Wordless Wednesday

Our friends from Taylor, David & Kelly Blomgren, are in the process of adopting a baby (or babies!) from South Korea!  Even though we weren't super-close friends in college, it's been fun keeping in touch since graduation.  In addition to having many of the same friends in common, Kelly & I are both Minnesota girls.  I even grew up in the same church as her cousins!  At any rate, it's been a lot of fun keeping in touch with them, and I can't wait to watch their adoption journey unfold.  David & Kelly have an incredible heart for orphans and are anxious to welcome one or more into their family!

Kelly's cousin (the one I grew up in church with!) designed t-shirts to support their adoption.  Whether or not you're able to order one, please check out their blog which chronicles their adoption journey (and also their beautiful daughter Norah).  :)

Visit to Santa 2010

Our visit to see Santa last year was much calmer than this year!  Isaac wasn't too thrilled about sitting in a stranger's lap!  He started crying the instant I set him in Santa's lap...almost as if he knew that's what toddlers are supposed to do (at least some of them!).

We went to Breakfast with Santa with our friends the Pattersons.  Their twins, Thomas & Smith, and Isaac share the same birthday, just one year apart.  We thought their matching pj's were adorable!

Happy Halloween!

A few weeks ago, we joined some friends for a Halloween Park Party!  Isaac sported his tiger costume from his Grandma Susie & Papa Tim:

Exhausted!

We visited Grandma Joan at her nursing home on Halloween afternoon.  Isaac was a big hit with the residents!  Grandma Joan also gave Isaac his first Milky Way.

 

Last Halloween was the day that we brought Isaac home!  After a whirlwind day of driving to pick him up near Austin, we came home and had an impromptu party with our parents and some of our friends.  We tried to recreate the same type of night for this Halloween, too. 

 

Halloween 2009
A lot can change in a year! 

Halloween 2010

Ready to go Trick or Treating!

Dinosaur costume from Grandma Missy & Grandpa Kal!






Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from our visit to the pumpkin patch last Friday! 

Taking my baby to the pumpkin patch was one of those memory-making events that I've looked forward to doing for many years while waiting for a baby.

And, going to the pumpkin patch with Isaac was just as fun as I'd always hoped it'd be! 





Grandma Missy came too!

My favorite little pumpkin of all!

  

 

Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Last Thursday, Isaac and I went to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden with some of our friends from church to take pictures of the kiddos!  Even though it was very hot, we had a blast with everyone!  All of the kids did a great job, and all of the moms were pretty pleased with the pictures we managed to capture! 

Here's the whole crew:

Caden~Carson~Smith~Lake~Thomas~Corbin~Landrie~Cody~Jace~Isaac

We were impressed that they sat still long enough to take this shot! 

Here area few pictures of Isaac from the day:

And, this is my favorite picture of all!   This is Isaac's "new" smile that he seems to be doing all the time now.  I just love how his whole little face scrunches up!

And, one last picture of me with my favorite little guy!  This was taken at the end of the day, and we were both ready for some air conditioning and a NAP!

Isaac & Landrie's Gotcha Day Party!

For several weeks months, Corrie & I have been dreaming of a GOTCHA Day party to celebrate both Isaac & Landrie!  Isaac's adoption was finalized on Monday, April 26 in San Antonio, and Landrie's was finalized just one day later in Wichita Falls!  Our stories have been woven together so closely that we thought it would be extra-special to close out this part of our journeys with a joint party celebrating the finalization of both adoptions!

Corrie & I became dear friends as we struggled through infertility.  The two primary people God used in my life to change my heart toward adoption were Dave and Corrie.  I always used to hope that I could be pregnant at the same time as one of my close friends...and when we decided to adopt, I just figured that was something I would never get to experience.  But, God exceeded that hope by giving me Corrie!  (Isn't that just like Him?)  Dave & I are so thrilled to have shared our adoption experience alongside the Longs!  

Corrie wrote an adorable poem that we included on the Evite for the party:

  The Longs and Rinn are longtime friends

Each thought the waiting would never end

Last winter both couples chose adoption

Everyone was ecstatic about this option!

In September, Landrie joined the Long family

One month later, Isaac added to the Rinn family tree

These babies have brought us all so much joy

Let's celebrate the GOTCHA Days of this sweet girl & boy!

