Harley Eugene Carrell

Harley Eugene Carrell passed away Wednesday, May 13, 2009 in Corpus Christi, Texas at the age of 82.

Mr. Carrell was born in Woodville, Oklahoma on August 20, 1926. His parents were Ben E. and Louisa (Wingo) Carrell. He was preceded in death by his parents and six siblings. Harley was married to Ruby Louise Bounds and was a loving and devoted husband for 63 years. Together they raised three children: Earl (Robye) Carrell of Portland, Wanda (Mike) Laird of Cypress, and Lynda (Curtis) Haveman also of Portland. He was blessed with seven grandchildren: Samantha (Jim) Purcell, Michael (Christina) Laird, J (Amanda) Carrell, Nicole (Matt) Johnson, Audra (Brad) Butler, Kellie (Jason) McAden, and Curt (Meghan) Haveman and blessed with five great-grandchildren.

Mr. Carrell Served in the United States Navy during World war II and received and honorable discharge in 1946. Mr. Carrell and his family moved to Portland in 1962 and he was a faithful member of First Baptist Church. He served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, a regular greeter, and on various committees. Mr. Carrell took every opportunity to be helpful to his neighbors and shared Jesus with whomever he met.

Mr. Carrell was employed by Reynolds Metals Company and retired in 1984. He enjoyed family gatherings, fishing, gardening, mission trips, serving snow cones in Vacation Bilbe School, cooking chicken and dumplings, and making his famous peanut brittle.

Mr. Carrell will be missed by many loved ones and friends. However, they are assured to see him again in heaven.

Prayers for Michael's Family

Please pray with us for Michael's mom, Wanda, and her family. Her father (Michael's Paw Paw) has between hours and weeks to live. They are starting to make funeral arrangements and all the children are sitting down with their Mom tonight to make sure she understands the situation and is prepared. Thanks for your love and prayers.

Adoption Workshop

or what I like to call adoption orientation. It was last weekend and it was great! The Lord really confirmed for us that this is the direction He is leading. They were very upfront about worst case scenerios (the girl changing her mind, how long it might take, etc.) All of the social workers are so loving and committed to the children, birthmothers and adoptive couples. We have a mountain of paperwork to do - we are hoping to have it done by July. Then we will have our homestudy and hopefully be in the adoptive parent pool by August. They told us the average wait is over 1 year but it could be "2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years." You could tell that they don't want us to get our hopes up about this being a quick process. One the other hand, they placed 20 babies last year and currently only have 12 couples in the adoptive parent pool, so we'll see! Thanks so much for all your prayers.

And as a little side note - I passed my pharmacy technician exam on Wednesday! Yeah! That's one thing off my plate (and a little bit more money in the bank :))