India Festival 2009 - Portland

My boys and I walking towards the festival.....(my husband took all the photos)

Today after church we headed downtown for our first India Festival. This is an annual event, but this is the first year we attended. We had a wonderful time. I felt like I was in India again. All the beautiful colors, clothes, music, dancing, food, etc. I was really excited, because I was able to meet in person one of my "blogging friends" at the festival. Cheryl, her two daughters and friend were there. Cheryl has been home from India with Adia for 2 months. Adia is beautiful and looks so happy. It was fun watching her take in all the sights and see here interact with her older sister, too. How fun to find somebody that lives in Oregon who has adopted from India!
Seeing their family gives me hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel and it will happen!

Sitting at the festival made me miss India, remember my friends that are currently in India on a mission's trip, and make me long for my little Indian princess even more. Hopefully next year we will have our little Alesha home and we can attend the festival as a family of five!

First sight of the festival...looks fun, huh?

Tons of people were there.

Here I am with Cheryl and Adia.

Dancing

The dance teams were great and were having a blast!

ONE YEAR MARK

Today marks one year that we have been waiting for the referral of our precious Alesha. I can't believe we have already been in this process for 1 year, 6 months, and 2 weeks, but who's counting right?? One year ago today we were placed on the waiting list at #13 and now we are waiting at #3. I am excited to finally be close to the top of the list.

As I sit here writing I am wondering where our baby girl is?. Is she born yet? Is she safe? What does she look like? When will she be coming home? What about her birth mother? When will "the call" FINALLY come? To all these questions I have NO answers, but God does. I MUST rest in this truth. I know that Alesha will come home when the timing is perfect. When I look back over this LONG and at times PAINFUL process I know in the end I will see God's PERFECT plan. I have been able to look back over my life and see how God planned out situations that didn't make sense to ME at the time, but now that I am on the other side I see His wisdom in the timing. If only I could see the big picture like HE does :-)

Yesterday, I took the boys to the library to pick up their prizes for completing the Summer Reading Program and was blessed to see the most adorable little Indian baby girl. She was SO precious it was all I could do to not ask if I could hold her. She had the biggest brown eyes and gorgeous smile. She had a little pink hat on, cute little outfit, jewelry on both arms and legs, and a bindi on her forehead. I told her grandma how gorgeous she was and told the baby girl what a pretty little girl she was...the baby gave me the biggest smile...it melted my heart. MAN do I want my baby girl home!!!

Today my heart is in India with my baby girl. We will be celebrating this 1 year marker with a home cooked Indian dinner.

We love you Alesha!!

Going Through the Motions

This song has really been ministering to my life the past couple of months. I so desire to NOT just go through the motions. I want to have a passion for the things that matter to Christ and have my life reflect those things in action. Orphans internationally and our modern-day orphans in the foster care system have been heavy on my heart. I am excited to see God giving me more passion in this area, getting me past my fears, and giving me ways to make a difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_rmCeAzqKc

Darin and I just completed our foster parenting classes a couple weeks ago. These classes are an eye opener for sure!!! It is heart breaking to hear about the abuse and neglect that so many innocent children go through on a daily basis!!!! It is so sad that there are so FEW foster care homes to care for these children until their parents can address the issues that resulted in their child being removed from their home.

I was challenged emotionally week after week. To see videos and hear stories from children about their experiences of being moved from home to home and how they view adults after stuff they have been through...it just really ripped my heart apart. It is NO wonder that children would have behavior and emotional issues after some of the situations these precious children have come out of. The biggest issue for children is trust! How difficult it must be to trust anybody when the people that you love and say they love you hurt you. It is difficult for children to not put up HUGE walls to protect themselves from being hurt again or allowing themselves to feel love.

I will be honest that I had a pretty narrow view of foster parenting before I started these classes. I always thought that to do foster parenting you had to take on children for a couple of years and then they would be taken away, it would be too expensive, too difficult, too uncomfortable, etc. God has been breaking through ALL of these fears and misconceptions and speaking to my heart that it doesn't matter about ME and MY fears comfort, etc. it is about HIS hurting children. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. What better way to serve Jesus than by touching the life of His little ones.

