I often find myself looking at our precious gifts from God and asking Him: "What do You have planned for them?" , "Why did you choose us?" , "What are you preparing all of us for?" , "What kind of men will they be?" - God often leaves me perplexed. This is one great thing about our God! He has a plan and teaches us to trust in Him and allow Him to lead the way.

God is really dealing with our family in a strong way. My prayer is that He continues to do so and that we, as a family, would continue to listen and act obediently. OBEDIENTLY is the key here. I, in the flesh, like to have things my way. Those of you who really know me- this does not come to you as a surprise. I am a planner and like to have everything organized and in its place... God is working with me on this. I pray that my stubbornness would not hinder His work in our family. Many times I will have a "plan" and think that we can only do things a certain way, when all along God is trying to teach me to go with His plan and listen to His voice.
Just being completely open and honest.
This is NOT where we thought God would lead us or was leading us when we signed those adoption papers. But looking back and seeing how far we have come and what we have gone through- He had a perfect plan the whole time. Did we doubt what God was doing- YES! There were days that Colby would come home and I would be in tears saying- "This is never going to happen." And look at us now. A happy family and may have saved the lives of 3 amazing children. I turn to God and ask Him what His purpose for choosing us was... Haven't heard from Him on that question yet, but I know He has a reason. We may never know...

On Sunday, June 19, all 3 boys were dedicated back to our God who sent them to us. If you haven't seen the video of their dedication here is the link: 

http://gallery.me.com/dkfranks#100344
(just copy and paste to your browser)
I hope you are able to watch this amazing moment for our family. God's presence was truly in this place!

Colby has been gone on a 3 day "mission" since Sunday... This is the first time that he has been gone for an "extended" amount of time since the adoption. I have been worried about how they would do, but so far they have seemed ok. Marcus has had the hardest time out of all of them. Today on our way home from town, he turned to me and said "Mama, I miss Daddy." This broke my heart. They have never had that father figure that Colby provides for them. Being a mother is a special job, but I cannot do the "fathering" like Colby does. Men just have that special ability- and Colby is exceptional at it. I had to explain that Daddy was at work for a few days, but that he missed Marcus very much and would be coming home very soon. He said ok and I thought he understood... We pulled in the neighborhood and he asked again, "Is Daddy at home waiting for us?" I know they don't understand and have so many questions. Shoot! I don't always understand the Army and often have WAY too many questions!

In the back of my mind I am thinking- "how is he going to deal with a deployment?" Wow. I am not going to borrow that trouble today! I am going to focus on Colby coming home from this "mission" and dealing with what is a definite. Him deploying is not set yet and we have no orders in hand. So I will not worry about that until the time comes.

Manuel is doing WONDERFUL on his potty training!! He is now sitting on the "big boy potty" and is immediately doing his business. He still hasn't fully grasped the fact that he should tell me when he needs to go, or to poo-poo in the "big boy potty," but he will learn (or that is what I keep promising myself). : ) I feel like we have finally accomplished something! Now if I can just get Marcus ready for kindergarten we will be good!

 We are going to the DR tomorrow for each of them to have their "check-ups" for the adoption, as well as for Marcus to have his Kindergarten Health Assessment. I know this will include shots for Marcus- hopefully no one else! Yes, I am going to try and attempt this on my own and come up with some sort of treat for afterwards! This is when my patience gets low with them. When I am left to do these sort of things alone and with 3 children... I am praying to stay calm so that hopefully my actions will help their reactions. Not my strength. But I am working on it. When I see them cry- I want to cry. When I see them scream- sometimes I want to scream with them! haha.

Please continue to be in prayer for our family! Especially tomorrow. We appreciate all of your love and support for our family and can't wait to see what God has in store for us!!