Oh How We Love Rosie....Oh How We Love Rosie!!!

Can you believe that our dear miracle baby Rosie is 5 months old? She is doing great!!

On her 5 month birthday on the 21st of June, we had her interlocutory hearing for her adoption. Interlocutory means:  of a decree or judgment) Given provisionally during the course of a legal action. This was Rosie's preliminary adoption hearing. Her final hearing will be sometime in September.

On one of the hottest days of the year so far...with record breaking temps around 100 degrees, we trekked to Nashua district court for her hearing.

Here we all sat outside the courtroom waiting to be called in. A lovely family that was also waiting took this photo of us.

 We were so excited to be called in. We met the judge and he was very moved by our whole family. We could tell that we were such an encouragement to him. Of course during a given day, he sees much devastation and destruction in families, so to meet us and see how God has grown our family was a HUGE blessing to him!

As the judge looked out at our whole family he asked us some questions:

Judge:  "So Mr. Winslow....you must have a job where you make a LOT of money, right?"

Glenn:  "No your honor, I don't make a lot of money, I'm just a simple carpenter."

Judge:  "Hmmm...okay then Mr. Winslow, tell me this...you must live in a really BIG house, right?"

Glenn:  "No your honor, actually, we live in a very modest sized cape!"

Judge:  "Well then, you must be ready to say...this is the last child, right?"

Glenn:  "Well your honor....I'm going to have to wait on God and see!"

Judge:  "Will there ever be a time when you'll say enough children?"

Glenn:  "No, your honor, as I figure it, I'll let God decide that."

Judge:  "So Glenn, until you take your last breath, you'll be "planting corn" in the adoption field it seem, right?"

Glenn:  "Yes, your honor, that's right."

Judge:  "Okay Winslows...I must tell you that I'm thankful for all that you do!"

Mary:  "Thank you your honor, and we must tell you, that we serve a mighty God!"

Our attorney: "Your honor, I must tell you this. When I first met the Winslow family, I told them that they were crazy for wanting to adopt more children as they already had 6 at home! They told me that they came to see me for a reason, and that they were fine with adding more children to their home.  Then I found out that they didn't have much money, either, but they told me that this didn't matter at all. I told them that I NEVER get NH babies, and they said they'd just pray. Then, I called them about this beautiful little gal sitting here with them right now, and they said Yes, they would step out in faith and agree to take this baby when no one else would take her! Your honor, they stepped out in faith and here they are today, with this gorgeous little girl sitting here in front of you! It's been an amazing miracle! Throughout this short process, they have sent me cards and gifts of encouragement explaining to me how they are doing this and why!

Glenn and Mary (to ourselves)--"Oh my goodness...did you just hear what Margaret the attorney said? She really has been listening to us and hearing our testimony and reading the cards and letters we've been sending her! Oh God...you are sooooo good! Now not only the judge, but the bailiff and the court clerk have heard this as well! Grow those seeds that have been planted today God! Please grow them right up! This has been an amazing day so far!"

Judge:  "Well Winslow family, I declare the interlocutory adoption hearing for Rosalinda Marguerite Winslow complete and final. Her final adoption hearing will be in September. You can either come to it as a family, or have your attorney represent you here. Either one is fine."

Winslows:  "Oh your honor, we'd LOVE to come, and we'd love to bring some other families in support as well! We love to go to each others' adoptions!"

Judge:  "That will be very nice! Now tell me, who wants a picture up here with me behind the bench?"

Winslows:  "We do!!"

Judge:  "Okay, we'll start with Glenn and Mary and Rosie first."

Bailiff:  "Oh my your honor, we may need to build a balcony to fit such a large family up here with you!"

Mary:  "Your honor...have you ever had this many family members up here at one time?"

Judge:  "No, this is by far the largest family I've seen in an adoption hearing!"


Winslow family:  "Thank you so much, your honor! See you in September!"

We rejoiced all the way home, praising God for how He has orchestrated this amazing adoption journey, every step of the way!

On the way home, the girls thought it funny to create our very own "little rascal"!