After this class I realized that there are MANY options to help in the foster care system. You can take minimal training and provide care for a child ONCE a month to give that child's foster parents a break or you can provide a week or weekend of care for current foster parents. The next level would be to take the traditional 30 hours of foundations training to be able to provide short-term or emergency shelter for children. The same training gives you the option of being a long-term care provider or the option of adopting a child out of the foster care system. The options to serve are endless and VERY needed.

At this point our family will provide short-term/emergency care while we are waiting for our adoption to move along. We have a specific time frame that we can work under with our adoption and hope to be of help during that time. Our adoption comes first so at this point the timing of all of this in God's hands. Darin and I are a bit nervous about taking in foster children, but are so excited and pray that God will work through our family to touch the life of his precious children. I know it will be probably one of the hardest thing we have ever done, but it will be so rewarding at the same time. Our boys are really excited to have foster children in our home. It has been a great time of discussion with them. We have talked about the many challenges and the joy that will go along with this decision and we are all in agreement to move forward.

On a side note, all the training and preparing for foster parenting has really helped with the long wait of our adoption. The funny thing is now I am waiting for TWO calls. The first is the call on the referral for our precious Indian princess and now the second call from DHS to place children in our home. It is never a dull ride when God is in control.

I would encourage anybody who has ever thought about or even considered doing anything with the foster care system to look at the different options that are available and see if there is a way you can contribute your time to help with such HUGE need.

Orphan Movie

I have heard various comments about this movie in conversations, radio, etc, but have never watched the trailer for it until tonight. YIKES! It is scary!

I am impressed and so thankful that the Christian Alliance for Orphans put together this video in response to the movies current trailer. Please view by clicking on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVdluy-hEF8. There is a petition I encourage you to sign by going to www.orphansdeservebetter.org . I am disappointed and angry that Warner Bros would make such a movie at the expense of children and portray orphans in this light. I am not quite sure how to put into words what I am feeling at this moment. I just hope that this movie will not scare people away from adoption. There are so many beautiful children needing a loving home.

Indian Food Recipes

One of my blogging friends suggested that I post the recipes for the Indian dinner I made for my husband on Father's day, so here you go :-)

Chicken Tikka Masala

3 chicken breasts
4 T olive oil
5 Cardamon Pods
1 Cinnamon Stick
1-1/2 onion
1 t fresh giner minced
2 t garlic minced
1 t cumin powder
1 t coriander powder
1/4 t turmeric powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 T paprika
1t garam masala
1 large tomatoe
5 fl oz water
salt

Cut chicken breasts into cubes - salt cubes and set aside
Dice onion - cut tomatoes - set aside
Put oil in pan- heat oil and add cinnamon stick and pods and remove after 1 minute (leaving oil in pan)
Add onions and cook until brown
Add water and mix in all spices along with ginger and garlic
Add tomatoes and stir and mix well
Add chicken and cook 10-12 minutes and then simmer until chicken is cooked through
Add salt to taste

Jeera Alu (Spicy New Potatoes ) - I got this recipe from my blogging friend Pam

2 16 oz cans whole new potatoes
2 T canola oil
1/2 t cumin seeds
1/4 t turmeric
1 t salt
1 T coriander powder
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 t garam masala
1/2 mango powder (optional) I don't use this because I am allergic to mangoes.

Drain and rinse potatoes. Cut into 1 inch pieces.
Heat oil in heavy pan on medium heat.
Add cumin seeds and cook until golden brown
Add potatoes and stir to coat.
Add all spices and stir to combine
Reduce heat and fry 15-20 minutes

Naan Bread - My families FAVORITE!!!

1t yeast (I use quick-rise yeast)
3 C white bread flour (don't use all-purpose flour it doesn't turn out..I found out the hard way)
2 T canola oil
4 T low fat yogurt
1 t honey
1 t salt
Garlic seasoning if you like garlic
3/4 C warm water

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Make 8 small balls and flatten them a bit.
Place the balls on wax paper and cover. Let rise for 20 minutes.
Press balls out flat into thin round circles. Place in oven on broil until brown on one side and then flip over to brown the other side.

