Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I keep getting these e-mails from friends saying, "Where are the Cooks?" Sorry we haven't posted in awhile, but we've been having a great fall! Busy, but so much fun! Some of our October highlights:

Will finished soccer! We provided decorations and team gifts for Soccer Awards Night. The kids had so much fun, and Will even got his first real medal! Bill was remembering how special his first team trophy was when he was a kid, and now Will's getting to experience that feeling too.

Paula is serving on the Leader's Committee for Will's preschool. Thepreschool had its Fall Carnival fundraiser last week. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up in their costumes, and we provided a craft project for about 200 kids. Everyone had a great time - especially Will! We all ate lots of corn dogs, bake sale goodies, and candy - what could be a better fall?

Paula also helped with the church carnival this past week too. We've baked cookies, served pies, and hung decorations. Will was a big helper too - stuffing goodie bags and helping decorate. We had a great time at the carnival last night with one of Will's soccer buddies and his parents - and of course, the other couple thousand folks that turned out for the food and fun!

We met our last weekend at the zoo for a Dillon OKC Vietnam Family Day. It was so great to meet all of these families that we have known only through e-mail and blogs. There were eight families in all - four with kids at home, three with referrals waiting to travel, and our family waiting for our referral. It was fun to watch the kids play and interact. Bill & I love to watch Will when he is with little Vietnamese children. You can just see his mind imagining what his new brother might be like. Thanks everyone for a great time - let's do it again soon! You can go to my friend Kerrie's site at http://www.zakmakesthree.blogspot.com/ to see a picture of our whole gang!

We've been celebrating Candy Week - oops, I mean Halloween! - big time this year at our house! Between the Fall Carnival at school, the Festival at church, the school party today, and a bit of trick-or-treating tonight, we should be good and sugared up for awhile! :) I think Will has worn his knight costume about 4 times this week, and has loved every minute of it. Today's excitement includes decorating pumpkin sugar cookies at school and trick-or-treating through the church offices. (Will's preschool is at a great church here in town.)

If all of the business above hasn't kept us busy, we have been getting ready for our big family vacation too! We are going to Disneyworld! Bill leaves tomorrow for a convention in the Orlando area. Will and I are flying out early next week to meet him - and to see Mickey, of course! My parents are even coming for the last few days of our trip to have some special grandkid time. Will has this free vacation-planning DVD that he watches several times a week - as much as I will let him. He knows all the cool rides (and the scary roller coasters too!) and exactly what he wants to do in each park. I expect he will be our little tour guide, because he was telling me yesterday how you get on the monorail and transfer between different parts of Disneyworld. The kid's got it down! I'm sure that we will be posting lots of fun pictures for all of you, but not until we return. There's just too much fun to spend much time in the hotel room in front of the computer! :)

We hope that you all are having a great fall! For my adoption buddies, I know that the wait has been a bit slow and quiet lately. We are so thankful that God has filled our lives with so many other things lately that we haven't had too much time to sit and count the hours until our referral. Sometimes busyness can be a curse, but for us lately, it's been a blessing! Of course, we'll drop everything as soon as we have some good news to share! Keep checking back - there may be baby pictures soon! :)