Whoo-hoo! I've turned 2!

We can’t believe li’l Grant is already 2 years old!! He is the sweetest, funniest little guy. He brings so much joy to our entire family…and friends! This baby is already talking in short sentences. He LOVES milk and juice, and his favorite foods or pizza and spaghetti. When he wants one of his to pick him up, he says, “I hold you”. :) He absolutely LOVES music! He “conducts” with one finger and nods his head when he hears any kind of music. He also loves being outside with his daddy! Anthony loves being in the garage and gardening. Grant is his sidekick and gets very mad when he has to come in! He’s at the point now where he does not like any change in environment. For example, when he turned 2, he had to move from the baby nursery at church to the 2 yr. old nursery. Boy, he did not like that at all! He was used to Ms Peggy and Ms Kim who brought donut holes every Sunday morning! Those 2 ladies still love him so much that they “sneak” him some donut holes every chance they get!! He has a very special friend now too. A family moved here from Kansas several months ago. I met the mom when she inquired about putting her 3 year old daughter in Kindermusik

classes. The minute we met, and found out that their daughter was adopted too, well, we’ve been inseparable! I’m sure you can tell in this picture how curly Grant’s hair is; and that’s after many haircuts! Well, his best bud Lindsay has brown curly hair too!

This priceless picture was taken by our sweet friend and amazing photographer, Katy Roberts of Katy Roberts Photography We hope to find each of you basking in the love and grace of sweet Jesus. As the choir will sing this Sunday, "God, You are God even when I don't feel You. God, You are God even when I don't see You. I will worship, I will worship You."

Jacob's Creations

Even though he's 14, boredom can cause you to do some unusual things! My favorite is the one on the right. What a wonderful reminder....to be THANKFUL of the cross, and what our beautiful Saviour did for us. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Fall Fest 2011

What a wonderful time we had tonight! Such a joy to see so many children enjoying innocent, pure fun! Grant, Jonah, and even Jacob seemed to have a wonderful time. Jacob and Jonah mostly played ball and frisbee. I think Grant's favorite part was dancing to the live music.....PRECIOUS!! We are so blessed!

Love to all!

18 MONTHS OLD!!

How did God know? How did He know that this little boy precious would be such a blessing?! He knew; He knows everything! Christian "Grant" has brought more joy into our lives than we could've ever imagined. We have a lump in our throats as we state that this baby is already 18 MONTHS OLD (and is wearing 24 month clothing)! It seems just yesterday we were bringing him home on an airplane from York, PA. He now identifies each one of us: Mama, Dah Dah, Jacob, and Jo Jo (Jonah). He also is quite fond of his Nona and MiMi and Granddaddy. Some of his favorite times are visiting Nona with his Dah Dah, visiting MiMi and Granddaddy, playing with his cousins Lily, Abby, MelMel and "Moby" (Coby). He LOVES hangin' out with his Aunt Jeannie too! He gets excited when we drive into the church parking lot as he knows he'll get to play with his friends and "Peggy" in the church nursery. Music class on Wednesday mornings is particularly a fun time as he gets in the middle of the floor and shows off his dancing skills! He also gets pretty excited each Sunday night for our "H & H" night; a get-together with our special friends. He is almost able to speak each of their names as well! At home, Grant is full of giggles as he gets each of us to chase him around the house! He loves to watch/listen to Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Each time he hears Jacob practicing his drums, he says "Bummm" (drum), and says "JoJo" as Jonah practices his baritone. When big brothers are on the piano, he feels the need to play along too! Each time we get ready to leave for Jacob or Jonah's baseball games, he says "Go go...ball". :o) One of the funniest things he does is call any cell phone he sees "Nona". Because Nona lives about 35-40 minutes away, he enjoys talking to her on the phone. And oh how he loves "pah-ppies"! He can spot a puppy a mile away. :o) We enjoy hearing him "sing" around the house. It's amazing how this little boy picks up words and identical pitches from music he hears. We're excited to see what his many talents will be! He also is one of the most patient babies we've ever seen. We rejoice each time that we see his incredible smile and we look forward to watching him grow and making this world a better place in which we live. :o)

Blessings to all


Tony, Donnis, Jacob, Jonah & Grant

I'm ONE!

It just totally blows our mind that Christian Grant has turned a year old! Where did those 12 months go? This little man started walking on Feb 12th at 11 months old. He's still not real crazy about table food. He loves the jars of Earth's Best vegetables and fruits, and I can't dare forget how much he loves his Mum Mum strawberry-flavored rice cakes! He made the big switch from formula to whole milk a couple of weeks ago and seems to be doing just fine. He also started using a sippy cup with yummy water. At his 12-month checkup he weighed in at 23 pounds. He is in the 60-75 % of all of his stats. :o) He is the happiest baby! He is already trying to repeat everything we say. He is saying "Mama", "Daddy", "Kay-Cob" (Jacob), "Go-Go" (JoJo for Jonah), "Tank-too" (thank you), "Mum Mum", "Ah-ooo" (uh oh), and "dia-puh" (diaper). There are many other things that he "says", but only he knows what they are right now! He loves blowing kisses to anybody and everybody! It's the cutest thing to see; as well as when he hugs his lovey blanket or stuffed animals!