Happy Father's Day to My Husband

My husband's one request for Father's Day was to have Indian food for dinner. I made him rice, Chicken Tikka Masala, Jeera Alu, and homemade Naan. I love you babe!!

Makes Me Smile!

Today I stopped at a garage sale on my way home from running an errand and this beauty was waiting for me. I could NOT resist!! It is like brand new. It looks like it has maybe been worn one time! Cost of item $3.00 to me it is priceless :-)


Front view

Back view

Little Girl Shoes

I have always found it funny that when I go shopping for my boys how I always gravitate to the little girl racks. It makes NO sense since clearly my boys will not be wearing any pink, purple, lace, or girlie shoes, but somehow I always make my way to the girls section before the trip is over. This goes for garage sales too! About 4 years back I was at a garage sale and saw these shoes and I thought they were SO cute. They made me smile. I didn't have a little girl at home to put these shoes on, but I decided I was going to buy them anyways....so I did! These little shoes have sat by my computer for the past four years and every time I look over at them I smile. Little did I know that God had a plan to bring a little girl into our family. I now look at these little shoes and dream about the little girl that will be joining our family and wonder how cute they are going to look on her tiny little feet.








Shoe story Part 2. I was shopping with Martin for new summer clothes and once again found myself at the little girl section and these beauties were just calling my name. They were on clearance for only 3 bucks!!! I couldn't resist. Our little Alesha is going to need red shoes...right?








The thing that is REALLY funny about the shoes is that I cannot STAND shopping for shoes for myself. I have a small wide foot with high arches and it is impossible to find anything cute that will fit my foot! I guess now I can buy all those cute shoes for my daughter.

Finding Good News in Hard Times

This was the title of a sermon series we went through at our church last month. You can hear the entire Upside Series on line at http://www.westportchurch.org/ Click on the listen tab and search for the series by name. Pastor Shane Fookes spoke on 4/19/19 and his sermon really hit home with me. He was talking about difficult times and waiting. For me personally, I thought of this adoption process and how difficult it can and has been and how the waiting is excruciating at times! I wanted to pass along the notes I took on the outline Shane gave us. I hope this is an encouragement to you in whatever difficult time you find yourself in. The application of his sermon is at the bottom of the notes. At the end of the sermon our Worship Pastor sang a song that really hit home with me on where I was at on that given Sunday and many times since then. It is called Alright by Paul Ramey. You can go to Paul's website as http://www.paulramey.com/ and you can download a free MP3 copy of this song by simply clicking on the box toward the top of the webpage that says "spread the word button". It really touched my heart and still does in those down times. The 2nd verse of the song is what I try to focus on, it says

"I'm trying to trust you
but I feel abandoned.


Please help me remember
this is how you planned it."

Then it breaks into the chorus of

EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT.........................

The Sermon -

DIFFICULT TIMES CAN DEEPEN OUR DEVOTION

We deepen our devotion in difficult times by learning the language of lament. (Psalm 13)

1) We COMPLAIN to God.

Psalm 13:1-2 "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?"

2) We CRY OUT to God for HELP

Psalm 13:3-4 "Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death: my enemy will say, "I have overcome him." and my foes will rejoice when I fall."

3) We WAIT

Psalm 5:3 "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and WAIT in expectation."

Psalm 27:14 "WAIT for the Lord; be strong and take heart and WAIT for the Lord."

Psalm 33:20 "We WAIT in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield."

Psalm 37:7 "Be still before the Lord and WAIT patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."

Psalm 38:15 "I WAIT for you, O Lord; you will ANSWER, O Lord my God."

Psalm 40:1 "I WAITED patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry."

Psalm 130:5 "I WAIT for the Lord, my soul WAITS, and in his word I put my hope."

4) We PRAISE

Psalm 13:5-6 "But I trust in your unfailing love: my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me."


APPLICATION-

1) Learn to say OUCH! God knows we are hurting. Cry out to him and tell Him.

