Surprise!!!!!!!!!

Preston's big 30th birthday is 5/11 but since we will be on our way to Italy that day, I planned a little surprise party for him Saturday night with some of his closest friends from residency. It was a success! He was definitely surprised :)

Everyone met at Acapulco, one of our favorite and most frequented Mexican restaurants

The birthday boy wore the sombrero while we all sang Feliz Cumpleanos

I think he had a good time!!! :)

Stiamo andando verso L'Italia!

For those of you who don't speak Italian, that means "We are going to Italy!" One of my Christmas presents was a Rick Steves' Italy 2011 book. As I was opening it, Preston told me that that was the most expensive present under the tree. It took me a second to realize exactly what that meant!!! :) We are going for 13 days in May! We had been considering going to Spain for 2 weeks in March for Preston to do an away elective, learning Spanish. But after weighing all the costs and time requirements, we decided that we'd rather vacation in Italy for a couple of weeks instead. We have been wanting to go for a while now, and since we don't have babies yet, and since Preston has time available now that he soon won't have anymore (once he starts his new job), we figured now is the time! Plus, we just got our plane tickets for an incredibly great price. We are super excited! Everyone says May is a great time to go. We are flying into Milan and then plan on touring Northern Italy, including Lake Como, the Dolomites, Verona, Venice, and then heading over to Cinque Terre for a few days,  and finally finishing up in Florence, Sienna, and some of the hill towns in Tuscany. Can't wait!!!

Merry Christmas

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!' "  Luke 2: 8-14

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Love,
Preston and Angela

Two celebrity sightings in Bham in one night...at the same restaurant!!!

So last night was really random. Yesterday afternoon I started really craving La Paz, which is my favorite Mexican restaurant in Bham but one we rarely go to b/c it's on the other side of town. We hadn't been in several months and so I told Preston I wanted to go. Even though Preston had the day off and already had dinner thawed out at home, he agreed (after trying to sway me to choose somewhere closer to home). As we are sitting there I see this extremely pretty woman who looks really familiar. She smiles at me and I start racking my brain on where I know her from. Then it hits me...it's Sara Evans! She ends up sitting right next us with her husband Jay Barker (former football quarterback and current radio personality in town) and a bunch of kids! They were sitting there waiting on their food, so I went over to get my picture with her. She was super nice!

So then, as we are sitting back at our table eating again, I look up and at the back of the room, I see Taylor Hicks!!! As we are leaving I approach him and we get his picture as well. He too was extremely nice. Needless to say, we were glad I had a craving for La Paz that day. :)

Seeking and Waiting on the Lord

I just wanted to write a quick note of thanks to all those who are so supportive in our adoption process. To all those who call or email to ask "Have you heard anything yet??!!" It's great to have people walking beside us who are eagerly anticipating our baby almost as much as we are. At times it gets a little hard to just be "waiting" and this morning the Lord impressed on me some scriptures which I found to be very encouraging. I wanted to share some of them. They all center around seeking the Lord and waiting for the Lord:

"I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." - Psalm 34:4
"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him." - Lamentations 3:25
"Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary." - Isaiah 40:31
"Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him." - Psalm 37:7
"Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord." - Psalm 27:14
"Behold this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." - Isaiah 25:9

I hope these verses serve to encourage you as much as they encourage me. No matter what you are going through, it's nice to be reminded of how good the Lord is. He is definitely worth waiting on. We sometimes not necessarily forget, but we just take this for granted and don't really focus on it like we should.

Happy Halloween from Count Dogula and Wonderwoman!!!

Our "babies" dressed up as Count Dogula and Wonderwoman for Halloween this year. I thought each costume suited their personalities very well, especially Samson. Bella's costume was a little to long for her legs, but as long as she was seated, it was fine. It was somewhat of an ordeal to get these pictures taken, so I have posted a "photo shoot" to see several different poses. People have been asking how we got them to sit still and pose so well...The answer is treats! They'll do anything for a treat. Trick or treat!!!!   :)

"I vant to lick your face...Bwa Ha Ha!!!"

Enjoying her "treats"

Our very attentive watch dog

I feel bad because Bella gets so much more blog face time than Samson, so I decided to post some cute pictures of Samson "standing guard" at our house. He likes to sit on the arm of our loveseat/top of our end table so he can have a good, clear view out our front door window. He truly is our little watch dog!