In Loving Memory of...

Jadis Corin Lewis

June 13th, 1997 - July 25th 2007

My feet are cold tonight. There is no heartbeat to keep them snug. As my little dog died in my arms today, I cried and thought of all that we've been through together. She listened and took my side in those first few months of marriage when Micah and I were still learning to be a team. She was with us as we grew together and happily settled into our grown-up life.

I petted her soft coat as I timed painful contractions and her calm eyes broke through my nervous tension. When we returned home with the new bundles , our first order of business was to introduce her. Micah and I laughed at her confusion and then her excitement. From the start she was ever gentle and kind with "her pups".

She was always on guard while camping and ever our alarm should the doorbell fail to alert us.

Her fur absorbed bitter tears of disappointment when the world came crashing down and things didn't work out the way they should have.

She warmed cold winter nights and faithfully minded the children through warm summer afternoons.

She helped us celebrate our birthdays, holidays and milestones.

She tended us through sickness.

She was there through the loss of both my Grandmas, lending me all the comfort she could offer. She's seen first steps, heard first words and lapped up the smatterings of first strained carrots.

She was always just...there. When I walked through the door she was always so, so happy that I was home. Tonight I find myself sharing my son's longing, "Will we see Jadis again?" I have no way of knowing for sure, but I recently read this passage. I like it. I like it a lot. And tonight I choose to believe it's true:

"Animals aren't nearly as valuable as people, but God is their maker and has touched many people's lives through them. It would be simple for Him to re-create a pet in Heaven if He wants to. He's the giver of all good gifts, not the taker of them. If it would please us to have a pet restored to the New Earth, then that may be a sufficient reason. Consider parents who have acquired a pet because of their child's request. God is better then we are at giving good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:9-11)...in her book about Heaven, Joni Earecson Tata says, 'If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn't surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character. Exorbiant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures Heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy again would be pure whimsy - utterly joyful, surprisingly superfluous... Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God who delights in lavishing love upon His children.' "

(from Heaven by Randy Alcorn)

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." - Will Rogers

Mrs. Invisable

From Mommy: Here's some pictures of us at at Silverton Park the other day. As usual it looks like I'm not there, but I am, dividing my time between playing and picture-taking. Sometimes I worry that one day my boys will puruse the pictures of their childhood and not remember me, not see my face in any of their best memories. I have got to start remembering to hand the camera to Micah more frequently to capture moments of me with my sons. Even if my hair is wind-blown and messy from the swings.

Marion County Fair 07

"I won!!"

From Solly: Hey, guess what? I won a 1st place ribbon for my pottery!! I was so excited to see my big blue ribbon! There were a ton of kids who put photography in, so the competition was really tough and the piece that won was really awesome. The judge said that it was difficult to choose the best one out of so many cute pictures and that she thought I had done a super job on mine. She encouraged me to enter again next year, and I will!




The other neat part of the fair was the petting zoo. We love to take Mommy to these. She has good times. Here's some of our favorite animals:


Chasing a duck.

Mommy said she couldn't tell who was cuter - Kai-Kai or the llama!

Here I am petting a cavy. That's a first for me. He was a bit strange.

Kai and a min-pony.

And me with a little goat.

Pray for this girl...

I was just made aware of this girl who is just my age and is going through the battle of her (difficult and tumultuous) life. She is shaking her fist at God and screaming , "WHY!?!"

I don't know the answer. Not even close. But I can pray and offer support by stopping in and letting her know that she matters to God. And to me.

Go visit her? www.nicole-austin.blogspot.com

Photography by Sol

Snow Kitty by Solomon Lewis
Sunny Daisies by Solomon Lewis
These are the pictures Solomon submitted to the Marion County Fair this year. We enlarged and matted them and they turned out very cute. Even cuter is how proud he is of them. He chose the titles very carefully and took his time deciding.

He also painted and glazed a terra-cotta pot and embelished it with tiny tiles and beads. On Sunday we'll go back to the fair to see all of the ribbons and artwork displayed. There are a few kiddos from the home school group who have entered their work in arts/crafts and Lego creations - too cool!

Celebrating the Beauty Around Us

Here's a collage of the plants around our house this summer. God is so kind to bless the world with beauty. What an awesome Creator He is.

Song of Solomon 2:11

"See! The winter is past and the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

The fig tree forms it's early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

Arise, come my darling! My beautiful one, come with me!"

Happy 4th of July!!

Fireworks!! Ooooooo!I love all the noise and lights... but my brother's a bit unnerved by all the racket.
He goes off into the garage and comes back with Daddy's ear protectors.

He says, "That's better, Mama!"

Adoption Watch 2007:

Well, the State of Oregon is continuing to work hard to help us grow our family. Our caseworker is keeping us up-to-date on kiddos she thinks may be a good match for us. We have the pictures of a couple of little ones who are dear to our hearts and we're waiting to see what happens with their case. This process may take several more months, though, as the State tries to make a perfect match with each and every child and family.

As we look at these babies and read their stories, it amazes us what they have come through in their short lives and we're excited to see who God has chosen for us!

It will be worth the wait!

Dragon Boat Racing at the World Beat Festival

From Solomon: Goga went with us to the World Beat Festival on the waterfront! It was so very fun to enjoy all the cultural dancing, merchandise and booths.

The main reason we went, though, was to see Daddy and his team from the hospital as they raced their Dragon Boat! Their team was called The Queen's Dragon Riders and they had an awesome boat.

They raced a few at a time and then the winners of each race competed. The teams were narrowed down this way until there were only 4 teams left to race for the gold. Daddy made it to the finals!!

Go Daddy!!

Oooooo - so close!

In the end, Daddy's team took 3rd place and they all got beautiful medals to wear. Very exciting!