~ Photo Friday ~ A Busy 2 Weeks

The past few weeks have been very busy around the Collin's house. We have had a lot going on, but have enjoyed every minute of it.

We love having Hunter, Haley and Haven living only 20 minutes away from us. We are taking advantage of having them around as they will only be close until the end of May when they move to Branson for Hunter's permanent job relocation. Jaidyn and Addy are enjoying having Haven along on some of their weekly activities.


I wish I would have brought along the sand pails and shovels. They would have had a great time playing in the rocks.


PEEK-A-BOO This is one of Addy's favorite games.


I wish I could blame the static electricity in the slide for Addy's crazy hair, but this is the way it looks most of the time. If only it would grow a little longer. I can't wait to start giving her little ponytails.


Jaidyn loves the play tunnels on the park equipment.

Last Sunday Becky and I gave my college roomate a baby shower. She is such a beautiful pregnant lady...tall, skinny, with a basketball for the belly. It was so nice getting together to share a special day together. I can't wait to meet the newest edition to the Drennan family.

Me and my college friends at the baby shower


Instead of playing a game at the shower, we had each guest create a photo album scrapbook page as they arrived. My mom is putting the final touches on hers.

This past week we received 8 inches of rain in a 24 hour time period. Here are some pictures of the gasconade river a few miles from our home. Wes worked a lot of overtime as they had to shut down areas of the highway and reroute traffic due to water flooding the interstate. We had some minor flooding issues in our basement, but my poor dad spent 20 hours straight along with the help of mom and Jared vaccuming water out of their basement. There has been lots of flood damage along the lower half of Missouri this past week.






This past Wednesday we met Grandma Penny at the lake for dinner. She treated us to El Jimador. For Easter she got Jaidyn and Addy sleeping bags. Jaidyn picked the pink camouflage sleeping bag. Gee, I wonder who influenced that decision.

Philippines Program Update

I just received an email from our agency with some general updated program information.

Wait for Match: Right now, time frames are currently lower than they have been previously. For the last 5 matches we have received, families waited an average of 13.5 months from Dossier Approval to Match! We hope that this continues to be the case.

If 13.5 months is the average then it looks like we will receive a referral sometime early into the year 2009. I am still hopeful for an early Christmas present. :)

Match to Arrival: Average wait time from match to arrival home with your child is 5.5 months.

I think this will be the hardest wait we will endure. Five months is a long time to know that your child is a half-way across the globe without you. Hopefully we will meet some families who will travel before us and get to meet our child and take some things over with them or send us back some more pictures.



Orphanage Information: When you are matched, I recommend for you to look online to get more information about where your child is living. There are currently over 35 child-caring agencies in the Philippines that we are able to get referral from, and each is very different. Many of the them have websites, and this is a great way to learn about the care givers of your child, and the surroundings they are in. However, please remember that direct contact with the oversea agencies is in violation of the IASA, so please do not contact any of them. It is just a valuable resource for you to gain info from.

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent If...

I found this on another blog and love it. So true!!!

YOU KNOW YOU'RE AN ADOPTIVE PARENT IF ...
1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love & family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who've experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You've been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You'd no idea how you'd afford to adopt, but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing He'd provide. (& He does!)
9. You've taken an airplane half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart's for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart & family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means & you can actually pronounce it correctly!
13. You've welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child's so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you're the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

Photo Friday ~ Happy Leap Day ~

Happy Leap Day!

Papa J.R. and Mama LaLa (aka Mama YaYa) visited a couple of weekends ago. The girls love spending time with all of their grandparents.


The red glitter shoes from Jaidyn's Dorothy Halloween costume have become one of Addy's favorite items in the dress-up box. It doesn't matter what she has on, you can bet she is going to pick the red glitter shoes to wear.


Papa Dave and Nana came over last Sunday night to try out a batch of Chicken Adobo. They liked it too (or at least they said they did). It has been awhile since they have been to our house to visit and we definitely owed them a meal as we eat at their house several times a week. With preschool, gymnastics, dance lessons all in Lebanon it sometimes is convenient to show up at their house right about dinner time. :)

Family Portrait

Just wanted to share an updated family portrait with everyone. It is really hard getting a good picture of everyone in our family and it has been awhile since we have had a picture of our family of 4. I think Jaidyn did a great job of capturing everyone looking their best.

More Like A Marriage

I found this quote tonight and I love the way it describes adoption. Just wanted to share. :)

"It has been said that adoption is more like a marriage than a birth: two (or more) individuals, each with their own unique mix of needs, patterns, and genetic history, coming together with love, hope, and commitment for a joint future. You become a family not because you share the same genes, but because you share love for each other."

~ Photo Friday ~ Valentine's

Our yard was a solid sheet of ice, so Wes took the girls sled riding. This was their first time sledding. They had cold, rosy cheeks and hands, but loved every minute of it.



Sisterly Love! Moments like this don't come very often.



Emily and Cole are showing off their heart tatoos that Jaidyn and Addy sent them along with their Valentine's. Too cute!



Jaidyn loves her preschool teachers and her classmates. She looks forward to Fridays each week.



Cute Songs! Jaidyn and her two friends danced to the "Freeze" song. Jaidyn even pulled me out to twist with her to a Wiggles song. Lucky me!