2) Take the time to understand the hurt.

3) Turn to God with the hurt as an act of worship.

4) WAIT for God.

5) PRAISE Him!!

I liked this saying


GODISNOWHERE = God is nowhere

BECOMES

GODISNOWHERE - God is now here


GOD IS FAITHFUL!!! WE MUST HOLD ON TO THAT PROMISE EVEN WHEN THINGS SEEM IMPOSSIBLE!!

February/March Update

Martin's face paint artwork for his funny face night at Awanas.


This year I only provided the cardboard, tape, and paint and
Martin created his own car for Drive-in Movie Night at Awanas.

Luke as been into tearing phone books in half!
Here is the final product. He can rip through
an entire phone book in about 5 minutes....pretty
impressive for only being 8.

HELLO NUMBER 3!!!!!!!

I have been taking a break from posting on my blog lately (things have been really BUSY at our house lately), but this news had to be posted. The Friday before Mother's Day I found out that we had moved to the #3 spot on the adoption waiting list. I was thrilled to get this news on Mother's Day weekend.

Alesha, we are one step closer to seeing your precious face in a referral picture and EVERY little step counts. We love you and are praying for you daily. We can't wait to meet you.

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Martin and Luke

Simply AMAZING!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Grand Prix Race

This morning we attended the Annual Awana Grand Prix Race. The race is the highlight of the year for all the Awana kids. Martin has worked hard on his cars every year, but has never received a trophy. This year he went for speed verses design in hopes of at least placing in the top three spots. He was SOOO thrilled to place FIRST in the speed category. It was fun to watch all the kids get excited for each others cars. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

Martin with is trophy and car.

The trophy.

Receiving his trophy....this is one HAPPY boy!

Race results.

HAND MADE GIFT

Martin decided that he wanted to make his grandma Lulu a scarf for her birthday this year. He had to go back and fix a couple of mistakes, but stayed with it and this is how it turned out in the end. He was so happy to give her a gift that he knitted all by himself and grandma was thrilled!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today, March 11th marks my dad's birthday. He would have been 61 years old today. This day is always difficult for me even after almost 16 years. He passed away September 21, 1993, just 4 days after my birthday. I think this year has hit especially hard as my uncle passed away just over a week ago. His funeral was last week. He reminded me so much of my dad in looks and mannerisms. He will be missed.

I have a lot of emotions that come to the surface when this day arrives -

* I am thankful that my dad accepted Jesus as his savior before passing away. It took right up until days before his death, but God is faithful to answer many years of prayers by many for his salvation. His salvation is a testimony that it is NEVER too late.
*Sad I didn't have more time with him after his salvation.
*I am thankful that I will see my dad again in heaven someday.
*Sad that he wasn't here to walk me down the isle when I got married.
*Sad that he wasn't able to experience being a grandpa. I know he would have been awesome. He loved kids and they brought the kid out in him.
*Sad Martin, Luke, and Alesha were not able to meet their Grandpa Jim.
*Happy for all the family memories. Vacations, camping, baseball, softball, water rafting, trips to Montana, barbecues, gardening, yard work, etc. We worked as a family on a lot of things growing up and have a lot of stories and memories to cherish.
*Thankful for my mom. She is such a strong and Godly women. She is an example to me in so many ways. She has show what it means to "love in sickness and in health, until death do us part" She stood by my dad and cared for him until his very last breathe. I love you mom!

As you can see there is joy and sadness all mixed into one day. There are many more things that are running through my head, but I would be here all day. In closing all I can say is that

I love you dad, and I miss you very much! Happy Birthday.

