Der Werff was SUPER generous and made AMAZING cupcakes for the party.  You can't really see them in the picture but they had marshmallow flowers on them and were super adorable!  Thanks to Julie Hummel too for brining the juice!  What great neighbors we had...no words for how much I will miss them :)

 All of the kiddos lined up eating their cupcakes

 Payton and Avery

 Karys and Payge

 Karys was excited to be able to open a few gifts

 Having everyone gathered around her to watch her was almost as special for her as the presents!

 Mia, Teylor, and Gracie having fun on the baby swings

 Karys and Elin

 Karys and Anna

 Karys and Kate

 These two are two peas in a pod :)

Payton and Karys

Avery and Karys 

Payge and Karys

Karys and Sarah

Gracie and Sarah

This was a special part of the day as well.  Gracie's good friend from her 1st grade class, Teylor, was able to come to the park and join us as well.  These girls are so cute, and have so much fun together. 

They managed to stretch out their time together until Teylor was the last one left to walk home from the park.  So grateful that Gracie has a friend she cares about, laughs with, and is....

SILLY with!

Karys was giving Payge and hug and soon...

it was a BIG group hug!  Karys LOVED this!

Mia, Addy and Anna playing at the top of the slide 

Addy also got the chance to see her friend, Isaac.  If you ask her about Isaac she will still get this dreamy look in her eyes and say he is her boyfriend.  Oh, man...toddler love!

They really were such great friends this past year, and before we left Isaac gave her such a big hug it knocked her right over!

Karys and Mia

Mia is another little sweeting who lived in our neighborhood.  The girls got to spend a bunch of afternoons together, take some trips to the pool, and even had a sleepover our last week in Orange City.    The three of them, and often even Addy, usually got along SO well!

One last group picture before we left!

After we walked Teylor to her mom's work we were just hanging out on a corner in Orange City waiting for Rob to finish running some errands and pick us up...Karys LOVES having her hair played with and Brooke was happy to pass some time braiding it.

We ran into a few ppl that we chatted with while we were there but we were all SO HAPPY to see Breanna.  We had missed her when we left town the last time so we were grateful for the chance to say goodbye!

After running some errands, making a few more stops, we FINALLY ended up at the Schutts house to meet up with them and the Brenneman's.  The kiddos were SO excited to see each other!

They were excited to see Pat too, and within minutes he was spinning them in the grass!

We were running out of time to meet up with people and had kiddos who really just wanted to be in one place and play so THANKFULLY Danie and Alex were gracious enough to come out to the Schutt's to see us!  Man we have just gotten to know them so well over the past year and just really appreciate them and their hearts and love for the Lord!  Danie is going to great things in ministry and we are praying for where God is going to lead her this next year as she finishes up at NWC and prepares for her own, "what's next" chapter of life!

With hanging out with Danie we have also gotten the chance to get to know Alex.  He is such a GREAT guy and we couldn't be more thrilled for the two of them and their relationship.  We can't wait for them to come and visit us in Haiti ;)

Of course it wouldn't be a complete night without a "show" from the kiddos!  The girls were so excited and telling everyone to get ready!

The three of them, along with Cody, played the "puppies" in the show...

and Jayden and Maci were the trainers :)

They told the puppies when to roll over, 

when to sit up and walk, 

when to perform...

and when to roll over :)

We all had such a GREAT night with some GREAT couples!  We really love these friends SOOO much!  We have been so GRATEFUL for these relationships and VALUE them SOOO much!

We are going to miss them SOOO much!  But are looking forward to staying in touch with them and maintaining these relationships for a LONG time :)

We made one last stop for the evening at the Van Zee's...even looking at these pictures now Addy is SO sad that she missed this!  She fell asleep in the van on the short drive from the Schutt's to the Van Zee's :)  She and Sarae and Albert are definitely GREAT friends!

The girls were very quick to disappear up the the girls room and play dress up and dance around!  They just love being with these girls and look forward to it each time.  There is talk of BreElle visiting us in Haiti ;)  We are SOOOO thrilled about this and the girls now know that this is happening and every time Haiti is mentioned they say, "How long until BreElle comes to see us there?"

There have been so many "Farewell's" that I have prolonged...this was a big one.  I know I will see this dear woman again, but she has just been such a HUGE part of the journey!  When I thought we were being called to adopt she walked me through my feelings, told me that God may be using that little boy to open my heart to something bigger...putting me in the place to surrender to him and be obedient.  Man, did she know what those words would lead to...what they would allow my heart to be open to?  I love this woman.  She is a truth speaker, an authentic, genuine soul.  A friend who would tell you if you had food in your teeth, a daughter of the King who sits before the throne on your behalf and you see and feel the results of that.  She has a heart for Haiti...a heart we now are sharing.  I do ask God the why? of why we had to reach this point in our relationship just months before we left OC...but as she also reminded me...I don't think this is a relationship that will be ending any time soon!  What a GREAT way to end a wonderful day!