Yellow Belt

Our youngest son, Luke, tested for his yellow belt in taekwondo this week. He had a list of skills and terminology he had to demonstrate and then he needed to break a board with a front kick. He did a great job!!! The board broke on the first try. We are so proud of him. He is now an official yellow belt. His old white-striped belt was tied in a knot and presented to him to keep. They tie the previous belt into a knot as a symbol not to forget the knowledge and techniques associated with that belt.


A practice kick before the board break.


I snapped the photo too quick. He broke the board I just missed the actual break!


Luke, with his instructor.


Proud to have broken the board.


Thickness of board


Working on another kick.

NEWS!!!!!

What does that spell - NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE!!!!!!!
(in short, India doesn't object to us being Alesha's parents )

These letters are SO important to our family. This means we are one step closer to our precious baby girl, Alesha! We will move on to the Kolkata courts hopefully by the end of this week or beginning of next. This step tends to take quite a while to accomplish, but we we are trusting in God's timing. We have all been doing the happy dance around our house and rejoicing in answered prayer. We want to thank all of our friends and family who have been praying for us and continue to pray for us through this long journey. You are appreciated and we can't wait to introduce you to our little girl when she finally arrives home.

Hang on baby girl we are coming! We LOVE you with all our hearts!!

My FIRST EVER massage

Tonight I experienced my very FIRST professional full-body massage. It was AMAZING! I felt very relaxed when it was finished. I was a bit nervous going into this, because I didn't know what to expect. I am VERY modest and wasn't sure how that part was going to work out. My fears were unwarranted as I felt very comfortable and relaxed. It is apparent that I have a LOT of VERY tight spots in my shoulder/neck area. She had to work that area for quite a while. The massage lasted 1hour 30 minutes. and was just lovely. The best part was that my mom gave me this massage as a gift. I love you mom. Now I know what to tell my hubby to get me when he asks me what I want.

Celebrating 60 years of life!

My mom's 60th birthday was February 6th, and my brother and I hosted a huge birthday party for her at my house. My brother and family came down from Spokane for the weekend. It was fun to watch my mom's reactions as she answered the door to see who the next guest was going to be. We didn't make it a surprise party, but who would be attending the party was a surprise. With all the family and friends who made it we had appox. 40 people celebrate her life. The next day, she said "That was the BEST party I have ever had. I have never felt SO loved!" Mission accomplished :-)

My mom is SO deserving of a great big fun party. She is such a fun person. My mom is so special to me. She is my best friend, a follower of Jesus, she is giving, compassionate, loving, passionate, encouraging, dedicated, hard working, has a servant's heart and the list goes on and on. Anyone who has had the privilege of having my mom be a part of their life is very blessed. Thank you mom for ALWAYS being there for me. I love you so much!! I am looking forward to many more years of making memories with you. Love, Sis

Our baby is 11 months old today

Today our precious Alesha turned 11 months old. I am sad when I think about the fact that another 30 days has passed and she still is not in my arms. Everyday that passes she is getting older and I am missing her change, because she is not here. It occurred to me today as I was more irritable and just not myself that subconsciously my frustration with the fact that she is not home really gets to me.....even when I try to deny it.

On the brighter side of things, here is another photo I received. This photo makes me laugh when I look at it. This is quite the outfit and I like how she is holding her fingers. This photo is a visual answer to prayer for me. I had been praying from last month that Alesha would be able to sit up. This is a huge step for her. I was happy to hear and see that she is doing well and looks like she has gained some weight from the last photos I received....always a good sign :-). It will be fun to see how quickly she will develop once she gets home and gets lots of one-on-one attention. I am also looking forward to watching her try to keep up with her brothers.

At this point we are still waiting on the NOC "No Objection Certificate" The next step with be the guardianship step, which includes the scrutinizing of our paperwork, a court date, the judge granting us guardianship and then him signing off on the paperwork. After this step we wait for Alesha's passport to be issued and get ICPC clearance. After all this is completed we can book our flights in India!!! Our prayer has been that we would be in India for Alesha's first birthday, March 1st. We realize that this would be a miracle of God for this to happen! As we have prayed for this we believe that God has the power to make this happen. He has the power to supersede paperwork and governmental steps in order to bring Alesha home in HIS timing. We are also aware that God may not want us to be in India March 1st. We can say that if that is the case we know that God has a reason and we are trusting in Him alone.

Happy 11 month birthday baby girl! We love you so much and can't wait to have you home forever. Hang on, we are coming just as soon as we can.