Love always,
Pumpkin

International Day

Our homeschool group had an International Day Presentation. Of course, I jumped right in and selected India as the country our family would represent. We had a great time gathering more information about India. India is very close to our hearts, because that is the country we are in the process of adopting our daughter from. We worked for a few weeks on gathering information, planning out what we wanted to present to the group, etc. Right before we were to put the presentation together both the boys got really sick. Long story short, Martin and I were finishing up the presentation on the day we were to present it to the group. My husband stayed home from work, because Luke was still sick in bed. As Martin and I were rushing into the church with this big presentation board, an Indian dessert to share, a bag of presentation items, etc. I say to Martin "Let this be a lesson to you in that it is not wise to wait until the last minute to get a big project done" Of course we couldn't control the fact that we got sick, but the lesson was hitting home at the moment. Martin looks at me as we are running across the parking lot and says "Mom I think you are culturally stressed right now!" I was laughing so hard. You had to be there I guess, but trust me it was too funny. The presentation went well considering there was NO dress rehearsal. I stood up with Martin in place of Luke and talked about some of what Luke was going to talk about. I am just glad that at least we made it and all their hard work was able to be presented.


The boys created this board layout all by themselves.
I only provided the supplies. I think they did a great job!

Talking about the modes of transportation.

I had to get a picture with Luke. He was so sick and

couldn't attend the actual presentation, but he worked

really hard on this project so I wanted him documented.

I did have to do Luke's portion of the writing on the board, but

everything else was their ideas and work.

HELLO NUMBER 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a LONG day today I got home and checked my email inbox and read some fabulous news!! Maggie and her family who are ahead of us on the waiting list at #3 were blessed to receive a referral for their adorable little girl today. I can't wait to follow another journey and look at pictures of another precious Indian baby! This is SOOOO exciting!! I am so happy when another baby finds a forever family.

What does this mean for our family? You guessed it we are now waiting at #4 for a referral picture of our little princess. Today we were doing the happy dance again. I pray that more referrals keep coming and that our little girl in getting closer to coming home. This is a good way to end a long week.

Fun!

My oldest son is in Awanas this year and every week they have a fun theme for the kids. This particular night it was crazy hat night. My son had told me this was coming up, but I got busy and totally forgot about it.

The evening play out like this.....It is about 1 hour before we have to leave to take him to Awanas and I still have dinner to make. He says to me "Mom, I don't have anything for crazy hat night!" I said "I am so sorry I totally forgot, let's see what we can come up with." We scramble to find what we have around the house to make this hat, because clearly we don't have time to go shopping at this point. After materials were gathered and many ideas tossed around we had accomplished the below hat in 15 minutes time. He was happy and we were all laughing. Mission accomplished.

This smile says it all.


I had to put this one on too so you could see
just how high the pipe cleaners stood up on top.

New Hobby

Martin has taken on knitting as a new hobby. He had expressed interest in it for a couple months so I bought him some knitting needles for a stocking stuffer. I know nothing about knitting so my mom showed him what she could remember from when she was younger. This gave him a good start and then a friend from our homeschool group gave him a lesson and between the two lessons he made this.

Knitting by the fire in your PJ's looks like a very relaxing hobby :-)

Martin's very first knitting project.

God's Creation

As many of you know our family homeschools. I have really enjoyed having my boys home and teaching them. It is fun to see how each of my children learn and be able to tailor my teaching accordingly. A few weeks back we took a break from school to eat lunch and noticed that there was a squirrel right outside our back sliding glass door. He appeared to be very focused on eating and didn't seem to notice us. We laid down on our stomachs and watched this squirrel for at least 30 minutes. It was fascinating to see a squirrel that close up. They usually see us and scurry away so this was a treat. We were able to observe things that we wouldn't normally have seen. We saw how course his hair was, how long his toes were, this particular squirrel looked like it had been in a fight, because his ear was badly scarred. We watched how he held his food as he ate it, how his ears perked up when he heard a sound, how timid and quick his movements were, etc. It was amazing to see God's creation that close up and be able to see how uniquely God had made this squirrel. This was a great teaching moment......FUN and educational :-)

Vacation continued....

I decided I would recap my last day at the beach. I woke up at 7 a.m., WAY too early for being on vacation so I went back to sleep until 8:45 a.m. This was possible, because I had NO agenda whatsoever except to check out of the hotel by NOON. As I woke up I opened the curtains to the huge glass window and door that faced the ocean. This allowed me to crawl back into the toasty warm bed that faced that very window and to gaze upon the beautiful ocean for the next hour or so. I did some reading while I had a muffin and drank chocolate milk....I just love chocolate milk, but don't have it very often, because it is so fattening. At around 10:45 I decided it was high time to take a shower and pack things up to leave the room I had grown to like so much.