On Mondays and Fridays, Grant enjoys playing and taking it easy with Mama at home. On Tuesdays, he gets to play with his Daddy, or Ms Tina when Daddy has to work. On Wednesday, he gets to have Kindermusik with Mama and Nona B! As soon as he hears us all sing, or the CD player starts, he starts rocking his upper torso side to side and claps his hands...VERY CUTE! He loves watching and being with his friends in KM class. We love being there with him. On his birthday last Wednesday, we celebrated after class by all having yummy cupcake cookies made by Ms Tina! On Thursdays, li'l Grant gets to go with Mama to Longview to an area dayschool where we have more music and movement with his friends while mommy teaches.

Mr. Grant sleeps wonderfully at night, but is not a big fan of naps during the day. He takes naps, but they're usually not for very long. We are going to have some Easter and family portaits made here in a few weeks. We simply can't wait! He is absolutely crazy about his big brothers and gets very excited when we pick them up from school each day! He is already saying their names in the pick-up line before they even get in the car! His Nona and Granny (Great-Grandmother) get pretty excited to see him too! He blesses the socks off Granny's friends at the nursing home! It literally brightens up Granny's whole week when she sees Grant. Nona B seems to have found tremendous joy in having li'l Grant in her life. His Mimi and Granddaddy really enjoy his visits too! Everybody loves getting his hugs and kisses. :o)

Happy Spring everyone!!

What a wonderful year!

Christmas & New Years Greetings to everyone! We are so thankful for all of our friends and family. You have blessed us richly with your prayers, love and friendship. God has been so good to us. This time last year, we were still hurting as we anticipated if we would be matched with a baby and little brother. God not only gave us this child, but THE child He had for us, Christian Grant! We are amazed at how our family has changed and grown. We are in love with our new home here in Hallsville and are thrilled with many sweet neighbors and awesome friends for the boys. Tony still enjoys working at Lowes for his 19th year. He will be facilitating a mens Bible study in January by Tony Dungy. We pray many mens lives will be changed by this study. Donnis continues to enjoy teaching Kindermusik in Marshall and Longview, singing in the church choir and being a very busy mom! Jacob & Jonah are halfway through their first year in the Hallsville ISD and absolutely LOVE it! Jacob, now 13, is 1st chair percussionist in the 8th grade band, made 1st chair Region Honor Band, and LOVES playing baseball and hanging out with friends, including his best-bud and cousin Coby. Jonah is loving 5th grade and is making straight A's! He also loves baseball, playing the piano and playing with friends at school and in our awesome neighborhood. Li'l Grant is now 9 months old, wearing 12-18 mo. clothing we might add, and is into EVERYTHING! He is crawling all over the place, pulling up on anything he can, and loves to "repeat" anything we say. :o) He enjoys Kindermusik classes with mommy, going to Nona B's with DahDah and playing with his brothers. He is an incredible JOY...more than we could have ever dreamed. We pray you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very blessed New Year!

Love,
Anthony, Donnis, Jacob, Jonah and Grant

6 months old!

Oh my word! We can't believe that Grant is already 6 months old! Words can't describe what joy he brings to us all. 3 days ago, he started clapping. His Great Grandmother Louise was the one to get this started! She was excited to see Grant sitting up all by himself and started clapping and saying "patty cake Grant" and then he turned on the charm! A couple of weeks ago, he started saying "Da Da". Now, those who want to be intellectual about it will say that that's one of the first sounds all babies make; but he was looking around the edge of the sofa, right at his daddy when he first spoke it! So we'll take that perspective. :o) He seems to love music (he hears and moves to it all the time). The ladies in the church nursery seem quite fond of him and enjoy his newest nickname. Let me explain. Grant was at the nursing home visiting Great Granny. He hadn't been there in a couple of weeks. One of the workers noticed him and said, "Oh my Lord, he has grown! He's so JUICY!" So there you have it, Grant's newest nickname Juicy!! He LOVES the sight of all of his family, and kicks his feet with joy and gives that million-dollar smile as he approaches each one. Big brothers Jacob and Jonah are quite proud of him, and kiss him ALMOST as much as mommy and daddy do. :o) We are so thankful to God and to his birthmom's incredible love and sacrifice for this precious child. God is good all the time, and all the time, GOD IS GOOD!

May you be blessed today,

Tony & Donnis