Why God, Why?

I just received an email from a friend containing news that Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman just lost one of their daughter's to a horrible tradgedy. Their five year old daughter was killed last night by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the Chapman family’s Williamson County home in Tennessee. She was playing in the driveway when she was accidently struck. Maria is one of three daughters Chapman and his wife Mary Beth have adopted from China. The couple has been very active in promoting international adoption, having created a ministerial foundation called Shaohannah's Hope to financially assist couples in the process (we received one of these grants from their foundation earlier this month).

What a horrible tragedy. It just breaks my heart to see such a young girl taken so early. I know they are all hurting, but I can't imagine the enormous pain and guilt of her brother. I pray that God brings comfort and peace in a very real way to them. As a family they have given so much through their music and ministry. May God grant them the comfort that only He can give at times such as these.

Here is a blog video of Maria and her Daddy a few months ago.

A Camping We Will Go!

We have been promising the girls all winter long that we would take them camping as soon as the weather became warm. Wes had 2 days off earlier this week so we loaded up the trailblazer with all of our camping gear and headed to River Front Campgrounds.



Papa and Nana came to the campground to spend the evening with us and enjoy a nice dinner of roasted hot dogs/brats, store bought potato salad, chips, and strawberries.

I enjoyed the mommy time just sitting around the campfire with the girls.


Jaidyn had no problems sleeping in her brand new pink camouflage sleeping bag (given to her by her Grandma Penny for Valentine's Day). She is such a cute little sleepyhead!


Like Father, Like Son...I mean Daughters. Aren't the three of them just darling in their bucket hats?


A fellow trooper owns this campground. Wes has his CDL license and is going to work for him some throughout the summer, hauling the canoe's to the destinations. Wes did take a group of people upstream and we went along for the ride. Addy loved the bus ride and wanted to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" the entire ride.

Weekend in St. Louis

This past weekend the girls and I headed to St. Louis for what I thought was going to be a nice, relaxing low key weekend. It was very nice, but I think low key would be an understatement. On Saturday evening, I was able to visit my friends Jason and Kristin and their baby girl Elise at Children's Mercy Hospital. It was such an honor to get to finally meet Elise. She is a beautiful, strong baby girl. Jill agreed to watch the girls so that I could enjoy this visit with them. Since the hospital was close to Forest Park and the St. Louis Zoo, Jill took the girls to the zoo and then had a picnic with them in the park afterwards. We later met up and all of us ate at a Mexican restaurant. Jason and Kristin got to see first hand what it is like to eat out with a 2 year old. Addy was at her best (not sitting in her seat, landing more rice in the seat/floor than in her mouth, and using her favorite word "NO!". Here are some pictures of the girls at the zoo.









Jaidyn took this picture. It hasn't even been cropped. Pretty good job for a 3 year old.


Jaidyn and Addy have refused to eat peanut butter and jelly for me, but Aunt Jill has worked her magic as they seem to be having no problems downing these pb&j's.



On Sunday morning, Aunt Charlene and Aunt Cheryl were going to watch the girls for Jill and I so we could go to Castlewood Park to run and ride the trails as a workout to prepare for the upcoming adventure race that we will both be competing in at the end of this month. Late Saturday night they called to tell us that they had received some last minute, once in a lifetime tickets to the St. Louis Cardinals game and wanted to take both Jaidyn and Addy. We were to meet up with them as soon as we could after our workout. The tickets were for 4 rows behind home plate with free food and drinks. If I am lucky enough to attend a game it has always been way up in the nose bleed section and that was at least 3 years ago. Of course I didn't have anything red for the girls to wear to the game, but Charlene and Cheryl took care of that problem and took them shopping before the game. Jaidyn got a cute pink Cardinals baseball shirt and short set with a baseball cap and Addy had a red, blue, and white striped romper and a hat. This game was heaven...beautiful weather, great company, yummy free food, cold drinks, and the Cardinals won the game on a great hit in the ninth inning (which I missed because I was changing Addy's diaper).









Jaidyn and Addy both loved Fred Bird. Addy wouldn't get close enough for a picture, but did seem to like him at a distance.


Fred Bird kept shaking his booty in people's faces. Jaidyn kept trying to grab his tail feathers and pinch his booty. She is so funny and she doesn't have an ounce of shyness in her little body.

I had planned to drive back home Sunday evening, but after working out that morning and spending the afternoon in the sun at the Cardinals game I decided to stay at Jill's one more night. She also had the movie 27 Dresses that I have been wanting to see (this isn't one that Wes would care to sit through) and the season finale of Desperate Housewives was on.