Upon check-out I remembered there was a restaurant that I used to go to with my grandma that was located down the road a bit. The clerk confirmed that the restaurant I was thinking of was in Depoe Bay and it was called Tidal Raves. This was my grandma's favorite restaurant on the coast. The restaurant sits up on the highway and overlooks a cove of Depoe Bay where you can watch the waves come crashing over rocks into the cove. It is truly beautiful. It had been years since I had been to this restaurant and the first time I have EVER sat down in a nice restaurant and ate a meal by MYSELF!!! It was really kinda awkward, but relaxing. There was nothing to do, but gaze out the window and eat. Sounds good, huh. Oh, I should mention I got the halibut fish and chips, with a bowl of clam chowder, crackers, and bread with butter. Yes, I ate too much!! As I ate my delightful lunch I looked in the corner of the restaurant by the window I saw two elderly ladies having lunch together. One of the women reminded me of my grandma. My grandma passed away in 2007 so this lunch was a way of remembering our time together and missing her.

After lunch I proceeded down the road further into Depoe Bay to look at a beautiful art gallery and pick up some carmel corn for my boys. While I was there I remembered the whale watching trip I took with my friend Lisa many years back. This is something I would like to do again. I think my boys would love it!! As I drove back towards Lincoln City I passed the hotel my friend, Christina, and I rented years ago when Luke was just a baby. We had a great time hiking Drift Creek falls, walking on the beach, and having dinner at Moe's. This trip brought back so many memories for me. As a kid my family took many trips to Lincoln City. My family used to rent a little house that sat on D River. There were a lot of fun times of games, rowing down the river in a canoe, having to hike in the rain and mud to get to the house (can't remember if the car broke down, or if the mud was too deep, but it was funny singing songs and walking in the mud)I tried to find it, but wasn't able to find the correct road. I enjoyed traveling down memory lane though.

I stopped at a few stores on the way out of town then called home to say I was headed home. I had a great and fast drive home. Why does it always seem like such a long drive when you are going to your vacation destination, but the trip back home goes by so QUICK??

One thing I wanted to remember in my hotel room when I walked in the door they had a picture of "Footprints" hanging on the wall. I have always loved this poem. In addition, they had a gorgeous picture of a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean with waves crashing all around it. The waves where so high that you could only see the top of the lighthouse and there was a man standing in the doorway looking at the rising and crashing waves around him. At the bottom of the picture was the scripture
"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer" Psalm 18:2. These are words I need to remember when life gets crazy. Having the picture to illustrate this scripture so clearly will help me to not forget.

This was such a wonderful trip that I will remember for years to come!!!! Many thanks to my loving husband for sending me away!!!

Relaxing Getaway

My wonderful husband surprised me and booked a hotel at the beach for me to go and stay overnight ALL by MYSELF!!!! This is the first time I have been away by myself in many years! I don't quite know what do with myself. The room is perfect. It faces the ocean, has a little kitchen, a fireplace, TV with cable, one of those drop down beds, two cozy couches, a table and chair, and a wonderful bathroom with a jetted tub! In fact this is the only studio room in the whole place that has a jetted tub. God must have known that I really needed to relax :-)

I was concerned how the pass would be going to the beach when I woke up this morning to snow on the ground and snow falling from the sky (can you believe that?? It is the end of February for crying out loud!) I waited until late morning to leave to make sure everything had a chance to melt. I had the most gorgeous sunshiny drive out to the coast. It was wonderful. When I arrived here at the beach, a hail storm hit, but passed very quickly. I headed to a look out point I used to go to years ago. I can't believe I forgot my camera!!!!! I even told myself SEVERAL times to NOT forget it.....but I managed to forget. After looking at God's beautiful creation of the roaring ocean, sand, rocks, trees, etc. I headed to the outlet malls to pass a bit of time before I could check into the hotel. Shopping is not my thing, but going without kids was fun and relaxing. I then checked into the hotel and went for a sunny wonderful walk on the beach. Upon returning to my room I sat on the balcony and read a book as the sun began to set with the sound of the ocean in the background. I will grab something to eat, take a relaxing bath in the jetted tub, read, relax and enjoy this wonderful gift my husband has given me. This might be a boring read to some of you, but I needed to document this event in words since I don't have any pictures.