As Corrie so wisely pointed out, this party wasn't just about the finalizations of both adoptions...it was also to celebrate the end of this part of our journey.  For a long time, we were heartbroken about not having a baby in our arms...and though we still dream of larger families, this party was all about celebrating what God has done for us in ending our pain for a baby and placing these beautiful babies into our families!

This is a shot from Isaac & Landrie's "photo shoot" on Friday morning in their adorable outfits!  I honestly squealed when I first saw them!  Corrie's talented sisters-in-law sewed and embroidered them!

We had our party on Saturday at the pavilion at the Keller Sports Park.  There was a playground right next to the pavilion, and it was full of all the kiddos who came!

Both sets of Isaac's grandparents were able to be at the GOTCHA Day party, which was really special!

Landrie & Isaac with their proud parents!

Summer is such a busy time, but we are so happy that so many people were able to celebrate with us!  All of our guests loved, supported, and prayed for us during some of the tough parts of our infertility and adoption journeys.  We couldn't be more grateful for our amazing families & friends!  And, we especially couldn't be more grateful to our God....who is faithful & works all things for the good of those who love Him!

Isaac's First Christmas!

Our first Christmas with Isaac was so, so fun! There were so many moments when I paused to realize (once again) that our family has been blessed with such a little miracle! This Christmas was such a contrast to last year's Christmas...though we had a great time celebrating with our family last year, we were in the middle of a fertility treatment and were really struggling as to how to grow our family. It's hard to believe what can change in a year, and we truly couldn't be more grateful for Isaac.

I'll try not to make this Christmas post too long...though there were a lot of fun Christmas activities in December...(starting with our visit to Santa).

A few nights before Christmas, the three of us drove downtown to see the Fort Worth Christmas tree! We thought it would be a lot busier downtown than it actually was, but we had a fun time walking around and looking at all the Christmas decorations. Hot chocolate was the perfect ending to the evening. We hope to make a visit to the Fort Worth Christmas tree an annual tradition for our family.
On Tuesday, December 22, we celebrated Christmas with my immediate family! My mom made a delicious meal of salmon (one of her specialities), and, after dinner, we all opened gifts. This was our first time (of what was to become many times!) for Dave & me to open Isaac's gifts for him. (I'm sure next year will be a different story!)

The first gift we opened for Isaac was a sweet little lamb from my parents, which had special meaning due to Isaac's story. My mom said that she had purchased this gift long ago, even before Dave & I were trying to grow our family. (If you know anything about my mom, you know that she had an entire dresser filled with baby clothes--all sizes and both genders--just waiting for a grandbaby!) After opening gifts around the fire, we roasted s'mores and watched "Anne of Green Gables" (both Bergstrom tradtions). Those of us who live in North Texas had a huge surprise on Christmas Eve Day....a white Christmas! This was our fifth Christmas in Texas, and the first time that we actually had snow. (We actually heard that this was the first time in 83 years that north Texas had a white Christmas!) Driving to the Christmas Eve service at Keystone was all the more special due since the weather felt truly "Christmasy!" We were disappointed, though, that Dave's parent's flight from Denver into DFW was delayed 7 hours due to the snow. While we waited for them to land, Dave, Isaac, and I had a great Christmas Eve at my parent's along with my Uncle Jon and cousins Nate & Anna. Dave's parents finally arrived around 11:00 on Christmas Eve night (after being rerouted to Austin)...and since they missed all of our Christmas Eve festivities, we made up for it with extra celebrating on Christmas Day!
After cinnamon rolls & coffee on Christmas morning, we opened stockings and presents with Dave's parents! Isaac's sweet birthparents had sent a lot of presents for Isaac...each one was individually wrapped, and it took Dave & me nearly half an hour to open them all!

Around noon, we all drove up to my parent's, where we had a huge Christmas Day celebration! After a delicious Christmas feast, we played games...Apples to Apples, Phase 10, and Rummikub. The highlight of the day, though, was definitely jumping into the (unheated) pool. Under usual Texas weather conditions, this wouldn't be quite as big of a deal...but the high for the day was 39 degrees (and the water was only 47 degrees). The charge into the pool was led by my dad...and followed by Uncle Jon and Nate...and then Emily, Anna, and I were in next. (I am very proud of the fact that I was the first girl in the pool!) Dave was last, but only because we girls needed a little "encouragement." :) We decided that this may need to be our new Bergstrom tradition! We hope that your Christmas was full of wonderful memories, too...though we doubt your memories include jumping into an ice-cold pool! ;)