A HUGE thank you to all the Aunts for royally spoiling the girls during our weekend stay.

Photo Friday ~ Wild Rumble ~

Here is a picture before the wild rumble started. The girls are getting ready to tone it down for the evening dressed in their matching wild striped pajamas. Aren't they sweet?


I think Jaidyn has been watching too much WWE on TV with Wes. I think she is going in for the body slam.


Don't underestimate the "Screaming Beauty". Her looks can be deceiving. Addy has managed to manuever herself out from Jaidyn's hold and has taken control of the situation. She can hold her own!


Wes, see what you miss out on when you are at SWAT Training? We've got some training going on at home on our own. Don't worry, I broke it up before Jaidyn performed the triangle choke. :)

Happy Mother's Day To Supermoms Everywhere

Just wanted to wish a Happy Mother's Day to Rhonda, Penny, and Lauretta. We love you all.

Also a special Happy Mother's Day to Kristin and DeDe . I hope you are enjoying this special day with your new little ones.

Huge Blessing from Shaohannah's Hope

Yesterday in the mail we received an envelope from Shaohannah's Hope. I have been anticipating the arrival of this envelope for the past few weeks as I knew the contents contained news of a possible huge blessing. I thought about waiting until Wes got home from work before opening it, but I just couldn't let that envelope sit on the counter all day, so I openend it. The first paragraph confirmed all I have been praying about the last couple of months...

"Dear Wes and Jenny,

On behalf our co-founders, Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman, and the Shaohannah's Hope team, we rejoice with you in your decision to step out in faith to experience the miracle of adoption. It blesses us that you have chosen to make Shaohannah's Hope a part of your adoption process, and we are pleased to inform you that you have received an adoption assistance grant in the amount of $2500."

Yea! Thank God! We are so excited about receiving this adoption grant as it will greatly help us out with our upcoming expenses. God continues to richly bless our family as we prepare for our upcoming miracle of adoption.

Adoption Garage Sale Fundraiser Results

Wow! What a lot of work, but I think it all paid off. Thank you to all of you who donated items for our sale. We truly appreciate everyone's generosity. We were not sure if the weather was going to cooperate so we went the extra effort and set up items on the screened in porch and in the garage. We luckily were able to move most of it out into the driveway later in the day. Saturday morning was freezing and the day didn't get off to a great start, but by mid-morning the sun was shining and temperatures were very nice and we ended up having a great turnout of people. I am extemely happy to report that we made $436.70 total for both Friday and Saturday and it will soon be deposited in to our adoption account. I want to give a special thank you to my mom and dad who put in an endless amount of work in setting up the tables, placing the ad, making signs, and helping in the dreaded clean-up. I know they are glad that it is over as I was bringing over boxes of items over the last couple of months and have been storing it all in their basement. They now have their basement back. We are one step closer to the amount of money that we need to have to pay the country fee once we receive our referral.

Answered Prayers!

Last week I received some heartbreaking news about my good friend/college roommate Kristin and her brand new baby girl. At this time, Baby Elise is continuing to make huge progress daily and is expected to make a full recovery. Please continue to pray for Jason, Kristin and Elise as they have a long road ahead of them. I won't go into full details here, but for those family and friends who know Kristin, you can follow the story through their blog. Here is a perfect example of God richly blessing Kristin through the miracle of a brand new life.

Baby Drennan Blog

Happy 2nd Birthday Addy!

Today is Addy's birthday! I can't believe that she is already 2. Well, actually I think she hit the terrible 2's at 1 so it has felt like she has been 2 for a long time now. As parents, Addy has definitely kept us on our toes over the past year. As my mom would say, Addy is just a princess in disguise. At age 2, Addy has really started talking. She loves to dance and sing along to songs. Some of her favorite activities include playing with dress-up clothes, reading books, watching Barney, Elmo and Dora, and she absolutely loves the playland at McDonald's. This girl has no fear. Happy Birthday Addy!

Earlier last week Addy received a package in the mail from her Great Aunt Charlene. One of the girls favorite movies is Toy Story. I knew they would love some of the character dolls, but they are hard to find. I gave this gift idea to Charlene as she will go to all ends of the earth to find something. Thanks Charlene! :)




We celebrated Addy's birthday yesterday at the park right behind our house. We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was sunny and warm and a perfect day for a party at the park. So many family members were able to spend the afternoon with us.




The birthday girl taking a short nap.


Happy Birthday Addy! Blow out the candles!


Yummy, Yummy Cupcakes!






Present Time! Open the present and see what's inside!


By the looks of Addy's outfit and face, I think she had a great birthday at the park.