The quiet is something I don't get often.....something I am trying to work on. This time away is giving me time to think, pray, and reflect on many things going on in my life right now. Thanks honey for giving me a change of pace! I love you!!

GOOD NEWS!!!

We are so excited to report that another baby has found a forever family and we have moved up to number

When I checked our adoption forum this morning there was a post about a family accepting a referral. That is always great news for the baby and family and it means that all the rest of the families on the waiting list get to move up one more slot. It has been very difficult waiting lately, because there hasn't been any new referrals for months. It just felt like the adoption process had come to a screeching halt!! I think it is easier for me to wait when I know that at least there is some movement.

It is nice to be able to follow the journeys of families that are going through the process before us. Congratulations to Candice and her husband. They were just united with their precious son yesterday and things are going great. There are several families who are waiting for the final steps to be completed so they can travel. I am praying that the courts grant all those NOC's, and guardianships so these precious little babies can finally be in the arms of their mommy and daddy.

Adoption has taught me a lot about myself. I have found that I am NOT as patient as I thought I was! It has shown me more clearly how much I like to control situations. It has made me turn to God even more than before, because I have NO control when it comes to the adoption process. This process has shown me how you can love somebody before you even know who they are. I would say that adoption has opened my eyes much wider to many areas over the last year. I continue to remind myself that this is a journey and God is in control and I need to rest in HIM.

More photos from the December snow.

Mom with Luke

Mom with Martin

This photo cracks me up!!

NIGHTTIME SNOW FUN

One of the nights during the snow storm we took a LONG walk to a park near by and played in our front yard. I am always amazed at how quiet and peaceful it is when walking at night in the snow. Absolutely beautiful!


Making snow angels in the snow.

We are always thinking about our baby girl!

Snowman

Martin decided he was going to make a snowman now that snow was packable. He made this snowman all by himself! I am still not sure how he was able to lift the snow ball for the head on to the snowman considering it stood taller then him! I can't figure out why we didn't get a full body shot of the snowman, but this is the best we have. He did a great job! He used his magic hat, rolled up pipe cleaners for eyes, and of course the standard carrot for the nose. As you can tell by his smile he was very pleased with it.

Winter

During our last winter storm my son Luke really wanted to go and build something cool in the snow. He asked if I would help him. We worked for 2 1/2 hours to make this small castle. We combined our ideas and with a lot of hard work this was our final product. I wanted to make it higher, but was so exhausted I just couldn't build anymore. We had tons of fun and made some fun memories. Luke was REALLY happy with it and that is all that mattered to me :-)


What is funny is that we used so much snow to make this castle
yet the ground is still covered with snow. We hardly made a dent!

Luke putting some finishing touches on.

Taking a rest after the ground level was in place.

The beginning stages of level two.

Our design was beginning to take form.

Great Idea

I thought this was really cool. It is wonderful to think about all the countries that have tons of children with lots of energy being able to have electricity and running water from something like this.

This is one of many things that breaks my heart

One of my adoption friends posted this video on her blog and it was so powerful that I wanted to share it on my blog too. This is an eye-opener as to the devastating condition that children are living in today. All I could do was cry as I watched this video.

FINALLY I-800A APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't tell you how ELATED I am to FINALLY have our I-800A approval!!!!!!!!!!!! I received voice and email confirmation this morning. Who would have thought that one document would take 6-1/2 months to get approved.....yes you read that right 6-1/2 months!!!!?? I am just happy to say that I can FINALLY check this box off on the long list of things to get done in our adoption process.

I am one happy camper!!!! I think a family celebration of Indian food is in order for the weekend!!

