Wednesday, April 8, 2020

An Evening to Remember!


What a wonderful surprise!
We were told that we did not need 
to be concerned about dinner tonight!
And, that we should dress up and look nice!


After primping and preparing,
we were met by the hostess!
Isn't she cute!

As we entered the main floor
we found the restaurant's 
signage!
Read the bottom!
Makes my heart melt!

It just so happened that big sis, Katie
called today with a great idea for the kids!
Hubby and I had no idea what was going on???


The serving staff meet us at the entrance!
Be still, my heart!


Our porch was cleaned and
perfectly set up for a romantic
and delicious dinner!


Love the attention to detail!


They went all out!
It made us feel quite special!
We had classical music playing in the background
and ate dinner by candlelight!


My date
and our appetizers!


It was so kind and thoughtful,
so heartwarming!


We LOVE all of the thoughtful details!


One of our favs!
Spaghetti with parmesan and
then red meat sauce on the other half!


Our serving staff!


The kitchen staff!


Desserts by Mia!


Emma and Ellie checked in with us 
and brought us whatever we needed!
These three, also helped in the kitchen!

Our hearts are full
and so very thankful!

One suggestion from the oldest sister
and a bit of collaborating with her
and then, they do all of this!!!

Never expected to be so 
blessed by adoption!


After that, they all pile in the porch and
we talk about what a wonderful evening it was!


They were quite proud of themselves
and they had every reason to be!

Thank you Jesus,
for your many blessings!

Monday, April 6, 2020

The Blessings from HopeKids!

This winter we were able to attend many
HopeKids events!

HopeKids has been such a blessing to our family!
It's allowed us to spend time together, enjoying life,
 laughing and making memories!

Thank you HopeKids!

We celebrated Timberwolves player,
Robert Covington's birthday!
(Sadly, he has since been traded to another team...)


Robert and the Mulvahill kids!


He worked on his front and 
back flips with our kids!
Sarah enjoyed showing him and the others,
her gymnastic prowess!


He was a 6ft 7in "kid" and was
completely into the games they played!


The kids had a blast 
playing dodge ball with him!


At one point it was Mia verses Robert Covington!
"Cov the glove" got her out!
Good try, Mia!


I believe this pic was Sarah's screen saver
on her phone for quite awhile!


He was a super nice guy and
prayed at the end of the event with the kids!


We sang Happy Birthday to him and 
everyone had birthday cake!


Along with being a lot of FUN,
he was kind and compassionate!


Robert and some of the HopeKids Gang!


Next up, was a morning at Nickelodeon Universe!
We ran into our friends-
Gayle and Curtis (from Iowa)!
It was such a joy to see them!
We've brought home 15 kids since we last saw them!
They are a part of HopeKids, too!


The kids had so much fun!
They went from ride to ride to ride to ride!
No lines!


We met our good friends, Zhou and PeiQin at the event!
Brian (from HopeKids) is photo bombing the pic!


Hubby and I enjoyed a cup of coffee,
visited with friends and strolled around
while our kiddos had the time of their lives, 
on all the rides!


We took pics when we randomly saw them!


On another evening,
 we went to the Wild hockey game
and sat in the suite!


A few other families joined us!
What a great view!


Our family van is not so trustworthy in bad weather,
so we drove our fleet of used and well loved Yukons
to get all of us to the HopeKids movie!


We got popcorn and pop at the event!


I think we saw "Sonic the Hedgehog" here!
We love watching movies together!


HopeKids also took us to the Science Museum of MN!
It is such an interesting place!


This is the two headed turtle!


There is so much to do and so much to learn 
at the Science Museum of MN!


When you open that door
it sprays out at you!
Surprise!
Purified clean water-
not a real sneeze!
Thank goodness!


Our girlies are really growing up!
Mia 18.5, Melissa 14, Ava 14.5 and Ellie 17.5!


Love all their questions and their interested minds!


And their desire to spin the wheel to win a piece of candy!


And then there was tubing at Buck Hill!
Abby, Jake and Melissa


As they tube down the hill 
we can't tell who is who
or if they were even one of our kiddos?
So we took photos as they ran by us!
Madeline, Ben and Anna


Ellie!


Emma!


Luke and Grace!


They did not want to stop for the pic BUT
we strongly encouraged them to do so...
Okay we told them they had to...
Grace, Jake, Jenny, Abby, Sam and Anna


Madeline, Ava and Mary!
It was a perfect night, 
warm temps outside during the day 
and cooler temps in the evening.
The snow refroze and was perfectly
 FAST!


We are so thankful for HopeKids!
It has been such a blessing to our family!
(and to many other families!)

We miss them during this social distancing time.
There are still some online activities
but this Mom has been a bit busy
in the home.

Thank you HopeKids for all that you do!