Christmas Blessings

A lot has taken place the last few weeks...which explains why I haven't added anything to the blog lately! We had a wonderful Christmas with our families and so enjoyed watching the faces of our sons and all our nieces and nephews. As adults, Christmas holds a special place in our lives as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour and share in gift giving, but the magic it holds for our children is so special. Cherish was mentioned in our conversations, and patience again tested as we wished we could to have her with us now. We have been gently reminded in the past weeks that it is all in God's hands and in his timing. We had a couple bumps waiting for the Missouri State Dept to approve our notary but on Christmas Eve we finally recieved the State Seal, what a blessing! It seems that God was telling us no matter how quickly we try to push to get things done, just like with the long awaited birth of the Messiah, everything is in his hands and we just need to slow down as he opens the doors. We are so thankful to announce that we have raised and saved enough for the dossier. Thank You to everyone for your prayers and support with our wreath fundraiser, it was a success!

Thailand Homestudy approved

It's official the Thailand Holt team has approved our homestudy!!!!! We are waiting for them to send us the necassary documents to complete our dossier then off to Washington DC it will go. The whole certification process should take about a week and a half, then we will mail our completed dossier to Holt and they will send it to Thailand. Then we apply to immigration and start waiting...ugh! We are so thankful for all the love, support, and prayers we have been getting, keep it coming! Our goal is to have the dossier done by Christmas.

Thankfulness

Sitting around the table today with family, sharing stories, laughing, talking,and eating way too much, I just wanted to give them all a huge hug! We realized again how important of a role family plays in our lives. The bond we share is truly amazing, being able to come together on Thanksgiving and all through out the year knowing that we love and support one another through the good and the bad. It's one of the things that defines family. We spoke briefly of Cherish and how we can't wait until she is with us, she is part of our family already and we missed her today. We are so blessed with family there just aren't adequate words to express, but one thing is certain, we are THANKFUL.

Dinner Prayer

Tonight as we sat down to supper I asked the boys to say a prayer. We have been encouraging them to understand that they can say learned prayers, which Ian did,"God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. Amen.", but that they also can talk to God just like he is a fried. Peyton took a deep breath and said, "Lord, thank you for our food, and God please help us to have the money to bring home our baby sister soon. Amen." Yes. I had to turn away because I may have been crying. He was so sincere and it sounded so innocent. It was a special moment to realize that my amazing sons are going to be awesome big brothers!!

National Adoption Awareness

Did you know November is National Adoption Awareness Month? We have learned so much since beginning the process it's amazing! There are so many things we'd heard that weren't true, and so many things we hadn't considered. If you are curious about adoption check out the website for our agency, Holt International. You can watch a short video about Holt, who was the first International Agency and find out some very inspirational info. And the work they do on the behalf of children all over the world. Join us in supporting adoption this month!

Hebrews 11:1 Faith

This week I had a chance to speak with a woman whose family will soon be traveling to China to pick up their adopted son.  She was such an inspiration to me and really got the creative thoughts going for fundraising to help offset our expenses.  She reminded me if we do our part God will do the rest!  We are taking a step of faith...Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,

Christmas Wreaths...Donations for the Dossier

Fundraiser #1 CHRISTMAS WREATHS

Christmas Wreaths on sale now, all proceeds go towards our adoption expenses.  We hope to raise $3000 to pay for our dossier, (paperwork to be federally sealed and sent to Thailand) which will place us on the official waiting list.  Cost of each wreath is $35.  I will try to upload photos, there are four wreaths to choose from.  Please spread the word:)  Money must be received for order to be processed.

Homestudy Update

We had our final homestudy interview today!  All went great and we should have the completed homestudy paperwork in about 2 weeks!  And the doctor determined I had a false positive on my latent TB test because all my other tests came back clear so we are still eligible to adopt from Thailand:)

Waiting for two more pieces of paperwork...then all will be turned in for the homestudy, so hopefully this week:)

Homestudy Steps

Trying to finish all the steps to get this homestudy started.  Hoping this blog can keep everyone that wants to be up to date, up to date!! 

We are almost done getting all the paperwork (or should I say small book), filed to begin the homestudy...and having fingerprints done, blood drawn, well tested....it's been crazy.

Thanks to all the support we are getting from everyone, keep those prayers coming...