ONE YEAR TODAY

Today marks one year that we sent in our first application for our adoption process. I can't believe it has already been a year!! At times it feels like a lot longer. We are still awaiting the approval of our I-800A. This has been a 6 month process all in itself!!. I am hopeful that when everybody gets back to work on Monday after the holiday break our approval will be on its way. We are currently waiting at #6 for our little princess. I know that everybody ahead of us is waiting for a girl too. I pray that there is a HUGE batch of referrals that come through in the first couple months of this year.

I find it discouraging at times to be waiting with no timeline really to go by. My boys ask me questions all the time like, "When will our sister get here?, How much longer for a referral?. When is our I-800A finally going to get approved?, all of which I have NO answer for. They are already tired of waiting... we all are. They will tell me I really wish our sister was already here. I just wish I could give them a better answer to their specific questions other than telling them I just don't know. All I can say is God knows where your sister is, who she is, when she will come home and we need to continue to wait and trust God's timing.


I find myself wondering if our little Alesha (that is the name we have picked out for her) has even been born yet? What does she look like? What will her personality be like? It is difficult to deal with all the unknowns, but I know one day we will have answers to these questions. People will ask me, "Do you have a picture of her?" I then explain that we don't have a referral yet. Then they think that as soon as that happens we will have her right away. At that point I smile and say that is just the beginning of a LOT more paperwork and waiting.


Our family talks about Alesha all the time. I like to call her by her name, because it makes the waiting process more real to me. We wonder what life will be like when she finally joins our family...car seats, diapers, the boys are concerned about crying..ha ha, how we will ask for a table of 5 instead of 4 when we go out to eat and will need to ask for a high chair. It will be strange starting all over with a baby, but we are really excited. With the last snow storm I was thinking about Alesha and I wrote "We ♥ Alesha" in the snow. I wonder if she will like the snow?

Well I am rambling now so I will close with this section from a book I received from a friend for Christmas called God's Road Map for Women by Bordon and Winters. It has different scripture passages, a story and a section of text where God speaks to you as His child regarding all the different areas of your life. Anyways, I looked up Trials, because I feel like this adoption has been a trial of sorts and this is what impacted me today. I thought it might encourage all of my friends on the same road as I am in the adoption process.

The scriptures are James 1:2-4, 1Peter 1: 6-7, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and Romans 5:3

This is the section where God is speaking to His child

"Precious Child,

I know exactly what you are going through and how you feel. When Jesus suffered on the cross, He took on all of your pains, physical and emotional. He is an understanding and compassionate High Priest.

All that said, I want to assure you that I am at work in this situation, even though you may not be able to see it. I am causing everything to work out for the ultimate best in your life. Your part is to keep your heart right--walk in love toward others and trust Me fully, keeping My promises before your eyes. The circumstances you are encountering are real, but the truth in My word will change any earthly circumstance. Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego escaped the fiery furnace untouched, you will too. Not a hair on your head will be singed.

Your loving Father "

GREAT MOVIE!

My husband and I went on a date this afternoon to the movies. This doesn't happen all that often. Usually we are disappointed in the movie we see, but this time we were very impressed. We saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire. This is an outstanding movie!!! The movie takes place in India, which of course is close to our hearts. The story line is pure genius. This movie touches on so many subjects and emotions. It is a love story mixed with sacrifice, survival, abuse, betrayal, greed, corruption, poverty, perseverance, which leave you speechless.

With having traveled to India a short time ago several scenes from the movie were like flashbacks for us. I would highly recommend this movie. It is violent and has a bit of language, but the storyline and basis of the movie overrides all of that. I would be curious to see what your take is on this movie if you see it.

Here is the description of the movie -

The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Intrigued by Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...
Production Status:
Released
Logline:
An illiterate kid looks to become a contestant on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be A Millionaire in order to re-establish contact with the girl he loves, who is an ardent fan of the show.
Genres:
Art/Foreign, Comedy, Drama, Adaptation and Teen
Running Time:
2 hrs.
Release Date:
November 12th, 2008 (limited)
MPAA Rating:
R for some violence, disturbing images and language.