Later that day when we came home, we had fun with a photo shoot with Rosie and the baby goats! Oh how she LOVES the baby goats! She laughs and laughs. It's so much fun!

"Come here Blackie, I just want to give you a big kiss!"

We are so blessed we continue to stand amazed! Thank you Lord!

M

Happy Father's Day Glenn!!! We love you!

Psalm 127:1-5 says:  

Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain that build it: unless the LORD keeps the city, the watchman wakes, but in vain.

2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he gives his beloved sleep.

3Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. 



We love to celebrate Father's Day with our favorite guy....Glenn! He's such an amazing Dad!  Father to 8 strong arrows in his quiver! Is his quiver full? Only God knows the answer to that question. As Glenn continues to look to the Lord, we are having so much fun, and we totally enjoyed celebrating Father's Day with Glenn!

We started the day here with a wonderful breakfast and some Father's day gifts! 

Then we had a wonderful time at church.  The message was amazing about the impact a father has on his children's lives, and the scripture that promises such! It was given by our newest elder that is father to 11 children!

Then we came home and got ready for a surprise for Glenn.  It's was such a beautiful day from the Lord weather wise! We took him hiking on one of our favorite hiking trails and he had never been on it. It's a hike on "little Blue Job" mountain and it's called Blueberry Hill. It truly is the most amazing view for truly the least amount of work! We packed a supper of Glenn's favorite things....roast beef sandwiches, cheese curls, grapes, and Reese's peanut butter cups for dessert!

The fam at the foot of the hiking trail!

headed up.....

and up!

A lovely couple captured our photo at the top! Truly ....the view is a 360 degree panoramic wonder!

time to eat!

Glenn and all his "arrows!"...(in case you couldn't tell...it was really windy at the peak and very chilly! It was so warm at the base that we didn't think we'd need jackets---but we did!

another amazing view!

and another!

There were many of these monuments along the trail. It reminded us that we must make monuments to the Lord in our lives showing His greatness and faithfulness and mercy!

Rosie's a bit chilly, and couldn't wait to get down a bit on the trail to warm up!

heading down!

 True to it's name, there were tons of low bush blueberries to be picked! The kids LOVED it! In a week or so, there will be tons more! We are going to head back and bring the doggies!

We went home a bit tired, but totally refreshed having enjoyed God's wonderful creation!

Happy Father's Day Glenn!

My Mama's Oasis Start to Finish!

I must share with you faithful readers...this was an amazing day for me. As I said in an earlier post, I received an invitation from my precious daughters to come and be pampered on Saturday, June 16, at 11:00. Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I'll share you with a photo journal of my special time!

The girls worked for hours in the kitchen in the morning preparing all of the special treats! They sent me off to run errands.

Grace made wonderful peanut butter bonbons! Yum!

Elisha made little mini pies! Delish!

The girls also made chocolate chip scones that were soooo yummy!

This was all Madelyn's idea! They went all out, even making a special "spot" for the oasis!

Here I am arriving home after my errands were done!

Rosie was really glad to see me!

So I sat down and was served some hot tea with a chocolate chip scone! It was delicious!

I could also build my own yogurt parfait! Yum!

Nicole made this little sign for my table!

Not sure if you can read all of this, but this was my menu and schedule for the day! It was super!

While I waited for my lunch to arrive, Nicole and I played a quick game of aggravation!

For lunch I picked an "everything omelet" with a slice of toast and a lovely switch beverage, too!

Doesn't it look great?

So...part of the oasis I could pick were some beauty treatments from "Nolie's salon" aka:  Grace who loves all things to do with that!

Much to "Nolie's" delight...I chose a hair cut! Here is the before photo!

Here is the after! I love it!

There was a lovely lounge chair and all of my favorite books and magazines to read while I relaxed!

I even had my nails done by "Nolie", too! She insisted on taking a photo of them!

Thank you so much my precious daughters! I left renewed and refreshed and loved!

you might be wondering what the "boys" did while all of this was going on?? They got the go-kart up and running!

Yes...some exciting laps with the go-kart took place during my oasis time! A great day was had by all Winslow family members!