Exciting Times!

Today has been a significant day in the life of our family. First of all our son, Matt, graduated from High School with highest honors, summa cum laude. He was chosen to be the commencement   speaker and did an awesome job! After graduation we celebrated with an open house/ party. We are so proud of the young man Matt has become and are excited to see how God uses him in the future. He will be home for another week and then he will head to North Carolina where he will work once again at Camp Grace as a counselor. He will get home the first part of August and then soon after start his new adventure at Clearwater Christian College. We will be saying goodbye to both Katie and Matt as Katie will be heading back to Clearwater Christian also. 

Katie completed this year of college at home through taking a full time load of classes via the Internet and driving to Clearwater a few times every semester for classes. At this point she is still on track to graduate a semester early in December 2014. 

Abby will complete fifth grade this week and it will be off to junior high for her. I can't believe she is old enough already! 

Another significant milestone in our family is that Jaelynn has been home exactly six months today. It seems like yesterday we were waiting for her file from China. She continues to be a perfect fit as an Altman and she is looking forward to starting kindergarten in the fall. We see a spine specialist as well as her neurosurgeon this month and will decide when she should have surgery on her spine. Not many details on this yet, but would appreciate prayers as we make decisions. 

Now to back track a week... Last week we were given the opportunity to go to Nashville for the 10th anniversary of Show Hope. Show Hope is the organization that provided life saving care for Jaelynn while she was still in China and they also provided our family with a grant to help with the cost of our adoption. We had such a sweet time, reuniting children that were once  orphans. It was so neat to see children that once played together in an orphanage in China playing together in America with their families looking on. A former pre school teacher and doctors who cared for the children in China were there also. It was also a great time meeting friends that I have only talked to on the phone, Facebook, and email. A weekend filled with some precious memories.

We are still amazed as we look back over the last two years and see how God has worked in the life of our family. Thank you to all of you who have played a part in our journey. A year ago it did not seem like we would ever be at this point. God is Good, and God is Faithful!