Three in Tennessee

As a celebration of Tatum's Adoption Day, some good friends Erik and Jana gave us an American Sweetgum tree (indigenous to the Smokeys). At the adoption party, they called it the "lawyer fee tree" and everyone tied contributions to our adoption fund to the branches. After the party, Erik helped me plant it *read: planted it for me*. What a wonderful gift and great story for Tatum!

On Father's Day, we got all decked out in our Cubs gear, fidgeted with our Cubs autographed baseball, and watched our favorite team beat the Jays. And then, I finally got some good pictures of Tatum by her tree. I think we'll take pictures by it every Father's Day, take notice of the growth in Tatum and her tree, and tell the story again.

To see all the pics, visit the gallery here.

I have an amazing friend who blogs. From time to time I visit her blog and every time I do, I think to myself, "she is the best writer I know." I mean to tell her and thank her. I mean to visit her blog more often. I mean to share it with people I know. And then crazy life kicks back in and I do none of those things.

So here's to L-Mize, wife of D-Mize... the best writer I know. Lindsay: thanks for blogging. You make me think, laugh, and sometimes cry. I've subscribed to your RSS so I'll automatically stay up-to-date. If you're not Lindsay and you're reading this, should do the same. Check out this exceptional post:
Finding Macedonia: Nothing

Dorothy Bode is a mom and contributor to the Carolina Hope blog whom we've come to greatly admire. She was interviewed on NPR's Day to Day re: trans-racial adoption. Listen here.